A lot has been written in the past week on the Montana Supreme Court’s decision to restore the state’s century-old ban on corporate political spending, with articles showing up in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and many other publications. It appears the case may be heading to the U.S. Supreme Court, as the lead plaintiff has announced intentions to appeal.
While I would suggest reading any number of the articles and blog posts from around the country, David Sirota’s one-on-one interview with Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock is worth checking out at Salon. After all, Bullock personally defended the corporate spending ban in Montana Supreme Court and will defend the ban at the nation’s highest court, if it agrees to take the case. And he’s running for governor.
Below is an excerpt from the interview and click here for a link to the full interview at Salon.
“For me the calculus was relatively simple. The voters entrusted me with an incredible job as Attorney General and for a hundred years we’ve had a ban aptly named The Corrupt Practices Act that has served Montana well. And as a result, people participate, everybody has a seat at the table. So for me the calculus was: I owe it to a century of Montanans going forward to do all I can to defend this irrespective of what might happen in my next campaign.”