Hello, friends! Here are the topics for today’s independent commentary:
- Municipal General Election
- Working Class
- Strike 3
- One More Thing
MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTION:
According to the Cascade County Elections department, the Municipal General Election will be held on November 7th as a Mail Ballot Election. Ballots can be dropped at the Cascade County Elections Office, 325 2nd Ave. N, Great Falls from 8am-5pm through November 6th, and 7am-8pm on Election Day, November 7th, in the drop box inside the front doors on 2nd Avenue or in the office (Suite 100).
Public Testing of the tabulation equipment will be held at the Expo Park Exhibition Hall on October 24th at 2 p.m., so mark your calendars if that’s an event you want to attend.
I’ve heard that ballots will be mailed this week. I will be voting “No” on the Public Safety Levy AND “No” on the Bond request. I will not be voting for any incumbents who raised my taxes and fees in the last two years.
WORKING CLASS:
In a recent post on his Facebook page, Great Falls City Commissioner Rick Tryon says, “I am working class” and that he comes from “working class people.”
Good for him, but just what exactly is working class?
According to an article from Investopedia, “Working class” is a socioeconomic term used to describe persons in a social class marked by jobs that provide low pay, require limited skill, or physical labor. Typically, working-class jobs have reduced education requirements. Unemployed persons or those supported by a social welfare program are often included in the working class.
Merriam-Webster defines the working class as the class of people who work for wages usually at manual labor.
My father must have been working class. He was a union member (Operating Engineer), with no advanced degree, and he built bridges and interstates all across the Midwest.
I guess a candidate can define himself in the way he chooses and it’s up to the voter to decide if they believe the candidate.
According to Demographic data shown on this website that was gathered from the latest U.S. Census Bureau release, the 2021 American Community Survey: White-collar workers make up 79.11% of the working population in Great Falls, while blue-collar employees account for 20.89%. There are also 2,687 entrepreneurs in Great Falls (9.3% of the workforce); 17,584 workers employed in private companies (60.85%); and 4,478 people working in governmental institutions (15.5%).
STRIKE 3:
On Friday, Republicans dropped Jim Jordan as their nominee for House speaker in a private meeting. That came after Jordan failed in a third try for the speaker’s gavel.
The circus is alive and well in the U.S. House. Now nine candidates are running for Speaker of the House. According to an article in “The Hill,” House Republicans are set to meet behind closed doors for their candidate forum Monday (Today) at 6:30 p.m., then they will move to an internal nomination election Tuesday at 9 a.m. The deadline for candidates to file their candidacies was on Sunday at noon.
You can see who the nine candidates are by clicking HERE.
ONE MORE THING:
Not everyone has access to me because I love peace more than attention. – ihearts143quotes.com
The Western Word 
Rick’s musical stylings qualify as the “ require limited skill,” definition. At one time I worked as a teamster, operator, pipe fitter, and laborer. All union. One of the20%.
I think the MAGAs define working class as “I have a job”. Which makes Trump working class too. No wonder they love him. And why Tryon attempts to fabricate alternate reality just like his lying hero.