It’s much easier for those of us with jobs to demand that budgets be cut, spending reduced and pork exorcized than it is for us to think about the people who will lose their jobs when that happens. It’s only partly about unions, which is synonymous with a swear word around many dinner tables. In […]

For someone who says he doesn’t like talking about vetoes, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer sure likes to talk a lot about vetoes. But making vague declarations are one thing and putting pen to paper is quite another. The truth is it’s hard to guess how many pieces of legislation the governor will eventually nix. There […]

Reached last week, Whitefish Republican Sen. Ryan Zinke called Senate Bill 13 – which was proposed and supported by a number of his colleagues – a “terrible bill.” It was a blunt assessment one day before the legislation was scheduled to hit the Senate floor. Instead, SB 13 was referred back to the Senate Finance […]

It was telling when in 2009 Kalispell voters rejected a $4.1 million-high school building reserve levy for School District No. 5. It had been approved every time it was on the ballot since 1982. When times are good, it’s easier to support schools. But they’re not. The building levy was just one of many that […]

Lawmakers in the Montana House of Representatives, many arguing that they are worried about the stress their county clerks and recorders are under on Election Day, have supported eliminating same-day voter registration. But if you’ve been paying attention at all this session, you quickly realize that the bill’s backers are not really worried about that […]

Our country’s leaders have promised (using super serious language) to take steps to reduce the federal deficit. “Our nation is approaching a tipping point.” “Another wake-up call.” “Now is the time to act.” These quotes, lifted from three separate political speeches last week, are at once interchangeable and meaningless unless they are attached to concrete […]

Former Constitution Party presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin moved to Montana a few months ago and has vowed to mold the state into what he thinks it should look like. The potential 2012 gubernatorial candidate also has an opinion about those who lived here before him. “There are a lot of people that were born in […]

Montana Republicans swept into the state capitol for a variety of reasons, but perhaps none as big as the rising national debt and dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama’s health care plan. Both issues have dominated the debate in the first weeks of the Legislature, except now it’s the GOP on the defense. One of the […]

The latest issue of Delta Air Lines’ Sky magazine features Montana prominently and calls our state “a leader the rest of the nation should listen and learn from” that “continues to attract businesses from all over the world.” That’s quite the compliment, but forgive me if I don’t share the writer’s enthusiasm. Because while the […]

The Legislature convened this week and while it’s easy to pan our citizen lawmakers as amateurs, I think that’s one of their best attributes. Just look at how the pros fared in Washington, D.C. over the last year. Still, I would like to offer some unsolicited advice to those arriving at the Helena capitol for […]

It’s mostly the reaction we get in exchange for presents. It lasts only a few moments, but somehow it’s worth spending hours looking online, in catalogues and on store racks for that perfect gift. Some of those on our lists are easier to shop for than others. My nephews, for example, will lose their minds […]

Montana Republicans, who will enjoy large majorities in both chambers at the state Capitol this upcoming session, plan on bypassing Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s veto pen by referring some divisive measures directly to voters in 2012. Let’s hope by then the state requires the Voter Information Pamphlet, which is used to explain each referendum, to […]

In a relatively sleepy vote, the Flathead County Commission approved updates to the Lakeside neighborhood plan last week. Yes, that plan; the three-year effort that provoked lawsuits, a third-party investigation and perhaps cost former Planning Director Jeff Harris his job. But when the decision came on Dec. 1, it was almost as if accusations of […]

On Nov. 18, Montana Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg sent a letter to the state’s Democratic U.S. senators urging them to “heed the will of Montanans” and join the GOP in swearing off earmarks for three years. Less than a week later, Sen. Max Baucus responded in writing, describing the move as a “political stunt.” It’s […]

Gov. Brian Schweitzer released his state budget last week, and during its public unveiling he preempted many Republican ideas and chided them for others he didn’t agree with. The performance left one GOP lawmaker complaining that the governor had already “started waging war between the legislative and executive branches.” If a political “war” is coming […]