Letters to the editor - July 4

Reasons to Relay in Ronan

I Relay because I am a breast cancer survivor since June 2000. Also, since then, I have learned that I am a survivor because the American Cancer Society funded research which produced critical testing including Pap smears and mammograms, as well as Tamoxifen for after-care.

ACS continues to fund research on the genetic links to contracting breast cancer, which was much publicized when Angelina Jolie recently had a double mastectomy. ACS also funds research on other forms of cancer, including prostate, lung, esophageal, skin (the most diagnosed type of cancer in all age groups) and childhood cancers. More information is available at www.cancer.org/research/acsresearchupdates.

We all benefit from the results of ACS-funded research. Be informed, be involved, be a survivor. Note that the American Cancer Society is the largest non-governmental funder of cancer research in the US and relies on our donations. Hope to see you at the Relay for Life, July 12, in Ronan beginning at 5:30 p.m. (And remember to use a sunscreen that protects against UVA and UVB).

Etta Moore,

Survivorship Committee

Polson

Campaign finance

Shortly after the 2013 Presidential Inauguration, Organizing for America, the Obama campaign fundraising organization formed by the Democratic National Committee morphed into Organizing for Action (OFA), an organization with a stated goal of promoting Obama’s second term agenda. This translates to financial support for federal and state left wing  Progressive  candidates. OFA was readily granted 501(c)(4) tax exempt status by the IRS, meaning it can accept unlimited corporate donations, and has already received contributions from left wing billionaire George Soros. The CEO of OFA is Obama campaign manager and exalted UM commencement speaker Jim Messina, whose efforts on behalf of Obama were vastly aided by the purely coincidental suppression of conservative fundraising groups and donors by the IRS.

Senator Tester and his liberal cohorts are incorrectly blaming the Citizens United decision by the US Supreme Court for all the  dark money  in campaigns, and are calling for a constitutional amendment declaring that  corporations aren’t people. Isn’t this inconsistent (some might say hypocritical) with what OFA is doing. They should read what the SCOTUS actually said:   the Government may not suppress political speech on the basis of a corporate identity. No sufficient governmental interest justifies limits on the political speech of non-profit or for -profit corporations and a ban on independent expenditures is a ban on free speech.  In other words, corporations have the same rights as thousands of other organizations such as Labor Unions, PACs, MoveOn, Sierra Club, NRA, AMA, OFA, etc., etc., whose leadership decide on how to spend millions of dollars to promote their political agendas and candidates. To be fair and equitable, all of these special interest groups should be included by our elected representatives in any campaign finance reform proposal.

Philip Barney

Polson