6/30/2006
Bison Wins
by Gerik on 8:53 pm.
I think Montanans made a great choice. I was gunning for this one a couple months ago.
How about you?
Hat tip Sarpy Sam.
| Comments (11) | Permanent Link | Categories: montana |
If this happens, we’ve succeeded
by Matt Singer on 2:49 pm.
Too hilarious to not cross-post:
Honestly, if all the Senators end up with a flat-top and values a bit more like Montana, isn’t this whole thing worthwhile?
| Comments (7) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page |
Last Day of the Quarter
by Matt Singer on 10:57 am.
Give generously to Jon Tester and Monica Lindeen. You can contribute above or here. One easy page where you can contribute to both candidates or either one individually.
Thanks.
Update – Monica asks for your money in a web video.
Update 2 – Come on, folks. Tester is $70 short of $2,500 donated through this site. Surely, we can hit that mark?
| Comments (4) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page |
It was unfair for me to characterize the Montana Republicans as having a plan
by Matt Singer on 9:24 am.
Instead, they have a goal. You may have read yesterday’s story on Brian Schweitzer’s tax rebate plan. In it, the Republicans insisted that Brian’s characterization of their proposal was unfair because the version that was rolled out at a Bozeman press conference was actually only one of many options.
Today, Chuck Denowh takes that line a step further, saying that details of any rebate bill will be negotiated until the final days of the session, but that the Republicans are aiming to have a rebate bill on the Governor’s desk in the first half of the session.
wHa?
So, Denowh is offended that he is characterized as planless and his response is that any plan will inevitably be negotiated until the end of the session, so rather than a plan we should have a goal to do the impossible, regardless of substance.
The ideas behind that statement are almost as bizarre as my construction of it. Meanwhile, Chuck is apparently already brainstorming ways to take the Governor to court to fight for lower taxes for out-of-staters. Let me say, as a Montana resident and taxpayer, that idea makes me sad; as a politically-involved Democrat, it strikes me as both stupid and helpful.
| Comments (6) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page |
6/29/2006
Missoula County Democrat Caucus – Canceled
by Matt Singer on 5:30 pm.
This event has been indefinitely postponed. No, I do not know why.
Please be a participant in the Missoula Democrats Issue Caucus.
The purpose of the Caucus is to define the values and issues most important to Missoula Democrats in a concise one-page, 12-point document that will be made available to all who ask the question: “What does the Missoula Democratic Party stand for?â€
The Caucus will be held on
Thursday, June 29, 2006 at MCT (aka Missoula Children’s Theatre)
(Broadway and Madison, enter on Main Street).
Registration 5:30-6:00 PM
Caucus 6:00-9:00 PM
Come and be articulate, passionate, concise, patient, considerate and fair. It is time for us to declare the universal themes that unite us.
The Caucus is free and open to all members of the Missoula Democratic Party who have paid their dues for 2006. Dues are $15 annually per person; payable to the Missoula Democratic Party (financial aid is available). Please note that the Montana State Democratic Party stopped returning a portion of your state dues to the county at the beginning of 2006. County parties are now expected to collect their own dues.
| Comments (0) | Permanent Link | Categories: Events, Front Page |
Do Montanans Even Know Who Charles Schumer Is?
by Gerik on 3:17 pm.
I don’t think so, and if they do they certainly don’t care what he is up to. Yet we get gems like this from the MT-GOP.
Chuck Schumer has got it going on. Desperate to get the 6 seats Democrats need so that he Teddy and Hillary can impose their radical agenda on America, Chuck has issued instructions.
He has involved himself intimately in shaping the strategies of the individual Democratic candidates…For example, Mr. Schumer required that everyone talk about issues in a major media market at least once a month…
Â
God forbid candidates talk about issues, madness.
Chuckles Denowh is trying to cook up a consipriacy that the Senator from New York is a power broker in Montana’s Senate race. Brilliant. Maybe I should switch sides and run communications for the Rs when I come home to Montana. The competition seems less than fierce. Keep it up guys, quality work.
| Comments (31) | Permanent Link | Categories: gop e-brief watch |
Hilarious…No Wait…Yeah, I was right the first time. Hilarious.
by V on 11:31 am.
Publius over at Legal Fiction delivers a gold star review of the Texas redistricting case. I probably won’t post on this one, so go read this.
| Comments (4) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page, law |
Magic Bunny Fu-Fu Land
by V on 10:05 am.
This is where I think most Congressional Republicans have been living in the past few years. In this magical land, they can fight any number of wars for political reasons, tap everyone’s phone for sound, call actions of reputable news outlets illegal with no intention or prospect of taking the matter to court, grease up their favorite pork projects, and ignore the costs at every turn. Wouldn’t it be great if the government was able to pay for all of the big government projects that Republicans have gotten us into. I think that most Republicans must have forgotten what one dollar bills look like through their obsession with hundreds and thousands.
| Comments (2) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page, corrupt, ideologues, overreach, punitive, republicans |
Tester, the Mapchanger
by Matt Singer on 8:34 am.
With less than twenty-four hours left in the polling, Jon Tester holds on to his lead at Forward Together’s Mapchangers contest. Still, if you haven’t registered and voted, now would be a good time.
| Comments (1) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, Front Page, democrats, elections |
6/28/2006
Grassroots, smassroots
by James Greer on 8:44 pm.
Any other Missoulians see the young republican attempt at grassroots campaigning for Burns on Higgins bridge, in front of Out to Lunch?
Their goal? Getting the “message” out on Burns and Rehberg, and making sure the important issues are addressed — specifically that the commandments can still be posted inside our state’s courthouses.
They were packed up before I could turn around to let them know it takes more than a bumpersticker to be grassroots.
| Comments (13) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, Conrad Burns, Dennis Rehberg |
Schweitzer Rolls Out Property Tax Plan
by Matt Singer on 2:11 pm.
Brian Schweitzer has his property tax plan and the Republicans have theirs. I’ll have more later, but here’s basically how it works.
Are you
- An out-of-stater with a second home in Montana?
- A corporation?
- An owner of a home worth more than about a half million dollars?
No?!?!? You’re none of the above. Alright, then — you do better under Schweitzer’s plan.
Schweitzer’s plan takes the one time surplus money and creates a one-time flat rebate for Montana residents to ease the burden of property taxes. The Republican plan takes the one-time surplus money and permanently cuts taxes for out-of-state landowners and big mostly out-of-state companies.
Even as a non-homeowner, this is nothing close to a tough call for me.
| Comments (8) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page, economic, taxes |
Heh. Hotline Flips. DC Republicans Scurred.
by Matt Singer on 12:41 pm.
Tester Time has it. From the Hotline, the publication that defines inside-the-beltway thinking and conventional wisdom and that just knew last year that Morrison was the best candidate to beat Burns:
If any race other than Pennsylvania ever occupies our top slot, it will be this one. After watching the first of what we believe will be many Tester-Burns debates, we’re sorry we EVER underestimated Tester. How wrong we were about this guy. Perhaps the most intriguing development over the last month is the pessimism we’re sensing from D.C. Republicans over Burns — more so, frankly, than the worry we’re hearing over Santorum.
Let’s be clear. Santorum is down by something like 15 points against his challenger in most polls. But the insider crowd is terrified of Jon Tester.
I’d be terrified, too, especially if I was running a corrupt, stuttering, Washingtonified fool who has no idea what he stands for anymore.
| Comments (18) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, Front Page, elections |
The War on Working Americans
by Matt Singer on 10:04 am.
Anyone in D.C. need a real issue to work on? Ellen Schultz of the Wall Street Journal found it:
To help explain its deep slump, General Motors Corp. often cites “legacy costs,” including pensions for its giant U.S. work force. In its latest annual report, GM wrote: “Our extensive pension and [post-employment] obligations to retirees are a competitive disadvantage for us.” Early this year, GM announced it was ending pensions for 42,000 workers.But there’s a twist to the auto maker’s pension situation: The pension plans for its rank-and-file U.S. workers are overstuffed with cash, containing about $9 billion more than is needed to meet their obligations for years to come.
Another of GM’s pension programs, however, saddles the company with a liability of $1.4 billion. These pensions are for its executives.
This is the pension squeeze companies aren’t talking about: Even as many reduce, freeze or eliminate pensions for workers — complaining of the costs — their executives are building up ever-bigger pensions, causing the companies’ financial obligations for them to balloon.
This reminds me of that one President who felt the need to gut the financially solvent Social Security for “fiscal” reasons all the while slashing taxes for rich people and making the current budget insolvent.
I’m pissed today.
| Comments (8) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page |
Paris Hilton Will Still Have to Pay, in All Likelihood
by Matt Singer on 9:21 am.
This photo must have been taken before she got the bad news.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist postponed a vote on a measure to exempt most multimillionaires from federal estate taxes after conceding Republicans lack the votes to pass legislation adopted by the House last week.
Good. This legislation is a load of crap. As the article goes on to note, we’re talking fewer than 1% of estates that owe any estate tax at all. And the “compromise” version of the legislation that Baucus and some Republicans were shipping around would apparently that to less than one quarter of one percent while slashing the marginal rate to a third of its present value. CBPP estimates that it would have cut off 75% of the revenue from the estate tax.
All of it makes you wonder what the hell these people’s priorities are. David Sirota takes a look at some of the real problems America faces right now:
- The American Journal of Public Health reports more than 1,700 African Americans die each week because they don’t have the same access to health care as other Americans.- The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 110 workers die each week in workplace fatalities – many of which could be prevented by better enforcement of basic workplace laws by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (which is being gutted by budget cuts).
- The Pentagon reports roughly 15 American soldiers die each week in Iraq.
- The Institute of Medicine reports 346 Americans die each week because they lack health insurance.
- The Environmental Working Group reports that 192 Americans die each week because of exposure to asbestos.
What’s your natural conclusion upon hearing this news? Is it that we better cut taxes for Paris Hilton? No? Then you must not live in Washington, D.C.
One last thing — since the Republican Congress has so far shown itself no more able to seriously cut spending while cutting taxes than I have shown myself to be able to fly while drinking cocktails, this isn’t really a tax cut. It’s a massive tax shift. And rather than the taxes being borne by the people who have benefitted the most from this country’s government and economic system (and in some cases avoided all taxes on some capital gains), the people voting for this would rather see the costs borne by all of us through increased indebtedness to China and in particular by my generation that someday will have to pay this crap up.
Please, stop running up my credit card bills and please, start working on issues that Americans actually worry about, like health care and energy prices.
| Comments (7) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page, policy, political, taxes |
Spam Filters Blocking Some Comments
by Matt Singer on 8:43 am.
I just found out that one of the two comment spam filters we’ve got here at Left in the West has been catching some honest comments and zapping ‘em before we look at them. While the spam filters are necessary for us to not spend our whole days deleting spam, this is obviously a nuisance. If you write a comment and notice it doesn’t appear right away, please drop me an email at singer@leftinthewest.com
I’ll find the comment and get it posted — even if I disagree with it.
Thanks.
| Comments (1) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page, admin |
6/27/2006
Coobs Embraces Tester’s Iraq Policy
by Matt Singer on 5:50 pm.
Even the leader of What’s Right in Montana is on-board with Tester’s Iraq policy. In comments to a post he wrote, he said that we need to stay in Iraq until October. That’s not a far cry from Tester’s position, which is simply calling for a strategy and who thinks that such a strategy can redeploy troops by the end of ‘06 (end of ‘06 being after October of ‘06)
The President and the U.S. Congress need to put a successful exit strategy in place to bring our troops home. Additionally, we need to consider redeploying some of these troops to Afghanistan and other critical fronts in the War on Terror.
With Eric on board the Tester Express, I’m not sure how we can lose.
H/T 4&20 Blackbirds
| Comments (15) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page |
This is a Call (for Resumes)
by Matt Singer on 2:45 pm.
I’m hearing about more job openings — all over the state, but definitely in the Flathead, Missoula, and Bozeman. If you’re looking for work in the political realm, let me know. Some are only through the election, some may be ongoing into next year.
| Comments (2) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page |
MT Right-to-Life Briefly Endorses Nazi
by Matt Singer on 1:22 pm.
Wow.
Up until Monday afternoon, Right to Life of Montana had been endorsing Shawn Stuart, who’s running on the Republican ticket in Butte’s House District 76, but is also the Montana contact for the National Socialist Movement, described as “America’s Nazi Party†on its Web site.Within hours after being questioned about the endorsement, the pro-life group deleted Stuart’s name from its on-line list of candidates whose views align with theirs.
[...]
“His responses were questionable,†[Montana Right-to-Life Executive Director Gregg] Trude said after taking a second look at Stuart’s questionnaire on Monday. “I will ask them to remove his name.â€
His responses were questionable? Do these folks not read the news at all? And is their problem with him that his questionnaire failed to be sufficiently anti-abortion or that he is part of a political movement responsible for the most famous ethnic cleansing in history?
Jeez.
| Comments (5) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page |
New Swing State Polling
by Matt Singer on 12:16 pm.
It’s from GQR and it’s on messaging. It says we should be talking about health care, energy, and the deficit. Hmm, sounds familiar.
| Comments (5) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page |
Jon Tester Receives Conservation Endorsement
by Matt Singer on 10:38 am.
The Montana Conservation Voters and its national counterpart have both endorsed Jon Tester for U.S. Senate. From the release:
A representative of hunting and angling interests in the state also spoke out for endorsing Jon Tester. John Gibson, a leader of state and local public lands hunting and fishing groups, said that “Montana’s public lands provide us with a competitive advantage compared to other states, offering up a longer hunting season, pristine water and fishing. These serve as an economic driver that attracts good-paying jobs, tourists, and recreationists.†Gibson concluded, “Jon Tester is the candidate that will fight in Congress to keep our public lands in public hands.â€â€œAs a family rancher myself who is concerned with sustainable agriculture, I value the fact that Jon Tester has shown that he will defend family farmers and ranchers and will stand up to multi-national grain corporations,†said Dave Tyler, owner of the Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool Company in Belgrade, and a member of MCV’s Board of Directors. “Jon Tester has a great record of making rural Montana stronger while protecting our open space and clean air and water.â€
Public access is likely to be a big issue this year, as Burns has full-out advocated privatizing public lands in past years and hedged his bets on the nasty Pombo proposal recently. Watch for the conservation groups to make Montana’s outdoor heritage a big deal in defining the difference between Tester and Burns.
Update – Since I’m a bit of a disclosure nut, let me note that I used to work for the Montana Conservation Voters. I continue to think they’re a fantastic group.
| Comments (1) | Permanent Link | Categories: Conrad Burns, Front Page |
