While we couldn’t agree more with the sentiment Juan Williams expressed in his opinion piece that super PACs play a massively destructive role in this election and in our democracy, his suggestion that Progressives United may be a hypocritical intrusion into the realm of dark money is both stunningly ignorant and patently false.
Russ Feingold founded Progressives United to be a vehicle for progressive action and awareness on the explosion of money in politics from wealthy individual and corporate interests that were allowed free rein after the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in Citizens United v. FEC. The dire warnings of the ruling’s implications issued by left and right alike in 2010 have been born out tenfold. We have all witnessed the crushing force of a few billionaire ideologues inserting themselves into the presidential race. And those are the ones we can track – it’s proving just as easy to obfuscate and misdirect public scrutiny as unlimited money has flowed in under some of the weakest disclosure requirements imaginable.
Obviously, a strong voice is necessary in the fight against the corrupt deluge of soft cash. That’s where Progressives United comes in.
Founded just over one year ago, Progressives United practices what it preaches. Every single contribution we get is disclosed on our website in a timely fashion. We refuse to knowingly accept donations from corporations, labor unions, national banks, federal contractors, or federal or state lobbyists. We also refuse to smear candidates or run phony “issue ads” that are no more than a shell for electioneering.
As should have been clear to Mr. Williams, had he given us even the most cursory review, Progressives United acts only in a way that is entirely consistent with the principles on which it was founded. We plan to shed needed light on the devastating impact of unlimited, undisclosed money in politics. In doing so, we will be a model for the right kind of engagement, namely people-powered activism and a clear stance on the issues we fight to advance.