The Hill is reporting that Senator Max Baucus is a leading candidate for the new, super-duper, extra-special, deficit-reducing squad created by last week’s debt deal, while the Huffington Post is saying he’s less likely to be chosen:
The major contenders to be selected by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.):
* Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) – Finance Committee chairman has jurisdiction over entitlement programs and he served on the Simpson-Bowles commission. The Huffington Post, however, reported on Monday that Baucus is unlikely to be tapped.
I think Senator Reid should remember that Baucus bears some of the responsibility for the mess we’re in now, being one of the Democratic cheerleaders for the Bush tax cuts that are primarily responsible for the current deficit.
I don’t have much faith that this new, second super committee to address the long-term debt will accomplish much, but Democrats can’t afford a vote for more fiscal irresponsibility when it comes to tax policy. Baucus’s intentions may be better these days, but his instinct to run to the center (no matter how far right that is) would be very dangerous on a committee like this.
I know that he’s little more than a partisan mouthpiece for the Republican Party, but you have to admire the audacity of this post by Aaron Flint, in which he praises Denny Rehberg for opposing the Obama-Republican tax deal and attacks Senators Tester and Baucus for supporting it, despite arguing that the tax cuts are necessary. Flint writes:
However, the votes and statements from both senators above only begs the question: if extending the Bush era tax cuts is good for jobs now, why didn’t they act sooner? If extending the tax cuts is good now, then when would it ever be good to harm our economy by doing away with the tax cuts?
To recap Flint’s “argument”:
- Extending the tax cuts? Good.
- Senators Baucus and Tester, who support the tax deal? Bad
- Representative Rehberg, who opposes them? Good.
Think what you will about the deal, but Rehberg’s position, if it won, would lead to an increase in taxes for Montana businesses and workers. To spin this as another in a series of petty and inane attacks on Senator Tester demonstrates the shameless partisan blinders that characterize Flint and his program.
It’s becoming quite clear that Denny Rehberg, concerned that having named a few post offices might not be enough of a resume for a Senatorial bid, is determined to ride his newfound opposition to earmarks as long a compliant media and complacent public let him get away with it. Following his most recent effort to get in the news for having done nothing, a letter to Senators Tester and Baucus, Senator Baucus responded (headings mine):
But Didn’t You Support Earmarks?
So-called earmarks have been responsible for vital projects to bring jobs, infrastructure and resources to Montana, including the following, which you sponsored or supported:
- * The Montana State University Animal BioScience Facility;
- MT Secondary Highway 323 from Ekalaka to Alzada;
- The Fort Peck-Dry Prairie Rural Water System; and
- The Rocky Boy’s North Central Montana Regional Water System
And You’re a Dishonest, Cynical Opportunist
As you said once yourself, “Earmarks are not the problem. They direct money that already exists within the program to a particular area, because who knows their district more than we do? That’s our opportunity to make our argument to our colleagues. It doesn’t add to the budget.” (Great Falls Tribune, December 28, 2009)
An honest discussion about our mutual concern over the federal deficit must bear in mind that, as the New York Times recently reported (November 17, 2010), only 0.3 percent of the government’s budget comes from earmarks.
How About Doing Some Real Work?
I urge you to join me in this effort to avoid the distractions of political stunts and find real solutions to bring good-paying jobs to Montana and get our economy moving again.
How about it, media? How about asking Representative Rehberg where the real cuts will have to come to pay for the extension of tax cuts for millionaires? If earmarks vanished tomorrow, it will not only have no impact on the deficit, but it will also do real damage to sparsely-populated states like Montana, the people Rehberg was elected to represent.
Via Matt Singer, some good news for Senator Tester from Public Policy Polling headed into his re-election campaign: despite the strong Republican trend in Montana, he’s still seen quite favorably by Montana voters:
Tester posts a 50-40 job performance mark, putting him in the top ten among the senators PPP has measured this year. That is particularly impressive, considering that Republicans outnumber Democrats by nine points in this sample, and even independents are more prevalent.
In a hypothetical matchup with Denny Rehberg, Tester is close, at 46-48, and he has a lead over Steve Daines at 48-37.
Daines supporters will probably try to spin this as positive news, but I find it hard to believe that Montana voters will come to like Daines more as they learn more about him, no matter how many campaign laws he breaks in the process of becoming acquainted with them.
Senator Tester’s going to face a tough challenge in 2012 and he’s occasionally disappointed some of us on the left, but it’s encouraging that he seems largely to have escaped the displeasure directed at Senator Baucus by maintaining pretty close adherence to the values that got him elected in the first place.
As a side note, the continuing popularity of Marc Racicot has to be encouraging for Governor Schweitzer’s future aspirations, given that Schweitzer has actually been an effective leader of the state.
I happened to notice this evening that the Montana Standard offered some well-deserved praise for Senator Tester’s latest publically-released ethics review. Says the Standard:
There’s no time like the present for other members of Congress to follow Tester’s lead and invite such scrutiny. We’d say this is an excellent idea not only for the remainder of the Montana delegation, but for senators and representatives in other states as well.
Judge Bennett, while making some suggestions for improvement, gives the Senator and his staff high praise:
Well, what about it, Representative Rehberg and Senator Baucus?
The entire report (actually an interesting read) is available here.
The Great Falls Tribune is reporting that the federal government will pay the entirety of costs from the severe flooding on the Rocky Boy reservation this summer. Excellent news for Montanans who definitely need the federal assistance and telling about the difference between Montana’s sole representative and Democratic leaders.
What did the Democrats do? They persuaded the federal government to give additional assistance:
Requests to amend the declaration to include full funding came in from a wide swath of Montana’s elected officials, including Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, all Democrats, and Windy Boy, who hand-delivered a letter to the president during the signing ceremony of the Tribal Law and Order Act.
What did Representative Rehberg do? Nothing other than get his name in the paper:
The USDA’s decision also met with praise from Montana’s elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont.
"This is a positive step for the families and farms that are putting their lives back together," Rehberg said.
Great work again, Representative Rehberg.
