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Harry Reid Backs Constitutional Amendment To Limit Koch Brothers’ Influence
Buzzfeed ^ | May 14, 2014

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.”


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Nevada
KEYWORDS: koch; nevada; reid
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To: Lazamataz

All the huge problems this nation faces — but Reid is upset that the Koches are competing with George Soros for political influence.


21 posted on 05/14/2014 1:32:59 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: Lazamataz

Koch isn’t even in the top 50

One thing any amendment should do is ban unions from being involved in politics in any way, shape or form.


22 posted on 05/14/2014 1:33:13 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: Lazamataz
I won it, but just barely.

I think here is the crux of the problem.

23 posted on 05/14/2014 1:33:26 PM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: alloysteel

>> 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.

Boehner would never allow his friend to be arrested.


24 posted on 05/14/2014 1:33:54 PM PDT by Ray76 (True change requires true change - A Second Party)
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To: Lazamataz
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

I only wish that is where the Republican Party is today. But we all know it isn't. Reid is lying and the media is letting him. The GOP is Dem-light but gets tagged in the media as wanting to do away with Social Security and taxes. And they don't know how to respond other than attacking the one voice of sanity in the party -- the Tea Party -- which wants to cut spending back to sane levels and balance the budget.

25 posted on 05/14/2014 1:33:58 PM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: Lazamataz

Ok, Harry, why don’t YOU list by name your financiers. OK?
Start with the mob, whom you get your bagman percent from regularly. The moron tablenapkin choir who sings your songs of sixpence. A perv of the first order.


26 posted on 05/14/2014 1:34:15 PM PDT by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: GeronL

It should ban government employee unions totally.
No way is it ethical for two sides (govt & employee) to negotiate against a third (taxpayer).


27 posted on 05/14/2014 1:35:32 PM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: Lazamataz

Laz, you got “smaller portions” and “small portions” in that letter.

I suggest that you remove one of those references and replace it. I would replace it with causes “deadly obesity” and place it right next to the “smaller portions” statement!!

Otherwise, PERFECT! LOL!


28 posted on 05/14/2014 1:35:54 PM PDT by ExTxMarine (PRAYER: It's the only HOPE for real CHANGE in America!)
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To: Lazamataz

“I won it, but just barely. I felt it was corrupting,”

It sure was Harry. You have been corrupt every since.


29 posted on 05/14/2014 1:36:07 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin
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To: Timocrat

And did not fess up to how exactly they would have obtained IRS tax filings for romney in the first place. The man is a criminal in the well of the Senate where he can and does say anything. At least Byrd was entertaining. This man is nuts.


30 posted on 05/14/2014 1:36:12 PM PDT by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: Zathras

There is majority in DC that belong in a straight jacket. Are there no judges left in this country with the courage to commit these nuts.


31 posted on 05/14/2014 1:36:19 PM PDT by formosa
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To: rocketmag; Lazamataz
Laz, I seriously hope you sent that.. What a hoot!!

Just double dog dare him and Laz will hit send and Harry will be so screwed.

32 posted on 05/14/2014 1:36:22 PM PDT by Starstruck (If my reply offends, you probably don't understand sarcasm or criticism...or do.)
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To: Lazamataz

Laz, have to correct you on the missing keyboard keys, at least the “w”. That was Clinton’s fault.


33 posted on 05/14/2014 1:37:03 PM PDT by Night Hides Not (For every Ted Cruz we send to DC, I can endure 2-3 "unviable" candidates that beat incumbents.)
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To: Lazamataz
Imaginary headline referencing a Koch brothers interview:

"Harry Reid Sucks" -- Kochs

34 posted on 05/14/2014 1:37:18 PM PDT by DJ Frisat (Proudly providing the NSA with provocative textual content since 1995!)
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To: MrB

government employees unions should not exist, I agree with that too


35 posted on 05/14/2014 1:37:37 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: Lazamataz; All
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36 posted on 05/14/2014 1:37:47 PM PDT by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
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To: Lazamataz

The Koch Brothers are Harry’s Vietnam.


37 posted on 05/14/2014 1:38:56 PM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: ken5050

Ask Harry if its OK to throw Soros in that mix. :-)


38 posted on 05/14/2014 1:40:17 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose o f a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: alloysteel

When Harry was spending his time back in Nevada, he did his best to put the gold mines out of business. The unspoken problem was the owners weren’t Nevadans and wouldn’t finance his campaigns and other enterprises.


39 posted on 05/14/2014 1:40:49 PM PDT by JimSEA
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To: Lazamataz

The Crime element in Las Vegas must have crazy Harry by the short hairs.


40 posted on 05/14/2014 1:48:09 PM PDT by hadaclueonce (Because Brawndo's got electrolytes. Because Ethanol has Big Corn Lobby)
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