There’s no sense in doing a lot of barking if you don’t really have anything to say. ― Snoopy

Today’s independent commentary deals with these people/issues:

• Trump’s Taxes
• Amy Coney Barrett
• Montana Ballot Interference Protection Act
• Returning Mailed Ballots
• One More Thing

TRUMP’S TAXES:

On Sunday, The New York Times reported that President Donald J. Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes the year he ran for president and in his first year in the White House. (AP)

It was also reported that Trump, who has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern times not to make them public, paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years.

To put that in perspective, Trump paid porn actress Stormy Daniels more ($130,000) in 2016 than he paid in taxes over a decade. Think about that.

It also appears that Trump is in very deep debt.

Trump says The New York Times story is fake news. You can decide for yourself by reading it HERE.

AMY CONEY BARRETT:

I was wrong. That’s something we never hear President Trump say but I am mature enough to tell my faithful readers that I was wrong to predict Trump was going to pick Barbara Lagoa of Florida.

If Trump loses Florida in the presidential contest, he may wonder if he made a mistake.

Amy Coney Barrett is Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. She is a strong pick for conservatives. If confirmed, she is only 48 years old, so she could spend decades on the court.

According to reporting in USA Today:

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee – the panel tasked with vetting judicial nominees – said four days of confirmation hearings will begin Oct. 12 and that the committee should clear Barrett’s nomination by Oct. 26. That would leave the full Republican-led Senate with roughly a week to confirm Barrett in the final days of the presidential campaign.

In 2017, Barrett was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit by a vote of 55-43.

The Democrats will need to be careful during the confirmation hearings. They need to remember that there’s a presidential election coming soon. Don’t give people a reason to vote for Trump. There’s nothing they can do to stop Barrett from becoming a Supreme Court Justice, except maybe delay it by a day or so.

MONTANA BALLOT INTERFERENCE PROTECTION ACT:

The Associated Press reported that District Judge Donald Harris found a voter-approved law that restricted third-party collection of absentee ballots is unconstitutional. District Judge Jessica Fehr ruled earlier Friday that the Ballot Interference Protection Act was unconstitutional in a separate case brought by Native American groups.

I’m not sure if the state will appeal these decisions or not. They shouldn’t.

I voted against the Ballot Interference Prevention Act (BIPA) back in 2018 because it was a solution to something that was not a problem. It’s funny because around 63% of the voters were tricked into voting for it.

Those in the Montana Legislature who voted to place the Montana Ballot Interference Prevention Act on the ballot for voters to decide should stop trying to make it harder for people to vote.

RETURNING MAILED BALLOTS:

District Judge Donald Harris (same judge as above) has extended the state’s deadline for returning 2020 general election ballots by mail, saying that uneven U.S. Postal Service delivery times could result in ballots being delayed, unfairly requiring some people to vote earlier than others or requiring voters to risk exposure to COVID-19 to return their ballots in person. (AP)

Here is the decision as reported by the Associated Press:

Harris said all valid Montana ballots postmarked by Election Day for this election must be counted as long as they are received by county election offices by the following Monday.

Sounds like a simple and easy solution to me. I have a feeling it will be appealed, and I have a feeling the decision will be overturned.

ONE MORE THING:

President Donald Trump (R) and former Vice President Joe Biden (D) will hold their first debate Tuesday night (Sept. 29). It starts at 7:00 p.m. Montana time and lasts for 90 minutes.

Who will throw the first punch?

More information about the debate can be found HERE.

Since the debate is held in the Eastern Time zone (Cleveland), the start time is 9:00 p.m. These geezers are in the 70s, so they will be staying up late! Remember, they usually eat dinner around 4:00 p.m. and fall asleep while watching Wheel of Fortune…

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