"Whatsoever goeth upon its belly..."

by: Jay Stevens

Thu Apr 09, 2009 at 08:47:39 AM MST

The first bit of news comes via Pete Talbot and Planned Parenthood of Montana:

On Thursday, the Senate may hear an amendment from Dan McGee (R-Laurel) to strip state funding for Montana's family planning clinics from the state's budget.
1. This represents a 20% cut to family planning clinics statewide
2. 70% of Montana's family planning clients were at or below 150% of poverty.
3. Every $1 spent on family planning saves $4 down the road in public funding.

Dan McGee is Mr. Abortion in the 2009 legislature. He championed a constitutional amendment that would strip privacy protection for Montana's women so as to better monitor their pregnancies, and more recently threatened a civil war over abortion. And now this, an attack on the reproductive health of Montana's women. Obviously it's his little budetary salvo on Planned Parenthood's Fort Sumnter, but if there's a better way to spur more abortions, I can't think of one.

What does this dude have against women, anyway?

The other news comes from the Flathead Democratic party's website. Senator Greg Barkus of Kalispell slipped in a $600k appropriation to fund Swank Enterprises cleanup of the Kalispell Post and Timber Co. yard, which they recently purchased. (So much for free market principles, eh?) Besides being odious for obvious reasons, the Flathead Democrats point out that Dean Swank and his family have generously donated more than $25k to Montana Republicans over the years, and that Barkus, himself, is a recipient of Swank's largesse.

A $600,000 return on a $25,000 investment is a pretty good return, eh?

Wait! It gets worse! Barkus is, of course, one of the proponents of gutting the CHIP expansion that voters -- and Flathead voters -- overwhelmingly supported this November. Apparently -- if this amendment is indicative of GOP strategy -- they're gutting CHIP expansion so as to be able to raid the funds that were originally set aside for the expanded CHIP enrollment! And giving it to friends!

Classy.

What's doin' in the legislature...

by: Jay Stevens

Wed Mar 18, 2009 at 09:05:22 AM MST

Jhwygirl has some excellent posts up. Earlier she posted the schedule for the first half of this week -- just to give you a taste of what contentious things were batted around in the legislative chambers.

Krazy Kerns' gun bill -- HB 228 -- had its hearing, and jhwygirl noted that opposition is increasing. And it's gaining wider attention, too. Gouras' AP report landed in the Seattle Times. I still don't get it: do Montanans think that needing to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon is a bad idea? And as jhwygirl noted, Larry Jent's SB 92 establishes a castle doctrine for Montanans that's reasonable. Why the love for Kerns' bill?

And the Horse Butcher bill sailed through its Senate committee yesterday. Now I'm not deaf to the need for a place to send horses to slaughter -- I'm not even against using the plant to slaughter wild horses -- but as jhwygirl points out, "this is one bill that has been cited as a violation of Montana's guaranteed right to a clean and healthful environment."

Another way of looking at this bill, is that it gives preferential legal and regulatory treatment to one particular industry. Why? Why not hold the horse slaughter industry to the same health and safety benchmarks as any other?

Mike Dennison's got a report on SB 499, which would lower the coal-severance tax for "green" projects. Its sponsor, Jeff Essman, argues that lowering the tax means more coal production and revenue. Opponents call it another boondoggle for the coal industry:

That same promise was made 22 years ago when the coal industry successfully lobbied to cut Montana's 30 percent coal-severance tax to 15 percent, they said - and it did not lead to more coal production.

"Except for a temporary increase to get the bill passed, there was no increase in production; if anything, it has gone down," said Verner Bertelsen of Helena, a former legislator and co-chairman of Montanans for the Coal Trust. "We doubt that reducing the tax will stimulate coal development in Montana. There are many more significant factors in siting a coal mine."

I'm leaning towards the boon-doggle side. That, and coal's a dying industry. Let it die, and let's think of better, more sustainable long-term use of our public lands...

And in Missoula, there's some buzz that it's not receiving its fair share of the stimulus money. And what money it is getting isn't going to mass transit or city infrastructure projects.

Can anyone explain Greg Barkus' rant on the Rotunda Report against government spending during a recession? It sounds like a theory patched together from shaky theoretical texts and right-wing blogs. We're in a Keynesian world right now; does Barkus not know that? In any case, it's kind of chilling to think that this man has any power over the state economy.

To panic, or not to panic...

by: Jay Stevens

Fri Mar 13, 2009 at 18:25:02 PM MST

"But panic ruled the day," Rehberg told the state lawmakers. "The idea that it was the bailout or nothing is a false choice that politicians invented to justify their votes to irate constituents back home."

Kalispell state senator, Greg Barkus, writing on the  Rotunda Report on why we need to toss aside environmental regulations for stimulus-funded projects:

The purpose of this bill is to make sure that we convert these federal stimulus funds directly into projects, and therefore jobs, as soon as possible.  I believe it's important that we don't delay these projects with paperwork and red tape.

There's no question that this is the worst I've seen our economy in my lifetime.  We've lost a couple of thousand jobs in the Flathead Valley in the past couple of months.  We need to get these funds moving and Montanans working as soon as possible.

Hm...looks like they forgot to coordinate their notes...

...because Jake Eaton's voter challenge was such a good idea!

by: Jay Stevens

Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 10:52:26 AM MST

State Sen. Greg Barkus, R-Kalispell, has filed formal challenges over 10 people registered to vote in recent years under the address of Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish.

While it may appear unusual, Jopek maintains it isn't unusual for a small organic farm that relies on volunteer labor by mostly young people who have lived at his farm and registered to vote using the farm's address at different times over the last few years.

Curiously, Jopek's Republican challenger, John Fuller, also has four non-family members registered at his home address, yet no challenge was levied at those folks.

Here's what Justice Molloy had to say about this kind of voter challenge:

A self-described guardian of the integrity of a political system designed to guarantee the right of the people to govern themselves, Eaton targeted counties with young and likely Democratic voters, who might have changed their mailing addresses without changing their voter registration information. The challenge theory must be that such voters might compromise the democratic process by going off to college or serving in the military overseas, and forwarding their mail to their new location or to a family member - both examples of
voters Eaton challenged.

In his zeal to protect what he sees as Montana's fragile democracy from these transient hordes, Eaton ignored the very law that answers his challenges. How can one so concerned with the integrity of the State's democratic process be adept at invoking the law to keep people from voting, without realizing that the same law renders his claim meritless if not frivolous?

This is so obviously a partisan ploy -- heck, it even crosses the line into a personal attack -- that the challenge should be met with the same contempt with which it was written and promptly be thrown in the trash.

Oh, and if you wanted to throw some money at Mike Jopek to express your disdain, I bet he wouldn't mind.

New Republican Leader Vows to Break Promises, Admits Minority Status

by: Matt Singer

Mon Nov 27, 2006 at 17:26:15 PM MST

My gut says that the far right's take over of the House Republican caucus is a good sign. Sales won't be able to keep his caucus unified. He's too crazy.

Senator Mike Cooney is set to be President and Representative John Parker is set to be Speaker. Senator Corey Stapleton will be minority leader.

Update -- Just heard most of the rest of the leadership teams. In addition to Speaker Parker, Dems will be led by Speaker Pro Tem Bergren, Majority Leader Art Noonan, Majority Whips Dave McAlpin and Margie Campbell, and Caucus Chair Dan Villa. In the Senate, in addition to President Mike Cooney, we have President Pro Tem Dan Harrington, Majority Leader Carol Williams, and Majority Whips Lynda Moss and Lane Larson. In the Senate GOP caucus, Dan McGee and Greg Barkus will be Minority Whips.