Yesterday Bruce Josten and Eugene Scalia briefed reporters (clips here) on the bill cynically titled the "Disclose Act." I will let you look up what the letters mean, suffice to say the messaging tail really wagged the acronym dog on this one. You can read more here, but in short the bill is designed to protect incumbents in this fall’s elections by chilling the free speech. Not all free speech mind you, it is carefully crafted to ensure those who plan their own "massive incumbent protection program" will still retain their First Amendment rights. In case you don't feel like clicking through to see who I mean, here is a bit from The Hill's article on the briefing:

Eugene Scalia, a partner at Gibson, Dunn Crutcher and counsel to the Chamber, said the Disclose Act does not balance restrictions on corporations and unions equally, as previous campaign finance reform bills have. "This bill is a departure from that tradition," he said.

Of course a spokesman for Rep. Van Hollen (D-DCCC) disagreed:

"The Disclose Act treats labor unions and corporations the same, plain and simple," said Doug Thornell, spokesman for Van Hollen. "The ban on political expenditures by federal contractors, for example, includes any entity that has a contract with the federal government, whether it is a corporation or a labor union."

This is a nice bit of misdirection. Thornell speaks of equality in terms of the future application of the rules, skipping over the inequality of the rules themselves. I will talk more about his federal contractor "for example" in another post, but first we need to take a holistic view of fairness -- maybe with a basketball hypothetical.

Boston and Phoenix win their respective series and are headed for the NBA Finals. The NBA League Office, perhaps mindful of a potential marketing deal with AARP, decides that a Boston win would be good for the League. So before the Finals start they announce the "The In Paint" rule which states that referees will not call a foul on any three point attempt. This would be harsh news for Phoenix who has, so far in the 2010 playoffs, jacked up a hundred more three-pointers than Boston. Phoenix also has six players with thirty or more attempted treys versus only two for Boston. With populist ire quickly rising around the country NBA Spokesman Doug Thornell (hired by the League after his excellent spin move above) goes before the press and defends the rule change with: "The TIP rule treats Boston and Phoenix the same, plain and simple." Which may be comically true, but it is hard to image angry fans (or Vegas oddsmakers) laughing.

Hopefully on the Disclose Act voters will get the joke and reject this attempt to reward those who play an inside game.