Obamacare

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Zinke’s early votes not encouraging

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Crisp

During his run for Montana’s U.S. House seat, Ryan Zinke often seemed uncertain about exactly what positions he held. That’s a bad trait in a candidate but not necessarily in a congressman. Issues before Congress can be complicated, and remaining open to evidence is more helpful than going to Washington with a closed mind. So it was reasonable to hope that now-Rep. Zinke would prove a more flexible and pragmatic House member than his predecessor. But early returns are not encouraging. Continue Reading →

Filed under: From the Outpost, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Commonwealth Fund, IRS, Obamacare, Ryan Zinke

From the Outpost: On stupid voters (present company excepted)

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Jonathan Gruber got himself—and the Obama administration—into trouble last week when a tape surfaced in which he referred to the “stupidity of the American voter.”

The context made it worse. Mr. Gruber, an economist at MIT who had a hand in writing the Affordable Care Act, praised lack of transparency about the bill and said that it was written in a “tortured way” so the Congressional Budget Office would not score the individual mandate as a tax. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Annenberg Public Policy Center, Glenn Beck, Joe Wilson, Jonathan Gruber, Obamacare, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity

From the Outpost: With Curtis, at least a sliver of hope

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Regular readers of this irregularly filled space know that I am no fan of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Daines. I have written columns:

* Criticizing his foolish and un-American bill that would tie congressional pay to balancing the budget. Why un-American? Because the bill would allow millionaires like Daines to hold hostage for partisan ends the paychecks of middle-class representatives like his Democratic opponent, Amanda Curtis. It’s a dumb idea, and the fact that a Democrat, John Lewis, argues that members of Congress shouldn’t get paid unless they pass a budget doesn’t make it any smarter. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, News, Amanda Curtis, John Lewis, John Walsh, Obamacare, Steve Daines, U.S. Senate

From the Outpost: An opening for long-shot Lewis

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I just about dropped what’s left of my teeth when I saw on Sunday that the Billings Gazette had endorsed John Lewis for the U.S. House over Ryan Zinke. Zinke seemed to be the natural pick in this race: tons of experience, some of it relevant; an unflappable public presence; a history of edging toward moderation. Even the Butte Weekly, a Democratic-leaning newspaper in a Democratic-leaning town, has endorsed Zinke, a Republican. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, News, Billings Gazette, Butte Weekly, John Lewis, New Republic, Obamacare, Ryan Zinke

House debate unlikely to have swayed many voters

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If the purpose of a political debate is to change voters’ minds, then Monday’s U.S. House debate at Montana State University Billings was a clear draw. It’s hard to imagine that any minds changed after a debate in which Republican Ryan Zinke and Democrat John Lewis seemed to agree at least at often as they disagreed. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, News, Darrell Ehrlick, John Lewis, Obamacare, Paul Ryan, Ryan Zinke, U.S. House

From the Outpost: Nothing conservative about Daines

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Now that John Walsh has dropped his campaign to become elected to the U.S. Senate, we still have a chance to elect a real conservative this fall. I don’t mean Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont. Daines’ brief tenure in the U.S. House has offered abundant evidence that he is not really conservative at all. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, Billings Outpost, creationism, David Crisp, Obamacare, Rep. Steve Daines, Sen. John Walsh

From the Outpost: Waiting for answers from Rep. Daines

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David Crisp

We’re used to minor exaggerations and inaccuracies in political ads. When Matt Rosendale releases an ad showing himself shooting down a “government drone,” no one seriously thinks he is proposing that citizens destroy the nation’s chief weapon in the war on terror. In fact, no one can be sure he thinks seriously at all. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, Corey Stapleton, Gayla Wing, Matt Rosendale, Obamacare, Rep. Steve Daines