Welcome to May! Here are the topics for today’s column:

• Montana Legislature Ends
• April 30, 1975
• Democrats’ Tariff Resolution
• One More Thing

MONTANA LEGISLATURE ENDS:

Thankfully, the 69th Montana Legislature (also called a “circus” here at The Western Word) has ended. Now we get to hear how hard they worked and how the nine GOP state senators ruined everything. 

It was mostly a clown show. If the Republicans are going to control the legislature, they should look for better leaders. 

Two bills passed that stand out to me. The first was a bill called “Bobby’s Law,” which increased the penalties for drunk driving fatalities. The other was HB 551, which would set aside $600,000 in the state budget annually and would be used to cover the co-payment price for families that qualify for reduced-price school meals under federal guidelines. (Source) Supposedly, HB 551 is awaiting the governor’s signature. (Source)

I am sure there are other bills that I liked.  

I was impressed with the nine Republican state senators who put their constituents ahead of their party.  They were rebuked by the Republican State Central Committee. (Source)

Now it’s up to Governor Greg Gianforte to sign or veto bills, and then it will be up to the courts to decide which bills are constitutional. A lot of taxpayer money has been wasted in the past because the MAGA-controlled legislature passed unconstitutional bills. I look for that trend to continue. 

Here are some articles about the end of the session (Click on the name):

Lee Newspapers. NBC Montana. Daily Montanan. Montana Free Press.

APRIL 30, 1975:

It was 50 years ago, on April 30, 1975, that the Vietnam War ended. Here is an excerpt from an article in Wednesday’s New York Times:

A scratchy prerecorded message crackled over American Armed Forces radio in Saigon 50 years ago, repeating that the temperature was “105 degrees and rising,” and then playing a 30-second excerpt from the song “White Christmas.”

It was a secret signal to begin emergency evacuation. After about 15 years of fighting, $140 billion in military spending and 58,220 American lives lost, the last American foothold in Saigon was falling. The Vietnam War was ending. Or was it?

58,220 lives lost. So sad.

CBS News has posted some reports about the end of the war. One is called “Remembering the fall of Saigon” and can be viewed HERE. Another report, called “Looking back at the fall of Saigon 50 years later,” can be viewed HERE. 

Thank you to all who served. Welcome home. 

DEMOCRATS’ TARIFF RESOLUTION:

The Associated Press (AP) and other sources reported that Senate Republicans narrowly voted down a Democratic resolution Wednesday that would have blocked global tariffs announced by Donald Trump earlier this month, giving the president a modest win as lawmakers in both parties have remained skeptical of his trade agenda.

Montana’s two Republican U.S. Senators, Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy, voted against the resolution. (Source)

ONE MORE THING: 

Sometimes I feel down, but then I remember I could have been born with an IQ low enough to think Trump is amazing. 

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