The DISCLOSE Act died again in the Senate. It failed on a partisan vote of 53-45. It fell short of the 60 votes necessary to break a GOP filibuster.

The bill, “Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections,” was sponsored by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). If passed, it would have forced corporations,unions and non-profits who spent more than $10,000 during an election, to disclose donors that gave $10,000 or more during an election cycle. The Supreme Court opened the floodgates two years ago when they allowed unlimited corporate and special interest money in elections with no disclosure.

Senator Whitehouse said in support of his bill on the Senate floor,“When somebody is spending the kind of money that is being spent, a single donor making, for instance, a $4 million anonymous contribution, they’re not doing that out of the goodness of their heart.”

16 other Senators took to the Senate floor in support of the bill, taking up six hours of time supporting the measure. One of those Senators that spoke out supporting the measure was Alaska’s Senator Begich.

“It s only July and already we are already up to our elbows in negative and dirty and distorted attack ads, imagine what it will be like by November. These kind of negative ads are cheap shot ads, many of them funded by anonymous donars who make outrageous negative claims based on half-truths at best, and outright lies at worst. All paid for by secret fat cats and unlimited deep pockets, money that no one knows where it comes from. Alaskans tell me when I’m back there, I try to get back there twice a month or more, they’re fed up with it, we’re fed up with it and the American people are fed up with it. So, I am happy to join my collegues tonight, standing up, fighting back and demanding transparency.”

The other side of the aisle spoke up about the bill as well, among them Alaska’s Senior Senator, Lisa Murkowski. SHe pointed out on the floor of the Senate that she was concerned about the rising influence of SuperPACs but said the bill contained too many inconsistencies to support.

Senator Murkowski Said, “What we should be trying to address here is ‘where is the balance’ or ‘where is the fairness.’ Given that a $2,500 contribution to me as a candidate has to be disclosed, I don’t understand why this DISCLOSE bill sets the bar for disclosure of a contribution to an independent effort to $10,000. That doesn’t make sense to me.

“So where am I at this point in time? I do think that all of these issues need to be addressed in a future DISCLOSE bill. But that’s not going to be happening here. .. There’s no way you can reconfigure things even with the support of Lisa Murkowski that we could proceed to this bill and make those changes…

“I’ve already said that this is a critically important issue, but it is an issue that we will not resolve today. We should accept that fact; we have a lot to do. What I intend to do is continue the work begun months ago with colleagues on the other side of the aisle to work and resolve some of these issues.”