Limiting political spending a good step
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
3 of 3 free articles.
Editor,
The recent decision by the Montana Supreme Court to restore our state’s century-old ban on direct spending by corporations on political candidates and committees is a great victory for “we the people” of America and for the entire Occupy movement. In large part, we have Montana’s present Attorney General Steve Bullock to thank for this.
This action is a step. There are many other steps to take, and most of them boil down to electing the right people to political office who truly represent our best interests. And by “our,” I mean “we the people,” the vast and overwhelming majority of America’s population who feel so disconnected from direct influence upon our executive, legislative and judicial branches of our government that we lose all hope.
We know something is very, very wrong, but often don’t know what we can do about it except grouse over “coffee with the girls and/or boys,” or whatever group we happen to be sitting with.
When we say that change will only happen from the ground up, that is exactly right. And “ground up” really refers to our actions in electing people who will truly represent our best interests.
Often our political affiliations get in the way. We are so fixated on our party winning that we actually believe what candidates tell us when they are running for office. They tell us what we want to hear. We get lulled into actually thinking that they are telling us the truth.
Just look back 20, 30, 40 years. We, as a nation, have been held in the firm grip of greed, horrible economic policies, unethical politics, and just a myriad of political actions that run counter to healthy growth, an outstanding educational system, and equal opportunity for all.
To my way of thinking, nothing will change until we have our leaders, lawmakers and judges with motivations, attitudes, and mind-sets in harmony with President Abraham Lincoln when he uttered that great phrase at the end of his Gettysburg Address on Nov. 19, 1863: “(A)nd that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from this earth.”
And “people” surely did not mean “corporations.”
Bob McClellan
Polson
