The Wednesday Read

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When you are dead, you do not know you are dead. It’s only painful and difficult for others. The same applies when you are stupid. – Ricky Gervais

These topics caught my attention in the last 24 hours:

  • Tester’s Town Hall
  • Gubernatorial Debates
  • 837-Page Rule

TESTER’S TOWN HALL:

U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) held his fourth face-to-face town hall meeting of 2019 in Great Falls on Tuesday.

Several reports say there were about 100 people in attendance. Having around 100 people attend a town hall meeting in the middle of a workday is pretty good.

Tester received some good coverage from the local media. The media in Montana should devote more coverage to in-person town hall meetings instead of the ones that are done via Facebook.

Right now it looks like the score for in-person town hall meetings is Tester 4, U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) and U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte (R-MT/AL) 0.

You can read the MTN News story about the town hall meeting HERE and the Great Falls Tribune story HERE.

GUBERNATORIAL DEBATES:

The Great Falls Tribune is reporting that Montana Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Fox has proposed 10 debates among fellow Republican candidates prior to the June 2 primary, saying it would give voters a chance to compare and said campaigns could collaborate to develop a “robust” debate schedule.

The other two Republican candidates for Governor so far are U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte and Montana State Senator Al Olszewski.

I think wanting 10 debates is outrageous. It kind of seems like Fox is desperate. If they held 10 debates, people would be sick of the candidates.

They should do no more than three total debates in different parts of the state, with each one broadcast on local television and the video being made available for all to see. One debate must be held on a reservation. The three debates should be held before the ballots are mailed for the June primary. Each debate should last two hours.

See, if I were running things we could cut through the B-S and get things done!

837-PAGE RULE:

Reuters is reporting that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled a sweeping rule on Monday that some experts say could cut legal immigration in half by denying visas and permanent residency to hundreds of thousands of people for being too poor.

Reuters also reported that the new 837-page rule would reject applicants for temporary or permanent visas if they fail to meet high enough income standards or if they receive public assistance such as welfare, food stamps, public housing, or Medicaid.

Are we forgetting, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”

During an interview, Trump’s acting head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, reworded the poem by Emma Lazarus to say, “Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge.” (CBS News)

What an ass.

I’m betting this new rule will be thrown out by the federal courts pretty quickly, as it should be. I’m also betting that Cuccinelli won’t be around for very long.

We’re better than this.

 

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