I’ve been doing some gardening lately, as you can see:
Missoula gardens
That’s my garden this year. I’m doing a lot more flowers than vegetables this year, as you can see from last year’s garden:
Pot growing in Missoula
Pot plants in Missoula
I hope it goes alright – I already spent a bit more than I’d planned because things got a little dicey earlier this week:
Missoula hail, 2015
Things get dicey for people in Montana, too.
The point is, things are tough in Montana today. Oh, I know we like to trot out low unemployment numbers, but all the economic indicators for the nation are down.
According to the New York Post, the economy’s biggest problem is that people don’t have money to spend. What’s the main reason for this? “Interest from savings is down to zero,” John Crudele tells us, “people don’t liquidate stock gains to make purchases, and job and income growth has been sketchy.”
Terrible Federal Reserve policies that cause us to go up and up on this roller coaster called a stock market. When it heads down it’ll be bad.
According to American Progress,America has added 10.4 million jobs since 2009, when the Great Recession ended. First of all, it never ended, and second, I think most of those jobs are bad, part-time, and with low-pay. Pre-recession level, that’s what we’d call it, a fun term economists like to throw around. What’s the average economist’s pay? According to Macquarie University in Australia, economists make $45,495 a year. I think that tells you a lot, myself.
- It could be debt raining down on them, ruining their well-laid plans for a successful life timeline;
- Maybe it’s a sudden storm of uncertainty, perhaps brought on by a lost job or a reduction in income;
- It might even be a complete deluge of misery, a conjunction of a death in the family, a lost job, insurance increases, and the loss of a home.
The point is, things are tough in Montana today. Oh, I know we like to trot out low unemployment numbers, but all the economic indicators for the nation are down.
- The economy contracted during the first quarter, according to the Wall Street Journal, and the second didn’t get off to a good start.
- Weekly hours are up, but still only at 2011 levels, and weekly earnings have pretty much been flat for the past decade.
- Our part-time job rate was 10.8% of all workers in the workforce in April.
- Average weekly earning increases of $0.08 an hour in May are trotted out as a victory for workers.
- Just 62.9% of Americans participate in the workforce, the lowest level since the 1970s.
- The average hourly pay for a worker in America in May 2015 was $24.96 an hour.
According to the New York Post, the economy’s biggest problem is that people don’t have money to spend. What’s the main reason for this? “Interest from savings is down to zero,” John Crudele tells us, “people don’t liquidate stock gains to make purchases, and job and income growth has been sketchy.”
Terrible Federal Reserve policies that cause us to go up and up on this roller coaster called a stock market. When it heads down it’ll be bad.
According to American Progress,America has added 10.4 million jobs since 2009, when the Great Recession ended. First of all, it never ended, and second, I think most of those jobs are bad, part-time, and with low-pay. Pre-recession level, that’s what we’d call it, a fun term economists like to throw around. What’s the average economist’s pay? According to Macquarie University in Australia, economists make $45,495 a year. I think that tells you a lot, myself.
So I see this struggle in my neighborhood, in the gardens. Now, I live in an apartment, so most of my neighbors have to do potted gardens like me. Perhaps that’s all we’ll ever do, as it’s harder than heck to get enough money to buy a house, or even get one paid off.
Maybe that’s just me – but then we’ve got gubernatorial-hopeful Greg Gianforte going around and telling everyone that we need telecommuting jobs, that Montana is a bit behind, and that the workforce is indeed not good.
That’s a little different than Bullock, who’s not saying much of anything. Maybe he’s working on those business deals that are supposedly going to be keeping him busy until next session. I have a feeling many of them revolve around his campaign fund.
Hey, I like Bullock, but I’m not a big fan of how close he is to bankers. Sure, finance and banking and real estate might make up about 20,000 jobs in our Montana economy, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. We should have more ‘real jobs,’ the kind where people make things with their hands, so there’s actually something to show for your work at the end of the day. Sadly we’ve seemed to have moved away from that model for some reason.
So today let’s discuss some issues facing the Treasure State. It feels a little slow right now politically, what with summer fast upon us and most politicians raising money in backrooms, if they’re doing anything at all. The news coverage has declined recently, and perhaps you’re noticing it.
Let’s discuss this, and more. Here we go.
Maybe that’s just me – but then we’ve got gubernatorial-hopeful Greg Gianforte going around and telling everyone that we need telecommuting jobs, that Montana is a bit behind, and that the workforce is indeed not good.
That’s a little different than Bullock, who’s not saying much of anything. Maybe he’s working on those business deals that are supposedly going to be keeping him busy until next session. I have a feeling many of them revolve around his campaign fund.
Hey, I like Bullock, but I’m not a big fan of how close he is to bankers. Sure, finance and banking and real estate might make up about 20,000 jobs in our Montana economy, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. We should have more ‘real jobs,’ the kind where people make things with their hands, so there’s actually something to show for your work at the end of the day. Sadly we’ve seemed to have moved away from that model for some reason.
So today let’s discuss some issues facing the Treasure State. It feels a little slow right now politically, what with summer fast upon us and most politicians raising money in backrooms, if they’re doing anything at all. The news coverage has declined recently, and perhaps you’re noticing it.
Let’s discuss this, and more. Here we go.
Montana Nativism
Maybe it’s time Montanans lighten up a little bit about out-of-stater’s.
Yeah right, like that’s ever going to happen.
I can’t help but think about this because I put out a tweet today that looked like this:
Yeah right, like that’s ever going to happen.
I can’t help but think about this because I put out a tweet today that looked like this:
#mtpol lover's spat between Piute County(Utah) Commissioner and Wyoming native over the fate of Montana lands. Where's the popcorn?
— Greg Strandberg (@gpstberg) June 4, 2015
What we have are two non-native residents quarreling over the fate of our public lands. I profiled Clayton Elliot before, but I’m not sure who Darrin Bushman is, except that he live and works in Utah (doesn’t he?) and is associated with Ken Ivory, the currently-under-investigation-in-4-states frontman for American Lands Council. That’s the organization that wants to sell off our lands to private business interests or just rich out-of-state assholes after the state is forced to sell them because we decided to fund them instead of the feds, despite the fact that we don’t have the billions necessary to do that.
Mind bogging, I know. Thankfully we’ve been able to railroad those attempts so far, mainly by painting Sanders County Senator Jennifer Fielder like the complete idiot that she is.
So we have some bias in Montana against out of state people, like Fielder and Bushman and Elliot. People pride themselves on their 3rd and 4th and 5th generation status in Montana, if not more. You don’t hear many 2nd generation folks pipe-up, but maybe they should. We certainly have a lot of carpetbaggers, er…transplants, in the legislature. Many are good, most are not. So we have this conundrum. And we also have big land sales, which we know bring in more out-of-staters, as who the hell is going to afford those rates here?
I don’t like it, myself, and many others don’t either. Maybe we should talk about this, because the more I think about it, it doesn’t feel like we’re getting over it at all.
Mind bogging, I know. Thankfully we’ve been able to railroad those attempts so far, mainly by painting Sanders County Senator Jennifer Fielder like the complete idiot that she is.
So we have some bias in Montana against out of state people, like Fielder and Bushman and Elliot. People pride themselves on their 3rd and 4th and 5th generation status in Montana, if not more. You don’t hear many 2nd generation folks pipe-up, but maybe they should. We certainly have a lot of carpetbaggers, er…transplants, in the legislature. Many are good, most are not. So we have this conundrum. And we also have big land sales, which we know bring in more out-of-staters, as who the hell is going to afford those rates here?
I don’t like it, myself, and many others don’t either. Maybe we should talk about this, because the more I think about it, it doesn’t feel like we’re getting over it at all.
Professor Tenure
Hey, all you Baby Boomer’s up there at UM…please step down!
Yeah, that’s a silly request, I know – you have no money! The average savings for the Baby Boomer generation is a pitiful $60,000. My generation has to forgo careers, families, homes, and large purchases because of your insolence.
If you’re like 40% of Baby Boomer’s, you didn’t save anything and you have to keep working until you die. Now, you’ll say that you want to do that, but the bags under your eyes, your slow pace up those stairs, and that look that’s already on your face by 11 AM sure tells a different story.
Another story is what you’re doing to everyone you trained. Yeah, all those adjuncts and associates are getting paid the crumbs that fall from your entitled table, sans benefits and upward mobility of course.
That’s why I can’t really fault Scott Walker for going after tenured professors in Wisconsin – if you won’t police yourself, you should fully expect someone to do that for you. The wheel turns and the clock ticks and your time came and went long ago.
Yeah, that’s a silly request, I know – you have no money! The average savings for the Baby Boomer generation is a pitiful $60,000. My generation has to forgo careers, families, homes, and large purchases because of your insolence.
If you’re like 40% of Baby Boomer’s, you didn’t save anything and you have to keep working until you die. Now, you’ll say that you want to do that, but the bags under your eyes, your slow pace up those stairs, and that look that’s already on your face by 11 AM sure tells a different story.
Another story is what you’re doing to everyone you trained. Yeah, all those adjuncts and associates are getting paid the crumbs that fall from your entitled table, sans benefits and upward mobility of course.
That’s why I can’t really fault Scott Walker for going after tenured professors in Wisconsin – if you won’t police yourself, you should fully expect someone to do that for you. The wheel turns and the clock ticks and your time came and went long ago.
I won’t apologize for this attitude.
Higher Education is broken, and nothing says that more than our old and antiquated professors. They could step down and open the way for the generations that came after, but they won’t. Instead they’ll stay on that stage as long as they can, saying they love it, knowing they have to, and hurting America’s future all the while.
- First of all, you load me with debt so I can pay your inflated salary.
- Next, your early-onset Alzheimer’s makes lectures anything but interesting;
- Finally, your wisdom and years of experience in no way justify the cram-and-dump-for-the-test education model that we currently have.
Higher Education is broken, and nothing says that more than our old and antiquated professors. They could step down and open the way for the generations that came after, but they won’t. Instead they’ll stay on that stage as long as they can, saying they love it, knowing they have to, and hurting America’s future all the while.
Lindeen’s Dilemma
Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen will not be elected Secretary of State in 2016. It’s simple – she’s raising insurance rates.
Alright, alright…you can argue that those insurance rate hikes are coming about because the insurance companies want them, but those companies have to request those increases. They make that request to Monica Lindeen, and she has to approve them.
Yesterday I heard on the radio that insurance rates in Montana are going up 22% to 34%.
How do you justify this, and at a time when insurance exec pay is going up? Well, it’s just a symptom of the country that’s been stolen from us by the oligarchs, the high-class businessmen, bankers, and insurance execs. They force people like Lindeen to raise these rates so they can send junior off to Europe this summer and while heading off to Martha’s Vineyard themselves, maybe even to a few Clinton fundraisers.
Alright, alright…you can argue that those insurance rate hikes are coming about because the insurance companies want them, but those companies have to request those increases. They make that request to Monica Lindeen, and she has to approve them.
Yesterday I heard on the radio that insurance rates in Montana are going up 22% to 34%.
How do you justify this, and at a time when insurance exec pay is going up? Well, it’s just a symptom of the country that’s been stolen from us by the oligarchs, the high-class businessmen, bankers, and insurance execs. They force people like Lindeen to raise these rates so they can send junior off to Europe this summer and while heading off to Martha’s Vineyard themselves, maybe even to a few Clinton fundraisers.
Ah, the globalist agenda – doesn’t do much to benefit me here, huh? Sure doesn’t benefit Lindeen. She’s already got to explain to however many platinum plan holders why those plans will be cancelled. I’m sure not many of the 45,278 people in Montana that had Obamacare by January 2015 are affected by that, however. Yeah, together with the rate hikes the insurance companies have decided that they’ll go head and wipe that plan out, no matter what. Obviously we don’t have the income brackets for that rich man’s paradise.
Lindeen needs to show some backbone and stand up to these charlatans and say no. I fully expect her to cave, however, and when she does that she’s done. I won’t bother discussing her on this site anymore – why talk about ‘dead’ and ‘has-been’ politicians that now have to raise untold sums from these same industry execs so they can trick the electorate into voting for them?
Lindeen needs to show some backbone and stand up to these charlatans and say no. I fully expect her to cave, however, and when she does that she’s done. I won’t bother discussing her on this site anymore – why talk about ‘dead’ and ‘has-been’ politicians that now have to raise untold sums from these same industry execs so they can trick the electorate into voting for them?
The Gianforte Show
Right now Greg Gianforte is trawling across the state, talking-up the highlights of telecommuting.
I’d say about 2% of the people in this state know what the hell that is. I know it pretty good because it’s the reason I’ve been able to make a living for the past two years. It might not be the best living, but it’s bringing in out-of-state and out-of-country money into the local Missoula economy.
So that’s telecommuting – working on your computer so you can bring outside money in.
Why are Democrats decrying this? Because they’re ignorant and afraid. They’re ignorant because they don’t know what this is, and they’re afraid because their lack of knowledge makes them want to stop it, thinking it will take their jobs.
My contention is that it will create jobs, or at least get rid of the current jobs many people have, which is taking government handouts. Permanent disability – what Montanans aspire to today.
What a load of rubbish! We need to be creating as many jobs as we can, and skilled jobs. While it’s true that some of these jobs can be done by workers in India and Bangladesh – I lose work to that too – the truth is that certain skill sets can’t be outsourced, and eventually won’t be.
I’d say about 2% of the people in this state know what the hell that is. I know it pretty good because it’s the reason I’ve been able to make a living for the past two years. It might not be the best living, but it’s bringing in out-of-state and out-of-country money into the local Missoula economy.
So that’s telecommuting – working on your computer so you can bring outside money in.
Why are Democrats decrying this? Because they’re ignorant and afraid. They’re ignorant because they don’t know what this is, and they’re afraid because their lack of knowledge makes them want to stop it, thinking it will take their jobs.
My contention is that it will create jobs, or at least get rid of the current jobs many people have, which is taking government handouts. Permanent disability – what Montanans aspire to today.
What a load of rubbish! We need to be creating as many jobs as we can, and skilled jobs. While it’s true that some of these jobs can be done by workers in India and Bangladesh – I lose work to that too – the truth is that certain skill sets can’t be outsourced, and eventually won’t be.
When we have competition in our markets again, you won’t put up with companies that force an Indian call center down your throat. You’ll go with the place that has better service online or an actual American in someplace like Montana. Right now the marketplace isn’t being punished for that because we don’t have any competition, due mainly to the oligarchic business climate that prohibits such things.
Right now you can go on Amazon and buy an English book written by some guy in India. Chances are good you don’t do this, however, and that’s because of the quality. The book sucks! The grammar is shit, spelling is whack, and the story is so full of holes that you’ll never eat Swiss cheese again. The point is – outsourcing doesn’t work. It might work for short-term profits in antiquated industries built upon models of non-competition, but when corruption is weeded out of Washington, it won’t.
Companies that do this will be penalized, and companies that encourage things like call centers and distribution centers and customer care facilities in Montana will be rewarded.
Gianforte is onto this a little bit, but his main goal is to sell out as many Montanans as he can so that his corporate overlords will be happy. And when I say corporate overlords, I mean the people controlling the stock market. I’d assume that’s where most of his assets are, so if he wants to see those assets increase, he’ll jump to their beck and call, ruining America’s sovereignty so more global institutions can rise up to replace them.
Gianforte is bad for Montana, and I hope he spends a lot of his own money and has nothing to show for it come Wednesday, November 9, 2016.
Right now you can go on Amazon and buy an English book written by some guy in India. Chances are good you don’t do this, however, and that’s because of the quality. The book sucks! The grammar is shit, spelling is whack, and the story is so full of holes that you’ll never eat Swiss cheese again. The point is – outsourcing doesn’t work. It might work for short-term profits in antiquated industries built upon models of non-competition, but when corruption is weeded out of Washington, it won’t.
Companies that do this will be penalized, and companies that encourage things like call centers and distribution centers and customer care facilities in Montana will be rewarded.
Gianforte is onto this a little bit, but his main goal is to sell out as many Montanans as he can so that his corporate overlords will be happy. And when I say corporate overlords, I mean the people controlling the stock market. I’d assume that’s where most of his assets are, so if he wants to see those assets increase, he’ll jump to their beck and call, ruining America’s sovereignty so more global institutions can rise up to replace them.
Gianforte is bad for Montana, and I hope he spends a lot of his own money and has nothing to show for it come Wednesday, November 9, 2016.
Bullock’s Bonkers
Has Bullock gone bonkers? Why is he not explaining his decision to ally himself with the bankers? We know this because he insisted on a massive debt-enslavement infrastructure bill. If my son is lucky enough to be in Montana in ten or twenty years, he’ll be paying for that…and there’s no reason to.
We had the cash! Now we’ll spend all that cash on fighting fires.
Montana will need to wake up and discuss its firefighting priorities, and really soon. We’ll spend all of our surplus this year – that’s the plan for it since we didn’t use it on infrastructure – to fight fires. Wow, what a waste of money! Sure, you pay a lot of wages, but gosh, most of that’s just for fuel. Fire season is great for the oil companies!
I’m sick of it, myself, but maybe that’s because I’ve always lived in town. Even when Helena was surrounded by fires in 2000, it didn’t affect me. Oh, it affects a bunch of people out in the woods, but what will they do when the feds are out of money in a few years and the state too? What will they do when that war in Africa and the Middle East and Eastern Europe really blows up and federal funding for Montana blows away in the wind?
Then those houses will burn, unless private crews can be hired to fight the fires that will be raging unchecked. Until then, we’ll continue to throw money into the fire, just like in 2007. If we don’t fund fires, people won’t move here from out of state. And of course, the bankers that control us won’t fund our bonds.
Wow, sounds like we just found a way to solve three problems at once – bankers, out-of-state assholes, and our need for a cash surplus. Someone please tell Bullock and the high-priced big wigs that surround him.
We had the cash! Now we’ll spend all that cash on fighting fires.
Montana will need to wake up and discuss its firefighting priorities, and really soon. We’ll spend all of our surplus this year – that’s the plan for it since we didn’t use it on infrastructure – to fight fires. Wow, what a waste of money! Sure, you pay a lot of wages, but gosh, most of that’s just for fuel. Fire season is great for the oil companies!
I’m sick of it, myself, but maybe that’s because I’ve always lived in town. Even when Helena was surrounded by fires in 2000, it didn’t affect me. Oh, it affects a bunch of people out in the woods, but what will they do when the feds are out of money in a few years and the state too? What will they do when that war in Africa and the Middle East and Eastern Europe really blows up and federal funding for Montana blows away in the wind?
Then those houses will burn, unless private crews can be hired to fight the fires that will be raging unchecked. Until then, we’ll continue to throw money into the fire, just like in 2007. If we don’t fund fires, people won’t move here from out of state. And of course, the bankers that control us won’t fund our bonds.
Wow, sounds like we just found a way to solve three problems at once – bankers, out-of-state assholes, and our need for a cash surplus. Someone please tell Bullock and the high-priced big wigs that surround him.
So those are some garden variety issues. You won’t read this kind of stuff in the newspaper. I know you want to, but the reporters can’t push boundaries. I can, because I have no oversight, no accountability and no profits to maintain. I can do anything on this site – anyone can if they have a blog.
In the next month or so I’ll be heading up to the university to put a few posts on the bulletin boards of the liberal arts and journalism schools. These will be telling people interested in politics and history that they can write short pieces that I’ll put up on my site.
I won’t pay anyone for these, yet, but it’s a good way to get more news on this site, attract more people, and eventually take away some of the advertising money from the mainstream media in Missoula, and eventually Montana.
People want good news, but mainstream Montana media outlets don’t care. So I’m going to take their business, plain and simple.
Thanks for reading!
In the next month or so I’ll be heading up to the university to put a few posts on the bulletin boards of the liberal arts and journalism schools. These will be telling people interested in politics and history that they can write short pieces that I’ll put up on my site.
I won’t pay anyone for these, yet, but it’s a good way to get more news on this site, attract more people, and eventually take away some of the advertising money from the mainstream media in Missoula, and eventually Montana.
People want good news, but mainstream Montana media outlets don’t care. So I’m going to take their business, plain and simple.
Thanks for reading!
