The politics between Ukraine and Russia are complex. President Barack Obama recognizes the sovereignty of Ukraine and warned Russia of striking Ukraine. Obama declared there would be costs to Russia if they strike Ukraine, but he acknowledges these costs are diplomatic (i.e. economic and political in nature), not military. Good.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a 2016 presidential hopeful, stated he would take a stauncher position than Obama on the costs to Russia, but it appears Paul’s and Obama’s approaches are similar. Both oppose U.S. military involvement and prefer imposing diplomatic “costs” if Russia strikes Ukraine.

Montana’s hate crime law is on the books to protect Montanans against crimes motivated by “race, creed, religion, color, national origin, or involvement in civil rights or human rights activities.”

People are free to hate. They are free to espouse whatever religious views they wish. But when they kill, threaten or vandalize in order to intimidate people they don’t like, or whose religion they disagree with, that crosses a line.

Here we go again. Religion being blamed for something it had nothing to do with. First Dr. Cahill on TV news blamed “religious terrorist” for destroying her clinic, then Ms. Strong in a letter to the Flathead Beacon, even after it was proven the person who broke in and did the damage was not religious. I especially enjoy the way non-religious people love to quote Bible verses when they clearly don’t have a clue the context of those verses. It’s all about an attempt to control “religious” people by using their Holy Book. Christians do no harm. If anyone claims to be a Christian and does harm, they are a liar.

At the end of the month enrollment for health insurance tax breaks will end. Many oppose the tax breaks Obamacare offers to Montanans who purchase policies at the federal online marketplace.

Since the four-year-old legislation was signed into law, Republicans and their political surrogates still demagogue health insurance reforms and tax breaks for consumers.

I read Rep. Jesse O’Hara’s hit piece calling me an extremist (March 5 Beacon: “Extremists Anoint Themselves Arbiters of the Party”). As soon as we adjourned the 2013 Legislature in April, O’Hara sold his house in Great Falls and moved to Florida. So I was surprised to see O’Hara’s letter, as I hear the only time he leaves his beach chair is to walk to the mail box to collect his teacher pension and state health care benefits. He literally can’t afford to reform the status quo.

Montanans’ most fundamental right is at risk: the right to choose who we want to represent us in free and open primary elections. In an unprecedented political maneuver, our highest elected officials selected a candidate for the United States Senate, a decision made for Montanans in Washington, DC. Historically, elected officials have trusted Montana voters […]

Many Montanans don’t know that nonresident students subsidize the cost of our own children going to college. Legislators recognized this and wrote laws allowing the university system to waive nonresident tuition up to 2 percent of the previous year’s full-time enrollment numbers. University officials call this “tuition discounting” and know that more students from out […]

I remember as a sophomore in Spokane, Wash., watching my older brother play high school football. Nearly every game, besides homecoming, was held at Joe Albi Stadium on the northwest part of the city. The stadium holds more than 25,000 people and always seemed too big for the games it hosted – a nice facility […]

By Tim Baldwin In 2014, Montana may be able to vote on citizen initiative (CI) 114 if enough signatures are gathered to put it on the ballot. CI 114 would amend Montana’s Constitution requiring that the Legislature be 50 percent men and 50 percent women. CI 114 is absurd! CI 114 puts gender above qualifications; […]

It’s been several years since I last griped about my fellow Northwest Montana “drivers.” Remember, I told you about that poll that had far more than half of all drivers rating themselves “above average?” Well, we’re certainly above average here in the Flathead – in crashes and fatalities. That’s shameful, doubly so because despite engineering […]

Small businesses are always interested in getting more new customers, but sometimes forget that keeping existing customers is less expensive than the cost of replacing them. While products, services and customer support are critical to the health of your business, it’s critical to maintain a strong connection with your customers through proper communications. Tending to […]

I am seeing letters, opinions and discussions going back and forth on the potential impacts of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Water Compact. One of the latest letters implied that although the current agreement may not be acceptable to all and some may be unhappy, but the compact may be acceptable enough. This […]

We must end the Democrats’ war on jobs. What war on jobs, you ask? It’s a subtle war, but one with devastating impacts. It involves millions of pages of needless regulations and red tape on our businesses. It involves not letting Native Americans to develop their resources. The Crow Tribe Chairman Darrin Old Coyote has […]

While I feel Congressman Steve Daines’s introduction of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013 is a great step forward, let’s not frame him as a conservation hero. With his political ambitions, this bill is a no brainer. It would be political suicide if he didn’t. But let’s look at his overall conservation track […]

During a June 2013 interview with the D.C. publication Roll Call, former Gov. Brian Schweitzer made waves when he slammed the nation’s capitol as a place with bad traffic, worse weather and an oversupply of “frauds.” During the same exchange, when asked whether it was accurate to report that he was close to jumping into […]