Opinion

A Bucket of Water and a Bar of Gold

By By Jeff Pattison, Republican candidate for Montana Public Service Commission

I have often said that when you truly need it, I would rather have a bucket of water than a bar of gold.

That may sound like a simple observation from a Montana farmer and rancher, but it expresses something deeper about how I believe government should work. We must understand the difference between what is valuable and what is essential.

Water is essential. Reliable electricity is essential. Affordable heat in a Montana winter is essential. Telephone and broadband services that connect rural families, businesses and emergency responders are essential.

The Public Service Commission exists because most utility customers cannot shop around for another provider. That places a serious responsibility on commissioners to ensure monopoly utilities receive a reasonable opportunity to operate successfully—but never a blank check at the expense of captive ratepayers

Read the complete article: A Bucket of Water and a Bar of Gold

Power Corrupted

How Carbon County Attorney Alex Nixon Uses and Abuses His Office to Shield the Good Old Boy Club and Silence Critics

OPINION & EDITORIAL

By Lisa Bennett

When a citizen sits in the dock of a courtroom, the message delivered by the State of Montana is absolute, solemn, and unyielding. You are told that the law is a sacred shield, that public safety is paramount, and that rules apply to everyone equally. We are lectured on personal responsibility by prosecutors who wear the mantle of the public trust like a badge of moral superiority.

But what happens when the man holding the charging pen—Carbon County Attorney Alex Nixon, who decides entirely in his own discretion whose life gets upended by a criminal charge—decides that those rules are optional for himself.

Read the complete article: Power Corrupted

When Lawmen Become Outlaws

How Commissioner Scott Miller, Sheriff Josh McQuillan, and the Good Old Boy Machine Built a County in Chaos

OPINION & EDITORIAL
By Lisa Bennett

History teaches us what happens when local officials decide that the law applies to everyone except themselves. In 1946, the citizens of McMinn County, Tennessee, watched in horror as a corrupt political machine rigged elections, used armed deputies to intimidate voters, and stole ballot boxes— pushing returning World War II veterans to take a stand against tyranny on their own soil in the historic Battle of Athens.

We don’t need to look back eighty years or across state lines to see the chilling echoes of machine rule. Right here in Carbon County, a cozy network of political insiders operates under the exact same arrogant assumption: that they are above the law, above scrutiny, and immune to accountability.

When you combine a county attorney who actively lies and covers up for his cronies, a sheriff who feigns ignorance to protect insiders while weaponizing his badge against everyday citizens, and commissioners who treat ballot boxes like personal property, what you get is a county in chaos and corruption

Read the complete Article: When Lawmen Become Outlaws

The Left is Trying to Get the Right To Doom Pam Bondi

WRITTEN BY
Stephen MacDonald, GraniteGrok.com

Democrats have nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true. They are still adept at getting Republicans to eat each other’s lunch. It works like this. Every side has factions and pundits scrabbling for eyeballs, which results in (at least) two things. Click-bait BS headlines and hyperbolic exhortations. Dems do it, Bees do it, everyone does it- well, maybe not bees. But you get the point. And Democrats know that Republicans can be easily led to any trough filled with alleged broken Republican promises where they will heartily feed and spread the poison amongst themselves.

The circle jerk quickly becomes a circular firing squad, and no, I’m not claiming’ we’re immune, but I’ve debunked more than a few acts of internet fraud from both directions in my time, so in all things balance, I suppose

Read the complete article: The Left is Trying to Get the Right To Doom Pam Bondi

MTGOP’s Quiet Complicity in the Political Swamp

WRITTEN BY
Tanner Smith-MTGOP National Committeeman

As I watch what is unfolding this legislative session, I see the failure of the MTGOP to properly vet and support “true” republican candidates for office. As Montana’s National Committeeman, I have attended many Republican National Committee (RNC) meetings where the very issues playing out in Montana right now, were being discussed.

Read the complete article: MTGOP Quiet Complicity in the Political Swamp

Florida GOP Muzzles ‘Independent’ Republican Groups

WRITTEN BY
Robin Lumb
This column first appeared in Jacksonville Today
http://jaxtoday.org 

As humorist Dave Barry used to say, “I swear I’m not making this up!”

The Republican Party of Florida is now openly claiming that it literally – and yes, I do mean literally – “owns” the word “Republican” and that it has the absolute legal right under Florida law to deny its use to any independent organization of registered Republicans unwilling to submit to its authority.
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Read the complete Article: Florida GOP Muzzles independent Republican Groups

Flood Maps Weaponized for Land Control

WRITTEN BY
Staff Writer

When Missoula County redrew its floodplain lines last spring, homeowners awoke to a 30 percent plunge in their property values and new mandates for flood insurance, $939 permit fees, and strict building bans—changes identified in CAER’s overview fact pack on excessive regulation.

Read the complete Article: Flood Maps Weaponized for Land Control

HOPE in the Future and Fight against the GOP

WRITTEN BY
Staff Writer

The MT GOP and frankly, the entire USA GOP, has kept conservatives from having a real voice and from communicating with others. The Tea Party had some limited success in 2009-2010 until the media was told to stop paying attention to it and without its own communication system/media, it lost relevance. If what we believe about the GOP (MT GOP and RNC) becomes public, we will be called haters, democrats, infiltrators and legalistic. We will be scrutinized with even the smallest offense magnified, which causes many conservatives to retreat into silence. Conservatives are expected to stay in our small circles, outside the circle of influence, and keep out of party decisions. To speak beyond those boundaries prescribed by the Republicans for personal gain, risks humiliation and vilification.

Read the complete Article: HOPE in the Future and Fight against the GOP