"One advantage of putting this in the State Constitution, rather than establishing it by statute, is that our State courts will be instructed in the most definitive way possible," Carney said.  "It is important to draft this in a way that will make any successful Federal challenge unlikely," Carney added. 

The called-for Amendment

Carney does not yet have a draft of the called-for Amendment. Carney has identified provisions of such an Amendment:

Regarding campaign and political spending by "foreign corporations":

1. No contribution of any kind should be allowed to any Minnesota state or local campaign, including for Congress, or to a Minnesota political party.

2. We should ban this outright for any "media buy" targeted at Minnesotans.

3. A provision should be made to permit spending by any corporation to refute a "bona fide" public "attack" (criticism).

4. For any broadcast or published independent political or campaign spending, as a minimum, the phrase: "Paid for with foreign corporate money" should be required in some form.
 

Regarding campaign and political spending by individuals who are not citizens of Minnesota:

1. No contribution of any kind should be allowed to any Minnesota state or local campaign, including for Congress, or to a Minnesota political party.

2. We should study the possibility of banning this outright for any "media buy" targeted at Minnesotans.

3. A provision should be made to permit spending by any individual to refute a "bona fide" public "attack" (criticism).

4. For any broadcast or published independent political or campaign spending, as a minimum, the phrase: "Paid for by non-Minnesota Citizens" should be required in some form.
 

"Bush Financial Regency" -- the next generation?
 

The emerging Pawlenty 2012 campaign for President (implied, by his recent reference to "other candidates") appears to be taking the form of a new, "beamed-down" version of what Carney calls the "Bush Financial Regency".

In the 2000 campaign, Bush won the Republican nomination with backing from a kind of "Financial Regency". Bush opted out of public financing, and raised a raised $90 million in primary campaign contributions from individuals.

As reported in a 1/16/00 Newsweek news release:

"While touted as a sign of grass roots enthusiasm for a candidate, Texas Gov. George Bush's fund-raising triumph is actually the product of a group of powerful businessmen who were looking for a candidate to support even before Bush entered the presidential race. About 150 of these fund-raisers, called the 'Pioneers' by the Bush campaign, have been 'bundling' contributions from individuals in major corporations and industries and each has raised more than $100,000, reports Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff... At last count, more than 170,000 individuals have written checks which, by law, cannot exceed $1,000 apiece... Bundling is legal, and all campaigns do it. But Bush's Pioneers have done it more vigorously than most, Isikoff reports... The campaign has assigned 'tracking code' numbers to these trade association heads... the Bush campaign and the lobbyists use the numbers as a kind of scorecard... In an internal Bush campaign memo obtained by Newsweek, Edison Electric chief Kuhn, a Bush classmate at Yale, reminded power company executives to include the industry's tracking code on the bottom of their checks for a Bush fund-raiser. Written on Bush campaign stationary, the May 27th 1999 memo states, 'it does insure that our industry is credited, and that your progress is listed among the other business/industry sectors,...'"

More recently, a 10/1/09 article by David Weigel of the Washington Independent (washingtonindependent.com) reports on Pawlenty:

"The Minnesota governor’s PAC is rolling out today with a media blitz reflecting the talent of his staff (such as former Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant) and the credibility he’s built up in the political press corps. Tim Pawlenty’s Freedom First PAC is co-chaired by William Strong of Morgan Stanley and former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.), whom 2008 campaign veterans remember as a key, quotable ally of Mitt Romney."

"One of the hires that surprised me: Sara Taylor, the former Director of the Office of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush. Taylor was a key figure in the 2007 controversy over the firing of U.S. attorneys who declined to press 11th hour cases of “voter fraud” before the midterms. She may be best remembered for her revealing comment during hearings on the issue that she “taking that oath [of office] means that I need to respect, and do respect, my service to the president.” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) reminded her that her oath was to the Constitution, not the president."

The article included a video excerpt of Sara Taylor's testimony. Here's Carney's transcript of it:

Leahy: [quoting Sara Taylor] "I took an oath to the president, and I take that oath very seriously." Did you mean perhaps, that you took an oath to the Constitution?

Taylor [inarticulate, rendered as best I can]: I, d...d , I, da, yes. Yeah, you're correct, I took an oath to the Constitution, but [interrupted]

Leahy: Did you take a second oath to the president?

Taylor: I did not. What I should have... [interrupted]

Leahy: So the answer was incorrect.

Taylor: The answer was incorrect.

Leahy: Thank you.

Taylor: What I should have said is that, ah, I took an oath, I took that oath seriously, and I believe that taking that oath means that, ah... ah... I need to respect, and do respect, my service to the president.

Leahy [empahtic]: No! The oath says that you take an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution of the United States. That is your paramount duty. I know the president refers to the government as being 'his' government... it's not. It's the government of the people of America. Your oath is not to uphold the president, nor is mine to uphold the Senate. My oath, like your oath, is to uphold the Constitution.

Taylor [inarticulate]: um hum.

"It appears that the 'Financial Regency' that supported Bush may now be rallying behind Pawlenty. If Bush could be President, Pawlenty certainly could also," Carney said.

"Regarding the best interests of Minnesota, I believe there is strong evidence to suggest that Governor Pawlenty is, in effect, selling out the best interests of our State in subservience to a 'Financial Regency' of economic interests outside the state," Carney said. "While I still hope the Governor and the Legislature can work out a resolution of our current budget and unallotment problems, I have concluded the Legislature must begin studying the meaning of the phrase 'corrupt conduct in office' regarding the Legislature's impeachment powers," Carney concluded.

Carney will be visiting the Legislature regularly

Carney was at the Legislature Tuesday, and met briefly with about ten Republican House members. "While we have a very serious disagreement over unallotment, the nub my TAX and VETO CAP Amendment was generally well received," Carney said. "A number of those I spoke with said they have been reading my news releases," Carney added.

Carney plans to be at the Legislature at least two days a week during the session, and is working on introducing himself to all 201 members.

Carney brought a video camera, but he did not turn it on. "I want to introduce both myself and the camera," Carney said. Staff in a Republican House caucus appeared to be concerned about the presence of Carney's camera, and called the Sergeant At Arms. An assistant Sergeant At Arms arrived and spoke with Carney. Carney gave assurance that he will not turn on the video camera without permission of the person or persons to be videotaped. "That was satisfactory to the Sergeant At Arms," Carney said.  "But I'll miss the old paparazzi days, when I walked into Mayor Rybak's office area with the camera on.  I think I still have a continuing right to do that at Minneapolis City Hall," Carney said. 

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