Quote for the Day…
According to a box of macaroni and cheese, I’m a family of four. -Unknown
In today’s column, I take a quick look at these people/issues:
- Great Falls Homeless Issue
- Montana Budget Surplus
- Biden Terminates Ayman al-Zawahiri
- Trump National Golf Club
GREAT FALLS HOMELESS ISSUE:
According to comments and emails I received and THIS REPORT from MontanaRightNow.com, the homeless have left the parking lot at the First United Methodist Church.
That does not mean the homeless issue is over in Great Falls – not by a long shot. It just means people in the neighborhood and those who drive down the street will not see the encampment.
The church was providing a place for the homeless to stay until the City of Great Falls filed a cold-hearted lawsuit against the church. The haters came out in force, which included business owners, and elected officials, as well as just regular social media dumbasses.
I think the following comment in the MontanaRightNow.com story kind of says it all:
“Now they don’t have any place to go to. So, there’s going to be more people that’s outside your house on your sidewalk, that’s parked 10ft away from your business, or in the alleyways,” said Rosston Quick, a man who lived on the property.
The church will continue to provide lunch M-F 10-Noon and a hot meal on Tuesday nights. I imagine that will piss off some of the haters, too.
God bless the First United Methodist Church for the work they have done and are doing to help the homeless.
MONTANA BUDGET SURPLUS:
MTN News is reporting that state leaders are expecting a budget surplus of well over $1 billion when the Montana Legislature begins its 2023 session. Majority Republicans have talked about a goal of “giving the surplus back” to the public, but not all lawmakers are on the same page about the best way to do that.
Since here in Great Falls and Cascade County, they are probably going to stick it to us by raising our taxes, I say give it back to me. I think we all deserve a little extra for being embarrassed by the Republican legislature session after session.
MTN News says that their proposal would return up to $3,000 to taxpayers, based on how much they paid in state income tax over the last two years. Those who paid in less than $3,000 would receive back only what they paid.
Read the MTN News report HERE.
BIDEN TERMINATES AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI:
The Associated Press (AP) reported that President Joe Biden announced that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, an operation he hailed as delivering “justice” while expressing hope that it brings “one more measure of closure” to families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
The AP also reported that Ayman al-Zawahri’s loss eliminates the figure who more than anyone shaped al-Qaida, first as Osama bin Laden’s deputy since 1998, then as his successor. Together, he and bin Laden turned the jihadi movement’s guns to target the United States, carrying out the deadliest attack ever on American soil — the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings.
With this Biden has been involved in the termination of the top two al-Qaida leaders. Joe’s a badass…
Read the complete AP story HERE.
TRUMP NATIONAL GOLF CLUB:
It’s true! Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s first wife, Ivana Trump, was laid to rest at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, based on media reports and photographs taken of the site. (Snopes)
Fortune reports that under New Jersey law, the land being used for cemetery purposes is exempt from real estate and personal property taxes, as well as sales tax, inheritance tax, business tax, and income tax. Cemetery property is also exempt from sale for collection of judgments, with cemetery trust funds and trust income exempt from both tax and sale or seizure for collection of judgments against the company.
Brooke Harrington, a tax researcher and professor of sociology at Dartmouth, says there is “no stipulation regarding a minimum [number] of human remains necessary for the tax breaks to kick in.”
Maybe Trump is so broke and did not have the money to purchase a cemetery plot? Naah – he probably wanted (and needed) a tax break.
The Western Word 
The proposed tax rebate plan seems superficially fair, but it ignores all the tax money the state sucks out of the pockets of Montanans of all income brackets on a daily basis – gas tax, liquor tax, etc. So what it really boils down to is yet another Repub scheme to further enrich the very richest with public revenue.
Maybe another idea would be to redistribute the money back to counties and cities in proportion to total revenue collected from them, so they don’t have to raise property taxes. Or like Llew Jones favors, pay down the State debts. But neither of those ideas would be quite such an obvious election year vote buying scheme.
Terry – good points. It’s always about the next election.
Thanks, JmB
On a side note, our very own Sen. Maladroit Daines once again bungled his way on to the late night comedy circuit. He’s becoming a regular. I kinda thought that he couldn’t top his “women as sea turtle egg” analogy. But by God he did. Seems that withholding health care from dying vets is even worse. And, not very popular with the entire country. Makes one wonder just whom he thinks he is representing? He did spend the Fourth with Putin.
https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/stephen-colbert-wrecks-butthole-ted-091919231.html