Monthly Archives: March 2008

My Viewpoint on the Viewpoint

UPDATE 03/22/08: I found this “correction” in the Great Falls Tribune this morning regarding the Viewpoint from Senator Jon Tester. The correction was posted near the bottom of the Editorial/Opinion page (Pg 8A):

Audit under way

The headline earlier this week on a Roundtable opinion by Sen. Jon Tester incorrectly stated that the self-imposed ethics audit on Tester’s office was completed. The audit began about two weeks ago, but Justice John Sheehy doesn’t expect to have results for public release until mid-April.

It’s funny that the Tribune folks did not write their basic “we screwed up” line with this correction, which goes like: “The Tribune regrets all errors and strives to correct mistakes promptly.”

Maybe if the headline writers would actually read the stories, things like this would not happen. That’s probably asking too much.

——————————————

The Great Falls Tribune carried a Viewpoint on the Editorial/Opinion page Tuesday by Senator Jon Tester. Tester’s Viewpoint was called, “Keeping a promise: First ethics audit completed.”

So, the Ethics Audit is already completed? Wow, that was fast!

People may be a little confused after reading the Tester’s viewpoint. First, Tester says the audit was completed, and then he added, “And last week, we made history again — this time by becoming the first Senate office to hold a voluntary ethics audit.”

So it was completed, “…the first senate office to hold a voluntary ethics audit.”

Then he wrote, “My office is currently sending boxes of documents and records from 2007. They include my personal financial disclosure forms, my total daily schedule for 2007, my requested earmarks, my voting record and my office’s travel records.” He added, “Using the Senate Ethics Rules as a guideline, Judge Sheehy will spend several weeks combing over all these records.” He then wrote, “In about a month, we hope to see a written report from Judge Sheehy, explaining what he finds.”

So, it looks like the ethics audit was completed before the boxes of documents arrived and they were reviewed. Confused? Maybe it’s a new type of ethics audit by the Democrats?

I guess if the Tribune misprinted Tester’s Viewpoint, we will soon be seeing a correction. If we do see one in the future, I will update this post with that information in red, because I am a very fair person.

But the fact is that many folks believed Tester’s annual ethics audit promise during the campaign was just a gimmick for votes. Some folks were even gullible enough to vote for him because of this promise.

After more than a year in office, Tester was reminded here and through other sources about this promise. After 15 months in office, Tester announced who he selected for his ethics auditor. Most folks just shook their head and laughed when he announced a fellow Democrat was doing the audit.

After that announcement and with Tuesday’s viewpoint from the senator telling us it was completed before the documents apparently arrived, the beliefs that this whole audit was just a publicity stunt to get votes are even stronger today – just like his comments about his being “against earmarks, period” were a publicity stunt.

The truth as well as the facts are probably out there somewhere. We’ll keep watching.

First time? Hardly.

Max Baucus might be having a problem with his memory. Maybe his advanced age is catching up to him?

An Associated Press story recently mentioned, “Baucus said the job as chairman of the Finance Committee is more demanding than he envisioned. But he said Montana stands to profit now that a Montanan is for the first time chairing the panel.”

Uh, excuse me Senator, but wasn’t a Montanan “chairing the panel” before now?

Someone named Max Seiben Baucus?

Like in 2001-2003?

Twice?

According to the History of the Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate Document (Page 159 of the document/Page 173 in PDF), Baucus was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee from January 3 until January 20, 2001, and from June 6, 2001- 2003. You can also find the same information at Wikipedia, in a section called, “Chairmen of the Finance Committee 1815-Present.”

Maybe this was when Senator Baucus didn’t own a home in Montana, so being a Montanan did not count during 2001-2003 when he was chairman? Maybe.

Rehberg 2008

It’s official. Congressman Denny Rehberg announced his 2008 reelection bid this morning in Billings. He’s running for a fifth term as Montana’s Congressman. His announcement was webcast via dennyrehberg.com.

Some Montanans are probably sad that Rehberg decided not to run against Max Baucus again. I’d like to have seen that contest. Baucus is probably the happiest that Rehberg is running for reelection in the House. One could almost hear the cheers from Max’s seven Senate offices and from his eight campaign offices when Rehberg made his announcement. Max does have some competition. It seems almost every Republican has decided they want a chance to take on Max. I think there are six at last count. Maybe it had something to do with St. Patrick’s Day…and alcohol?

But, back to Rehberg’s announcement: I believe that Rehberg has been very good for Montana. Having a Congressional District that covers a whole state, compared to a few square miles as some Representatives do, Rehberg has worked hard to visit every Montana County each term. Rehberg employs a very professional staff. When I have met them, you can tell they actually care about Montanans and the issues we face. They work extremely hard to cover this vast state, and with less people and resources than our two senators.

Rehberg’s importance to Montana grew significantly when he landed a coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee a few years ago. With the defeat of Conrad Burns in 2006, Rehberg’s the only person from the Montana Congressional delegation with a seat at the appropriations table. He can actually deliver federal dollars to this state, instead of just talking about it, copying press releases or writing a letter to an agency and releasing it to the press. His spot on the Appropriations Committee has made Rehberg, in my opinion, the most valuable member of Montana’s Congressional delegation.

With the takeover of the Senate and House by the Democrats in 2006, we’ve seen record high gas prices and a stock market that has lost over 1000 points. We’ve seen the approval rating of the Democrat-controlled Congress dip to an all-time low. We’ve seen an America that is less safe, but we’ve seen the Democratic majority hold hearings on such important things as baseball players shooting themselves in the butt with performance-enhancing drugs. Finally, if the Democrats are allowed to stay in the majority, you can bet we’ll see huge tax increases. I can’t afford more taxes.

Montana can’t start at the bottom of the seniority ladder in the 435 member House of Representatives. During this campaign, you can bet the Democrats will use their dirty playbook from 2006 to try and defeat Rehberg. Montanans can’t fall for that again.

Rehberg is not a perfect candidate. No candidate is. But he has shown that he will stand his ground for what is good for Montana, even if it means going against his party’s President. Rehberg has also shown that being a hard worker and by surrounding yourself with good people, you can do an outstanding job as Montana’s only member of the U.S. House of Representatives. That is why Jack the Blogger believes he deserves another term.

Obama’s still sinking

Imagine Barack Obama is President and something dangerous happens in the world (Yes, it can be happening at 3:00 a.m.).

I can imagine Obama saying, “Give me a few minutes and I’ll whip up a 40 minute persuasive speech to help with this problem.”

It seems that’s about all Obama can do is give a good speech. Until today.

Obama’s back is against the wall. Welcome to big time politics, Sen. Obama. Presidential candidates are scrutinized more than anyone. People are checking into your past, your friends and associates. And yes, checking into your religion.

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright issue is sinking his ship. He failed today to calm the fears of the electorate. Many folks believe there is more to the story. They really don’t know this young senator. They are starting to have doubts.

I do not believe his “major speech” this morning calmed the fears or answered many questions. According the Associated Press Obama said this about Rev Wright, “I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.”

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is playing it cool. She won’t be throwing Obama a life preserver anytime soon.

All is Quiet…The End is Near!

All is Quiet

We can all breathe just a little easier for the next couple of weeks as the House of Representatives and the Senate are both in recess for the Easter break, or at least that’s what I call it.

The House is calling their March 17-28 break a politically correct, “Spring District Work Period” on their calendar. The Senate calls their March 15-30 break a less politically correct, “State Work Period, Easter.”

The Senate will hold “pro forma sessions” to prevent the President from making any recess appointments. Those rascals!

These Senators and Representatives may even come home for a few days, especially those running for re-election in November! Others will take vacations, I mean taxpayer-funded trips called a “CODEL,” to gather “information” on issues that may come before them in Congress. Life is good!

The End is Near…then the fun starts!

Thursday, March 20 at 5:00 p.m. is the deadline for candidates to file for office in Montana! Then the fun starts! I expect some interesting people to file at the last minute. The Montana Secretary of State’s office has a handy dandy website to check to see who has filed for office. You can access it HERE. June 3rd is the Primary Election.

Unfortunately, I would like to announce that Jack the Blogger will not be a candidate for any public office this year, although running against Max Baucus would have been fun, especially in debates! I apologize to all my friends and supporters for not running, but due to the lack of a war chest, and keeping my perfect record in tact (1-0 in elections for public office), I decided against taking the chance…this time, maybe.

A Special Saturday Commentary: Obama has problems

Barack Obama has some problems. Being a relative unknown person until he entered the race for President, one has to wonder what else we may find out about the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.

One problem is his relationship with indicted fundraiser and developer Tony Rezko.

Another is his earmark requests for his wife’s employer and for a major fundraiser’s employer.

But, his biggest problem at this time is his relationship with his Pastor, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright. We’ve probably all seen some recently released sermons from Rev. Wright that at best can be called a hate-filled speech. If not, Google his name.

Obama now has some dents in his armor. The Rev. Wright issue is more like a gouge all the way through the armor. Obama is wounded.

Obama has been attending the Trinity United Church of Christ for about 20 years. He was married there. His children were baptized there. Rev. Wright also inspired the title of Obama’s book, “The Audacity of Hope.” By the way, Louis Farrakhan was given an award for lifetime achievement at this church.

I hope that Obama’s young children did not hear the hatred spewed from Rev. Wright.

Friday night on MSNBC’s Countdown, host Keith Olbermann did the first interview (at least Olbermann said it was the first interview) with Obama since the videos of Rev. Wright became public. Olbermann threw Obama a lot of softball questions (being a leftie, one would expect nothing less from Olbermann).

But even with the softball questioning, Obama still stuttered and stammered through the interview. He did say that Rev. Wright was like an Uncle to him.

An hour or so later, Obama was on Fox News. He’s made the rounds on the major news outlets trying to stop the bleeding.

Obama also said he was not present when Wright spoke the hateful things. It appears from the videos, Wright has said these things in several services. This may leave Obama wide open if the next thing we see is a video of Wright saying something inflammatory with Obama clapping in the congregation. That would sink the Obama ship. I cannot believe that Obama never heard about these sermons.

Obama denounced the inflammatory remarks from Rev. Wright, but that may be too late. Supposedly, Wright is no longer part of Obama’s campaign, which was a move that was also made too late.

Many folks are now wondering if Barack Obama has the judgment and experience to be President.

Many in the United States have fallen in love with Barack Obama. He’s drawn thousands to his campaign speeches. His prepared speeches are great.

We don’t know what else is hidden in his past that may come forward as his campaign for President goes on. If he wins the Democratic nomination, his supporters will be holding their breath until the election, while battling what will be a host of 527 groups running commercials attacking him for his devotion of 20 years to his spiritual adviser, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Hillary Clinton has to be looking like the safer candidate for President to the Democrats these last few days.

The Earmark Vote

Yesterday, Montana’s junior Senator, Jon Tester, voted NO to place a one year moratorium on earmarks. Just one year. Senior Senator Max Baucus voted NO also.

Tester’s vote against the moratorium on earmarks is quite a different view than he had back in 2006 when he was running for the U.S. Senate, and that is a fact.

We all know that some politicians make promises or statements to get into office, and then they make more just to stay in office. They sometimes promise the world to get votes. After they are elected, they change their tune. Some might say that once they drink the D.C. Kool-Aid or meet with lobbyists or attend free dinners, they change their views on the issues.

Back on March 10, 2008, a story was written about Tester’s audit and some other concerns the Montana GOP had about campaign promises. There were responses from Tester spokesman, Aaron Murphy. The one that stood out to me was the part about earmarks:

After saying in the campaign he didn’t “support earmarks, period,” Tester “boasted” in the Los Angeles Times that he had submitted $1 billion worth of appropriations earmarks.

Murphy replied that Tester never said he was against earmarks, but opposed the lack of transparency and accountability under the previous Senate process.

That reply is not true. Not even partly true. During an October 9, 2006, PBS debate in Bozeman, Tester said, “I don’t support earmarks, period.” A few seconds later, he added, “I’m not for earmarks.”

You can view the video HERE. The comments are between 9:20 and 9:50.

So it appears that what we have here is a classic flip flop. It’s OK to make a “No” vote on the moratorium, although it would be nice to see some independence from our Senators. But, it’s not OK to tell us “Tester never said he was against earmarks…” A better response would have been, “Senator Tester has changed his mind. He now understands just how important earmarks are to Montana.”

But, that would not be “the spin” we’ve come to expect from this particular office holder since he’s been in office.

Protect America Act

The United States House of Representatives is still failing to help protect America. In early February of this year, the United States Senate passed reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) called the Protect America Act. The U.S. House leadership decided to take a 10 day vacation (President’s Day recess), instead of passing the Senate bill and protecting the United States.

This bill would provide intelligence professionals the ability to keep America safer from terrorists. In the Senate, 68 senators voted for it, including Montana’s senior senator, Max Baucus. I applaud him for this vote. Montana’s junior Senator, Jon Tester, voted against the bill.

So now, about a month later, the House has failed to pass the bill. They supposedly asked for 21 additional days to work on it. Those 21 days have come and gone. Now the House Democrats will try to pass a watered-down bill. If the weaker bill even passes the House, it may not make it through the Senate. Nonetheless, the President says he will veto it. It’s dead on arrival, and one has to think that bringing up a different bill is just a political stunt by Pelosi and the House Democratic leaders.

On Speaker Pelosi’s website, I found her statement about Real Security:

“The first responsibility of our government is the security of every American. In this era of unprecedented and unpredictable challenge, we must be prepared for any threat.”

So get on it, Speaker Pelosi. Get on it and help us be “prepared for any threat” before you allow the House take another vacation, this time for Easter.

“How long are you going to be in there?”

Answer: “About two years.”

I’ve been accused of spending too much time in the bathroom, but not nearly as much time as the woman in Kansas who supposedly sat on the toilet for two years at her boyfriend’s home.

This STORY is hard to believe. Two years?

The toilet seat was removed with a pry bar and she was taken to the hospital with the seat attached to her. “Hey lady, you’ve got a toilet seat on your rear!” Ouch!

I suppose the boyfriend has two bathrooms…and no brain.

The Audit

Today, the Billings Gazette editorial board weighed in about U.S. Senator Jon Tester’s campaign promise regarding an ethics audit by a judge. The Gazette called their editorial, “Tester tests ethics policy with audit.”

At least the Gazette, as far as I know, is the first Montana newspaper to give an opinion since the announcement that there would actually be an audit. Maybe the rest of the major state newspapers were all laughing so hard at Tester’s selection for “auditor” that they just haven’t been able to do an editorial yet.

This is just a hunch, but I have to believe if a Republican office holder had named a Republican judge to do their audit, we’d never hear the end of it from the Montana media.

But back to the Gazette Editorial: The Gazette told us that, “Tester sent a load of paperwork to former Montana Supreme Court Justice John Sheehy.”

One can only hope there’s no personal information on any of this paperwork, because we know Tester is all for privacy. I also wonder if the “load of paperwork” was sent at taxpayer expense. I did not see on the list of audit items anything about e-mails from Tester and his staff sent from government computers, which are for official business only.

The Gazette also stated, “We don’t expect that Sheehy will find unethical practices in his review. Presumably, Tester would have corrected any problems before asking the judge to do an audit.”

Most folks will agree with that statement, which is probably the bottom line on this dog and pony show. At least Tester will be able to tell us during his reelection time in a few years that he actually did an ethics audit. He’ll hope Montanans forget it was done by a member of this own party.