As a first-term representative in Congress from Montana, Steve Daines ranks pretty low in seniority in the U.S. House. That means he does not have a lot of say in the committees on which he serves. When the leaders of those committees do throw him a crumb, he has to do his best with what they give him. In other words, Daines has to sell it to his constituents.

I do have to applaud Daines because when he was interviewed on the Voices of Montana radio show about a U.S. House field hearing scheduled in Billings (MT) Wednesday afternoon, he seemed very excited. He was downright giddy.

This committee field hearing is so huge a deal that Daines is using taxpayer funds to advertise it on the radio.

So what is this important committee hearing about? Is it about Syria? Nope. Is it about Veterans health care and the massive backlog of claims? Nope. Military benefits? Nope. Is it about Obamacare? Nope. Is it about the national debt? Nope. Is it about wildfires? Nope.

These are very important issues, but apparently they don’t stack up to the Greater Sage-Grouse – the Greater Sage-Grouse.   Continue reading →