{"id":11747,"date":"2016-04-25T08:41:05","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T14:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=11747"},"modified":"2016-04-25T08:41:05","modified_gmt":"2016-04-25T14:41:05","slug":"montana-ethic-project-citizens-united-and-fair-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2016\/04\/montana-ethic-project-citizens-united-and-fair-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Ethic Project: ‘Citizens United’ and fair elections"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bullock\"<\/a>

Joey and Libbie Early<\/p>

Gov. Steve Bullock talks about the history of corporate involvement in Montana elections.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is the eighth chapter of the 32-part video series \u201cThe Montana Ethic Project.\u201d This chapter features Montana Gov. Steve Bullock speaking on \u201cCitizens United v. Montana.” When the interview was taped in 2011, Bullock was the Montana attorney general.<\/p>\n

In that role, Bullock challenged the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision by defending Montana\u2019s 100-year-old ban on corporate campaign expenditure. The court ruled against Montana in a 5-4 vote.\u00a0You can watch the whole video below. Here is how it begins:<\/p>\n

“Often we don\u2019t think that a U.S. Supreme Court case can have an impact in our daily lives or political life.\u00a0But there was one that was decided, just early 2010, that I think really can. It\u2019s called Citizens United v.\u00a0Federal Election Commission. It started out being about a non-profit that wanted to run a television ad,\u00a0pay per view, about Hillary Clinton, and whether or not they could use some of the corporate dollars to\u00a0do that, or if that was electioneering and got in the way of federal law.”<\/p>\n

Here is another, edited excerpt from Bullock’s\u00a0presentation:<\/em><\/p>\n

“When you look at what Montana is or was, it\u2019s interesting, we can go back over a century, in 1906 in\u00a0Hamilton, where a newspaper editorial said, the greatest living issue facing us today is whether the\u00a0people will control the corporations or the corporations will control the people. This was in 1906,\u00a0because if you look at what Montana is and was, our history, unlike any other state, was dominated by\u00a0corporate control of our elections.<\/p>\n

“Interestingly, I was in front of a U.S. Senate Committee testifying against the Citizens United ruling, and\u00a0it was amazing because it was the successor committee to the same committee, the Senate Committee\u00a0on Privileges and Elections, that a gentleman named William Clark testified in front of. William Clark was\u00a0one of Montana\u2019s Copper Kings. He literally bought a U.S. Senate race. And at that time he was called\u00a0before that committee to question whether they should keep him.<\/p>\n

“That happened in 1888 because of\u00a0the general concern of the aura of corruption throughout the state of Montana as the result of money in\u00a0politics. What William Clark said even then, over a century ago, I think has equal applicability to today.\u00a0He\u2019d testified to the committee that, many people had become so indifferent to large sums of money\u00a0that had been expended heretofore, that you had to do a great deal of, you know, pushing, it takes a lot\u00a0of men to go around among them to get them out to vote.<\/p>\n

“So even back in 1888, a man that had bought the U.S. election through corporations, was saying that\u00a0people didn\u2019t care anymore because there was so much money in elections.”<\/p>\n