As Senator Jon Tester continues to pay lip service to the Keystone XL pipeline without lifting a finger to stop his friends in the Obama Administration and the radical environmental movement from blocking it, a new report out of Washington reveals that the radical environmental organization leading the opposition to Keystone XL has funneled more money to Tester's re-election campaign than to any other candidate in the country. As Politico's Morning Score reported today:
- SNEAK PEEK – LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION RAISES RECORD AMOUNT FOR CANDIDATES: The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund will announce later today that at the end of 2011 the organization had raised $258,334 for pro-environment congressional candidates this cycle through its GiveGreen program. This is about four times higher than the 2009 number. Two of the top recipients of LCV fundraising are Montana Sen. Jon Tester ($88,571.38) and New Mexico Rep. and Senate hopeful Martin Heinrich ($76,295.23).
Flash back to this League of Conservation Voters press release headline from exactly one week ago:
- “LCV Applauds The Obama Administration’s Rejection Of The Keystone XL Pipeline”
"This is yet another reminder that despite claiming to support Keystone XL, Senator Tester is hypocritically bankrolling his re-election campaign with money from the same anti-job environmental activists standing in the way of these good Montana jobs," said Rehberg spokesman Chris Bond.
In fact, according to a report by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, Senator Tester has taken more campaign cash from radical environmentalists than any other member of the Senate this election cycle.
Notably, Tester directly credits the anti-job LCV with his election to the Senate in 2006, saying “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for LCV and Montana Conservation Voters.” The LCV agrees, boasting that their “sophisticated effort helped elect Tester by just 3,562 votes and gave environmentalists the majority in the Senate.” Recently, an LCV front group calling itself "Montana Hunters and Anglers" has rushed to Tester’s defense as he seeks re-election, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in misleading attack ads.
Maybe that’s why Tester recently helped the LCV raise significant funding to stand in the way of Montana jobs. Despite being forced by pressure from folks in Montana to cancel his long-scheduled appearance at the group’s $500-a-plate annual fundraising dinner in New York City, Tester allowed his scheduled appearance to be used to promote paid attendance and high-end event sponsorships, which sold for as much as $25,000.
In sharp contrast, Denny Rehberg continues to lead efforts in Congress to move forward with the Keystone XL pipeline and the thousands of jobs it will create here in Montana. Denny’s legislation to move ahead with Keystone XL passed both the House and Senate with strong bipartisan support, and yesterday Denny again urged President Obama to stop blocking Keystone XL and the thousands of private-sector jobs it would create in Montana.
These are just a few things to keep in mind as Senator Tester continues to hypocritically downplay his ties to the anti-job environmental groups bankrolling his campaign, and his 97 percent support for the Obama Agenda in Washington…
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