Is A Montana State Representative Going The Wrong Way In Regards To Campaign Financing?

A Great Falls representative is proposing that candidates for the Montana Legislature be allowed to receive more money from political action committees.

Republican Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick introduced House Bill 502 in the House State Administration Committee Friday, according to the Great Falls Tribune. It would increase the amount that state Senate candidates can receive from PACs from $2,150 to $5,500, and the amount that House candidates can receive from $1,300 to $3,300.

Fitzpatrick said that politicians need more money to “reflect the increasing cost of running for office.”

“Campaigns are expensive, they cost a lot of money,” Fitzpatrick said. “Every time I have to return a PAC check, that just means it’s more pressure on me to go fundraise and ask people for more money.”

Mary Baker, the program supervisor for the commissioner of political practices, said a built-in inflation factor already adjusts the cap every year.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/20/representative-proposes-higher-pac-contribution-limits/23740417/

Campaign Finance Groups Have Success At State And Local Level

In the first national elections since the Supreme Court allowed even more money to flood our democracy through its April McCutcheon v. FEC decision, the tidal wave of spending was worse than the most dire predictions.

The “Money Midterms,” as some dubbed them, were predicted to be the most expensive in history. Local news stations struggled to keep up as spending on political ads skyrocketed. As of October 15, just 140 donors had made more than 60 percent of this cycle’s super PAC contributions. In a post-Citizens United political landscape where corporations and billionaires can literally spend as much as they want to influence elections.

The Daily Show is right: The most enduring “winners” in the midterms may be the wealthy interests that bankrolled their candidates of choice and can now expect to have the ears of their chosen representatives.”

The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur discusses Wolf PAC, Mayday PAC, and represent.us.

Cenk Uygur video.