Tag Archives: Jon Tester

First Special Service Force: Time to Honor Them

It’s nice to see Congress once again working toward honoring the First Special Service Force. The First Special Service Force was a joint World War II American-Canadian unit that fought during World War II. They trained at Fort Harrison near Helena, Montana.

In the short time this unit was active they kicked butt around the world.

Interstate 15 in Montana and Alberta Highway 4 from Helena to Lethbridge, Alberta Canada, was named the “First Special Service Force Memorial Highway” back in September 1999. There are signs along the route.

Congress is working toward legislation that would grant the Congressional Gold Medal for the unit. The U.S. House passed the bill (H.R. 324) yesterday by a 415-0 vote, which included Montana’s Representative, Steve Daines.

Getting 415 votes in the U.S. House on any bill is pretty historical these days. Continue reading →

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Caught My Eye…

It’s Friday and that means it is time to end your week with another exciting edition of “Caught My Eye!”

This is the 145th edition of the almost award-winning column!

“Caught My Eye” is my weekly column where I take a quick look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week. Often I throw in some sarcasm and poke fun at people just to make you smile.

Today I write about Medicare Provider Charge Data, Closing Overseas Bases, Pro-Fracking, The National Policy Institute, Hitting Your Target, Manti Te’o, Jack Bauer, Bono, Mayor Bloomberg’s favorite state, birthdays, and much more!

Continue reading →

Marketplace Fairness Act = Tax Increase

Many readers may remember an e-mail floating around the web several years ago about a bill, called 602P, which would allow the Federal Government to collect a five cent surcharge on every e-mail received. According to the information contained in the e-mail, the Feds would charge your internet service provider who in turn would charge your account five cents for the e-mail. The money would be used to help the Postal Service. That e-mail was false and there was no bill called 602P, but it did generate a lot of anger from the wild and untamed World Wide Web users.

Fast forward to 2013 and there’s a bill in the United States Senate called the “Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013” (S. 743) which, according to a website supporting it, “grants states the authority to compel online and catalog retailers (“remote sellers”), no matter where they are located, to collect sales tax at the time of a transaction.”

Unlike 602P, S. 743 is an actual bill.  Maybe they should call it the “Tax Increase and Burden on Small Business Act?”

Continue reading →

Caught My Eye…

Here we go – it’s Friday and time for another (almost) award-winning edition of “Caught My Eye!”

So you may be asking, “What is ‘Caught My Eye?’” Well, it’s the weekly column where I take a quick look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week. Often I throw in some sarcasm and poke fun at people just to make you smile.

Today I write about MT Senate 2014, Responsible Republicans, Political Practices, Road Kill Bill, Internet Taxes, Obamacare Exemption, Twinkies, Birthdays, and much more! Continue reading →

Background Checks

It’s not looking good this morning for the legislation to expand background checks for gun sales. The United States Senate is planning to vote this afternoon on the legislation. Several reports say the votes aren’t there for passage.

That is a damn shame. If it does fail, the failure will be the fault of Republicans in the U.S. Senate.

An April 4, 2013, Quinnipiac University poll found that voters “support universal gun background checks 91 – 8 percent, including 88 – 11 percent among voters in households with guns.”

It seems as though a vote for universal gun background checks would be a pretty safe vote politically.   Continue reading →

We have met the enemy…

Friday was not a good day for Montana Republicans.

If you heard a sound coming from the legislature on Friday it was not a belch from legislators who had eaten and drank too much lobbyist steak and alcohol the night before. No, that sound was the Montana Republicans in the legislature imploding. This implosion will leave a mark all the way through the 2014 election.

First, the Great Falls Tribune published an article on Friday that should make Republicans in all corners of the state shake their heads. A new website was launched “Llew Jones for Montana” and it was not started or owned by state Senator Llew Jones. Jones is a somewhat moderate Republican.

The Tribune found out that “Jake Eaton, a GOP political consultant with the group 47° North Communications, registered the domain and created the website.” Eaton, a Republican, bought the domain “to defeat Jones in a 2014 primary.”

Great googly moogly! What the…

Continue reading →

Caught My Eye…

Congrats on making it through another week and to another edition of “Caught My Eye!”

So what is “Caught My Eye?” It’s the column where I take a quick look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week. Often I throw in some sarcasm and poke fun at people just to make you smile.

Today should not disappoint in the poking fun and sarcasm categories! I write about Rep. Hagstrom, Being deviate, Being friends, Ream-ed, applause for Judge Ed McLean, Cloture, Daines on guns, Meghan versus Ann, 30 miles of Noodles, David Cassidy, and much more! Continue reading →

MT State Senate: Support HB 579

The Montana State Senate’s Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs committee finally held a hearing on House Bill 579 (HB 579) yesterday.

In case you don’t have all the bills in the Montana Legislature memorized by now, House Bill 579 is (take a breath):

An Act establishing a military strategic and economic impact task force concerning retention and development of military installations and force structures to provide economic development opportunities in Montana; allocating the task force to the department of commerce for administrative purposes; providing for task force membership, expense reimbursement, and duties; providing appropriations; and providing an effective date.

The Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs committee should pass the bill out of their committee quickly, and HB 579 should be brought to the floor of the Montana State Senate and receive the Senate’s full support. It passed out of the Montana House with an impressive 74-25 vote. I’ll have more on that vote later in this commentary.

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MT Flying Missions: Three things…

Happy April Fools’ Day! Although I wish the following column was a joke, it’s not.

The Montana Congressional delegation (U.S. Senators Max Baucus, Jon Tester, and U.S. Representative Steve Daines) along with Governor Steve Bullock signed a letter that was sent last week to the Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley regarding flying missions at the Montana Air National Guard (MANG).

The Western Word was provided a copy of the letter from a source who follows defense and military issues closely in Montana and across the country. I like to share, so you can read it by clicking on this link:  MT Delegation Letter.

In their letter, the Congressional delegation and the Governor mentioned three things that concern them:

First, they would like C-130J aircraft assigned to MANG before the F-15s are transferred. C-130s are transport or cargo planes and F-15s are fighter jets. They would also like the C-130Js assigned to MANG instead of C-130H1 aircraft because they are newer. Second, they are concerned about the projected loss of personnel (approximately 90 slots) with the C-130 mission replacing the F-15 mission. Third, they are concerned there will not be adequate storage “to house and properly maintain these aircraft” so they would like some funding reprogrammed to build storage facilities for the cargo planes.  Continue reading →

Caught My Eye…

It’s Friday and time to celebrate! For those readers on spring break, it’s time to really celebrate!

It’s also Good Friday!

If this is your first time visiting The Western Word, the “Caught My Eye” column is where I take a quick look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week – and I often throw in some sarcasm just to make you smile. So get ready to head into your weekend armed with knowledge and a smile.

Today I write about the Bullock veto, Drone paranoia, Idaho’s Larry Craig, Iowa’s Steve King, the Obituary, Most/Least Religious places, Local TV News, the Broken Cheeseburger, Eyeballs, and much more!

Continue reading →