Quote for the Day…

Don’t surround yourself on the mountaintop with people who were nowhere to be found in the valley. -Unknown

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

• Embarrassing Montana
• Counting Prisoners
• U.S. Senator Joe Manchin
• The Western Word Poll

EMBARRASSING MONTANA:

Lee Newspapers reported that the Montana chapter of White Lives Matter held a protest Saturday at a busy intersection in Helena as part of a nationwide “Day of Action” organized by the neo-Nazi hate group, officials with the Montana Human Rights Network said Tuesday. It was reported that there were roughly 10 white nationalists who participated in the protest.

It’s a shame that there’s so much hatred spewing from groups like this one in Montana. We are better than this.

Our elected officials should show some leadership and condemn this protest.

You can read the full story from Lee Newspapers HERE.

COUNTING PRISONERS:

I happened to catch an article in the Daily Montanan about the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission moving forward with a plan to change how incarcerated people in the state are counted for the purposes of legislative redistricting.

A few people think it’s unfair that prisoners are counted where they are incarcerated. I am not one of those people. Here in Montana, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. I guess the commission thinks it is because according to the Daily Montanan they are seeking a contractor to adjust census data for around 3,000 state inmates across seven facilities, according to the RFP, and set aside $10,000 to get it done.

No matter where the prisoners are counted, the residents and the prisoners will still use the roads, bridges, water, sewer, healthcare, and other stuff provided by the government in the town where the prison is located. Besides counting people, that’s also part of the census – to determine where pieces of the federal pie go.

I know when I worked for the U.S. Census Bureau this question about prisoners came up a few times.

Spending $10k to determine the residence of 3,000 prisoners is not a good use of taxpayer funds.

Read the full story from the Daily Montanan HERE.

U.S. SENATOR JOE MANCHIN:

The Associated Press (AP) reported that the Democrats are struggling to pick up the pieces after Sen. Joe Manchin effectively crushed President Joe Biden’s big domestic policy bill.

With the U.S. Senate split 50/50 there are a lot of “Class Presidents” who need attention. The Republicans are probably hoping Manchin does a “Jim Jeffords” and leaves the Democrats and either becomes a Republican or Independent and caucuses with them.

People may remember that Republican Senator Jeffords, back in 2001, declared himself an independent. He then joined the Democratic caucus, giving the Democrats majority control, effective June 6, 2001. (Wiki)

The Democrats will probably lose the majority in the Senate after the next election, so it does not make much sense. It’s beginning to make more sense for the Democrats to change the rules to get something done in the meantime, but then again you have 50 class presidents who may not agree on that plan.

I suggest since the Democrats are pissed at Manchin that they come up with a code to let their anger be heard. Maybe a cheer. Something like, “Let’s go, Brandon.”

THE WESTERN WORD POLL:

This week’s poll question asks, “Do you like or dislike self-checkouts?”

The results will be released Thursday.

## BE A PATRIOT – WEAR A MASK INDOORS IN PUBLIC PLACES ##