Why in the world would anyone want to go through all the hassle of having a custom home built? Wouldn’t it be much easier to just go buy a new or older existing home and avoid all the headaches of picking everything out while waiting most of a year to move in? Well, yeah – […]

Of all the nutty ideas floating around these parts of late — procuring an aircraft carrier (Wyoming), pets as wolf bait (Idaho) and Yellowstone bison as bio-terrorists (Montana) — none compare to Utah on the incredulity meter. Seems the Beehive State is abuzz about an effort to put a fresh coat of paint on a […]

Is your business in trouble? Do things seem desperate? Or are you simply in a stagnant funk? What are you doing about it? Are you paralyzed in fear and/or over analyzing everything and as a result, taking action on nothing? Here are a few things to think about that might help give your mindset, energy […]

Voter fatigue will soon take a strangle hold upon the electorate. With busloads of corporate and secret campaign cash being poured into Montana, citizens will simply tune out. Most statewide and national races will poll 46 percent to 46 percent from now until October. And then the 8 percent of undecided voters will choose the […]

The sale of equity in private companies is regulated by the Securities Act of 1933, which requires that the company either register with the SEC or meet one of several exemptions (Reg D). A Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) is a special business plan defined to meet an SEC exemption. In most cases, those entrepreneurs choosing […]

Last month Sen. Jon Tester voted with President Barack Obama and his Big Labor cronies to allow the controversial new “ambush elections” rule from the NLRB to take effect. This rule was widely opposed by small businesses because it would severely shorten the timeframe (as little as seven days) allowed for a union organizing election. […]

If you disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, claiming that corporations are people, be aware of some facts concerning the case. The decision reversed over 100 years of constitutional law based on principles established by this nation’s founders. After all, we fought the Revolutionary War in part to achieve independence from […]

Americans Elect was a novel idea, even as it appears to be a failed one. The group acknowledged last week that it could not agree on a suitable third-party candidate and would suspend its search. Apparently the notion of launching a third party is a lot more appealing in concept than reality, which is a […]

Congressman Denny Rehberg has taken some heat over his support of H.R. 1505, a bill that strengthens America’s ability to protect itself by securing our borders against illegal aliens, drug and human traffickers, and terrorists. Rehberg’s opponents have conjured up a bunch of false attacks that this bill will cut off hunters from public lands, […]

Now that President Barack Obama is out of the closet on gay marriage, I may as well come out, too: I oppose gay marriage or civil unions. Sorry, but that’s the way it is. Oh, my upbringing was plenty “diverse.” My New York family almost all worked in show business, specifically Broadway, and our social […]

One of the more common things you’ll see from a business that’s differentiating themselves using things other than price is their use of a unique selling proposition (USP) and in the strongest cases, a “core story” that backs it up. You’ve probably heard USP described before. Domino’s Pizza’s USP is a well-known example: “Fresh, Hot […]

The presidential election is just four-and-a-half months away and few politicians will risk giving up ground before they know the results. So, until November and beyond, expect a lot of complaints about nothing getting done by the people in Washington, DC who aren’t getting anything done. But there still is what most of us would […]

The Keystone pipeline debacle is symptomatic of a deep systemic problem in the United States. The federal environmental laws and regulations created since the 1960s act as barriers to progress. In the case of the Keystone, progress would look like reduced dependency on our enemies for oil, breathing time for the development of significant domestically […]

As a former small-town journalist, I know that one major role of the news-media – especially in a small community like ours – is to “herald” the outstanding citizens who make this valley the wonderful place that it is. I was disappointed in a recent article that failed to accomplish just that. “Montana Beef, it’s […]

In the sweltering heat of August in San Diego a stocky and brawny Sen. Richard Lugar barreled past me, sweat glistening on his brow and soaking his T-shirt. He was jogging with several young staffers during a break at the 1996 Republican National Convention. Lugar was 64 then, but his boyish face and muscular conditioning […]