Tony Snow

Tony Snow died early Saturday morning after a long fight with cancer. He was just 53. Snow is survived by his wife, Jill Ellen Walker; their son, Robbie; and daughters, Kendall and Kristi.

Tony Snow was one of the few White House Press Secretaries that I enjoyed watching conduct the White House briefings. He really enjoyed going toe to toe with the journalists from around the country and it showed.

We’ve seen some WH press secretaries look like they were getting a root canal when they were standing behind the podium, but Tony Snow always had this look in his eyes that let you know he was glad to be there and ready for any question.

The world has lost a great man who was admired by many. Rest in peace Tony. My prayers are with your family and friends.

Don’t Pop the Cork

One of the few major requirements facing the members of the House and Senate each year is to pass the annual spending (Appropriations) bills before October 1. October 1 is when the new fiscal year starts.

A press release from Senator Jon Tester on Thursday made its way into a few newspapers and on a few airwaves across the state touting money he and Senator Max Baucus requested from the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations committee. Of course, since neither Baucus or Tester are actually on the Appropriations Committee, they have not even cast a vote for these projects yet, but that does not stop them from trying to take credit for all that is good in the world.

Montanans who have made requests for Federal funding should not pop the cork on the champagne bottle just yet. You may have to wait a long time for the funding. It appears there’s another plan according to an article in the TheHill.com:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday he expects Congress will not pass any annual spending bills this year, saying lawmakers will likely postpone that responsibility until President Bush is out of office.

Reid’s statement, while not unexpected, adds a note of finality to speculation that the Senate would act on the 12 annual appropriation bills. He also said that he doesn’t expect Congress to return for a post-election, lame-duck session.

We’ve seen many worthwhile projects here in Montana receive little or inadequate funding since the Democrats took over Congress, but the money still flows freely to the most powerful members of their party after they get around to passing the appropriations bills.

It’s a sad display of leadership when one of the few requirements Congress is supposed to accomplish each year does not happen. It’s also disappointing when our two democratic Senators don’t have the clout to get their party to pass these annual spending bills.

Demands

Former San Francisco lawyer and current Montana Democratic Party Chairman, Dennis McDonald, was able to get Lee Newspaper reporter Charles Johnson to devote over 800 words to a story about something that’s not gonna happen.

Nope, I am not talking about the Democrats coming up with a solution to help with our country’s energy crisis.

The latest escapade from Chairman McDonald is that he is demanding the resignation of Montana’s U.S. Attorney, Bill Mercer.

This request is nothing new. Over a year ago, Montana’s two senators, Max Baucus and Jon Tester, (both Democrats) called on Mercer to resign. He didn’t.

Mercer is a Republican Presidential appointee, so you can see the political angle in all this. It’s too bad that reporters don’t see it that way. It could have saved readers from wasting time reading over 800 words about a lot of nothing.

Mercer serves at the pleasure of the President. President Bush’s term ends January 20, 2009. If Mercer leaves before then, it won’t be because the Chairman of the Montana Democratic Party or Montana’s two Democratic U.S. Senators demanded it.

Cha, Cha, Changing

With the rock-star status of Barack Obama and his campaign theme he called “Change,” not many of his supporters thought the “Change” they would be seeing is Obama changing his views, or flip-flopping, on the major issues that won him the Democratic nomination for President.

Many times I have told friends that Obama is an unknown and we really don’t have a clue on what he believes. After only three years in the U.S. Senate and a nice speech at the Democratic Convention back in 2004, Obama was vaulted to the top spot as Presidential contender.

Now, what his supporters are really seeing is that Obama is just a politician, just what his spiritual advisor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, told us.

He’s even flip-flopped on his support of Rev. Wright.

This must be a very difficult time for Obama supporters. They have put a lot of time and energy into the Obama campaign. Now, their man is flip-flopping on many issues they hold dear to their hearts.

We’ve seen Obama change positions on public financing for his campaign.

We’ve seen Obama change positions on gun control.

We’ve seen Obama change positions on the wearing of a flag pin.

We’ve seen Obama embrace President Bush’s faith-based program.

The second biggest issue that Obama has “changed” is his views on is Iraq. He was the candidate that did not vote for the war (he was not in the senate at that time, but that does not seem to matter) and he said, as President, he would bring the troops home in 16 months. Now, with the war being won and the surge working, Obama has decided that he will refine his policies. Those comments are like a dagger in the heart of the anti-war folks who have spent countless hours working for Obama. You have to feel for them. OK, maybe not.

The troops may be coming home from Iraq no matter who is President in 2009, because they will be victorious.

Now, the biggest issue for Obama is he has changed his views on the FISA bill and supports President Bush. Obama said during the primary season that he would filibuster any bill that gives retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies.

Today, Obama voted for the FISA bill. There was no filibuster by Obama. It passed the Senate 69-28. The far lefties may jump off a cliff, a building, or just go home from the campaign trail with heads hung low, heartbroken, muttering, “I thought Barack was the real deal.” Look for MSNBC, the network promoting Obama, to schedule Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow for some overtime to ease the tension on the left.

The term “flip-flop” is alive and well in this Presidential election and it appears to be sticking to Barack Obama.

Health Care

There’s a group that recently formed called “Montanans for Health Care.” That sounds like a great idea, as everyone should have affordable health care. How to best deliver that health care is another story for another day.

According to an article in the Billings Gazette:

Montanans for Health Care, composed of labor and other left-leaning groups, is part of a nationwide coalition pushing for universal health coverage and reforming health care financing in America.

The group contends that Senator Max Baucus, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, holds a key position:

His office said Tuesday that he "looks forward to continue meeting with Montanans on ways to make sure all Montanans and Americans have access to quality, affordable health care."

So far in regards to “quality, affordable health care” Baucus is zero for 30 years. I don’t think that will change if he stays in Washington for another 30 years.

Earmark Reform: It’s still not happening

Back in April, I commented about the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 earmarks and the fact that after all the promises made in the 2006 elections by Democrats to “clean up the appropriations process” and tackle the abuse of earmarks, it had not happened.

It appears it won’t happen in FY 2009.

The Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) conducted an analysis of the FY 2009 version of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations in the House and found:

In total, there are 1,370 earmarks worth a staggering $618.8 million of taxpayer money. This represents a 5 percent increase in number of projects, but a whopping 122 percent increase in dollar amounts over the FY 2008 version, which had 1,305 earmarks costing $277.9 million.

An increase of 122%. Ouch! That’s even a little more than a gallon of gas has gone up since the Democrats took control of Congress.

CAGW also reported:

The top three porkers are as follows: Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), $168.5 million; Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), $161.3 million; and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), $148.5.

Hmmm, the top three are Democrats. I guess tackling the abuse of earmarks is a good thing to run on to gain the majority in the Congress, but after having a few sips of that powerful kool-aid, it appears one’s view on the issue changes rather quickly. We saw this first-hand in Montana with Jon “I don’t support earmarks, period” Tester. It appears it’s an epidemic in the Democratic party.

99%

Rasmussen reported on Saturday that Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has a 99% chance of being reelected in November.

With a recent poll from Rasmussen telling us that Obama was leading McCain by five points in Montana, it must be party time in Leftyville.

According to the Rasmussen poll on the Montana Governor’s race:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the Treasure State finds the incumbent leading Republican State Senator Roy Brown 61% to 32%. Libertarian candidate Stan Jones earns just 3% support.

The Poll was conducted on June 30 with 500 likely voters and it has a +/- of 4.5%.

With a 99% chance of Schweitzer being reelected, Lloyd Chestnut Christmas, from one of my favorite movies, Dumb and Dumber, would be saying, “So you're telling me there's a chance.”