In a groundbreaking verdict that has sent shockwaves through gun control circles, a U.S. District Court judge in California made a bold stand for Second Amendment rights. What’s more, in the process, he served a scorching rebuke to “Firearms Expert” Ryan Busse, a senior advisor for the Giffords gun control organization and candidate for Montana’s Read More…
There is a huge difference between true caring and indignant self-righteousness, a fact that the mayors of many sanctuary cities are now learning. It’s one thing to climb up on your soap box and declare that immigration makes communities stronger when you have no idea what you’re talking about. The truth is that these cities Read More…
Of course, we all hope that the outcome of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial will turn on the merits of the case. But even as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said, this is a political trial and the jurors are politicians, so there can be no illusion that the political calculus will not Read More…
A recent study found that using social media was unrelated to long-term mental health problems in Norwegian youth. One well-intentioned scholar suggested that doomsayers proclaiming that social media is causing suicide and other mental health problems in youth would need to “reckon” with this new study. To which I replied, in effect, they would do no such thing. As Read More…
“Never Trump” is a house divided. Some of the conservatives and former Republicans who oppose President Donald Trump have decided that it’s not enough for his tenure in office to end. All officials who “enabled” him must be ousted, “Trumpism” must be repudiated, and today’s Republican Party must be burned to the ground. Others say that while Trump Read More…
Sometimes, the facts of a case have an emotional appeal in addition to a strong constitutional basis. Espinoza v. Montana certainly qualifies. Kendra Espinoza, a hard-working (three jobs) and determined single mom, decided to take her two daughters out of the local public schools and enroll them in Stillwater Christian School in Kalispell, Montana. She explained that she “wanted Read More…
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is not the revolutionary that conservative activists want him to be. He moves slower than they want, sides with liberals more than they want, and trims his sails in ways they find maddening. But he is still deeply and unmistakably conservative, pulling the law to the right — at his Read More…
In the last 20 years, Senate candidates have tended to win or lose in tandem with the presidential candidates of their party. For the Republicans trying to hold their control of the Senate in 2020, that may be a mixed blessing. President Trump — whether he wins or loses his own re-election bid — will have a Read More…
‘The people themselves are primarily responsible for their safety.’ Pierre, South Dakota — The coronavirus crisis hasn’t been kind to the reputations of many governors. New York’s Andrew Cuomo held effective news conferences that at first burnished his image, but he’s now ducking responsibility for sending virus patients back into nursing homes where the disease promptly Read More…
Local control is returning to our school districts! During these unprecedented times, as the state superintendent, I have made strong recommendations to the governor to honor local control and flexibility for our schools. The governor’s new directive for a phased reopening of our state includes that education decisions should be made by local school trustees Read More…
According to The New York Times coronavirus report, as of Sunday, April 19, 2:48 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, there were 35,676 COVID-19 deaths in the United States. Of those deaths, 18,690 were in the New York metropolitan area. (The New York metropolitan area is generally regarded as consisting of the five boroughs of New York Read More…
It was no secret that Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana has an oversized ego. He’s the guy who promised he was going to “take our democracy back” when he announced his disastrous presidential bid in May. Instead, he took a shellacking and exited the Democratic nomination battle with the same “less than 1%” support in Read More…
Mar. 9 marked the filing deadline for public office in Montana. Three seats are up for reelection on the Republican-dominated Public Service Commission. The commission sets customer rates and approves new power, water and legacy telecommunications projects. In southeast Montana, two Republicans are challenging Commissioner Tony O’Donnell’s incumbency. State representative Daniel Zolnikov and former PSC Read More…
Greg Gianforte just made a strong decision in selecting Kristen Juras as his lieutenant governor for Montana. Juras is a fourth-generation Montana native. She is a strong conservative who supports traditional family values, private property ownership, preserving Second Amendment rights, limited government, lower taxes, individual freedom and free enterprise economics. She is a perfect complement Read More…
The Justice Department announced Friday that it is closing its investigation of Andrew McCabe, the FBI’s former deputy director, over his false statements to investigators probing an unauthorized leak that McCabe had orchestrated. McCabe was fired in March 2018, shortly after a blistering Justice Department inspector general (IG) report concluded that he repeatedly and blatantly lied — or, as Read More…
It’s getting embarrassing at this point. The Left’s darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is supposed to be ready to redesign the world with her Green New Deal, can’t stop putting her foot in her mouth and betraying her own ignorance. The latest own-goals from the New York Democrat and proud member of the Democratic Socialists Read More…
On Dec. 10, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) argued against confirming Lawrence VanDyke to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Doing so, he said, would depart from “bedrock principles that once guided the exercise of the Senate’s constitutional duty to advise and consent” on the president’s nominations. Blumenthal neglected to mention some important information that puts Read More…
The case against Michael Bloomberg’s presidential run seems strong. He’s a political chameleon, who went from Democrat to Republican (in order to find a place on the New York City ballot in 2001) to Independent to Democrat (again). He spent a lot of money in politics. Some of it helping Republicans, such as Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Read More…
For years Montana values have been under attack by liberal Democratic governors in Helena. They impose their radical agendas on the state, and Montana becomes less and less the state we all know and love. In November 2020, we need to put a stop to this. We need to elect strong conservatives up and down Read More…
In a vacuum, the case to impeach President Trump is straightforward. He used presidential powers for his private, political gain. If further investigation corroborates the facts already known, then Trump committed an obvious abuse of power that many members of Congress will view as impeachable — and perhaps many more would if the party labels Read More…
For four terms I served at the Montana Legislature representing HD 36. One thing has become obvious; conservative legislation can be vetoed by a liberal governor. For eight years there has been conservative legislation passed by the House and Senate, but the measures were dead on arrival at the governor’s desk. In 2020 we are Read More…
All panics begin with a rational fear that quickly turns dangerously irrational. A threat is identified. The danger posed by the threat is amplified by speculation. Worst case scenarios are obsessed about, and action is demanded. Discussion of unseen consequences are discouraged. Skepticism of the threat is met with suspicion or anger. The current panic Read More…
For four terms I served at the Legislature and one thing has become obvious: liberal governors veto conservative legislation. For eight years conservative legislation has passed the House and Senate but are dead on arrival at the governor’s desk. In 2020 we have the best opportunity in 16 years to take back the Governor’s Read More…
Where is Montana Attorney General Tim Fox these days? I have attempted to contact his office three times in the past month regarding a complaint I filed against a Montana Highway Patrol trooper back in July, but Fox’s silence has been deafening. After forwarding my complaint up the MHP chain of command without resolution, Read More…
Last week, freshman Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortz (a.k.a. AOC) decided to jump into the issue of New York City taxi drivers and the financial problems they’ve been facing in the era of the gig economy. Even though she’s a federal elected official, I don’t knock her for entering the debate since many of her constituents are Read More…
If you’ve been paying attention to the news, it’s clear that the 2020 election cycle is upon us. This includes our own governor’s race. For the last 16 years, we have sent a Democrat to Helena, to be our state’s chief executive, and the results have been clear. A less than stellar economy which causes Read More…
Last summer, a group of the country’s largest telecom providers, including CenturyLink, filed a petition with the Republican-led Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, D.C., to cut off access competitive broadband providers have to portions of their networks. Independent broadband providers like Blackfoot Communications rely on portions of CenturyLink’s network to provide network connections to Read More…
The gold leaf Hamptons in New York are about as far as one can get from Helena in Montana. In the Hamptons, it is all about Christian Louboutin sandals. In Helena, cowboy boots are more likely. In the Hamptons, a haircut can cost a small fortune. In Helena, well, see Jon Tester. This past Saturday, Read More…
Montana – -(AmmoLand.com)- Despite intense pressure from the media and the D.C. Establishment, he’s not budging in his opposition to proposed “red flag” gun grabs and expanded background checks. “These horrible tragedies should not be politicized to advance a political agenda,” he says. “Knee-jerk reactions and more gun laws are not the solution. I stand strongly Read More…
The tourism industry in Montana is booming and it’s easy to understand why. Montana is the best place to explore over a million acres of wilderness filled with glacier-carved terrain, crystal clear rivers, and 400-foot waterfalls all in between breathtaking mountain ranges. The sightseeing alone draws millions to the state every year. During the winter, Read More…
While California may have a population nearly forty times greater than Montana, utility consumers are still subject to the same vulnerabilities. With current technology, the best way to protect utility customers from an energy shortage is through an increase in available, reliable, baseload power. Out-of-state and foreign interests are applying increased pressure on lawmakers, Read More…
They said it couldn’t be done. A Liberian refugee who escaped a civil war could never be elected to office. And certainly couldn’t do it in Montana. They do not know Montana. They do not know America. Where if you dream, and if you work hard, anything is possible. I may not look or Read More…
There is little less unifying than our collective hate of robocalls. It’s a bipartisan issue, and unwanted calls, by far, elicit the most complaints to the Federal Communications Commission. I often receive as many robocalls over the course of a day as regular calls. And, in recent months, it has only gotten worse. For everyone. Read More…
The 66th legislative session is completed. I was humbled by the opportunity to serve the citizens of Flathead County in my first session. Now that the session is over, it is right and proper that I detail for my constituents my observations. Montana, like America throughout its history, has a two-party political system. Since Read More…
The last time I saw Mark Zuckerberg was in the summer of 2017, several months before the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke. We met at Facebook’s Menlo Park, Calif., office and drove to his house, in a quiet, leafy neighborhood. We spent an hour or two together while his toddler daughter cruised around. We talked politics Read More…
The biggest disappointment of the recent legislative session was the failure of lawmakers to pass a new tax to help fund education. Blame it all on the Senate. Rep. Jerry Obermueller (R-Casper) sponsored a corporate income tax and the House passed it by a wide margin. The upper chamber, however, was too intimidated by big Read More…
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, who will be term-limited next year, ended speculation about his future a few weeks ago by announcing his candidacy for governor in 2020. What some are still wondering, however, is which party’s banner Fox will ultimately fly. Especially after yesterday. Fox ran as a Republican in his prior AG races Read More…
As speaker of the House, it is a goal of mine to have unity within the Republican Caucus and a positive working relationship with the minority party. At the halfway point of the 66th legislative session, we are hitting those marks. Another goal of this session, was to put the K-12 funding bill on the Read More…
For a decade or more, our Montana Legislature has grappled with the increasing need to renovate both Romney Hall on the Montana State campus in Bozeman and the Montana Historical Society museum facility in Helena. A compelling case has been made for both these projects, but they have repeatedly come up just short of Read More…
A White House staffer leaked President Donald Trump’s private schedules to Axios on Sunday, and the documents revealed some eye-opening details about the president’s day. For one, Trump spends the bulk of his workdays in “executive time” — unstructured blocks of time that make up 60% of his working hours. According to Axios, Trump spends Read More…
This week the governor gave an address in which he outlined his plan to tax and spend on the backs of working Montana families. He would like to cushion his state checkbook to the tune of $300 million by taking $150 million from Montanans’ checking accounts and putting it into his state checking account. Montanans Read More…
In November, Montana’s voters rejected renewal of the Medicaid-expansion welfare program (hereinafter “MedEx”), consigning its fate to the Legislature in the 2019 session. Even though the subject may sound boring, taxpayers should pay close attention these next few months, since big money is at stake and the program dis-incentivizes work and self-sufficiency. Medicaid itself Read More…
As former House Speakers and Senate Presidents of the Montana Legislature, we question the wisdom of making significant changes to the rules of operation in the Montana House. Currently, there is a group of legislators trying to change the House rules. One of the proposed changes would allow a simple majority (51 members) to “blast” Read More…
Montana appears well down the road to becoming a one-party Republican, deeply conservative state, like the states that surround us. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s survival was an anomaly best explained by his personal popularity and his opponent’s weakness. In the late 1960s and ’70s, when I was first cutting my teeth in politics, Read More…