Activists say they are offended by the White House’s response Friday to a petition signed by more than 117,000 people demanding that federal contractors be required to disclose political spending.
The petition, generated on the White House We the People petition page, called for President Obama to take action now or be remembered as the president whose inaction aided the rise of secret money in politics. But the White House, which had 60 days to respond, only reiterated remarks from the president’s last State of the Union address.
“We have to reduce the influence of money in our politics, so that a handful of families and hidden interests can’t bankroll our elections — and if our existing approach to campaign finance can’t pass muster in the courts, we need to work together to find a real solution,” the We the People Team wrote, quoting Obama.
Rootstrikers, an activist organization fighting money in politics, called the response “offensive” and “wholly unsatisfactory.”