The biggest coward in politics is
a Republican business owner, a trait I recognize
because I used to be one. For example, sometime in
August of my first run for office, I was in our
local hardware store when the owner, Dean,
approached me saying, “Krayton, I love your weekly
column; your opinions are dead on.”
“Well, thank you,” I said. “Does this mean I can put
a campaign sign in your yard?”
“No, that would be suicide,” he fired back. I
chuckled, but said not a word. I too was a closet
conservative in my earlier years and worried once my
core beliefs were exposed, the left could attack my
business as enemy territory; a technique of
intimidation Saul Alinsky advances in “Rules for
Radicals”. However, when I became a candidate, I
traded my security blanket of anonymity for the
sword and shield of truth, because to remain quiet
and watch the country collapse would be insane.
Now that you understand this business man’s dilemma,
a quick look at Washington D.C. shows how left-wing
activists exploit this weakness. Under congressional
scrutiny, the Internal Revenue Service appears to be
the American equivalent of the KGB. This oppressive
division of the executive branch has been building a
database to target conservative donors with detailed
audits. This unequal application of law is blatantly
unconstitutional, but it works. If Dean would not
allow my campaign sign in his yard for fear of
retribution, he certainly would not donate to my
cause knowing it could subject him to an IRS audit.
Now let’s zip back to Montana.
This technique of building databases to manipulate
politics appeared as Senate Bill 375 (SB375) in
Montana’s 2013 legislative session. Senator Jim
Peterson’s (R-Buffalo) legislation was drafted with
the assistance of the governor’s office and was
euphemistically nicknamed the Dark Money Bill. This
legislation passed out of the Senate through the
cooperative efforts all but one Democrat and eight
RINOs (Republicans In Name Only). The House
Judiciary Committee wisely tabled SB375 for the
following reasons:
In addition to re-writing various campaign rules,
this 29 page bill required the disclosure of every
stockholder possessing over 10 percent ownership of
a corporation participating in the political process
with this database maintained in the office of
Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices (COPP).
This requirement is blatantly contradictory to our
First Amendment right to freedom of speech, but
wait, it gets worse. Any corporation failing to meet
these new reporting requirements would be fined an
amount four times greater than any contribution
deemed illegal with 50 percent of the fines retained
by the COPP to offset the cost of maintaining their
database. If you are not outraged you simply do not
understand the problem. Imagine the IRS fining you
four times the amount of your back taxes, but also
keeping 50 percent of the fine to fund future audits
and investigations. This Dark Money Bill dangerously
places the scandalous IRS database practices solidly
into Montana law.
A few days after SB375 was tabled in Judiciary,
liberal House RINOs joined all House Democrats to
force the bill out of committee. They were
unsuccessful. Just like Dean, most closet
conservatives would like to see RINOs replaced by
real conservative Republicans. However, Alinsky
style repercussions from being listed on a
government database makes it is easier to just let
the RINO keep the office. Therefore, I nick-named
SB375 the “RINO Protection Act,” and this brings me
to my final point.
The Responsible Republican cabal whose membership I
listed in last week’s column, is hustling to get
SB375 on the 2014 ballot. Citizens should not be
swayed by the sugar plum and lollipop sounding name
the Dark Money Bill. If SB375 becomes law, the
Democrats joined by the RINOs will steer Montana
down a liberal pathway for decades to come.
Remember, it was the Responsible Republicans and
Democrats who were responsible for a 13 percent
growth in state spending in this recent 2013
session. Just because a politician self-identifies
as a Republican does not mean they hold an ounce of
allegiance to America’s founding principles of
limited government. Voters need to do their homework
or forever wish they would have.
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