Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Up first on The Western Word (TWW) is the story about the long-awaited housing money for Malmstrom AFB.
The Great Falls Tribune is reporting today that “Malmstrom lands funds for housing” and will finally get their $140 million for housing.
Big thanks should go to Congressman Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., who along with former Senator Conrad Burns, R-Mont., guided the appropriations funding for Fiscal Year 2007 until it was stopped by the democratic takeover in Congress.
Of course, Senator Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Senator Jon Tester, D-Mont., were able to get some media attention out of this. TWW finds it hard to believe they actually care.
Additionally, it appears that due to the democrat majority take-over in congress and the delay of the appropriations bills getting votes, this will cost Malmstrom AFB a few houses due to the costs rising for building the units. That’s too bad along with all the other projects that lost money.
TWW believes Rehberg deserves all the credit here for getting the funding restored.
Up second today is the continuing story I am calling, “Where’s my Senator?”
I checked Senator Jon Tester’s schedule again today (Saturday, March 17) and his latest schedule only shows March 14.
I’ll bet he’s drinking some red beer in Butte USA today. Maybe he’s drinking green beer since it is St. Patrick’s Day. By the way, Jack the Blogger likes beer, too (red, green, dark, light).
If you’re wondering where Senator Tester has been in the past, you can go to this WEBSITE and see, since he does not archive his schedule on the senate website.
Hat tip to Andrew on this.
Has this campaign promise already been broken like the seat on the appropriations committee promise? We’ll give him a pass on this one for a few more days.
Jack the Blogger was raised by my union member father and he always told me to keep my word and actually do what I say I would do. Good advice.
The third STORY on the blog deals with veterans.
A pat on the back goes to Congressman Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., for taking time out of his schedule to tour Fort Harrison Veterans Hospital. I guess my next question is when will Max schedule a tour?
The fourth story on today’s TWW deals with music!
As many readers and friends know, TWW is a big REO Speedwagon fan and has been for years. REO has a new CD coming out on April 3. You can pre-order the CD at Walmart.com and Walmart claims it will be delivered by April 3. Best of all, it’s affordable!
And finally, my final story today is about the NCAA basketball tournament.
Jack the Blogger went 25-7 in the first round. We’ll see how the second round goes. Most of the games have not been that good.
The Western Word 
Shane,Yes, TWW has noticed that you have nailed Rehberg. That’s good. Tester is more transparent then Rehberg and Baucus and many others.On 3/20/07 I said this:“Tester started a trend with his campaign promise and he’s received plenty of attention for it. Rehberg’s spokesperson, on the other hand, seemed to fumble the ball when asked about it and there are some who are holding him accountable. That is good.TWW predicts Rehberg and Baucus will post their schedules when they next update their official websites, which should not be too much longer since we are starting a new congress.”
Quick question. While I appreciate you trying to keep up Tester’s schedule, to keep him on the straight and narrow, I have to ask why you don’t care that Dennis Rehberg said that anyone could get his schedule, yet no one seems to be able to?I have called on three separate occasions and have gotten NOTHING. Not even a callback. That is transparency? < HREF="http://www.intelligentdiscontent.com/what-is-dennis-doing.html" REL="nofollow">Intelligent Discontent<> have covered is closely. Do you only demand transparency from Democratic senators? Tester has delivered transparency and Rehberg has delivered nothing.
For a complete archive of Tester’s schedule go to Congresspedia http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jon_Tester/ScheduleThey are also archiving Gillibrand, Doolittle, and Nelson.
I agree. You may be interested in this study:http://montanalibertyproject.blogspot.com/2007/03/political-mediocracy-and-salary.htmlIt expains why politics stink up the place.
MTLiberty: I think the state should stay out of the NWE issue. Many of the clowns in the circus down there think they are a God or something that we all should worship and trust. Most have no experience with energy issues and they also spend time introducing bills that they have no need to or the power to do. The Government needs to make it easier for business, not own the business.
Anon: Yes, I have seen the song list for REO’s new CD. I have also heard a couple of the songs performed live. This CD will not be like Hi Infidelity, but I think they may get into the top 40 with one or two songs.Yes, Gary was a great guitarist – one of the best ever. I doubt he ever comes back though as Dave has been with REO for about 17 years now.
I like to see what you think of this story:http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/03/17/news/state/36-legibill.txtI think it’s a terrible idea here:http://montanalibertyproject.blogspot.com/2007/03/worst-idea-of-session.html
Have you seen the song list on the new REO CD? Nothing but a bunch of sappy crap, which is probably why they couldn’t get a record deal. The only stores that would touch it with a 10 foot pole is Wally’s World. Bring back Gary Richrath!