Letter to the editor - Candidate with most money will win race

"One party is as bad as another"! Is it? The Republican Party is still the party of less

government, stronger conservative values and free enterprise. The Democrat Party

upholds its tradition of big government, liberal values, high taxes, and regulations that

strangle economic growth. Norman Thomas, who ran six times as the Socialist Party

candidate for President, said in 1944, "I no longer need to run as a Presidential

Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform."

Perhaps the parties need to adopt names that better describe their philosophies: the

Republican/Constitution Party and the Democrat/Socialist Party. Their platforms are

very different! The Republican Party understands the necessity to protect the U.S.

Constitution.

When elected officials arrive in Washington their hands are tied. They are left at the

mercy of the biggest contributors. Both parties are victims of this system. It cost over a

billion dollars to elect the last president. Until organizational funding of elections is

eliminated, we will not have integrity in government or the best interests of the people

served. Big money from out-of-state sources is destroying the spirit of representative

government. The candidate with the most money wins! Is this necessarily the best

representative?

Senator Tester's latest email states that he is supporting a constitutional amendment to

undo the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision. That decision gave

corporations the same power which unions have always had, i.e. to contribute to

elections. Tester goes on to state that "corporate interests should not have the power to

buy elections" and that there is "no transparency or accountability". One could substitute

the word "union" where he has "corporate". Is it fair for unions to take members' dues to

support candidates they might oppose? To level the playing field, the current double

standard must cease. If corporations are denied this right, then unions, PACs, and all

other organizational forms of campaign funding must be obliterated, also.

Gentlemanly debates, focused on issues of concern to all, have turned into nasty

exchanges of insults influenced by unlimited and uncontrolled PACs. This must be

eliminated if we are to restore a government of the people. The system is broken!

Hopefully Senator Tester will legislate to remove all monetary forms of influence that

have flawed the system! We learn much more from debates focusing on the issues than

from attack ads costing millions of dollars. Let debates be the venue for educating the

public!

Mimi and Irv Milheim

Dayton, MT