Is 'Reasonable' in your vocabulary?

 

 

Reasonable people can disagree.  Unreasonable people can lie, cheat, disrespect, deceive, misrepresent, hide, stonewall, filibuster...and who knows what else.

The problem has always been about certain politicians.  Most of them could compromise and eventually agree on what was best for the country.  You'll recall stories of President Reagan and Speaker O'Neill vehemently debating an issue until a decision was made.  The two of them would then sit down for a drink after the dust had settled, confident that the right decision was made for the good of the country.

But, today, you can throw all of that out of the window.

It would be bad enough if all we had to contend with were cranky, polarized politicians, but it has gotten much worse than that.  It seems the country is divided into two groups:  Those who are only concerned with a win for their own political party, or those who have undergone their version of a self-inflicted lobotomy to sever all nerves that would allow politics into the thinking process of their brains. 

Both of these groups are a detriment to our country.

The answer to a politically polarized society is to ask but one question concerning all issues:  Is it good for America?

We cannot simply fight for a win for our favorite party and throw rocks at the opposition if we lose.  That wasn't how our framers wanted it and it shouldn't be how we want it. Honest and fevered debates are encouraged, but when winners are chosen, it should end.

The past several years have been torture for both supporters and opponents of our president.  It is not the end of the world if our guy didn't win, but it seems like you can catch glimpses of the end days when the losing side begins what appears to be another civil war.

We are a better nation than that.

 

A Better Memory Than An Elephant...

 

 

 

Question:  Who has a better memory than elephants?

 

Answer:      VOTERS!

 

 

If you forget everything else you've heard during this political election cycle, remember this:

 

    Why in the world would we want to turn over what little

    bit of rights we Middle and Lower Class now have.. to the

    election of more Republicans who will simply turn over
    what's left to the country's richest?
   

 

Montana's U.S. Senate Republican Candidate, Steve Daines, is not only in favor of more power to America's rich and super-rich, but he is ONE OF THEM!  His financial report shows assets worth somewhere between $9 and $33 million.  Who do you think he will continue to represent?  He proved his allegiance to the rich - which was a vote for himself, too - when he was elected as a Republican Tea Party Member in the U.S. House, and voted their wishes straight down the party line. 

 

And need we remind you that he is also in favor of repealing - or privatizing - Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and "Obamacare."  He and his friends are on a deadly course to decimate the Middle and Lower Class programs in order to give even more tax cuts and corporate welfare to the rich.

 

The majority of Americans want to eliminate the big money, big business, buying of politicians, and power-grabbing that is going on in our politics.  Why do we - here in Montana - want to elect Daines and add to that problem?

 

The answer is to get everyone to the ballot boxes this November.  If that doesn't happen, we're back at square one.

 

GO VOTE!

 

 

Register and Vote...It's Your Responsibility

We all know that Congressman Steve Daines voted to shut down the government.  He was just lip syncing what the U.S. House GOP and his old pals, the Tea Party, wanted him to say.

 

But the point to remember is WHY he voted the way he did:  The House GOP, at the urging of the radical  Tea Party, was trying to repeal "Obamacare" (more than 50 tries in all) or they would shut down the government.  "Shut 'er Down Steve" thought this would be a great idea and went along with them.  Does anyone really think he is his "own man?"  It is going down in history as one of many stupid maneuvers by Daines and his Tea Baggers.

 

Daines, as a multi-millionaire (between $9 and $33 million by his own report) has had heaps of cash thrown at him by the big money boys as they work to get him elected.  If successful, he could stand tall with the same rich and super-rich while repaying  their generosity with Senate votes.

 

But that is not what the majority of Montanans want or need.  Montana - and America - has handed over too many rights and too much control to the wealthy already.

 

We need to stop that evil in the November Election, and we can start by telling Steve Daines to unpack his bags because the only way he'll get to Washington D.C. is as another rich lobbyist.

 

Amanda Curtis can do the job Montanans want done, thank you very much!

 

Evil Begets More Evil...

 

 

Let's begin with these statistics:  U.S. Senate Candidate Amanda Curtis declares her total assets amount at less than $50,000.  U.S. Senate Candidate Steve Daines declares his total assets amount at between $8.9 million and 32.7 million.

 

Now, to believe the Republican/Tea Party rhetoric that the middle and lower income folks want the rich and mega-rich to hand over some of their money is the biggest whopper ever conceived.  I have never heard one person request such a proposal.

 

What folks are really saying is clear.  They don't want the rich and mega-rich to keep "buying" politicians.  Is that so hard to understand?  Is that not an un-American tactic if there ever was one?

 

The evil of buying a politician begets more evil.  More evil begets buying more evil politicians.  More evil politicians begets more corrupt government.  More corrupt government begets plutocracy - government by the wealthy.  A more plutocratic government begets oligarchy - a government in which a small group exercises control for corrupt and selfish purposes.  And that begets a nation in peril!

 

When we step into the voting booth in less than two months, let's keep in mind just who we really want to send to represent us.  Do we want to send those who were bought and paid for by  the rich, or do we want to send in someone who will represent the  rest of us?

 

In the final tally, it's up to "us."

 

  

 

 

 



The 'Haves' and the 'Have-Nots'...

Let's elect Amanda Curtis to be the first Montana woman to the U.S. Senate!  Not just to be the first woman, but because she is the best choice.

 

Everything Curtis stands for is what every Montanan wants in Senate representation.  She stands with the Middle and Lower Class of Montanans and will fight hard to keep this country from being handed over to the "Haves."

 

Her opponent, Cong. Steve Daines, has sold his soul to the mega-corporations and mega-money people (like the Koch Brothers) and he will certainly do their bidding if he is elected.  He has already let it be known that he is in favor of repealing or privatizing such programs as "Obamacare," Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

 

Amanda Curtis will fight hard to retain those programs that are so successful and greatly needed to keep our Middle and Lower Class from completely disappearing.  The disastrous route that the GOP and Tea Party has taken America has led to a near-annihilation of working-class Americans...all because of their drive to enrich the wealthiest of our nation, with a veiled and false promise that the "trickle down" theory will help the rest of us.
 

Vote for Amanda Curtis to the U.S. Senate, to turn these bad ideas around!  This isn't between Republicans and Democrats...this is between Republicans and the Middle and Lower Class.

 

   

Vote With Your Mind and Heart...

 

 

And when he was asked about the Tea Party, the Elephant said, "This, too, shall pass!"

 

Congressman Steve Daines (R-MT) seems to be running from his Tea Party ideology...but not from the Koch Brothers' Tea Party money.  And that's unfortunate.

 

It's funny how some politicians eventually find that any old port in the storm will do.  Daines has wobbled and weaved,  tottered and teetered, and lurched and lied... in order to keep ahead of the criticism heaped on his Tea Party mentality.

 

But we also know that this particular politician has no scruples about imparting whatever message he thinks you'll want to hear.  He has been known to vote against the Food Stamp Program and then run home to Bozeman and volunteer to work Meals on Wheels for a photo opportunity.  He also tells us he's working hard to get jobs for Montanans while we read about the thousands of jobs he sent to foreign countries while he was an executive for a mega-corporation.

 

That's how most mega-millionaires operate.

 

But that doesn't mean how our next U.S. Senator from Montana should.

 

Vote for Amanda Curtis. She knows what Montanans need that they won't get from millionaire Daines.  She knows that America's richest do not need more tax breaks and corporate welfare.  She knows that this is an election battle that is not between Republicans and Democrats, but rather between the wealthy and the middle and lower class!

 

 

 

 

Forced Overhaul...

 

 

 

For those of you who use the statement, "You can't fix stupid," or those of you who won't accept the fact that what the GOP is doing is stupid, you all have to admit that what they are doing is wrong, wrong, wrong!

 

As far as I am concerned, the word "stupid" may not even apply here.  That would imply that they don't know any better, and I won't accept that premise for a minute.  They know exactly what they are doing.

 

The GOP's efforts to impeach the president is groundless, as is the efforts to sue him.  They have set up more roadblocks than a construction crew on the repair of a thousand-mile highway project.

 

Their purpose, of course, is to falsely inform the American People that if they vote for one more Democrat, they will spell doom for our country.  Even though this president has a long list of positive achievements - mostly involving the massive clean-up of the previous administration's messes - they believe the people are somehow oblivious to those facts.

 

It's true that the GOP needs a complete overhaul.  A recent poll shows that a majority of the American People do not like how the Republican members of the U.S. House and Senate have handled their jobs, and they also no longer trust them.

 

Let's help them fix their problems by sending them home.  A kind of forced help, if you will.

 

Don't sit home and ignore the November Election!

 

 

 

 

 



Legends in their own minds...

 

 

 

Results from a recent national  poll show 75% of the Republicans now holding offices shouldn't be re-elected.

 

That is a severe denunciation of a large group of elected officials whose moniker  "Grand Old Party" appears to be anything but grand.

There are two more good reasons to heed those statistics right here in Montana, too: Congressman Steve Daines and Candidate Ryan Zinke.  While Zinke is a newcomer to the race for the U.S. House, Daines has managed to display his Tea Party mentality of radical voting.  A former U.S. House member, he believes we Montanans should reward him for voting to shut down the government because of a failed House vote to repeal "Obamacare."

Daines also thinks we should be happy about his efforts to repeal or privatize Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  And, he thinks we should be ecstatic about his hard work to get more tax breaks for his buddies - the rich and mega-rich of America.

Zinke wants us to see him as a member of Seal Team Six, the brave military fighting force who killed Osama bin Ladin...three years after he retired.  It appears he is just another Republican who has little going for him except his military background and lots of money behind him.

Yup...two more GOP fellas that can be included in the over-reaching group known as "Legends in their own minds."

Lump these two into those 75 percenters... and you'll make your vote - and your life - much easier!

 

 

 



A Pair of Political Prevaricators...

 

 

Montana is doubly cursed with two federal candidates running for office.  They both insist on lying to us.

 

Candidate for the U.S. House, Ryan Zinke (R), suggests he took part in killing Osama bin Laden.  An email from him stated clearly: "I spent 23 years as a Navy SEAL and served as a Team Leader on SEAL Team Six - the team responsible for the mission to get Osama bin Laden."  That email was received by John Hollow, from Helena, a former Navy SEAL. 

 

What the email does not say is that Zinke retired from the Navy on Jan. 30, 2008, more than three years before bin Laden was killed.  After the email was circulated, Zinke tried to make it clear he did not actually kill bin Laden.  (Of course, if anyone was to like the implication, he wouldn't object to receiving their vote.)

 

The other liar is in the person of Congressman Steven Daines (R-MT), candidate for the U.S. Senate. Lest you think "liar" is too harsh of a word for Daines, you need only to look into his record for proof.   He tells Montanans he will get jobs for them in our state, while he is known for sending thousands of jobs out of the country as an executive of a mega-corporation.  He voted against the Food Stamp Program and then ran home to volunteer to deliver Meals on Wheels for a photo opportunity.  He tells us he is on the side of Montana Seniors, but voted to repeal or privatize Medicare and Social Security.

 

Two examples of Republican fabricators seeking offices in Washington D.C. 

 

They've lied to us on Montana's campaign trail.  Why should we expect them to tell the truth when they're more than 2,000 miles away?

 

 

 

He's been called an 'Empty Suit'...

 

 

Democratic Party spokesman Bryan Watt said, "Daines is an 'empty suit' who will say or do anything to get elected, and whose time in Congress was spent supporting measures to privatize Medicare, sell of public lands, and support the interests of the wealthy at the expense of the middle and lower class."

 

"Daines was born on third base and thinks he hit a home run.  He doesn't have the first idea of what it means to be a working Montanan, to struggle to put food on the table, and to make ends meet," Watt said.

 

 

Those are some strong reasons to pass over Congressman Steve Daines when you vote for Montana's next U. S. Senator.

 

"Daines spent 27 years in the private sector working for the corporate giant Procter & Gamble and then for a technology startup called RightNow Technologies that was bought by another corporate giant, Oracle.  Those connections helped Daines create a network of deep-pocketed donors who have helped fund his $5 million campaign to date," wrote Matt Volz of the Associated Press.

 

Deep in our hearts, we all know that Daines is not the one to serve as Montana's next U.S. Senator.  His ties to big business, big money, and his plans to crush the remaining life out of our Middle and Lower Class is not only disturbing, but it is also disgusting.
 

There is another candidate that comes from - and understands - the common Montanan.  She is tough and filled with common sense.   That alone makes her a unique politician who we can all feel pride in sending to Washington.

 

Her name is Amanda Curtis.

 

Listen to her - and check out what she says for yourself.

 

 

 

 

Politics ain't for sissies...

 

 

As I listened to Newt Gingrich spew his hatred for President Obama and the entire Democratic Party this morning on CNN's  "State of the Union," I tried to put myself into the minds of Americans who really don't know who to believe anymore.

Ask a question about the weather in Montana and Gingrich can give you five quick ready-to-serve negatives about the president before your hat can hit the floor.

It's negative politics - Republican style - that we have had to endure ever since Obama first stepped foot inside the Oval Office; and yet the economy, unemployment, two wars, financial markets, corporate earnings, and a host of other data...all show significant improvements.

Not good enough, say the Conservative pundits!

All the while, the U.S. House has shown it can perform gridlock with the best of 'em.  As a matter of fact, they undoubtedly hold the record for being the most ineffective congress in modern times.  Added to that is their disapproval rating in the single digits for the first time in any one's memory.  They have mustered enough energy to work on impeaching the president, and if that isn't enough to fire up their base, they've decided to sue him, as well.

When your mind digests the hostility of most of the Republican Politicians the past few years, it really does feel like you just woke up from a very bad nightmare.

The Republican Party is working hard (unfortunately, not at what we sent them to do) at winning elections this November.  Their entire plan has been geared to that one goal:  Keep the House and win the Senate.  Nothing else matters...certainly not you or I!

You've heard of throwing out the baby with the bath water.  Well, the Republicans are actually fine with throwing out the country with their dirty water.

That leaves only one solution to America's problems...

Voters who give a damn.
 

Montana Politics...

 

 

A lady from Helena had her "letter to the editor" published in my hometown newspaper this morning.  She was taking Amanda Curtis, Democrat Candidate for the U.S. Senate, to task for saying she wanted to punch a Montana Republican Legislator for refusing to vote for extension of the Medicaid funds in the previous session.  Curtis was also a member of that legislative session.

 

The letter writer scolded Curtis for continuing the hostility in politics.  We would all like to see more peaceful solutions regarding the "art of the deal" in political debates.

 

My response, however, would be to advise this letter writer that it has been the Republicans who have instigated the most outrageous and ugly war of words we have seen in modern times.  Their hatchet job on the Medicaid Extension cost 70,000 Montanans access to better health care in Montana...and it was purely for political showmanship!

 

When Curtis said she would like to punch a Republican for that vote, she was using much more restraint than I could have mustered.

 

The letter writer needs to remember this old adage:  When you point your index finger at someone (or something), you need to look down at your hand and see that there are three more fingers pointing back at you.

 

The rebellious Republicans started this war when President Obama took office and it will take the Republicans to stop it.

 

In the meantime, Amanda Curtis...70,000 Montanan's rights to better health care begins where that Republican Legislator's nose ends.

 

 

 

 

Remnants of a House Divided...

We have something for all of the Montana Voters to remember this November.  In the above illustration, Congressman Steven Daines (R-MT, the guy on the right) and the other two are stereotypical members of the garden variety, gridlock gurus better known as Tea Party aficionados.

 

Yes, he was - and still is - a member of the Hell-raisin' yahoos that have raised a ruckus in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Their modus operandi has been to block anything the president has supported and delay or kill anything the people of this country have wanted.  In short, they have gone on record as being the most "do nothing" House in modern history, and it's all because of their plan to bring this president to his knees.

 

Their original plan was to make him a one-term president.  When that didn't turn out to well for them, they decided to set traps and find reasons to impeach him.  That's not looking to doable, either, so they have now decided to sue him.  There are some great words to define that much stupidity!

 

The point of this is found closer to home, however.  Congressman Daines has been a part of this group's  lack of good judgement, and now he is asking us to elect him to the U.S. Senate.  Why on Earth would we want to do that?

 

That's why we have Amanda Curtis on the ballot.  No Tea Party membership...No political gridlock...No pointy-headed stupidity...No big money buying her election...No Steve Daines!

 

Montana has no further need of a multi-millionaire Tea Party member who wants to disassemble Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act, and Social Security.

 

Forest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what kind you're going to get."  With Steve Daines, we all should know what kind we'd get:  A millionaire with chocolate all over his face!

 

 

See you at the ballot box!

 



A Man of Tunnel Vision...

 

 

Congressman Steven Daines (R-MT) has given the good people of Montana many reasons to believe he has tunnel vision.

*When Daines says he wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act (better known to Daines by the repugnant Republican term "Obamacare") he is showing his Tea Party Tunnel Vision.

*When he wants to repeal or privatize Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, he is showing his Tea Party Tunnel Vision.

*When he wants to uproot decades-old programs for America's Middle Class, he is showing his Tea Party Tunnel Vision.

*When he wants to zero in on more tax cuts for his rich and mega-rich friends, he is showing his Tea Party Tunnel Vision.

*When he is more interested in whittling away at welfare which was always intended to aid America's less fortunate, and leave the much more costly corporate welfare in place, he is showing his Tea Party tunnel Vision.

The mind of a Tea Partier is a terrible thing to waste.

Montana deserves better representation...by a mind that understands and comes from the people.  The United States Senate deserves such a person, too.

Vote for such a mind:  Vote for Amanda Curtis.



 



The "Unknown" Candidate...

Amanda Curtis
Democrat Candidate for U.S. Senate

 

 

Considering the positive spin Congressman Steve Daines is getting from various Montana newspapers and television stations, he should be much further ahead than 20 percentage points.  Especially when you consider his opponents is brand new to nearly all Montanans.

 

Such is life in the far, far west.

 

 

Or, maybe the polls indicate the Democrat Candidate, Amanda Curtis, is a complete unknown to those being polled and just went with the "known" Daines.  The pollsters did jump on their telemarketing calls a few days after Curtis entered the race.  Unless you lived in her hometown, you probably knew very little about her. That, of course, is all about to change.  As a Montana Voter, you owe it to yourself to get to know all  of the candidates.

 

The important thing in all of this is:  What, exactly, do Montanans know about Daines?  If you are taking notes about how to vote, consider these facts:

 

 

     He is a radical Tea Party member.

 

     He wants to repeal or privatize Medicare, Medicaid, and

        Social Security.

 

      He wants to eliminate the Affordable

        Care Act.

 

      When his vote in the U.S. House to

        repeal "Obamacare" failed,

he voted to shut down the government.

 

     He voted to drastically cut the Food Stamp Program

and then raced home to volunteer his help

in delivering Meals on Wheels

for a photo opportunity.

 

      He is best known for helping - and getting help from - 

        big business, and sending jobs out of the country.

 

      He is a multi-millionaire who has the support of big-

        money friends and wealthy PACs who are pouring

        billions of dollars into "buying" races around the

        country.

 

 

The important thing to know

about the "unknown candidate" is:

 

She is against everything mentioned above!

 

       

 

So, if you were polled and gave the nod to Daines, maybe you'd like to change your mind.

 

The only negative about Curtis is being unknown.

 

...and that's not much of a negative when selecting our next United States Senator.