Like spring planting, new elections are here. A lot of people are simply fed up with political nonsense. Politicians aren’t often focused on practical or simple policies to better the everyday lives of people.

Gridlock is the politician’s tool to effectively protect those fortunate enough to currently benefit from status quo laws and policies. Ugliness in political campaigns assures that fewer people pay attention and more or better candidates stay off the ballot. Less voter focus on policy benefits select interests.

The U.S. Senate passed an extension of long-term unemployment benefits that helps out-of-work workers for five months. The fate of unemployment benefits is now up to the House.

Given that the bulk of the House’s current budget cuts proposal targets programs that help people of limited means, it’s unknown if it will act any time soon on unemployment. But it is midterm elections and the GOP hungers to control the Senate. Unemployment benefits can become a political vehicle for other policy like tax cuts.

The U.S. House finally allowed the president to sign a five-year Farm Bill. Much of the agricultural weather risk policy is good news for farmers producing crops like wheat, barley, corn, or soy. Even milk producers gained access to subsidized crop insurance.

The Farm Bill is a funding mechanism for the food and farm policy of the United States. Time will tell how the USDA interprets and implements the law. Sen. Debbie Stabenow insisted her bill was reform and “not your father’s Farm Bill.”

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 arrived at 8 a.m. at the VFW Post 2252 in Kalispell as a roomful of veterans and Flathead Democrats talked with Sens. Jon Tester and John Walsh. Tester was named chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and was circling the state with the new junior senator from Montana. Tester previously said that he […]

Daytime temperatures at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, reached 61 degrees. The same day national news warned about a super storm at lower latitudes and 6,000 miles away in Virginia. News said to prepare for a “catastrophic event,” calling it a “beast of a storm.” This month’s local climate rally was bitter cold in […]

June Munski-Feenan was a giant. I was a foot and a half taller than her, but she always told me how it was. I felt short next to her. She was one of the most giving people I knew. June was a real leader. Many of my older friends and neighbors have passed. Somehow I […]

I grew up riding dirt bikes, snowmobiles, and Willys Jeeps. Oil is in my family history. When I was barely a teenager, I pumped gasoline at my dad’s service stations. Later my dad returned to the Merchant Marines. He worked the super tankers that transported crude oil from some of the politically meanest places on […]

It’s a new year. Montanans are hopeful, believing that the state is on the right track. Gov. Steve Bullock had a great first year leading Montana. Bullock proved as good at managing money as former Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Schweitzer maintained eight years of the state’s biggest budget surpluses, while keeping statewide unemployment low during a […]

My uncle will call this week. More likely he’ll Skype as Wi-Fi now allows much better video quality around the world. My Mormon bishop uncle calls on Christmas Eve. I cherish these visits. We’ll talk about his traditional Christmas foods like beet salads, turnip casseroles, hams with mustard, liver casseroles, sweet breads and rice pudding […]

At the end of next week the daytimes get longer. The week after it’s Christmas. In my family, these times of giving, eating and wonderment can be blissfully intense. A decade ago our parents moved to Florida, fleeing the snow and cold. I routinely spend Thanksgiving with family. Unfortunately they retired to a place I […]

Thanksgiving is a nearly 400-year-old harvest tradition. It’s a time to be grateful and share the bounty of the season. It’s a time for the blessings of family, friends and food. Last week one of the biggest national turkey producers announced that there would be a shortage of average-sized and larger fresh birds. Families likely […]

Voters in Columbia Falls, Kalispell and Whitefish chose four newly elected women to help run their cities. In Whitefish, newly elected Pam Barberis helps with local agriculture advocacy. Jen Frandsen grew up on a farm and helps organized the Whitefish Farmers Market. Jenny Lovering was the top vote getter in Columbia Falls and also director […]

Whitefish voters already received their ballots in the mail. They are due back on Nov. 5. Any eligible citizen who did not receive a ballot can vote at the election department at 800 South Main Street in Kalispell. Montanans enjoy same-day voter registration, which assures citizens in Whitefish, Columbia Falls or Kalispell who may have […]

Montana is lucky that cities like Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Kalispell do not suddenly close local parks or defund the health department in ideological fights over another law. State fiscal analysts project that Gov. Steve Bullock is faced with another two-year budget surplus, this time over $500 million. Former Gov. Brian Schweitzer maintained an average […]