Blue America Welcomes Back Jack Conway (D-KY)

Today Blue America is helping Kentucky Attorney General and Senate candidate Jack Conway kick Rand Paul's ass from Ashland to Hickman, Covington to Harlan. Today? Yes, today is Jack's money-bomb and we want to make sure he beats the $246,000 the uncertified Texas eye doctor so... here's the place. Yesterday he told us about his plans to help Congressman Mike Capuano get his Shareholder Protection Act through the Senate next year. Capuano's bill, H.R. 4790, requires a shareholder vote on a corporation’s proposed political budget, giving shareholders the opportunity to weigh in on the use of these funds. January’s Supreme Court decision on Citizens United v. FEC established that corporations cannot be prohibited from spending general treasury funds on political campaigns because it would violate their free speech rights. Capuano's legislation gives shareholders the ability to exercise their free speech rights by voting to approve or reject these expenditures. The Supreme Court decision effectively increases the influence of money in politics and diminishes the voice of the voter. Conway, like Capuano, thinks we should be working to limit outside influence on elections, not giving corporations a louder voice. The legislation is a simple and direct way to ensure that corporate political expenditures reflect the will of the shareholders, since the money in question belongs to the shareholders.

Jack told us he's been sickened by the way the Citizens United decision "opened the floodgates for corporations and special interests to spend millions of dollars attacking candidates in pursuit of their own agendas."

However, this bill requires a shareholder vote on a corporation’s proposed political budget and would give shareholders a say in how the funds are spent. It also makes the corporation report how it spent its political dollars, after the fact, so the real owners of the company-- the shareholders-- know where their money went.

Last week, a corporate-funded group led by George W. Bush’s chief strategist Karl Rove launched a second attack ad against me in as many weeks. Rove's special interest attack group, American Crossroads, has pledged to spend 49 million corporate dollars attacking Democrats this fall and boosting people like Rand Paul.

I need your help fighting back against Rove and Rand Paul. Paul said he opposes provisions of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and federal student financial aid, such as college loans. I disagree. These laws and initiatives reflect core American values like equal rights and opportunity. We should be standing up for these values, not tearing them down.

Jack's going to be joining us over at Crooks and Liars at 11am (PT) for a free-ranging question and answer session. We'll do our best to hold the Paultards at bay but please surf over and join in-- and please consider donating to Jack's effort at our Blue America Senate page.