Jon Tester for U.S. Senate

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[Jon released the following Press Release earlier today.]

Tester Calls Both Parties Ethics Reforms “Not Enough”

Tester Announces He??ll Live by Stricter Rules

Ethics changes proposed by Democrats and Republicans in Washington this week ???are just not enough to change the ???pay-to-play??? culture of Washington,??? says Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Jon Tester, who Thursday announced his plans to fight for — and abide by — far-stricter ethics standards.

???In the light of the Republican corruption scandals that Conrad Burns?? relationship with Jack Abramoff have highlighted, Washington politicians of all stripes are scrambling to get behind anything they can call reform,??? Tester said. ???But the proposals I have seen this week are just not enough to change the ???pay-to-play?? culture of Washington.

???I??m all for strengthening rules, but it??s even more important to change the culture of corruption. We need to let Washington know now that the ???For Sale?? sign has to come down, and Conrad Burns?? days of ???pay-to-play?? are ending,??? Tester said. ???But judging by how some of the so-called reforms being discussed this week are already meeting resistance from Washington insiders — senators and lobbyists — I??m not going to hold my breath. We simply can??t trust the foxes to guard the henhouse and enact reforms.

???What Montanans expect and deserve is a senator who can be counted on to bring Montana??s values to Washington rather than abandoning those values once he gets there,??? Tester said. ???Today I??m announcing the rules I will live and work by, regardless of whether any of these other measures are passed. And I pledge this — I??ll get tougher on ethics issues as time goes by, no matter who stands against me.???

Tester released the following pledge:

–I won??t just pass a law, I??ll set an example. I will fight hard to put an end to the culture of corruption in Washington, and I??ll live by a higher standard ??? a Montana standard of honesty, integrity and personal responsibility. And I??ll ask a Montana judge to conduct an ethics audit of my office every year so Montanans know I??m living up to their expectations.

–I??ll ban all lobbyist gifts, meals and travel paid by outside sources. All of it. That includes travel, lodging and meals in conjunction with fundraisers. I won??t take personal favors from lobbyists, and neither will my staff.

–I??ll shut my door to former members and staff who try to cash in on their connections. I will not allow my staff or myself to be lobbied by any former member of the Senate with whom I have served or by a former member of my staff who becomes a registered federal lobbyist. And I??ll work to expand the current ban on lobbying by former members and staff to three years to shut the revolving door for those who want to profit from the connections they made in public service.

I??ll end secret meetings with lobbyists. At the end of every business day I will post a list of every in-office meeting that I or my staff has had with a lobbyist. And I will work to require all lobbyists to declare on a publicly available website, on a weekly basis, every meeting they have with a member??s office.

–I??ll work to end the anonymous ???earmarks?? that allow a member of the Senate or the House to slip in a lobbyist??s favorite pork-barrel spending item without any accountability. I??ll fight my hardest for Montana and I??ll do it openly. And I??ll use the bully pulpit of the Senate floor to call attention to every anonymous earmark.

• –I??ll close loopholes, not loosen them. Those seeking special access to senators are like water ??? they??ll always seek out the cracks in the wall. Lobbyists will always try to find a loophole, even on the strictest rules. So I??ll keep looking for ways to stop them, and the corrupt legislators they hope to influence.

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We found some compelling analysis on the changing political picture in Montana by Rick Bass in Grist Magazine yesterday. Writing about a new wilderness bill for Northwest Montana, Bass outlines the 2006 U.S. Senate contest in Montana.

Burns’ support and cosponsorship of the bill might be well-advised — speaking of the circularity of things — in light of the fact that his likely Democratic challenger in 2006 might well embrace it first. That challenger is a crew-cut eastern Montanan, and sudden golden child of many progressives, named Jon Tester.

Tester, who has served as president of the state Senate, would have to defeat fellow Democrat John Morrison — who, like Burns, boasts superior financing — in the primary this June to face Burns. Despite those odds, hopes are riding on him. Interestingly, despite the green credibility garnered by the conversion of his family’s farm to an organic operation, the energy surrounding his campaign is not environmentally driven. Instead, it seems fueled by general idealism, the desire for a certain cleanness and integrity.

The high-dollar organic grains are about as wild and crazy, as progressive, as Tester gets, which seems to be just about the amount Montanans are pining for these days: not the regressive howlings of Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” politics, and not the old-school progressivism of politicians like Williams, yet. Like Schweitzer, Tester is homegrown; he knows that guns in Montana are not the same as guns in the inner city. Maybe a word for these new Montana Democrats might be transgressive — easing, edging, into the future, and moving, finally, out of the past, even as they carry certain useful and beloved elements of it with them.

Whoever emerges from the spring primary should have an interesting shot, given the Montana tilt toward the Democratic Party, and the negative ratings of Burns, who, this year more than ever, has a reputation as a bridge burner. The latter tack will always be able to rally a certain core constituency, but what if — after 20 years — he is behind the times, and Montanans decide they would rather build bridges than burn them?

Sick of burning bridges and ethically challenged politics? So are we! Show your support for Jon Tester today, and help us bring honesty and personal responsibility to the U.S. Senate.

USA Today has the latest on Conrad Burns?? attempts to run from Jack Abramoff and his associates?? campaign contributions. The Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council has refused the cash, and the Great Falls Tribune reports that the Blackfeet Community College has refused the money as well.

From the USA Today piece:

WASHINGTON (AP) ??? The Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council has rejected a $111,000 donation from the campaign of Montana Sen. Conrad Burns, with some saying the money is tainted because it originally came from lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his clients.

James Steele Jr., also chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said yesterday that the council voted not to accept the donation, which was made up of contributions from Abramoff, his associates and his tribal clients.

In a statement Wednesday, Burns campaign chairman Mark Baker called the decision “disappointing” and said Burns would redirect most of the funds to the tribes that originally donated the money. Burns, a Republican, said in December that he would give away and return $146,700 in donations in order to avoid the appearance of improper connections to Abramoff, who pleaded guilty two weeks ago to federal corruption charges.

Abramoff admitted to conspiring to defraud Indian tribes, which he sometimes directed to make contributions to lawmakers. Since his plea agreement, many lawmakers have rushed to donate money connected to him and his clients or return it.

“To us it’s tainted money,” Doney said Wednesday. “If he wanted us to have extra money, he would have given it to us in other ways.”

So, Senator Burns cannot return the tainted money to the tribes who donated to his campaign and Montana tribes are refusing the funds. Check back to see where the money ends up.

Here??s an idea???maybe we can use Senator Burns?? backpedaling on Abramoff donations to power our state in the face of global warming. Conrad??s backpedaling is certainly a renewable resource???but probably not the cleanest power we might find.