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Argument: Anonymous funding of TV ads runs against principles of free speech

Issue Report: Funding transparency for TV issue ads in elections

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“Ignore that $800,000 behind the curtain.” The Economist Democracy in America Blog. Oct 4th 2010: “It’s all about freedom of speech and political participation, I’m told. I’m trying to imagine an analogy for this situation in a New England town meeting, circa 1789. Maybe there are huge curtains hanging along the walls. Some of the town’s citizens sit in the meeting hall’s pews, occasionally trying to be heard in little piping voices. They are overwhelmed by booming orations emanating from behind the curtains. “Henry Waddingstone is a British agent!” “Zachary Hurlburt will take away the grazing commons!” Who is speaking? The Coalition for a Grazeable Massachussetts? Who’s that? Nobody knows. Nobody ever will.”