Meet the wingnut Xtian extremist behind 40yrs/70 cases up to Citizens United: one James BOPP
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/06/05/the-christian-right-mastermind-behind-citizens-united-says-it-s-good-for-democracy.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thedailybeast%2Farticles+%28The+Daily+Beast+-+Latest+Articles%29
[font size=5]The Christian Right Mastermind Behind Citizens United Says It’s Good for Democracy[/font]
The famous case that unleashed corporate money on politics was actually part of a 40-year project by the religious right to overturn restrictions on campaign finance.
Jay MICHAELSON
.... Although you’ve probably never heard his name before, (James) Bopp was one of the leading minds behind Citizens United and other efforts to deregulate political spending. He’s also been the lawyer for leading Christian Right organizations including the National Right to Life Committee, National Organization for Marriage, the Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family.
That is not a coincidence. In fact, these organizations, ostensibly devoted to social issues, have been the lead plaintiffs in over 70 lawsuits challenging campaign finance laws, as first disclosed in a report last year by the liberal group Common Cause. ....
“The Right To Life movement felt it was under serious threat by attacks from the FEC,” he said. “They decided to be pro-active, not wait until the eve of an election to get whacked by some law, but to be pro-active and try to monitor and influence campaign finance legislation, and bring suit if it looks like it would jeopardize their activities.”
Common Cause found that between 1993 and 1998, Bopp brought lawsuits in 26 states on behalf of the NRLC and its affiliates alone. Bopp is still general counsel at NRLC, and he’s been special counsel to the RNC, special counsel to Focus on the Family, attorney for NOM, and lead counsel for the Christian Coalition. Other clients have included the Susan B. Anthony List, Christian Broadcasting Network, Traditional Values Coalition, Home School Legal Defense Association, Concerned Women of America, National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation, Club for Growth, the Libertarian Party, Republican National Committee, and the state Republican parties of Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont.
Bopp also has an unusual relationship with a nonprofit called the James Madison Center for Free Speech. Set up in 1996 with Mitch McConnell—himself a prodigious fundraiser and super PAC founder—the Center has no staff, no phone line, and no office. It shares an address with Bopp’s (for-profit) law firm, and its tiny board is made up of Bopp’s colleagues at the RNC and NRLC—together with Betsy DeVos, whose family foundation is perhaps the leading funder of hard-right Christian extremism in America. ....
Is enabling corporations and anonymous wealthy individuals to influence What Jesus Would Do? Who knows. Then again, if memory serves, Christ decided to the moneylenders out of the Temple—not help them elect the High Priest.
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