Alexander Hamilton, who was a statesman, founding father, and first Secretary of the Treasury once said, “Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.”  Mr. Hamilton would be surprised to see how politicians “govern” in the United States these days.  He would probably be downright embarrassed, too.

I guess I was not too surprised when I heard that Montana’s junior U.S. Senator, Jon Tester, voted against advancing President Obama’s jobs bill Tuesday night.  Tester, along with fellow Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, voted against the jobs bill.  They are up for reelection in 2012 and both are near the top of my 10 Most Vulnerable Senators list.

Tester is in full-time save his job mode.  If this vote would have happened in 2007 right after Tester took office or in 2013 if Tester wins reelection, he would have voted for it.  Tester fails to realize that being a statesman means casting the vote the same way whether you are approaching a tough re-election battle or running unopposed.  Jon Tester is no statesman.

Here is what Tester voted against (Source):

-Offering tax credits to encourage businesses to hire unemployed veterans

My fellow veterans should take note of this since Tester claims he supports us.

-Cutting the payroll tax cut in half for 98 percent of businesses

Tester claims he supports small businesses – Montana is mostly small business.

-Preventing up to 280,000 teacher layoffs, and keeping first responders including firefighters and police officers on the job

I wonder what the teacher unions and the public employees unions think of this?

-Modernizing at least 35,000 public schools across the country

The Tea Party fights to defeat a small mill levy increase to make our schools better and Tester voted against schools and teachers last night.  Are they on the same side?

-A $4,000 tax credit to employers for hiring long-term unemployed workers

Millions of us are long-term unemployed – and we’d like to thank you for not supporting us, Senator.

In a story posted this morning, the Great Falls Tribune puts a local flavor on what Montana lost with the bill failing to advance:

The White House estimated that 30,000 Montana firms would benefit from the payroll tax cut; that at least $216.4 million would be spent on highway and transit projects, creating 2,800 jobs in the state; and that $90.1 million would be provided to support up to 1,400 jobs in education in Montana.

Montana’s other senator, Democrat Max Baucus, voted for the jobs bill saying it was “a good step” and added, “…everyone should contribute their fair share, and that includes millionaires and billionaires.”

Folks on the left who gave their time, their money, and their votes to elect Jon Tester are probably feeling a little betrayed this morning.  Some people may be searching for a primary opponent to take on Tester.  For sure, they are not as motivated to help the “organic farmer from Big Sandy” as they once were because they are starting to figure out that Jon Tester stands for nothing.

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