I think we can say we’re in the “dog days of summer” now, woof, woof.  Congratulations on making it through another week and, for your reward, I am authorizing you to take a break and read this week’s “Caught My Eye.”

Caught My Eye is where I take a look at some of the stories that I did not have time to write about during the week – and sometimes I add just a little sarcasm.

This week we put the heat wave in perspective, we take a look at Max’s garbage, a pool party, Jesus and Walmart, buying a lemon, defense conferences, my political inbox, and much much more so read on!

Perspective:

This has been going around on Facebook and since most of the country has been dealing with a heat wave, I thought it was worth posting on Caught My Eye:

I was going to complain about how hot it is… then I realized that at least: 1.) It isn’t 130 degrees; 2.) I’m not 5,700 miles from home; 3.) I’m not dressed in a full BDU uniform and helmet and carrying 70+ lbs.; and 4.) There is very little chance that anyone will shoot at me or that I might drive over a bomb in the road today! Thanks to all who serve in our fine military! God Bless y’all. Re-Post if you agree

Amen….

The End According to Max:

There’s a reason why Max Baucus’ Senate website is saved in my bookmarks under “Politics” and not “Government” and it is because he campaigns all the time.

The latest political garbage to come out of Baucus’ office is he “released county-by-county data today that he says shows Montana could be hurt worse than most states if the U.S. government were allowed to default on its debt.”

The sad thing is that some of the media in the state took it as fact.  Just think how much money we’d have in this country if we were out of debt and actually had a balanced budget.

I doubt Baucus even reads his press releases; I’ve heard he hires experts to do that.

Jesus and Walmart:

“A South Carolina couple said a dark gray mark that appeared on a Walmart receipt appears to bear the image of Jesus Christ.”  Read more about it HERE.

I do think Jesus would be a Walmart type of person…probably K-Mart, too.

Pool Party:

“Prosecutors in eastern Indiana have filed public indecency charges against a man and a woman after they were caught having sex in a busy public pool.”

You can read more about it HERE.  It’s ok to read more…

Driven by Anger and a Lemon:

I actually thought of doing this one time when I was about 19 years old and was sold a lemon:

“Unhappy that a Lafayette Road car dealer wouldn’t take back the van he bought on Monday, David Cross drove “the lemon” back after the dealer closed on Tuesday and crashed it into six cars parked on the lot for sale.”

Hmmm…at least the “lemon” made it back to the car lot…

Highest/Lowest Taxes:

“Different states tax their residences at different levels. In some states, like New Jersey, residents pay 12.2% as a percentage of their income. In others, like Alaska, they pay as little as 6.3%.”

Check out the full story HERE.

Jack’s Political Inbox:

Almost every week I share with my readers some of the political e-mails I receive from candidates, political parties, and other groups.  I also offer some commentary.

-The Montanans for Rehberg Senate Campaign fired off a press release on Wednesday:

“Last night, 234 members of the House of Representatives voted to pass HR 2560, better known as the Cut, Cap and Balance Act. This bill would restore fiscal sanity to our current economic problems by reducing spending by $111 billion in 2012 and by $5.8 trillion over the next ten years. Additionally, it holds future spending below 20% of our GDP and ensures our nation does not get into this problem again by requiring a Balanced Budget Amendment, just like we have here in Montana.  And despite claims by the big-spenders in Washington, DC, the bill does not impact funding for Social Security, Medicare and veterans programs.”

-But the Montana Democratic Party saw the Rehberg vote a little differently:

“It was just another day in Washington DC for Montana’s millionaire Congressman Dennis Rehberg yesterday. Congressman Rehberg voted to raise the debt ceiling for the ninth time, end Medicare as we know it, destroy middle-class programs like Pell Grants, and turned down the chance to save veterans benefits. Amazingly he did all this while protecting tax giveaways for fellow millionaires and loopholes for Big Oil. Here is some of what Congressman Rehberg’s irresponsible plan means:

Ending tax breaks for Rehberg’s fellow millionaires and Big Oil will be even harder

It guts Medicaid by 1/3 and cuts it in half by 2030

The plan makes it impossible to fully fund Social Security”

Notice how they use “millionaire” and “Dennis” in their press release…that’ll get him good.

-The Jon Tester for Senate Campaign piled on writing, “Tuesday night Dennis Rehberg raised his hand and voted YEA. He voted YEA to slash Social Security. He voted YEA to deliver extremely deep cuts to Medicare. And he did it in order to protect tax loopholes for his fellow millionaires and corporations that ship our jobs overseas.”

Notice how they use “Dennis” and “millionaire” in their press release…that’ll get him good.

-The Montana GOP sent an e-mail telling me that the U.S. Senate moves slowly, “Jon Tester and his colleagues in the U.S. Senate have a lot to answer for. In addition to going more than 800 days without passing a budget, now the Washington Times is reporting that the Senate is on pace to set a new record for laziness.”

I think the average age of the U.S. Senators is approaching 125; and the average weight per senator went up considerably in 2007.

-Have you seen the “Spenditol Montana” video? It’s worth watching and you can watch it HERE.

National Defense Conferences:

According to the Great Falls Tribune, two Great Falls people are attending two National Defense Conferences this week.  One is in Norfolk, Virginia, and the other one is in Nashville, Tennessee.

I wanted to write a whole column about this adventure, but I did not.  Maybe someone who is “anointed” to talk about and promote the military for Montana will attend the scoping meetings in California regarding the F-15s being held August 2 and August 4…and maybe that person or persons will have some experience with the military.

TWITTER:

You really need to follow Jack @TheWesternWord to get the latest updates and commentary throughout the day!

SAFETY:

Please buckle up when driving – it does save lives…and don’t forget to stretch…