Here we are in late July and the temperature is rising – and the political news is flowing like a sprinkler on a hot summer day. This week we take a look at a visit to the land of Clinton, gas prices, tiger costumes, the debt ceiling, more candidates, fellows and lots more!

So take a short break to catch up on the political news from the weekend…In The Land of Clinton

The Associated Press reported that Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer had some unkind things to say about the GOP…while attending a fundraiser for Democrats in Arkansas – the land of Bill Clinton.

Ol’ Brian sure gets around and it’s great to see him sharing some of his love and energy with folks around the country…so they can be amused.  

Four is More Fun

Lee Newspapers reported that “Rob Stutz, a Helena attorney who served as the Legislature’s chief lawyer for nine months before resigning earlier this year, said Friday he’s looking at running as a Democrat for the state’s open U.S. House seat in 2012.”

Most people are probably wondering who Stutz is and that’s a problem (name recognition) that all of the candidates for U.S. House have.   Getting the name ID up is very important.

The Price of Gas:

Yep, just as expected it went up.  Most of us (at least those of us who are unemployed) cannot afford to fill up our tanks because it might cost us $75 or more.  A gallon of gas in Montana was $3.71 yesterday.  According to this article, gas “prices yesterday were 88.0 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago…”

If I remember correctly, in January 2009 gas was about $1.83 per gallon.  That was the month Barack Obama took the oath of office…

Thanksgiving Encounter:

While many of us were enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends, Rep. David Wu of Oregon was having a “sexual relationship” with a young woman.

I could not find out if they had turkey, gravy, pumpkin pie and all the fixins’ after the encounter, but I did read (and you may remember) that Wu was the member of Congress who e-mailed a photo of himself wearing a tiger costume…

Obama 2012 Fall Fellows

Thinking that I might be offered a job, I clicked quickly on an e-mail from Obama 2012 when it hit my inbox over the weekend.

I found out they were just looking for “fellows” for the campaign.  They write, “The Fall Fellowship is a 12-week organizing program. Fall Fellows will help the campaign build neighborhood and campus teams of volunteers.”

If you are interested, follow THIS LINK, but “understand that all Fall Fellowship positions are unpaid, volunteer positions.”

How Best to Say it

You’ve heard officials in Washington say, “It’s the 11th hour” and “We’re getting close to the edge” or “We’re running out of runway” to describe the debt ceiling talks in Washington.

I like, “It’s not the end of the world, but you can see it from here.”

According to a poll that appeared in The Hill, “Almost 3 in 4 voters — 71 percent — say they are either not very confident or not at all confident that the body politic will get a real grip on the debt problem. Only 27 percent expressed some level of confidence that they will.”

Many people are thinking we should throw everyone out of the House, Senate and White House and start over…

Biden Travel:

As you may remember, Vice President Joe Biden attended the wedding of Senator Max Baucus near Helena recently.  Several letters to the editor (like this one) have popped up asking who pays for the trip or giving their opinion on who they believe should pay for it.

Sometimes political campaigns pay for these trips; other times it’s the taxpayer.  I believe Vice President Biden did a political event in the western United States the day before the Baucus wedding.  As for local law enforcement being reimbursed, I think they are on their own.

The answer can be found somewhere in the White House…for inquiring reporters.

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