I’m back – back in the blogging groove people! After taking some unexpected time off to attend my sister’s funeral in the Midwest, I’m back! Thanks to all the readers who missed me.
If this is your first time visiting The Western Word (TWW), “Thursday Numbers” is my weekly column where I take a look at the numbers mentioned in the news (in descending order) and provide commentary (sometimes with a little sarcasm). By the way, everything and everyone is fair game.
PLEASE NOTE: By reading this column you will probably gain a great deal of knowledge not found on other websites! You can use this information to impress your family, friends and co-workers, and it might even be life changing – so consider yourself warned…
This week I write about spending, contracts, cash on hand, unemployment, the middle class, miles traveled, oil well permits, Pearl Jam tickets, missiles, voter satisfaction, a dumb quote, tax returns, gas prices, and much more so read on…
150,000,000,000
Congressman Denny Rehberg released his Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) Labor, Health & Human Services and Education Appropriations bill which has $150 billion in total spending.
That’s a lot of zeroes and a lot of people are not happy with Chairman Rehberg’s spending plan…
21,100,000
Quarterback Robert Griffin III and signed a four-year deal worth $21.1 million with the Washington Redskins Wednesday.
There is a lot of pressure for him to do well…
3,600,000
U.S. Senator Jon Tester has $3.6 million in the bank to help with his re-election bid. His challenger, Congressman Denny Rehberg has $2.7 million in the bank.
I think both candidates will have enough money to get their message out…and to call each other names…
386,000
The U.S. Department of Labor reports, “In the week ending July 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 386,000, an increase of 34,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 352,000.”
That means 386,000 people filed new claims for unemployment…not good.
250,000
Some people believe the middle class are families who make up to $250,000 per year. The Associated Press looks at the politics of the “middle class” in this story.
Mitt Romney probably calls $250,000 a tip for a decent meal…
240,000
I read that U.S. House candidate Steve Daines (Republican) raised $240,000 during the last quarter. He has about $850,000 in the bank.
I’ve said that this U.S. House race may be the most boring race in the U.S. history…
50,000
The Great Falls City Commission voted not to contribute $50,000 to the Great Falls Development Authority on Tuesday.
It may be time for the Great Falls City Manager Greg Doyon and for the President/CEO of the Great Falls Development Authority, Brett Doney, to hit the road. I think they both have been in over their heads for quite some time…
2,700
That’s about how many miles I traveled July 12/13 and July 16/17. I listened to CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, and POTUS radio via satellite radio during this time.
After hearing several speeches from President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney and news coverage of politics from different angles, I came to the conclusion that politics in America is still pretty screwed up…
1,100
According to the Missoulian, “Pearl Jam announced Wednesday that it will release 1,100 additional tickets for the band’s sold-out Sept. 30 show at the Adams Center in Missoula, making the concert an end stage, 360-degree event.”
It’s gonna be a party…
225
That’s how many oil well permits have been issued in Montana during the first half of 2012. In 2011 (the whole year) 232 permits were issued. See the chart HERE.
That’s pretty impressive…
100
That’s how many people attended Congressman Denny Rehberg’s “Defending our Defenders” listening session in Great Falls (MT) on Monday.
When I first heard of the event, I was hoping that the Rehberg cartel would invite me to be a speaker due to my vast military experience, but they didn’t. I ended up being out of town any way.
One part of the Tribune story caught my attention and that was from Senator Jon Tester’s campaign spokesman, Aaron Murphy. “Murphy said Rehberg was in Congress and did nothing to stop the Pentagon’s plan to deactivate 50 Minuteman III missiles in 2007. That decision was made in 2006, before Tester was elected to the Senate.”
A fact that Murphy and the Tribune reporter missed was that the 50 missiles were not removed until 2007 because Montana had a U.S. Senator who had clout with the Department of Defense (DoD). He successfully stopped their removal until he left office.
The blame for losing the 50 missiles can be spread evenly between Senator Max Baucus, Congressman Denny Rehberg and Senator Jon Tester. The local Malmstrom supporters know this. Montana needs one of our Washington politicians to obtain a seat on a defense/military committee to regain clout with the DoD.
90
According to this story, Mitt Romney spent about 90 minutes at a fundraiser in Hamilton last week and that seemed to impress Steve Daines, who is the Republican candidate for Montana’s U.S. House seat. Daines was quoted saying, “This is the largest event ever in the history of Montana politics.”
That quote makes Steve Daines look like he fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down…
42
According to a story from the Associated Press, “A Texas man whose prized sports car was stolen 42 years ago recovered the vehicle in California after spotting it on eBay…”
Never give up…
28
According to a new poll from Gallup, “Twenty-eight percent of Americans are now satisfied with the way things are going in the country, up from 20% in June and roughly matching the highest levels recorded at various points since 2010, of either 26% or 27%.”
If the satisfaction level continues to climb it will be good news for incumbents…
25
According to this story, “The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) approved flight training for 25 illegal aliens at a Boston-area flight school that was owned by yet another illegal alien, according to the Government Accountability Office.”
Maybe this is a stretch, but I think that area of our homeland security department could use some attention. Maybe the U.S. House will take a look at this major problem instead of voting to repeal Obamacare for the 34th time…
12
In 1967, Presidential candidate George Romney released 12 years of his tax returns. His son, Mitt Romney, will only release two years.
There must be some serious issues with Mitt Romney’s tax returns. It’s a trust issue.
3.15
That’s the cheapest I paid for a gallon of gas ($3.15) during my trip from Montana to Missouri and back. That was in Elk Point, South Dakota. Elk Point is between Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Sioux City, Iowa, on Interstate 29 – which is an Interstate that my father helped build in the early 1970s. For those keeping score at home, it was union labor…
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