Jeb Bush would eliminate Citizens United
02/08/2016
Jeb Bush, who raised more than $120 million for the Right to Rise Super PAC, said he favors a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision that allows such PACs to operate untethered.
During a speech today before the Rotary Club in Nashua, New Hampshire, Bush said he believes one remedy is for candidate campaigns to be able to receive unlimited contributions and be held "personally accountable and responsible" for the money received. Bush said there would need to be "total transparency" about "the amounts of money and who gives it. And have it with 48 hour turn-around."
Earlier in the day, Bush told CNN, that now there, "is a ridiculous system we have now where you have campaigns that struggle to raise money directly and they can't be held accountable for the spending of the super PAC that's their affiliate."
Right to Rise is, by far, the largest presidential super PAC. It is run by Bush's long-time campaign adviser Mike Murphy. The PAC has spent more than $70 million on campaign activity, according to some reports.
Neither in his speech nor during his appearance on CNN, did Bush say whether he would be willing to publicly urge Murphy to rapidly disclose donors and expenditures. Bush cannot direct Murphy to take any action because federal law forbids coordination between the Bush campaign and Right to Rise.
Still, Bush could make a public statement urging Murphy to meet the candidate's goal of 48-hour disclosures.
Bush also told Rotary members that he believes the time has come for a constitutional convention that would look at amendments for requiring a balanced federal budget, a line-item veto for the president, and term limits for Congress.
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