Tag Archives: Harry Reid

Super Max – Super Committee

Who’s the cat that won’t cop out…when there’s danger all about?  MAX!  Right On!

OK, maybe the theme song from Shaft goes a little too far in describing Montana’s Max Baucus and his career in the United States Senate – way too far – Baucus is really not cool at all.

Nonetheless, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has picked Montana’s Max and two other senate democrats (Patty Murray, John Kerry) for spots on the new Super Committee.  They will join nine others in cutting $1.5 trillion from the federal budget before Thanksgiving.  The Super Committee needs seven votes to pass anything – Max Baucus could easily be that seventh vote.

Baucus was “working” at a market in Billings on Tuesday when word came that he was Harry Reid’s man.  Baucus took time out from stacking the grocery shelves with yogurt to issue a statement saying, “I’m humbled to be appointed to the committee to help tackle this critical issue for Montana and the American people.” Continue reading →

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One Good Thing

The one and only thing that was good about yesterday’s vote in the U.S. House on the debt limit was that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., made a surprise showing in the House chamber to cast her vote.  Giffords had been absent from the House since January after being shot in the head.  Thank God she is well enough to return to the House.

That was the one good thing.

The bill, the final product, those in leadership working on the bill, and most of the elected folks in the House, the Senate, and the White House have all terribly disappointed most of the citizens in this country the last few weeks.  That disappointment reached the zenith yesterday evening and will continue today with the senate vote.  Continue reading →

Caught My Eye…

Happy First of July and welcome to the snap, crackle, and pop edition of Caught My Eye!

By the way, I can always tell it’s getting close to July as my favorite baseball team, the Kansas City Royals, have moved into their normal spot (last place) in the American League Central.

If you are a first-time visitor, Caught my Eye is my weekly column devoted to the stories that I did not have time to write about during the week – and sometimes I use just a little sarcasm when writing about the stories!

This week I take a look at a wedding, Skype, the Pope, squirting, the big family in Helena, sex offenders, no recess, a couple departures, plus Jack’s Political Inbox – and there is a lot more!   Continue reading →

Caught My Eye…

Congratulations on making it through another week!  For your reward, I’ve written another edition of Caught My Eye – just for you!

Caught My Eye is my weekly column where I take a quick look at some of the stories I did not have time to comment about during the week – and sometimes I add a little sarcasm to try to make you smile.

This week I write about Romney, unemployment, donuts, losing a fortune, dog poop, dancing, a convention, my political inbox and lots more!  PLUS there’s a Music Video dedication!

So grab a drink, sit back, relax and enjoy this week’s column (it’s Friday and nothing much gets done anyway, right?). Continue reading →

Caught My Eye…

Congratulations on making it to another wonderful Friday! Thanks for stopping by!

I wanted to call this the “Judgment Day” issue of Caught My Eye (CME), but I don’t think the Rapture is coming on Saturday, just as I don’t believe it will rain enough today to cause me to build an ark. In case you are wondering what this is all about, please take a moment to read one of my most-read columns “May 21, 2011 – Are you ready?” It can be read by clicking HERE.

CME is published on Friday mornings and it is where I take a look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week – and I sometimes add a little sarcasm in my commentary.

This week I take a look at eating, flying, marriage, Lance Armstrong, my political inbox and lots more! Since it is raining today (in many places) grab a cup of something warm, sit back, relax and enjoy this week’s edition of Caught My Eye… Continue reading →

Gonna Need More Tractor

In case you missed the May 1, 2011, edition of Newsweek, Montana’s junior senator, Jon Tester, was featured. You can check it out HERE.

In a story titled, “The Democrats’ Last, Best Hope” Newsweek reporter Andrew Romano writes,

“Sen. Jon Tester hunts, farms, has seven fingers, and could well determine his party’s fate in 2012. So why are they calling him a sellout?”

Personally, I think that’s what Tester wants. He wants to carve out a spot in the middle for the 2012 election and quietly convince his far lefties, “Pssst…I’ll have your back as soon as this election is over.”

The big question is can Tester sell this to his base supporters? Or will they start thinking he’s just another junior milquetoast version of Max Baucus (Montana’s senior senator who has been in Washington since cows were allowed to graze on the White House lawn, almost) and somehow he convinces Montanans (especially those in the middle) to send him back election after election. Continue reading →

Cowboy Poetry Festival: Giddy-up

With the news that Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, is worried that without federal funding the National Cowboy Poetry Festival, which is held in his home state of Nevada, would suffer, I think I have the answer:

Move it to Montana.

There’s a nice Cowboy Poetry Festival held annually in Lewistown. They’ve been doing it for 26 years, so they know how to run one – and probably without federal dollars. Here’s their website.

I am sure there are other festivals across Big Sky Country that would be able to host an event without federal funding.

Hopefully the Montana Congressional delegation will get right on this and tell Harry Reid that Montana can do it better.

Besides, isn’t Montana where the real cowboys live? Giddy–up…

Caught My Eye…

Hey – you’ve made it through another week and we made it through January! Congratulations! February will be much better and it’s one of my favorite months because it was the month in which I was born.

In this week’s “Caught My Eye” I take a look at an idiot, the Montana Legislature, I salute a former President, I check some of the e-mail from my political inbox, and I make my Super Bowl prediction! There’s more, so read on… Continue reading →

Politics: Winners and Losers

With the defeat of the massive Omnibus bill (is it really dead or was it all just a dream?), many Americans breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, Congress has not adjourned for the year so we really don’t know what is going to happen, but there still are winners and losers.

Here in Montana, we witnessed the back and forth between Congressman Denny Rehberg (R) and Senator Jon Tester (D) about Tester being allowed to insert his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act language into the bill.

We also witnessed some of the Montana media trying to decipher the back and forth and understand how a bill becomes a law. Some, in my humble opinion, seemed to side with Tester in their blogs – like a love affair…

We soon found out it was not the same language from the original bill, but “very similar to the version he introduced a year and a half ago” according to Tester’s website.

That was one of several problems Tester had with the bill. Other issues were that his original bill never received a vote – not in committee or on the Senate floor. It never made it to the House for debate – and that made his “very similar” bill seem even that much more wrong.

It looks like the first-term senator bit off more than even he could chew with his forest/wilderness bill, but we won’t know for sure until the House and Senate adjourns for this Congress.

If it were easy, Senator Max Baucus would have done it years ago. Forests, wilderness, logging, and recreation are some of the most contentious issues in the West.

Rehberg hammered away at Tester’s “backroom” deal and held an emergency tele-town hall meeting where 5,500 Montanans called in to ask questions and hear from Rehberg. It’s pretty impressive when you can get 5,500 Montanans to do anything, but Rehberg did.

It was great political theater and Rehberg, with less staff and resources than Tester, won this one. Tester lost credibility and harmed his re-election bid. Some folks hope the back and forth between Rehberg and Tester will be decided in November 2012.

The (supposedly) final blow to the Omnibus bill did not happen because of Tester’s forest/wilderness bill or Rehberg hammering him. It was about nine GOP senators who thought twice about voting for the bill that would have given the Senate Democrats a victory. The spending was freakishly massive. The earmarks (from both sides) were a rallying point although they were just a small percentage of the overall bill. These GOP senators bailed on Majority Leader Harry Reid and he had to pull the Omnibus bill from consideration.

The American people are winners. Some money was saved. But we are also losers because Congress is still broken.

Omnibus!!

The Democrats are making it pretty easy for voters in 2012. If they pass a 1,924 page, $1.1 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill this week, the 2010 elections will pale in comparison to what will happen in 2012. If President Obama signs the bill, he’s probably toast politically, too.

A new Gallup Poll shows that the Democrats have not changed the perception of Congress. First, let’s congratulate the Democrats for they have set a new record! According the Gallup, 83% of the American people disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job. Just 13% approve. A new low! The previous low was set in July 2008. The Democrats were running things in Congress then, too.

Tester’s Tricks

If the Omnibus Bill does pass as it is currently written, then Montana Senator Jon Tester will be destined for defeat in 2012. Readers may remember Tester taking time away from Montanans and campaigning for Harry Reid. That little piece of “volunteer” work gave him some benefits – like being able to sneak his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (revised edition) into this massive bill.

In a sneaky underhanded act that sets the Schoolhouse Rock lesson on “How a Bill Becomes a Law” back several decades, Tester’s new revised bill did not even get a vote in any Senate or House committee and it received no time for a debate on the Senate or House floors.

Montanans just found out about the revised bill on Tuesday. Many say if Tester’s bill can’t pass as a stand-alone bill, then he should go back to the drawing board.

Tester’s move is the kind of sleazy backroom deals that voters hate and leads Congress to only have a 13% approval rating. It also leads to one-term Senators.

In 2006, Tester campaigned on transparency and said if he was elected he would make Washington look a little more like Montana. Sneaking in his revised bill that had no hearings, no votes in committees, no debates on the senate or house floors into a massive Omnibus Bill breaks several campaign promises.

And, it’s not the Montana way of doing things. It’s time for Jon Tester to man-up and withdraw the revised bill immediately from consideration.