Hey folks, I’m about to go on a tweet storm of my own…about dark money in politics. Follow if interested (or watch live here: americanprogress.org/events/2018/05…) 👇🏽
Most of us would agree SCOTUS #CitizensUnited decision was damaging to our representative democracy and to the American people’s faith in our government 1/13
We decried the ruling. Many raised money off it it. But we didn’t actually….do anything about it. We had a chance, but everyone said “game over” and moved on. 2/13
Spending by dark money groups increased from $5M in 2004 to over $300M in 2012. That’s 6,000 percent, just federal races, and just what we know about. Yes, really. 3/13
Some said, and still say, there’s nothing we can do until we get a different Court, a different Congress, a different President. Wrong. I chose to DO something. 4/13
I defended Montana’s 100-year-old ban on corporate spending in elections as Attorney General, post-#CitizensUnited. When the courts struck it down, I could have joined and said “game over.” But that’s not really my style… 5/13
We brought Democrats and Republicans together to pass the DISCLOSE Act, one of the nation’s most progressive campaign finance laws. 90 days out from elections, even the Koch Brothers stay out of Montana. 6/13
But I’m not stopping there. Let’s talk about NASCAR for a minute. Tattooed across every NASCAR drivers’ jumpsuits and over their cars are the logos of the companies sponsoring the teams. 7/13
If elected officials are going to be like NASCAR drivers - sponsored and supported by various special interests - we ought to at least know who’s doing the sponsoring and spending. 8/13
This is why I’m signing an Executive Order enacting new disclosure requirements in Montana. If we know one thing about spending in elections, it’s that big companies don’t spend out of the generosity of their big corporate hearts. 9/13
We’re going to make sure that if someone wants to do business with the state - to profit from taxpayer dollars - you’ve got to disclose all your efforts to influence our state elections. We won’t judge — we just wan’t to know. 10/13
Where #CitizensUnited opened the door for a wave of dark money, Montana will again shine a light. Montana will again stand for openness and fairness in politics. Because Montanans deserve a government that works for them, and only for them. 11/13
Just like Montanans did back in 1912, we have to keep fighting against the outsized influence corporations and special interests have on our elections, our elected officials, and our representative democracy. I’m going to keep fighting in Montana. 12/13
And I hope there’s something about Montana - in our history, our mistakes, our defiance, our triumphs - that can help cure the sickness that has plagued politics in the rest of the country for too long. 13/13
