I’ll give you an update if I get word back from Senator Jon Tester’s (D-MT) office, but the American Land Rights Association (ALRA) says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is once again attempting to push through a last minute Omnibus package that includes Sen. Tester’s wilderness bill.
This Omnibus lands bill could also be seen as a political payoff to the environmental groups who helped fund the “Dark Money” ads backing Tester (and throwing votes to the Libertarian candidate) in the waning days of the US Senate race in Montana. ProPublica has a new article out this week which has been picked up by liberal news sites, including Mother Jones and The Huffington Post, headlined, “Dark Money Helped Democrats Hold a Key Senate Seat.”
One quick sidenote- while Pro Publica claims in the piece that noone knows where the money for the Dems Dark Money group came from- it’s been pretty clear that environmental groups and the pharmaceutical drug industry (loathed by Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana) contributed at least a million to this same umbrella group of operatives.
Here’s an excerpt:
In the waning days of Montana’s hotly contested Senate race, a small outfit called Montana Hunters and Anglers, launched by liberal activists, tried something drastic.
It didn’t buy ads supporting the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Jon Tester. Instead, it put up radio and TV commercials that urged voters to choose the third-party candidate, libertarian Dan Cox , describing Cox as the “real conservative” or the “true conservative.”
“Part of what’s frustrating to me is I look at Montana Hunters and Anglers and say, ‘That is not fair,'” said Bowen Greenwood, executive director for the Montana Republican Party. “I am a hunter. I know plenty of hunters. And Montana hunters don’t have their positions. It would be fairer if it was called Montana Environmental Activists. That would change the effect of their ads.”
Portion of E-Mail Sent by ALRA
Harry Reid Sneak Attack, New Omnibus Federal Lands Bill, Call Now!
Urgent Action Required – Forward this message widely now.
—–Harry Reid has loaded multiple bills into a new Omnibus Federal Lands Ball.
We only know a few of the bills included but it is huge. It does include the Tester Montana wilderness bill; It does make the Valles Caldera in New Mexico a national park; It does include the Sealaska bill; and I am sure much more. Reid is trying buy the vote of Senator Murkowski by including the Sealaska bill. She has promised not to support Omnibus bills. So we’ll see how she votes in this bill.
—–Expansion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) could be in there. That would mean billions of dollars for land acquisition.
The various staff people are working with Reid now to see if they can run the bill through the Senate before new years.
Action Items – Urgent Action Required
—–Your Senator can stop this bill. All he has to do is file an object or put a hold on the bill. Time will run on January 1st.
You must call both your Senators every business day now until January 1st. Ask for a commitment to oppose any Omnibus Federal Lands Bill.
This is urgent and critical.
Comments
Matthew Koehler
Friday, December 28, 2012 4:13 PM
Additional information about “Montana Hunters and Anglers Action” is below.
Source: http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/group-buys-ads-opposing-rehberg-s-bill/article_8390c320-ff99-11e0-b794-001cc4c002e0.html
SNIPS: “Land Tawney of Missoula, president of Montana Hunters and Anglers….Tawney, a senior manager for the National Wildlife Federation, wouldn’t reveal the cost of the buy, but sources told the Lee Newspapers State Bureau that it’s between $200,000 and $250,000….In addition to Tawney, its officers include Democratic state Sen. Kendall Van Dyk of Billings; Barrett Kaiser, a Billings communications consultant and former aide to U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.; and George Cooper, a senior vice president for a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm and former news producer for CNN.”
Also, today, the National Wildlife Federation and Montana Hunters and Anglers are engaging in a new round of censorship, removal of comments and banning on their social media sites (I have screen shots of the pages if anyone wants proof) in an attempt prevent the general public from knowing about their secret, anonymous, dark money ways. Yep, that’s how these self-professed “sportsmen” groups roll…..You know what boys, this isn’t personal, it’s about DEMOCRACY!
James
Saturday, December 29, 2012 10:48 AM
Democratic PACs swaying voters away from Republicans toward Libertarian candidates isn’t new in Montana. Most folks have forgotten about our current Commissioner of Political Practices(COPP) Jim Murry’s Stand Up For Montana PAC that used illegal robo-calls in an attempt to elect Brian Schweitzer Governor in 2004.
‘Schweitzer friend bankrolls anti-Brown calls’
Helena IR Nov 2, 2004:
http://tinyurl.com/boaa7zj
‘A political action committee bankrolled by retired Montana AFL-CIO leader Jim Murry is paying for 160,000 automated phone messages on the eve of the election urging conservatives to vote for Libertarian Stan Jones for governor instead of Republican Bob Brown.
Murry, a longtime Democratic activist and friend and financial backer of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brian Schweitzer, said Monday he believes the phone messages will help wrest some votes away from Brown and give them to Jones. Ultimately, that will help Schweitzer, he said.’
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Jim Murry was officially appointed as Montana COPP in February 2012 by Governor Brian Schweitzer.