New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has backed the U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow people to give an unlimited amount of money to political campaigns.
But the governor said that donors must reveal their contributions within a 48-hour time period by an Internet posting to ensure transparency, according to the state’s largest newspaper,
The Star-Ledger.
Christie noted that the problem with campaign contributions is that donors circumvent the laws by making anonymous donations to independent groups that don’t have to reveal the names of the benefactors.
"Let’s stop playing games with each other," Christie said during a town hall meeting in Franklin Township, N.J. "Campaigns cost money. Let’s let everybody know where you got the money from.
"You are never going to keep money out of politics. None of these laws change that. So let’s add transparency to it."
The Republican governor was responding to a question about his position on the
Supreme Court ruling that struck down the aggregate limits on how much individuals can give to candidates, parties, and political action committees during the two-year election cycle.
The decision leaves in place the limits on how much a donor can give individual candidates and the laws that require candidates, parties, and political action committees to disclose information about donors.
The decision has been attacked for allowing wealthy donors like billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch to donate a fortune to candidates and campaigns.
But Christie said that the ruling was "just peeling back another layer of the onion that didn’t stop money from getting into politics anyway."
The report pointed out that Christie has been the beneficiary of donations from anonymous contributors, citing the Committee for Our Children’s Future, which has spent $7 million on TV ads to tout Christie’s achievements.
The group, which is not required to name its donors, was founded in 2011 by Christie’s college friends to counter the unions that spent millions opposing the governor’s proposals.
Christie also told the town hall meeting that he would get rid of realty transfer fees, paid when people sell their homes, if such legislation was passed.
"From my perspective, it makes no sense," he said. "It’s awful. It should be done away with."
The embattled governor is still facing inquiries into the scandal surrounding the closure of Fort Lee, N.J., access lanes onto the George Washington Bridge last September that caused four days of traffic nightmares.
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