Various & Sundry for the Weekend
by jhwygirl
Please consider this an open thread.
I went to City Club Missoula’s luncheon on Wednesday to hear Representative Denny Rehberg whine about how he “hates cutting services on the backs of the poor” but that “now is not the time to raise taxes on oil and coal because they keep the lights on.”
I kinda need to blog about that – but do go read John S. Adams at MTLowdown. He has some video, too.
Supermontanareporter John S. Adams, in fact, hit the Washington Post with that post and video.
On that note – Representative Denny Rehberg blamed the bank collapse (and the fact that his high-end Billings subdivision ranch isn’t selling many lots these days) on the government. He must have missed this, ProPublica: The Magnetar Trade: How One Hedge Fund Helped Keep the Bubble Going.
Am I worried about Senator Jon Tester after Wednesday’s lunch? Absolutely not. Rehberg can’t answer a question and he rambles on in a circle while rarely getting to a point. Which is probably intentional, but it is in sharp contrast to our Carhartt-wearing short-on-fingers organic farming Senator.
Hell – I look forward to a whole bunch of debates. I recall a circuit of them in 2006. They were fun.
The Editor of the Button Valley Bugle says their good-bye to the 62nd Legislature with a piece titled “Good Riddance”.
Have to kind agree – cutting very-much needed services but offering a $2.8 million tax break to one coal mine is pretty sick for priorities.
For an opposing view, here’s the Montana Family Foundation with their opinion on the 62nd Legislature. My favorite quote? “Sorry! Republican’s had big majorities and the votes to do what they wanted. It’s a harsh reality.” Boy. They really hate Planned Parenthood and Governor Schweitzer.
That guy would be about as fun as a cowpie in the middle of a livingroom.
Pogie is winding down on the legislature with a sine die edition of tweets.
He must of missed this one from @jameegreer: Our long statewide nightmare is finally over. #MTLeg
My last (for now) on the session? James Conner of Flathead Memo? I’m waiting on you.
On to just a couple more bits…
The hell you say! The City of Whitefish recently banned strip malls and large-box retail on a stretch of highway 93. Crazy conservatives! Killing jobs!
and…
One of my newest favorite blogs? Hamm On Wry. Make sure to put that on your reading list.
What say you?
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April 30, 2011 at 7:36 am
My three takeaways from the Republican legislature, and make no mistake, complaining that the Gov won’t veto this or that idiotic law, or that some Democrats crossed a line on their supporters, still doesn’t change the fact that this legislature is owned, lock, stock and barrel, by the Republicans.
Republicans advocated forcing women to to watch an ultrasound. Dr Brodsky and the group torturing young Alex, with a bit of the Ludwig Van, my droogies. Head in a vice? Eyelids taped open, viddy that, oh my brothers. And whatever Clockwork Orange/Orwellian tyranny analogies you can dream up.
Republicans passing a bill that allows warrantless searches 24/7 into the homes of dying people. Yeah, that sounds like small government, less intrusive government. Sure.
Republicans keeping homosexuality a crime. Harrison Himes for Sex Commissar! Busting in on people in their bedrooms. More small government, less intrusive government, right?
They may have done some good to bust the environmental lobby, held the line on government spending, and I’d give them kudos, except for their endorsement of tyranny and totalitarian big government.
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle’s non scientific poll, people voting as often as they want, and really not worth much, but of the 1000 or so people voting, well, 85% rated the legislature “poor”. The confidence interval may be large, very large, but 85% is a big number, oh my bruthers.
April 30, 2011 at 8:02 am
here is one of my favorite sites dedicated to poetry and visual art, called wood_s_lot.
April 30, 2011 at 9:57 am
TPM just did a piece on Rehberg and how financially strapped he is:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/23rd_richest_member_of_congress_denny_rehberg_says_hes_struggling_like_everyone_else.php?ref=fpb
May 1, 2011 at 7:12 am
“Am I worried about Senator Jon Tester after Wednesday’s lunch? Absolutely not.”
If I were a Dem I’d be looking for a way to dump Tester.
Have you ever seen him in a debate ?
I have, and Tester is strictly second-string.
May 1, 2011 at 11:01 am
In a debate, Tester will make mincemeat out of Rehberg. Guaranteed.
May 1, 2011 at 11:32 am
What if Rehberg shows up sober?
May 1, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Yeah, like that’s going to happen
May 1, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Did someone say, “open thread”?
Goody.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/147338/Americans-Blame-Wasteful-Government-Spending-Deficit.aspx
May 1, 2011 at 5:55 pm
backatchaswede:
A full 72% of adults approve of increasing federal taxes on households making more than $250,000 starting in 2013, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/22/news/economy/budget_taxes_poll/index.htm
May 1, 2011 at 6:00 pm
as long as the government takes from peter to pay paul, it can rely on the support of paul
the poll you cite is no more admirable than some southern town in the fifties voting to keep jim crow laws
property rights and personal rights are the same, and deserve the same respect
protecting the rights of those making 250k or more is just as important as protecting the rights of those making 25k
May 1, 2011 at 7:11 pm
Paying your fair share is important. I’m a supporter of the Adam Smith idea of a graduated income tax.
May 1, 2011 at 7:18 pm
the wealthiest people in the united states have the best protection money can buy….. our politicians.
the people making 25K have no representation at all anymore, goof.
to claim there is an equivalency here is a form of moral blindness that most republicans suffer from. power and money are no longer in balance in this country anymore.
creeping corporatism is strangling any sort of balance that once existed in this country and both parties are subservient to it’s wishes. the unholy marriage of wealthy corporations and our government has essentially shut out anyone who can not pay to play.
to tell workers who have lost trillions in this recession that they must defend the rich who have gained by their loss is as laughable as the naive belief that we have a system which is amenable to any sort of integrity.
the fact that 72% of the american people feel that there is injustice inherent with our income tax structure should provide endless hours of employment to researchers in the cato and heritage right wing think tanks industry. as a fiction writer i can only admire their relentless creativity to crank out enough bullshit to baffle the american people into aiding the wealthy at the expense of the lower classes yet again.
May 1, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Over sampled dems and women and 18% polled were not registered to vote.
Flawed poll.
May 1, 2011 at 7:33 pm
All polls have sampling errors. Thats why they get weighted.
And the opinions of unregistered voters don’t count? How undemocratic of you…
Maybe we should just poll property owners?
May 1, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Let me consider that for a second.
Yes.
May 1, 2011 at 7:35 pm
votes? since when do votes count swede? in this new corporate government system votes are no more important than this comment.
money decides everything in this country now.
the only power 99% of the people in this country have left is the decision about where we spend what little money the wealthy 1% in this new corporate state has begrudgingly allowed us to keep. our houses are devalued. wages are shrinking with each year just as ceo salaries and bonuses increase. our benefits are shrinking to nonexistence in most private wage earning positions. yet the wealthy demand that we pick up our pitchforks and defend their castles from those meanies who want to take away their tax cuts.
the republican effort to silence the small tattered remnants of unions left in this country has apparently succeeded. there is no more equal representation in this country.
and you question this poll because 72% of those polled sense this inequality?
there is a grave flaw in your own values swede if you can’t see they are right.
May 1, 2011 at 7:43 pm
We are truly experiencing the last gasps of the great Ponzi Scheme known as the Welfare state.
But like a drowning person who is panicking, as it goes down it will reach out to drag others down with it.
May 1, 2011 at 7:50 pm
yes, let’s end corporate welfare immediately.
May 1, 2011 at 8:02 pm
I thought capitalism failed and had to be bailed out by us little people.
how soon they forget, Ingemar, how soon.
May 1, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Tax the hell out of corporations and let’s see who suffers.
May 1, 2011 at 8:48 pm
give corporations tax loopholes, lax regulation, lavish subsidies, and easily purchased public officials, and we have seen who suffers.
May 1, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Pete, I was at a couple of debates between Conrad Burns and Jon Tester, and Burns mopped up the canvas with him.
It was like Tester either wasn’t listening to what Burns was saying, or he was so busy thinking about what he was going to say next that he wasn’t comprehending.
Please stick with him -
May 1, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Let roll tape, Eric.