Clockwise from upper-right: Pelosi, Schumer, Trump, Webb, Meagher, Keenan, Dale-Riddle, Bolger
Football players did what Democrats could not.
They stood up to Trump…or more appropriately, they took a knee.
Once again Trump’s insecurity got the best of him. Each morning before dawn he takes to Twitter, his mind abuzz from the previous night’s insecure dreams.
Our NFL players (or more appropriately, their owners) know the emperor has no clothes. Few others in the country do.
I’m continually amazed at how scared people are of Trump!
Mostly these are highly-paid politicians, the same that augment that pay with corporate bribes (campaign contributions).
They quake at the knees when Trump speaks, or calls them out, or gets on the ol’ Twitter.
They have no spines.
And Americans have no respect for them because of it.
It’s on either side of the aisle, too – both Dems and Republicans are scared shitless of being called-out by Trump.
They just don’t realize the emperor has no clothes…and never will.
One day the country will stand up to Trump like our football players did. Eventually we’ll ignore him, let him see-out his term, and then we’ll be done with him.
But it’ll take a good hitting of rock bottom before we see that happen.
And we’re a long way from that happening.
They stood up to Trump…or more appropriately, they took a knee.
Once again Trump’s insecurity got the best of him. Each morning before dawn he takes to Twitter, his mind abuzz from the previous night’s insecure dreams.
Our NFL players (or more appropriately, their owners) know the emperor has no clothes. Few others in the country do.
I’m continually amazed at how scared people are of Trump!
Mostly these are highly-paid politicians, the same that augment that pay with corporate bribes (campaign contributions).
They quake at the knees when Trump speaks, or calls them out, or gets on the ol’ Twitter.
They have no spines.
And Americans have no respect for them because of it.
It’s on either side of the aisle, too – both Dems and Republicans are scared shitless of being called-out by Trump.
They just don’t realize the emperor has no clothes…and never will.
One day the country will stand up to Trump like our football players did. Eventually we’ll ignore him, let him see-out his term, and then we’ll be done with him.
But it’ll take a good hitting of rock bottom before we see that happen.
And we’re a long way from that happening.
What a Time
I got my October 2 issue of Time magazine in the mail yesterday. You saw the cover in the image at the top of this post.
The cover says “Shrunk: Democrats are in their worst shape since 1929. Can anything save them?”
The article itself is called “The Democrats’ Dilemmas: A divided Party debates its future.”
Let me give you a little sample:
The cover says “Shrunk: Democrats are in their worst shape since 1929. Can anything save them?”
The article itself is called “The Democrats’ Dilemmas: A divided Party debates its future.”
Let me give you a little sample:
“Now, eight months into the Trump presidency, the party looks to face its toughest odds since Ronald Reagan won 49 states in 1984. The Democrats are in their deepest congressional rut since the class of 1946 was elected, and hold the fewest governors’ mansions – 15 – since 1922. Of the 98 partisan legislatures in the U.S., Republicans control 67. During Barack Obama’s presidency, Democrats lost 970 seats in state legislatures, leaving the party’s bench almost bare. The median age of their congressional leadership is 67, and many of the obvious early presidential front runners will be in their 70s by the 2020 election.”
What is National’s role in all this?
According to Time:
“The DNC has been hollowed out, first by Obama’s neglect and then by a Clinton campaign that raided its talent. Now it is trying to play catch-up, sending $10,000 a month to each state party to help add bodies and channel activists’ energy into permanent organizations. But the party is still $3.5 million in the red, and Republicans are outraising it by a margin of roughly 2 to 1.”
We see this in Montana, the shuffling of staffers from New York to our state. It’s not to benefit us – it’s to train them so maybe one day they can help an ‘important’ state…i.e., one that can raise lots of money for its candidates, and the DNC.
Let’s get into the money.
Montana Dem Pay
The Montana Democratic Party has a 160-page September FEC campaign finance report.
The Party had $276,000 cash on hand at the beginning of last month, they brought in $89,000, they spent $85,000 and they had $281,000 cash on hand at the end of the month.
The Montana Democratic Party also spent $2,635 on eating out in August.
It cost the Montana Dems $3,900 to rent their August convention space at the Colonial in Helena. This was the convention that selected the same, tired old ‘leaders’ that gave us our terrible Party situation.
They spent at least $750 to pay three people for “entertainment” at that event.
They spent $146 for an Uber ride in California.
12 staffers were paid $34,482.91 for their ‘work.’ This breaks down like so:
An additional $48,493.10 was paid in payroll taxes for those employees.
That means it cost the Montana Democratic Party $82,976 just to pay the people on staff. It also means they only had about $6,000 left of the $89,000 they raised for the month.
Folks, it’s called treading water – the Montana Democratic Party needs to raise at least $80,000 a month just to keep the current staffers paid.
When you add in voter access networks, maintenance costs, printing, mailing, and other stuff, you realize the Party needs $100,000 of your money each month just to keep going.
$1.2 million a year, just to maintain the current status quo of a lost legislature, a lost land board, and a dusty bench that holds no excitement for Montana voters of either Party.
What a mess.
The Party had $276,000 cash on hand at the beginning of last month, they brought in $89,000, they spent $85,000 and they had $281,000 cash on hand at the end of the month.
The Montana Democratic Party also spent $2,635 on eating out in August.
It cost the Montana Dems $3,900 to rent their August convention space at the Colonial in Helena. This was the convention that selected the same, tired old ‘leaders’ that gave us our terrible Party situation.
They spent at least $750 to pay three people for “entertainment” at that event.
They spent $146 for an Uber ride in California.
12 staffers were paid $34,482.91 for their ‘work.’ This breaks down like so:
- Nancy Keenan: $5,922
- Chris Meagher: $4,732
- Trent Bolger: $4,453
- Allison Dale-Riddle: $3,540
- Roy Lowenstein: $3,214
- Justin Ailport: $3,078
- Nick Lockridge: $2,986
- James Young: $2,243
- Thomas Culver: $2,037
- Olivia Slack: $1,090
- Faith Scow: $1,040
- James Oberembt: $142
An additional $48,493.10 was paid in payroll taxes for those employees.
That means it cost the Montana Democratic Party $82,976 just to pay the people on staff. It also means they only had about $6,000 left of the $89,000 they raised for the month.
Folks, it’s called treading water – the Montana Democratic Party needs to raise at least $80,000 a month just to keep the current staffers paid.
When you add in voter access networks, maintenance costs, printing, mailing, and other stuff, you realize the Party needs $100,000 of your money each month just to keep going.
$1.2 million a year, just to maintain the current status quo of a lost legislature, a lost land board, and a dusty bench that holds no excitement for Montana voters of either Party.
What a mess.
Montana Republican Pay
The Montana Republican Party has a 28-page FEC finance report this month.
The Party had $82,000 cash on hand at the beginning of August, they brought in $13,000, spent $34,000 and had $62,000 cash on hand at the end of the month.
Someone spent nearly $600 to fly to Atlanta.
Fulcrum Campaign Strategies, located in the District of Criminals, was given $5,000 for political strategy consulting.
Over $400 was spent to stay in Nashville for a night.
H2 Capital Consulting, located in the District of Criminals, was given nearly $14,000 as a reimbursement.
The same amount was given to a Virginia catering company, again, as a reimbursement.
Florida’s Steve Brown Direct Marketing was given nearly $1,900 for fundraising.
The Party has a $10,000 debt to Minnesota’s Strategic Fundraising.
When we get to staffers, we see that just one is listed: Patrick Web. He was paid $2,014 for the month, and the GOP paid $3,618 in payroll taxes for the month.
This means that the GOP is paying just $5,600 a month for its staff while the Dems pay $83,000.
The GOP’s fundraising might seem low compared to the Dems, but the truth is they just don’t need to raise so much money because they’re not wasting so much.
And they’re winning.
In July, Patrick Webb was named the executive director of the Montana GOP. He started working on August 2.
Webb worked for Daines some time ago, he worked for Gianforte last year, and he even put in some time on Zinke’s campaign.
Dems need 12 staffers for each staffer the GOP has, and they still can’t win.
It’s sad. I do have to congratulate the Montana GOP on doing such a good job with so little. Dems could learn from this, but they choose not to.
The Party had $82,000 cash on hand at the beginning of August, they brought in $13,000, spent $34,000 and had $62,000 cash on hand at the end of the month.
Someone spent nearly $600 to fly to Atlanta.
Fulcrum Campaign Strategies, located in the District of Criminals, was given $5,000 for political strategy consulting.
Over $400 was spent to stay in Nashville for a night.
H2 Capital Consulting, located in the District of Criminals, was given nearly $14,000 as a reimbursement.
The same amount was given to a Virginia catering company, again, as a reimbursement.
Florida’s Steve Brown Direct Marketing was given nearly $1,900 for fundraising.
The Party has a $10,000 debt to Minnesota’s Strategic Fundraising.
When we get to staffers, we see that just one is listed: Patrick Web. He was paid $2,014 for the month, and the GOP paid $3,618 in payroll taxes for the month.
This means that the GOP is paying just $5,600 a month for its staff while the Dems pay $83,000.
The GOP’s fundraising might seem low compared to the Dems, but the truth is they just don’t need to raise so much money because they’re not wasting so much.
And they’re winning.
In July, Patrick Webb was named the executive director of the Montana GOP. He started working on August 2.
Webb worked for Daines some time ago, he worked for Gianforte last year, and he even put in some time on Zinke’s campaign.
Dems need 12 staffers for each staffer the GOP has, and they still can’t win.
It’s sad. I do have to congratulate the Montana GOP on doing such a good job with so little. Dems could learn from this, but they choose not to.
Conclusion
The Montana Democrats had their worst showing in statewide elections since 1928.
Time magazine mentions that Democrats haven’t been in such a terrible position since 1929.
And we know how that turned out – the worst economic collapse in our nation’s history, and the ushering in of a Democrat for 4 terms.
I just don’t think that state Democratic Parties were raiding the cookie jar as much back then as they are now.
You saw the numbers – Montana Dems’ whole operation is about benefiting a dozen people…and they have no concrete wins to show for this.
So even if things go to hell and a Dem gets elected president in 2020, we know they’ll just be a corrupt, Party hack that seeks to enrich themselves with your money while trying to trick you that your life is getting better.
That’s what the Montana Democratic Party is doing…the money says so.
It’s just corruption, and an attitude of ‘I’ll benefit myself as the ship goes down.’
These people aren’t leaders.
If they were ever to assume a leadership position, your life would get worse while theirs gets better.
NFL players are a fine example. Their average salary is $1.5 million a year. Easy to take a knee or make a stand when you’ve got money in the bank.
It’s harder for you and I to do so, being just regular citizens will menial jobs and little money in the pocket.
And yet we look to these highly-paid people to tell us what to do, what to think.
Whether it’s a president that’s more insecure than a pimply-faced teenager…whether it’s a state Party that uses most of its donations to prop up its own staff…whether it’s a bunch of football players that make more for a couple months of work than you will in your whole life…things are bad.
They’re not going to get better.
We simply don’t want them to.
Time magazine mentions that Democrats haven’t been in such a terrible position since 1929.
And we know how that turned out – the worst economic collapse in our nation’s history, and the ushering in of a Democrat for 4 terms.
I just don’t think that state Democratic Parties were raiding the cookie jar as much back then as they are now.
You saw the numbers – Montana Dems’ whole operation is about benefiting a dozen people…and they have no concrete wins to show for this.
So even if things go to hell and a Dem gets elected president in 2020, we know they’ll just be a corrupt, Party hack that seeks to enrich themselves with your money while trying to trick you that your life is getting better.
That’s what the Montana Democratic Party is doing…the money says so.
It’s just corruption, and an attitude of ‘I’ll benefit myself as the ship goes down.’
These people aren’t leaders.
If they were ever to assume a leadership position, your life would get worse while theirs gets better.
NFL players are a fine example. Their average salary is $1.5 million a year. Easy to take a knee or make a stand when you’ve got money in the bank.
It’s harder for you and I to do so, being just regular citizens will menial jobs and little money in the pocket.
And yet we look to these highly-paid people to tell us what to do, what to think.
Whether it’s a president that’s more insecure than a pimply-faced teenager…whether it’s a state Party that uses most of its donations to prop up its own staff…whether it’s a bunch of football players that make more for a couple months of work than you will in your whole life…things are bad.
They’re not going to get better.
We simply don’t want them to.
