I intended to write on this yesterday, but MT Cowgirl beat me to the punch. I encourage you to over there and read the analysis. Cowgirl digs deep into how Dean Folkvord, owner of the Wheat Montana company, has contributed his money over the years.
Even though MT Cowgirl beat me to the punch, I’d still like to contribute a bit of analysis.
As reported, Baucus will be spending $25,000 on radio ads to tout his work on payroll taxes. Whether the extension of the payroll tax cut is a good thing in the first place is debatable – think, “Social Security.” But that’s neither here nor there.
Max’s pick as surrogate for his ads (Dean Folkvord, a strong Republican) isn’t all that surprising. He’s playing the same cards he’s played every time he’s run for re-election (excluding 2008): run to the center (or further), embrace some Republican policies (the payroll tax cut extension not being one of them), and think “me first.”
Although Max’s Glacier PAC helps fund progressive groups around the state and although he fought strongly for Tester in 2006 (remember, 2006 and 2008 were good years for Democrats), Max is usually thinking “how do I get myself re-elected?” That’s why, two years out, Baucus is hosting fundraisers all across the state and buying media. He knows 2014 will be tough year for him and he probably also wants to dissuade Governor Schweitzer from a primary.
You have to think that Baucus starting his bid for re-election this early irks some Democrats, including Jon Tester, Steve Bullock, and our congressional candidates who need the money and the cheap airtime. Baucus’ strategy eats up valuable space and money that the rest of our Democratic ticket needs. It also risks tying our ticket to a fairly unpopular Senator.
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.
