We already saw on December 12 how our Montana unemployment rates are wildly out of whack, much higher (15% to 20% higher, than the state is telling us).
So we have the state lying to us already, we know that – why should we expect any different in this report?
Some of you will laugh, but those Republicans in the legislature right now are nodding their head to my words. They’re from those counties that are keeping their men on the couch and not in the employment rolls, and they know there’s a problem.
So what do these reports say? Let’s get into them.
Tourism in Montana in 2014
I’ve been saying for months that we need more tourist dollars here, but when we continue to rely on fossil fuels for a small segment of our economy and our population, then we scare a lot of those folks away.
And I just don’t really want to get into the number of potential tourists that are being scared away by idiotic policies, comments, and procedural motions put forth my Republicans in this state. They hurt business with that shit, and they don’t care one bit. But then, you have to remember that many legislators are getting free money from the government.
Two of the big fuck-heads in that department are Debby Barrett and that prick Knudsen. Both take and take and take from Uncle Sam and the state, but vote against poor people like me from getting anything. But they’re losers, so what do you expect?
Let’s not get into Democrats standing up against this stupidity, because we both know that Democrats in Montana are only really good for groveling over the scraps thrown to them from the table of the industry whores that rape us on a daily basis. Their silence on the Obamacare cluster-fuck these past couple weeks before the deadline was especially telling – they have no spines and can only say what they’re told.
The good news is that despite our backward politicians, our state’s natural beauty continues to draw tourists. In the U.S., tourism is expected to grow by 2% in 2015. From 2013 to 2014, tourism in Montana grew by 2%, so we should be able to meet that or exceed it.
I like how this article goes into agriculture being our main business, while also pointing out that none of that business could exist or stay a going concern without the gargantuan amounts of federal subsidies that go into it.
Folks, when you get subsidies, it means you can’t do business on your own. I know you don’t like to hear that, but it’s true. If you stopped getting that money from Uncle Sam next week, how long would you have?
Dependency Issues in Montana
Craft brewing is only a $65 million industry, and it in no way competes with the $120 million a year marijuana industry in Montana, which is currently illegal and drawing no taxes. But we’re stupid here in the Treasure State, and we make it clear that money isn’t the issue, or addiction to alcohol is. We can’t change our ways, and many of those drunk legislators you’ll see in the Capitol in a couple weeks makes that clear (smell their breath in the morning, notice how talkative they are, and see how they can’t hold still – they’re still drunk from the night before).
- Fuel: 32%
- Retail Purchases: 19%
- Restaurants and Bars: 17%
- Lodging: 10%
- Grocery Purchases: 8%
- Outfitting and Guides: 4%
- Licenses and Entrance Fees: 2%
- Car Rentals: 2%
That really slaps those local-option sales taxes down. 2% of fucking rental cars is all we get and you want to slap a sales tax on everyone because of that? Fuck you! And don’t give me this bullshit that it won’t affect me – we’re addicted to alcohol in Montana and that local option hits my liquor store purchases you dumb bastards!
But don’t expect legislators in Helena, legislators making $192 a day, to know anything about how you live your daily life. Hell, most raised thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars to get elected (so much for Franke Wilmer and her treasure chest, huh?). These folks are heads-in-the-clouds clueless assholes.
He does know how to live in debt like you do, however, because those idiots at the Chamber of Commerce and elsewhere have convinced him that bonding an infrastructure bill is better than spending money we have on it.
This is stupid, but you have to expect that from someone making $9,000 a month, or $4,000 a paycheck every two weeks. When you have that much money you’re going to look at interest rates and how you can borrow now to save for later. You look at ways you can rub the banker’s back so he’ll rub yours. And don’t think those bankers are doing wrong – they’re just doing their job, which is to take money from your family so their can get it…they can’t do anything else, they can’t get any other job…they have no real skills or value for society, you know this, deep down you know this.
Again, I live in poverty, so excuse me for saying this is a bad idea. I also don’t have a business degree, so that might also clue you into my ignorance on this issue. But goddamn it, I’ve got $10 in my pocket and I know deep down that spending that $10 on $10 worth of groceries makes a helluva lot more sense than spending $15 on those groceries over the next six months.
Tourism money in Montana doesn’t come from the governor’s office, and it doesn’t come from the legislature.
- It comes from you, the outfitter and guide taking someone to a river;
- It comes from you the clerk ringing those yahoos up for ten hours each day;
- It comes from that cleaning lady turning down your bed for minimum wage;
- It comes from that old gas station that’s been locally-owned for 50 years but is still barely scraping by.
It sure the hell doesn’t come from some stuffy suit sitting in the Capitol, and it sure the hell doesn’t come from some oilman back East or some dipshit in Washington.
You’re Montana and you know it, and you tell that to these idiots we’ve got in charge right now. And never forget that they’ll come and go – that’s all they ever do – but you’ll be right here like you’ve always been.