Who is Trying to Undo Montana’s Century-old Clean Elections Law?

Hey John (R) house District #67. What about this “Green Acres Cooperative Inc” (1721 South Woodland Drive, Kalispell, MT 59901) deal with your “buddy” Loren “George” Everett (R) House District #5 (who owns the property). It seems that the residents have had two informal meetings about forming a Mobile Home Co-Op (per the ROC USA). You initiated this movement. Recruited and proclaimed a “Steering Committee”, Chaired these meetings, and “George” was in attendance and spoke. Don’t you own #13 in that park? But you could hardly be called a “resident” because you do not live there. You just visit 1-2 days a month. Now the residents have been given a membership application, with no return address. It is a joke that your “Buddy” wants $950.000.00 for a property that was appraised by the State (2010) at less than $600,000.00. Add to that “George” will retain 1/7th of the property, according to your committee. All of this has been done with out representation of the residents. I guess they will go along with anything that sounds good. What about the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in “liabilities’ the residents will assume IN THE AFTERMATH? IE: The failing septic tanks “George” pumps weekly. No permits will be issued to fix them, so the “Co-OP” WILL BE FORCED TO HOOK UP TO THE CITY OF KALISPELL. And in order to do that….THEY WILL HAVE TO PETITION TO BE ANNEXED (FROM FLATHEAD COUNTY) IN TO THE CITY OF KALISPELL. THE FEES ALONE ARE (COMMERCIAL-PER/UNIT) OVER A HUNDRED GRAND!!. ADD TO THAT – SURVEYING, ESCAVATION, MATERIALS AND RESTORATION . What have they bought? Despite your applications for Grants, and promises for a “rosy” future of “Home ownership”, all you have done is…SOLD YOUR BUDDY “George” ‘s property, AND LADEN THESE DEBTS UPON OTHERS… Think of how their tax bracket will change being part of the City of Kalispell? Maybe you did not know all of these implications…

How then, does Max Baucus get to keep the $4 million a year in campaign contributions he gets from healthcare lobbyists? The answer is he's never had to deal with Montana's law by running for local office and proving himself there first before running for national office. The law is unfair if people like Baucus are allowed to have unlimited amounts of power in the Senate for 40 or more years by hanging out in Washington since law school, firstl working as an SEC lawyer then running for national office , never subject to the Montana state ban on state and local corporate campaign contributions.

State and local campaigns are not as important to corporate interests as national campaigns but the state legislature is where local candidates can prove themselves worthy of serving the people by dealing with local issues that are close to them.

Since the Montana law forbidding corporate political campaign contributions applies only to state and local Montana candidates and not to egregiously harmful
Washington fixtures like Max Baucus, it tends to close the door for fresh, new politicians who want to rise up from the ranks of the state legislature to compete in fund-raising with entrenched characters like Senator Baucus.

So year after year, by blaming the Republicans, he manages to support industry-friendly legislation supported by his corporate campaign contibutors, probably making the Republicans jealous for the $4 million a year he gets from the healthcare industry for doing so.