Dems consider stand-by-your ad provisions after campaign finance ruling

A key Democrat said Friday that his party may push stand-by-your ad provisions to corporate-backed political ads in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to lift limits on corporate spending on politics.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) -- chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- suggested a number of different types of legislation Democrats may introduce to blunt the impact of the Court's ruling.

"So we`re looking at ways, for example, to require shareholder approval before a company can run an ad, to require that the CEO of the company get on the air and say, I`m the CEO of X Corporation, and I approve this ad," Van Hollen said on MSNBC Friday.

Political candidates and committees are required to include similar lines in their ads.

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission could allow corporations and labor unions to spend freely on political campaigns. Democrats and some Republicans countered that the ruling would allow special interests to exercise undue influence on politics. 

Most Republicans, however, hailed the decision as a victory for free speech and one that could allow political parties to spend more money.

"With this monumental decision, the Supreme Court took an important step in the direction of restoring the First Amendment rights of these groups by ruling that the Constitution protects their right to express themselves about political candidates and issues up until Election Day," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

But Van Hollen and Senate Rules Committee chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday they would introduce legislation to limit the impact of the decision. Van Hollen's comments today shed the first light on what types of limits Democrats are considering.

The Maryland Democrats said new laws may also disqualify companies that take public assistance, like insurer AIG and and automaker GM, from running political ads. Van Hollen added that foreign-owned subsidiaries of American companies could also be disqualified. 

Van Hollen stressed the need to act.

"I got to tell you, it`s a wake-up call to Americans across this country that it`s a time to get angry and get involved," he said.

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