Montana Articles

The Sad State of Juneau

10/8/2016

Juneau strategy

How bad will Denise’s loss be?

She lost the primary by over 31,000 votes.

Do you think she might just lose the general by 20,000 or so?

Maybe.

Maybe she’ll get within 10,000 or maybe even 5,000 votes.

I sure don’t see her winning, however – I didn’t see Dems winning even way back when Stgoddard was the only candidate.

Dems can’t win this seat…we all know that.

Dems don’t have a message that rural people give a damn about.

Rural voters like what Zinke has to say, however, and no manner of Trump mishaps is going to change that.

Honestly, I just don’t see a lot of people changing their votes.

I sure as hell don’t see a lot of Trump supporters going over to Hillary.

Maybe some will stay home.

But honestly, I feel that many Trump supporters like the idea of grabbing a woman ‘down there.’

That’s the big ruckus today – Trump’s statements from 2005 about grabbing a woman’s pussy.

My, that’s pretty intense.

Do you think the backlash would be less if he used the word ‘vagina?’

Eh…probably not.

And perhaps your ears are as shocked as mine.

I mean, I haven’t heard talk like that since the locker room, the bar, the water cooler, the men’s bathroom, fishing, hunting, shooting the shit, and all manner of other things that men do together.

I don’t know what women say when they think no one’s listening…but I’m sure it’s not always pretty.

To the Dems’ way of thinking…Trump is done.

These latest comments after a string of ‘terrible’ comments will be the thing that finally sinks him.

And the way the Juneau-supporting-Dems see it, this is her ticket to beat Zinke.

Are you beginning to realize how clueless Montana Democrats truly are?

No one’s going to switch from Zinke and vote for Juneau because of this. Maybe some people will stay home…that’s about it.

Personally, I’m not even going to bother voting in this race – I’m leaving it blank.

Neither Zinke or Juneau gives a damn about me or my problems, and I feel most low-income Montanans can say the same.

Hey – I’ve dug into their finance reports! These two will do anything to get elected, and in today’s age, that means taking from the rich.

Juneau finances here and Zinke finances here.

I don’t like that, so I won’t be voting in this race.

Zinke…Juneau…don’t matter to me.

Hillary…Trump…don’t matter to me.

Heck, I’ve got a Gary Johnson sign in my yard!

My life isn’t going to change at all, no matter which of those clowns gets in.

Oh, sometimes I like to think it will…but then I quickly regain my senses.

This country isn’t about you or I, it’s about the 1% and the 5% that want to be just like them.

It was decided long ago that the rich would give up on America, hence our failing infrastructure and no real attempt to fix it.

We shipped our jobs away and did nothing to replace them except put people on the dole.

Now we make promises that things will get better.

I’m glad so many Americans are smart enough not to buy into this bullshit.

It’s about half the country – they simply don’t vote.

There’s no real reason to…nothing ever changes.

Sadly, for another 30 days we’ll delude ourselves that it does.

The fever pitch will increase, the foaming at the mouth as well.

I’ve seen it on Twitter following Trump’s pussy comments. Now the Dems feel they have a real shot!

Just remember – 30 days.

Then it’ll be done.

A bit of sanity will return, but not much else. Our lives sure won’t get better, we know that.

I personally suspect that the economy will be crashed or the war with Russia will begin shortly after the election.

Let’s not talk about those things, however.

After all, Trump said something dumb. Denise thinks she can win because of it.

Don’t worry – take a deep breath – it’s almost over.

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September Spending for the Montana Statewide Races

10/3/2016

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The new campaign finance reports are out for the statewide races.

We’ll get into the governor’s race, secretary of state, state auditor, OPI, as well as the supreme court race.

In the next day or two we’ll have the legislative races.

These recent reports are for the month of September.

Before we begin I’d like to share some information I’ve received.

Democratic Campaign Shake-Ups

Someone told me that Eric Hyers isn't running Bullock’s campaign anymore.

I hear he got pushed to the side and that Aaron Browning is now running things.

Now we’re seeing the old Baucus connections come into play.

Browning has been running legislative campaigns since 2002, according to his profile page on Hilltop Public Solutions.

He was on the board of Forward Montana a few years ago, and might still be.

Browning was also named in a 277-page complaint filed against the Bullock campaign in 2013 for illegal coordination with Hilltop during the 2012 election.

Then-Commissioner of Political Practices Jim Murry recused himself from that case as he’d been the treasurer of the Democratic Governors Association of Montana prior to being appointed commissioner.

That was long ago but I guess there’s a rumor going around that Bullock was only 1 point up in the recent DGA poll.

Supposedly the Bullock campaign got scared and decided to restructure.

That’s why Browning is in, Hyers is out.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Montana Democratic Party does over this final month.

They’ve spent $391,505 on salaries so far this year, so those people are doing fine.

They’ve also spent $30,000 on fundraising and consulting fees, $13,500 on polling, $25,000 on campaign strategy, and $34,000 on campaign data and technology.

Besides that, the Montana Democratic Party has also transferred $864,600 up to the national party. They’ve given just $97,400 to local parties.

Another $16,000 was spent on event food and expenses.

Just $10,000 was given to Denise Juneau’s campaign.

Nancy Keenan has been given $36,000 so far this year, Colleen Martin $51,000. Kendra Miller has received $26,000 so far, Andrea Marcoccio $21,000.

Very interesting.

Now, let’s get to the governor’s race, starting with Gianforte.

Gianforte’s September Finances

For Gianforte we see that he raised $1.72 million in September and spent $1.77 million.

Gianforte now has $223,758 in the bank.

He gave himself three payments of $500,000 this past month as well as $12,903 in in-kind expenses.

That means that just $272,000 came from other people...which is still a substantial amount.

Besides that he picked up $70 at a Roundup pass-the-hat event and another $20 at one in Boulder.

The Montana Republican Party gave him $65.

After that we have about 40 pages of people giving individual donations.

When we look at Gianforte’s spending we see a similar pattern:

Using Kansas City’s Axiom Strategies for 56,000 pieces of mail at a cost of $33,424.

Spending another $43,000 for 81,000 pieces of mail with postage from the same Kansas City company.

Spending another $42,000 with them for 40,000 palm cards and 72,000 pieces of mail with postage.

Spending an additional $33,000 for another 56,000 pieces of mail.

That comes out to $152,000 worth of work that could have went to a Montana firm but instead went to a firm in Missouri.

So much for wanting to create Montana jobs, huh?

In addition to that spending, here are some things that stood out to me:

$1,000 spent for a “statewide date subscription” with Baltimore’s I360.

$32,500 with Portland, Oregon’s, Moore Information for “polling.”

$48,735.61 for “retainer and online advertising” from Indiana’s Prosper Group Corporation.

$8,000 for website development from the same Indiana company.

$89,500 for TV and radio ads from Virginia’s Red Print Strategy.

$1,361,819 with Ohio’s Strategic Media for radio and TV airtime.

$5,642.50 to Indiana’s Bopp Law Firm.

$15,768 for 5,000 bumper stickers and 19,819 pieces of mail from Wisconsin’s Unisource Direct.

Every single big-ticket purchase that Gianforte made was done so with an out-of-state company.

Money talks and bullshit walks.

It’s clear Gianforte would rather create jobs out-of-state than here in Montana.

Bullock’s September Finances

Bullock raised $281,859 in September and spent $538,280. He now has $1.04 million left in the bank.

So Bullock took in just $9,000 more than Gianforte when it comes to donors.

Bullock likes taking PAC money. In September he took from:

$8,950 from BNSF Rail PAC out of Texas

$660 from Corrections Corporation of America PAC out of Tennessee

$2,500 from CTA BuildMT PAC out of Bozeman

$10,610 from Deloitte PAC out of D.C.

$200 from Friends of Moffie Funk out of Helena

$200 from Helena Firefighter L448 PAC in Helena

$500 from Hill County Democratic Central Committee in Havre

$10,610 from IBEW PAC Voluntary Fund in D.C.

$300 from Janet Ellis HD #81 out of Helena

$8,000 from MEA-MFT COPE out of Helena

$330 from Monsanto Citizens Fund out of Missouri

$5,000 from Pfizer PAC out of New York

Bullock then has 60 pages of individual contributors before we get to expenses.

This is what stood out to me:

$4,714 with Billings Times for 38,500 envelopes and 17,000 letterheads

$2,000 to Brock Consulting of Missoula for fundraising consulting

$441,816 with Georgia’s Canal Partners Media for a “media buy”

$9,166 with New York’s Global Strategy Group for “research”

$2,000 to Nicole Kayner of Helena for email consulting

$6,800 for postage with Mailing Technical Services of Billings

$2,176 for salary reimbursement to the Montana Democratic Party

$10,000 for “strategic/communications consulting” from Helena’s Peak Strategic Solutions

$24,070 for digital consulting from Washington, D.C.’s Rising Tide Interactive

$1,900 to Detroit’s Salsa Labs for computer software

$14,000 for 1.25 million campaign walking cards form Chicago’s Strategy Group

Bullock is also spending out-of-state, but not nearly as much.

I personally don’t understand why he couldn’t get a million campaign cards printed up in Montana.

Perhaps that’s why I’m not governor.

The Secretary of State Race

Monica Lindeen raised about $23,000 for September, spent $48,000 and now has about $26,000 left.

She got $2,500 from Philadelphia’s Cigna Political Action Committee and another $2,640 from the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State based out of D.C.

There are few expenses, the big one being $40,000 with Billings’ Spotlight Productions for a campaign media buy.

She also spent $1,150 with the Billings Times for fundraiser printing and then $5,833 with San Francisco’s Tulchin Research.

Who is this California research firm that’s taking a lot of money from our Montana Democrats?

They work with Democrats and do things like telephone surveys, focus groups, and online web testing.

We’ll see if they’re worth the money come November 8.

When it comes to Corey Stapleton, he raised $9,670 for the month, spent $68,000 and has $72,000 left in the bank.

He gets a lot of money from various county GOP central committees. He also got $990 from Northwestern Energy and $500 from MT Med PAC, which is based in Helena.

His big expenditure for the month was $54,555 with Virginia’s Smart Media Group for TV ads.

He also spent $11,745 with Northern Broadcasting out of Billings for radio ads and $1,272 with Billings’ the Political Companyn for 1,450 fundraising mailers.

The State Auditor Race

Jesse Laslovich raised $35,000 for September and spent $181,000. He now has about $77,000 in the bank.

Most of his PAC money is small, but the Joe Hune Leadership Fund of Missouri did give him $2,320.

He got $990 from the NorthWestern Energy Montana Employee PAC.

Big expenditures include:

$4,930 for a campaign media buy with Billings’ Northern Broadcasting
$166,563 for another media buy from Virginia’s Screen Strategies Media
$2,745 for campaign signs with the Billings Times
$5,833 for campaign consulting with San Francisco’s Tulchin Research

When it comes to Matt Rosendale…well, the guy’s still reporting for the primary, not the general.

He got $23,000 and spent $58,000 and has $15,000 left.

Northwestern Energy gave him $990.

That company doesn’t care if it’s D’s or R’s that win – they’ll pay off both.

Rosendale’s big expenditure was with Maryland’s On Message for radio and web advertising for $50,000.

The OPI Race

Melissa Romano raised $40,000 for the month and spent $62,000. She now has $53,000 left in the bank.

PAC and committee donors to Romano are:

Carol’s List: $500
Helena Firefighter L448 PAC: $150
Jessica Karjala for Montana: $75
Mehlhoff for HD 22: $200
Montanans for Tester: $104

After that we get about 15 pages of individual donors before the expenses.

What stood out to me was:

$50,000 for a media buy from ARC of Helena

$3,148 for 1,500 yard signs from Billings Times
$800 in postage from Mailing Technical Services in Billings
$5,833 for polling from San Francisco’s Tulchin Research

When it comes to Elsie Arntzen she raised $25,000 for the month and spent $3,400. She has about $124,000 in the bank.

Arntzen has a lot of committee money, mostly coming from various Republican Central Committee’s around the state.

She also got $300 from the Montana Independent Bankers.

There are a few pages of individual donors, then a few expenses. One of them is $2,000 for communications consulting from Helena’s Pioneer Solutions.

The Supreme Court Race

Dirk Sandefur raised $59,000 this month and spent $139,000. He has $39,000 left in the bank.

His two PAC contributions are $50 from Andrea Olsen for HD 100 and $990 from the Northwestern Energy Montana Employees PAC.

Sandefur spent $1,097 with Havre’s Florens Printing for 7,500 envelopes and 2,500 letterheads.

He spent $605 with Black Eagle’s Identity Screen for printing and $1,364 with Great Falls’ Montana Senior News for advertising.

The big purchase was with Bozeman’s Plazby, LLC for a media buy at nearly $129,000.

Besides that we get a lot of postage with a Massachusetts company.

When it comes to Kristen Juras…she didn’t bother to file a campaign finance report for the period.

One Final Thought

Why is an unpaid blogger getting you this detailed information and not the state media organizations?

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MT Finance Reports: What I’ll Be Looking For

10/3/2016

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The legislative finance reports will be out tomorrow and the statewides will be out later today.

I’ll probably put up a post again today on the latter, but we’ll wait until tomorrow to get into the good stuff.

I say good stuff because we haven’t seen legislative campaign finance reports for a few months now.

It’ll be interest to see what the candidates have done since the primary.

So what will I be looking for?

Are candidates spending in-state our out-of-state?

How much are they spending on TV and radio ads?

How many flyers and mailers did they get printed?

How much are they spending on postage?

What fundraisers did they do…just pass-the-hat’s?

What PACs donated to them?

Where are the PACs located?

What industries do the PACs represent?

Are these PACs giving to Democrats and Republicans?

Those are just a few things that I’ll explore.

I’ve been writing about candidate campaign finance reports for months now and feel I’m getting pretty good at deciphering them.

So look forward to the posts over the next couple days – we must dig through all the bullshit.

We look at finance reports to bring about change.

Some candidates have no shame and will not change, however.

Some candidates like to keep spending money out-of-state even after we’ve pointed this spending out.

Clearly, shaming has no effect on these politicians.

What’s especially shameful is that there are tons of Montana companies that can provide these services.

This is especially true for TV ads, which we pointed out in April in a post called Politics Grows Weary with Itself.

Despite that, I expect both Bullock and Gianforte will have bought more ads from out-of-state companies.

They just don’t care.

They could take all that rich-man’s money they’ve been raising (plus the small donations of Montanans) and give that to Montana companies.

They choose not to.

I call this incompetence, myself, and would never allow such in my campaign or a campaign I was running.

I’d create ads pointing out my opponent’s out-of-state spending, shaming them in the process.

I’d tout my in-state spending and the jobs it creates, perhaps even profiling some of these people.

But I’m not running a campaign – out-of-staters are.

At least that’s the case with Bullock and Gianforte’s campaigns (if Aaron Flint was running things, why is Amy Lunde getting paid more?)

You’ll remember that Amy is from Wisconsin, the same state that Gianforte likes to make many of his purchases from.

Coincidence, perhaps?

Not in politics, I’m afraid.

Bullock can’t capitalize on this fuck-up because he’s spending just as much out-of-state.

It’s sad – such a wasted opportunity.

Oh well.

This race is over anyways.

The Western Word said it last week – Bullock just needs to hit Gianforte with the sales tax utterances from 2002 over and over and over again.

I don’t feel Gianforte can dig himself out of that hole, though he’ll spend a lot of time and money trying to over the next month.

Most of the time it’ll be sad to watch, kind of embarrassing.

But that happens to people that don’t know the state that well.

If he didn’t understand it well enough after living here for 7 years…will he have come to understand it more after being here for 21 years?

Perhaps. His 406 tax plan does say “no sales tax.”

I’m afraid at this point that just won’t be good enough.

Moving on to the legislative races…I’m really interested in the women.

Perhaps some Helena readers can better inform me via their knowledge of the last session, but I believe we have a strong female voting bloc forming.

In the 2017 session it might have some real power…except we’re talking about toe-the-line Democrats so probably not.

Who are these women?

Jessica Karjala (HD 48 – Billings)
Kelly McCarthy (HD 49 – Billings)
Amanda Curtis (HD 74 – Butte)
Jenny Eck (HD 79 – Helena)
Janet Ellis (HD 81 – Helena)
Moffie Funk (HD 82 – Helena)
Ellie Hill Smith (HD 90 – Missoula)
Kim Dudik (HD 94 – Missoula)
Andrea Olsen (HD 100 – Missoula)

That’s a 9-member voting bloc right there.

They’re all women that have the same ideas and the same outlook and want to get the same stuff done.

Will they?

I have a feeling they’ll do something.

I’m throwing Curtis in there even though she sat out last session.

She’s a woman, she’s in the House, she’s a Democrat, she’s from the city…I see her joining this bloc.

Besides that she has knowledge of Billings as well. Legislators that know two areas are a bit more important, in my opinion.

I’ll be taking a hard look at both Curtis and Eck for the simple reason that they’re raising a lot of money when they have no opponents.

I’ll do the same with Ellis and Funk – neither have opponents either.

I consider these Helena seats to be ‘soft seats’ as the person ‘winning’ them has never been bloodied in battle.

They’re entitled, feeling that everything should be given to them.

They’ve never had to fight to achieve anything…and my how that mindset can poison you.

I’ll do the same thing with Bryce Bennett here in Missoula.

If you know of other candidates running unopposed, please let me know – I’ll dig into their finances as well.

There’s no reason to raise money when you have no opponent.

What is that money for?

In closing I’ll mention the House races that I’ll have my eye on for election night…Democrats listed first.

HD 43: Elizabeth Pincolini vs. Josh Daniels (L) and Peggy Webb
HD 48: Jessica Karjala vs. Robert Saunders
HD 52: Chris Goodridge vs. Jimmy Patelis
HD 57: Elaine Doerr vs. Andrew Forcier (L) and Forrest Mandeville
HD 59: Dirk Adams vs. Alan Redfield
HD 80: Elizabeth Cain vs. Valerie Clague (I) and Becky Beard
HD 84: Mary Ann Dunwell vs. Paula Bonar (I) and Steve Gibson
HD 96: Andrew Person vs. Adam Hertz

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A Splinter in the MT Democratic Party

9/30/2016

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Gallatin National Forest

Small splinters.

That’s how these things get started, so I ask the question…

Is it possible for a splinter group in the Montana Democratic Party to take charge?

That might be down the road a ways, but I feel there’s potential here.

It starts with identifying the disgruntled Democrats that might be sick and tired of the D.C. taint on the Party.

For instance, I saw in a Cowturd comment today that Dirk Adams endorsed Caron Cooper at the Park County Democrats Annual Lasagna Dinner.

We know Cooper will never again be accepted into the current MT Democratic Party fold after running against Pat Noonan for the open PSC seat as an Independent.

Dirk Adams is one that’s never been accepted too much by the MT Dem’s current establishment, and we know he ticked-off Nancy Keenan at last year’s Park County shindig when he made some ‘off-color’ comments.

So we’ve got Cooper and Adams and I’ll go ahead and throw John Bohlinger in there as well.

Not much to get excited about, is there?

Well, what if I told you that we could have Amanda Curtis and Angela McLean in the ranks as well?

I feel Curtis is a good pick – she heads up the recently-formed Progressive Democrats caucus of the Montana Democratic Party, something that was allowed to form to try and contain some of the frustration over Bernie losing in the primary.

What McLean will do is anyone’s guess but I feel she’s a likely pick for a group that will go against the big money corruption and ethical misconduct that the current Party embraces.

Other than that…who?

And is it even possible?

We’re not talking about a third-party movement but a simple changing of the guard of the current party.

That’ll be mighty hard with Tester and Bullock pulling the strings, and even with lesser party heads like Eric Feaver and Nancy Keenan still around.

So this might not be possible by 2020, maybe even by 2024.

But gosh darn…things have a tendency to change awfully fast in politics, Montana politics especially.

Who would have thought we’d see such a crazy year this year, with Cooper filing a complaint against Cowturd?

Who would have thought Cowturd would label posts about Cooper as "porn" and "racist views"?

But that’s how these things get started.

Small splinters.

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The Libertarian Tax Affair with Signs

9/29/2016

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Gallatin River

What should we talk about today?

Or perhaps another way to look at it…what shouldn’t we talk about today?

If you’re Gary Johnson you probably shouldn’t talk at all.

Gary Johnson's Flubs

Gee whiz, what’s wrong with this guy?

First we had that brain fart over Aleppo on September 8 and then on September 28 Johnson could not name a single world leader!

Matthews: But I'm giving you the whole world.

Johnson: I know, I know, I know.

Matthews: But I'm giving you the whole world. Anybody in the world you like. Anybody. Pick any leader.

Johnson: The former president of Mexico.

Matthews: Which one?

Johnson: I'm having a brain ... "

What a fuck up.

And I’ve got this guy’s bumper sticker on my car?

Now I look like an idiot.

I mean, how can Johnson spin this?

I guess you can say that it’s good he’s so focused on America that he doesn’t give a damn about what’s going on outside her borders…but is that what we want?

Well, when it comes to Trump and Hillary, maybe!

I still sometimes think of voting for Trump, but honestly…there’s no point.

It’s like in 2000 – I can vote for whoever the hell I want with the firm knowledge that Montana will go GOP.

My presidential vote does not matter.

So voting for Trump is pointless, and that’s great – I get the best of both worlds!

I can vote for Johnson, telling everyone for the next 4 years that I did so. That way I get none of the blame for how fucked-up things get.

Besides that, I can continue to root for Trump to defeat Hillary, knowing that Montana will go for him anyways.

Really, unless you’re living in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina…and maybe Colorado and New Mexico and perhaps another toss-up state…your vote isn’t really important.

Yep, the electoral college: that antiquated thing that allows the rich and powerful to keep their lofty perches atop the two-headed monster we call American politics.

So I’ll be voting for Johnson, but for God’s sake…someone give this man a newspaper each day – he has some serious catching-up to do!

Talking About a Montana Sales Tax

Let’s move on to some other topics…like state revenue.

On September 28 it was revealed that the City of Bozeman was hiring a lobbyist to convince legislators in the 2017 session to approve a sales tax measure.

At that point it’d go before Bozeman voters in the 2017 election.

I made a nifty infographic of this to give people an idea of what’s going on:

Bozeman Sales Tax

So…why is Bozeman doing this?

I guess they need money, huh?

Well…why don’t they have enough money now?

I haven’t dug into the Bozeman city budget like I’ve done so with Missoula, but you’ll remember that Missoula tried this tricky-dick sales tax shit in 2015.

And of course places like Whitefish have their 3% resort tax.

Much of it started with the 1987 hotel tax, revenue of which is now used primarily to promote and market the state to tourists.

This brings in new money to those communities so they can see to their needs.

Again, why can’t they see to their needs now?

Is it out-of-control spending at the local level…or could it be that the state is not taking care of the various communities as it should?

If the problem is with the state, we have to ask why.

I have a suspicion it’s because the state, just like the various communities, doesn’t have enough money either.

Now we get back to our rickety two-legged tax stool of property and income taxes.

There is no third leg to help prop us up and keep us sitting comfortably, namely the sales tax.

Many people like this, although we haven’t had a firm gauge of that since the 1992 election…when both gubernatorial candidates supported it but the public did not.

Also, what gets done with that sales tax money?

One idea I saw on the Flathead Beacon this week had this:

35% used to reduce property taxes
20% used as a credit on income tax returns of $30,000-80,000.
20% going into a rainy day fund
20% going to retiring outstanding bonds
5% going to admin

Now, where are sales tax revenues going, and what are other communities doing?

In Los Angeles, for instance, the sales tax is nearly 10%. Orange County has nearly 9%.

When it comes to Orange County sales taxes, you pay about 9 cents for every dollar you spend. That 9 cents is apportioned like so:

6 cents to the state
.5 cents to the Sheriff and DA
.5 cents to health and welfare
.5 cents to Transportation Authority
.33 cents to the cities/counties
.25 cents to roads
.25 cents to state optional funds

Perhaps that will give legislators an idea of what to do in Montana when they decide to bring this up again.

We know from our explorations into Montana’s tax situation that neighboring states are making a lot of money from their sales taxes.

In 2013, for instance:

Wyoming made $499 million
Idaho made $1.1 billion
Utah made $1.6 billion
Colorado made $2.1 billion

Montana made just $62 million that year in sales tax revenue, but a lot of people like it that way…right?

A big argument against sales taxes is that it hurts common citizens. A big argument for a sales tax is that it’ll help hard-pressed property tax payers.

Maybe, but is that going to help out the state’s revenue situation, or hurt it?

Here in Montana our property taxes only make up 12% of our general fund, so any property tax relief via the sales tax wouldn’t do much to increase our already declining revenue.

A year ago we expected a budget surplus of $300 million, but now we’ll have just $109 million.

Still, that’s a helluva lot better than no money, or worse, a deficit that requires tax increases.

Another reason we’re talking about sales taxes in Montana is because the Montana Democrats are really hitting Gianforte on this hard.

Back in 2002 Gianforte said that Montana might need a sales tax to boost the economy.

Then on September 29 Nancy Keenan got a couple Democrats to stand on the Capitol steps to tell everyone about this.

I’m not sure it’s a big deal, and it kind of seems like Democrats are reaching for any issue to smear Gianforte with.

The Western Word has more on this.

Perhaps their internal polling is showing something to be worried about…I dunno.

Is There Another Woman?

How many women are there?

I got the following email from someone after I put up my James DeHaven story on Tuesday:

“Rumor has it that the Governor's office was freaking out last Thursday because DeHaven was following a lead on another affair that Bullock had while AG. DeHaven called _____, the ex husband of _____, to ask if he knew of _____ having a sexual relationship with Bullock.

You want to know why DeHaven was pushed out? Start there...”

I decided to pick up where DeHaven left off.

I called up the ex-husband on September 27 and left a message on his machine telling him who I was and that I was interested in a phone call he may have received from James DeHaven before he was dismissed from the IR.

He called me back the next night and told me that he didn’t know if that was true or not.

He did confirm that DeHaven had called him about it, however, and told me that DeHaven got this information from “reliable sources.”

So that’s it on that as far as I’m concerned.

I suppose I could have called the woman, but what good would that have done?

I’m not including the names that I was given as I can’t prove anything here. I also don’t think dragging these people into the mud 3 to 7 years after the affair took place is going to help anyone.

Oh, it might help Gianforte win…but I don’t think he really wants to get down into this muck anyways.

I have no intention of voting for Bullock, myself, though I’m confident he’ll still win.

I’m also confident his sins will come back to haunt him at some point.

I’m confident Montana Democrats will do everything they can to save him, no matter how bad things are, just as they tried to do with Walsh.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

Missoula Campaign Signs in 2016

I’m starting to see a lot of campaign signs in Missoula.

Missoula campaign yard signs, 2016

See that one there with all the Republicans? Those are kind of rare.

I actually had my 2016 campaign sign in that yard. The owner emailed me, said he liked what I wrote about, and let me put my sign up.

I’m proud of that.

We need more people in the legislature that can appeal to both Democrats and Republicans.

Anyways, like I said, those GOP yards are rare.

What’s the most common is seeing the Bullock and Juneau combination.

Most of the time I see those two together all the time, sometimes with a Hillary thrown in, maybe a Sandefur.

I rarely see a Lindeen or a Romano and I’ve yet to see a Laslovich. I’ve seen one Gail Gutsche sign in town.

I’ll have to drive around and take a few more pictures. I’ll also be picking up a few signs of my own.

I know that if you want Democrat signs, you go to 345 W. Front Street here in Missoula.

I know this because I went on the Missoula County Democrats’ Facebook page and asked.

I did the same for the Missoula County Republicans but I got no response.

2 Comments

Fun Times with Images

9/23/2016

1 Comment

Montana Happenings for You

9/22/2016

8 Comments

A corrupt man

Perhaps you think I should write less on this site.

I often think I should write more.

We’ll do that today, putting up a longer mish-mash post. Maybe we’ll even put up two posts today.

I like to do this, especially when the other Montana sites have old content or content that’s boring.

This happens a lot.

So I’ll give you some of my thoughts and you can take them for what you will.

Bullock Pays $15 an Hour

I see that the Community Outreach Group is paying $15 to $18 an hour for Bullock field operatives.

Knocking on doors…calling people…maybe stuffing some envelopes – shit, I’d do that for $15 an hour!

Hell, I did it for dozens of hours for free in both 2014 and again this year while running my own campaigns.

While collecting signatures to legalize marijuana in Montana this year I ran into a few people that were collecting signatures for Marcy’s Law and the brain cancer initiative as well as trapping.

Most were getting $11 an hour and one I met was getting $14 an hour.

Wow – that beats the hell out of restaurant or retail work!

In that regard, maybe all this dark political money isn’t so bad. After all, we’re seeing some of it trickle-down to the downtrodden.

Not too shabby, not too shabby at all.

Now, if this was a Gianforte advertisement I’d email them right away and try to get that job.

I’d love to go out each night or during the day and knock on doors and hand out flyers and talk to voters.

Like I said, I’ve done it for free.

But I wouldn’t do it for Bullock.

I think you know why.

But gosh…$15 an hour – maybe $18!

Perhaps I should compromise my principles and take that money. After all, politicians do it all the time.

And why is it $15 an hour and not the $8.05 minimum wage nickel insult that Bullock gave us at the beginning of 2015?

I guess the campaign doesn’t feel a wage like that would draw enough workers, or the kind of workers they desire.

So they offer $15.

I find that interesting – while working for their own interests, politicians support higher wages. When they might benefit you, however, they don’t really give a shit.

Remember, businesses and businessmen and women give a lot more to election campaigns than minimum wage workers do.

Where the hell do you think the campaigns are getting the money to pay $15 an hour, after all?

Anyways, I just thought that employment ad was interesting and I thought I’d share it.

Medical Talk

There’s a lot of talk going on right now about medical costs in Montana.

Even the prisons are having problems coming up with the $73,000 for a 12-week Hepatitis C drug treatment program.

Know how much that costs the prisoners?

Nothing.

Now, the only reason for this current spate of medical-cost-talk is because there’s an election in 45 days or so.

Most people think that our medical costs are too high, but not Monica Lindeen.

In a September 14 MT Public Radio article she said that the current premiums charged by two of our three health insurance companies “were too low and needed to be adjusted upward.”

Blue Cross is increasing premium rates by 58%

Montana Health Co-op is increasing them by 31%

Pacific Source is increasing them by 27%

I’m sorry…but is that not high enough for you, Monica?

Gosh, my health insurance plan is set to go from $500 a month to $635 a month, and that's a plan with a $10,000 deductible.

Great deals for health insurance, huh?

I hope you can begin to understand why I’m not voting for this woman. I mean, honestly…you really think that what people are paying now is too much?

It’s clear to me that it’s time for Lindeen to go back to central Montana, thank you for your years of service, now goodbye.

As I told you yesterday, the average American is paying more than $9,000 a year in medical costs.

No, I don’t think that we need to be increasing what people are paying each month – we need to lower it.

Alas, the medical and insurance companies have a monumental problem with spiraling costs that they not only can’t control, but can’t even identify.

Currently the medical industry is doing such a shoddy job that they actually spend $1.26 for every $1 they take in.

I’m no MBA, but I feel with that kind of strategy you’ll eventually go out of business.

“The dollars that we earned in premiums weren’t even enough to cover the medical costs for this market,” the MT Blue Cross spokesman said.

Hey, here’s a crazy idea – let’s stop giving the Pentagon money.

We know that the Army can’t account for $6.5 trillion.

Let’s just cut their budget and give that money to the health insurance companies on behalf of the American taxpayer.

That way they can make up that budget shortfall.

We sure as shit know they aren’t going to do anything about their soaring costs.

We don’t even know what anything costs now anyways, and medical companies don’t want to release that information.

Use your head, folks – the problem is the medical community and their chums in the insurance industry.

Those are the goons, those are the ones that need to see pitchforks outside their house.

Or you could just call your congressman.

Oh, but that’s right – you have a TV and a six-pack of beer.

Just turn it on and crack ‘em open and forget about this stuff. I bet some football’s even on.

Tester’s Wells Fargo Charade (and their Corruption)

RD had the best commentary up on Tester’s charade yesterday.

The post is called Jon Tester’s Grandstanding Omits Reality He’s a Willing Tool of the Banks.

This gets back to the “grilling” that the CEO of Wells Fargo got from the Senate committee that oversees these guys.

For the most part, it’s a bunch of bullshit. We know full-well that the members of that committee get tons of donations from big banks like Wells Fargo.

Hell, I wouldn't doubt that that CEO gave them money for their election efforts.

We know that Jon Tester has received $43,250 from Wells Fargo over the course of his career.

And then we get Pocahontas up there foaming at the mouth over this.

You and I both know that when the cameras stop rolling, Liz Warren shuts the hell up and puts out her hand and takes their money.

I’m ashamed that I used to have a bumper sticker on my car with her name on it.

Liz Warren mostly takes funds from Emily’s List, various universities, and lawyers.

And then there’s Tester. The guy’s got a net worth of $10 million so I know he could give a shit about poor people like me.

Those rich bankers though, my…he loves to cozy up to them.

Some of Tester’s largest donors over the course of his congressional career have been:

Blackstone Group: $76,000
Citigroup: $71,000
JPMorgan Chase: $59,000
First Interstate Bank: $48,000
Visa: $47,000
Goldman Sachs: $46,000
Wells Fargo: $43,000

Yep, there’s that Wells Fargo donation…pretty far down the list.

Do you think he should return that $43,250 that he got from them?

And if he doesn’t…what does that say about the man?

I bet Jon was thankful he only had to ‘grill’ that CEO and not a person more important to his financial future.

Imagine if Jon had to ‘grill’ the head of Citigroup?

Do you think he’d recuse himself, seeing a conflict of interest with the $71,000 they gave him?

Well, that would take morals and ethics and honor.

I’m not sure Jon has those anymore…if he ever did.

Perhaps he was corrupted by Washington…perhaps he got that way in the Montana Senate.

Either way, it’s clear he’s corrupt today.

I’m ashamed I voted for him in 2006.

I won’t make that mistake 2 years from now.

8 Comments

The Extramarital Affair Question in the Montana Governor’s Debate

9/20/2016

2 Comments

Wow, what a debate last night!

It got off to a rollicking start when Greg Gianforte called for the Commerce Director to resign “over the award of a tourism contract to an out-of-state company.”

This revolves around the August news that the $7 million Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development contract going to Hoffman York instead of Bozeman’s MercuryCSC…where it’d been going for a decade.

Hoffman York is based in Milwaukee and the “bureau chief for the tourism department’s marketing office” has admitted that “she has a relative that works for Hoffman York.”

Voices of Montana later revealed that this relative was a cousin. We also learned that Great Falls company Brickhouse “suddenly received all failing scores while Hoffman York soared in the lead with all superior scores.”

One of those score rankings was “Understanding of the Montana Brand,” something that a Wisconsin firm probably wouldn’t do better on than a Great Falls firm…don’t you think?

So there are questions there, and that leads to the call for Meg O’Leary’s resignation.

But is that all?

If we go to a Billings Gazette story that appeared shortly before the debate we see that Montana GOP chair Jeff Essman wants to get a bunch of Bullock’s old emails.

Why?

It pretty much revolves around questions about:

“The resignation of former Lt. Gov. Angela McLean, funds spent by the Department of Public Health and Human Services that employees had flagged as potentially illegal, alleged retaliation against agency employees who raised questions about spending, travel on the state plane to campaign stops or events that were not clearly for a governmental purpose, travel with state employees related to his tenure as president of the Democratic Governors Association and his role in the decision to award a $7 million contract to a Wisconsin firm for marketing state tourism that Republicans have said has family ties to a state employee.”

The governor’s office responded by saying those email accounts no longer exist, as the state deletes them when a person changes jobs…like Bullock did when going from attorney general to governor.

Still, the questions persist and this is an issue that the GOP and Gianforte will ride all the way until November.

It’s not the only issue.

The Associated Press got the debate story out first, though last night it was quite short…just a few paragraphs.

Now today they have a much longer article up, again written by Matthew Brown. You can see it on the Flathead Beacon.

Last night the article mentioned the extramarital affair question at the end of it, and it’s still there today:

“The debate took a brief detour into personal matters,” the AP tells us, “when a panelist asked if the candidates ever had an extramarital affair. Both responded no.”

I felt Bullock was thrown off by that question, and that’s when he really got into smile & smirk mode.

I felt a lot of viewers were probably turned off by that.

I see a look that says, ‘c’mon…this is silly…just give me the damn job for another four years, will ya!’

When the resignation call came up Bullock lost his composure for a bit.

But when the affair question came up he really lost it.

So what’s the deal with this extramarital affair question anyways?

The Billings Gazette finally got their debate story up around 11 PM or so last night…perhaps in time to get people the news in their morning edition today.

Their article was written by Hannah Potes and it’s quite long.

She discusses the substantive arguments from the debate – why the candidates are running, the “cloudy state budget picture,” the future of Colstrip, infrastructure, the business equipment tax – but then 1,200 words into the article she brings it up.

“In the first half of the debate panelist Greg LaMotte asked the candidates if either of them had ever had an extramarital affair.”

We then get a bit more explanation of this question…which many didn’t see coming:

“Though the question may seemed out of left field for more casual observers of Montana politics, a copy of questions obtained before the debate provides some context.

‘The issue of the state plane has been raised by Greg Gianforte,’ it starts, continuing that the Republican-leaning radio station KGVO published a story online saying that ‘at least one person has been on the plane 51 times.’

‘The radio station report causes me to ask both of you gentlemen, and (it) cuts to the issue of morality, if you’ve ever had an extramarital affair?’

As asked during the debate, LaMotte said people in the state have a strong sense of family values and morality but did not mention the plane.”

We then get into the answers both candidates gave.

Gianforte was up first and he said that he’d been married for 28 years. Bullock said he’s been married for 17 years.

That’s great…we know they’re married and thus capable of having an affair.

Still, I see Gianforte going everywhere with his wife. She’s always on the campaign trail.

I never see Steve and Lisa together.

Why is that?

“Both candidates said they have not had an affair,” the Gazette tells us, though I found Bullock’s answer and demeanor when giving it to be quite odd.

He seemed uncomfortable, kind of like a lawyer would be if he knew he was lying.

So he gave that sideways response about being married and having kids and such, but to my way of thinking, he kind of sidestepped the question.

I dunno – maybe you saw it differently.

Bullock isn’t really a good debater anyways, and after being thrown-off by Gianforte’s call for Meg O’Leary’s resignation he was further thrown off by LaMotte’s question.

So who is LaMotte, anyways? I saw that hardliner-Democrats were quick to go after him, calling him a “troll,” as they often do with people whose message they don’t like.

I noticed Don Pogreba put out suggestions that maybe LaMotte had had too much to drink before coming to the debate, and that perhaps he ought to get a ride home.

These are the folks that decry the lack of quality journalism in Montana and then when hard-hitting questions do come, they piss and moan and act all hurt.

Well, the question was directed at a Democrat and not a Republican, so that accounts for that.

Greg LaMotte works at KULR-8, an NBC-affiliate in Billings.

Before working there he was reporting from Cairo, Egypt, “where he worked as the bureau chief and Middle East regional news correspondent for Voice of America radio and television.”

Wow, that sounds pretty impressive to me…not the bio of a troll.

Before the Middle East he was a correspondent for CNN going all the way back to the late-80s.

So he has some serious experience, but again, he asked the wrong question…or at least one the hardline-Democrats don’t want to hear.

MT Cowturd was silent on the debate today, keeping up a 2-day-old post by Mary Sheehy Moe.

There was a wonderful comment put up on it last night that cuts right through the bullshit and strikes at the truth:

An hour or so after I checked this morning they put up a new post hitting at the tired old story of stream access.

Remember, this is the Democratic mouthpiece blog of the state, one that uses anonymous writers more often than not.

They sure as shit aren’t going to mention any questions about an extramarital affair 49 days before the election and a couple weeks before absentee ballots go out.

The truth isn’t important – winning is.

I also didn’t see any of the paid Montana Democratic staffers sending out tweets about the debate this morning.

I guess that means they lost.

And why would they want to send out tweets – what are you going to do…link back to an article that talks about exactly what you don’t want to talk about?

Nope, they don’t want to do that, so we get silence.

That’s to be expected, as that’s about all we’ve seen before.

Logicosity had a good article up on Sunday, saying:

“When it comes to aggressively responding to allegations that the Governor has engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a member of his Cabinet, however, his office has been noticeably mute. Remember, these rumors began swirling about a year ago as then-Lieutenant Governor Angela McLean was headed for the exit door.”

The article goes on to mention the recent news story on KGVO and the governor’s plane records, records which show that Commerce Director Meg O’Leary has travelled on the governor’s plane 56 times.

Democrats were quick to jump on the bandwagon that these were merely smears against a successful woman.

If that’s the case…how come there have been no ‘smears’ against Jennifer Anders, Pam Bucy, Sheila Hogan, or Angela Wong…all successful female members of Bullock’s cabinet?

It’s probably because there are no rumors linking any of them romantically to Bullock.

Prior to the debate those rumors came in hushed whispers.

Now everyone’s talking about ‘em.

Over at Last Best News we get some analysis from David Crisp:

“One point of agreement between the candidates was that both said they had not engaged in any extramarital affairs. That question was posed by Greg LaMotte of KULR 8 News, one of the sponsors of the debate, and it drew some moans from the crowd.”

Perhaps the governor should get out in front of this story and squelch these extramarital affair rumors before the whole state is talking about them.

Or maybe they think they’ll just go away.

Perhaps there were few people watching last night, or reading the papers today.

Maybe they won’t notice, maybe they won’t care.

So I fully expect the governor and his office and his campaign to do nothing but hit on tired old themes that, in my opinion, aren’t resonating.

I’ll leave you with some final thoughts from Logicosity, thoughts which sum of the situation well.

“There has been no effort to clarify or vehemently deny the allegations. After nearly four and a half years, it is safe to say that his bunch is not inclined to “get out in front of it,” whatever “it” might be. A direct and simple response, accompanied by a disclaimer that whatever is said or written is the final and only response, would be a sound first step, not only for the Governor and his family, but for the integrity of his office as well.

Without that, speculation runs rampant and the dialogue spirals downward.”

2 Comments

Can Gail Gutsche Win?

9/18/2016

0 Comments

Do you appeal to logic in your arguments, or do you appeal to emotion?

It's a question all candidates must ask, and for many, it comes down to their speaking ability.

If you can't light "the trail on fire with soaring rhetoric" then chances are good you won't create the turnout necessary to win.

We see this in our PSC races.

Public Service Commission #4 is one race I don’t really care about.

I voted for Mark Sweeney in the primary and the reason was simple – he might have beaten Bob Lake, the current commissioner.

I didn’t see Gutsche winning that seat in November so I didn’t vote for her.

Why didn’t I see her winning?

Because she lost PSC 4 to Lake in 2012.

Gutsche won the PSC 4 seat in 2008, 52% to Republican Doug Mood’s 48%.

Mood was an incumbent but Gutsche knocked him out…likely with the help of increased voter turnout due to excitement over Obama.

Of course, it could have been her policy positions as well.

Writing in 2008, 4&20 said that Gail Gutsche would “use her time in the PSC to seek to expand development of renewable and clean energy sources while recovering low cost options and ensure that we have low energy prices while doing it.”

That excitement somehow slipped away in 2012 and 74-year-old Bob Lake came in and beat her, 51% to 49%.

Bob Lake is a former feed plant operator from Ronan. He graduated high school in 1956 and then got into the Army for 2 years.

That was 3 years after the Korean War ended.

Just a quick question…why is this fossil representing me?

Well, that’s simple – because Gutsche couldn’t beat him in 2012.

Again, this is why I voted for Mark Sweeney – Gutsche couldn’t beat him 4 years ago and I don’t expect she’ll do it this year.

Before getting into PSC politics, Gutsche was a member of the Montana House of Representatives, first getting elected in 1998 and serving until 2005. She did not run again in 2006, nor did she try and make the switch to the Montana Senate.

Why?

Why did Gutsche sit out for 4 years?

In 2012 Gutsche raised $38,000 for her race. Bob Lake raised $26,000 that year.

Just because you can take money from the rich and well-off doesn’t mean you’ll win.

We’ll see that quite clearly in 2016 in many races.

Following her 2012 loss to Lake, Gutsche followed the typical Democratic holding pattern – she joined NARAL Pro-Choice.

Now, she only worked for that heavily-partisan and do-whatever-it-takes-to-accomplish-our-agenda organization for 7 months.

I applaud her for that.

Still…how much did Nancy Keenan get her hooks in Gutsche during that time?

I view Keenan as one of the gravest threats to the Montana Democratic Party, but considering the Montana Democratic Party has become even more corrupt than the Montana Republican Party, perhaps it doesn’t matter.

For more on Montana Democratic corruption, check here and here.

Then, starting in late-2013, Gutsche became the executive director of the Montana Organizing Project, a post she held for 3 years.

I have no idea what that Missoula/Billings organization does or where it gets its money, though you can see they keep up on their Facebook page.

I do see that Jacquie Helt was its treasurer, however.

Following the 2016 PSC 4 primary, Gutsche had $2,236 in the bank.

Bob Lake had $2,912.

Donors to Gutsche include Ed Childers, Janet Ellis, Cliff Larsen, Monica Lindeen, Richard Opper, Sue Talbot, Ken Toole, Carol Williams and Cynthia Wolken.

Donors to Lake include Linda Frey, Dave Galt, and Carmen Mowbray.

So far Gutsche’s strategy seems to be:

Using her Facebook page
Doing $420 in radio ads with Missoula’s KYSS FM
Doing $122 in radio ads with Missoula’s Z100
Doing $468 in radio ads with Missoula Broadcasting Company
Doing $391 in radio ads with Missoula’s Mountain Broadcasting
Sending/handing out 3,258 pieces of mail that cost $950

I live in Missoula but I haven’t heard a single radio ad nor have I received a mailer.

I did get about 10 mailers on my ‘legalize marijuana’ sign while at the Bernie Rally in May…though people thought my sign was the garbage pile so that accounts for that.

In my opinion Gutsche needs to get onto some different radio stations for advertising, like KGVO, which is the only political station in Missoula.

She also needs to contact John King and get an interview on that station, preferably with Bob Lake.

But maybe she figures her primary showing was good enough.

After all, 25,437 Democrats voted in the PSC 4 race while only 23,512 Republicans did…a difference of 1,925 voters.

Of course, many of us went to the polls in June because Bernie needed our vote. He got our vote and he won.

Now that Bernie is gone, replaced by Hillary, a lot of that enthusiasm will go away.

This is especially true for Millennials like me. Hillary's lost 17% of our vote in the past 20 days.

Hillary had to be the nominee, no matter how many down-ticket candidates like Gutsche may lose because of it.

That’s not good for Gutsch, and currently I don’t think she has any kind of plan to compensate for those lost voters.

In other words, she doesn’t know what to do.

And that, my friends, is why I see Bob Lake retaining his seat.

Perhaps it's time to get more emotional, Gail.

0 Comments

Talking Montana on a Slow News Day

9/15/2016

0 Comments

Mount Helena

Let me start off by saying how happy I am that I have this platform to write on and get my views out there.

I’m very grateful that you’re reading it as well.

Lately I feel that I’ve been doing well with the articles, getting interesting news and ideas out there.

Perhaps you agree, perhaps you don’t.

Either way, I’ll keep putting up posts that discuss Montana and national politics and the troubles that this country faces.

I’ll also complain a bit.

News Frustrations

I’m not happy.

That happens a lot but at the moment I’m not happy at something in particular.

That’s the lack of new news.

For the most part, I’m talking about the sites I go to.

For instance, there’s no new post at Reptile Dysfunction today.

I’m not happy about that.

I like to read a new post there each day, damn it!

So far this month the site has gone 9 days without putting up a new post.

I don’t like that.

I don’t like reading the same thing two days in a row.

Up at Flathead Memo it was about 2 days without a post before we got something new.

And I don’t really count that last weekend one as a post as it’s one of the ‘song’ posts.

I don’t like those.

At least there was some commentary with that one, which I did like.

I suppose what I’m getting at is that I’d like more.

More posts about thoughts on Montana, more posts about our country’s problems, and more posts that give me something to read when I’m taking a break from whatever ‘work’ I’m doing.

At Logicosity we haven’t had a post since Sunday.

That site seems to be slipping, putting up more random thought posts that, well…probably don’t appeal to the audience they’ve built up.

Together with their now-spotty posting schedule, well gosh, I can’t help but think we’re nearing the end.

These are the main sites I go to throughout the day:

https://reptiledysfunction.wordpress.com/
http://www.logicosity.com/
http://www.missoulacurrent.com/
http://intelligentdiscontent.com/
http://mtcowgirl.com/
http://lastbestnews.com/
http://flatheadbeacon.com/
http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/blogs/IndyBlog/
http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/keci
http://www.kpax.com/
http://www.kxlh.com/
http://www.nbcnews.com/

http://missoulian.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/

On those last three I pretty much just read the headlines and try to keep under 10 articles a month.

If there is a headline I like I’ll usually Google the subject and find the story on a free site, or at least one I don’t care about using up 10 articles at.

I like the state TV news sites as they have new stories quite a bit. They’re short, but at least you get an idea of what’s happening.

I also check the TV sites when I see an interesting Missoulian headline. Many times I can save an article click that way, reading it on the TV news site instead.

I only go to the Indy site once a week, though they do update their blog a bit more than that.

Besides that…not much.

I listen to the radio and don’t have TV.

I wish we had more Montana sites putting out views and opinions. It’s hard to stay going, however, and many sites dry up. Many others are afraid to get started.

Sterilize Her?

Perhaps you saw the story in the Flathead Beacon about the sentencing for the young woman that was ruled complicit in her son’s death.

She was on meth and her 2-year-old son died after some “roughhousing.”

Now she’s going to prison for at least 5 years.

Many don’t think that’s enough time. Others think that this woman should be sterilized.

Well, that’s what someone said in the comments of the article.

I wonder…how many know the history of sterilizations in Montana?

I wrote about it in my book Feds and Farmers and I put a few snippets up in a comment on the site.

Perhaps some will read it and think a bit more about the issue.

Montana sterilization history

Hillary’s Bank Fraud

Hillary is committing bank fraud but she’s doing it in increments under $100 so the banks don’t investigate.

The Observer had the story today, called Exclusive: Hillary Clinton Campaign Systematically Overcharging Poorest Donors.

It seems that one-time donors are getting charged $25 or maybe $20 or $40 after their initial donation.

There are hundreds of people calling Wells Fargo each day requesting refunds, and in some cases reporting fraud.

Bank representatives estimate that they refund $700 to $1,200 a day…and that’s just from people that call in.

Think about how many just let Hillary steal from them, figuring it’ll help her beat Trump.

It’s sad.

When people call the Hillary campaign they get nowhere so they have no choice but to call the bank, which refunds the money.

“It took me at least 40 to 50 phone calls to the campaign office before I finally got ahold of someone,” one person said.

What’s especially bad is that the state’s can only forward these fraud complaints to the FEC, which does nothing.

It’s no surprise, really – that agency, like all government agencies, is staffed and controlled by political cronies.

Most want Hillary to win – they’ll be rewarded and enriched even more.

Hillary pulled these same stunts in 2008, and the campaign refunded $2.8 million in these small $20 here and $40 there donations.

What’s especially sick is that Hillary not only rips off donors but the campaign workers she’s got on staff too.

One woman was overcharged thousands of dollars on her card in 2008 while working on Hillary’s campaign.

Hillary fought tooth and nail to keep that money and even “begging and pleading” did nothing. Finally the worker said she’d contact authorities and the money was returned, though not $400 in overdraft charges.

It’s sad what Hillary will do, but I know if she’s elected more Americans will discover her sins of greed.

When that happens the country can finally start to turn away from the corrupt and despicable two-party system.

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The Sad State of Juneau

September Spending for the Montana Statewide Races

Democratic Campaign Shake-Ups

Gianforte’s September Finances

Bullock’s September Finances

The Secretary of State Race

The State Auditor Race

The OPI Race

The Supreme Court Race

One Final Thought

MT Finance Reports: What I’ll Be Looking For

A Splinter in the MT Democratic Party

The Libertarian Tax Affair with Signs

Gary Johnson's Flubs

Talking About a Montana Sales Tax

Is There Another Woman?

Missoula Campaign Signs in 2016

Fun Times with Images

Montana Happenings for You

Bullock Pays $15 an Hour

Medical Talk

Tester’s Wells Fargo Charade (and their Corruption)

The Extramarital Affair Question in the Montana Governor’s Debate

Can Gail Gutsche Win?

Talking Montana on a Slow News Day

News Frustrations

Sterilize Her?

Hillary’s Bank Fraud

MT Book 7

Montana Blog

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​The State Auditor Race

​The OPI Race

​The Supreme Court Race

One Final Thought

​Gary Johnson's Flubs

​Talking About a Montana Sales Tax

​Is There Another Woman?

​Missoula Campaign Signs in 2016

​Bullock Pays $15 an Hour

​Medical Talk

​Tester’s Wells Fargo Charade (and their Corruption)

​News Frustrations

​Sterilize Her?

​Hillary’s Bank Fraud

MT Book 7

​Montana Blog

​Popular Posts

Categories

Archives

​My MT History Books

My Montana Novels

My Montana Short Fiction

Democratic Campaign Shake-Ups

Gianforte’s September Finances

Bullock’s September Finances

The Secretary of State Race

The State Auditor Race

The OPI Race

The Supreme Court Race

Gary Johnson's Flubs

Talking About a Montana Sales Tax

Is There Another Woman?

Missoula Campaign Signs in 2016

Bullock Pays $15 an Hour

Medical Talk

Tester’s Wells Fargo Charade (and their Corruption)

News Frustrations

Sterilize Her?

Hillary’s Bank Fraud

Montana Blog

Popular Posts

My MT History Books