Tag Archives: Max Baucus

Protect Jobs in China or in the U.S.? Take a Stand!

Posted on by Standard 2

Why does our economy continue to decline as more Americans are reduced to government-dependency every day?  Please take two minutes to watch our vice-president Joe Biden try to defend the US free-trade policies of recent years (including the Trans-Pacific Partnership which is currently being fast-tracked through Congress) and see Pat Buchanan destroy them:

Biden, his boss President Obama, and Harry Reid claim to be motivated by the dream of a “New World Order”, a “level playing field”, and “the success of those with whom we compete”.  Sadly, many Republicans including house speaker John Boehner are rolling over as well.

Could it be that these Washington, DC elites are owned by the incredibly wealthy business tycoons and their lobbyists who have profited greatly by shipping 55% of our manufacturing jobs overseas?

In his upcoming state of the union speech President Obama is expected to decry income inequality, while out of the other side of his mouth he promotes free trade.  The two are incompatible.  Free trade clearly creates income inequality by creating enormous corporate profits without domestic employment.

Isn’t it about time our leaders take a stand for American jobs and families?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Now stand in the place where you work.
Now face west.    [toward China!]
Think about the place where you live,
Wonder why you haven’t before!

STAND – R.E.M.

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Side note for Montanans:  Rep. Steve Daines (R) and Sen. Max Baucus (D) have supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership; Sen. Jon Tester (D) appears to support the treaty, but has demanded protections for the US timber industry.

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A More Conservative Senate in 2014 – the Rocky Mountain Way

Posted on by Standard 1

LizCheneySenator Max Baucus (D-Montana) was forced into retirement after admitting the damage he and his liberal colleagues had done via the ObamaCare “train wreck”.

Scandals caught up with heir-apparent former Montana governor Brian Schweitzer, forcing him to pull out of the upcoming Senate race.

Senator Jon Tester, while not on the ballot next year, has been trying his best lately to move to the right, away from the mess his Democrat party and the Obama administration have created.  He knows his incumbency hangs by a thread.

Steve Daines, Montana’s conservative representative in the House, is the leading candidate to replace Baucus in the Senate.  There are no viable Democrat contenders.  And today Liz Cheney threw her very large hat into the ring, squaring off against squishy Republican Senator Mike Enzo in the Wyoming primary.

Anyone who has paid attention to Liz Cheney over the last several years knows that she is tough, intelligent, polished, deeply educated on the issues, and solidly conservative.  She is virtually impossible to defeat in debate.  Establishment (as in moderate) Republicans are outraged.  Alan Simpson, former Wyoming senator, said Cheney’s candidacy “threatens to start a civil war within the state’s Republican establishment, despite the reverence many hold for her family.”

The electoral losses in 2012 were devastating to conservatives.  Many “right-siders” threw up their hands and decided to just let the liberal Democrats and moderate incumbent Republicans hang themselves with their own ill-conceived policies.

Maybe that plan is coming to fruition – the Rocky Mountain Way.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ on the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

And, we don’t need the ladies
Crying ’cause the story’s sad
‘Cause the Rocky Mountain Way –
It’s better than the way we had!

Rocky Mountain Way – Joe Walsh

Max Baucus Was Right – ObamaCare CrazyTrain Wreck Will Be Brutal

Posted on by Standard 2

train wreckA few months ago Montana senator Max Baucus committed political suicide by telling the truth.  The finance committee chairman pulled back the ObamaCare curtain when he told Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius, “I just see a huge train wreck coming down.”  He was immediately thrown under the Obama/Democrat bus and announced his retirement, relieved of the burden of living lie after lie for the benefit of his party.

The ObamaCare train is barreling down the tracks full speed even as we speak, and in a few months the inevitable, explosive wreck will occur when millions of Americans find that their employers have dropped their coverage, leaving them at the mercy of a government bureaucracy that doesn’t know what it’s doing, and the rest take a huge hit to the pocketbook, jolting the already-fragile economy.

Employers have been weighing whether to pay higher benefit costs or take the cheaper route of paying the penalties for dropping health care coverage.  Neither is good for business, employees, or the economy.  Workers who still have employer-provided health care will find their premium cost share much higher.  Those who don’t will begin paying their own premiums to the government exchanges, which are years from being functional (if any government program can actually be functional).   And employees who refuse to sign up will face stiff tax penalties at the end of the year.

Sebelius said, “I don’t know what he [Baucus] is looking at . . . we are on track to fully implement marketplaces in Jan. 2014, and to be open for open enrollment.”  Yeah, right.

Enrollment is supposed to start October 1 – ninety days from now.  Do you see any evidence that the Dept. of Hope and Change is ready to provide health care to millions and millions of new dependents?  Is the health care exchange ready to go in your state?  Have you been informed of your options?

The Obama administration soldiers on in the face of adversity, doing what it has always done when faced with a difficult problem – more campaigning.  Sebelius is trying to enlist the NBA, NFL, and other celebrities to launch a propaganda campaign promoting ObamaCare.  Response has been tepid, at best – not surprising, considering Kobe Bryant’s taxes will go up by a quarter million dollars because of ObamaCare.

Oh yeah, this is going to be ugly.

Conservatives in the House have voted to repeal parts or all of the train wreck, but it’s like putting pennies on the track – not going to even slow the behemoth down.

Of course we will all be watching – you can’t help but look at a train wreck, even though the carnage is gut-wrenching.  Let’s just hope somebody steps forward in the upcoming elections who can clean up the mess from this crazy train.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

I’ve listened to preachers,
I’ve listened to fools,
I’ve watched all the dropouts,
Who make their own rules,
One person conditioned to rule and control,
The media sells it and you live the role.
I’m going off the rails on a crazy train!

Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne


Here’s some fun for all you Headbangers on the Right Side!


Obama Regime Kicks Max Baucus Under the Bus

Posted on by Standard 3

Max BaucusI would bet that most of you who Rock with me On the Right Side probably are not on the President’s mailing list.  I am.

Call it espionage, if you must.  Actually, I just find the way the Obama regime manipulates its subjects so entertaining.

Today the administration is blasting Max Baucus for finally – finally – representing his Montana constituents.   And as they almost always do, they lied to their gullible subscribers without shame.  Here’s the e-mail they sent me:

Friend —

Senator Max Baucus is hoping you weren’t paying attention.

Last week, he was one of 45 senators who decided to stand with the gun lobby, blocking a bill to expand background checks — a measure that 79% of Montanans support.

OFA supporters across the country are holding their senators accountable — today, Senator Baucus needs to hear directly from the people who sent him to Washington. One simple, very public way of doing that is to get on Twitter.

Tweet @MaxBaucus now:

We have your senator’s Twitter handle and a sample tweet ready to go, but feel free to make it your own. As long as Senator Baucus hears from you today, that’s what counts. And believe me, the senator and his staff are watching their Twitter accounts pretty closely.

The reality is, keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally unstable should be a no-brainer. It’s overwhelmingly popular. Senator Baucus could have easily stood up to the gun lobby and said, “I have to do what my constituents sent me here to do.”

Instead, he caved and we took a step backward in the fight to prevent gun violence.

Whenever this happens — whenever Congress chooses to cater to special interests at the expense of the common good — OFA is going to hold them accountable in a very public way.

It’s why we’re here.

After years of selling out to the big political contributors who got him re-elected six times, Baucus finally grew a spine.  He admitted that the Obamacare program he co-sponsored is “a train wreck”.  He voted against the Democrats embarrassingly bloated budget, saying it raised spending too much.  He stood up to the over-reaching gun control extremists – and by the way, if you believe 79% of Montanans support gun control, you have never whiffed one breath of Big Sky air.

The left is on him like magpies on a road-killed whitetail.  Washington Post: “Baucus Retires, A Grateful Nation Cheers”.  The Daily Beast: “Good Riddance, Max Baucus”.  And, of course, the divider-in-chief, through his puppets, grabs his smelly bite of scavenged meat, booting his once-faithful comrade to the curb with snarling contempt.  Stay classy, Mr. President.

Announcing his retirement, Baucus said in an AP interview, “I don’t want to die here with my boots on. There is life beyond Congress.”  I think it’s kind of cool that he finally bought a pair of boots.  He hadn’t seen Montana for so long, I doubt he knows which one goes on which foot.

One of the last letters I wrote Senator Baucus was a promise.  I told him that if he continued to push for ObamaCare I would do everything in my power to see that he would never be elected again.  We both lost.  ObamaCare became law, and Max will never be elected again.

I guess Montana lost twice, though.  Here comes Brian Schweitzer.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

No one knows what it’s like to be the bad man
To be the sad man behind blue eyes.
No one knows what it’s like to be hated
To be fated to telling only lies

But my dreams they aren’t as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance that’s never free

Behind Blue Eyes – the Who
with rare footage – Keith Moon Speaks!

How Do You Do It, Max Baucus?

Posted on by Standard 5

baucusMax Baucus has represented Montana in the U.S. Senate since 1978, and has been re-elected six times.  He plans to run again next year.

Baucus has overcome a slew of criticisms to maintain his grip on the biggest pot of money on planet Earth.  Critics say Baucus has lost touch with Montana, doesn’t live there, and rarely visits the state he represents.   I believe voters cut him some slack on that one.  His work is in the nation’s capital, and it makes sense that he should have a home there.  Still, many Montanans are concerned that 91% of his previous campaign funds came from out-of-state sources.

Max’s personal morals have also been called into question, including lurid stories in the national press of divorces and infidelity, jobs for girlfriends, and crony capitalism.  The video of Baucus’ apparently-inebriated speech on the Senate floor has 2 million YouTube hits.  Defenders say he was just “tired” – watch the video and judge for yourself.  But Bill Clinton lowered the threshold of voter pain on skanky behavior, and Barack Obama has established crony paybacks as an acceptable primary fundraising strategy in the expensive world of national politics.  The “Foster Brooks” impersonation was avoided by the mainstream media.  Montanans might believe lapses in personal ethics can be overlooked if their congressman votes right.

Montanans should be alarmed, however, when Baucus’ votes and considerable influence run counter to their principles.  Responses from the last five years of Montana Chamber of Commerce surveys indicate:

    • 64% (5-yr. avg.) of Montana voters say our national economy is on the ‘wrong track’, versus 23% ‘right track’, with chronic unemployment, anemic GDP growth, and irreparable debt and deficits.  All that time Senator Baucus has been at the helm of Senate committees including Finance, Taxation, IRS Oversight, Long-term Growth,  Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth, and Deficit Reduction.  The Senate has not passed a budget for four years, and looks as if they never will.


    • While Montanans’ top financial concern continues to be health care costs,  Senator Baucus led the charge for ObamaCare, despite knowing it would raise taxes on Americans, damage Medicare, and add to the national debt and deficits.  He has always been tight with “Big-Pharma” lobbyists, and remains one of the leading recipients of political contributions from health insurance and pharmaceutical companies.


    • A solid majority of Montanans have unfavorable opinions of environmental groups, labor unions, and trial lawyers.  Baucus supported unpopular global warming legislation, the unions salivate over the millions of new members they will gain thanks to his health care reform plans, and trial lawyers shovel endless money to Baucus campaigns in exchange for avoiding tort reform in Max’s health care bills.

With all of this baggage, and Baucus’ apparent disdain for Montana voters, how does he keep getting re-elected?

Is it the huge sums of money required for an opponent to even consider going toe-to-toe with the well-connected incumbent Senator? (He has already amassed a $3 million war chest for the the next go-around.)

Is it the decades of pork he has funneled to his state? (Montana receives $1.47 back from the federal government for every dollar it pays in taxes.)

Is it his personal charm and boyish good looks? (Women do tend to vote for Democrats.)

It’s time for good conservatives (some of whom are Republicans) to start a serious search for a Senate contender who does not have personal baggage, who can win the hearts and minds of those with financial means, and who is serious about a calling higher than re-election.

Can anybody displace Max Baucus?  It just doesn’t seem like it should be that hard.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

How do you do what you do to me?
I’m feeling blue.
Wish I knew how you do it to me,
But I haven’t a clue.

How Do You Do It? – Gerry and the Pacemakers
(also recorded by the Beatles)
Here’s a great video of one of the most under-rated musicians (Gerry Marsden) and bands (the Pacemakers) of the sixties and the British Invasion. Enjoy!

You Paid $3,652 For My Short Flight. Thanks!

Posted on by Standard 7

Silver Airlines*update 6/13/2013 – common sense prevails as Essential Air Service subsidies for Lewistown and Miles City are finally cancelled! 

 

Thank you, taxpayers!

I just booked a flight from Lewistown to Billings.   I fly frequently out of Billings, and usually I just drive to the airport – it’s only a two-hour trip.  I often stay overnight at a Billings hotel so I can leave my vehicle there until my return, because long-term parking at the airport is pretty expensive.  But last week I read in our local paper that we are only averaging one passenger per day through our Lewistown airport.  That’s one passenger for two flights in and two flights out.  Per day.  Kind of embarrassing.

So I thought I would check it out.  My airfare was only $71!  Heck, I would spend that on gas taking my truck to Billings and back, plus I would have to pay for a hotel or parking.  Why not?

How, you may ask, can air transportation from a little town like Lewistown be such a bargain?  It’s called Essential Air Service.   You wonderful taxpayers subsidize our tiny airline to make sure we don’t have to buy gas from a greedy privately-owned gas station and spend money at some evil, profit-hungry privately-owned hotel.  It’s one of those programs that our federal government says we just can’t live without.   In fact, they absolutely must raise our taxes because programs like this are . . . well, essential.

I am just overwhelmed at your generosity.  I looked up the Essential Air Service subsidy for Lewistown to see how much you are paying for my trip.   Let’s see, the most recent annual contract provides a $1,325,733 subsidy to Silver Airlines for serving Lewistown.  One passenger per day for 365 days, that’s about 365 passengers per year . . .  hmm, according to my simple math, you taxpayers are paying about $3,632 for my short trip to Billings.

Denny Rehberg and Jon Tester and Max Baucus are all big supporters of Essential Air Service.   Some other stingy Congressmen tried to shut down the program, but your Montana buddies don’t have any problem with you guys paying $3,632 for me to fly to Billings.   Oh, plus $3,632 when I return.  I mean after all, heh heh heh . . . it’s not their money!

So thanks again, I’ll be thinking of you as I glide over the Rimrocks into Billings-Logan airport to make my connecting flight.  You know, the Rimrocks sure are pretty, you can look right over the fiscal cliff . . .

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right SideGimme a ticket for an aeroplane
I ain’t got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone, I’m a-goin’ home
My baby just wrote me a letter!
I don’t care how much money I gotta spend
Got to get back to my baby again
Lonely days are gone, I’m a-goin’ home
My baby just wrote me a letter!

The Letter – by the Box Tops

Juneau: Montana Kids Are Abused

Posted on by Standard 6

Montana Children Waiting To Be Fed By Their Teachers

On behalf of the state of Montana, I apologize to America.  Our state superintendent of schools, Denise Juneau, spoke to the DNC and the entire nation yesterday, and I am embarrassed to have everyone see how low our once-great state has sunk.

Juneau revealed to the world that “Sometimes school is the only place where our kids can get a hot meal and a warm hug”.  She admitted that Montana parents do not care enough about their children to even feed them, or show affection.

She confessed that without President Obama, our kids have no chance for success.  But if Obama is re-elected, the opportunities are limitless – our children, she said, can emerge “from a home with a struggling single mom to the White House”.

Montana parents offer no future to our kids, especially single moms and our Native American families.  “Teachers are the only ones who tell kids they can go from the Indian reservation to the Ivy League,” she said.   I’m sorry you have to see how horrible our Montana parents are, based on the damning report by Denise Juneau.  So bad that teachers have to raise our kids for us, and even they can’t succeed unless Barack Obama is re-elected.

Juneau’s opponent for the office of superintendent of Montana schools, Sandy Welch, says if we can stop the Obama administration, senators Baucus and Tester, the EPA, and the radical environmental groups from blocking the development of our abundant energy resources, our economy will improve dramatically, along with family incomes, the tax base, and funds for education.

But Denise Juneau, in her speech, pointed out that it’s better to beg for scraps from a federal government sinking in debt, and rely on more hope and more change from a failed President rather than support Montana parents and local school boards and administrators, even if it holds down teacher salaries.

America, I’m sorry for what has happened to our Montana kids.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Hungry for those good things, baby
Hungry through and through
I’m hungry for that sweet life, baby
With a real fine girl like you

Hungry – Paul Revere and the Raiders