Montana AG warns of return to rampant corporate corruption if campaign finance law is dropped
Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Montana’s ban on corporate political spending may be harder to preserve than supporters originally thought, but the secret organizations behind the effort to disband the law are taking heat in Montana Supreme Court, according to the Associated Press.
A group known as the American Tradition Partnership is fighting Montana’s 1912 Corrupt Practices Act, a ban on independent political expenditures straight from corporations, saying it’s unconstitutional and not applicable since last year’s Citizen United ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. The political action committeee is also fighting another state lawsuit, as well as one at the federal level, to increase the flow of corporate money in elections.
The group was first registered as a political action committee in July 2011, using the office address of Republican Montana state Sen. Art Wittich of Bozeman, as Western Tradition Partnership, and is relying on its local roots to mount the case.
“We don’t even know who Western Tradition is,” Chief Justice Mike McGrath asked at the trial. “So who is Western Tradition?”
As the American Independent has previously reported, Western Tradition Partnership “is an anti-environmental regulation organization that, along with two local businesses, brought the suit.” The group has become notorious for sending ‘attack mailers’ calling out their disagreements with state campaign finance authorities.
Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock said because a higher court had ruled in favor of allowing corporate personhood, Montana was hard-pressed to continue its law against it.
But, Bullock said, Montana may be able to leave the law in place while exempting “voluntary associations of people who form corporations and perhaps sole proprietorship corporations.”
This would exempt the two local businesses in the suit — Montana Shooting Sports Association and Champion Painting.
And, said Bullock, it would make sure the state’s history of rampant corporate political corruption is not repeated.
That’s all well and good, but is there any PROOF that the law REALLY “keeps corporate corruption out”? Just because corporations can’t DIRECTLY spend money on campaigns in the state, does that REALLY have a direct or indirect effect on the amount (or lack thereof) of corporate corruption in state politics? Are there any STUDIES to prove this, or is this just wishful thinking by PRO-campaign finance folks? How do we know FOR SURE that the law is the only thing keeping Montana from becoming a cesspool of corporate corruption and cronyism? I mean, are the Republicans, esp. conservatives ones, in state government over there REALLY not in bed at all with corporations? I find that hard to believe. They may not be able to get campaign donations from them, but if you’ve got that pro-business mindset…
Don’t get me wrong; I would HATE to increase the amount of power corporations already have on our system. But it seems to me that campaign finance reform is powerless, an excuse for apathetic and dumb voters’ lack of interest or ability to think for themselves and figure out what’s in their best interests and when certain groups or politicians are lying. It seems to me that CFR advocates are simply taking the easy way out instead of going the extra mile to FIX the political landscape and get more citizens active and able to think for themselves and whathaveyou.
The assumption (a bold and ridiculous one that has NEVER been proven and sounds flat-out absurd on its face) here is that BECAUSE certain candidates receive corporate donations, they’re somehow “bought” by these corporate entities and “do their bidding” when they get into office. I hear it all the time from fellow liberals (“Oh, he just voted for that bill because he got $100,000 from Big Oil”). But if this is POSSIBLE, how come these corporations don’t fund nearly as many liberals? They must know something WE DON’T- that it’d be a sucker’s bet to finance candidates that totally disagree with your cause and are unlikely to support you in office, much less help them win and do OTHER things you disagree with.
ANYONE who makes a political donation does it because they AGREE with the candidate and want them to win, not because they ACTUALLY think they can “buy” this candidate for 5 or 10 grand. Congressmen, Senators and presidential candidates, to name a few, raise anywhere from 600k to A BILLION in campaign funds (and spend a lot, too) from various donors. Do you REALLY expect me to believe for such a measly percentage of the donations, a person can REALLY be ‘bought’ by a few big entities? THAT’S LUDICROUS! It’s because those people who are ‘bought’ are IN THE TANK for those entities. They support their mission(s).
Besides, if someone can be BOUGHT for a corporate political donation, couldn’t the converse also be true (a liberal being ‘bought’ by a union, for example)? Unions aren’t exactly poor, and many of them are in THE TOP TEN richest donors. They have plenty of money to go around come election time, so what’s to stop THEM from “buying” liberal politicians? You think union leaders aren’t greedy to some extent as well? They’re far from angels. They can be corrupted like anyone else.
I’m getting sick and tired of this convenient “bought” explanation for why a conservative or centrist officeholder did this or voted for that. It assumes that a) they would not have otherwise supported that action or bill IF they didn’t get a donation and b) they don’t actually believe what they say on that issue. Now, really, in the America of today, with ALL the political donors that exist, esp. wealthy ones, WHY ON EARTH should I expect that someone is gonna capitulate and vote for a bill they DON’T AGREE WITH just to save themselves from losing out on a 5 or 10 grand campaign donation for reelection, as if they couldn’t replace that lost donation from any other source?
GET REAL, campaign finance reform people! It HAS NOT been proven to work at all. Apathy is still high, people still do not see government as credible, and people are fed up. CFR ain’t gonna fix that. It’s a DISEASE that affects the entire system, not just the money in politics.
That’s cleared my thoughts. Thanks for conritubitng.
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