Jon Tester: “back in 2012 the people of Montana stood up against the influence of corporations and big money in elections. By a…”

“back in 2012 the people of Montana stood up against the influence of corporations and big money in elections. By a 3-to-1 margin, they called on their congressional delegation to introduce a constitutional amendment overturning the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. That ruling paved the way for more secret money in politics. It allowed corporations to make contributions to political campaigns on the grounds that corporations should have the same right to freedom of speech as any individual. In response to the overwhelming vote by the people of Montana, I proudly introduced this amendment, which affirms what we all know: Corporations are not people, and they do not have the same rights as you or I. Two years later Americans are realizing that Montanans were pretty forward-looking. That is because in Montana we value independence. We value our individual rights. And we don't think a faceless entity should be able to tell us what to do. We don't like it when secretive, shadowy groups try to tell us how to vote, and we don't like it when corporations dictate our health care decisions. But that is exactly what happened with last week's Hobby Lobby decision. The Supreme Court decided corporations can limit their employees' health care options, thereby restricting our individual freedoms. That is un-American.…”