Montana’s Constitution assures the Legislature can’t spend more on services or tax breaks than the state collects in revenues. This simple declaration by the people keeps our books balanced. And balanced they have been, making Montana one of just two states in the nation to remain in the black. Nationally, the debt situation is bleak. […]

On Nov. 2, 2010, Montanans overwhelmingly spoke out against the out-of-touch Obama agenda. A rollback of these overreaching policies is necessary and conservatives will use a common sense approach to address endless government growth. For the first time since 2003, Republicans have majorities in both the state House and Senate. As leadership of the 62nd […]

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 […]

The 98-year experiment of having a quasi-governmental, private banking cartel run our nation’s monetary system has been a near complete debacle. Since the Fed was given control of our monetary system through the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, our dollar has lost up to 96 percent of its value. The United States Constitution calls for […]

On Dec. 20, 150 years ago, South Carolina left the union, soon followed by other Southern states, to form a confederacy. They did so in reaction to the election of Abraham Lincoln as president and his views against the expansion of slavery. The North went to war to restore the union. Conflict between the North […]

Jeffrey Gitomer sums up a lot of important stuff when he says “People don’t like to be sold but they love to buy.” Do you make it easy for them to buy? Are the things you sell displayed to make it easy for your customers to buy? After the untimely and tragic death of our […]

So Governor Schweitzer thinks our Legislature boozes it up too much? Well, on the 28th of December, the Legislative Fiscal Division (LFD) released its Legislative Services Division 2013 Biennium Budget Overview. Our state legislators will rely on this document as they fight out Montana’s budget for the next two years – if you had to […]

A recent article in the Beacon had some wolf depredation figures straight out of fantasyland (Dec. 22 Beacon: “Questions as Livestock Losses Skyrocket”). John Steuber, the federal director of Wildlife Services for Montana, claims that between 2006 and 2010 calf losses to wolves went from 51 to 454, while sheep losses rose from 22 to […]

Congress’s repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is just the latest attempt to undermine another institution in our society. Our military is responsible for the defense of our republic, and quite frankly, all of Western civilization and liberty in the world. As such, our military should not be the subject of some absurd social experiment. […]

My wife’s birthday was a weekend or so ago, so as a last bit of her gift (a weekend at Schnaus cabin), our youngest son and I took her to one of our favorite restaurants in the Valley. As we sat down and started to catch up on our youngest’s just-finished first semester at college, […]

Business plans have many forms. When entrepreneurs come to the attention of potential investors, they may be invited to make verbal presentations to a select group of investors. This is commonly accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation. In his book, The Art of the Start, Guy Kawasaki provides sage advice to presenting entrepreneurs: Follow the 10/20/30 […]

If there is any interest group that can traditionally wade through the partisan divide of Montana politics, it’s children. For many legislative sessions the mantra for passing bills in the Legislature is the same: “It’s for the kids.” This simple declaration paved the way for all-day kindergarten and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Both […]

On behalf of the Montana Common Sense Coalition, I applaud Steve Bullock, Montana’s attorney general, for bringing forth meaningful DUI prevention legislation. It is our hope that legislators will follow Bullock’s lead and use the 2011 legislative session as an opportunity to address Montana’s serious DUI problem. 
 One of the data-driven policy solutions being […]

In the last weeks there has been some concerning news in Columbia Falls. One was a possible school expulsion; one, a death of an unemployed logger who died of hypothermia in a parking lot. One of the stories gained national prominence; one was relegated to a small column. As a society of which story truly […]

Although I have seldom agreed with many of the positions taken by Mike Jopek in the past, I am delighted with his recent article (Dec. 15 Beacon: “Nuclear Rights Vested With the People”). In that editorial, he enthusiastically supports the right of the citizens of the state of Montana to exclusively determine whether nuclear waste […]