Senator Assails Court’s Decision on Montana Campaign Contributions
Source: NY Times
Jon Tester, Montana’s buzz-cut farmer-senator, reacted angrily on Monday to the Supreme Court’s summary dismissal of his state’s 100-year-old ban on corporate campaign contributions, calling it another blow to democracy.“The court’s supposed to be full of smart, well-thought-out people, but they rolled back Montana 100 years, back to the time literally when millionaires and billionaires bought elections, and they did it under the guise of free speech, which is crazy,” he said in an interview. “This is really a sad day in American democracy.”
In a brief unsigned opinion, the court ruled that a law passed when copper barons ruled the state violated the tenets set out by the Citizens United decision, which allowed corporations and unions to contribute to campaign-oriented organizations. Even before the court’s ruling, Mr. Tester had found himself strafed by Republican groups like Crossroads GPS financed by donors who have largely gone unreported.
“If they are able to paint me as something I am not, they have a chance to win this election,” he said. “And they’re doing a lot to paint me as someone I am not.”
Read more: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/senator-assails-courts-decision-on-montana-campaign-contributions/
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