Past and present Senate candidates from Montana: on Corporations

Matt Rosendale: New tax law changes depreciation rules to allow expansion

At Anchor Electric, Rosendale reported that the company owner told him that the tax reform package allowed him to expand his businesses and hire about 10 additional employees. "They've acquired another firm and now he plans to take advantage of additional parts of the tax reform package that allow small businesses to make capital investments and expense that out over one year instead of having to depreciate it out over several years," Rosendale said.

Rosendale said he's seen reports that there are hundreds of thousands of new manufacturing jobs in the U.S. because of the tax reform package. "That's one of the things that Jon Tester has voted against in opposition to the desires of the people of Montana," Rosendale said.

Albert Olszewski: Federal regulations get in the way of small business

Amanda Curtis: Wall St. is doing great; recovery hasn't reached rest of us

Sam Rankin: End tax subsidies; & tax corporations in foreign countries

• Capital gains and dividends taxed as ordinary income.
• A modified Territorial system for taxing corporations in foreign countries.
• Eliminate ALL tax expenditures i.e. subsidies. If allowed, tax rate(s) must rise.

Jon Tester: Prevent abuses by "too-big-to-fail" banks on Wall Street

Earlier in the debate, Tester defended the Dodd-Frank legislation as being important to prevent abuses from "too-big-to-fail" financial institutions on Wall Street. The legislation put "more cops on the beat to make sure Wall Street won't do it again."

Jon Tester: Citizens United puts democracy at risk

Incumbent Democrat Jon Tester responded that the widely criticized ruling puts democracy at risk by giving corporations more power than people. The Supreme Court ruling undid past restrictions on political spending by corporations and special interest groups.

Rehberg said he supported the 2010 ruling, although he added that there should be full transparency on where campaign money is coming from. "There should be nothing more free than political free speech," he said.

Tester responded that "corporations are not people. Because of Citizens United, corporations have more rights when it comes to donations than people do," he said.

Conrad Burns: Marketplace will force us into conservation and renewables

BURNS: The incentives for alternative fuels & renewable fuels are just like any other incentive to increase production, & that’s exactly what is happening, because of the competition in the market. We would not have had those big windmills if not for [the recent] energy bill. It is the marketplace that will force us into conservation and renewables.

Jon Tester: Energy plan was written by oil companies, so no renewables

BURNS: The incentives for alternative fuels & renewable fuels are just like any other incentive to increase production, & that’s exactly what is happening, because of the competition in the market. We would not have had those big windmills if not for [the recent] energy bill. It is the marketplace that will force us into conservation and renewables.