Montana – a case for Campaign Finance Reform
While on the road all over Florida discussing the need for campaign finance reform, citizens who understand what is going on with corrupt and organized political committees across their state and across the nation ask me how we can stop this nonsense and only allow limited contributions to Political Committees and only by those who have the right to vote. That is the question! Politicians, lobbyists and those entrenched in Political Committees point to The Citizens United Case as why this horror show cannot change.
Here me Patriots! They do not want it to change. They could care less about what the people want. They say the Supreme Court ruled on this! My answer is that is a garbage answer. With an attitude like this we never would have overturned Roe vs Wade or overturned the Chevron Deference ruling! The court has in fact changed and the people of this country are now awake and see how this system, if left to exist, will maintain special interest, elitist and globalist control over our politicians/representatives.
It is our belief the citizens of Florida lost control of their state and counties and their ability to effectively control their elected representatives when the PC Cap was eliminated in 2013/2014. Having no limits as to the amount that can be contributed to a PC effectively took the Power from the people and put it in the hands of special interests. It is our opinion that in Florida we could have one day voting with ID’s, watermarked paper ballots counted by hand, no election machines and no mail in ballots and if this is not fixed our state and counties will still be lost as money alone will decide at least 80% of all elections at the state and county level. We must restore a PC Cap and eliminate transfers between PCs. Allowing this to continue is in fact Election Interference!
Ask yourself why do Corporations, Associations, and Political Committees have so much more influence in elections than We the People do? Why do they have so much more power over this process when they cannot vote? How long have they controlled our elections and outcomes? What’s more is they are allowed to do all this in a non-transparent/clandestine way! The complex state webs we have partially uncovered are designed to enable captured politicians and their donors to have continuous power and control. This same is true nationally. The sad truth is all of this started when we actually lost the republic after the Civil War. Lincoln the last President of the true Republic, in his presidency lost the congressional quorum to conduct business leaving a rump Congress. As such Lincoln was forced to lead via an executive Government and was assassinated before he could restore the republic. His successor Andrew Johnson presided over the beginning of the loss of the Republic.
In 1871 with the District of Columbia Organic Act the UNITED STATES was established. Looked like the United States of America but was not. We became a private incorporation at that time. This was where covertly the Republic was changed to a Democracy. The Act also provided provisions to adopt its own constitution which was identical the original except it removed the original 13th amendment and the 14th, 15th and 16th amendments now became the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments of the UNITED STATES. As a result of this Americans in a State were transformed into US Citizens in the new corporation. Also, the 1871 Federal Dictionary Act passed- – the word “person” extended to body politic as well as corporations, artificial persons or legal fictions. (ie now corporations or artificial persons had equal standing to a person). Imagine that! Isn’t this exactly what we are seeing before our eyes. Go look at how Florida law describes who can give to PCs!
In 1901 the Supreme Court of UNITED STATES in Downes vs Bidwell laid the foundation for modern courts to assert that American citizens are subject to laws and regulations that are not constitutionally applicable. (This is where and how we lost our God-given unalienable rights). This was the Movement from Common law to Maritime law. The Constitution of the United States of America was set aside and the Uniform Commercial Code acts in its place. The Act of establishing Federal Regulatory Crimes and converting the claim and exercise of personal liberty into federal crime (victimless crimes). The Federal Reserve Act was signed into law along with IRS in 1914. These acts further enslaved the people to their government. We have all come to experience the truth in “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). So, we should not be surprised by all this.
At every level of our government today We the People are at a disadvantage. Our Campaign Finance laws in this state, as well as nationally have insured that power will remain with special interests and the donor class that appear to have captured our politicians at every level. The donor class has found a way to make significant amounts of “selections” even before ballots are cast.
We all need to all get into this fight! Will God motive you join us in this journey to reform Campaign Finance in our State and Counties?
Check out what Montana is attempting to do to address this problem. Hats off to them! This war must be fought and won. President Trump has said clearly that the MAGA movement is to restore power to We the People. It will never truly happen unless this is addressed. Montana we applaud you and pray for your success!
MONTANA CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM ARTICLE
Fifteen years after Citizens United, the Montana Plan poses the latest challenge to dark money
Voters in Montana will have the opportunity this fall to ban corporate political spending and dark money in federal, state and local elections. The proposal takes direct aim at the landmark Citizens United ruling that opened the door to unlimited corporate involvement in elections and a flood of undisclosed political contributions.
The so-called Montana Plan, designed by the Transparent Election Initiative, opposes the ability of “artificial” entities to spend on politics. It would ban corporations from “spend[ing] money or anything of value on elections or ballot issues,” according to the TEI’s ballot statement. The proposed amendment to the state Constitution was filed with the Montana Secretary of State’s office on Aug. 1. If the amendment passes review and signature gathering early next year, it is expected to appear on the ballot in 2026 and potentially take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
If passed by a simple majority vote in the state, the Montana Plan would prohibit companies from using money to influence politics by targeting Montana’s corporate chartering authority, to revoke limited liability or tax advantages “if an entity oversteps its authority” by trying to use monetary influence to sway politics in the state, according to TEI.
The Montana Plan would also fully ban dark money from state politics by disallowing 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporations from funneling donations from anonymous donors.
“We can’t overrule the Supreme Court, but we can change the law to say exactly which powers we do mean to hand out, and make sure that political spending isn’t one of them,” TEI noted in its Montana Constitutional Initiative.
The 2010 Citizens United ruling declared corporate spending is protected free speech and struck down limitations on “independent” political spending (money spent to support or oppose a candidate but not directly donated to, or coordinated with, a campaign committee) that had been established by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. That ruling was followed later that year by SpeechNow vs. FEC, in which a federal appeals court removed caps on donations to political action committees as long as those PACs do not contribute to, or coordinate with, candidate committees. That led to the creation of super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited sums of money on elections. Super PACs can accept contributions from organizations that do not disclose donors – contributions known as dark money.
OpenSecrets has tracked super PACs’ growing influence since the term was coined in 2010, following the rapidly growing web of dark money. During the 2024 election cycle, super PACs raised over $5 billion, with $1.9 billion coming from dark money sources, the Brennan Center for Justice estimated.
Future Forward, the leading Democratic super PAC and the top spender in 2024, spent more than $509.5 million to influence the election. More than 40 percent of its receipts, $230.8 million, came from its dark money affiliate, the Future Forward USA Action.
Make America Great Again Inc, another influential super PAC active during the 2024 election, spent more than $410.5 million in 2024. Approximately two-thirds of the money raised by super PACs supported right-leaning efforts.
Super PACs have been the vehicle in which hundreds of millions of dollars have been funneled into corporate contributions. For example, Coinbase spent over $76.5 million on the 2024 election.
Since Citizens United, laws banning corporate or union political contributions have been struck down in more than a dozen states. Montana is the second state to consider a serious challenge to the system.
Voters in Maine overwhelmingly voted for reform in November 2024, limiting individual contributions to super PACs to $5,000. The referendum drew heavy opposition from two conservative PACs in the state that receive most or all outside money from donations exceeding $5,000. The two groups lodged a federal lawsuit against the ruling, alleging infringements on freedom of political speech.
The effort in Montana takes a different approach. The proposed amendment to the state Constitution redefines what is considered legitimate business activity and acceptable corporate donations by limiting corporate charters. The organization behind the effort, TEI, hopes to demystify the origin of political contributions and limit the ability to give large donations only to non-anonymous individuals in an effort to create a more transparent political environment as well as inspire other states to follow suit.
