The biggest coward in politics is a Republican business owner, a trait I recognize because I used to be one. For example, sometime in August of my first run for office, I was in our local hardware store when the owner, Dean, approached me saying, “Krayton, I love your weekly column; your opinions are dead on.”

“Well, thank you,” I said. “Does this mean I can put a campaign sign in your yard?”

“No, that would be suicide,” he fired back. I chuckled, but said not a word. I too was a closet conservative in my earlier years and worried once my core beliefs were exposed, the left could attack my business as enemy territory; a technique of intimidation Saul Alinsky advances in “Rules for Radicals”. However, when I became a candidate, I traded my security blanket of anonymity for the sword and shield of truth, because to remain quiet and watch the country collapse would be insane.

Now that you understand this business man’s dilemma, a quick look at Washington D.C. shows how left-wing activists exploit this weakness. Under congressional scrutiny, the Internal Revenue Service appears to be the American equivalent of the KGB. This oppressive division of the executive branch has been building a database to target conservative donors with detailed audits. This unequal application of law is blatantly unconstitutional, but it works. If Dean would not allow my campaign sign in his yard for fear of retribution, he certainly would not donate to my cause knowing it could subject him to an IRS audit. Now let’s zip back to Montana.


This technique of building databases to manipulate politics appeared as Senate Bill 375 (SB375) in Montana’s 2013 legislative session. Senator Jim Peterson’s (R-Buffalo) legislation was drafted with the assistance of the governor’s office and was euphemistically nicknamed the Dark Money Bill. This legislation passed out of the Senate through the cooperative efforts all but one Democrat and eight RINOs (Republicans In Name Only). The House Judiciary Committee wisely tabled SB375 for the following reasons:

In addition to re-writing various campaign rules, this 29 page bill required the disclosure of every stockholder possessing over 10 percent ownership of a corporation participating in the political process with this database maintained in the office of Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices (COPP). This requirement is blatantly contradictory to our First Amendment right to freedom of speech, but wait, it gets worse. Any corporation failing to meet these new reporting requirements would be fined an amount four times greater than any contribution deemed illegal with 50 percent of the fines retained by the COPP to offset the cost of maintaining their database. If you are not outraged you simply do not understand the problem. Imagine the IRS fining you four times the amount of your back taxes, but also keeping 50 percent of the fine to fund future audits and investigations. This Dark Money Bill dangerously places the scandalous IRS database practices solidly into Montana law.

A few days after SB375 was tabled in Judiciary, liberal House RINOs joined all House Democrats to force the bill out of committee. They were unsuccessful. Just like Dean, most closet conservatives would like to see RINOs replaced by real conservative Republicans. However, Alinsky style repercussions from being listed on a government database makes it is easier to just let the RINO keep the office. Therefore, I nick-named SB375 the “RINO Protection Act,” and this brings me to my final point.

The Responsible Republican cabal whose membership I listed in last week’s column, is hustling to get SB375 on the 2014 ballot. Citizens should not be swayed by the sugar plum and lollipop sounding name the Dark Money Bill. If SB375 becomes law, the Democrats joined by the RINOs will steer Montana down a liberal pathway for decades to come. Remember, it was the Responsible Republicans and Democrats who were responsible for a 13 percent growth in state spending in this recent 2013 session. Just because a politician self-identifies as a Republican does not mean they hold an ounce of allegiance to America’s founding principles of limited government. Voters need to do their homework or forever wish they would have.