Greetings! Here are the topics for today:
- Mountain States Poll
- Montana Sheriffs & Tester
- Payment in Lieu of Taxes
MOUNTAIN STATES POLL:
The Montana State University Billings Mountain States Poll is out and there are some interesting results. It did not take long for the MAGAs across the state to post negative comments about the poll and try to discredit it.
Here are some interesting things that caught my attention:
- The poll found that more people approve of U.S. Senator Jon Tester’s job performance than U.S. Senator Steve Daines. 42%-38%. Daines is up for reelection in 2026. Daines is doing a terrible job. His nose is up Donald Trump’s behind. I hope Daines is primaried by Matt Rosendale, Troy Downing, or Ryan Zinke.
- Tester and Tim Sheehy are tied. 43%-43%. Sid Daoud (L) has 4% and Robert Barb (G) has 2%. Will a third-party candidate help Tester narrowly win again?
- 75% think that there should be mandatory background checks in Montana prior to being able to purchase a gun. The gun nuts choked on that one!
- 60% approve of Constitutional Initiative 128 (Right to abortion). There are 25% who don’t approve and 10% are neutral.
There are 30 questions in the poll. Click HERE to read more.
MONTANA SHERIFFS & TESTER:
The MAGAs are all up in arms about several Montana Sheriffs not liking campaign ads for Jon Tester that tell about funding for their county.
With the whining of MAGA talk radio, MTN reported about the ads:
The ad boasts that Tester, a Democrat, secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for sheriff’s offices to hire officers and purchase equipment.
Those ads then include a photo of a patrol car specific to each county.
Sheriffs in several counties – including Park, Toole, Stillwater, Sweetgrass, Custer, Broadwater, Dawson, and Jefferson – have issued statements in recent days saying the ad implies that they have endorsed Tester, and that it was published without their consent, using photos obtained without their permission.
It does not mention any names for the endorsement and you can take a photo of any police car without their permission. They really should have tried harder when coming up with talking points.
If Steve Daines, a Republican, had done the same thing there wouldn’t have been anything said. I imagine these Sheriffs lean to the right.
Tester’s campaign responded:
“Jon knows that our first responders keep Montana’s rural communities safe, which is why he was proud to take feedback and input directly from law enforcement agencies across Montana and secure millions of dollars for local law enforcement in rural counties across the state. From hiring new police officers, to purchasing new equipment like bulletproof vests, to establishing task forces to tackle drug trafficking, Jon has fought to fund the needs of Montana’s first responders. Jon will always work with anyone to ensure Montana law enforcement has the resources they need to keep Montana the Last Best Place.”
They also posted a statement from Sheehy, but it was so awful I won’t post it here.
PAYMENT IN LIEU OF TAXES:
One sheriff from the story above talked about Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding and the sheriff wrote in his letter that the money would have come to the county regardless of who the senator was at that time.
That is not true.
Tester is a member of the Appropriations Committee that funds PILT. On March 9, 2024, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118–42), which appropriated full funding for PILT.
Tester voted for the bill (H.R. 4366 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024), and Daines voted against it. (Source)
The sheriffs should be thanking Tester, instead of trying to defeat him.
According to the Department of Interior:
PILT program eligibility is reserved for local governments (mostly rural counties) that contain nontaxable Federal lands and provide vital services for those lands, such as public safety, housing, social services, and transportation. Those jurisdictions provide significant support for national parks, wildlife refuges, and recreation areas throughout the year. PILT seeks to compensate local governments for their support and for forgoing tax revenue from those Federal lands. (Emphasis added)(Source)
When PILT is awarded many elected officials send out press releases announcing the funding. When Ryan Zinke was Interior Secretary, he brought checks to Montana. (Source) Search for PILT on Daines’ website and you’ll see several press releases.
This whole issue with the sheriffs is nothing but politics.
## THE END ##
The Western Word 
I have a feeling both Seals are in a much tighter race then it appeared couple weeks ago. I’m in Zinke’s district and have received several texts a day and 2 calls in last couple days from Zinke how great a Navy Seal he was. I hardly got anything for months from him until the polls showed Tranel within striking distance. Sheehy is now calling some of his former Seals liars regarding his lies about his wound. Sounds pretty desperate to me as his whole campaign was based on his “greatness” as a Navy Seal. The vicious cycle of lies has finally caught up to him. I don’t know at this late date will be enough to defeat him as MEGA voters seem to honor the person that tells the most lies.
When Trump wins are they going to say that Russia hacked the election?
https://x.com/0rf/status/1814290594241372349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1851021106385469822%7Ctwgr%5Ef9c364e7d49d37ffe52fafb34d07f7a8af7f4125%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fanodtothegods.com%2F
Both sides will complain about stolen elections if they lose. I think it’s a bullshit excuse.
We’ve got to start accepting the results or we may lose our Republic. -JmB
Gun polling questions I wish Mountain States would ask.
Do my kids have to go thru a background check when they inherit my guns?
Does the Government need to know exactly how many and what guns I have?
Send them a message. They might add it for next time.
As I remember the Mountain States poll comes out about a week before every election.
If you go back and check their record of predictions they’re not only always wrong, but biased toward Democrats.
A push poll, not a real one.
Polls don’t make “predictions” they are a snapshot of how those polled feel at the time of the poll. The same poll showed Tester winning by various margins in 2006, 2012, and 2018. He won. -JmB
Ok, MSP says Tester and Shady tied at 43%.
Let’s see who’s right next Tuesday.
That’s true. We will. I see Tester surging and Sheehy playing defense at this time. The lies are catching up to Sheehy. -JmB
I thought Shady was bankrupt.
Sounds like his business may be.
You thought wrong, Swede. He’s not bankrupt. He just bankrupted his company. He and his billionaire pals are modern day robber barons, and they don’t care who knows it. And they have enough cash to blow smoke up everyone’s dairy airs to make a grifter like Shady look like a cowboy! Truly an amazing feat. But to paraphrase Lincoln, you can fool MAGAs all the time! Easy peezy! Or some such.
https://endcitizensunited.org/latest-news/press-releases/icymi-shady-tim-sheehy-lied-about-business-success-raking-in-millions-as-company-bleeds-cash/
No no no. Shady himself is not bankrupt because he took the money and ran.
Remember those big bonuses Bridger gave him? And the nearly $4 million he got by using bond money raised for the company to buy an airplane from himself? Not to mention side businesses he sold.
Took the money and ran much like most of the $160 million of bonds that was raised using Gallatin County’s low interest municipal credit rating was used to pay off debt to existing private equity investors in New York, in a sort of ponzi scheme payoff to early invertors with later investors’ money. (Resulting now in a possible threat to Gallatin County’s credit rating, not to mention Bridger still has not yet delivered on the promised jobs and investments.)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/senate-candidate-tim-sheehys-firm-promised-jobs-montana-county-s-still-rcna176439
https://www.ft.com/content/2be8dcec-396e-4bc3-8f27-a7e324cc56c2
On a totally random topic …
Cascade County’s incumbent Republican legislators appear to be getting a (hopefully) inadvertent boost to their campaigns from the Cascade County Treasurer’s office this year: We won’t be getting our 2024 property tax bill before the election to remind us how these incumbents screwed us over in the last session.
Relatives in other counties have been receiving theirs but I haven’t got mine or even been able to check it online, so I emailed our office and asked about it. The answer was they will be late this year but hopefully mailed in the next few weeks. With adjusted due date.
It happens, I guess.
But even without the painful reminder we usually get just before election day people should not forget how our incumbent Republican legislators and governor shafted us, and vote to 86 every single one of them.
Great information. I will remember and vote accordingly! -JmB
Truly amazing that our twin seals want his moron as their commander in chief! They’re willing to ask young men and women to fight and die on behalf of a certifiable idiot and pervert. Ya gotta wonder just what kind of leaders they followed into battle!
https://crooksandliars.com/2024/10/jimmy-kimmel-makes-persuasive-case-against
I thought I’d post this because I guess I’d never realized just how much our poor rags-to-riches country boy outta stater Shady is really worth. How in the hell does that work? Legally I mean? Just what makes this ethically challenged carpet bagger productive enough to be worth that kind of wage? What is he producing? And how in the hell is that a Montana value?
And this is the guy that is gonna relate to your average Montanan? I suspect he hasn’t developed the Montana value of fair play, and an honest wage for an honest day’s work. Sumthin’ here stinks to high heaven. Nobody makes that kind of money without hard work and time and effort unless you’re screwing people over. Guess it has something to do with his corrupt private equity pals! Private equity is legalized theft, and it’s destroying our country. I’m sure they’ve got our best interests at heart!
Timmy is a pocket size senator, fitting nicely into some billions pocket! I don’t think that’s what we want/need!
From today’s Trib.
”His net worth is up to $290 million, according to his most recent financial disclosure. If elected, he would be one of the wealthiest members of Congress. Tester has a net worth of up to $6.5 million.”