• Written by: PogieMay 11th, 2008
• Comments:7 Comments
• Category:Civil Liberties, Corporate America, Health Care, Max Baucus
• Rating:
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Senator Baucus certainly deserves credit for one thing. Being able to make this remark to a reporter about increasing access to health care without bursting into laughter must have taken a remarkable degree of self-control:

“I want the Finance Committee to be ready, to be ahead of the curve,” he said. “That’s why I’ve begun hearings, getting the facts out, pushing the edge of the envelope.”

As much as I’d like to believe that Senator Baucus is truly interested in protecting the the 47 million Americans without health insurance, I have to admit that it crossed my mind as I read the piece that Senator Baucus might just be saying this because he is running for re-election. After all, hasn’t he had a few decades in Washington on the Finance Committee to make this happen?

No, instead of being ahead of the curve on universal health care, he’s chosen to be ahead of the curve on incredibly irresponsible tax cuts, Medicare giveaways to giant pharmaceuticals, and protecting the economic interests of struggling farmers to make millions every year. While there certainly have been some positive steps from Senator Baucus, like his work on the SCHIP program, no one can seriously believe that he can be at the forefront of ensuring universal access to health care.

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Popularity: 28% [?]

• Written by: PogieMay 10th, 2008
• Comments:3 Comments
• Category:Education, Shameless Self-Promotion
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If for no other reason than to enjoy the inevitable torrent of scathing comments that will no doubt soon appear, you might enjoy a little piece I wrote about education funding  appearing in today’s Billings Gazette.

Popularity: 31% [?]

• Written by: PogieMay 8th, 2008
• Comments:2 Comments
• Category:2008 Election, John McCain, US Politics
• Rating:
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Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I found this NBC interview of Cindy McCain to simply be too much. How can we ask the spouses of candidates to undergo grilling like this? No one deserves to face questions this challenging:

“What drives you to reach out to do so much? Adopt a child, reach out to all these different nations, care about Myanmar?” Curry asked. “And what does it say about what you might do as first lady?”

It’s going to be a long fall, folks.

Popularity: 38% [?]

• Written by: Bob FunkMay 7th, 2008
• Comments:2 Comments
• Category:2008 Election, Barack Obama, Dave Freudenthal, Hillary Clinton, The West
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Governor Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming will be coming to Billings this Saturday to “debate” Bill Clinton on behalf of Obama, who he endorsed last month. I’m interested in this event because I think western values may be a focal point of the discussion;

Freudenthal endorsed Obama a month ago, saying that Obama’s intelligence and command of Western issues impressed him.

I would really like to hear what both Clinton and Freudenthal have to say on this issue. Which candidate really is better for the west?

Popularity: 55% [?]