By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings
...and "Up Yours" to the people of Arizona...
From the Arizona Republic, written by Mary Jo Pitzl –
Higher campaign-contribution limits — up to $4,000 per candidate in a statewide race — are in force for the 2014 elections, in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling handed up late Tuesday.
The five-member court sided with state legislative leaders, who argued a bill that raises the limits and applies them to both the primary- and general-election cycles does not violate the state Constitution. They argued the higher limits are a free-speech right and would help fend off independent-expenditure committees from distorting candidates’ messages.
I'm not sure where Pitzl got the "$4,000" figure. The original bill set the limits at $5K – $2500 per election, with the primary and general elections considered to separate elections for campaign finance purposes – but there was also an argument that while the increased limits could not be stopped, they could be reduced by 20% under the law enacted by the voters that created the Citizens Clean Elections Commission. $4000 is 20% less than the new law's "$5,000".
Still, whether the new limit is $4K or $5K per contributor, it's way too high for the vast majority of Arizonans. Under the new limits, only corporations, the very wealthy, and those who do their bidding will be able to afford giving serious financial support to candidates.
My prediction on the first indictment related to the new limits and influence peddling: Six months after an honest prosecutor takes office at the Arizona Capitol or in Maricopa County.
And this could be the lege's new official song…except that the title includes the word "please", which is not in the lege's vernacular.
Normally, I don't have a huge problem with the decisions of the Arizona Supreme Court. I may disagree with some of them, but in AZ, the Judicial Branch is the only one of the three main branches of government that is worthy of respect. While they haven't yet published their opinion on this, explaining the reasoning behind this, this is one that will be examined very closely by people who don't normally focus on the details of such things.
A longer story from AP, via ABC15.com, is here.
The original bill, HB2593, is here.
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Typical false equivalents again. I did not see Democrats supporting this wrecking of the voters intent. The One party dictatorship down in Phoenix, who are lapdogs of ALEC engineered this. Unlimited money in politics equals freedom of speech. George Orwell should have added that to “1984.” Antonin Scalia has been in a different universe on this issue forever.
Republicans? The very first beneficiaries of this ruling will likely be democrats. The likely statewide candidates for republicans will be clean election funded. The likely statewide canddates for democrats will be funded by these limits. Take ownership of your own corruption, dont attribute it to others.