Bill Gallagher was excited enough about the news that GOP electoral poison Sharron Angle had endorsed the Miller-Gallagher team for governor that he posted on Facebook in the middle of the day, presumably when all the important work for the PSC was taken care of for the day.

Painter-candidate Jim O’Hara announced that he’s chosen Scott Swingley, the retired Montana Highway Patrol trooper who most recently lost in his bid to become Lewis and Clark County’s sheriff.

Nice to see that someone from outside of Billings or the Flathead can be considered, but I suspect the choice will do little for Mr. O’Hara’s chances.

The spectacle of Republican candidates for governor picking people to lose as their lieutenant governors has done thing—it’s probably raised the number of people who know who the Republican candidates are by at least 10. Not per cent, but 10 people.

The latest sacrificial lamb? Bob Keenan, chosen by Corey Stapleton, who still hasn’t cracked 10 per cent in poll of the Republican candidates.

Keenan, when he hasn’t been running “as a friend” in a primary against Conrad Burns for the US Senate or flirting with bids to become  governor, is a Big Fork businessman and former Montana legislator. He’s also got a voting record which might be difficult to explain.

• After all, as a member of the Senate, he was one of 18 members of the entire legislature who opposed increasing penalties for elder abuse.
• In 1999, he was the sole member of the Senate to oppose a resolution encouraging the Governor to include Montana Indians in economic development projects. On a seemingly related note, he was part of a small group of Senators who blocked stripping the offensive term “squaw” from the maps used by state agencies. No, really.
• He has a terrible record on public education issues, including opposition to full-day kindergarten and funding our schools at the level mandated by the Constitution. He also loudly opposed measures to ensure that home school students actually receive an education.
• While it’s not a state issue, he supported privatizing Social Security in 2006.
• Finally, according to the Conrad Burns campaign in 2006, he loves increasing your taxes. And if we can’t trust Conrad Burns, who can we trust?

To be fair, unlike Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Keenan does have a record to run on. It’s just unfortunate that it’s such a poor one. It seems Mr. Keenan got it half right, when he summed up his potential contribution to the Stapleton campaign:

“Maybe I’ll be a positive addition; maybe I’ll hurt you.”

Indeed.

Well, Tim Fox finally announced his bid for Attorney General today—just a week after you read it here first.  At first blush, it appears he’s running the same playbook as 2008, focusing on gun rights that no one is challenging, sex offenders that no one is defending, and federal policies the AG isn’t influencing.

Now some would suggest that Mr. Fox is running for Attorney General in order to hold down a job for at least four years. Others might suggest that he’s interested in finally developing a position on the minimum wage. Others might cynically suggest that he’s running because he hasn’t changed any of his dishonest campaign material from 2008 and thought that he might as well use it.

Each of those observations probably has some degree of truth, but in the end, the most likely answer is that the Koch Brothers needed another candidate to carry their agenda to state governments and Mr. Fox has ample time to make that happen.

The Democratic nominee for Attorney General needs to be ready for a well-funded and dirty campaign if Mr. Fox can defeat Jim Shockley’s apparently self-funded campaign for the Republican nomination.

In 2008, Fox ran one of the most dishonest statewide campaigns I can remember, prompting a TV station to pull one of his ads and me to write that Fox “has no business serving as the next Attorney General of Montana. He has run a mean-spirited, intellectually dishonest campaign that disqualifies him from serious consideration as Montana’s top law enforcement officer. Fox has proven that he lacks both the leadership and judgment to hold this critical office.”

If today’s announcement is indication, Mr. Fox seems like he fears Democratic candidate Jesse Laslovich, as Mr. Fox was seen peevishly tearing down and attempting to throw away a Laslovich sign at the Capitol.

The AP dropped quite the story today.

For months, Montana Republican congressman Denny Rehberg has been criticizing U.S. Sen. Jon Tester for being the leading recipient of campaign cash from lobbyists. But it turns out Rehberg has been taking donations from some lobbyists without disclosing their place of employment.

… an Associated Press analysis of campaign finance disclosure reports through October turned up nearly three dozen lobbyists, who donated a total of about $20,000 to Rehberg’s campaign, with their employment left blank on disclosure forms.

These lobbyists include “a policy adviser to former vice president Dick Cheney who now lobbies for Shell Oil.”  So, not only is Rehberg a hypocrite, but he’s a liar and a cheat.  I wish I could say I was surprised, but that would be like Rehberg saying he hasn’t secretly raised $20,000 from lobbyists.

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.

I do have to say that this photo would be slightly more interesting/illuminating (pun intended, I guess) if it included western Montana.

Democratic candidate for Attorney General Jesse Laslovich announced today that he’s received the endorsement of three-term Attorney General Mike Greely. From Mr. Greely’s letter:

Not only is Jesse an accomplished legislator, he’s also a successful and experienced criminal prosecutor.  Jesse prosecuted the longest Madoff-style Ponzi scheme in Montana’s history, has returned millions of dollars to scammed Montanans, and has worked to keep dangerous criminals behind bars.

It’s for these reasons that I enthusiastically endorse Jesse Laslovich for Attorney General.

Jesse is simply the best person for the job.  He has the unmatched experience, drive, and judgment to be an effective Attorney General for all Montanans.

It’s never very clear how much impact endorsements have in statewide races, but it’s been interesting to watch the two Democratic candidates tout their supporters as the campaign goes forward.

Right now, Pam Bucy’s supporters are far more likely to come from law enforcement officials, while Laslovich seems to have broader support from legislators and labor.

All hat, no cashmere goats. That’s the only possible explanation for the out-of touch remarks 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.

While I’m inclined to agree with those who decry the media’s focus on fundraising instead of discussion of issues, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Representative Rehberg is making national news for his inept fundraising this cycle:

LOSERS

For whatever reason, Reps. Rick Berg (R-N.D.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) all had lackluster quarters for sitting incumbents, pulling in less than $660,000 each. Rehberg was badly outraised, while Flake and Berg narrowly outraised Democratic underdogs.

While it’s a step in the right direction that the Congressman isn’t making news for wanting contaminants in children’s toys or the nation’s blood supply, it’s certainly interesting that he can’t raise much money for this race.

Perhaps a decade of being small government pork king and libertarian supporter of the PATRIOT Act and REAL ID have confused potential donors who’ve decided to give to a more consistent candidate like Mitt Romney.

If you’re a Republican running for governor in Montana (and other than Jeff Essmann, who’s not these days?) it seems that there are really only three things you need to talk about: restricting the right of women to make decisions about their bodies, reducing the tax burden on massive corporations, and decreasing regulations that “harm” the business climate in Montana.

In short, the GOP slogan for this election might well be 1896: Not the Worst Year Ever.

The narrative, however, just isn’t true.

The Laurel Outlook made it clear this week that corporations just don’t pay their taxes if they don’t feel like it, putting the operational budgets of schools in jeopardy:

The total amount of tax revenues under protest in Yellowstone County amounted to almost $30 million at the end of 2011, including $13.35 million for just this year. The mounting total has a significant impact on the districts and jurisdictions which would normally receive the tax revenues, not the least of which is the Laurel School District.
The Laurel School District is projected to be down a total of $5,427,571 by the end of this fiscal year, June 30, 2012.

There are two main industries which are protesting taxes — oil refineries and communication companies. Conoco protested 31 percent of its total tax bill in 2011 and CHS (Cenex) protested 63 percent. The communication companies are protesting about 85 percent of their total tax bills.

Perhaps instead of constantly fighting for reductions in the taxes businesses pay, Republicans ought to focus on making them actually pay what they owe.

The situation in Marysville is even more instructive as it relates to regulation. The Independent Record reports that the new mining operations there have been incredibly damaging to the community, with impacts including flooding, noise pollution, dangerous roads, and depleted wells.

It’s bad enough that Representative Mike Miller agreed that the residents had legitimate concerns.

What gives the people of Marysville a chance to maintain their homes and environment in decent condition? The very regulations that Republicans decry as destroying business, the very laws which ensure our state never again becomes a victim of the kinds of excesses visited upon us by the likes of William A. Clark and Standard Oil.

Republicans seem to believe that regulation is stopping business growth in Montana, all evidence to the contrary. But it’s not “stifling regulation” when it keeps your property values high; it’s not “bureaucratic red tape” when it keeps your water safe to drink, and it’s not “job-killing” when it keeps your kids’ schools adequately funded.

It’s common sense—and the recognition that Montana was not better off a century ago.It’s ensuring that Montana remain not only a place to work in, but a place we want to live in.