“Today’s the day a little-known rule by the Federal Communications Commission takes effect for every TV station in the country. In a nutshell, it requires broadcasters that run political ads to disclose who paid for them.

"It may sound like a simple idea. But it could have tremendous effects on the way campaigns compete and spend money — not to mention for third-party groups and members of the general public who are interested in campaign finance, too.”

A great op-ed today from two small business owners on the need for an SEC rule on political spending transparency: 

“When we invest in a publicly traded company, when we purchase shares, we become part-owners of that company. But under current rules, money from the general treasury of a public company can be disbursed to fund political activities without the owners (the shareholders) having any way to know about it.

"Just as in a small business, this should be considered dangerously poor management. It leaves the door open to abuse, secret back-room politicking, and distorted market outcomes influenced by pay-to-play politics. We believe the SEC must act to address this problem.”

“Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and a dozen of his Republican colleagues have asked the Federal Communications Commission to resist implementing new rules targeting the makers of political advertisements in the absence of Congress passing new disclosure legislation.”

“Calling the lack of disclosure on hundreds of millions of dollars in spending during the 2012 election ‘egregious’ and 'offensive,’ Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is hopeful that senators in both parties are now more amenable to campaign finance disclosure reforms”