On Monday, the word of the day was “balanced” as in a “balanced budget amendment” being called for by several GOP members of the Montana Legislature and “balanced approach” being called for by President Barack Obama in his Monday evening address to the nation.  House Speaker John Boehner used the word or a variation of it several times in his speech, most notably when he mentioned the “Cut, Cap, and Balance” plan approved by the House.

Even a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that, “Fifty-six percent (56%) of Likely U.S. Voters would be more likely to support a candidate for Congress who said that a balanced approach including spending cuts and increased tax revenue is needed to reduce the federal debt.”Balanced can be defined as “equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.” or “to be equal or proportionate to.”

It’s also a word that independent voters like to hear – and it plays well when you are polling…

Back in Big Sky Country the Montana GOP scored some political publicity points (PPP) across the state when they sent a letter (signed by about 84 of the 96 GOP Legislators) to the Montana Congressional Delegation (Senator Max Baucus, Senator Jon Tester, and Congressman Denny Rehberg) asking them to “support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution requiring a balanced federal budget.”  The GOP also sent the letter to the Montana media and it received some play on a few TV stations and in some newspapers.

One does not have to be a “political scientist” to understand that the Montana GOP was going after Jon Tester in their press release trying to nail him on another one of his broken campaign promises – this time about his spending spree.  The Montana GOP stated, “In four and a half short years since you were sworn in, our debt has increased from about $8.6 trillion to nearly $15 trillion.”

In my humble opinion, that’s a lot of freaking spending in just four and a half years – or a lot of Utz Cheese Balls…

But have no fear, the Tester campaign fired back with:

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., supports a balanced budget amendment in theory, but “as with everything, the devil is in the details,” his campaign manager, Preston Elliott, said. Tester opposes the amendment backed by Rehberg.

“Jon Tester is the only candidate working with Democrats and Republicans to solve this nation’s fiscal problems,” Elliott said.

So yes, political wars were waged on all fronts yesterday – from the President and the Speaker of the House going “primetime” with their speeches to the nation – to the Montana GOP getting Montanans to notice that their man, Denny Rehberg, supports a balanced budget amendment, while his opponent in 2012, Jon Tester, supports one “in theory.”

But in the long run, August 2 (this date is when the “experts” contend the debt ceiling must be raised) is quickly approaching and the main players back in Washington seemed to revert back to politics yesterday instead of looking for compromise.  Democrats are saying the Republicans want to cut Medicare and Social Security and the “checks may not go out on August 3” and the Republicans are saying the Democrats want to raise taxes and kill small businesses.

To me though, August 2 is a far more important date than the date to raise the debt ceiling – it’s when I’ll be watching REO Speedwagon perform at the Montana State Fair – about the 20th or so time I have seen them perform live.  I’m glad the experts in DC picked August 2th as the date the debt ceiling needs raising as this date helps me keep track of how many days are left before REO comes to town.

We all need just a little bit of “balance” in our lives – and some rock and roll, too.