No matter who wins the race to become the next Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, they will have incredibly big shoes to fill.
Chief Justice Karla Gray is retiring. Gray has been a fixture on the court since 1991, and Chief Justice since 2000. I believe she has served on the court longer than the other justices. By all accounts, Gray has done an excellent job in leading the court, which is comprised of the Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. Her leadership will be sorely missed.
The members of the Montana Supreme Court serve eight year terms. As it should be, we hardly hear much about any of the justices’ personal views until around election time.
In the beginning of the 2008 election season when current Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath announced his decision to run for Chief Justice, it seemed to be a done deal. He would cruise into the office without having to do much work.
But since that time, McGrath has come under scrutiny for not investigating his fellow Democrat, Governor Brian Schweitzer, after Schweitzer bragged about tampering with the 2006 elections. McGrath was formally asked by Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson to look into the situation. If McGrath would have taken a week or so and made some calls and talked to some people, then issued a report, he would have (in my mind) done his job. But, he quickly (within a couple of hours) fired off a letter to Johnson refusing to investigate the issue. To many folks, that showed that McGrath’s attention was more on political friends than finding the facts.
If that was not enough, a Political Action Committee (PAC) called “Montanans For Fairness Not Politics” has brought to light some other issues. On their website, they write, “Mike McGrath has been the Attorney General of the State of Montana for the past 8 years. During his term in office, he has shown a propensity for doing what is politically expedient, even when it violates the civil rights of individual Montanans.”
They list, in detail, the issues they have with McGrath’s lack of work as Montana Attorney General: The State vs. Jimmy Ray Bromgard, The State vs. Barry Allan Beach, and issues surrounding the State Crime Lab.
I am also concerned about McGrath’s lack of enforcement of the law dealing with automated pre-recorded phone calls for candidates. Several of his fellow Democrats have been caught making these calls and he did nothing to prosecute the crime.
These are just some of the reasons that I will not be voting for Mike McGrath.
I believe McGrath’s opponent, Ron Waterman, will make an exceptional Chief Justice. He pledges to keep partisan politics out of the Supreme Court, and promises to serve only one term. I like his idea of making the court more open and accessible to the public.
One of the major issues Waterman has brought up is he contends that McGrath, if elected to the Court, would have to disqualify himself from about 50% of the cases because McGrath performed duties as the state’s chief legal officer as Attorney General. This problem could hamper the court’s ability to make decisions on the cases because only six justices would be hearing them. One could envision many cases ending up with a 3-3 split decision.
This race should be interesting to watch on election night. You can read more about Ron Waterman’s views by visiting his website HERE.
10/24/2008
10/23/2008
"Hello, this is Nadia calling..."
There’s another update about the calls the Montana Democrats are paying for on behalf of their candidates. I commented about it earlier in a story called, Cheap, but Predictable.
The newest information in today’s Billings Gazette is that the calls are not coming from some back room in Helena, Montana, or even from the bowels of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C.
The calls are being made from Romania. Yep, the country, Romania.
Talk about sending jobs overseas. It appears the Montana Democrats are doing just that. They claim the calls are being made from the United States.
Sadly, the Commissioner of Political Practices has 35 complaints pending. That’s why it is so easy to cheat during campaigns. Most complaints won’t be decided until well after the election is over and done with. You’ve not heard of many do-over elections in Montana have you?
They should either put some teeth into that office, or do away with it. How about a six member board like the Federal Election Commission (FEC), only require them to act more quickly when they receive complaints? How about a 24-hour time limit to file an answer to a complaint that is filed within the last month before Election Day? Then within 24 more hours the board would be required to make a decision. Severe fines should be levied against those who break the law.
Until some changes are made, we may be getting more and more illegal phone calls from places like Romania…
“Hello, this is Nadia calling…”
The newest information in today’s Billings Gazette is that the calls are not coming from some back room in Helena, Montana, or even from the bowels of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C.
The calls are being made from Romania. Yep, the country, Romania.
Talk about sending jobs overseas. It appears the Montana Democrats are doing just that. They claim the calls are being made from the United States.
Sadly, the Commissioner of Political Practices has 35 complaints pending. That’s why it is so easy to cheat during campaigns. Most complaints won’t be decided until well after the election is over and done with. You’ve not heard of many do-over elections in Montana have you?
They should either put some teeth into that office, or do away with it. How about a six member board like the Federal Election Commission (FEC), only require them to act more quickly when they receive complaints? How about a 24-hour time limit to file an answer to a complaint that is filed within the last month before Election Day? Then within 24 more hours the board would be required to make a decision. Severe fines should be levied against those who break the law.
Until some changes are made, we may be getting more and more illegal phone calls from places like Romania…
“Hello, this is Nadia calling…”
Fox Gets My Vote
In 2004, the Republican Party failed to field a challenger to take on Attorney General Mike McGrath. This year with McGrath being term-limited, Montana Republicans have fielded a strong candidate in Tim Fox.
The Democrats have basically owned the Attorney General’s office in Montana for several years. Now they want to continue that trend by placing an insider in as Attorney General.
The bottom line is that it is time to clean out the office and bring in new energy and leadership. It’s time for a change. Tim Fox is the person for that job.
Fox is strong on several issues. As a parent, one issue that is very important to me is protecting my children from child predators. Fox pointed out that the current Attorney General was not keeping the registry up to date (he later updated it). I believe we can count on Fox to enforce the laws and provide Montanans with the tools they need to combat these predators.
Fox is 100% pro-second amendment. He received an endorsement from the NRA while his opponent did not. Fox received an “A” rating while his opponent received a “C” rating.
Currently, the Montana State Land Board has four Democrats and one Republican. When Fox is elected, you’ll see him actually push for more wind, water, natural gas, coal, and oil production in Montana, instead of just talking about it. We’ll see more energy jobs in Montana with Fox on the board instead of seeing those jobs go to Wyoming and North Dakota.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve also seen some indication that Fox’s opponent may be soft on his support of the death penalty, although he claims his words were misconstrued. Misconstrued or not, this is an important issue and we can’t elect people who won’t totally enforce the laws because of their personal views.
I also noticed Fox’s opponent is running a campaign ad that featured state employees on state property and with state equipment. That seems a little unethical, in my opinion, to use state resources for campaign purposes.
Over the past few years, I think there’s been a lack of enforcement of laws by the current Attorney General. We’ve seen him fail to investigate possible tampering with elections. We’ve seen him look the other way when illegal pre-recorded fundraising calls were being made. It appears Fox’s opponent is from the same mindset. I don’t believe Tim Fox will allow members of his party to slide when they may have broken the law. He’ll investigate and hold people accountable no matter who they are.
Tim Fox will be an excellent chief law enforcement officer and legal official for our state. He deserves our vote for Montana Attorney General.
You can visit his website HERE. I’m sure he would appreciate your donations to help him through these last few days.
The Democrats have basically owned the Attorney General’s office in Montana for several years. Now they want to continue that trend by placing an insider in as Attorney General.
The bottom line is that it is time to clean out the office and bring in new energy and leadership. It’s time for a change. Tim Fox is the person for that job.
Fox is strong on several issues. As a parent, one issue that is very important to me is protecting my children from child predators. Fox pointed out that the current Attorney General was not keeping the registry up to date (he later updated it). I believe we can count on Fox to enforce the laws and provide Montanans with the tools they need to combat these predators.
Fox is 100% pro-second amendment. He received an endorsement from the NRA while his opponent did not. Fox received an “A” rating while his opponent received a “C” rating.
Currently, the Montana State Land Board has four Democrats and one Republican. When Fox is elected, you’ll see him actually push for more wind, water, natural gas, coal, and oil production in Montana, instead of just talking about it. We’ll see more energy jobs in Montana with Fox on the board instead of seeing those jobs go to Wyoming and North Dakota.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve also seen some indication that Fox’s opponent may be soft on his support of the death penalty, although he claims his words were misconstrued. Misconstrued or not, this is an important issue and we can’t elect people who won’t totally enforce the laws because of their personal views.
I also noticed Fox’s opponent is running a campaign ad that featured state employees on state property and with state equipment. That seems a little unethical, in my opinion, to use state resources for campaign purposes.
Over the past few years, I think there’s been a lack of enforcement of laws by the current Attorney General. We’ve seen him fail to investigate possible tampering with elections. We’ve seen him look the other way when illegal pre-recorded fundraising calls were being made. It appears Fox’s opponent is from the same mindset. I don’t believe Tim Fox will allow members of his party to slide when they may have broken the law. He’ll investigate and hold people accountable no matter who they are.
Tim Fox will be an excellent chief law enforcement officer and legal official for our state. He deserves our vote for Montana Attorney General.
You can visit his website HERE. I’m sure he would appreciate your donations to help him through these last few days.
10/22/2008
The Food Critic
Tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, Katie asked Barack Obama and John McCain the question: “When was the last time you cried and why?”
Barack Obama talked about a birthday party for his daughter when they were visiting Montana over the Fourth of July (I believe in Butte).
He said we were in a small hotel, like a Holiday Inn, and about putting together a little party for his daughter's 10th birthday.
He talked about the cake and family and then he said, “…there was some food which wasn’t, you know, stellar...”
I don’t believe he was speaking about the food making him cry, but the time he spent with his daughter when she told him it was the best birthday ever…I think.
Obama’s remarks came at about the 0:48 spot on the video:
Watch CBS Videos Online
Barack Obama talked about a birthday party for his daughter when they were visiting Montana over the Fourth of July (I believe in Butte).
He said we were in a small hotel, like a Holiday Inn, and about putting together a little party for his daughter's 10th birthday.
He talked about the cake and family and then he said, “…there was some food which wasn’t, you know, stellar...”
I don’t believe he was speaking about the food making him cry, but the time he spent with his daughter when she told him it was the best birthday ever…I think.
Obama’s remarks came at about the 0:48 spot on the video:
Watch CBS Videos Online
Second Thoughts
It looks like people are starting to doubt that Barack Obama can perform the duties as President of the United States (I’ve doubted him for a long time).
This Associated Press poll shows the race even. This one shows it’s tightening, too.
As people are starting to vote, or as they say, “when the rubber meets the road” they understand that this election is about their security, safety and lower taxes. John McCain is much stronger on these issues.
People are thinking hard about Obama. More people just can’t pull the lever, push the button, or color in the circle for Obama. Obama’s remarks about “spreading the wealth” hurt him. We are a charitable nation, but we don’t want an Obama-run government to take our hard-earned dollars and give them to other people to spread wealth. Most people can relate to Joe the Plumber. Plus, more and more information is coming out about his relationships with people who basically hate America.
The election is just 13 days away. Many things can change between now and then, but if I were working for McCain, polls like the ones above would give me the boost to work even harder. Meantime, Obama’s folks are planning a big party on election night.
This Associated Press poll shows the race even. This one shows it’s tightening, too.
As people are starting to vote, or as they say, “when the rubber meets the road” they understand that this election is about their security, safety and lower taxes. John McCain is much stronger on these issues.
People are thinking hard about Obama. More people just can’t pull the lever, push the button, or color in the circle for Obama. Obama’s remarks about “spreading the wealth” hurt him. We are a charitable nation, but we don’t want an Obama-run government to take our hard-earned dollars and give them to other people to spread wealth. Most people can relate to Joe the Plumber. Plus, more and more information is coming out about his relationships with people who basically hate America.
The election is just 13 days away. Many things can change between now and then, but if I were working for McCain, polls like the ones above would give me the boost to work even harder. Meantime, Obama’s folks are planning a big party on election night.
Re-elect Johnson
Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson has a tough job. Being the only Republican elected in 2004 to statewide office in Montana’s government, and having to work in the same building as the Governor must take its toll. Plus, those land board meetings must be a little tough. Johnson is the only Republican of the five members. Hopefully that 4-1 ratio will change in 2009.
Johnson has seemed to handle working in close proximity to the Governor well, even when the Governor was proclaiming he was turning some dials to get his buddy, Jon Tester, elected.
Johnson did his job in this situation. He wrote to the Montana Attorney General, Mike McGrath, and asked him to investigate these claims by the Governor. In a little over an hour, McGrath fired back a letter refusing to investigate his friend, Governor Brian Schweitzer. McGrath’s inaction changed many votes in his race for Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, but I’ll write more about that in the upcoming days.
Realistically, Johnson is the type of person we need serving in public office. He has not lived off the public dime all his life. He brings real world experience to the office.
Johnson has made changes during his first term that made the office work more efficiently. He plans more changes in his second term to make the office even better. He works with all sides of the aisle to ensure Montana’s elections are fair and he communicates with the county elections officials regularly.
With the voter registration fraud going own across the country, Montana needs a Secretary of State at the helm who has the experience and dedication to ensure our elections are fair and impartial. Brad Johnson will do just that.
You can visit Brad Johnson’s Campaign Website here. You might also want to throw a donation his way.
Johnson has seemed to handle working in close proximity to the Governor well, even when the Governor was proclaiming he was turning some dials to get his buddy, Jon Tester, elected.
Johnson did his job in this situation. He wrote to the Montana Attorney General, Mike McGrath, and asked him to investigate these claims by the Governor. In a little over an hour, McGrath fired back a letter refusing to investigate his friend, Governor Brian Schweitzer. McGrath’s inaction changed many votes in his race for Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, but I’ll write more about that in the upcoming days.
Realistically, Johnson is the type of person we need serving in public office. He has not lived off the public dime all his life. He brings real world experience to the office.
Johnson has made changes during his first term that made the office work more efficiently. He plans more changes in his second term to make the office even better. He works with all sides of the aisle to ensure Montana’s elections are fair and he communicates with the county elections officials regularly.
With the voter registration fraud going own across the country, Montana needs a Secretary of State at the helm who has the experience and dedication to ensure our elections are fair and impartial. Brad Johnson will do just that.
You can visit Brad Johnson’s Campaign Website here. You might also want to throw a donation his way.
10/21/2008
It’s Grimes!
In taking a look at all the races this year, there are a few that have not and will not garner that much attention. One, the State Auditor, is ranked very low on the political radar screen. But, the job of State Auditor is very important and the day to day duties, coupled with a seat on the state land board, makes this an important race.
This race is between Democrat Monica Lindeen and Republican Duane Grimes. Both are former legislators. They both can be applauded for their desire to serve the public.
For the past several years, the Democrats have basically owned the State Auditor’s office, and although some significant changes were made in the last eight years, there were some very negative issues that came to light that harmed my overall impression of the office. The new State Auditor will have to work hard to rebuild the people’s trust.
I have briefly met both candidates over the years, and I think they both deeply care about the state of Montana. In fact, I don’t dislike either of the candidates. I subscribe to their e-mails, visited their websites, and read about them in the newspapers (when they received coverage).
On Duane Grimes’ website, he touts honesty, fairness, and integrity. From almost everyone I’ve spoken with, those words describe him perfectly.
Grimes has a health care plan that I like. His plan will bring more competition, more choices, as well as lower rates. Consumers will have a better choice and that’s very important. I think he will protect senior citizens and consumers more than his opponent.
He also will bring some new proposals to the state land board that have a lot of merit. He wants to use these state lands to generate more revenue for Montana schools. I like that idea.
The first attack during this campaign apparently came from Lindeen. There was no need for that in a state auditor race. I don’t believe that Grimes would ever place any insurance company or any other outside influence above the people he represents. He’s not that type of person, and there’s no proof that he has ever done anything like that in the past.
With that being said, Grimes gets my vote for State Auditor. After years and years of being run by the Democrats, it is time for a little house cleaning in that office. Grimes will bring a fresh approach, new leadership and integrity to the State Auditor’s office.
Visit the Grimes for State Auditor website and check out his views for yourself. I'm sure he would not mind if you took the time to make a donation, too.
This race is between Democrat Monica Lindeen and Republican Duane Grimes. Both are former legislators. They both can be applauded for their desire to serve the public.
For the past several years, the Democrats have basically owned the State Auditor’s office, and although some significant changes were made in the last eight years, there were some very negative issues that came to light that harmed my overall impression of the office. The new State Auditor will have to work hard to rebuild the people’s trust.
I have briefly met both candidates over the years, and I think they both deeply care about the state of Montana. In fact, I don’t dislike either of the candidates. I subscribe to their e-mails, visited their websites, and read about them in the newspapers (when they received coverage).
On Duane Grimes’ website, he touts honesty, fairness, and integrity. From almost everyone I’ve spoken with, those words describe him perfectly.
Grimes has a health care plan that I like. His plan will bring more competition, more choices, as well as lower rates. Consumers will have a better choice and that’s very important. I think he will protect senior citizens and consumers more than his opponent.
He also will bring some new proposals to the state land board that have a lot of merit. He wants to use these state lands to generate more revenue for Montana schools. I like that idea.
The first attack during this campaign apparently came from Lindeen. There was no need for that in a state auditor race. I don’t believe that Grimes would ever place any insurance company or any other outside influence above the people he represents. He’s not that type of person, and there’s no proof that he has ever done anything like that in the past.
With that being said, Grimes gets my vote for State Auditor. After years and years of being run by the Democrats, it is time for a little house cleaning in that office. Grimes will bring a fresh approach, new leadership and integrity to the State Auditor’s office.
Visit the Grimes for State Auditor website and check out his views for yourself. I'm sure he would not mind if you took the time to make a donation, too.
10/20/2008
We Knew That
Some folks were shocked that Barack Obama’s Vice Presidential pick, Sen. Joe Biden, was quoted in this article saying:
"It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking.”
Biden added:
“Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."
After talking about the weaknesses of his running mate, Biden noticed that the press was covering the event. He then said:
"I probably shouldn't have said all this because it dawned on me that the press is here.”
That’s OK Joe. You are only talking about what many of us already knew. Obama is weak on foreign policy experience. Obama is weak on national security experience. Any country or any person who dislikes the United States probably sees the USA having a weak leader as an advantage for them.
When a crisis is happening, there may not be time for Obama to have his people whip up a 45 minute persuasive speech, place it on the teleprompter, rent a stadium and set up the Greek pillars.
Voters should be taking this into consideration Biden’s comments when they vote for President. It’s never wrong to vote for your security and safety. Joe Biden was being brutally honest about his running mate and that was refreshing.
"It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking.”
Biden added:
“Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."
After talking about the weaknesses of his running mate, Biden noticed that the press was covering the event. He then said:
"I probably shouldn't have said all this because it dawned on me that the press is here.”
That’s OK Joe. You are only talking about what many of us already knew. Obama is weak on foreign policy experience. Obama is weak on national security experience. Any country or any person who dislikes the United States probably sees the USA having a weak leader as an advantage for them.
When a crisis is happening, there may not be time for Obama to have his people whip up a 45 minute persuasive speech, place it on the teleprompter, rent a stadium and set up the Greek pillars.
Voters should be taking this into consideration Biden’s comments when they vote for President. It’s never wrong to vote for your security and safety. Joe Biden was being brutally honest about his running mate and that was refreshing.
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