DISCLOSE Act threatens free speech, enables retaliation; vote is today

USNews.com reports,

Now that Obama is having trouble raising money while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is raking in the cash at a good clip, the idea that money is a problem in campaigns is once again at the center of the debate.

On Monday the U.S. Senate is going to again take up the DISCLOSE Act, an effort the Democrats and their allies want to pass in order to be able to intimidate donors to the GOP, to Romney, and to conservative causes.

The problem is not how the money enters the system. The Democrats have their own groups who are doing just what the GOP is. . . .

It’s not the new system they don’t like—even while they attack it. It’s that without knowing the identity of the donors who are giving the money to the GOP, they can’t send their mobs arising out of the “Occupy” movement and like-minded groups to the homes of donors in an effort to intimidate them into closing their checkbooks. Last week, for example, hoards of protesters descended on a neighborhood in New York to picket the home of a couple holding a Romney fundraiser, including a plane towing an obnoxious banner overhead.

Other donors to Romney have been singled out by name by the Obama campaign, triggering boycotts of the companies with whom they are affiliated. No such actions have been taken, on the other hand, against individuals or events organized to raise funds for pro-Obama groups.