Archive for January, 2007
Well, it must be Wednesday bacause here I am. I’ll keep it short on length today, but hopefully long on content. On the international scene, it looks like the Brittish police have identified the killer in the famed radiation spy killer. Looks like those zaney muslim kids have a new fad going, slashing their own [...]
by Jay Stevens Republican Roger Koopman — who believes the Earth is 4,000 years old — disagrees with the state administration on how to deal with the state budget surplus. Instead of giving a one-time $400 tax rebate to Montana-based homeowners, he wants to institute propety-tax relief to all property owners in the state. Koopman’s [...]
by Jay Stevens So this is some of the stuff I’ve missed this week: House Republicans are against closing loopholes for out-of-state tax cheats. I mean, we knew all along the GOP was the party of the corporations and moneyed elite, but this is pretty extreme, isn’t it? Three bills aimed at getting nonresidents to [...]
by Jay Stevens I meant to do this earlier, but that nasty cold I got during the Patriots game struck me down again, so that I was bed-ridden this morning… Anyhow, Kim will be reading from Chrysalis in Helena and Montana soon. Here are the dates and places: Where: Fact & Fiction, Missoula, MT When: [...]
You want some links? Come and get ‘em. Shane serves ‘em up crusty, just like you like ‘em. Gonzales questions Habeas Corpus. Is it a right? Isn’t it? Stay tuned, they will tell us as soon as they decide. A new international poll by the BBC shows that we aren’t the most popular kids around, [...]
For the half-dozen of you that don’t happen to read Left in the West, the Montana Democratic legislators have started blogging! That’s right! Their site is called Montana Statehouse, and it features posts from the Senate President, Mike Cooney, and the Senate Majority Leader, Carol Williams, among other elected Democratic legislators. I think it’s a [...]
by Jay Stevens Many of you know my football team is the New England Patriots. So I’m a little shocked to have been eliminated by the Colts and Payton Manning. Last night’s game felt like a turning-point — the 2001 World Series, say, when the D-Backs won game 7 off of Mariano Rivera. The good [...]
Enjoy ‘em while they’re hot! I’m on vacation for a couple of weeks. Posting will be spotty. Enjoy the links… Jon Tester posts his daily schedule online! Shame on you, those who doubted! Tester drills those that let oil companies get away without paying royalties for leases on public lands. The Good Guv wants a tax incentive [...]
by Jay Stevens Can you believe this? The man who’s ultimately responsible for all of our Election-Day problems – secretary of state Brad Johnson – has come out against same-day registration: The secretary of state’s office is supporting a measure to do away with same-day voter registration in Montana, arguing it could help prevent a [...]
by Jay Stevens Recently Craig, as is his wont, posed a straw-man rhetorical question designed to make those against the war look stupid: Really, as you know, it’s the only kind I ask, but I thought it worth “throwing out there.” On more than one site, I have read the proposition that if we withdraw [...]
by Jay Stevens So Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez was grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee today, in what is obviously — hopefully — a harbinger of things to come. Crooks & Liars has the video up of Sen. Leahy slamming – and I mean slamming — Gonzalez over the case of Canadian Maher Arar, who, [...]
Todays links are (again) brought to you by Shane Mason (me). To take a bit of the burden off Jay, I volunteered to do the links page for him once a week. This is just another part of my plan to save the world, one blog at a time. Stephen Hawking adds his name to [...]
by Jay Stevens It looks like Mike Jopek’s (D-Whitefish) proposed reform of constituency accounts is meeting resistance – the Billings Gazette suspects it has to do with lobbying efforts: The first attempt this legislative session to shed light on secretive “constituency accounts” got little support Wednesday, as lobbying groups lined up to oppose an ethics [...]
by Jay Stevens I just followed the links from a Piece of Mind post about Iraq, which claims the Democratic party is as invested in the war as the GOP was (to which accusations I responded in the Ts comments), and I came upon this bit of dreck from TPM Cafe blogger, Max Sawicky: The [...]
by Jay Stevens Yesterday the Missoulian commented on Max Baucus’ battle against the Alternative Minimum Tax: The purpose of the AMT, as it’s called for short, was to make sure the middle class wouldn’t have to shoulder part of the wealthy’s tax obligations – to make sure every taxpayer paid his or her fair share. [...]
Montana quarter to debut on January 29. Montana Republican honors MLK with a real zinger. Classy. Montana legislators work to reign in short-term debt. Matt Singer supports the effort. Meet the Democratic future of the state: ten Montana legislators under 35. Colby mulls the blogo-debate of SB 15. Good stuff. Dean admits political opportunities in [...]
by Jay Stevens I recently wrote about abuses occurring at a private behavioral modification program for at-risk teens, and called for stricter regulation of teen programs. There were some very concerned and informative comments to that post, even from my sister who worked at a private teen program in Massachusetts for a few years. First, [...]
Max Baucus moving on Medicare? Gwen Florio profiles the state legislators’ use of computers… Hey! I agree with the Montana Chamber of Commerce! SB 135 – giving unused gift card revenue to the state – is a bad, bad idea, and HB 22 – which prohibits judges from working cases if they’ve received a contribution [...]
by Jay Stevens The AP on Bush and Cheney rhetoric on Congress’ role in the Iraqi escalation: “I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it. But I’ve made my decision. And we’re going forward,” Bush told CBS’”60 Minutes” in an interview to air Sunday night. Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that [...]
by Jay Stevens Colby already blogged about SB 15, which would prohibit picketing at funerals. Colby supports the bill, as do I. And so should you. Yes! Me! Mr. Freedom-is-for-tolerating-those-that-we-disagree-with! There is, of course, an argument to be made that the government should not be in the business of creating “free speech zones” — which [...]
by Jay Stevens Well. That’s it. It’s official. Brian Schweitzer’s coal-to-gas plan is a bad idea. How do I know? Other than a general shirking from the price tag – in the billions, which will likely come out of federal taxpayer money – the dubious claim that we can safely tuck any carbon emission byproduct [...]
by Jay Stevens Shorter George Bush: We’re losing. I’m sending a small number of troops to delay the shame of withdrawal for the next president. Ultimately, if this plan doesn’t work, it’s the fault of the Iraqis, not me. I’m also doubling the budget for my corporate buddies and war profiteers to give them a [...]
by Shane Mason Todays links are brought to you by Shane Mason (me). To take a bit of the burden off Jay, I volunteered to do the links page for him once a week. This ia another part of my plan to save the world, one blog at a time. Since I’ll only be doing [...]
by Jay Stevens According to Steven Clemmons of The Washington Note, Bush’s escalation has already spilled over into Syria and Iran: Washington intelligence, military and foreign policy circles are abuzz today with speculation that the President, yesterday or in recent days, sent a secret Executive Order to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director [...]
by Jay Stevens Great post over at the the TPM Muckraker. It’s on the (known) instances where the Bush administration has shut down, classified, or derailed government reports (link fixed!!) that contradict its policies. There are a lot of items on the list. There are some more in the comments. It’s a telling policy from [...]
by Jay Stevens Here’s an amusing clip from CNN correspondent Dana Bash who was commenting on Max Baucus’ speech against escalation in Iraq: BASH: Another thing that happened just a short while ago. A Democrat from a red state, from the state of Montana, Senator Max Baucus, comes from a state where the president is [...]
The Nation suggests Montana’s local newspapers provided the final edge for Tester’s victory, and mulls what this means for the future of print journalism. The Indy profiles Tester’s new Missoula Bozeman office boss, Tracy Stone-Manning. You’ll never guess what Conrad Burns’ new profession… House votes to boost minimum wage. Rehberg votes “nay.” Baucus, Rehberg work on [...]
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