A small piece of Montana’s history, a letter written 65 years ago, recently resurfaced. The stationary’s letterhead reads: “Congress of the United States, U.S. House of Representatives.” The date is typed as April 10, 1946. The letter is to John J. Holmes and is signed by Mike Mansfield. Holmes was a popular Montana politician, our […]

Seriously? Iran threatens to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, America desperately needs jobs and President Obama turns his back on a pipeline project essential to North American energy production – disavowing his own “energy policies.” It’s worse than merely election-year theatrics – it is dismissive of the very notion of actually standing for something. […]

Recently I received an email from a reader who said my blog made them feel like they had come in during the middle of a movie. Why? Because they’re at the startup stage in their business, while many of my posts focus on existing businesses. Fair enough. Let’s talk about startups. The overwhelming load at […]

When President Barack Obama last week rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline, at least for now, Montana’s U.S. delegation swiftly rebuked him. Their support for the project has been steadfast and they directed a bipartisan chorus of boos at the White House. Then there was Gov. Brian Schweitzer, whose displeasure was aimed at an altogether different […]

As an American, I believe in America. If you pay attention to the reality of what is happening on a worldwide scale, you will see that many of our American young people are being pushed out by foreign entities. As a nation we have failed to see the importance of staying on the cutting edge […]

Contemplating running again for the Montana House of Representatives, I wrote a letter to Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. In this letter I wrote, in part: “I am proud to have signed the Americans for Tax Reform’s pledge several times in the past. But presently I am in a quandary and not […]

Every three years, the residential International Energy Conservation Code changes to varying degrees in an effort to reduce the energy consumption of the heating, cooling, lighting and hot water production of our homes. 2012 is another code change year – 2009 was the last, a code that Montana adopted in 2010. Back in 2007, the […]

Last month, the Montana Supreme Court overturned an earlier victory for free speech rights won in Helena district court by American Tradition Partnership (ATP), Montana Shooting Sports Association, and Champion Painting, Inc. over government bureaucrats’ right to bar individuals and companies from airing political opinions under a non-profit or for-profit corporate umbrella. The ban on […]

In one of the first initiatives Montana voters passed, the 100-year-old Corrupt Practices Act prohibits direct corporate campaign contributions. Montana’s state and local elections are still transparent by mandated disclosure laws. The U.S. Constitution never gave person-rights to corporations. The activist U.S. Supreme Court reopened those floodgates with Citizens United. Justice John Paul Stevens said […]

The U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, section 12(g), generally limits a privately held company to fewer than 500 shareholders. The assumption has been that companies with 500 investors are quasi-public anyway, and for disclosure and other reasons should be forced to go public when the shareholder number approaches this limit. Since the IPO market […]

When your store is out of stock on an item…what does your staff do and say? When I was out of state not long ago, I looked around for a pair of light hikers for everyday wear. I knew exactly what I wanted right down to the model name. I visited a locally owned store, […]

It took until the 11th hour for the Kalispell City Council to extend the life of the West Side Tax Increment Finance District. As someone who now lives in the district, I have to wonder why it took so long. The area is in dire need of a facelift and the redevelopment tool has the […]

The government is a zero sum game. The government cannot create wealth, it can only redistribute it. That means for every person that receives something from the government someone else loses. This may seem well intended sometimes. but it always hurts the ones in the most need. Look at the Indian reservations and the inner […]

I don’t mind saying that we’re in the “Dawg House.” Our family was transferred from Texas to the Flathead Valley last June. Prior to our move, I spent a week here driving the valley wondering where we were going to settle. My husband works on Reserve in Kalispell, leaving north Kalispell and Whitefish our options. […]

On behalf of the Whitefish School District, I offer my deepest gratitude for our city council’s decision on Jan. 2. During that meeting, our council agreed to unanimously support a resolution of intention to fund our high school redevelopment project in the amount of a $2.5 million contribution from tax increment finance funds. Based on […]