Welcome to Friday! Here are the topics that caught my eye for today’s column:

• Operation Epic Fury
• Cascade County Shenanigans
• Federally Dependent States
• AAA Fuel Prices
• One More Thing

OPERATION EPIC FURY:

U.S. Central Command is aware of the loss of a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft. The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing. Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely. This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire. (Source)

Please join me in praying for the KC-135 crew. 

CASCADE COUNTY SHENANIGANS:

The Montana Free Press (MTFP) is reporting that Republican and Democratic political leaders in Cascade County allege that two candidates running as Democrats are not really Democrats, but Republicans trying to “game” the upcoming election for the Montana Legislature. 

Dirty politics and playing political games in Cascade County? Sacrebleu!

The MTFP identifies the two candidates as James Whitaker and Mark Winters, who publicly identified themselves as Republicans in the past but, in interviews with Montana Free Press, denied allegations this week that they are trying to bamboozle Democratic voters. 

Earlier, it was reported by MTFP that two formerly active Libertarian Party members, Kevin Leatherbarrow and Tony Rosales, have filed to run for two legislative seats as Republicans. It was also noted that Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki announced last year that he was changing alliances from Democrat to Republican, and he’s running for reelection under the GOP banner this year. Many people will remember that Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter switched from being a Democrat to a Republican. 

I have no respect for careerists who swap parties just to save their seats.

Don’t let party-switchers play you for a fool. Voters need to do their own research.

FEDERALLY DEPENDENT STATES: 

WalletHub released a report about the “Most & Least Federally Dependent States.” 

WalletHub compared all 50 states using three key metrics: the return on federal taxes paid, the share of federal jobs, and federal funding as a percentage of state revenue.

Alaska was ranked the most dependent, while New Jersey was the least.

Montana was ranked as the 10th most dependent state. 

WalletHub reports that blue states are less federally dependent than red states. 

You can see the full report HERE. 

AAA FUEL PRICES:

Just before posting, I checked the AAA Fuel Prices website, and the national average price for a gallon of gas was $3.59. A month ago, it was $2.94. 

In Montana, the average price for a gallon of gas was $3.22. A month ago, it was $2.75. (Source)

ONE MORE THING:

I hired a kid to paint my porch. When he came back to get paid, he said, “By the way, that was a BMW, not a Porsche.” 

## BE CAREFUL OUT THERE ##