Happy Tuesday!  Hold on…the weekend will get here – I promise!

Today I take a look at our jet setting Senator and Congressman, I examine a new poll, I find even more silliness from the Republicans, I write about the gubernatorial candidates debating wolves, I discuss the postal service and voting, and I close out the column talking about the General Services Administration and clowns…

Jet Setters:

It’s getting easier and easier for Montana voters to see that U.S. Senator Jon Tester and Congressman Denny Rehberg live the high-life and that they don’t really have a clue what it is like to struggle in today’s economy.  They are the millionaire candidates and now the Associated Press published a story yesterday that exposes their lavish lifestyles.  The story shows how they both live a pretty privileged life jet-setting to New York and Beverly Hills, eating expensive food and staying in luxurious hotels all the while selling their candidacies to those who will donate.

The rich folks in New York and California must get a kick getting to see the two Montana boys come to town to pass the hat…

Tribune Poll:

Almost everyone heard about Montana’s senior Senator, Max Baucus, saying that he will run for office again in 2014.  Baucus has a radio ad running across Montana talking about it.

The Great Falls (Montana) Tribune asks a daily poll question and yesterday they asked, “Are you glad that Max Baucus has elected to run for U.S. Senate again?”

There were 498 people who participated in the unscientific poll:  32% said “Yes” and 68% said “No.”

Looks like Baucus will cruise to another term as Max is the “Wal-Mart candidate” – by saying that I mean people will not say they shop at Wal-Mart, but the parking lot is always full.  Nobody likes Max Baucus, but he always wins re-election…

The problem with the Republican Party in Montana is that after Denny Rehberg the bench is pretty thin, whereas the Democrats have several statewide office holders with name recognition.  Right now, nobody in the Republican Party has the name recognition to mount a serious threat against Baucus…unless Rehberg loses against Tester and decides to take on Baucus, which would be a rematch.

Silliness:

KRTV posted a story on their website about MT State Representative Wayne Stahl (R-Saco) wanting to “impeach Governor Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) in response to the State’s decision to relocate bison to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.”

Montana Republicans have been trying to “get” Brian Schweitzer for almost eight years and this appears to be the latest attempt.  Most of the time the Republicans just end up looking silly. 

Wolf Debate:

There’s a little action in the Montana Governor’s race!  Whoopee!

On March 29, Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Hill released his Wolf Management plan and now Lee Newspapers has a story that Ken Miller (another Republican gubernatorial candidate) is criticizing Hill’s plan.

It got down and dirty pretty quickly as Miller said, “The former congressman obviously has not spent time hunting or enjoying Montana’s outdoors in recent years…”

Miller did nail Hill for not having a big game hunting license in Montana for about 10 years, plus he brought up the fact that Hill owns a second home in California.

At least Ken Miller did not call Rick Hill a poor marksman or say that Hill couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, or that Hill only fished for mermaids (now that would have been funny I don’t care who you are…)

Postal Service & Elections:

According to the Billings Gazette, U.S. Senator Jon Tester “has asked the postmaster general to delay closing mail processing facilities until 2013 to accommodate Montanans who vote by mail.”

What it really means:  Jon Tester is running for re-election in 2012.  While Tester cited voting by mail as his reason in seeking the delay, it also looks better for him if no facilities are closed while he is in the middle of a tough reelection fight.

After the November elections, I expect the Postal Service will be given the freedom to do what is needed to balance the books.

General Services Administration:

The Washington Post reported, “The chief of the General Services Administration resigned, two of her top deputies were fired and four managers were placed on leave Monday amid reports of lavish spending at a conference off the Las Vegas Strip that featured a clown, a mind reader and a $31,208 reception.”

I guess they failed to ask themselves a couple of questions when planning this event:

1. Is this a good use of taxpayer money?

2. How will this look when the public finds out about it?

Probably the worst thing from all this is now it’s going to be very tough for any government agency to hire a clown…

Follow Jack on Twitter @TheWesternWord….