Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/category/opinion/page/15/)
Yesterday, as every day, teachers called the names of more than 140,000 students, as they took attendance in Montana’s 821 public schools. For the thousands of children who file into our classrooms, school is more than a place to learn. In-school programs and practices ensure children across the state stay healthy, well fed, safe and enriched. (more…) Continue Reading →
In 2002, Mike Taylor was an up-and-coming Republican politician challenging Max Baucus for a Senate seat in Congress. Taylor’s wire-rimmed glasses and mustache called attention to his resemblance to Teddy Roosevelt, the Bullmoose war hero, explorer, rancher, president and all-around he-man. (more…) Continue Reading →
When I was a kid growing up, my stepfather often warned that I not let my “canary mouth override my alligator ass.” In other words, sometimes it’s a good idea to keep your opinions quiet and avoid biting off more than you can chew. I rarely listened, but it might have been good advice for the Missoulian, which is picking up the pieces today from its endorsement of congressional candidate Greg Gianforte on Sunday. The fallout over that endorsement caused a rapid backlash on social media and the cancellation of numerous subscriptions. (more…) Continue Reading →
You can tell a lot about what a nation values by looking at how it taxes different groups of people; are the rich favored over the middle class, for instance, or vice versa? You can also tell a lot about what group of people a candidate for office will represent by looking at his or her past stands on issues. Looking at U.S. House candidate Greg Gianforte’s past actions on Montana tax legislation, it appears he is most concerned with representing a small, select group of taxpayers, including himself. (more…) Continue Reading →
U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., recently introduced a bill in Congress at the behest of a group of mountain biking proponents that would eviscerate the 1964 Wilderness Act and allow bicycles in every wilderness in the nation. (more…) Continue Reading →
Seven years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and more than six months after the election of a repeal-and-replace majority in Washington, the health care quarrel remains unresolved. And now it’s leaking into Montana’s special congressional election. Here’s why. Most Montanans believe in universal health care; many of them don’t want to admit it, though, and most don’t realize that they’re already paying for it. (more…) Continue Reading →
What separates Greg Gianforte from the rest of us? Geography, issues and wealth. Montana is large and diverse: 144,000 square miles, 56 counties, 537 unincorporated towns and communities, 130 incorporated cities and towns, and 118,405 businesses (3078 large; 115,326 small). At the same time, Montana has only three members of Congress to represent our wide social, economic and geographic diversity. (more…) Continue Reading →
One hundred years ago this summer in Butte, labor organizer Frank Little was, as his tombstone reminds us, “slain by capitalist interests for organizing and inspiring his fellow men.” So it was fitting that the Enemy of the People gathered last weekend in Butte to organize and inspire each other. (more…) Continue Reading →
Albert Alligator, self-styled star of the long-running comic strip Pogo, once said this in response to an election frustration: “I tell you, it’s enough to make a man think before he votes.”
To which Howland Owl replied, “Don’t go flying off the handle, now.” (more…) Continue Reading →
The 65th Montana legislative session is over and 150 citizen legislators will be returning to the life they had before the session began last January—sort of. It is “sort of” because, whatever they do in real life, they will be constantly thinking of issues they considered in the legislative session, and, one hopes, also continuously acting in the best interests of the people they represent. (more…) Continue Reading →
