montanabak

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3 bak? main guk?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">6 23 y mail montana</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">June 16, the court will hear testimony from&nbsp;</span><strong style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none !important;">Dr. Lise Van Susteren</strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">, a psychiatrist and expert on how the climate crisis affects the physical and mental health of youth;&nbsp;</span><strong style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none !important;">Mark Jacobson</strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">, Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University; and youth plaintiffs&nbsp;</span><strong style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none !important;">Olivia</strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">&nbsp;and&nbsp;</span><strong style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none !important;">Lander</strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">
</span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Georgia, serif"><a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/meet-the-kids-behind-the-historic-montana-climate-trial/">https://www.eenews.net/articles/meet-the-kids-behind-the-historic-montana-climate-trial/</a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/montanas-pro-environment-constitution-goes-on-trial/">https://www.eenews.net/articles/montanas-pro-environment-constitution-goes-on-trial/</a></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">[pix of flood house MT</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>montana’s decision to give the environment a prime perch in its constitution has long served as a model for other states. A landmark trial this week is poised to test the boundaries of the Treasure State’s promises to protect its citizens.</b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Environmental activists in other parts of the country said they will be paying close attention to the&nbsp;<a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2023/06/09/montana-kids-climate-case-set-to-make-history-00100378" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(50, 101, 152); transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">climate case that begins Monday</a>&nbsp;in Montana court</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">.<b>&nbsp;During the trial — the first of its kind in the United States&nbsp;</b>— 16 young people will argue that state officials are violating the Montana Constitution’s right to a “clean and healthful environment” by ignoring climate change and approving fossil fuel development.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>That constitutional guarantee may have boosted Montana’s climate case after other similar youth-led lawsuits have stumbled.</b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"We’ve seen youth bringing cases, but they often have lost at the early stages,” said Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum. “In Montana, I felt confident that this case would play out differently because Montana has this powerful, constitutional green amendment language.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Enacted in 1972 amid a national wave of environmental awareness, Montana’s Constitution puts the right to a “clean and healthful environment” at the top of the document — ahead of freedom of religion and speech.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">For years, Montana law has been the inspiration for van Rossum, who used similar language in Pennsylvania’s Constitution — enacted one year before Montana’s — to topple a 2012 Keystone State law designed to boost natural gas drilling.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“A lot of state constitutions talk about environmental rights and environmental protection, but beyond Pennsylvania, there was only one other state to lift up environmental rights so they were on par with other fundamental rights,” said van Rossum, who founded Green Amendments for the Generations to advance similar constitutional language across the country.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Van Rossum argued successfully before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2013 that parts of the state’s fracking law violated the state constitution, which requires Pennsylvania to “conserve and maintain” public resources “for the benefit of&nbsp;<b>all</b>&nbsp;the people.”</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">After her court win, van Rossum said she began studying state constitutions across the country and found only Montana could match Pennsylvania’s environmental guarantees.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“I decided that had to change and we needed that kind of amendment in every state across our nation,” she said. “We could not have defeated [Pennsylvania’s fracking law] without this higher constitutional power.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">She developed criteria for so-called green amendments, wrote a book and began pitching the idea. She said “people’s jaws drop” when she tells them Montana and Pennsylvania are the models for constitutional environmental protections.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Since then, lawmakers in more than a dozen states have pushed for similar constitutional language. New York in 2021 became the third state to approve a robust environmental constitutional amendment.</b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“We definitely looked to Montana as a model,” said Katrina Fischer Kuh, a law professor at Pace University, who chaired a New York bar association task force that examined constitutional environmental issues.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Hawaii is also considered to have a strong constitutional amendment, though it is structured differently. Kuh noted that the Hawaii Supreme Court recently cited the state constitution’s guarantee of a clean and healthful environment in a ruling that upheld a rejection of a biofuels plant.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Kuh, who sits on the board of Green Amendments for the Generations</b>, said there is considerable interest in Pennsylvania and Montana “and the value that their constitutional environmental rights have had.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The environmental clauses in the Montana, Pennsylvania and New York constitutions have several features in common, including that they are self-executing, which means they do not require a state legislature to pass laws and enforce remedies. That was a major selling point for New York voters who were worried about contaminants in drinking water that were not covered by existing law</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, Kuh said.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“It was important to New Yorkers that it be self-executing,” she said. “Having a constitutional right that simply allows for the enforcement of existing statutes would have done no good in the context of emerging contaminants.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Not every push for a pro-environment state constitution has been a success. Bills that would have put a green amendment on the ballot were introduced by legislators in 12 states this year, including fossil fuel-rich states like Texas, West Virginia and New Mexico.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In some states, those efforts have&nbsp;<a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2023/05/15/green-amendments-clash-with-renewables-in-west-00094275" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(50, 101, 152); transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">drawn opposition from green energy developers</a>, who say they fear potential new avenues for lawsuits or permitting hurdles will slow the nation’s shift toward renewable sources. New York’s environmental provision is already showing up in lawsuits over landfills and other issues.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Van Rossum said the energy industry’s fears are overblown.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">There has been no “massive onslaught of litigation” in any of the states with environmental protections in their constitutions, she said.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Van Rossum said that because Montana officials have challenged the fact that the state’s constitution doesn’t mention climate change, she tells lawmakers and activists who want to back green amendments in their states to clearly include climate in the language.</b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Other states are “getting the benefit of learning from what has happened in Pennsylvania and Montana,” she said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“If you’re clear and explicit, you can avoid the waste of time and resources on these challenges,” she said.</p><h4 class="story-textheading-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: din-2014, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 40px 0px 0.5rem; font-size: 1.5rem; color: rgb(33, 37, 41); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">‘Entitlement for citizens’</h4><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">While van Rossum and others argue that the placement of environmental protections in the Montana Constitution’s bill of rights implies considerable authority, the intentions of the state’s framers have long been a matter of dispute.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Martha Davis, a law professor at Northeastern University who has studied state constitutions, said the provision’s prominence in the document gives Montana courts the authority to find government officials in violation of the law and the power to monitor compliance.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>“The placement of an environmental right in that area signals that it’s meant to be something that is enforceable</b>,” Davis said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Other states have protective language about the environment in their constitutions, she said, but they don’t always extend a cause of action to individuals. In Massachusetts, for example, the state constitution includes rights to clean air and water but no private enforcement mechanism.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Montana’s Constitution, on the other hand, provides “an entitlement for citizens of the state,” Davis said.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Van Rossum said Montana’s constitutional language has been tested “multiple times and found to be protective.”</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">She pointed to the Montana Supreme Court’s finding in 1999 that pumping arsenic-tainted water from a gold mine into two rivers violated the state’s constitutional right to a clean environment. The operator of the mine had argued that the constitutional protection only applied after actual harm, but the court found that the document was intended to “provide language and protections which are&nbsp;<b>both anticipatory and preventative.”</b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Former Justice Terry Trieweiler memorably wrote in that case that the Montana Constitution “does not require that dead fish float on the surface of our state’s rivers and streams before its farsighted environmental protections can be invoked.”</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The case “made very clear that because of the constitutional language, environmental rights do get that highest constitutional standing and protection,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">” van Rossum said.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Judge Kathy Seeley — who will oversee the Montana climate trial that begins Monday — has already leaned on the state constitution in an order last month&nbsp;<a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2023/05/30/montana-judge-refuses-to-cancel-first-u-s-climate-trial-00099073" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(50, 101, 152); transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">rejecting the state’s efforts</a>&nbsp;to torpedo the 16 young activists’ case.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">She wrote that “the Court has repeatedly found that the Framers intended the state constitution contain ‘the strongest environmental protection provision found in any state constitution.'</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">”</span></p><h4 class="story-textheading-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: din-2014, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2; margin: 40px 0px 0.5rem; font-size: 1.5rem; color: rgb(33, 37, 41); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">‘More aspirational’</h4><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Some legal scholars and Montana officials, however, have argued that the state’s constitutional provision is merely a guideline.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">John Horwich, a retired law professor at the University of Montana who has written extensively on the subject,&nbsp;<a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2005/08/18/mont-cases-address-clean-and-healthful-constitutional-provision-239660" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(50, 101, 152); transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">has called the provision</a>&nbsp;“a moral statement more than it is a legal statement.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In a 2001&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Montana Law Review</span>&nbsp;article, he called the state Supreme Court’s 1999 decision in the arsenic pollution case an “inadequate effort to address the meaning of Montana’s constitutional environmental provisions” and said the court should withdraw it or “otherwise repudiate it.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The 16 youth in the climate lawsuit that will be argued starting Monday claim that state officials have breached their “affirmative duty to protect and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana.” They quote a delegate to the 1972 constitutional convention, who called the document the “last bulwark and protection that the people have.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But state officials involved in the climate case have argued otherwise, pointing in court filings to another section of Montana’s Constitution that says lawmakers “shall provide adequate remedies for the protection of the environmental life support system.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Thus, the Legislature is assigned the task of enacting laws to implement the right to a clean and healthful environment,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, a Republican, wrote in a court brief.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">State Supreme Court decisions since the 1999 arsenic pollution case show that the pro-environment constitutional provision is not as robust as its supporters believe, said Montana state Senate Majority Leader Steve Fitzpatrick, a Republican.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“What has happened is that the courts have come to conclude, more or less, that it’s unworkable and they really can’t develop a body of law around it,” he said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 2007, the Montana Supreme Court ruled in a dispute between private landowners and a mining company that if litigants are able to raise common law arguments such as trespass or nuisance, they “don’t get to bring these constitutional claims,” Fitzpatrick said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The ruling did not expressly block lawsuits that rely on the Montana Constitution’s right to a clean and healthful environment, but it put a damper on those claims, he said.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding: 0px; font-family: "Georgia Regular font"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">State lawmakers, Fitzpatrick said, instead view the Montana Constitution’s environmental protections as “more aspirational and something we would want to achieve.”</span></p><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2 22</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A group of 13 youth climate activists has filed a lawsuit accusing their home state of Virginia of backing fossil fuel projects that contribute to the climate crisis in violation of their constitutional and public trust rights. The plaintiffs are aged 10 to 19 and are represented by Our Children’s Trust. In related news, another group of young activists announced their historic climate trial against the state of Montana will begin next February.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></p></div><div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2x?&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/anti-union-agent-says-he-didnt-coordinate-with-candidates/article_e96313fb-3cd2-5946-b911-4b733960bb1a.html">https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/anti-union-agent-says-he-didnt-coordinate-with-candidates/article_e96313fb-3cd2-5946-b911-4b733960bb1a.html</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Anti-union agent says he didn't coordinate with candidates</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MATT VOLZ Associated Press Apr 5, 2016 Updated&nbsp;<b>May 13, 2016&nbsp;</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1 of 2</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">HELENA – A former Right to Work operative whom Montana officials allege ran shadow campaigns for select Republican candidates says in a sworn statement that he never helped candidates in exchange for their support of anti-union policies once they were elected.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Christian LeFer's</b>&nbsp;affidavit was filed as part of a federal lawsuit Monday, three days after a jury found Rep. Art Wittich coordinated with LeFer and the National Right to Work Committee in 2010. Wittich faces possible fines and expulsion from the Montana Legislature, and the case's outcome could affect a pending lawsuit by the state against LeFer, his wife Allison and several Right to Work-affiliated groups.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Wittich case also could help the state defend itself against a federal lawsuit challenging Montana's low campaign contribution limits</b>. A federal appeals court has said Montana must show the limits are preventing corruption, and Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl points to the Wittich case and others like it as evidence of political corruption.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The statement by LeFer was filed in the lawsuit challenging the contribution limits.&nbsp;</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It is the first public response he's made to the allegations that he illegally coordinated with 14 Republican candidates in exchange for their loyalty to Right to Work's cause, and the causes of affiliated pro-gun, pro-resource development, anti-tax and anti-abortion groups.</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In his statement, LeFer said he only referred candidates to his wife's print shop, Direct Mail and Communications, and he mailed issue ads to voters from Montana Citizens for Right to Work independent of the candidates. His organization, Montana Citizens for Right to Work, was independent of the National Right to Work Committee, and his wife's print shop operated independently of his organization, he said.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"At no time did I make an arrangement, explicit or implied, with a candidate that, in exchange for any efforts to get them elected, they would act in an official government capacity at my or MRTW's direction as a public official," LeFer's affidavit said.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The services LeFer and his wife's printing company offered included a direct mail program, campaign consulting, voter data, opposition research and website design, according to Motl. Right to Work-affiliated groups also blanketed voters with letters supporting their chosen candidates and attacking their election opponents.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It is illegal in Montana for candidates to take corporate in-kind contributions and to coordinate their campaigns with corporations. Exchanging those services for a pledge of fealty from the candidates amounts to corruption, Motl alleges.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A former LeFer staffer testified during Wittich's trial that LeFer's campaign operation did just that. Candidates such as Wittich were required to sign a survey showing they backed the group's principles before they were offered the package of services LeFer called "the works" or "Smart Simple Campaigns," former Right to Work staffer Sarah Arnold said.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">LeFer disputed that account, saying he didn't recall using the term "the works," and if he did, he probably meant his wife's mail program.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Motl on Tuesday dismissed LeFer's statement, pointing to the jury's verdict finding Wittich took $19,500 worth of unreported corporate contributions from the LeFer-led groups. LeFer's words are meaningless until he appears in Montana where he can be cross-examined, Motl said.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I don't believe a word that Christian LeFer is saying, and I would welcome the opportunity to have him say what he has to say in a forum where the truth can be explored," Motl said.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">LeFer has repeatedly declined or not responded to requests for interviews.</font></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAEQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFSgAMAR6BAgBEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAEegQIARAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /></font><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.33;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAEegQIARAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAEegQIARAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAEegQIARAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAEegQIARAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAEegQIARAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAEegQIARAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAEegQIARAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAEegQIARAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAEegQIARAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAEegQIARAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Lee Newspapers to close state bureau - Great Falls Tribune</a></font></h3>
<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.54; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.43;">https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/...newspapers...state-bureau/27742287/</cite></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?ei=xBs5XeYj47rQ8Q-1uryABQ&q=montana+state+news+bureau+helena&oq=montana+state+news+bureau+helena&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i160l2.18400.20147..23198...0.0..0.108.686.4j3......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j33i299j33i22i29i30.Vkm_JbRxbGw&ved=&uact=5#" id="am-b4" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8Q7B0wBHoECAEQAg" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.6px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QqR8wBHoECAEQAw" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); font-size: 13px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; white-space: nowrap; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1BTS7bkRbi8J:https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:1BTS7bkRbi8J:https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/%2B%26cd%3D5%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QIDAEegQIARAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); cursor: pointer; font-size: 14px; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; color: rgb(84, 84, 84); line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1BTS7bkRbi8J:https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:1BTS7bkRbi8J:https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/21/lee-newspapers-close-state-bureau/27742287/%2B%26cd%3D5%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QIDAEegQIARAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); cursor: pointer; font-size: 14px; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.54; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119); line-height: 1.54;">May 21, 2015 -&nbsp;</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">HELENA</span>&nbsp;– Chuck Johnson and Mike Dennison,&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">Montana's</span>&nbsp;most prominent ... leaving their posts next week as the Lee Newspapers&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">State Bureau</span>&nbsp;closes. ... "<wbr />We obviously are going to continue to cover the&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">state</span>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">news</span>.</span></a></font></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAcQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFSgAMAV6BAgHEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAFegQIBxAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /></font><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.33;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAFegQIBxAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAFegQIBxAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAFegQIBxAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAFegQIBxAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAFegQIBxAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAFegQIBxAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAFegQIBxAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAFegQIBxAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAFegQIBxAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAFegQIBxAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Montana News & Current Events | Public News Service</a></font></h3>
<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.54; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.43;">https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT</cite></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?ei=xBs5XeYj47rQ8Q-1uryABQ&q=montana+state+news+bureau+helena&oq=montana+state+news+bureau+helena&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i160l2.18400.20147..23198...0.0..0.108.686.4j3......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j33i299j33i22i29i30.Vkm_JbRxbGw&ved=&uact=5#" id="am-b5" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8Q7B0wBXoECAcQAg" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.6px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QqR8wBXoECAcQAw" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); font-size: 13px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; white-space: nowrap; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:d7CxRSx239MJ:https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:d7CxRSx239MJ:https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT%2B%26cd%3D6%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QIDAFegQIBxAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); cursor: pointer; font-size: 14px; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; color: rgb(84, 84, 84); line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:d7CxRSx239MJ:https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:d7CxRSx239MJ:https://www.publicnewsservice.org/state-montana/MT%2B%26cd%3D6%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QIDAFegQIBxAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); cursor: pointer; font-size: 14px; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.54; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">HELENA</span>, Mont. – Gov. Steve Bullock has committed&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">Montana</span>&nbsp;to reducing carbon emissions alongside 23 other&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">states</span>. The Treasure&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">State</span>&nbsp;has ...Read More.</span></a></font></div><div data-base-uri="/search" id="ed_4" data-ved="2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8Q2Z0BMAV6BAgHEAU"><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAkQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFSgAMAZ6BAgJEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAGegQICRAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /></font><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.33;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAGegQICRAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAGegQICRAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAGegQICRAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAGegQICRAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAGegQICRAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAGegQICRAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAGegQICRAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAGegQICRAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAGegQICRAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAGegQICRAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">A bureau's closure sparks talk of new approaches to state coverage in ...</a></font></h3>
<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.54; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.43;">https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php</cite></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?ei=xBs5XeYj47rQ8Q-1uryABQ&q=montana+state+news+bureau+helena&oq=montana+state+news+bureau+helena&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i160l2.18400.20147..23198...0.0..0.108.686.4j3......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j33i299j33i22i29i30.Vkm_JbRxbGw&ved=&uact=5#" id="am-b6" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8Q7B0wBnoECAkQAg" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.6px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QqR8wBnoECAkQAw" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); font-size: 13px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; white-space: nowrap; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:u0iXm0iFt5QJ:https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php+&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:u0iXm0iFt5QJ:https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php%2B%26cd%3D7%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QIDAGegQICRAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); cursor: pointer; font-size: 14px; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; color: rgb(84, 84, 84); line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:u0iXm0iFt5QJ:https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php+&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:u0iXm0iFt5QJ:https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/montana_state_coverage.php%2B%26cd%3D7%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QIDAGegQICRAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); cursor: pointer; font-size: 14px; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.54; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119); line-height: 1.54;">Jun 4, 2015 -&nbsp;</span>For journalists in&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">Montana</span>&nbsp;who have long memories, the summer of 1979 was a ... coverage and Lee Enterprises,&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">Montana's</span>&nbsp;largest&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">newspaper</span>&nbsp;chain. Last week, Lee closed its&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">state bureau</span>&nbsp;in&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">Helena</span>, leaving two of the&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">state's</span>&nbsp;...</span></a></font></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAgQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFSgAMAd6BAgIEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/ap-bureau-chief-retires/article_f04963d3-4ade-5492-bf96-2e4916c58534.html" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/ap-bureau-chief-retires/article_f04963d3-4ade-5492-bf96-2e4916c58534.html&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAHegQICBAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); 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cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/ap-bureau-chief-retires/article_f04963d3-4ade-5492-bf96-2e4916c58534.html" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/ap-bureau-chief-retires/article_f04963d3-4ade-5492-bf96-2e4916c58534.html&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAHegQICBAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/ap-bureau-chief-retires/article_f04963d3-4ade-5492-bf96-2e4916c58534.html" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/ap-bureau-chief-retires/article_f04963d3-4ade-5492-bf96-2e4916c58534.html&ved=2ahUKEwjQq4bLis_jAhWtJDQIHZ3gAh8QFjAHegQICBAB" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 153); cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">AP bureau chief retires | State & Regional | missoulian.com</a></font></h3>
<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.54; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.43;">https://missoulian.com/news/state...bureau.../article_f04963d3-4ade-5492-bf96-2e4916c...</cite></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; color: rgb(84, 84, 84); line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.54; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119); line-height: 1.54;">Mar 13, 2005 -&nbsp;</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">HELENA</span>&nbsp;- For more than 40 years, an otherwise mild-mannered and polite ... Kuglin ran&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">Montana's</span>&nbsp;largest&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">news bureau</span>, which provides&nbsp;...</span></font></div></div></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">new 10/18</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><div class="yiv0245623599item-hed" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://go.propublica.org/e/125411/l-utm-campaign-dailynewsletter/5qhfvl/297365099" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">&nbsp;Montana, a Tough Negotiator Proved Employers Don’t Have to Pay So Much for Health Care</font></a></font></div><div class="yiv0245623599byline" style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.1;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by Marshall Allen</font></font></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 22px; width: 436px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With its employee health plan in financial crisis, Montana hired a former insurance insider who pushed back against industry players with vested interests in keeping costs high. She proved, essentially, that bargaining down health care prices works....</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 22px; width: 436px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Treating protest as terrorism': US plans crackdown on Keystone XL activists</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Documents suggest an aggressive response to possible protests against the oil pipeline amid fears of another Standing Rock</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Will Parrish and Sam Levin</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thu 20 Sep 2018 04.00 EDT Last modified on Thu 20 Sep 2018 11.39 EDT</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shares</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">10,742</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Protests at Standing Rock during the resistance to the Dakota Access pipeline.&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Protests at Standing Rock during the resistance to the Dakota Access pipeline. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Angeline Cheek is preparing for disaster. The indigenous organizer from the Fort Peck reservation in Montana fears that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline could break and spill, destroy her tribe’s water, and desecrate sacred Native American sites.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But environmental catastrophe is not the most immediate threat.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The government has characterized pipeline opponents like her as “extremists” and violent criminals and warned of potential “terrorism”, according to recently released records.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Life on the Keystone XL route: where opponents fear the ‘black snake’</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Read more</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The documents suggested that police were organizing to launch an aggressive response to possible Keystone protests, echoing the actions against the Standing Rock movement in North Dakota. There, officers engaged in intense surveillance and faced widespread accusations of excessive force and brutality.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We have to stay one step ahead at all times,” said Cheek, a Hunkpapa and Oglala Lakota activist and teacher. “History is repeating itself.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The proposed TransCanada project would carry a daily load of 830,000 barrels of oil over 1,204 miles – from Alberta, Canada to Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, linking to the existing Keystone pipeline and Texas refineries. The path of the project, which was revived by Donald Trump last year, would cross dozens of rivers and streams and run near a number of Native American reservations, sparking legal challenges and a judge’s recent order for a full environmental review.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If the pipeline gets final approvals and construction advances in the coming months, some are anticipating massive demonstrations similar to the fight against the Dakota Access pipeline (Dapl). That conflict galvanized a global movement, but also led to FBI monitoring and the prolonged prosecution of hundreds of activists.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Documents obtained by the ACLU of Montana and reviewed by the Guardian have renewed concerns from civil rights advocates about the government’s treatment of indigenous activists known as water protectors.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Treating protest as terrorism is highly problematic</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mike German, former FBI agent</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Notably, one record revealed that authorities hosted a recent “anti-terrorism” training session in Montana. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency also organized a “field force operations” training to teach “mass-arrest procedures”, “riot-control formations” and other “crowd-control methods”.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A US justice department intelligence specialist told the Guardian the terrorism training was an annual presentation not specific to Keystone. But the ACLU noted that its records request was specifically about the pipeline protests, suggesting that authorities considered the session relevant to Keystone preparation.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The repeated mass arrests at Standing Rock led to a litany of charges, but hundreds were eventually dismissed due to lack of evidence. Police deployed water cannons, teargas grenades, bean bag rounds and a wide array of weapons in North Dakota.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Many of our residents were in Standing Rock, and they saw the level of violence that could be visited on us,” said Remi Bald Eagle, the intergovernmental affairs coordinator of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, which is located along the Keystone route. “There’s a level of anxiety and fear because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;A depot used to store pipes for the planned Keystone XL oil pipeline in North Dakota.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook Twitter Pinterest&nbsp; A depot used to store pipes for the planned Keystone XL oil pipeline in North Dakota. Photograph: Andrew Cullen/Reuters</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Resistance Now: Sign up for weekly news updates about the movement</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Read more</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ACLU of Montana, which filed a lawsuit this month against the government seeking Keystone records, earlier obtained a DHS report that said pipeline protesters were engaged in “criminal disruptions and violent incidents”. The report included two past cases of alleged “environmental rights extremists” committing violence.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the events in question – a 2012 bombing and a 2015 shootout with police – had no clear links to any environmental protests, said Mike German, a former FBI agent and fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Treating protest as terrorism is highly problematic,” said German, noting that the US government has long labeled activism as “terrorism”, once claiming that filing public records requests was an “extremist” tactic. “It’s an effective way of suppressing protest activity and creating an enormous burden for people who want to go out and express their concerns.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The “terrorist” and “extremist” labels can be used to justify brutality and a militarized operation, said Andrea Carter, an attorney with the Water Protector Legal Collective, a group that has represented Standing Rock defendants.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;They are instant experts on quashing the indigenous insurgency. It’s very, very concerning</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rachel Lederman, civil rights lawyer</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s a really egregious tactic,” she said, noting that the labels also lay the groundwork for prosecutors to turn low-level misdemeanor cases into federal felony trials. “A lot of it has to do with public relations.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Montana documents have also shone a light on the coordination between governments across state lines, raising questions about how extensively law enforcement was devoting resources to Keystone protests before they had materialized. An email from the Montana fish, wildlife and parks department from earlier this year said state officials had conducted “extensive conversations with North Dakota to learn what worked and what didn’t work” when responding to Dapl demonstrations.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana authorities have done further training sessions on harnessing social media and have begun monitoring posts of anti-pipeline activists, a sheriff said at one meeting, according to a local news report.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The records also highlighted the existing relationships between law enforcement and TransCanada. A county sheriff included a TransCanada executive on communications about one law enforcement training. In August 2017, the Montana Petroleum Association, a trade group, also hosted a panel on “environmental activism” in the state, featuring three law enforcement officers alongside TransCanada’s senior security adviser.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rachel Lederman, a civil rights lawyer representing Standing Rock activists in a civil case, said it was alarming to see that law enforcement from North Dakota was giving advice about future pipeline protests: “They are instant experts on quashing the indigenous insurgency. It’s very, very concerning, because what happened at Standing Rock was just a wholesale violation of civil rights.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">John Barnes, a Montana justice department spokesman, defended the preparation efforts, saying in an email to the Guardian that authorities were committed to protecting “the first amendment rights of everyone while also protecting private property and public safety”. He added: “In North Dakota, bad actors associated with the Dakota Access pipeline protests maliciously targeted public officials and law-enforcement personnel online, and so it is important that people be prepared here.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;A protests against the Keystone XL pipeline in Washington.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook Twitter Pinterest&nbsp; A protests against the Keystone XL pipeline in Washington. Photograph: Gary Cameron/Reuters</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some activists said the law enforcement tactics would not deter them from Keystone opposition efforts – whether in court or on the ground.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We’ve got a lot against us. We’re the underdog,” said Lance Four Star, the Fort Peck Assiniboine council chairman, who recounted a recent incident of harassment and heckling by a pro-pipeline, pro-Trump group while the tribe was doing a ceremony. “I may never see the results of my efforts in my lifetime, but hopefully our grandchildren will. What we’re protecting now is this water we inherited.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Peck said she was also concerned about a potential increase in violence against indigenous women, stemming from the “man camps” where oil workers live. But the Montana wildlife department appeared to minimize this concern in one of the records, saying, “Although man-camps bring a certain degree of law enforcement challenges, the primary enforcement focus is protest activity.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Organizers have discussed a “variety of strategies” to oppose construction, including “prayer camps” similar to Standing Rock, said Cheyenne River Sioux tribal member Joye Braun, who organized against Dapl and has been involved in Keystone efforts.&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Clearly, they’re scared of the power of our movement,” she said, adding that she accepted the reality that she may be under surveillance when she travels the pipeline route to meet activists. “We haven’t gone anywhere, and we’re just building momentum.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Native Americans know the risks are immense. But the “terrorism” label would not intimidate them, said Leoyla Cowboy, the wife of Little Feather, who was recently sentenced to three years in federal prison for “civil disorder” at Standing Rock.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“As indigenous people, it’s embedded in our DNA. It’s our obligation to stand up.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BAK 918</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see montanbk&nbsp; &nbsp;text backup 10/15</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">legal/judge boot camp dude ranch? aug 19 fedsoc bozeman scalia</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">tester, rehberg, ati,&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">lnx</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">angeline Cheek is preparing for disaster. The indigenous organizer from the Fort Peck reservation in Montana fears that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline could break and spill, destroy her tribe’s water, and desecrate sacred Native American sites.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But environmental catastrophe is not the most immediate threat.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The government has characterized pipeline opponents like her as “extremists” and violent criminals and warned of potential “terrorism”, according to recently released records.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Life on the Keystone XL route: where opponents fear the ‘black snake’</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Read more</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The documents suggested that police were organizing to launch an aggressive response to possible Keystone protests, echoing the actions against the Standing Rock movement in North Dakota. There, officers engaged in intense surveillance and faced widespread accusations of excessive force and brutality.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We have to stay one step ahead at all times,” said Cheek, a Hunkpapa and Oglala Lakota activist and teacher. “History is repeating itself.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The proposed TransCanada project would carry a daily load of 830,000 barrels of oil over 1,204 miles – from Alberta, Canada to Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, linking to the existing Keystone pipeline and Texas refineries. The path of the project, which was revived by Donald Trump last year, would cross dozens of rivers and streams and run near a number of Native American reservations, sparking legal challenges and a judge’s recent order for a full environmental review.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If the pipeline gets final approvals and construction advances in the coming months, some are anticipating massive demonstrations similar to the fight against the Dakota Access pipeline (Dapl). That conflict galvanized a global movement, but also led to FBI monitoring and the prolonged prosecution of hundreds of activists.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Documents obtained by the ACLU of Montana and reviewed by the Guardian have renewed concerns from civil rights advocates about the government’s treatment of indigenous activists known as water protectors.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Notably, one record revealed that authorities hosted a recent “anti-terrorism” training session in Montana. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency also organized a “field force operations” training to teach “mass-arrest procedures”, “riot-control formations” and other “crowd-control methods”.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A US justice department intelligence specialist told the Guardian the terrorism training was an annual presentation not specific to Keystone. But the ACLU noted that its records request was specifically about the pipeline protests, suggesting that authorities considered the session relevant to Keystone preparation.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The repeated mass arrests at Standing Rock led to a litany of charges, but hundreds were eventually dismissed due to lack of evidence. Police deployed water cannons, teargas grenades, bean bag rounds and a wide array of weapons in North Dakota.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Many of our residents were in Standing Rock, and they saw the level of violence that could be visited on us,” said Remi Bald Eagle, the intergovernmental affairs coordinator of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, which is located along the Keystone route. “There’s a level of anxiety and fear because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”...</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ACLU of Montana, which filed a lawsuit this month against the government seeking Keystone records, earlier obtained a DHS report that said pipeline protesters were engaged in “criminal disruptions and violent incidents”. The report included two past cases of alleged “environmental rights extremists” committing violence.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the events in question – a 2012 bombing and a 2015 shootout with police – had no clear links to any environmental protests, said Mike German, a former FBI agent and fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Treating protest as terrorism is highly problematic,” said German, noting that the US government has long labeled activism as “terrorism”, once claiming that filing public records requests was an “extremist” tactic. “It’s an effective way of suppressing protest activity and creating an enormous burden for people who want to go out and express their concerns.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The “terrorist” and “extremist” labels can be used to justify brutality and a militarized operation, said Andrea Carter, an attorney with the Water Protector Legal Collective, a group that has represented Standing Rock defendants.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">T</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s a really egregious tactic,” she said, noting that the labels also lay the groundwork for prosecutors to turn low-level misdemeanor cases into federal felony trials. “A lot of it has to do with public relations.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Montana documents have also shone a light on the coordination between governments across state lines, raising questions about how extensively law enforcement was devoting resources to Keystone protests before they had materialized. An email from the Montana fish, wildlife and parks department from earlier this year said state officials had conducted “extensive conversations with North Dakota to learn what worked and what didn’t work” when responding to Dapl demonstrations.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana authorities have done further training sessions on harnessing social media and have begun monitoring posts of anti-pipeline activists, a sheriff said at one meeting, according to a local news report.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The records also highlighted the existing relationships between law enforcement and TransCanada. A county sheriff included a TransCanada executive on communications about one law enforcement training. In August 2017, the Montana Petroleum Association, a trade group, also hosted a panel on “environmental activism” in the state, featuring three law enforcement officers alongside TransCanada’s senior security adviser.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rachel Lederman, a civil rights lawyer representing Standing Rock activistsin a civil case, said it was alarming to see that law enforcement from North Dakota was giving advice about future pipeline protests: “They are instant experts on quashing the indigenous insurgency. It’s very, very concerning, because what happened at Standing Rock was just a wholesale violation of civil rights.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">John Barnes, a Montana justice department spokesman, defended the preparation efforts, saying in an email to the Guardian that authorities were committed to protecting “the first amendment rights of everyone while also protecting private property and public safety”. He added: “In North Dakota, bad actors associated with the Dakota Access pipeline protests maliciously targeted public officials and law-enforcement personnel online, and so it is important that people be prepared here.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://YYY.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/20/keystone-pipeline-protest-activism-crackdown-standing-rock</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">big sky $ frontline oct 2012</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/big-sky-big-money/</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; </font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">404 elsewhere</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://flatheadbeacon.com/2016/11/01/montana-official-national-group-broke-disclosure-law-court-race/</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana Official: National Group Broke Disclosure Law in Court Race</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republican State Leadership Committee's Judicial Fairness Initiative has until Wednesday to file campaign finance report</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BY MATT VOLZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS // NOV 1, 2016</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">HELENA — A national organization that seeks to elect conservative judges blatantly violated state law by not reporting $268,000 that was used for attack ads against a Montana Supreme Court candidate, the state’s campaign finance regulator said Tuesday.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl gave the Republican State Leadership Committee’s Judicial Fairness Initiative until 3 p.m. Wednesday to register and file a campaign finance report detailing where the money came from.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I fully expect them to comply,” Motl said. “If they don’t, we have options available.” Those options include having a judge issue an order for the organization to show cause.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Motl’s decision is the latest development in the highly contentious race between District Judge Dirk Sandefur of Great Falls and University of Montana adjunct law professor Kristen Juras for an open seat on the state’s highest court. The nonpartisan race has seen a flood of outside money with partisan interests, including the RSLC cash that helps Juras and about $60,000 from the state Democratic Party, which is backing Sandefur.&nbsp; Republican State Leadership Committee spokeswoman Ellie Hockenbury did not have an immediate comment.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The RSLC money went to a political committee called Stop Set ‘Em Free Sandefur, which used the cash to create a website, ad and mailers portraying Sandefur soft on crime. The anti-Sandefur organization reported in its campaign finance filings that the source of the money was the RSLC’s Montana-registered political committee.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, that committee did not disclose any spending in that amount, prompting a complaint by the executive director of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, which backs Sandefur.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Motl said he talked to the RSLC’s attorney, who told Motl that the money actually came from a different RSLC-affiliated group that is registered with the IRS as a tax-exempt 527 organization and is therefore not regulated by any campaign practice laws.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Motl, in the decision, called that position “foolhardy” and said the group’s IRS status does not exempt it from registering as a political committee when it is active in a Montana election.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It is hard to fathom the logic of this attempt to avoid Montana reporting and disclosure laws,” Motl wrote in the decision.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The commissioner ordered the group to report and disclose the $268,000 it received in contributions and expenditures. He also ordered the anti-Sandefur political committee and the RSLC’s Montana political committee to update their filings.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Campaign violations are usually resolved through a cash settlement negotiated by the commissioner’s office and the violator, but they can go to court if a settlement is not reached.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3/17</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MoveOn members helped boost Jon Ossoff's campaign, and it's making national headlines. Can we do the same for Rob Quist?</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Quist’s Republican opponent, selected Monday night, is high-tech entrepreneur Greg Gianforte, who was also the GOP’s unsuccessful 2016 candidate for governor. Daines worked for Gianforte at RightNow Technologies. The software company, now owned by Oracle, was founded by Gianforte in Bozeman 20 years ago.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://corporationsarenotpeople.com/2012/11/07/montana-voters-give-the-boot-to-citizens-united-reject-activist-courts-creating-corporate-rights/</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana voters, calling for the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, have proved decisively the cross-partisan rejection of activist courts creating corporate rights and unleashing unlimited election spending as in Citizens United v. FEC. Montana voters of all parties overwhelmingly passed&nbsp; a ballot initiative calling for a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and the related “corporate rights” doctrine on which the decision rested.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana, a state that Governor Mitt Romney handily won in the presidential race, adopted the initiative, I-166, by a 75-25% margin. (See Montana Secretary of State, Corporations Do Not Have Constitutional Rights).&nbsp; The initiative instructs Montana lawmakers to work for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn Citizens United v. FEC, the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that corporations and unions have a Constitutional right to unlimited elections spending. The initiative spells out that corporations do not have Constitutional rights (as opposed to rights provided by the state laws of incorporation), and that the States and Congress have the authority to enact spending and contribution limits and other measures to ensure free, fair elections.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">C.B. Pearson of Stand With Montanans said that Montana’s voters overwhelmingly insisted that “corporations are not people and money is not speech,” and will work to overturn the Supreme Court’s misstep:</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With this initiative, Montanans are calling on every elected official in Montana to fight for fair elections and fight to overturn the horrible Citizen United decision with a constitutional amendment that says ‘Corporations Aren’t People and Money is not Speech.’ The fight for fair elections free of the corrupting influence of big money is just beginning.&nbsp; All Montanans need to work together to clean up our elections, end the big money scandal, and address the problem of secret money.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the same time, Colorado voters passed Amendment 65 by a similarly lopsided margin. The initiative also calls for a Constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United and restore to the American people the responsibility and power to decide how best to ensure that money does not overwhelm republican democracy. The Colorado results are here.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Press Release of Stand With Montanans follows.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NEWS RELEASE</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">November 7th, 2012</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;For more information:</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CB Pearson 406-544-0032</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Voters Overwhelmingly Endorse Initiative 166</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Say Corporate Money Should be Out of Our Elections Montanans to Stand Against Big Money in Elections</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">HELENA — Montana voters strongly endorsed I-166, the Prohibition on Corporate Contributions and Expenditures in Montana Elections Act, by a margin of three-to-one giving the citizen initiative a vote of 75 percent.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This election has been unprecedented for big money and secret money; Montanans, and our country, need to stand together to address the problem of corporate money in our elections,” said C.B. Pearson, treasurer for I-166 and a long-time Montana campaign reform advocate. “With this vote, Montanans have provided much needed leadership on this important issue, much as we did 100 years ago with the passage of the Corrupt Practices Act. Montana experienced firsthand abusive, corrupt corporations trying to run the business of this state, and now we face a potential new era of corruption. That is why passing I-166 is so important.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“With this initiative, Montanans are calling on every elected official in Montana to fight for fair elections and fight to overturn the horrible Citizen United decision with a constitutional amendment that says ‘Corporations Aren’t People and Money is not Speech.’” said Pearson.&nbsp; “The fight for fair elections free of the corrupting influence of big money is just beginning.&nbsp; All Montanans need to work together to clean up our elections, end the big money scandal, and address the problem of secret money.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I-166 received bipartisan support from prominent Montana political figures. Governor Brian Schweitzer (D), Lt. Governor John Bohlinger (R), and former Secretary of State Verner Bertelsen (R) were the first to sign the petition to place I-166 on the ballot and came together to author the argument for I-166 in the Voter Information Pamphlet.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We need to get the dirty, secret, corporate, foreign money out of our elections,” said Governor Brian Schweitzer.&nbsp; “Just as we did over 100 years ago, Montanans stood-up and took the first step, sending a clear message to the nation that corporations are not people and money does not equal speech.&nbsp; Now it’s up to Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to get the dirty, secret, corporate, foreign money out of our elections for good.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Supporters of I-166 believe that the strong passage of the measure in Montana will have a ripple effect throughout the country, and will ultimately lead to the overturning of the Citizens United decision.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Montana’s rebellion against corporate money in politics has sparked a fire that has already spread to many states and will soon be spreading to many more,” said Derek Cressman, Vice President of State Operations for Common Cause, a good government group and one of the lead supporters of the Stand with Montanans campaign in partnership with Free Speech for People. “We are already getting inquiries from leaders in other states who want to launch similar initiatives in 2014 to keep pushing back against the court’s big mistake in Citizens United,” he added.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Montanans voting for I-166 in such strong numbers reflects how important it is to Americans everywhere that we overrule the U.S. Supreme Court and overturn Citizens United with a constitutional amendment, and the fact that it happened in Montana shows the geographic sweep and trans-partisan depth of this growing national movement,” said Peter Schurman, Campaign Director of Free Speech For People, a national non-profit organization founded the day of the Citizens United decision that leads and catalyzes the national movement for a constitutional amendment to overturn it and to rein in unchecked corporate power.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With this historic vote Montana voters became one of the first two states where voters have gone on record calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizen United decision.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More information is available at www.StandWithMontanans.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/StandWithMontanans, on Twitter, @STANDwMONTANANS, and by calling (406) 356-NOV6 (6686).</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">opposed:</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">f in their words, they have already begun the constitutional process “on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states,” how can they assume support for a final amendment that was never put before the good people of the previous 17 states? I wonder if they include Montana in that 17 state count, after I-166 was struck down, and how many other state resolutions were subsequently struck down with the same legal findings.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sen. Jerry O’Neil rose and suggested with some great analysis that this new amendment would in fact weaken and damage the First Amendment. It would be difficult to analyze this definitively because we in fact do not have a single version of the proposed 28th Amendment to study. Not to mention, this has been deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court: Spending money is a form of free speech. It could be easily argued this amendment would infringe on free speech by that measure alone.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;If you look at the groups sponsoring this event, including American Promise, Free Speech for People, Common Cause Montana, MontPIRG and others, just research their funding sources and you can readily assume the final version adopted would only apply to corporations (not unions), and thus not actually solve our problems. In fact, this would just perpetuate our problem more by allowing for unions and other associations to have unfettered access to political outcomes with spending money, while prohibiting corporations from having the same. This was in fact the way it was before the Citizens United case corrected that problem.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The only dog I have in this fight would be my hope that every group play by the same rules, and it seems that is what 75 percent of Montana would agree by reading the language of I-166. If you’re trying to prevent the assumed evils derived from unlimited spending during elections, the only path must include associations, foreign governments, unions, corporations, non-profits and even other states.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It is unfortunate that such a respectable group of Montanans would support such a noble cause as “a level playing field in campaign spending,” yet taint it with such obvious illusion, questionable process, and an outcome different than what the folks you’re selling to expect.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Skees, of Kalispell, is the Republican candidate in House District 11.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Monday, July 23, 2012, a lawsuit was filed with the Montana Supreme Court aimed at blocking the measure from the ballot this fall. The lawsuit was filed by Sen. David Lewis (R-42), businessman Phil Lilleberg, and the group Montanans Opposed to I-166. The complaint filed with the court stated that the measure "is not legally sufficient to appear on the state’s general election ballot, and that the statements prepared for the petition and the ballot do not meet the requirements of (state law)."[10]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Friday, August 10, the Montana Supreme Court delivered a ruling keeping the measure on the November ballot. The court ruled on the issue saying, "The petition does not allege nor does this Court find that the petition was legally insufficient as to the requirements for submission of a proposed ballot issue." Within hours of the decision, lawyers for Montanans Opposed to I-166 filed a separate lawsuit challenging the measure with the United States District Court for the District of Montana.[11]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana District Court Judge David Cybulski announced that he would not rule on the merits of I-166 before the election. He would, however, address whether or not Attorney General Steve Bullock and Secretary of State Linda McCulloch acted incorrectly when they allowed I-166 on the ballot. If Bullock and McCulloch were found to have made a mistake by placing the measure on the ballot, the court could have ordered election officials to not count votes for the initiative.[9]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, this did not come to fruition.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In December 2013, a lower state court struck down I-66 in Rickert v McCulloch, Lewis and Clark County. It invalidated the portion of the initiative which required state legislators to craft an amendment to the state constitution that would overturn Citizens United v Federal Election Commission. The ruling was based on a 1984 Montana Supreme Court case in which an initiative that ordered state legislators take specific action was struck down. Rickert v McCulloch, Lewis and Clark County did uphold the part of I-166 that states: "unlimited corporate donations creates a dominating impact on the Montana political process and inevitably minimizes the impact of individual Montana citizens."[3]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dave Lewis (b. October 10, 1942) is a former Republican member of the Montana State Senate, representing District 42 from 2005 to 2015. Lewis did not seek re-election in 2014.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lewis served in the Montana House of Representatives from 2001 to 2005.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Biography</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lewis earned his B.S. in Finance from the University of Idaho in 1964. His professional experience includes working as State Director of Human Services, Executive Director on the Board of Investments for the State of Montana, and State Budget Director for the State of Montana.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://freespeechforpeople.org/montana-supreme-court-rejects-i-166-challenge/</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">HELENA – The people of Montana won the right to vote on I-166 this November when in a 6 to 1 decision Montana’s Supreme Court rejected an attempt by opponents to remove it from the ballot.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This frivolous lawsuit was nothing more than corporate hired guns trying to deny the people of Montana a chance to vote on a citizen initiative, one that clearly states corporations aren’t people and money is not speech,” said C.B. Pearson, Campaign Treasurer, Stand with Montanans: Corporations Aren’t People – Ban Corporate Campaign Spending. “Thankfully, the Montana Supreme Court recognized that this lawsuit was a cynical attempt by opponents to block a vote on one of the most important issues of our time.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The suit was brought by a newly formed group called Montanans Opposed to I-166 as well as State Sen. Dave Lewis and Billings businessman and former Republican legislative candidate Phil Lilleberg, represented by Chris Gallus and James Brown.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2010, Mr. Gallus represented the payday and car title lending industry in two similar lawsuits filed to remove I-164 – an initiative to limit interest rates on these type of loans – from the ballot. Both of those lawsuits also failed.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Brown is an attorney for American Tradition Partnership, the group that challenged the Montana Corrupt Practices Act, and is challenging other Montana campaign finance laws in an effort to eliminate contribution limits, disclosure requirements, and campaign finance reporting.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“These secretive, large out-of-state corporate interests have contempt for Montana voters and our fair elections system,” said Pearson. “They don’t believe Montana voters should have a say in how our elections are funded and run, and they think big, unlimited, secret money should be allowed to buy our elections. They won’t say who is funding their campaign or this lawsuit.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The lawsuit alleged that the ballot language and the initiative itself do not comply with Montana laws and, therefore, I-166 should not be allowed to appear on the November ballot. However, opponents declined to participate in the process that allows opponents to weigh in with the Attorney General during approval of a proposed initiative.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“They had their chance to weigh-in during review process and while the petition was circulating but they decided not to participate in the process,” said Pearson. “The Montana Supreme Court saw this lawsuit for what it was – a well-funded effort to disenfranchise every Montana voter.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The lawsuit brought by opponents was filed against the Montana Attorney General and the Montana Secretary of State. However, Jon Motl, representing Stand with Montanans: Corporations Aren’t People – Ban Corporate Campaign Spending, filed an amicus brief with the Court, defending against the challenge to I-166.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The wise use movement: A briefing paper for Montana (and the Northern Rockies) Unknown Binding – 1992</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by Robert L Barry (Author)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.amazon.com/wise-use-movement-briefing-Northern/dp/B0006PFAMM</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">copper kings</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.alternet.org/activism/anti-governent-groups-show-interest-montana-pond-building-case</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Joseph David Robertson, a 77-year-old retired construction company owner who has battled the federal government for more than a decade, was convicted in April on two counts of unauthorized discharge of pollutants into U.S. waters and a third count of injury or depredation of federal property.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">U.S. Forest Service and the Environmental Protection Agency agents investigated a series of illegal ponds Robertson constructed between October 2013 and October 2014 on two properties near Basin, Mont., south of Helena. His actions “resulted in the discharge of dredged and fill material into a tributary and adjacent wetlands located on those two properties, causing widespread damage to both properties,” federal prosecutors said in court filings.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Robertson is scheduled to be sentenced on July 20 in Missoula by Senior U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy. He faces fines up to $50,000 per day for illegal discharges into U.S. waters, up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for damaging federal property.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Already, a variety of far-right antigovernment groups and militias are rallying to Robertson’s defense, with one extremist radio host publicly suggesting there may need to take up arms to oppose the “federal supremacists.” The case is garnering attention from Oath Keepers, the John Birch Society, the Coalition of Western States and “Redoubt News” sites supporting an enclave of Patriots in the Northwest.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Robertson was a featured speaker last weekend at a meeting of 100 antigovernment activists – some of them reportedly from as far away as Illinois and Arizona -- who gathered in Plains, Mont.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rally organizers said it was to support “political prisoners,” including Jake Ryan, of Plains, who is one of the 26 defendants under indictment for their roles in the Oregon refuge takeover.&nbsp; Like Robertson, Ryan was accused of using heavy equipment to damage federal property.&nbsp; Organizers claimed the rally was supported by Montana gubernatorial candidate Ted Dunlap, who’s a Libertarian.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Robertson shared the stage with Jeanette Finicum, the widow of LaVoy Finicum, who was fatally shot in January at a police road block established to arrest those extremists including Cliven Bundy’s sons, Ammon and Ryan, who had occupied Malheur National Wildlife with assorted militia groups, including members of the III Percent movement.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nevada congressional candidate Michele Fiore, a Bundy family supporter and a vocal gun rights advocate, spoke to the group by telephone.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">lavin bill</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">corp right to vote</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=486&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=HB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20131</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://peoplespowerleague.info/about/about.htm</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Montana Corrupt Practices Act</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It's a delicate balancing act to pit freedom of speech against fair and honest elections. However, Montana can lead the nation in finding a way to make the improbable possible.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Following are four stories that prove the adage that "Truth is Stranger than Fiction"</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why Did the Initiative Pass?&nbsp; &nbsp;Story 1</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 1911, the Montana Legislature, under corporate control, expanded the state militia to protect the property of the mining companies. The original 12-page law was now 62 pages.&nbsp; The law adopted European military design with counties providing armories and military supplies at their own expense.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Every able-bodied man between 18 and 45 could be called up and serve up to three years. This included men who were not U.S. citizens or who could not speak or read English.&nbsp; Those exempt were criminals, lunatics, idiots or those in government positions.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If the call to arms went out and a man delayed to respond more than 24 hours, he was a deserter and dealt with under the Articles of War of the U.S. Army. If a doctor provided the deserter with a false certificate of disability, the doctor would permanently lose his license to practice.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Governor could call out the reserve for major breaches of the peace, but a mayor or sheriff could make a call to handle a mob or rowdy citizens.&nbsp; For the privilege of taking up arms when called, the workingman paid a new tax to cover the expansion of the militia act.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There were some bright spots for the conscripted.&nbsp; He had the "right of way" as he traveled.&nbsp; If anyone "annoyed or molested" him, they would be arrested.&nbsp; If he did damage to the life, limb or property of another, he could not be prosecuted.&nbsp; If the Vigilantes were still about, they could not pursue and hang a marauding gang of militia men.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana citizens hated the new law and the new tax.&nbsp; Counties objected to the obligation to build and equip armories.&nbsp; People eagerly signed petitions to put the new law to a vote. The People's Power League carried petitions and advocated the repeal.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"(L)aw abiding citizens of the state who pay taxes and don’t need military protection must pay a tax to protect Amalgamated Copper that never kept a law it could break or paid a cent of taxes it could evade."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kalispell Bee&nbsp; (April 11, 1911)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Among the new military powers that loom upon the world horizon and must be reckoned with in future international relations is our own home state of Montana. With military laws as exacting as those of Germany and Russia she aspires to a place in the galaxy of world powers."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Miles Romney, Western News&nbsp; (June 20,1911)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">M.M. Donoghue, President, and O.M. Partelow, Secretary, of the State Federation of Labor of Montana reported the following in the American Federalist (1913, Vol. 20, Page 757)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Some two years ago the unions and individual members thereof united with other individuals in the formation of the People's Power League, the object being to secure by direct legislation some of the enactments deemed beneficial to the workers of the State. By the union of forces under the People's Power League, the State Federation of Labor aided by many of the members of all political parties initiated and put to a referendum of the voters of the State a Direct Primary law, a Corrupt Practices act, a Preferential Selection of Presidential Electors law, and a law instructing Representatives on the selection of United States Senators. These four initiative measures were all approved by the people."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The labor organizations also demanded that the most obnoxious military law ever enacted in the West be put to a referendum.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"This measure was enacted at a previous session of the Legislature over the protests of the entire State labor movement. Thereafter we circulated petitions demanding a referendum, secured sufficient signatures, and entered on a vigorous campaign for its defeat. We published our argument against the enactment, printed sample ballots to aid the voter in voting, had moving picture slides made and displayed in the many theaters throughout the State, illustrating the ballot and instructing how to vote. At the polls we rejected the law as passed by a vote of four to one."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why Did the Initiative Pass?&nbsp; &nbsp;Story 2</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A bill in equity was filed by representatives of the legal department of the national government in federal court at Helena which was of interest and importance to the people of Montana, seeking remedy for injuries to vegetation and trees on government lands from poisons precipitated by smoke from the Anaconda Copper Mining Company's Anaconda smelter. It is an outgrowth of investigation instituted by President Roosevelt, on motion of farmers in the Deer Lodge Valley. The agents of the copper combine manipulated public officials and public sentiment to have the case thrown out.&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The special assistant to the U.S. attorney general, Ligon Johnston had previously brought a similar suit in the State of Georgia versus Tennessee Copper Company. The U.S. Supreme Court decided that case against the mining company. The case against the copper combine in Montana was not prosecuted. There was no verdict. (Now how could that be?)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In May, 1911, Attorney General Wickersham, entered into a stipulation with the Anaconda Copper Company whereby the government would drop prosecution for damages to public forests or lands from smelter fumes if the company would operate its smelters to meet the approval of a board of three mining experts whose salaries would be paid by the company.&nbsp; (The three mining experts allowed the pollutants to flow from the stacks and gave the nation its largest Super Fund Site.&nbsp; Tax dollars are still being spent on clean up.)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; J.C. Murphy, Montana Lookout&nbsp; (March 19, 1910)&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why Did the Initiative Pass?&nbsp; &nbsp;Story 3</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; During the 1911 Legislative Session, Senator William Meyer was approached by a lobbyist for the Amalgamated Copper Company, John G. Morony.&nbsp; &nbsp;Morony asked Senator Meyer to support a little local bill that was important to the company.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; "Well, Johnnie, I am with you upon any matter in which I can conscientiously assist you. What is the proposition?"</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; "Well, it is a bill to give us the right to secure some water power from northern Montana."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; Morony outlined the details of the measure, whereupon Senator Meyer said: "Morony, I cannot give you my support for that measure."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; The matter was dropped for the time, but a little later Morony met Senator Meyer in a hotel. He approached the Carbon County Senator with, "Meyer, will you support that measure?"</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; "No, sir; I will not."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; "Senator Meyer, I will give you another chance. You go to the senate and vote against the bill, if you must, but keep your mouth shut. Will you do that?"</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; "Now, Johnnie, you know I would not sit down and say nothing on that bill."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; "Say, Bill Meyer! I'll give you just one more chance.&nbsp; Manage not to be present in the senate when the vote is taken."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; "Mr. Morony, I will be in the senate chamber, in my seat, voting."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; The corporate boss became very angry, swung his arms, shook his fists and proclaimed so that all of those nearby might hear: "Bill Meyer, if you vote against that bill I will camp on your trail the rest of my life, and I will get you."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; Senator Meyer was not intimidated. He spoke on the bill.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"What is this bill? It is simply a proposition whereby one corporation can control the whole state, body and soul. ... Every business interest in this state will be jeopardized.&nbsp; It will apply to foreign as well as domestic corporations."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Senator Wm. Meyer, Speech opposing HB 160 on February 27, Montana Legislature, reported byWestern News&nbsp; (March 3, 1909)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It was six months later when the first comprehensive use of this little local law by corporate management was brought to public knowledge. The well-regulated trust was dead, long live the holding company."&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; J.C. Murphy, Montana Lookout&nbsp; (March 19, 1910)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; Mr. Meyer decided to run for Congress in 1912. His campaign took him to Butte where he became ill. He never returned home and died at the age of 55.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; Carbon County Journal&nbsp; (October 25, 1912)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why Did the Initiative Pass?&nbsp; &nbsp;Story 4</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It is concisely exact to state that every daily paper published in Butte, Anaconda, Helena, Great Falls, Billings, and Missoula (with the single exception of The Missoulian, published by United States Senator Dixon), was subject in policy to the control and influence of copper combine management or agencies when the campaign opened in 1912. This list included every daily paper in the state having more than a purely local circulation, and did not include the local dailies subject to the same influence. Similar conditions obtain in the conduct of the majority of weekly papers.&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In those localities where the combine did not have mines, or smelters, or saw mills, or company stores, or public utility enterprises, with patronage to bestow, it had banking connections, attorneys, and political protégés, with power over merchants or command over city and county printing. Where all these resources failed, there remained the power of direction of the expenditure of large campaign funds, collected to great extent from combine coffers and agencies, and dispersed by campaign managers selected by combine bosses, with affable manners and accommodating disposition as well as abundant resources to negotiate loans for the relief of struggling publishers.&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The possibilities in this one branch of newspaper direction and the precarious position of the average publisher in a new state under combine control is indicated by the fact that in 1909 a carefully compiled list showed less than 120 newspaper publications in the state, while two years later no less than fifty of these had suspended publication or changed nominal ownership and control ; this record being almost the only tribute to honest editors who 'hewed to the line', letting the chattel mortgages fall where they might."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; J. C. Murphy, The Comical History of Montana,&nbsp; Scofield 1912</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Corrupt Practices Act, 1912, State of Montana, as it pertains to corporations:</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Section 25.&nbsp; No corporation, and no person, trustee, or trustees owning or holding the majority of the stock of a corporation carrying on the business of a bank, savings bank, cooperative bank, trust, trustees, surety, indemnity, safe deposit, insurance, railroad, street railway, telegraph, telephone, gas, electric light, heat, power, canal, aqueduct, water, cemetery, or crematory company, or any company having the right to take or condemn land or exercise franchise in public ways granted by the state or by any county, city or town, shall pay or contribute in order to aid, promote or prevent the nomination or election of any person, or in order to aid or promote the interests, success or defeat of any political party or organization. No person shall solicit or receive such payment of contribution from such corporation or such holder of a majority of such stock.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Section 50. In like manner as prescribed for the contesting of an election, any corporation organized under the laws of or doing business in the state of Montana may be brought into court on the ground of deliberate, serious and material violation of the provisions of this act. The petition shall be filed in the district court in the county where said corporation has its principal office, or where the violation of law is averred to have been committed. The court, upon conviction of such corporation, may impose a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars, or may declare a forfeiture of the charter and franchises of the corporation if organized under the laws of this state, or if it be a foreign corporation may enjoin said corporation from further transacting business in this state, or by both such fine and forfeiture or by both such fine and injunction.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Free Speech For People supports the initiative to Revoke Massey Energy's corporate charter&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">and stands behind Montana's Corrupt Practices Act. Learn about these issues below:&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Download the amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to revisit the Citizens United decision and uphold Montana's Corrupt Practices Act</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Download the press release: Amicus Brief Filed by Free Speech For People and Business Groups Urging the Supreme Court to Reverse Citizens United</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Statement on the US Supreme Court's decision striking down Montana's Corrupt Practices Act</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Press Release: US Supreme Court Must Carefully Consider Montana’s Corporate Campaign Spending Ban</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Download the press release: Montana Supreme Court Upholds State's Century-Old Ban on Corporate Money in Elections</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Download the amicus brief in defense of Montana's Corrupt Practices Act</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Download the press release: Coalition of Business Groups Joins Free Speech For People in Defense of Montana's Ban on Corporate Money in Elections</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Listen to the oral argument before the Montana Supreme Court regarding the upholding of the Montana Corrupt Practices Act</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; http://freespeechforpeople.org/initiatives</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">House Candidates Divided On Belief That Humans Contribute To Climate Change</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By MATTHEW BROWN and LISA BAUMANN 08/03/14 07:44 PM ET EDT AP</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana's U.S. House candidates claim to offer "all-of-the-above" solutions to the nation's energy problems— a familiar mantra among politicians keen to give equal attention to fossil fuels and renewables such as wind and solar.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet stark differences in the details of their proposals reveal a wide divide. Republican Ryan Zinke is a staunch fossil fuels advocate who questions humanity's role in climate change. Democrat John Lewis touts the potential for renewables that he says could transform the state's energy sector over the long-term, and says the effects of climate change are evident.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The candidate's dueling visions could play a significant role in November as voters in energy-rich Montana seek distinctions in the contest for the state's sole House seat, left open when first-term Republican Rep. Steve Daines decided to run for U.S. Senate. Oil and gas are in abundance in eastern Montana, which includes part of the booming Bakken oil region and some of the largest coal reserves in the world.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Zinke said those fuels offer the best hope for the U.S. to break its reliance on foreign sources. His plan seeks to streamline permitting processes to speed up oil and gas drilling on lands managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The opportunity for energy independence in the short term-remains primarily with fossil fuels, primarily driven by the shale play," he said, referring to the shale oil found in the Bakken.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lewis puts his emphasis on non-traditional energy sources including wind, hydro and solar power and plant-based fuels such as diesel derived from the crop camelina, which is a member of the mustard family.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The long-time aide to former U.S. Sen. Max Baucus said he also supports fossil fuels, although the energy plan Lewis unveiled last month largely skipped over oil and natural gas. Those industries are doing well on their own, Lewis said.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Zinke says he's against subsidies for wind energy, Lewis wants to revive a wind power production tax credit that expired at the end of 2013.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We invest heavily in oil, gas, coal as it is with tax credits and tax breaks," Lewis said. "We invest in those resources, why wouldn't we invest in the future"</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On climate change, Lewis said Montanans can see its effects in drought and wildfires.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But Zinke has his doubts about humanity's role in climate change; he says rising ocean temperatures have a greater influence.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The evidence strongly suggests that humans have had an influence on higher CO2," Zinke said. "However, the evidence is equally as strong that there are other factors, such as rising ocean temperatures, that have a greater influence."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That claim was disputed by a University of Montana professor and member of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Regents Professor Steve Running said Zinke's characterization "doesn't square with the facts at all."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We can say quite confidently that 90 to 95 of this carbon trend is human induced," Running said. "A tiny fraction is natural variability. It's the additions that humans are making, to what was close to a balanced system before."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Lewis and Zinke tout "all-of-the-above," their Libertarian opponent Mike Fellows wants government to take more of an "opt-out" approach.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He said the market should work on energy development without subsidies.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We've subsidized too many projects over the years that have been fruitless," he said, mentioning the corn ethanol mandate as an example.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He's against the TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL oil pipeline, which he says will take private property from landowners. Both Lewis and Zinke want the pipeline approved.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.mhrn.org/RadicalRight.html</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Montana Human Rights Network evolved out of communities' concerns about radical right activists setting up shop around Montana. What this activity looked like varied from place to place. In the Northwestern corner of the state, it was white supremacists literally moving to local towns from Aryan Nations' headquarters in Idaho. On the Flathead Reservation, it was groups opposing tribal initiatives across the board. In Billings, it was neo-Nazi skinheads terrorizing the local Jewish community.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of the Network's primary objectives is to help Montanans understand the anti-democratic forces that show up in their communities. The Network commits significant resources to conducting opposition research and making this information available to local citizens, the media, and law enforcement. The Network believes that, in order for communities to respond to the radical right, they need to have the resources to understand what is going on in their communities.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Margins to the Mainstream</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It would be bad enough if hardcore white supremacists and other radical right activists only impacted the communities in which they live. However, over the last decade, the Network has documented how extreme right-wing ideas increasingly find their way into the political mainstream. During the early 1990s, groups like the Militia of Montana and Montana Freemen used gun rights and anti-tax diatribes to recruit from the mainstream. By the end of the decade, Congressmen had brought the militia's "New World Order" conspiracies to the floor of the U.S. House, and conservatives sounded alarmingly like Freemen in speeches advocating cuts in income taxes and abolishment of the IRS. Currently, this same dynamic is happening in the debate surrounding immigration reform. The margins definitely influence the political mainstream, and combating this dynamic has to start at the community level.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Articles</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Groups say more extremists flowing into Flathead Valley</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hate in the Last Best Place</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MT Human Rights Network claims threat by white supremacist</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ignoring hate groups won't make them go away- Great Falls Tribune editorial</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mont. tea party removes leader after anti-gay post</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">State seeing new rise in anti-government, hate groups</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Are they defenders of the Constitution or anti-government extremists? DIVIDING LINES: 'Patriots,' 'Oath Keepers' rattle Big Timber</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leading Holocaust denier to speak in Billings</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Taking Tea Partiers Seriously- Progressive</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=UQawZxnJI-YnYteMe5icqA Buffalo slaughter] : In harsh winters like this one, Yellowstone's bison -- the last genetically pure wild bison in the country -- naturally migrate outside the park in a desperate search for food, where the National Park Service rounds them up and ships them off to slaughter. More than 250 wild bison, symbols of the American West, have already been needlessly killed this year.3/14.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Money matters dominate 2012 Montana elections</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NOVEMBER 04, 2012 4:00 PM&nbsp; •&nbsp; ASSOCIATED PRESS</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">HELENA - The Montana 2012 election season has been dominated by battles over money that promise to continue long after Election Day - thanks largely to the anonymous backers of a Virginia-based nonprofit that Gov. Brian Schweitzer is now calling a "criminal organization."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Less than a week before the election, Schweitzer rallied a crowd against anonymous political money and American Tradition Partnership. The governor said the group is engaged in using "dirty, secret, corporate and foreign" money in a conspiracy to influence Montana elections.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I'd be surprised if this doesn't end with some people in jail," Schweitzer told enthusiastic backers of an initiative on the ballot that opposes constitutional rights for corporations and declares their money is not protected speech.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The brouhaha served as a capper to an election year that has been as much about the influence of money as it was about candidates.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The state's race for governor ended in a court battle over a previously unheard of $500,000 donation, federal courts tossed state laws governing money in politics in an ongoing tussle balancing free speech vs. political corruption, and mailboxes were flooded with exaggerated attack fliers. Money flooded into the race between U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Denny Rehberg in an endless barrage of attack advertisements that no voter was able to miss.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Perhaps no group embodied the fight over campaign finance spending and laws than the secretive American Tradition Partnership. Originally launched in 2008 as Western Tradition Partnership by two Bozeman Republicans, it has since moved to the Washington D.C-area and fought in court for two years to avoid requirements that it disclose its political spending and fundraising.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Thursday, a district judge said he will sanction the group for failing to provide court-ordered records that state attorneys argue will show ATP is masquerading as a nonprofit to avoid disclosure and election laws.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Also, that same day, police reported a break-in at the state office where campaign finance records are kept, including documents an ATP consultant alleges the state is wrongly holding - documents ATP foes argue will show the group is illegally coordinating its activity directly with candidates.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The group has convinced the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year to throw out Montana's century-old restrictions on some corporate political spending. Another ongoing lawsuit involving the group prompted a federal judge to toss the state's limits on campaign contributions just a month before the election - a decision suspended six days later by an appeals court.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During that time Rick Hill, the Republican candidate for governor, took a $500,000 donation.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Democrat Steve Bullock sued to block the donation as illegal, arguing it far exceeds the reinstated cumulative donation cap of $22,600 from political parties. The argument dominated the final two weeks of the governor's race. A state judge blocked Hill from spending the money, saying it likely was an illegal donation.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ATP, an active mailer of campaign attack mailers in local legislative races, has turned its focus on Bullock - who as attorney general has fought ATP in court. The group attacked Bullock with online advertisements and a look-alike "newspaper" showing Bullock in a lineup with registered sex offenders. The group said 120,000 were being mailed, and said its aim as an "informational, educational and lobbying group" is to pressure candidates to change positions.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bullock fought back, closing his campaign by linking Hill to ATP since the lawsuit paved the way for the contested donation and relentlessly hammering Hill over the money.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"If this race is about character, the Congressman is out of his league against Steve Bullock," said Bullock spokeswoman Kate Downen.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republicans were upset as well by outside spending. The state GOP filed a federal complaint last week over a last-minute flier mailed statewide that attacked Rehberg as a "pork barrel" conservative, and endorsed Libertarian Dan Cox as the true conservative in the race. But Cox didn't pay for the ad - and the flier had no disclosure on it.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The GOP alleged a liberal-leaning group known as Montana Hunters and Angler was behind it, since it did air television ads with a similar message. The group denied the allegation. The group did send a similar mailer promoting Cox that did have ownership disclosure on it.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It was another example of the outside spending that has dominated the Montana Senate race. As much as two-thirds of the attack advertisements have been paid for by out-of-state groups, some who appear to have been launched for the sole purpose of swaying public opinion this election cycle.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Political Scientist David Parker said about $40 million, in total by all parties, will be spent in the race - roughly a 30 percent increase over Tester's narrow 2006 win over Conrad Burns. Still, for all that spending the race is ending the way it started: about tied.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Parker said complaints have always raged over money in politics. But he said the ability to use that money to reach into homes with technology is more pervasive.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And Parker said the ATP legal tangles and outrageous mailers - which opponents argue are being illegally coordinated with candidates - is really an eye-opener. He said the group's lawsuits seeking undisclosed, unlimited money are not helpful.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"American Tradition Partnership is engaged in vandalizing the public square," Parker said. "ATP seems to be a perfect poster boy for bad behavior."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The courts will still be sorting out the disputes over Montana campaign finance spending after Election Day.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A judge said he will announce sanctions against American Tradition Partnership for failing to produce documents in its fight against penalties from the Commissioner of Political Practices. The attorney general's office wants ATP's legal challenge dismissed so the penalties can be assessed.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ATP argues it is not involved in "electioneering," and that disclosure harms its constitutional rights to free speech.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is currently considering a decision from a federal court to throw out the state's contribution limits as unconstitutional, based on arguments from ATP and others that the limits are too low to allow effective campaigning.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And the Legislature could get involved next year.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last week, Local ATP attorney James Brown of Helena confronted the protesters riled by Schweitzer. He advised them they should use their energy seeking new laws requiring disclosure. Brown called it "laughable" that he represents a criminal group.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Your remedy is through the Legislature, it is not to harass people," Brown said. "If you have a problem with the way the system works, change it."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">cowgirl:</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">State Rep. Mike Miller (R-Helmville) is the latest Republican legislator under investigation for illegal campaign activity, the AP reported.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">His name was found in a box of documents in a meth house which later became the subject of a brilliant work of national investigative journalism. In a full-hour exposé of Montana politics and the secretive right-wing group, PBS’s show Frontline revealed that a secret stash of incriminating documents has been found in a meth house, showing extensive communications between these and perhaps other legislative candidates and the American Traditions Partnership, and showing that the ATP was even preparing campaign material for them.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The list of others who could be investigated because documents and campaign materials with their names were found in the meth house includes–but is not limited to–current and former legislators Ed Butcher, Bob Wagner, Wendy Warburton, Jerry O’Neil, and Derek Skees. Rep. Dan Kennedy (R-Laurel) is already under investigation.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">coc had fake paper, the recorder, also&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A month before the vote, Montana residents woke up to a fake newspaper on their doorstep called “The Montana Statesman.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The publication calls itself “the largest and most trusted news source” but is actually a series of ATP-funded attacks on Bullock. It leads with a giant headline that reads “Bullock Admits Failure.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The “news” story below claims that the attorney general has let “1 in 4 sex offenders go unregistered.” It includes four photos: three registered sex offenders and Bullock.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The group can continue to raise money on the promise that “no politician, no bureaucrat, and no radical environmentalist will ever know you helped make this program possible,” as its 2010 briefing to donors reads. “You can just sit back on election night and see what a difference you’ve made.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Unsworth says his 2010 investigation did not stop ATP, and outside spending that has already flooded the state is sure to intensify, particularly in light of the Citizens United decision. He calls the advertising a “mess of trash that lays at the feet of the public,” paid for by “funny money with no legal constraints.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We don’t know who’s saying these crazy things,” he added, “so the public has to suffer and our political system suffers as a result.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Scalia spoke before more than 300 people in Bozeman in a gathering sponsored by the Federalist Society, which he helped launch more than 30 years ago to fight the perception of liberal bias at the nation's law schools. The group is trying to open a chapter in Montana.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Scalia was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, and his opinions have placed him among the most conservative justices on the bench.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It's the second time in three years the 77-year-old justice has spoken in Bozeman. In 2010, he gave a speech at Montana State University's Museum of the Rockies.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/the-human-cost-of-stuff/bringing-bison-and-biodiversity-back-to-the-prairie Bringing Bison and Biodiversity Back to the Prairie]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;A Montana-based nonprofit is moving to preserve 3.5 million acres of the Great Plains.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Willaim Clark</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">illiam Andrews Clark, Sr. (January 8, 1839 – March 2, 1925) was an American politician and entrepreneur, involved with mining, banking, and railroads.[2]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contents&nbsp; &nbsp;[hide]&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1 Biography</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2 Political career</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3 Family</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3.1 William Andrews Clark, Jr.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3.2 Huguette Marcelle Clark</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4 Clarkdale, Arizona</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">5 Clark County, Nevada, and art collection</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">6 See also</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">7 Notes</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">8 Sources</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">9 External links</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Biography</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">paper, circa 1906</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clark was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. He moved with his family to Iowa in 1856 where he taught school and studied law at Iowa Wesleyan College. After working in quartz mines in Colorado, in 1863, Clark made his way to Montana to find his fortune in the gold rush.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He settled in the capital of Montana Territory, Bannack, Montana, and began placer mining. Though his claim paid only moderately, Clark invested his earnings in becoming a trader, driving mules back and forth between Salt Lake City and the boomtowns of Montana to transport eggs and other basic supplies.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He soon changed careers again and became a banker in Deer Lodge, Montana. He repossessed mining properties when owners defaulted on their loans, placing him in the mining industry. He made a fortune with smallsmelters, electric power companies, newspapers, railroads and other businesses, becoming known as one of three "Copper Kings" of Butte, Montana, along with Marcus Dalyand F. Augustus Heinze.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Between 1884 and 1888, Clark constructed a 34-room, Tiffany-decorated, multimillion dollar home, incorporating the most modern inventions available, in Butte, Montana. This home is now the Copper King Mansion bed-and-breakfast and museum.[3]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Political career]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clark served as president of both Montana state constitutional conventions in 1884 and 1889.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Newspaper political cartoon from the October 28, 1900 issue of The Anaconda Standard depicting Clark bribing state legislators by thowing wads of money through hotel transom windows.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Political cartoon depicting William A. Clark bribing state legislators.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clark yearned to be a statesman and used his newspaper, the Butte Miner, to push his political ambitions. At this time, Butte was one of the largest cities in the West. He became a hero in Helena, Montana, by campaigning for its selection as the state capital instead of Anaconda. This battle for the placement of the capital had subtle Irish vs. English, Catholic vs. Protestant, and Masonic vs. non-Masonic elements. Clark's long-standing dream of becoming a United States Senator resulted in scandal in 1899 when it was revealed that he bribed members of the Montana State Legislature in return for their votes. At the time, U.S. Senators were chosen by their respective state legislators. The corruption of his election contributed to the passage of the 17th Amendment. The U.S. Senate refused to seat Clark because of the 1899 bribery scheme, but a later senate campaign was successful, and he served a single term from 1901 until 1907. In responding to criticism of his bribery of the Montana legislature, Clark is reported to have said, "I never bought a man who wasn't for sale."[4]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clark died at the age of 86 in his mansion at 952 Fifth Avenue in New York City, one of the 50 richest Americans ever.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an 1907 essay Mark Twain portrayed Clark as the very embodiment of Gilded Age excess and corruption:</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He is as rotten a human being as can be found anywhere under the flag; he is a shame to the American nation, and no one has helped to send him to the Senate who did not know that his proper place was the penitentiary, with a ball and chain on his legs. To my mind he is the most disgusting creature that the republic has produced since Tweed's time.[5]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Family</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">right) and Andrée (left) c. 1917</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">William married Catherine Louise "Kate" Stauffer (1840 Pennsylvania - 1893 New York). They had the following children;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mary Joaquina (May) Clark Culver Kling de Brabant (January 1870 Montana - December 19, 1939New York)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Charles Walker (Charlie) Clark (November 3, 1871 Montana - April 3, 1933 New York)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">William Andrews Clark, Jr. (March 29, 1877 Montana - June 14, 1934 California)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Paul Francis Clark (January 1880 France - 1896)</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Katherine Louise Clark Morris (May 11, 1882 Montana - unknown) [6]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After Kate's death, William married the woman who had been his teenage ward, Anna Eugenia La Chapelle (March 10, 1878 Michigan - October 11, 1963 New York). They claimed to have been married in 1901 in France. Anna was 23 and William was 62.[7] They had two children;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Louise Amelia Andrée Clark (August 13, 1902 Spain - August 6, 1919 Maine); died of meningitis</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Huguette Marcelle Clark (June 9, 1906 Paris, France - May 24, 2011 New York City).[8]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">William Andrews Clark, Jr.[edit source | editbeta]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clark's son, William Andrews Clark, Jr., founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1919, left his library of rare books and manuscripts to the regents of the University of California, Los Angeles. Today, the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library specializes in English literature and history from 1641 to 1800, materials related to Oscar Wilde and his associates, and fine printing.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Huguette Marcelle Clark</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Main article: Huguette M. Clark</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Born in Paris, France, in June 1906, Huguette (pronounced: hyoo-GETT) was known as a reclusive heiress, who was the younger daughter of former U.S. Senator William A. Clark's children with his second wife, Anna Eugenia La Chapelle. She was reportedly "devastated" by the death of her sister in 1919, but in the mid-1920s she was fixture in the society pages of the New York City newspapers as one America's most eligible young women. She made her society debut in 1926, one year after her father died. In 1928 she married William MacDonald Gower, the son of a business associate of her late father. Their marriage lasted less than one year and in 1930 she traveled to Reno, Nevada, to obtain a quick, uncontested divorce: a photograph taken of her the day her divorce became final was the last image ever made public. She retreated to her magnificent 42-room Manhattan apartments on New York's Fifth Avenue at 72nd Street, overlooking Central Park, and lived in isolation with her mother. In 1988, she moved out of her apartment and lived the remainder of her life, voluntarily, in New York City hospitals.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In February 2010, she became the subject of a series of reports on msnbc.com after caretakers at all three of her residences had not seen her in decades despite the fact she controlled a net worth estimated at $500 million, including a $24 million estate in Connecticut, and her Fifth Ave. apartment valued at $100 million. It was later determined that she was in the care of a New York City hospital. Building staff reported that she was frail but not ill when she left her Fifth Avenue co-op in an ambulance in the late 1980s. In August 2010, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office initiated a probe into the her affairs managed by her accountant, Irving Kamsler, and her attorney, Wallace Bock.[9][10][11] Recently Bock submitted a legal response to a petition filed by three of her relatives seeking to have an independent guardian put in charge of her affairs. In that filing he states that in 1988 Huguette Clark voluntarily decided to live at Mount Sinai Medical Center before being transferred to Beth Israel Medical Center where she died on the morning of May 24, 2011. She was 104.[12]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clarkdale, Arizona[edit source | editbeta]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clarkdale, Arizona, named for Clark, was the site of smelting operations for Clark's mines in nearby Jerome, Arizona. The town includes the historic Clark Mansion, which sustained severe fire damage on June 25, 2010. Clarkdale is home to the Verde Canyon Railroad wilderness train ride which follows the historic route that Clark had constructed in 1911.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clark County, Nevada, and art collection[edit source | editbeta]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clark's art collection was donated to the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. after his death, greatly enriching that museum's holdings of European as well as American art. The Clark donation also included the construction of a new wing for the Corcoran, known appropriately as the Clark Wing.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The city of Las Vegas was established as a maintenance stop for Clark's San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. The Las Vegas area was organized as Clark County, Nevada, in Clark's honor.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana Experiment Brings NHS-Style Health Care to USA; Saves State Millions, Patients Delighted&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/31/1227946/-Montana-Experiment-Brings-NHS-Style-Health-Care-to-USA-Saves-State-Millions-Patients-Delighted</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bozeman, MT 59718</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana Policy Institute</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Phone: (406) 219-0508</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">E-mail: cgraham@montanapolicy.org</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Web: http://www.montanapolicy.org</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">David Keene</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">David Keene is President of the National Rifle Association after recently passing the torch as Chairman of the American Conservative Union, the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots conservative lobbying organization. He is also a Managing Associate at the Carmen Group, a lobbying firm in Washington, DC. David has a home north of Helena, where he enjoys the outdoor splendors of our great state.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Keene was the National Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom as a student and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He has been a John F. Kennedy Fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, a First Amendment Fellow at Vanderbilt University’s Freedom Forum, and a member of the Board of Visitors at Duke University’s Public Policy School.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Keene served as a Special Assistant to Vice President Spiro Agnew in the Nixon Administration. He then became Executive Assistant to New York Senator Jim Buckley on Capitol Hill. In addition to advising local, state and national figures in all manner of campaigns, he has been Southern Regional Political Director for Ronald Reagan’s 1976 presidential campaign; National Political Director for George Bush’s 1980 presidential race; Senior Advisor to former Senator Bob Dole in 1988 and advisor to Dole’s presidential campaign in 1996. Most recently he advised Governor Mitt Romney in his 2008 Presidential race.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Keene is recognized as one of the chief spokesmen for conservative principles and politics on television and radio, and is widely quoted. He has written for publications such as National Review, the Washington Times and The Boston Globe. He is a weekly columnist for The Hill, a newspaper covering Congress.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana Taxpayers Association</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Property & Environment Research Center</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Posted: June 7, 2012 at 8:43 pm</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ANALYSIS: CORPORATE MONEY IN THE 2012 PRIMARY</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For those who believe that last year’s TEA Party Republican Legislature has inflicted enough trauma on Montana, consider that what happened in this week’s primary election spells a looming disaster for the next session.&nbsp; Out-of-state corporate groups worked in the primaries to push the already Bat Crap Crazy Montana legislature further rightward and over the cliff.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mailers by third party, out-of-state, and corporate-funded groups succeeded in several races in getting more conservative candidates elected in GOP Primaries across the state.&nbsp; Their work was also designed to force a further rightward shift in the votes of all legislators in the next session.&nbsp; That’s because legislators who don’t currently vote hard right on every single bill now know that if they don’t toe the line next time, they are likely to face the same kind of attack ads and mailers we saw this year.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The attack mailers had an impact on several high profile races–putting in right-wingers over moderates in Laurel, Stevensville, Sidney, Polson, the Flathead, and who knows where else.&nbsp; &nbsp;Not only do these groups refuse to disclose how much their spending and who they are spending it on, they also refuse to disclose their donors.&nbsp; If their supporters were individual Montana citizens they would have nothing to hide and could just file as a Political Action Committee.&nbsp; But they don’t. They claim that their attack ads are “educational” rather than “electioneering” so that they don’t have to report who’s bankrolling them. Besides their ridiculous names, here’s what is known about the groups pushing the Montana Legislature further into the abyss.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Taxpayers for Liberty”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An outside ultraconservative group calling itself “Taxpayers for Liberty” (linked to American Tradition Partnership) sent out mailers like those pasted belowagainst Republican Rep. Carmine Mowbray and Republican Sen. Bruce Tutvedt.&nbsp; The group sent one mailer with a Washington DC return address.&nbsp; Another had the return address of the Helena UPS store.&nbsp; So, it’s unlikely a Montana group.&nbsp; There’s no record of “Taxpayers for Liberty” in the Montana Secretary of State’s database or with the Commissioner of Political Practices either.&nbsp; The group does not disclose its donors so the involvement of corporate or Koch brothers money can’t be ruled out. Even though they didn’t succeed in ousting Tutvedt, they still succeeded in sending a message that anyone who doesn’t vote hardline Bat Crap can expect the same treatment in 2014, thus resulting in a further right leaning legislature in January.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Montana Family Foundation”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The massive amount of secret, corporate and out-of-state money at work in the Montana primaries allowed the groups that had worked in these races in the past to be more effective.&nbsp; Thanks to corporate money, special interest lobbying groups working in conservative races like the so-called Montana Family Foundation didn’t have to get involved in every primary this year.&nbsp; They could be more targeted, and more deadly.&nbsp; In fact, after a Montana judge that struck down the law requiring accuracy in campaign ads, the Montana Family Foundation called the court decision “a good thing”and a victory, the Flathead Beaconreported.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The group put out radio ads mailers claiming that Republican legislators Carmine Mowbray and Bruce Tutvedt:“voted to allow fifth graders to be taught different sexual positions and variations and to allow “kindergarten students to be taught sexual detail without parental consent,”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Click here to listen to the radio ad: MTF1201_Tutvedt</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To be sure, Montana Family Foundation lobbyist Jeff Laszloffy insisted he’d already planned to put the attacks out before the accuracy requirement was struck.&nbsp; Mowbray and Tutvedt both immediately denounced the attacks as the lies they are.&nbsp; (Which is somewhat ironic since they remained silent when their own party used the exact same attacks against Democrats in 2010–even after they were proven false.)&nbsp; The GOP has since removed the the press release on the sex ed attacks from their website.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You can tell the Family Foundation attack ads are designed to scare Republicans into making outrageous votes by looking at the groups “C-2?–a statement PACs are required to file with the Commissioner of Political Practices.&nbsp; The [PDF] form reads so explicitly it is a veritable ”kill list” of Republicans who didn’t vote how lobbyist Laszloffy ordered.&nbsp; &nbsp;If you don’t vote like we tell you, this form says, you’re next.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Laszloffy attacked Tutvedt and Mowbray by distorting their voting records, but why he targeted Republican candidate Tami Christensen in Sidney is a puzzle.&nbsp; How Laszloffy came to the conclusion that she doesn’t meet his creepy purity test is unclear, since out of hundreds of legislative candidates, only one bothered to fill out Laszoffy’s questionnaire.&nbsp; One wonders if it was just because she’s a woman.&nbsp; Several local Republicans spoke out against the Family Foundation’s actions, including the Mayor andformer State Legislator Sen. Donald Steinbeisser.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“American Traditions Partnership”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The American Tradition Partnership put out a press release this week claiming “ATP Sweeps State Legislative Elections,” and that they had won 12 of the 14 races in which they spent massive amounts of corporate money.&nbsp; &nbsp;Odd that they would put out this release after claiming in a Montana court that what they do is “issue education” rather than electioneering. The group boasted of radio ads and mailers.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The quotes from their release were particularly outrageous, given that ATP is funded by large out-of-state and multi-national corporations:“This isn’t just a victory for ATP-Montana, it’s a victory for all ratepayers, property owners and businesspeople across the Treasure State,” said Doug Lair, State Coordinator for ATP-Montana. “Whether it’s against foreign corporations coming after our property rights or Gang Green’s hand-picked politicians bilking us through our utility bills, ATP-Montana will continue to fight for working people.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">and“ATP is going to make sure there are consequences for regulation-happy politicians who want to use mom-and-pop business owners and employers as nothing more than punching bags and ATM machines,” added Lair, “and we won’t be shut up or shut down.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ATP also threatened to buy the November elections, and threatened Steve Bullock in particular, saying that“a pro-resource development agenda is sure to weigh heavily in the legislative elections in November, and particularly as party nominees Rick Hill and Steve Bullock face off in the race for governor.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In legislative races, ATP sent out mailers like this one supporting Dee Brown in the Republican primary for the Whitefish/Columbia Falls State Senate Seat, SD 2. Previously they favored TEA Party poster boy Rep. Derek Skees in the HD4 general.&nbsp; This is the group that sued Montana to allow inaccurate campaign ads, keep election donations secret, and turn back MT’s 100 year old ban on corporate funding of elections. Attorney General Steve Bullock is defending Montana against the out-of-state group.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This demagoguing flier was mailed with heavy saturation in Whitefish, Columbia Falls, and who knows where else:</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Montana Growth Network”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This group worked in the Supreme Court race,&nbsp; but since Montana TEA Party Republican legislator Jason Priest is the groups treasurer I’m including it here. The Supreme Court race is non-partisan but the Helena IR reported that“the Montana Growth Network, spent $19,000 with Richmond, Va.-based Desumo Strategies, which on its website lists as its one goal “Putting Republicans like you in office, at every level.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By spending more on one saturation mailing then the conservative candidate they were backing had raised for her entire campaign, this corporate front group took the first step to buying the Supreme Court seat.&nbsp; Laurie McKinnon, who dog whistled at Lincoln Reagan dinners across Montana about “judicial activism,” “strict constructionist” and other conservative buzzwords was pushed past front-runner Elizabeth Best–in spite of reports of alleged Judicial Code of Ethics violations reported inMontana papers across the state.&nbsp; The allegations involve a fundraising letter sent out on McKinnon’s behalf,&nbsp; paid for by Laurie McKinnon’s campaign, from a sitting conservative Judge, Nels Swandal.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Swandal’s political views, the Billings Gazette reported that:State District Judge Nels Swandal, who’s running for an open seat on the Montana Supreme Court, sent some clear signals Saturday to Republicans that he is the more conservative candidate in the race, saying he didn’t have or want the endorsement of a prominent labor or conservation group."Swandal, speaking at a forum at the Republican Party Platform Convention in Billings, said some of the questions posed by the Montana AFL-CIO to candidates “are among the most un-American ideas I’ve ever seen,” and that he wouldn’t seek endorsement of the Montana Conservation Voters “because of their assault on private property.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With groups like this pushing Montana further into nutjob territory, it’s easy to see why leaders like Steve Bullock, Brian Schweitzer and citizens from all over the state are fighting so hard to restore accuracy, transparency, and citizen input into Montana elections.&nbsp; What remains of the right to vote when the only messages most people get on issues of public policy are those put forward by large businesses, out-of-staters, and those with huge amounts of disposable cashby&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cowgirl Posted in 2012 Elections, Governor's Race, Judicial, Legislative Races, Montana GOP, TEA Party Tagged with 2012 Governor's race, American Traditions Partnership, Bill Beck, Bruce Tutvedt, Carmine Mowbray, Citizens United,Corporate Spending, Dee Brown, Derek Skees, Desumo Strategies, disclosure, Elizabeth Best, it's legal to lie in Montana elections, Janna Taylor, Jason Priest, Jeff Laszloffy, kill list,Laurie McKinnon, lies, Montana Family Foundation, Montana Growth Network, Nels Swandal, out-of-state corporations, Rick Hill, shadow groups, Steve Bullock, Taxpayers for Liberty</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">June 02, 2010 10:00 pm&nbsp; •&nbsp; By MIKE DENNISON Missoulian State Bureau(0) Comments HELENA -</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;One week before the June 8 primary election, Republican House candidate Kelly Flynn of Townsend has found himself targeted by an unknown group labeling him an ally of "liberal Washington insiders working with a violent left-wing union.""I'm a conservative candidate," he said Wednesday. "But I feel pretty helpless when we get down to the last few days of a campaign and something like this, which is an outright lie, comes out to the voters. It's discouraging."Flynn is not the only Republican legislative candidate in Montana on the receiving end of independent campaign mailers, sent to voters, calling them "liberal" or suggesting they're not supporting conservative issues.Mailers from different groups have shown up in a handful of contested Republican primaries in recent days, questioning one of the candidate's commitment to conservative causes, such as gun rights or low taxes.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Commissioner of Political Practices Dennis Unsworth said the groups appear to be breaking Montana campaign laws by failing to register with his office and disclose how they're raising and spending their money.The mailers are trying to influence elections and therefore are campaign spending, and state law requires specific disclosure of the donors and spending of campaign funds, Unsworth said."These are shady characters trying to dupe voters," he said. "They think they need to hide, for some reason. They are working hard to avoid disclosure."The mailer attacking Flynn came from a group called Assembly Action Fund, with a Lewistown Post Office box. It is not registered with the state as a political committee and doesn't show up as a business registered with the secretary of state.The mailer says the fund is a "grassroots lobbying group organized under IRS 501(c)4," which is a nonprofit tax code. Under federal law, a 501(c)4 group is organized for educational purposes, and does not have to disclose its financial donors. Flynn, a rancher, is one of two Republicans running for the open seat in House District 68, which includes Townsend and stretches south to suburban Belgrade. His primary opponent is Terry Bannan, a building contractor from Belgrade.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ward mentions howie rich 2006 crap</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">F]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bonogofsky v. Assembly Action Fund - Commissioner of Political ...&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">politicalpractices.mt.gov/.../BonogofskyvAssemblyActionFundComplaint?&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lewistown, MT 59457. Phone Numbers: Work ... The attached ?yer and the radio ad, by theAssembly Action Fund attacking Debra Bonogofsky, a candidate for ...</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[PDF]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ward v. Assembly Action Fund - Commissioner of Political Practices&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">politicalpractices.mt.gov/content/.../WardvAssemblyActionFundComplai...?&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Complete Name Assembly Action Fund. Complete Mailing Address PO Box 3662.Lewistown. MT 59457. Phone Numbers: Work unknown Home unknown.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[PDF]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clark v. Assembly Action Fund - Commissioner of Political Practices&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">politicalpractices.mt.gov/content/.../ClarkvAssemblyActionFundComplia...?&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Assembly Action Fund mailed a ?yer to voters in Montana's HD 68 attacking Kelly Flynn, a candidate running in ... states that The Assembly Action Fund “does not support or oppose candidates for public. of?ce," a .... Lewistown, MT 59457.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Attack mailers showing up in contested Republican ... - Mis</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Richard "Rick" Hill (born December 30, 1946) is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Montana.[1] He was the Republican candidate for Governor of Montana in 2012.[2]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contents&nbsp; &nbsp;[hide]&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1 Early life, education, and business career</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2 Early political career</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3 U.S. House of Representatives</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3.1 Elections</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3.2 Tenure</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3.3 Committee assignments</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4 2012 gubernatorial election</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">5 Personal life</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">6 References</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">7 External links</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Early life, education, and business career[edit]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hill was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was one of four children and grew up in a one-room apartment in the back of a tire repair shop. At age four Rick was paralyzed by polio. In 1964, he graduated from Atkin High School in Atkin, Montana. In 1968, he graduated from Saint Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Hill received his Juris Doctor degree in 2005 from the Concord Law School in Los Angeles, California.[1]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He owns a surety bonding company.[citation needed]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Early political career[edit]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He served as Republican precinct committeeman and state committeeman from Lewis and Clark County, Montana; member, served on the board of directors, Montana Science and Technology Alliance; and chaired the Montana State Worker’s Compensation Board from 1993-1996.[1]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 1993 Governor Marc Racicot asked Hill to act as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Montana State Fund, where he worked in a volunteer, unpaid capacity for three years.[citation needed]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">U.S. House of Representatives[edit]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Elections[edit]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 1996, Hill ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Montana's At-large congressional district.[1] He won the Republican primary with a plurality of 44% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Democrat Bill Yellowtail, who had been a Regional Administrator for the United States Environmental Protection Agency,[3] 52%-43%.[4] In November 1998, Hill won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic nominee Dusty Deschamps 53%-44%.[5]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2000, Hill decided not to run for re-election to a third term, citing vision problems, which were subsequently corrected. The election was won by Republican nominee Denny Rehberg, who defeated Nancy Keenan,[6] a three-term State School Superintendent.[7]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tenure[edit]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Between 1997 and 2000, Hill sponsored 32 bills, of which 22 did not made it out of committee and four were passed into law by Congress.[8] He voted with the Republican party 91% of the time.[9]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Committee assignments[edit]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hill served on the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources.[10]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2012 gubernatorial election[edit]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Main article: Montana gubernatorial election, 2012</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In November 2010, he announced he would run for Governor of Montana in 2012.[11] He chose State Senator Jon Sonju as his running mate.[12] He lost to Democrat Steve Bullock.[13]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Personal life[edit]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In May 1976, Hill filed for divorce from his first wife, Mary Hill (née Spaulding), after having an affair with another woman. In 1980, after the couple failed to reconcile, Spaulding filed for divorce and Hill obtained custody of the three children.[14][15][16] He married his second wife, Betti, in 1983.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">References</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">22 February 2013</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Steve Lavin’s voting rights act for non-resident property owners</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">steve_lavin_small_mug</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Update. As I expected, tabled in committee. If Rep. Steve Lavin (R-Kalispell) gets his way, owners of property in, say, Troy, but who live in, say, Ekalaka, will be able to vote and run for office in municipal elections in Montana even though they are not residents of the municipalities in which they’re voting.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even more startling, Lavin’s bill, HB-486, can be construed as giving the out-of-state corporate owners of property in a Montana municipality a vote in that municipality’s elections. Walmart’s bigwigs in Arkansas might be able to vote in Kalispell’s city council election by mail ballot:</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NEW SECTION. Section 2. Provision for vote by corporate property owner. (1) Subject to subsection (2), if a firm, partnership, company, or corporation owns real property within the municipality, the president, vice president, secretary, or other designee of the entity is eligible to vote in a municipal election as provided in [section 1].</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(2) The individual who is designated to vote by the entity is subject to the provisions of [section 1] and shall also provide to the election administrator documentation of the entity's registration with the secretary of state under 35-1-217 and proof of the individual's designation to vote on behalf of the entity.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lavin’s bill does not require the property owners to be white Christian men, but amendments to that effect are always possible, given potential unconstitutionality is not that credible a deterrent to Republican excesses.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">HB-486 was heard Thursday, 21 February, by the Montana House’s local government committee. A committee vote could come as early as today, as the 28 February transmittal deadline is not that far off.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">HB-486 probably will be tabled in committee, perhaps with embarrassed smiles from Republicans who may secretly agree with Lavin but know better than to vote for so reactionary a bill.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why Lavin introduced the bill is the question needing answers. Was this his own idea? Or did someone wanting to help govern a town but not live in it approach him for a political favor? And if someone did, who did?</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The headline reads, “Montana Considers Giving Corporations The Right To Vote” — laughable if it weren’t true.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Legislator Steve Lavin, a member of American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), introduced the bill, which to the legislature’s credit was quickly tabled in committee. Even the most uninformed citizen understands that voting is for people, not corporations.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Wait a minute, following this attempt to endow more rights to corporations by giving them the vote, the Supreme Court heard arguments to weaken key provisions of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). After a number of states passed ALEC-sponsored Voter ID laws last summer, and this latest exploit to undermine the VRA, it is clear there’s an effort to minimize the power of ‘we the people’ by limiting our access to the ballot box, while simultaneously maximizing the power of corporations and businesses by giving them the vote.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Please sign the Motion to Amend petition: http://tinyurl.com/mta-motion-to-amend</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">barker pro publica (left dirty trick?)&nbsp; Dark $</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dec. 27:&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the waning days of Montana's hotly contested Senate race, a small outfit called Montana Hunters and Anglers, launched by liberal activists, tried something drastic.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It didn't buy ads supporting the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Jon Tester. Instead, it put up radio and TV commercials that urged voters to choose the third-party candidate, libertarian Dan Cox, describing Cox as the "real conservative" or the "true conservative."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Where did the group's money come from? Nobody knows.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The pro-Cox ads were part of a national pattern in which groups that did not disclose their donors, including social welfare nonprofits and trade associations, played a larger role than ever before in trying to sway U.S. elections. Throughout the 2012 election, ProPublica has focused on the growing importance of this so-called dark money in national and local races.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Such spending played a greater role in the Montana Senate race than almost any other. With control of the U.S. Senate potentially at stake, candidates, parties and independent groups spent more than $51 million on this contest, all to win over fewer than 500,000 voters. That's twice as much as was spent when Tester was elected in 2006.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Almost one quarter of that was dark money, donated secretly to nonprofits.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It just seems so out of place here," said Democrat Brian Schweitzer, the governor of Montana who leaves office at the end of this year. "About one hundred dollars spent for every person who cast a vote. Pretty spectacular, huh? And most of it, we don't have any idea where it came from. Day after the election, they closed up shop and disappeared into the dark."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Political insiders say the Montana Senate race provided a particularly telling glimpse at how campaigns are run in the no-holds-barred climate created by the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision, giving a real-world counterpoint to the court's assertion that voters could learn all they needed to know about campaign funding from disclosure.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In many ways, Montana was a microcosm of how outside spending worked nationally, but it also points to the future. Candidates will be forced to start raising money earlier to compete in an arms race with outside groups. Voters will be bombarded with TV ads, mailers and phone calls. And then on Election Day, they will be largely left in the dark, unable to determine who's behind which message.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All told, 64 outside groups poured $21 million into the Montana Senate election, almost as much as the candidates. Party committees spent another $8.9 million on the race.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The groups started spending money a year before either candidate put up a TV ad, defining the issues and marginalizing the role of political parties. In a state where ads were cheap, they took to the airwaves. More TV commercials ran in the Montana race between June and the election than in any other Senate contest nationwide.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Montana Senate race also shows how liberal groups have learned to play the outside money game — despite griping by Democratic officials about the influence of such organizations.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Liberal outside groups spent $10.2 million on the race, almost as much as conservatives. Conservatives spent almost twice as much from anonymous donors, but the $4.2 million in dark money that liberal groups pumped into Montana significantly outstripped the left's spending in many other races nationwide.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As in other key states, conservative groups devoted the bulk of their money in Montana to TV and radio ads. But sometimes the ads came across as generic and missed their mark.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Liberal groups set up field offices, knocked on doors, featured "Montana" in their names or put horses in their TV ads. Many of them, including Montana Hunters and Anglers, were tied to a consultancy firm where a good friend of Jim Messina, President Barack Obama's campaign manager, is a partner.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The end result? Tester beat Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg by a narrow margin. And the libertarian Cox, who had so little money he didn't even have to report to federal election authorities, picked up more votes than any other libertarian in a competitive race on the Montana ballot.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana Republicans blamed Montana Hunters and Anglers, made up of a super PAC and a sister dark money nonprofit, for tipping the race. Even though super PACs have to report their donors, the Montana Hunters and Anglers super PAC functioned almost like a dark money group. Records show its major donors included an environmentalist group that didn't report its donors and two super PACs that in turn raised the bulk of their money from the environmentalist group, other dark money groups and unions.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Part of what's frustrating to me is I look at Montana Hunters and Anglers and say, 'That is not fair,'" said Bowen Greenwood, executive director for the Montana Republican Party. "I am a hunter. I know plenty of hunters. And Montana hunters don't have their positions. It would be fairer if it was called Montana Environmental Activists. That would change the effect of their ads."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cox and Tester deny the group's efforts swung the race. No one from Montana Hunters and Anglers returned calls for comment.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tester, who's argued that all groups spending on elections should disclose their donors and also pushed against super PACs, said he wasn't familiar with any of the outside groups running ads. By law, candidates are not allowed to coordinate with outside spending groups, which are supposed to be independent.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite his ambivalence, he said he was glad the outside groups jumped in.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"If we wouldn't have had folks come in on our side, it would have been much tougher to keep a message out there," Tester said. "We had no control over what they were saying. But by the same token, I think probably in the end if you look at it, they were helpful."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">* * </font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana has long prided itself on a refusal to be pigeonholed. It's the kind of place that votes Republican for president but elects Democrats to state office. Politicians wear bolo ties, tout their Montana credentials and use words like "hell" and "crap." People introduce themselves by saying what generation Montanan they are.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Consistently, the state fights against any mandate that smacks of Washington meddling, from the federal speed limit to the Citizens United ruling in early 2010, which opened the door to corporations and unions spending unlimited money on independent ads, echoing an earlier court ruling that equated money with free speech.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Before that, Montana had one of the country's toughest campaign finance laws, dating back 100 years, to the time of the copper kings. After one of those kings bribed state lawmakers to back him as senator, the state banned corporate political spending.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even after Citizens United, the Montana Supreme Court insisted that Montana's legacy of corruption justified keeping the ban. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court squashed that move, saying the Citizens United decision applied to every state in the nation.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By then, dark money groups were already weighing in on Montana's Senate race.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The TV ads started in March 2011, the month after Rehberg announced. The Environmental Defense Action Fund attacked Rehberg for his stance on mercury emissions. The Electronic Payments Coalition praised Tester for his push to delay implementing new debit-card swipe fees.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The thing that surprised me a little bit was how early they got involved," said David Parker, an associate professor of political science at Montana State University who tracked all 160 TV commercials as part of a book he is writing on the race. "And I think that was critical, because very early on, they were able to establish the contours of this race. The candidates were just busy putting their organizations together and raising money."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Most of the money spent in 2011 on TV ads came from groups that didn't have to report their donors. They also didn't have to report their ads to the Federal Election Commission, because they didn't specifically tell voters to vote for or against a candidate. Instead of saying "Vote for Rehberg," they said things like "Call Jon Tester. Tell him to stop supporting President Barack Obama." Ads like that only have to be reported to the FEC if they air during the two months before an election.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Most of the money spent in 2011 on TV ads came from groups that didn't have to report their donors. They also didn't have to report their ads to the Federal Election Commission, because they didn't specifically tell voters to vote for or against a candidate. Instead of saying "Vote for Rehberg," they said things like "Call Jon Tester. Tell him to stop supporting President Barack Obama." Ads like that only have to be reported to the FEC if they air during the two months before an election.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The only way to compile data on such ad spending is by visiting TV stations, which Parker did. ProPublica helped him collect information on the last round of ads.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Parker's data shows that several heavyweight conservative groups entered the fray in mid-2011 to try to cast Tester, whom they saw as vulnerable, as a big spender.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Crossroads GPS, the dark money group launched by GOP strategist Karl Rove, ran two ads in July 2011 similar to those attacking Democrats in other states for supporting excessive spending.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Also that month, a conservative group called Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee ran a sarcastic ad about a new miracle drug called "Spenditol," Washington's answer to America's problems. "Call Sen. Jon Tester," the ad said. "Tell him, stop spending it all." Similar ads ran against Democratic senators up for election in tight races in Florida, Nebraska and Ohio.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Several ads run by conservative groups backfired, messing up in ways that irked Montanans.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The National Republican Senatorial Committee — a party committee that reports its donors — ran an ad that appeared to show Tester with all five digits on his left hand. (Tester is well known for having lost three fingers in a childhood accident involving a meat grinder.) The U.S. Chamber of Commerce misspelled Tester's first name. A Montana cable operator yanked a Crossroads ad for claims the operator deemed false.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The first one that burned me really bad was from the U.S. Chamber," said Verner Bertelsen, a former Republican state legislator and Montana secretary of state. "I thought — you buggers! We don't need you to come in here and tell us who to vote for."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Starting in July 2011, three new liberal dark money groups ran ads. Patriot Majority USA criticized Republicans for allegedly planning to cut Medicare and help to seniors. The Partnership to Protect Medicare praised Tester for opposing Medicare cuts.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And in October, weeks after forming, the dark money side of Montana Hunters and Anglers, Montana Hunters and Anglers Action!, launched its first TV ad, starring Land Tawney, the group's gap-toothed and camouflage-sporting president, who also served on the Sportsmen's Advisory Panel for Tester. At the time, the super PAC side of the group was basically dormant.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The new Hunters ad accused Rehberg of pushing a bill — House bill 1505 — that supposedly would give Washington politicians control of access to public lands in Montana. Rehberg, one of 60 cosponsors, argued the legislation was necessary to help the Department of Homeland Security protect the state from illegal immigrants, drug smugglers and terrorists.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Nobody in Montana was talking about that bill," Greenwood said. "I've only heard it talked about in campaign ads. And it played a role throughout the election."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> * </font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The gusher of outside money into Montana's Senate race was part of a larger pattern. Nationally, in addition to the $5.1 billion spent by candidates and parties, almost 700 outside spending groups dumped more than $1 billion into federal elections in the 2012 cycle, FEC filings show.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of that, about $322 million was dark money, most of it from 153 social welfare nonprofits, groups that could spend money on politics as long as social welfare — not politics — was their primary purpose.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Relating those numbers to previous elections is a largely pointless exercise, akin to comparing statistics from baseball and lacrosse. The Citizens United ruling changed the game, opening the door to unlimited corporate donations to super PACs and to a new breed of more politically active nonprofits.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Instead of being in a boxing match in a ring, you're in a dark alley being hit by four or five people, and you don't know who they are," said Michael Sargeant, the executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which helps Democrats run for state offices.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some of the players in the 2012 cycle were longtime activist organizations such as the liberal Sierra Club and the conservative National Right to Life Committee, with clear social welfare missions and only a limited amount of political spending. Other dark money groups were juggernauts like Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity, founded years ago by conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, which crank up their fundraising during election years and devote more money to election ads than other nonprofits.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Finding out about some of the less prominent nonprofits was no easy feat. Many were formed out of post-office boxes or law firms. On their applications to the Internal Revenue Service, they minimized or even denied any political activity.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Documents for pop-up nonprofits like the conservative America Is Not Stupid and A Better America Now, both of which formed in 2011, led back to a Florida law firm that offered no explanations. The Citizens for Strength and Security Action Fund, a liberal pop-up group that spent millions on elections in 2010, closed down in 2011. In its place came a new group: the Citizens for Strength and Security Fund, which earlier this year bought almost $900,000 in ads attacking Rehberg and the Republican Senate candidate in New Mexico.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Groups picked names that seemed designed to confuse: Patriot Majority USA is liberal. Patriotic Veterans is conservative. Common Sense Issues backed conservatives. Common Sense Movement backed a Democrat.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As in the 2010 midterms, the dark money spent in 2012 had a partisan tilt. Conservative groups accounted for about 84 percent of the spending reported to the FEC — mainly through Crossroads GPS, Americans for Prosperity and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Liberal groups spent 12 percent of the dark money. Nonpartisan groups made up the rest.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars, conservatives lost big. Only about 14 percent of conservative dark money went to support winners.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Still, campaign-finance reformers say it's a mistake to minimize the influence of this money.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"What these donors were buying was access and influence, not only to the candidates but to the party machine," said Paul S. Ryan, senior counsel for the Campaign Legal Center. "And they will get that access. On the Republican side, you have people lining up to kiss the ring of (billionaire donor) Sheldon Adelson. And on the Democratic side, you have even people critical of these groups meeting with the funders of these groups. This money is not going away."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even though liberal groups spent far less than conservative ones, they had a higher success rate. About 70 percent backed winning candidates.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some Democrats have shown distaste for the dark-money arts, pushing for more transparency. But liberal strategists are preparing to ramp up their efforts before the next election, unless the IRS, Congress or the courts change the rules.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We probably have a lot less comfort with some of the existing rules that allow for the Koch brothers to write unlimited checks to these groups," said Navin Nayak, the senior vice president for campaigns at the League of Conservation Voters, a liberal social welfare nonprofit for more than 40 years. "But as long as these are the rules, we're certainly going do our best to make sure we're competitive and that our candidates have a shot at winning. We're certainly not going to cede the playing field to the Koch brothers."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> * </font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By the time Tester and Rehberg started buying TV ads, outside groups had been defining the race for a year.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rehberg, 57, a six-term congressman and rancher often pictured wearing a cowboy hat and a plaid shirt, was portrayed as voting five times to increase his pay and charging an SUV to taxpayers. Tester, 56, a farmer with a flat top, was dinged for voting with Obama 95 percent of the time.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tester's campaign went up with ads in March, mainly to counter the outside messages.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The original plans were going up 60 or 90 days later than that," Tester said. "But it was important...We had to remind people of who I am."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">His early ads highlighted his Montana roots, depicting him riding a combine on his farm and packing up Montana beef to carry back to Washington.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rehberg had less money, so his earliest TV ads, which mainly attacked Tester, went up in May.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Neither Rehberg nor anyone from his media staff responded to requests for an interview on his views on campaign finance. In the past, he has said he supports the Citizens United ruling.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, conservative groups bought TV ads that hit at Tester but stopped just short of telling people how to vote. For instance, the conservative 60 Plus Association spent almost $500,000 buying TV ads featuring crooner Pat Boone criticizing Tester over the health care law. None of that was reported to the FEC.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Over the summer, the Concerned Women for America's legislative committee, Crossroads GPS and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce all weighed in. The TV spots were overwhelmingly negative, and many of them were cookie-cutter ads, similar to those that ran in other states against Democrats.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Liberal groups bought TV ads, too, but that was only part of their game plan. They spent their dark money on retail politics, hitting the streets and knocking on doors.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In January, the League of Conservation Voters set up two offices in Montana — one in Missoula and one in Billings. It canvassed voters and hired a full-time organizer, reaching out to 28,000 sporadic voters to urge them to vote early by mail.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lindsay Love, the spokeswoman at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, another nonprofit that doesn't report its donors for election spending, said the group targeted 41,000 female voters. More than 1,500 people ended up knocking on 28,500 doors and making 162,000 phone calls, she said. The group sent out about 470,000 pieces of mail.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It's hard to unpack this," Parker said. "But it's fascinating to look at groups like the League, unions and Planned Parenthood. By and large, they did phones, canvassing, mail, very little TV. One of the best ways to get out the vote is personalized contact."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many liberal groups active in Montana, including Montana Hunters and Anglers, were connected through Hilltop Public Solutions, a Beltway consulting firm.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Barrett Kaiser, a former aide to Montana's other Democratic senator, Max Baucus, is a partner at Hilltop and runs its office in Billings. The Hilltop website notes that Kaiser helped with Tester's upset Senate win in 2006. Kaiser is also a good friend of Messina, the manager of Obama's 2012 campaign, who also once worked for Baucus.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kaiser was on the board of the Montana Hunters and Anglers dark money group. Another Hilltop employee in Billings served as the treasurer for the Montana Hunters and Anglers super PAC.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hilltop partners in Washington also helped run two other dark money groups that spent money on the Montana race: the Citizens for Strength and Security Fund and the Partnership to Protect Medicare.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The League of Conservation Voters and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana paid management fees to Hilltop.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">No one from Hilltop returned calls, but Nayak and Love said they worked with Hilltop independently of other groups.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Outside groups are allowed to coordinate with each other or use the same consultants — they're just not allowed to coordinate with a candidate. By working together, groups can disguise who is actually behind an ad.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In early July, for instance, the League of Conservation Voters gave $410,000 to the Montana Hunters and Anglers super PAC — almost all the money the group raised as of that date.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When the super PAC spent the money on TV ads against Rehberg later that month, the spots were paid for by what appeared to be an organization of Montana hunters, not some Washington-based conservationist group. Nayak said that was not a coincidence.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We figured having a local brand like that and partnering with them on local issues made more sense than having a D.C. brand," he said.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nayak said the League did not donate money for the later ads pushing Cox, the libertarian.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It's not clear where that money came from. The dark money side of Montana Hunters and Anglers paid for the radio ads. The super PAC bought the TV ads and had to disclose its donors, but FEC filings show its money came mainly from two other super PACs, which in turn reported getting most of their money from unions and dark money groups, including the League.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> * *</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the Montana Senate race approached its climax, as many as five fliers landed in voters' mailboxes daily. Robocalls, supposedly illegal in Montana, interrupted meals. Strangers knocked on doors, promising free pizza for voting. People turned off their TVs, dumped their mail without looking at it and stopped answering the phone.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"My ex and I moved in together, because he had cancer and I took care of him," said Louise McMillin, 51, who lives in the university district in Missoula. "He kept getting polling calls as he was dying. After he died, I kept saying, 'He's dead, could you take his name off the list?' And they said, 'Sure, sure.' And they kept calling."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The race stayed tight. Demand for TV ad slots spiked, so the TV stations started raising their prices. The law required them to charge candidates their lowest rate. But outside groups? They could be hit up for whatever the market would bear.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rehberg's campaign paid $400 to run a 30-second ad during the show Blue Bloods on Oct. 19 on the CBS affiliate in Great Falls. A week later, Crossroads GPS paid $2,000 for a slot during the same show.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Anything was fair game for the ads. One, from the super PAC Now Or Never, made fun of Tester's buzz cut, then showed his hair growing down to his shoulders, a bizarre sequence apparently designed to signal his ties to Obama. Another ad, from the dark money group America Is Not Stupid, featured a baby with a gravelly voice saying he didn't know what smelled worse, his diaper or Tester.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"By the middle of October, people were just so tuned out and quite frankly disgusted by all these third-party ads," said Ted Dick, the executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. "We found that face-to-face conversations toward the end were most persuasive and effective. That's the lesson we're taking forward."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There are other lessons. Tester said the Montana race made clear that candidates will have to raise money sooner, and go up with TV ads faster. Although uncomfortable with outside money, Tester also said it's just the way things are now, even on the liberal side.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I mean, look, they did it," he said. "And with as many ads that were against me, I was glad they did. But it needs to be transparent. I mean, everybody's needs to be transparent... It's important to know who's spending money on who so you know why they're doing it. And the way the system is set up right now, there is no transparency. Very little."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Campaign finance reformers agree that knowing who is behind a message helps people assess it.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One example: Two postcards sent to thousands of Montanans just before the election didn't include the required notice saying who paid for them. One said Rehberg had wasted "hundreds of millions of our tax dollars on pork barrel projects," and urged people to vote for Cox, "a champion for fiscal responsibility." The other called Rehberg "the king of pork" and told people to vote for Cox.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cox said he didn't send them. The bulk-mail permit on the postcards came back to a Las Vegas company called PDQ Printing, according to the U.S. Postal Service. In an online manual, PDQ describes itself as "Nevada's preeminent Union printer." No one there returned phone calls.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Greenwood, the head of the Montana Republican Party, filed a complaint with the FEC over the mailers. The complaint blames liberal groups and says they "engaged in a duplicitous strategy of supporting the libertarian candidate, Dan Cox, in a desperate attempt" to siphon votes from Rehberg.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More than likely, that complaint won't be resolved for years.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Greenwood said he didn't think disclosure was a cure-all. But he also said the current system marginalized political parties.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Whether it's Montana Hunters and Anglers or (the conservative super PAC) American Crossroads, they are not responsive to the grassroots," Greenwood said. "These are the professionals and the money men who are not responsive at all to people. The system as it is now does not reflect what people want."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Besides picking between Tester and Rehberg, Montanans got a chance in this election to say how they want the system to work. On the ballot was an initiative — largely symbolic in light of recent court decisions — that declared that corporations are not human beings and banned corporate money in politics.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gov. Schweitzer, a Democrat, and Bertelsen, the former Republican secretary of state, campaigned for the initiative. In a shocker for backers, almost 75 percent of voters supported it.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I realized it absolutely didn't have any legal basis to do anything dramatic," said Bertelsen, who is 94. "But it's a case of saying, 'We don't like it.' I guess we could just sit down and not say a word. But the Supreme Court — I think they made a mistake. Money isn't speech, anyhow. It's just money."</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Correction (12/27): This story originally said that the libertarian candidate Dan Cox picked up more votes than any other libertarian on the Montana ballot. He actually picked up more votes than any other libertarian in a competitive race on the Montana ballot.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">bucks cit united http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/04/citizens-united-montana-supreme-court-corporate-spending_n_1182168.html</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.democracynow.org/2012/6/27/citizens_united_part_2_supreme_court:</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Tradition Partnership, a conservative nonprofit that fights so-called "environmental extremism," argued the state’s ban violates the 2010 ruling that allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts in federal elections.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.prwatch.org/print/11610</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The question presented in this case is whether the holding of Citizens United applies to the Montana state law,” the opinion said. “There can be no serious doubt that it does.” Montana’s arguments, the opinion continued, “either were already rejected in Citizens United, or fail to meaningfully distinguish that case.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The four members of the court’s liberal wing dissented in an opinion by Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who said that Citizens United itself had been a mistake.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Even if I were to accept Citizens United,” Justice Breyer continued, “this court’s legal conclusion should not bar the Montana Supreme Court’s finding, made on the record before it, that independent expenditures by corporations did in fact lead to corruption or the appearance of corruption in Montana. Given the history and political landscape in Montana, that court concluded that the state had a compelling interest in limiting independent expenditures by corporations.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Justice Breyer added, “Montana’s experience, like considerable experience elsewhere since the court’s decision in Citizens United, casts grave doubt on the court’s supposition that independent expenditures do not corrupt or appear to do so.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Critics of the Supreme Court’s campaign finance rulings attacked Monday’s decision, saying Citizens United had led to unprecedented levels of outside money pouring into the presidential campaign and races for the House and Senate — the vast majority of it raised not from corporations but from wealthy individuals and spent by “super PACs” and other independent groups.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Democrats in Congress have proposed measures to rein in campaign spending, strengthen disclosure requirements and even amend the Constitution to reverse Citizens United.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Montana, the State Supreme Court had ruled that the state’s distinctive history and characteristics warranted a departure from the principles announced in Citizens United.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chief Justice Mike McGrath of the Montana Supreme Court, writing for the majority in its 5-to-2 ruling, stressed that the state’s experience of having its political system corrupted by corporate interests early in the 20th century justified the ruling.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“At that time,” Chief Justice McGrath wrote, “the state of Montana and its government were operating under a mere shell of legal authority, and the real social and political power was wielded by powerful corporate managers to further their own business interests. The voters had more than enough of the corrupt practices and heavy-handed influence asserted by the special interests controlling Montana’s political institutions.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This year, by coincidence, in a hotly contested election for a United States Senate seat in Montana, Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat, has been the target of $2.6 million in spending by outside groups. On Monday, he said that the Supreme Court decision had “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.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In February, two of the dissenters in Citizens United — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by Justice Breyer — issued a statement explaining that “lower courts are bound to follow this court’s decisions until they are withdrawn or modified.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">They added, though, that the United States Supreme Court should use the Montana case to consider the aftermath of Citizens United. The case, they wrote, was “an opportunity to consider whether, in light of the huge sums deployed to buy candidates’ allegiance, Citizens United should continue to hold sway.”...http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/us/supreme-court-declines-to-revisit-citizens-united.html</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Wise Use?</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">gangs of america: SPEECH = MONEY</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Consider the case of Montana. For nearly a century, the state of</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Montana was run as a virtual colony by the aptly named Anaconda</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Copper Company. Anaconda was born in 1895 out of set of mergers</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">that followed an intense power struggle for industry dominance known</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">as the War of the Copper Kings, some of it literally fought as physical</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">combat in the tunnels of the mines at Butte in the 1890s. The company</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">had a tradition of corruption and hard-ball political tactics. At one point,</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">displeased with the decision of a state judge in favor of one of its rivals,</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Anaconda shut down all its mines and smelters in the state for three</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">weeks, cutting off thousands of workers from their paychecks, until the</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">governor called a special session of the legislature to pass a new bill that</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; [p183]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">resolved the dispute in favor of the company. Over the next sixty years,</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Anaconda maintained its grip on the state, owning all but one major</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">state newspaper and continuing to dominate the Montana legislature.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Anaconda’s mines and smelters devastated large tracts of the</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">state, the company’s political allies quashed attempts to enact legislation</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">to protect the health of the state’s citizens. Other mining companies</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">took advantage of the anything-goes regulatory environment created by</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Anaconda, with tragic results.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the town of Libby, Montana, the W. R. Grace Company operated</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a vermiculite mine that spewed 5,000 pounds of highly toxic asbestos</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">dust into the air every day, according to the company’s own tests.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The connection between asbestos and fatal lung disease had been</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">known since the 1920s, but efforts by the company to protect its employees</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">from exposure were minimal at best. Internal reports documenting</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the problem were concealed, and the company told workers that the</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">type of asbestos contained in the mine’s dust was a non-hazardous variety.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By the 1960s, the evidence had become impossible to ignore: numerous</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">workers in Libby were dying slow, excruciating deaths caused</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by debilitating lung ailments including fatal asbestosis (a thickening and</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">hardening of the lung tissue), mesothelioma (cancer of the lung’s lining),</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">and lung cancer (cancer of the lung itself). An x-ray survey in</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1969 showed that almost half of the people who had worked at the mine</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">for 11 to 20 years had lung disease; among workers with 21 to 25 years</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">tenure, the rate was 92 percent. In 1999, a survey by the Seattle Post-</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Intelligencer confirmed 192 deaths, with an additional 375 people diagnosed</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">with fatal lung disease.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the root of the appalling conditions in Libby and elsewhere was</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the political power of the mining industry. A former Bureau of Mines</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">inspector told the Post-Intelligencer: “You would have to have bodies</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">stacked like cordwood and the public screaming for someone’s head</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">before we could get the government’s lawyers to do anything.”</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the 1970s, a window opened briefly, as Anaconda turned its attention</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">to more lucrative mining opportunities in Chile and other countries.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With the grip of the company loosened, a coalition of ranchers,</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[p184]&nbsp; environmentalists, labor unions, and others succeeded in enacting a new</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">state constitution as well as a series of stronger environmental laws. In</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1996, the coalition, assisted by campaign-finance reformers from other</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">states, undertook the ambitious project of excluding corporate money</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">from citizen ballot initiatives.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Campaigning from the backs of pickup trucks, at barbeques, town</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">meetings, and county fairs around the states, activists gathered signatures</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">proposing a ballot initiative that would prohibit corporations from</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">spending general funds in connection with any future ballot initiatives.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite heavy corporate opposition, Initiative 125 passed with 52 percent</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">of the vote.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Initiative 125 changed the fundamental terms of Montana politics,</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">allowing activists to consider putting measures on the ballot that otherwise</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">would have been unthinkable because of the financial resources of</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the mining industry. Proposals could now be debated in the civic</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">arena?via editorials, talk shows, public debates, door-to-door leafleting.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A corporation could not rely on an expensive television and radio</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">advertising blitz to present its case.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Two years after the passage of the campaign finance initiative, a</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ballot initiative was placed on the ballot that banned the use of cyanide</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">in gold mining. After a vigorous debate, the law was passed. At this</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">point, Montana’s corporations played their trump card, arguing in federal</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">court that Initiative 125 violated the First Amendment. The federal</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">judges agreed, citing the 1978 First National Bank v. Bellotti decision</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a similar Massachusetts</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">statute.&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ruling in favor of the Montana Chamber of Commerce in the</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">case of Montana Chamber of Commerce v. Argenbright, the U.S. 9th</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Circuit Court of Appeals declared Montana’s I-125 to be unconstitutional.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How did the First Amendment become a tool for striking down</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">grassroots campaign finance reform? The answer lies in a series of U. S.</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Supreme Court decisions between 1976 and 1986. Since several of these</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">decisions were written by Justice Lewis Powell, it is noteworthy to re...</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GANGS OF AMERICA</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Summer camp for judges?</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">alec:</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dee Brown R, Montana House of Representatives[46]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Roy Brown R, former Majority Leader and Majority Whip Montana Senate, losing candidate for Governor of Montana in 2010 by 4 votes in a recount[46]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sharon Carson R, formerly Montana Senate[20]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Patrick Connell R, Montana House of Representatives[16]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kris Hansen R, Montana House of Representatives[52]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dennis Himmelberger R, Montana House of Representatives[46]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Roy Hollandsworth R, Montana House of Representatives[16]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">David Howard R, Montana House of Representatives[20]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Verdell Jackson R, Montana Senate[16]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Llewelyn Jones R, Montana House of Representatives[17]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Steve Lavin R, MontanaHouse of Representatives[23]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gary MacLaren R, Montana House of Representatives[4]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tom McGillvray R, Montana House of Representatives[20]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mike Miller R, Montana House of Representatives[46]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Michael More R, Montana House of Representatives[46]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Amy Stasia Perkins R, Montana Senate[20]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lawrence Perkins R, Montana Senate[20]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ken Peterson R, Montana House of Representatives[20][46]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lee Randall R, Montana House of Representatives[16]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Scott Reichner R, Montana House of Representatives[4]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cary Smith R, Montana House of Representatives[46]</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Wendy Warburton R, Montana House of Representatives[16]</font></font></div></div></div></div></div>