Hello! Here are the topics for today’s column:
- Gianforte’s Flat Income Tax
- Happiest States
- Trump’s Recollection
- NFL Kickoff
- One More Thing
GIANFORTE’S FLAT INCOME TAX:
When I see the Republican establishment and its donor networks fully rally behind a single concept, it makes me skeptical.
According to a press release from Republican Governor Greg Gianforte, he joined the Mountain States Policy Center (MSPC) to announce the Flat. Fair. Montana. campaign, a statewide initiative to promote a flat income tax rate of 4.7 percent. Flat. Fair. Montana. is a project of MSPC, focused on making Montana’s individual income tax system simpler, more transparent, and more competitive.
According to reporting from the Montana Free Press (MTFP), the proposal also drew criticism from two Democratic lawmakers who focus on tax policy, Rep. Mark Thane, D-Missoula, and Sen. Dave Fern, D-Whitefish. In a written statement co-published with Fern, Thane called Gianforte’s pitch a “tax break for the wealthiest income earners.”
It was also reported by MTFP that Rose Bender, director of research for the Montana Budget and Policy Center, a nonprofit that has been critical of Gianforte’s tax policies in the past, denounced Gianforte’s proposal Tuesday.
“The Governor’s push to further cut Montana’s top income tax rate will result in a significant tax cut to the wealthiest 5 percent, the same individuals already benefiting from past tax breaks,” Bender wrote in a statement.
So yes, I am skeptical.
The Daily Montanan also covered the proposal HERE.
HAPPIEST STATES:
With a recent Gallup poll showing only 44% of Americans are “very satisfied” with the way their life is going, the personal-finance company WalletHub released its report on the Happiest States in America in 2026, as well as expert commentary, to identify the places that create the best conditions for life satisfaction.
WalletHub compared the 50 states across 30 key indicators of happiness. The data set ranges from the depression rate and the share of adults feeling productive to income growth and the unemployment rate.
Montana was rated #30. Check out the whole report HERE.
TRUMP’S RECOLLECTION:
During his September 8, 2026, White House Ellipse address, Donald Trump claimed that two firefighters physically lifted and carried him away from a building near Ground Zero in the days following the September 11 attacks. (Source)
“I’ll never forget two firemen. We thought it was coming down on top of us, and two firemen—big, strong guys—and I’m not the smallest guy in the world—they grabbed me under the arms, said, ‘Gotta get out of here.’ And they literally lifted me up… They lifted me up and they started running with me. I said, ‘Fellas, I can run myself.’ But they were amazing…”
Journalists, biographers, and former New York City police and fire officials have heavily disputed this account.
Former FDNY officials and investigative records have found no contemporaneous evidence or logs verifying that Trump was rushed away by emergency workers or that he brought a large construction crew to help clear rubble. (Source)
While there was brief, unfounded panic among rescue workers regarding One Liberty Plaza’s stability in the days after the attacks, Trump was interviewed outdoors nearby on September 13, 2001, and made no mention of being personally swept up or carried away at the time. (Source)
This is just nothing but another lie.
NFL KICKOFF:
Get ready! The NFL season starts tonight (Wednesday) with the New England Patriots playing against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. The game will be broadcast on NBC.
On Thursday, the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams play each other in Melbourne, Australia. This game is being televised on Netflix.
You can see the rest of the schedule HERE.
ONE MORE THING:
If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me. -Alice Roosevelt Longworth
## THE END ##
This just in. Looks like the “Independent” scheme in the senate race is falling on its face.
Late August poll from Peak Insights has Alme at 44%, Bonar at 22%, Bankhead at 19%.
Tester pushed this strategy on Montanas, a failed candidate with failed ideas.
Not a surprise. The plan, if there was one, did not work. Nobody dropped out. The secret deal to get Alme elected will probably succeed. People were mad about the Daines/Alme deal, but not mad enough, I guess. -JmB
Adopting a flat income tax of 4.7% would reduce state revenue by $100 million a year. I agree with Terry that the Republicans will want to balance that out with a sales tax.
Thanks. Maybe a reporter will ask Gianforte how the flat rate will affect him. -JmB
Some state legislators have noted that the previous session state income tax cuts have already jeopardized future state revenues. Another income tax cut for the remaining small percentage of highest earners (such as Gianforte, Daines, Sheehy, Downing, etc.) would only make that worse, necessitating the eventual creation of another revenue source. That new source would be sales tax. They are already starting to talk about it.
Their end game tax shift scheme from income to sales is nothing more than a plan to shift some portion of the overall tax burden off those who are best able to afford taxes (the basis of “progressive taxation”) and down the food chain onto the poorest Montanans, those who are least able to afford taxes. This would include everyone earning moderate pay who currently pays the lower of the two income tax rates and hit especially hard those earning low pay and everyone on fixed incomes like seniors and the disabled. There’s no escaping sales tax because you’re not paid squat. You pay them at the Dollar Store, and Walmart, and on Internet purchases. Everywhere. Even on food in many states.
This is a proposal that would benefit only a small percentage of the highest earning and wealthiest Montanans, and illustrates perfectly where Republican priorities lie – and that’s not with regular working people struggling with affordability as it is.
Great points. Thank you. -JmB