Welcome to Tuesday!  I know that many of you are taking some much-needed time off and enjoying a summer vacation.  Enjoy yourself and pop a cold one for me!  By the way, you can take The Western Word (TWW) with you – it’s mobile friendly – and it is always free!

Please take a moment to say a prayer for the folks fighting fires in the Rocky Mountain west and to those who suffered storm damage on the east coast.

Today on TWW, I take a look at Max Baucus robbing Wyoming, I have more information on the Romney fundraiser, I write about Roberts flipping, I talk about current events and voters, I mention a couple of polls with opposite results, and there’s a lot more that you don’t want to miss!Wyoming & Baucus:

Apparently U.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) “robbed” Wyoming of millions of dollars in the recently-passed transportation bill according to an article posted on the website codyenterprise.com.

The three members of Wyoming’s Congressional Delegation (all Republicans) were upset that, “Baucus inserted language to raid about $700 million from the Abandoned Mine Land fund during the next decade.  Most of that money is generated by coal produced in Wyoming, and this state will be the only one to lose significant funding due to the Baucus scheme.”

It is also reported that Baucus issued a press release touting the bill’s passage before it actually passed.  This reminds me of the time he inserted language into 2005 highway bill to reopen Malmstrom’s runway and issued a press release announcing it was a “done deal” before it passed the House.  Several House members with more clout than Baucus protested and the language was withdrawn and Baucus looked more like an intern than a seasoned senator.  IMHO, that move by Baucus probably kept the Malmstrom runway from being re-opened (it still isn’t open).

More on Romney Fundraiser:

Yesterday I mentioned that Republican Mitt Romney would be in Hamilton (Montana) for a fundraiser on July 11.  Today there’s more information about the fundraiser – and there are more packages available for your spending pleasure!  According to this story in the Billings Gazette:

“To attend the reception costs $2,500 per person, or $5,000 for a couple.  It costs $5,000 for a person and $10,000 for a couple to attend the reception and have a photograph taken with Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.  The cost of attending dinner with Romney is $25,000 per person, or $50,000 for a couple.”

That’s still about $2,500 too much for me…

One other piece of interesting information from the Gazette story was the name of Romney campaign spokeswoman – Sarah Pompei.  Ms. Pompei has ties to Montana.  She was previously a spokeswoman for the 2006 Conrad Burns Campaign.

Roberts Flipped:

CBS News reported on Tuesday that Chief Justice John Roberts changed his mind about the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate about a month before the decision was released, and then he withstood several attempts from the conservative side of the court to win him back.

This type of back and forth happens all the time – but this was the big case of the term so it received more publicity.  It is somewhat fascinating to hear about the debate that surrounded the decision although CBS News used unnamed “sources” when reporting their story (unnamed sourcing sucks in my book).

Knowing how secretive the U.S. Supreme Court is (I like it that way), I imagine these “sources” will be looking for new jobs and may have harmed their future careers considerably.

Current Events:

Winston Churchill once said, “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”

People involved in political campaigns know this.  Some of the most outrageous campaign ads are taken as the honest truth by some viewers – that’s also why negative ads work.  So it was not a surprise to me that a recent Pew Research Poll found that 30% of those polled did “not know what the court did” in regards to the healthcare law.  Only 55% knew “that the Supreme Court upheld most of the health care law’s provisions.”

More information to make you shake your head can be found HERE.

Obama Leads Romney 48%-43%:

According to a new poll from Gallup, “President Barack Obama has maintained at least a slight margin over Mitt Romney in each of the last six Gallup Daily tracking averages, including a 48% to 43% lead among registered voters in the July 2 report, spanning June 25-July 1.”

Obama supporters should not cheer just yet…

Romney Leads Obama 47%-44%:

According to Rasmussen Reports, “The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows Mitt Romney attracting 47% of the vote, while President Obama earns 44%.  Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided.”

Unless something major happens, the race will be close…

Happy Birthday:

Tom Cruise is 50 today.  One of my favorite writers, Dave Barry, turns 65.

Follow Jack on Twitter @TheWesternWord…