Category: Montana Politics
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Senate Race
I keep an eye on the Senate race going on here in Montana. It's a very tight race and is hotly debated in Montana circles. There was a debate in Butte last night between the candidates and I found an article that very accurately describes how it went.<br />n<br />n<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/23/AR2006092301309.html" >Sen. Burns, Tester Debate…
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Minimum Wage
Jon Tester's <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/09/23/opinion/guest/35-tester.txt">spiel about a living wage</a> in today's Gazette bothers me a little.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>All Montanans are encouraged by our state's recent surge of economic expansion. After more than a decade of stagnation, unemployment is down, per capita income is up and regions of Montana are experiencing rapid economic growth.<br />n<br />nBut if…
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Initiative Progress
There are three very controversial Initiatives that qualified for the Montana ballot that have been creating a lot of talk.<br />n<br />nCI-97: The Montana Constitution currently prohibits appropriations by the legislature that exceed anticipated revenue. This measure adds a constitutional spending limit that would prohibit increases in appropriations greater than the combined growth rate of…
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A Day Late
<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/09/01/news/state/25-burns_z.txt" title="Foot In Mouth Yet Again">Burns' fire request comes late</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns urged <a href="http://governor.mt.gov/governor/govbio.asp">Gov. Brian Schweitzer</a> to declare a fire state of emergency Thursday and activate the Montana Army National Guard for firefighting – more than a month after Schweitzer had already done so.<br />n<br />nIn a brief letter faxed…
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Implosion
It sure looks to me like Senator Burns is trying to lose this election.<br />n<br />n<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/22/AR2006082201082.html" title="Free Registration Required">Comments Haunt Another Senator</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>In a moment of unusual candor for a veteran senator fighting for his political life, Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) offered this blunt self-assessment a few months ago: "I can self-destruct in one…
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Surprising
<a href="http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060820/OPINION01/608200305/1014">Candidate participation is abysmal — again</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>Once again, the majority of Montana legislative candidates have ignored the public interest and failed to participate in the survey conducted by the nonpartisan Project Vote Smart.<br />n<br />nAnd for the first time in the past three election cycles, one of Montana's statewide candidates — Democratic Senate…
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Chewing On The Wrong People
<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/07/27/news/local/45-burns.txt">Burns criticizes firefighters, says they didn't heed ranchers</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>Republican Sen. Conrad Burns chastised a group of firefighters over the weekend for doing a "poor job" dousing a 92,000-acre blaze near Billings, a state report shows.<br />n<br />nBurns and the firefighters – members of the Augusta Hot Shots from the George Washington and Jefferson…
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No Response From Jon Tester
I again post my woes about trying to get the Democratic US Senate candidate <a href="http://www.testerforsenate.com/">Jon Tester</a> to answer my questions regarding agricultural issues at the Federal level and his positions on them. The reason I bring this up again is the excellent response the <a href="http://www.lindeen.net/">Monica Lindeen</a> campaign, the Democratic candidate for the US…
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Laugh Line
<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/06/17/news/state/25-burns.txt">Voters trust Burns, politician says</a><br />n<br />nTrust. Burns. Two words that are used in one sentence that make me laugh.<br />n<br />n<strong>I love to laugh-and I do, whenever I find something funny or have a reason to laugh. Paul Getty</strong>
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Questions Unanswered
The love fest for Tester has <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/06/08/news/state/20-tester.txt">started</a> but I am still wondering one thing. <br />n<br />nWHY WON'T HE ANSWER MY QUESTIONS!!!!<br />n<br />nJust over two weeks ago I emailed the Tester and Morrison Campaigns a series of questions regarding agricultural issues that are presently before the congress and asked for their opinion on…