Posted on 05/14/2014 1:19:46 PM PDT by Lazamataz
WASHINGTON — Frustrated by the “sewer” of modern American political campaigns, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Wednesday said that he would bring a constitutional amendment to the floor granting Congress the ability to set strict new limits on campaign contributions, warning he will force multiple votes if necessary to pass the measure.
“When I came to Congress, when you got money you had to list who you got it from, what their occupation was, address, and phone numbers if you had it. Then I saw things change. In 1998, [former Sen.] John Ensign and I ran against one another and we spent about $10 million in Nevada,” Reid told BuzzFeed during an interview in his Capitol office. “Neither one of us outspent the other, but most of the money we spent was corporate money because there was a loophole where corporate money could flow through the state party. That was an election that was awful. I won it, but just barely. I felt it was corrupting, all this corporate money,” Reid added. Things had changed for the good, he said, by 2004. “I felt so clean and pure with McCain-Feingold, which had come into being, it was wonderful. We were back where we should have been,” he said.
Then the Supreme Court handed down the Citizens United ruling, Reid said, opening the flood gates to hundreds of millions of largely unregulated money to SuperPACs. “It was as if I had jumped into the sewer … it’s awful what has happened.” Although a number of Democrats, most notably New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall, have talked about passing a constitutional amendment to re-impose campaign finance restrictions, Reid had not been one of them — until now.
“(Former Supreme Court) Justice Stevens gave me the nudge that I needed and that is, ‘Let’s try and pass a constitutional amendment,’” Reid said. Stevens has recently talked heavily about campaign finance in the press. “It’s been tried before, we should continue to push this and it should become our issue. That really puts the Koch brothers up against it. We believe and I believe that there should be spending limits. We’re going to push a constitutional amendment so we can limit spending because what is going on today is awful,” Reid vowed, indicating that he’ll bring Udall’s measure to the Senate floor soon.
“We’re going to arrange a vote on it. We’re going to do it until we pass it because that’s the salvation of our country.” Reid’s legendary feisty streak was also on display during the interview, dismissing criticism from both the left and right for his focus on the Koch Brothers, as well as his recent positive comments about casino magnate Sheldon Adeleson.
“The Koch brothers, one of them ran for vice president in 1980 wanting to do away with Social Security, taxes, no unemployment insurance, I mean weird stuff. No minimum wage. That in 1980 was kind of on the fringes, now it’s basically what the Republican Party is,” Reid complained. On Adelson, Reid argued he’s been misconstrued. “Exactly what I said, is that Sheldon Adeleson is great on all social issues, that’s what I said. I didn’t talk about him any more. I didn’t praise Adelson, I just said on social issues he’s good. The point is this: We can speculate who is my favorite billionaire and everyone else can but the point is, there’s too much money in politics. I’ve seen a change, I’ve seen a change that is really not good.”
Reid also rejected concerns from many Democrats that his focus on the Kochs has done nothing to help the party. “The Koch Brothers, I’m not walking away from them. I’m going to be on their tail for the whole campaign because if they think Romney was watched closely by me, that’s nothing compared to what it’s going to be like with the Koch Brothers. They’re spending money in state party races. They’re going after secretaries of state. They want to do everything they can to suppress voting. They want to do everything they can to go back to that 1980 campaign,” Reid said.
Reid, who has presided over one of the most dysfunctional eras in the Senate, again blamed the media for covering for Senate Republicans by playing a “tit-for-tat” game, and insisted that it was Republicans — and not Reid — who have changed for the worse. “I ran the floor for [former Senate Majority Leader Tom] Dashcle. I did deals with everybody. That was who I was. Republicans loved me because I was so fair. Trent Lott was a pleasure to work with — right-wing conservative but pragmatic. He had conservative credentials but he knew how to get things done … But this new Republican, Frank Luntz, Karl Rove driven conference isn’t good for the country,” Reid argued. “They set out to do everything they could to stop Obama and they’ve done it.”
But the normally blunt Reid turned coy when it came to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s likely 2016 presidential run.
“I consider Bill Clinton and Hilary Clinton my friends. Loyalty is a big deal to them. And I’ve had a bird’s-eye view of what that means,” Reid said, noting that his son ran Clinton’s 2008 Nevada campaign . “Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton treat him like one of the family … they are very close. So I have such respect for these two good people, once she decides she wants to run, I’ll be making a decision. I don’t want to be jumping out … I’ve talked to her. And in my conversations she didn’t say no, but she didn’t say yes. So once she says yes, I’ll do the right thing.”
Reid says he will back a Constitutional Amendment to limit the Koch Brothers... and Harry is so crazy-mad-head-over-heels-in-love with these Koch's, I actually expect the Amendment to name the Koch Brothers BY NAME.
After all, if he writes an Amendment that limits every rich person's money in politics, what will George Soros do? What will J.J. Abrams do? What will Michael Bloomberg do? No, the Amendment will HAVE to mention those Koch gentlemen by name.
In the meantime, here is my letter to Harry Reid:
Dear Harry,
The Koch Brothers cause global warming, infanticide, glacial formation, the sinking of the Titanic, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and fire ants. The Koch Brothers are the cause of late mail, lack of adequate punctuation, the heartbreak of psoriasis, and feminine itching. The Koch Brothers are the cause of fixed greyhound races, the metric system, errors in longitudinal measurements, and smaller portions. The Koch Brothers are the cause of angry wives, Speedos on fat people, mismatched socks, and mold on cucumbers. The Koch Brothers are the cause of the Zombie Apocalypse, interstellar planetary collisions, muteness in albinos, and killer bees. The Koch Brothers are the cause of gingivitis, off-key chorus singing, air inversions, and incremental floods. The Koch Brothers are the cause of fans that quit, entropy, soap shards in the shower, and fat girls. The Koch Brothers are the cause of cold oatmeal, excessive blogging, sweat stains, and misfires in 9mm ammunition. The Koch Brothers are the cause of cabinet doors that do not line up, cracks in the sidewalk, the scourge of heroin, and every plane crash since 1972. The Koch Brothers are the cause of low toner, high transmission rates, delivery service price increases, and gaudy shirts. The Koch Brothers are the cause of splinters, earth tremors, Gamma ray emission by the element Lawrencium, and the lack of hobbits in real life. The Koch Brothers are the cause of Facebook monitoring, trigger happy SWAT teams, pencil-neck geeks, and the Yellowstone Cauldera. The Koch Brothers are the cause of Russia, France, Sweden, and Zambia. The Koch Brothers are the cause of carborator buildup, broken bungee cords, small portions, and a lack of friendly greetings in cities. The Koch Brothers are the cause of paper cuts, whirlpools, thunder, and machine disconnects. The Koch Brothers are the cause of honey badgers, rigidity, painful exercise, and linear contraction. The Koch Brothers are the cause of regression analysis, microstamping, failed unions, and misaligned microwave towers. The Koch Brothers are the cause of blurry lenses, spider bites, stains, and legless crocodiles. The Koch Brothers are the cause of missing keyboard keys, unexpected phone calls, broken pottery, and squeaking doors.
Love,
Laz
Harry Reid: the future Senate MINORITY leader (at least until Chuckie Schumer engineers a putsch and sends Reid out with a flashlight looking for Searchlight)
Harry Reid wants to pass an incumbent protection act. Heaven forbid the voters might dump him.
That’s why he needs to eviscerate our First Amendment freedom of speech to do it.
Laz, I seriously hope you sent that.. What a hoot!!
This must be Reid off his meds again.
Any Constitutional Amendment requires State ratification.
Now a Constitutional Amendment to have Reid committed might just pass.
The Koch Brothers have inherited rights to a piece of real estate they neither want or need, and that is living rent-free inside Harry Reid’s head.
Harry really should go in for an extensive examination of his mental capacities. They seem to be sharply diminished in recent months, though Harry was never a very accomplished thinker anyway.
Someday, perhaps sooner than anyone thinks, Harry is going to be led off the Senate floor by the Sergeant at Arms, and put into protective custody.
For his own good, naturally.
“glacial formation”
That is NOT what I read it as at first...
Anyone else would have the decency not to allude to the fact that they had falsely accused a Presidential candidate of not paying taxes.
“Frustrated by the “sewer” of modern American political campaigns, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid...”
Harry Reed defines the “sewer” of modern American political campaigns and politics.
“I consider Bill Clinton and Hilary Clinton my friends. Loyalty is a big deal to them.
It generally is with Mafiosi and Mafiosi wanna-be types.
I heard they are the cause of infomercials.
lol
Dirty Harry must be upset about their position against corporate welfare.
Get George Soros out of American politics, and then we can talk about the Koch Brothers.
You left out the part where the Koch Bros are responsible for Dingy Harry beating up on his hookers.
I think you forgot that they cause canker sores... ;’)
And in that constitutional amendment you will include unions, right Harry?
I Back A Constitutional Amendment To Limit Reid’s Influence.
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