Corporate Personhood: Bill Would Force CEOs To Say "I Stand By This Message"

In reaction to the SCOTUS decision to allow corporations to advertise in political campaigns, a bill has been submitted in the U.S. House that will require CEOs to append "I'm So & So and I approve this message" to every ad.

A bipartisan pair of House lawmakers have a response to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that allows unlimited corporate money to flow into elections. Reps. David Price (D-N.C.) and Mike Castle (R-Del.) told the Huffington Post in a joint statement that they plan to introduce a bill that would force CEO's to take ownership of their company's ads. For example: "I'm Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America, and I approved this message." The two House members plan to push the "Stand By Every Ad Act", which would force a corporate chief to issue a similar message at the end of every commercial. Price was the lead sponsor of the original "Stand By Your Ad" measure, which became law as a part of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. It was that legislation that led to the ubiquitous claims of responsibility at the end of political ads that we know today.

The bill also requires companies making robocalls to identify themselves at the start of the message, a move that will surely result in a massive number of hang-ups. Good.