Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

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Tuesday, February 5. 2008

The Day

Today's the day, the day the Montana Republican party completely disenfranchises Montana voters and picks the primary winner in party only caucuses.

Voting will be done by local and state Republican leaders, precinct committee people and GOP politicians elected to statewide and county office. All told, Montana's Republican presidential nominee will be decided by no more than 1,817 people. After the ballots are cast, that's it. There will be Republican presidential candidates on primary election ballots June 3, but the delegates will belong to the caucus winner regardless of how the public votes.


Yep, the tens of thousands that normally would express their opinion on who to elect are now completely ignored. The damnedest thing is the republicans think this is good. I think there are going to be a large number of independent minded voters who are going to be so upset at the Republicans over this that they will never vote Republican again. This will hurt Montana Republicans.

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee. Marian Wright Edelman
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Sarpy Sam
in Montana Politics at 04:17 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)
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Saturday, November 17. 2007

Blame

Well, it looks like the Farm Bill got stalled out.

GOP filibuster stymies Farm Bill

A wide-ranging rewrite of the Farm Bill fell victim Friday to a Republican filibuster in the Senate, threatening enactment of new and expanded subsidies promised to farmers by lawmakers seeking re-election next year.

Though politically popular, the $286 billion bill stalled in a dispute between the parties over unrelated amendments from Republicans. Democrats failed to get the 60 votes they needed to cut off debate as most Republicans voted along party lines to support a GOP filibuster. The final vote was 55-42.


I read somewhere that around 260 amendments were being offered to the Farm Bill and the hold up was deciding how many to allow and which ones. Here is a novel concept, how about only allowing amendments that have directly to do with farming.

The Democrats blame the Republicans, the Republicans blame the Democrats, and nothing gets done. About par for the course if you ask me.

When you blame others, you give up your power to change. Robert Anthony
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Sarpy Sam
in Agriculture, US Politics at 05:37 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)
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Friday, November 2. 2007

Worst Enemy

I swear Montana Republicans are their own worst enemies. There is now a Republican Legislator suing the Governor to stop, yes I said stop, a tax rebate. The Republican party in general and Sen. John Cobb of Augusta both claim that the Governor used faulty accounting in figuring the rebate and the law needs fixed and the Governor shouldn't be authorizing the rebate.

Talk about a stupid maneuver. Republicans opposed to a tax rebate. It doesn't matter if the Republicans are right or not about the Governor figuring it out wrong, the public is just going to see that they are opposing the rebate. If the public doesn't remember the Republicans opposing the tax rebate, I am sure the Democrats will remind them come election time via advertisements. I really think Montana Republicans need to rethink this strategy of opposing this. They ought to applaud the rebates and push for more, maybe pointing out the problems with it, but not opposing it.

Instead of loving your enemies - treat your friends a little better. Edward W. Howe
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Sarpy Sam
in Montana Politics at 03:54 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
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Wednesday, September 5. 2007

Not Right

GOP-led chamber may pass emergency fire bills, then adjourn

House Republican leaders are working on a plan to freeze the Democrat-controlled Senate out of the special legislative session that begins today and guarantee that only GOP-backed firefighting bills end up on the governor's desk.

House Speaker Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, confirmed that he is considering passing two Republican-backed bills Wednesday and abruptly adjourning the House before the Senate has an opportunity to consider anything in the special session.


This is not the way the deliberative bodies of the legislature are supposed to work. I truly think the Republicans ought to consider not doing this. They all ready tried this tactic in the regular session and it didn't work. What makes them think it will work now. If they are going to spend my money in special session I expect them to do it right. Adjourning before the Senate can deliberate and vote on the bill is childish.

I like children - fried. W. C. Fields
Posted by
Sarpy Sam
in Legislature 2007, Montana Politics at 04:55 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
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Monday, September 3. 2007

Blame Game

When Gov. Brian Schweitzer announced a special session to pay for the fire fighting costs this year, the Montana Blogs started up. Depending on which blog you read, either the Republicans or the Democrats were to blame for this and that was the end of the story. As normal I didn't believe either side since they were only swinging for political advantage. Now I see a story that does tell a little more.

Plenty of blame with session

f you're a hard-core Democrat, the story behind this week's legislative special session goes like this: Gov. Brian Schweitzer this year wisely tried to set aside an extra $19 million to combat wildfires, but Republicans in the Legislature cut out the money.

If you're a devoted Republican, the story reads like this: Republicans tried to budget an extra $10 million for firefighting during the Legislature, but Democrats diverted that money on the last day to hire more tax collectors.

As in all things political, neither narrative is exactly right - nor exactly wrong. The more pertinent question might be, "What difference does it make?" And the answer is, not much.

No matter which political side had its way on firefighting funds during the regular legislative session this spring, it's quite likely we'd still find ourselves in a special session.

As of last week, the state had already run up a $35 million bill for fighting fires just this year - way more than either side had proposed to set aside for the next two years.


So it turns our neither side budgeted enough so both are to blame. I know both the left and the right will argue with the above stated positions but it's the truth. Let's quit playing the blame game and get the job done. Everybody and their dog knows that fire seasons have been getting worse so why not try to budget enough for them instead of ignoring the situation in hopes it will go away. If both sides would have done the job right in the first place they wouldn't need to be spending my money for this special session to fix the problem.

Just so this is clear, the Republicans and the Democrats in the Legislature did not budget enough money for fire fighting and neither did Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The costs for this year are all ready higher than than all concerned budgeted for two years. Quit pointing fingers and fix the problem.

You don't fix the problem until you define it. John W. Snow
Posted by
Sarpy Sam
in Gov. Schweitzer, Legislature 2007, Montana Politics at 04:38 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)
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Wednesday, August 8. 2007

Politics

The Republicans in the state are really trying to make political hay over Gov. Schweitzer's veto of firefighter tax breaks now that fire season is really on us. This is blatantly politics and anybody with half a brain would realize this. Why didn't the Republicans make such a big issue out of it when the veto occurred? Why did they wait until there were several large fires burning in the state and then bring this up? Politics is the reason pure and simple. Hell, the tax breaks they are talking about only affects volunteer firefighters which doesn't affect most of the people fighting the big fires in the state. The Republicans are just trying to link these items up in peoples mind. The sad thing is that it will work in too many instances.

Talking about tax breaks though, why firefighters? Why are they the only ones that were targeted for this tax break? Aren't there other deserving people out there? Policemen, Nurses, farmers, ranchers, hell just about everyone else for that matter. Why just the one class of people? That is what I would like to know. Why can't all the residents of Montana get a tax break? Maybe that is what the Republicans should be focusing on instead of the hay they are trying to make. That is too logical though and would benefit too many people. Easier just to criticize those in charge. There has to be a better way of doing things.

They criticize me for harping on the obvious; if all the folks in the United States would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves. Calvin Coolidge
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in Montana Politics at 05:15 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)
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Thursday, January 11. 2007

COOL

Rehberg, Baucus work on labeling

Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., said he is introducing legislation to speed up implementation of country-of-origin labeling of meat, while Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said he expects to be named chairman of the Senate subcommittee with jurisdiction over the issue.

Rehberg's legislation would move the deadline for implementation of mandatory country-of-origin labeling, or COOL, from Sept. 30, 2008, to Sept. 30, 2007.

"Special interest groups have been blocking COOL for too long," Rehberg said in a statement. "Montana consumers deserve the right to know where their meat products are coming from and we need to let them know this as soon as possible."


Maybe we will see COOL finally. Will COOL help the US beef industry? No, it will only increase the cost to consumers which will decrease demand, simple law of supply & demand, but it's the right thing to do.

I note now that Burns is gone, good riddance, that Rehberg seems to be stepping up in the leadership of Montana Republicans and taking charge. As always, times are interesting.

Only Americans can hurt America. Dwight D. Eisenhower
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Thursday, December 14. 2006

Children At Play

Sales provides edge to GOP on House panel

Majority Republicans in the state House of Representatives have given themselves extra weight on a key committee, mirroring an identical decision by majority Democrats in the state Senate.

House Republicans, led by Speaker Scott Sales of Bozeman, assigned themselves a three-vote margin on the House Appropriations Committee, the panel that gets first crack at crafting Montana's two-year, multibillion-dollar state budget.


It's going to be a fun ride. The children are at play and it's starting to get nasty all ready. I have been waiting for the Committee assignments to see how each party would craft the committees since the House is controlled by the Republicans and the house is controlled by the Democrats.

A cursory glance at the assignments indicates that the Democrats in the Senate gave them selves a one seat advantage on most committees while the Republicans gave themselves a two seat advantage on each committee. The appropriations committee in each chamber really got packed by each side taking 3 extra seats per ruling party. The other difference is the Committees in the House that have Rick Jore on them, Constitution Party, the Democrats are three seats down, One Constitution Party and two Republicans.

Sales said Wednesday that his choices in the House were influenced, in part, by what Senate Democrats awarded themselves in the Senate.

"I had to do that to match what the Senate (Democrats) did," Sales said.


Scott Sales might have went a little further than they did in the Senate but what would you expect with Children? They do love playing the game of tit for tat.

I'm sure the Democrats and their supporters will scream bloody murder over this while Republican sycophants will say fair is fair. I say politics as usual, any way to screw the other party is fair game to these The children. Lets not worry about doing what's best for the people you represent, partisan fighting rules the day.

The carping and bickering of political factions in the nation's capital reminds me of two pelicans quarreling over a dead fish. William Tecumseh Sherman
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Tuesday, December 12. 2006

Let The Good Times Roll

House panel rejects plan to restrict GOP speaker

Republican leaders of Montana's closely divided House of Representatives quashed a Democratic plan Monday to limit the amount of Republican power on committees that influence hundreds of would-be laws, including the state's budget.

On a 5-5 party line vote, the evenly divided House Rules Committee rejected a Democratic plan of dictating that Republicans, who have a one-vote majority over the Democrats in the full House, will have only a one-vote majority on House committees.


It's going to get real interesting to watch the children in Helena play during the upcoming session. It will be interesting to see how this will turn out. Just because the Republicans rejected the Democrats proposed rule on how to form the committees doesn't mean Scott Sales can't willingly only give each Committee a one vote Republican margin. The article never says how Sales is going to structure them.

Don't get me wrong, I am sure he is going to pack them with Republicans but it would be nice if he could see above the partisan squabbling to do the right thing. I think that would be too much to expect from the children though.

I would be curious to know the proposed make up of the committees on the Senate side. Are the Democrats there only taking a one seat advantage or are they packing the committees in their favor? I wouldn't be to quick to slam the Republicans on this issue until we find out how the Senate is handling it.

The children are at play and us taxpayers better grab our wallets. The fun is just beginning.

Fasten your seatbelts because you will go through tough times. Don't say that things are difficult. Stick it out as much as you can. Eric Braeden
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Wednesday, November 29. 2006

Which Road Will They Take

It's been decided finally. Republicans have gained control of the Montana House after the Laurel recount. So which road will they take? Will they hold true to traditional Republican values of less government and lower taxes or will they just try to outspend the Democrats in an all out bid to win the elections the next time around?

Some Republican leaders, including incoming House Speaker Scott Sales, have said they'd like to see broader property-tax cuts and more surplus funds returned to taxpayers in the form of rebates or tax cuts.


Rebates or tax cuts? If they opt for rebates they are just trying to buy votes, if they go for permanent tax cuts I might think they hold traditional Republican values. I'm not holding my breath though.

In reality we are looking at deadlock in the state government. Each side trying to get it's way and neither winning. It's going to be an interesting ride to see what happens. Will Gov. Schweitzer be the true Bipartisan Governor he claims to be or will throw a temper tantrum if he doesn't get his way? Stay tuned for the fun.

Whenever a fellow tells me he's bipartisan, I know he's going to vote against me. Harry S. Truman
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Thursday, November 9. 2006

Election Thoughts

There seems to be a lot of celebration out there that the Democrats have taken control of the House and Senate. The going consensus I read is that this is going to turn the country around and great things are going to happen. I hate to rain on the parade, but I don't think so. The way I see it all we are going to have is deadlock. The Democrats might control the House and they might have a majority in the Senate but the Republicans have the filibuster power in the Senate and control the Presidency, at least for two more years. Therefore there is not going to be any big turnaround, just a big deadlock. So I will join the celebration. It will do the country good for the executive and congressional wings of our government to be feuding with each other and nothing to get accomplished. It will be interesting to see which party the voting public blames in two years for the deadlock, Republicans or Democrats.

The other thing I note about the election is that here in Montana the Democrats are ecstatic over Jon Tester's win over Conrad Burns. They deserve their party for this since they worked hard and managed to pull it out barely in the end. What I do note is that in the process of winning the national Senate seat, they lost the state House and reduced their majority in the state Senate to a dead tie. So they lost some momentum in the state, to take the national seat. Does this mean Montana has turned to a Blue state like everybody is saying or are we just showing our independent streak yet again by voting a Democrat in nationally while turning the state congress over to the Republicans? Guess what, we also now will have deadlock in the state government and not much will get accomplished.

The next two years should be really fun with both parties pointing at the other one saying it's their fault nothing is getting accomplished. I wonder how long before the blame game starts? I can't wait, it's going to be fun.

political deadlock is no excuse for violent hooliganism. Diane Watson
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Saturday, November 4. 2006

Dueling Parties

The Democrats and Republicans are at it again. The Democrats are complaining that Republicans are going to attempt to block poor voters from voting and the Democrats are laying the ground work for disqualifing military ballots from being counted. Why do both parties not like to see everyone vote? Why do they, both parties, work so hard to disenfranchise voters?

Because they want to win, by hook or crook, that's why. Then people wonder why politics upset me so.

Reality is no less precious if it presents itself to someone else. All are discoverers, and if we disenfranchise any, all suffer. John Charles Polanyi
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Thursday, March 9. 2006

Pull Out

I have been watching the whole Burns/Abramoff situation and have not been surprised by any of it. The newest information coming out on the case leads me to think only one thing. Burns needs to pull out of his re-re-election campaign and let some candidate that doesn't have such a stain on him run for the seat. There are quite a few calling for him to resign but I really doubt Burns would do such a thing with a Democratic Governor in an election year.

Who the Republicans could run that the voters of Montana could stomach after this mess is really beyond me. There is no strong Republican candidates that I can think of around to do it.

Will Burns pull out for the good of his party? Not a chance, he will stick it out and take the whole Montana republican party down with him. It will be interesting to watch the train wreck, won't it?

A coward, a most devout coward, religious in it. William Shakespeare
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in Montana Politics at 04:30 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)
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