The budget process used by our state and legislators is flawed. The state relies on cost-plus base line budgeting rather than needs-based priority budgeting with performance measurements. Government budgets get inflation adjusted increases whether needed or not and they grow forever. Montana is no different than Washington, D.C. Legislators fight over insignificant cuts to a […]

My family has been in the Flathead Basin for six generations. I grew up on the lake in Dayton. After seven years of graduate training and a 25-year career in environmental health sciences with the Michigan Department of Public Health, I returned to the Flathead at the earliest opportunity for retirement (1997). My love for […]

A few weeks ago, we talked about the importance of strategic delegation and how it might just enable you to enjoy a phone call free vacation, much less free up some strategic thinking time. When I was in the photography software business, I quickly learned that photographers absolutely detest being pulled out of the camera […]

Politics today is more about ideology than hometown representation. A legislator blindly following party bosses and not listening to constituents is wrongheaded and indicates that the middle is losing ground. The budget debates in the Montana Legislature and the U.S. Congress have been transformed into social engineering classrooms. In Helena and Washington D.C., the new […]

This time of the year brings with it an abundance of fabulous ingredients. Some of which only make a brief appearance then bow their heads to the summer heat only to reemerge next year. Here in the northwest we are lucky to have three of my favorites, morel mushrooms, fiddlehead ferns and ramps. Most of […]

Last week, the potential for the first federal government shutdown since 1995 gripped Washington, D.C. – and about nobody else. Yes, it would have mattered if a stalemate between Republicans and Democrats had dragged on, but the consequences of that happening were far too high for either party to stomach. The disagreement, of course, stemmed […]

Until about 1990, the development of timber and mineral resources on federal lands had sustained the economy of Libby and the surrounding areas for over 100 years. Mineral royalties and timber sale receipts paid resource management costs and helped support school districts and county road developments. Then suddenly, we began to hear about environmental concerns. […]

I was extremely disappointed to see Congressman Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., sponsor legislation to block enforcement of the Clean Air Act, a law that has helped keep our state clean and healthy. He voted to give polluters the green light to continue pouring pollutants, including greenhouse gases, into the air we all share. Just as massive […]

The person who defines the question we ask defines the answer we get. In the Legislature the question is, what services must we cut? But the real problem is that more and more money is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. And those individuals are contributing less and less to the cost of public […]

Wall Street Journal senior economist Stephen Moore recently wrote a column about “takers and makers”, revealing that ”More Americans work for the government than work in construction, farming, fishing, forestry, manufacturing, mining and utilities combined.” Twice as many people (22.5 million) work in government than in manufacturing (11.5 milion). Upon hearing this, many will launch into […]

The discourse on the firemen issue sank to an all-new low last week with the “press conference” held in the city fire hall. When personal attacks on a fellow city employee (the city manager) become the basis for pleas for job retention, the ability for the public and public officials to separate the facts from […]

Since I last wrote about the wolf soap opera and U.S. District of Montana Judge Donald W. Molloy’s pending ruling – which is STILL pending – circumstances in the high-stakes Endangered Species Act (ESA) political mix have gotten even nuttier. In early March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) withdrew its appeals-court challenge to […]

First of all, so I don’t offend anyone who works there, I’m a fan of RadioShack. It’s where I bought the scanner that crackles next to my desk, and I still wander around the shop from time to time pretending I’m smarter than I am. But the company’s opposition to its Hamilton store’s free gun […]

In a recent “letters” column, reader John Fuller suggested that “… maybe we had better sit down and discuss … the proper role of the federal government in the policing of the states …” I can answer the implied question without sitting down: “None.” Having read the U.S. Constitution carefully several times, I can assure […]

The days following the 2009 Legislature, editorials noted the failure to reform homeowner property taxes. The observations were spot-on, judging by the homeowner outcry. But anyone paying attention could see it coming. Property taxes are directly tied to the free market growth of a locality. And the Flathead’s market was hopping for much of the […]