Caught My Eye…

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It’s Friday! Here are the topics that I am providing common-sense commentary about today:

  • Knudsen & Abortion
  • Brown, James Brown
  • Another Short-Term Bill
  • One More Thing

KNUDSEN & ABORTION:

Yesterday, I wrote about Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen wasting $500,000 to put a law firm on retainer to ban TikTok in Montana.

According to the Daily Montanan, Knudsen has told proponents of a proposed 2024 ballot issue seeking to affirm the right to abortion in the Montana Constitution that the proposal was legally insufficient.

I think Knudsen may win this little war and delay the gathering of signatures, but he will lose the battle as the Montana Supreme Court will side with the proponents of the ballot issue.

Then, I predict that if the proposal makes the November ballot, it will pass by a large margin. In a recent poll, Gallup found that 69% say abortion should generally be legal in the first three months of pregnancy. (Source)

The right-wing MAGA crowd is getting their money’s worth out of Knudsen. The sad part is all these lawsuits and legal roadblocks are costing Montana millions.

BROWN, JAMES BROWN:

Lee Newspapers is reporting that Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) President James Brown, a Republican, announced his bid for state auditor early Thursday, making him the first candidate to declare a candidacy for the seat this cycle. In 2020, Brown unsuccessfully ran for the Montana Supreme Court, but he spent a lot of money on the campaign and garnered valuable name recognition in the loss, so it’s smart for him to throw his hat into the ring for another statewide office.

In my opinion, the PSC has not done a very good job protecting us from high rates. There are five members of the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC). They are all Republicans. All five voted for the 28% increase in utility bills from Northwestern Energy last year.

With his record at the PSC, I’m not sure I can trust Brown to be a very strong advocate for me with the insurance industry.

ANOTHER SHORT-TERM BILL:

The U.S. Senate passed a short-term funding bill to keep the government operating until March. The Senate passed the bill 77-18 with Montana’s two Senators, Democrat Jon Tester and Republican Steve Daines voting for the bill. (Source)

The U.S. House passed the bill 314-108 with Republican U.S. Representative Matt Rosendale voting NAY and Republican U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke voting YEA. (Source)

In a press release, Rosendale stated his reasons for voting against the bill:

Today, Congressman Matt Rosendale (MT-02) voted against the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2872 – Further Additional Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024. He did so on the grounds that there were no additions to strengthen the border in the bill and it actually increases spending for the Biden, Pelosi, and D.C. Cartel’s Radical Leftist agenda that will plunge our country even further into debt.

The Washington Post says this is the third stopgap spending bill in four months. Nevertheless, it is not the way the Federal Government should be run.

ONE MORE THING:

There’s playoff football this weekend! Check out the schedule HERE.

GO CHIEFS!!

## HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND ##

4 thoughts on “Caught My Eye…”

  1. Of course Rosendale would characterize that current spending for the extra IRS resources to collect more of what’s due from rich tax cheats as a “Radical Leftist Agenda”. Americans overwhelmingly support everyone paying what they owe and even for the ultra-rich paying more, but Matt does not work for the interests of the majority of Americans. Matt’s party and particularly his little cabal of fellow running dog extremists work for those same rich tax cheats. Couple the chance to work hard for tax cheats with the opportunity to yet again mash down on that poor worn out “no” vote button and there’s a real win win for Matt.

    • It’s not good for the Feds to shut down or threaten to shut down the government. Likewise it’s not good for our government to be out of control on spending and debt. Rosendale’s no votes are show votes. He does little damage but gives the fiscal conservatives someone to admire. Meanwhile nothing gets done to control the spending and debt. Thanks,, JmB

      • USA McNewspaper reporting today that the slightly less extreme Republicans of the House (the ones who claim they actually want to get something done) have about had it with the antics of “Nope” Rosendale and his merry little crue of nopesters. Including some suggestions to punish them, including cutting off access to fundraising.

        And

        “Now, GOP members not aligned with the Freedom Caucus say their colleagues should stop wasting time and get in line with the vast majority of the conference that has followed the leaders they elected as a group.

        “Some people come to town to fix it. Some people come to town to burn it down,” Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., told USA TODAY.”

        Wow … that’s Matt Rosendale (R-MT) he’s talking about!

        Entertaining story:
        https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/17/house-gop-conservative-max-miller-bob-good-freedom-caucus/72261822007/

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