Conservatives have spent years claiming Washington holds too much power.
asserted
Washington → spend → power
We make this argument about education, land use, energy, healthcare, elections, you name it.
asserted
you → make → it
A republic of 50 sovereign states wasn’t built for every political disagreement to end with Washington’s decision.
asserted
disagreement → build → decision
Utah should run itself like Utah.
asserted
Utah → run → Utah
Montana should get to be Montana.
asserted
Montana → get → ?
Federal courts have spent decades building constitutional barriers that limit what Congress and state legislatures can do about political spending.
asserted
Congress → spend → spending
The 2010 decision gets cited all the time — sometimes inaccurately.
asserted
decision → cite → ?
Citizens United didn’t eliminate campaign finance law.
asserted
United → eliminate → law
It didn’t say corporations can donate unlimited sums directly to candidates.
asserted
corporations → say → candidates
The Supreme Court still upheld disclosure and disclaimer requirements.
asserted
Court → uphold → requirements
What it said was: The government can’t block independent political spending just because the speaker is a corporation or a union.
asserted
speaker → say → spending
Conservatives have a serious argument for that result.
asserted
Conservatives → have → result
Political speech costs money.
asserted
speech → cost → money
Running digital ads, launching a website, sending mailers, commissioning polls, organizing volunteers — all of it costs money.
asserted
all → run → money
If the government decides how much you can spend promoting political ideas, it gets real power over speech.
asserted
it → decide → speech
And who makes those decisions?
asserted
who → make → decisions
Anyone wary of government should think twice before handing the people in office more power to regulate attempts to vote them out.
asserted
Anyone → think → them
The 10th Amendment doesn’t give states the right to ignore the First Amendment.
asserted
Amendment → give → Amendment
Federalism does not give states authority to violate constitutional rights.
asserted
Federalism → give → rights
The tricky part is finding the line.
asserted
part → find → line
Have campaign finance rulings set the First Amendment boundary so wide that Congress and the states have little room to govern elections within their own jurisdictions?
asserted
Congress → set → jurisdictions
The Supreme Court weighed in again this year in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission.
asserted
Court → weigh → Committee
The justices struck down federal limits on political parties’ coordinated expenditures with their candidates.
asserted
justices → strike → candidates
It wasn’t Citizens United all over again, but the central question remained: How much room do legislatures have to regulate political money?
asserted
legislatures → remain → money
Over a hundred years ago, the Copper Kings there weren’t just fighting for mines — they fought for control of mines, newspapers, judges, legislators, and political offices.
asserted
they → fight → mines
The corruption spurred the state’s 1912 Corrupt Practices Act, which restricted corporate political spending.
asserted
which → spur → spending
After Citizens United, Montana wanted to keep its law.
asserted
Montana → want → law
Montana’s Supreme Court concluded that the state’s history justified it.
asserted
history → conclude → it
But the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed and quickly reversed Montana’s high court in American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock.
asserted
Court → disagree → Bullock
Montana faced a problem.
asserted
Montana → face → problem
Montanans created a solution.
asserted
Montanans → create → solution
Their courts weighed their specific history.
asserted
courts → weigh → history
Washington still supplied the answer.
asserted
Washington → supply → answer
The Federal Election Commission says independent expenditures for the 2023-24 federal election cycle hit $4.4 billion.
asserted
expenditures → say → billion
The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that nonprofit groups and shell companies that did not disclose their donors put more than $1.9 billion into the 2024 federal election cycle.
asserted
that → estimate → cycle
I am experiencing it in my own race for the Utah House.
asserted
I → experience → House
An outside group can spend big while disclosing its donors.
asserted
group → spend → donors
In my race, the money is flowing through groups that don’t reveal where it’s actually coming from.
asserted
it → flow → where
I have an obvious interest here.
asserted
I → have → interest
Readers are free to discount my complaint accordingly.
asserted
Readers → discount → complaint
…and 47 more, not listed.
The Aporia
