2012 Senate Race

Rehberg Should Focus on the Common Sense of the Tester Proposal, Not Dollars and Cents

by Don Pogreba on February 10, 2012 · 2 comments

in 2012 Senate Race, Denny Rehberg, Jon Tester

I’ve been thinking more about Erik Iverson’s response to Senator Tester’s proposal for a ceasefire to limit the amount of money spent by unaccountable third parties in the Montana Senate race.

Iverson, who has been running Rehberg’s campaigns and/or Congressional office for years, told The Hill:

“This is certainly an interesting proposal by Senator Tester,” Rehberg Campaign Manager Erik Iverson responded. “We are going to give it a close look and we will respond in due course.”

While I’d like to believe that Iverson’s quote means that the campaign has had a lengthy discussion about the merits of third party ads in  a representative democracy, another scenario seems far more likely: that Iverson has been calling up a lot of “uncoordinated” political groups like the one run by Karl Rove to find out just how much money they can expect to be spent attacking and distorting Senator Tester’s record.

Instead of looking for a way to improve the quality of our elections, I fear they’re looking for loopholes and evaluating the bottom line.

This shouldn’t be calculation based on dollars and cents; it should be an ethical calculation about the kind of political future Rehberg wants for Montana.

And the truth is that Rehberg shouldn’t need time to “respond in due course.”  As Tester pointed out in his letter, Representative Rehberg told the Flathead Beacon he was uncomfortable with third party ads and wanted full disclosure—and as a Montanan, he should know just how pernicious the influence of outside money has been on our political system.

Massachusetts also proves that even the most intensely partisan races can do better than to allow deceptive, unaccountable attack ads to decide elections.

Rehberg still has a few hours to do the right thing—not just for himself and Senator Tester, but for the state. There’s no reason that Montana, which is already leading the fight against undocumented expenditures in state races, can’t set a model for the rest of the nation in federal races.

Montanans expect—and deserve—a tough race between two candidates who clearly view the world quite differently from one another. Tester’s proposal offers the candidates the chance to win or lose this election on the merits of their ideas and their critiques of each other in a direct, tough, honest fight.

Isn’t that really the Montana way?

Senator Tester Stands for Women’s Health

by Don Pogreba on February 3, 2012 · 33 comments

in 2012 Senate Race, Montana Politics

Good for Senator Tester, better for women:

For the past five years, grants to local affiliates of Planned Parenthood have been an important part of Planned Parenthood’s work to protect women from breast cancer. Komen funding for Planned Parenthood has provided nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams and resulted in 6,400 referrals for mammograms. In 2011 alone, grants from Komen provided Planned Parenthood with roughly $650,000 in funding for breast cancer prevention, screening, and education. According to a recent statement by Komen, “In some areas of the U.S., our affiliates have determined a Planned Parenthood clinic to be the best or only local place where women can receive breast health care.”
It would be tragic if any woman —let alone thousands of women — lost access to these potentially life-saving screenings because of a politically motivated attack.
We earnestly hope that you will put women’s health before partisan politics and reconsider this decision for the sake of the women who depend on both your organizations for access to the health care they need.
The letter is signed by Senators Lautenberg, Murray, Mikulski, Boxer, Cantwell, Gillibrand, Menendez, Wyden, Blumenthal, Shaheen, Begich, merkley, Tester, Akaka, Sanders, (Sherrod) Brown, Leahy, Baucus, Cardin, Feinstein, Franken, and Kerry.

That relatively conservative senators like Begich and Tester signed the letter is testament to how broad the opposition to this decision has really become.

Rehberg the “Rancher” Is Out of Touch with Reality of Montana Farmers and Ranchers

by Don Pogreba on February 2, 2012 · 17 comments

in 2012 Senate Race, Denny Rehberg, Montana Politics

All hat, no cashmere goats. That’s the only possible explanation for the out-of touch remarks6437358163_5082a5de9a_m made by Representative Rehberg when he suggested that there is no danger in agricultural work.

Rehberg, a six-term congressman who’s running to unseat Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), said he’s a fifth-generation Montana rancher whose great grandfather, born in 1873, started breaking horses at age 11. Rehberg said he has “taken all the glamour” out of his ranching operation. “I don’t rope and I don’t tie and I don’t brand with a hot iron,” he went on, adding that he uses modern equipment that he said is virtually incapable of hurting children.

“You can’t get hurt,” Rehberg fumed. “It’s impossible. You could have a five-year-old out there running it.”

Rehberg’s right, of course, when it comes to his version of ranching, which no doubt involves a lot of hired help planning driveways on the land his great-grandfather broke horses on.

Of course, the reality for those who aren’t farming subdivisions is a bit more complicated and dangerous. In fact, according to the Department of Labor, working in agriculture is the 4th most deadly profession in the United States. All of us who work and live in Montana know people who’ve been seriously hurt or even killed on our farms and ranches—and appreciate the dangers and sacrifices those jobs entail.

It’s a critical—and dangerous job, as Representative Rehberg should know:

The Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) notes that the fatality rate for agricultural workers who are 15 to 17 years of age is 4.4 times greater than the risk for the average worker in that age range. The most common cause of agricultural deaths among young workers is farm machinery, with tractors involved in over half of the fatalities.
“Many tragic and unnecessary accidents involving children employed in agriculture never make the national news, but result in significant harm to the lives of those children and their families,” Leppink said.

For Rehberg to suggest that farmers and ranchers “can’t get hurt” demonstrates just how little connection he has to the land he once pretended to farm and to the people who really work that land.

Rehberg’s defense of agriculture might make a good sound bite in an election year, but it’s certainly telling that he doesn’t understand the real dangers faced by people he pretends to be one of.

Tester and Rehberg on Citizens United

by Don Pogreba on January 30, 2012 · 37 comments

in 2012 Senate Race, Denny Rehberg, Jon Tester, Montana Politics

Senator Tester, on NPR’s All Things Considered, today:

“Well, I think corporations are a whole lot different than people. I don’t know corporations that can be put in prison. I do know people that can be put in prison. I mean, it’s a totally different entity. I don’t think the forefathers envisioned when this country was setup that we would have corporations that had the same rights or more rights than people…

“It’s ridiculous and it’s not what our forefathers sought and it really goes against our democracy. It goes against what this country is built upon.”

Representative Rehberg, after cashing his $10,000 check from the group that wants to turn multinational corporations into people:

bribe

Paints a pretty striking contrast, doesn’t it?

Surely Montana newspapers have to report that Rehberg took money from Citizens United, right?

Rehberg Cashes in from Citizens United—Directly

by Don Pogreba on January 26, 2012 · 28 comments

in 2012 Senate Race, Denny Rehberg, Jon Tester, Max Baucus, Montana Politics

Not only is Representative Rehberg championing the right of corporations to pollute Montana politics, he’s benefiting financially from those who were responsible for the Supreme Court decision to allow limitless, secret corporate contributions to campaigns:

Denny Rehberg - Caricature

In a news release, Tester’s campaign will point out that Rehberg accepted a $10,000 donation from the conservative group Citizens United, the plaintiff in the controversial Supreme Court decision, on Sept. 21.  Tester believes that decision “undermines democracy” and supports overturning it through a constitutional amendment.

For 100 years, Montana has protected its political process from the pernicious influence of corporations. We saw firsthand the dangers corporate control of politics as people like William Clark bought their way into the US Senate, using corporate wealth to fuel his rise to power.

A century later, Montana has a candidate for the Senate who is not only advocating an ahistorical “right” for corporations to access the Bill of Rights and undermine Montana law, but taking money from the very corporate interests responsible for this absurd Supreme Court decision.

Representative Rehberg was wrong. Montanans have been right on this issue for 100 years.

Rehberg certainly hasn’t been shy about promoting constitutional amendments for frivolous, political causes. Surely he should support one, like Jon Tester and Max Baucus do, that would actually protect the integrity of our political process.

Rehberg Believes Corporations Are People Too

by Don Pogreba on January 25, 2012 · 241 comments

in 2012 Senate Race, Denny Rehberg, Jon Tester, Max Baucus, Montana Politics

Senator Tester and Senator Baucus are standing up for Montana’s law and the relatively obvious idea that free speech rights attach to people, not multinational corporations, reports KXLH’s Marnee Banks.

Denny Rehberg - Caricature

Representative Rehberg, on the other hand, likes the idea of massive corporate polluting the electoral process:

Congressman Denny Rehberg won’t support the amendment. He says a healthy democracy is made up of many voices.

“I don’t think we should deny people their Constitutional right to free speech just because they’re part of a corporation instead of a different form of organization like a non-profit, a campaign or a union,” Rehberg says.

It’s probably not too difficult to understand why Rehberg feels this way, give the reciprocal love he enjoys with corporations of all kinds.

In another note, Rehberg claimed that he believed that “all campaign contributions should be posted online within 24 hours.”

Well, then, Mr. Rehberg, why don’t you do it? It seems that a man who believes in transparency and immediate disclosure of campaign contributions should the lead and start doing it.

Montana Blog Round Up 15 January 2012

15 January 2012

Highlighting some of the most interesting and provocative posts in the past week at Montana blogs. D Gregory Smith pointed out, that despite constantly talking about his availability to Montanans, Representative Rehberg has been awfully unwilling to meet with them lately. Montana Cowgirl found it interesting that Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Hill would depict himself [...]

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Budget-Busting Dennis Compares Himself to Reagan

12 January 2012

In announcing his bid for the U.S. Senate Erik Iverson Dennis Rehberg offered this fascinating condemnation of Jon Tester and comparison between himself and a Republican hero: He said the federal debt has almost doubled since Tester became a senator in 2007, that Tester voted for the 2009 economic-stimulus bill that "was a government solution [...]

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