More dangerous is the Paycheck Protection Act, favored by Bush, which would require labor unions to obtain explicit permission from their members for all electoral activities. By effectively discouraging campaign contributions by labor unions, this bill would effectively legalize corporate control of the American government. To attempt to balance this, some legislators have proposed that corporations get the permission of their stockholders in order to give political contributions. This is a farce. Labor unions operate on the principle of one person, one vote.
Corporations operate on the principle of one share, one vote.
Financial institutions and other corporate shareholders would retain all the power. Opponents of McCain-Feingold will also hide behind the constitutional arguments advanced by the American Civil Liberties Union. Many in the ACLU disagree with their leadership on this issue. Opponents of reform should no longer be permitted to hide behind a constitutional smokescreen. The way to maintain the integrity of McCain-Feingold is to ban soft money without any compromise.