On the Center for Competitive Politics Complaint
The Center for Competitive Politics has filed a complaint against the Mayday PAC, charging that we have violated FEC disclosure rules.
To be clear: Every Mayday.US ad fully identified Mayday.US as its sponsor. And unlike superPACs that accept dark money, Mayday.US discloses every contribution (over $200) as well. None could be confused about whom the ad was from, and anyone who cared could identify whom the PAC was funded by.
We believe in disclosure rules and will defend our ads at the FEC. But I'm not quite sure what this complaint says about the current policy position of the Center for Competitive Politics. The Center has long been disclosure skeptics. Their website touts their work "to ensure that disclosure requirements do not become overly burdensome." And the Center testified against provisions of a proposed Massachusetts disclosure law because in its view the law "forced [citizens] to engage in government-required speech with many unnecessary words." As they went on to note:
Ultimately, it is hard to understand why the proposed disclaimer is superior to a simple one required by many other states, such as “Paid for by American Action for the Environment.” All donors are already publicly reported.
Perhaps their filing against us — triggering an expensive proceeding for us and for the FEC — indicates they no longer take this position.
