Greetings! Today is Wednesday, January 17, 2024, and here are the topics for today’s column:

• Gianforte Announces
• U.S. Senate Montana 2024
• Rosendale’s Forecast & Stand
• Federal Highway Administration

GIANFORTE ANNOUNCES:

MTN News is reporting that Montana Governor Greg Gianforte is officially ready to launch his campaign for a second term. Gianforte, a Republican, told MTN Tuesday he’ll make the case that he delivered on the promises he made to voters when they elected him in 2020.

MTN also reported that Gianforte says he will once again be joined on the ticket by Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras, an attorney from Great Falls. In office, Juras has headed up the administration’s regulation-reform initiative.

There are a few cracks in the Gianforte armor as he readies for campaign season. Property taxes are too high, many of the far-right bills he signed into law are being challenged in court or have been found unconstitutional, and illegal drugs are coming into the state.

In my opinion, there does not seem to be anyone who can beat Gianforte at this time. It’s early. Some people are excited about the candidacy of Democrat Ryan Busse. We’ll see if he gets some traction.

The campaign of Busse released a press release after hearing about Gianforte’s decision to run for reelection:

Former firearms exec and candidate for Governor of Montana Ryan Busse released the following statement in response to news that Governor Greg Gianforte is running for reelection:

“Billionaire Greg Gianforte is just another typical politician who stuck Montanans with a record tax hike so that he could give tax cuts to the wealthy. But he isn’t just out of touch; he’s dangerous to Montana. Gianforte wants to make medical decisions for women. He thinks he can buy elections and go on vacations when disasters strike. And unless you have millions, he doesn’t give a hoot about you or your rural community, or your public school, or the public land we all own. He’s an unrepentant liar and a threat to our democracy.”

You know, if you fact-checked that statement, it’s pretty much true!

The sad fact for Democrats is there isn’t a Brian Schweitzer or Steve Bullock in their bullpen. Can Ryan Busse be next?

Check out the full report from MTN News HERE.

U.S. SENATE MONTANA 2024:

It appears that Tim Sheehy, who is running for U.S. Senate here in Montana spent a day or two in Iowa working for Donald Trump. Sheehy posted on X:

Honored to attend the Iowa Caucus tonight as a surrogate for President Donald J. Trump.
We need to rally around President Trump—he’s the strong conservative political outsider to save our country from the corrupt career politicians in D.C. and put America First! MAGA!

Sheehy also had his photo taken with well-known MAGA wackos Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ronny Jackson:

Ran into some STRONG conservative patriots in Iowa after President Trump’s historic victory — @mtgreenee & @RonnyJacksonTX. MAGA!

I have not heard if former President Trump has endorsed Sheehy. Trump is probably holding out to see if his old buddy, Matt Rosendale, runs for U.S. Senate.

It kind of amazes me to see how quickly Sheehy turned into a full-blown MAGA man. It’s like he doesn’t mind selling his soul to the devil or to the people he thinks can do him the most good.

Shame on him.

ROSENDALE’S FORECAST & STAND:

It was nice of U.S. Representative Matt Rosendale to let Montanans know that because there were two inches of snow on the ground in Washington, D.C., Congress canceled votes. He added, “I guess everyone is safe for the next day or two since Congress won’t be passing any legislation to spend your money or take away your liberties!” (Source)

In an email to The Western Word Rosendale says he is voting no to fund the government until the border is secured:

Fellow Patriot,

If the security of the American people isn’t worth fighting for, what is?
The Biden Administration, with the full backing of the DC cartel, is trying to spend trillions more of your hard-earned money, but can’t find the budget to secure the border from the full-scale invasion they’ve invited.
I won’t stand for this. I will VOTE NO to fund the government until the border is secured.
If you agree, chip in here to support my fight against the DC Cartel.

The sad thing is that people like Rosendale, Daines, and other Republicans would change their tune if Trump was President and was asking for the same thing.

FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION:

Talk about not having a sense of humor or being against some fun, the Associated Press (AP) says:

It’s no joke. Humorous and quirky messages on electronic signs will soon disappear from highways and freeways across the country.
The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has given states two years to implement all the changes outlined in its new 1,100-page manual released last month, including rules that spells out how signs and other traffic control devices are regulated.
Administration officials said overhead electronic signs with obscure meanings, references to pop culture or those intended to be funny will be banned in 2026 because they can be misunderstood or distracting to drivers.

I worked for the federal government most of my life, so I can envision the Federal Highway Administration using 1,100 pages to tell states not to be funny with their signs. They probably formed a committee to write it.

Some of the messages are really funny, like “Use Yah Blinkah” in Massachusetts; “Visiting in-laws? Slow down, get there late,” from Ohio, and “Hands on the wheel, not your meal” from Arizona.

Check out the AP story HERE.

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