There was a brief snippet in the Independent Record today about a Lewis and Clark couny growth planning meeting that caught my attention. The contentious topic? Outdoor advertising.
I definitely agree with the board members, who argued that signage in Helena is distracting and drives away tourists. I’ve often thought that, for a town built on summer tourism dollars and some quite interesting attractions downtown, it’s a tragedy that every entrance into the community is just like every other small town urban sprawl of obnoxious signs and lights.
It’s just hard to imagine that evening travelers would stay long in Helena, because the outskirts suggest a town that consists entirely of casinos and bars, all lit in hideous neon. As chair Marshall Gingery said, “All they tell me is, ‘How fast can I get to the next town to see something?”
Efforts to rebrand Helena aren’t going to bring more tourists? Does anyone even remember The West’s Learning Center for the Arts? Google certainly doesn’t. Making Helena appear like an attractive, unusual, and historical location—from the edges of the town in—just might.
I’ve been thinking this over all day, and just don’t get it. Why would Senator Tester think the best way to save six billion dollars would be to take benefits from those most impacted by the recession?
Tester says it makes sense to cut the $25 addition to unemployment checks because it was only meant to be temporary anyway.
He says it saves taxpayers money without "yanking the carpet out from under Americans who are looking for work."
It’s not only unnecessarily cruel to people who need the money, it doesn’t make economic sense. Unemployment benefits are excellent short-term stimulus:
An interesting group to target for imposing pain — workers who have lost their livelihood. Ironically, according to a National Employment Law Project report, “the Congressional Budget Office estimates that every dollar of UI benefits results in $1.90 of economic activity, making unemployment insurance one of the most effective forms of short-term stimulus.”
Disappointing and puzzling, to say the least.
Your Representative, hard at work today:
Unfortunately, many have decided to use this spill as an excuse to cut back our domestic energy production. That merely shifts energy production to foreign shores of the Middle East, Russia and Venezuela. No one wants a repeat of what happened in the Gulf, and the best chance of succeeding in that goal is to keep the energy production right here at home, where the will to protect the environment meets the technological ability to make it happen.”
Not to nitpick, but presumably, if the technological ability to prevent spills existed, the Gulf accident wouldn’t have happened.
Keep shilling for the oil industry, Dennis. After all, they certainly spill a fair amount of cash your way every year.
Dennis just can’t help himself. Under criticism from Senator Jon Tester for his curious decision to spend Election Day raising money from East Coast power brokers, Rehberg sent out a flunky to lie for him:
“It’s very difficult to be a leader who actually gets things done for Montana. It’s easy to attend fancy East Cost golf fundraisers on Election Day. That, by the way, is exactly where Congressman Rehberg was on Election Day.”
Rehberg’s campaign manager Tyler Matthews said earlier this week that Rehberg did stop by a friend’s fundraiser Tuesday, but also cast votes on the House floor, met with senior staff and attended a White House picnic thrown by President Barack Obama.
It’s interesting that Rehberg’s official schedule mentions neither the picnic nor the golf fundraiser. Maybe they couldn’t get this image on the House web site, detailing Rehberg’s plans to “stop by” for a visit.
It may be a small thing, but doesn’t Representative Rehberg owe Montanans at least enough respect to offer credible lies?
Let me see if I understand this. Representative Rehberg is opposed to seeking
earmarks that could benefit the Montanans he works for, calling the spending “wasteful,” but he doesn’t mind using federal funds to send those same voters glossy, full-color campaign advertisements in the mail?
This certainly isn’t new for Representative Rehberg, whose hypocrisy seems to know no bounds. In 2006, Rehberg spent an estimated $160,000 mailing dishonest puff pieces to constituents. Long time readers might remember my attempt to get removed from the mailing list to help the budget deficit. Just last week, Matt Singer reported on direct marketing e-mail he (and I, along with thousands) received just before the primary election, paid for by Congressional funds.
So we know Rehberg is a hypocrite who spent $125,266 on franking last year, with no doubt more to come this year. We also know that he is a dishonest hypocrite.
What does his informative mailer claim, other than providing links to his YouTube and Twitter page? A series of distortions, listed below the fold:
Keep Reading
Yesterday, Representative Rehberg took the opportunity to use a taxpayer-
funded spam operation to remind Montana voters about tomorrow’s election. What he neglected to do was to mention how he planned to spend election day:
Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) and Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) are hosting a golf tournament at the Country Club at Woodmore in Mitchellville, Md. Ticket prices are $1,500, $1,000, and $500.
I guess this is one of those “listening tours” to hear the views of the people of…uh…Maryland… he keeps talking about.
