News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1610 - 1634 of 3210
Don’t let the tobacco companies win in November. Make your vote count. In every state that has significantly raised cigarette taxes, smoking rates have gone down and the U.S. surgeon general says this is especially true among kids. The tobacco industry wants to deceive you with glossy TV ads. Don’t buy into their lies. I 185 will reduce the number of kids who take up smoking, increase funds for our state tobacco prevention program and help people quit. Revenue will also go to treating Medicaid patients, veterans and sen...
The American political environment has been a boiling pot for the past half century which began as a gradual overthrow of the Founding Fathers’ historic system of government. George Soros has infused millions of dollars into our present political process in an aggressive push on behalf of internationally based socialism — foundation of communism — to overthrow this Christian-based nation. The current Democrat Party’s operational plan is obvious to me as based on Saul Alinsky’s program as he outlined in “Rules for Radicals.” T...
Montana voters are being asked to make a major policy decision this year that will have long-term effects on the state budget and the tax burden of all Montanans. I’m referring to I 185, the ballot initiative that would make permanent an expensive entitlement program called Medicaid Expansion. As voters prepare to make this serious choice about the direction of state spending, it’s important to understand exactly which programs, and people, are affected. One major program not impacted by I 185 is Medicare, which covers hea...
The top executives of seven tobacco companies testified at a Congressional hearing in 1994 under oath that they didn’t believe nicotine was addictive. None of them ever went to jail for lying. The major opponents to I-185 are RJ Reynolds, owned by a foreign company, British American Tobacco, and Altria. The tobacco industry can legally addict people, make them pay for their addiction and they make a profit from their customers’ addictions. Tobacco is the only consumer product that eventually kills half of its regular use...
Like many of my friends, I’ve worked hard, paid my fair share and volunteered to serve our country. I was recently asked whether I know anyone affected by tobacco-related diseases. Just about my whole Marine Corps League from Billings. My Dad was a World War II veteran who served on Guadalcanal, was also a smoker. Even though he survived the war, emphysema was one of the things that took him at an early age. It’s ironic that the very people who served this country in all corners of the globe are dying of preventable dea...
Of all the news items that could be trending this week, I never would have expected one of the top topics to be squirrels. Not squirrel cartoons, which we love and hate, and not squirrelly politicians, which would seem to be the most likely scenario, but actual bushy-tailed, chatterbox squirrels. The first bit is squirrel-science news from New York City. The Associated Press picked up the story that researchers are taking a census of squirrels in the city’s 840-acre Central Park, to track the “squirrels’ activities, such...
Being sick gives new meaning to the much overworked cliché, “There is no place like home.” Home to warm sunshine. Home to my own bed. Home. The rainy season is nearing the end. The “boys” tell me that while I was shivering up north, down here, 40 days and 40 nights, storms of Biblical proportions dumped rain and wreaked havoc. I feel like I have been away a very long time. All I cared about was my own bed. My house still had a roof. If it floated away with me in it, so be it. Being home this soon had not been my intentio...
It’s important to know where Montana tax dollars are going, especially when you’re asked to vote to raise taxes. Ballot Initiative 185 would raise tax revenues in Montana by $74 million per year. How that money is distributed, though, is even more problematic than the alarming price tag. I 185 would bypass the Legislature to make the Medicaid Expansion program permanent. This expansion program, keep in mind, is different from Medicare and traditional Medicaid. Medicare provides health insurance for adults 65 years and old...
As $12 million of misleading negative ads roll out over Montana’s airwaves, we could be watching the health care of 100,000 Montanans go up in smoke. Big Tobacco is trying to buy Montana in a cynical, immoral attempt to bolster their market and profits to the detriment of Montana families. Health care for 100,000 Montanans is on the ballot. The Healthy Montana initiative, I 185, retains health care for 100,000 who likely include someone in your family or a friend, a co-worker or a neighbor — someone with cancer or a chi...
Montana has not raised the state tobacco tax in 13 years because big, out-of-state tobacco corporations have spent millions lobbying politicians to vote no in an effort to protect their profits at our expense. I am a fourth-generation Montanan. I think it is outrageous that Big Tobacco has poured more than $12 million into our state in an attempt to deceive voters this November. When you see the “no on I 185” ads and signs in our community, know that the activity is paid for by multinational tobacco corporations that off...
Our ranch is just downstream from the Kendall Mine. Our family has raised cattle, grain and hay on this land since my husband’s grandfather purchased the place in the 40s. In the 80s, Kendall, a gold mine, was permitted on the edge of our property. Today they call it an “old mine.” But I have children older than this mine — children who went on to get advanced degrees in things like chemistry and environmental engineering and landscape design because they saw what happened to our family and wanted to do something about i...
Montanans have the opportunity to continue their tradition of common sense investment to support education this election year as we see Legislative Referendum 128 on the November election ballot. The Six-Mill Levy supports all students in higher education and the state of Montana. In my position as president of the Associated Students of the University of Montana, I have had the honor and privilege to meet some amazing students at the University of Montana that value the education they seek and the state they live in. Not...
If you watch any television you can’t help seeing advertisements for and against I 185. It’s pretty confusing. I have decided to speak out against the initiate for several important reasons. Before explaining those I also want to affirm my view that we ought to be willing to help those who aren’t able to help themselves. Montanans have always been generous and caring about their neighbors. So why should we oppose this initiative? First, because it’s a self-serving proposal advanced by certain providers who want to bypass...
Tobacco companies are dumping millions of dollars into Montana to deceive voters by filling our mailboxes and cluttering our TV screens. It’s time to clear the smoke around Ballot Initiative I-185. Let’s look at the facts: In addition to fully funding Medicaid coverage for 100,000 Montanans and ensuring healthcare access for our veterans, seniors and people with disabilities, I-185 will also fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs and services, support funding for veteran suicide prevention and prevent our rural hospit...
I wish to unread a news article I found this week but, apparently, until my hereditary Alzheimer’s sets in I’m stuck with it in my brain. The Associated Press reported that a bowling alley owner got stuck in his pin setting machine Sunday and died there. For real. It’s the kind of tragedy you expect to see in a movie — a dark comedy or a horror movie — not something you expect to happen in real life. Many years ago, now, two friends and I were watching a video of horse and...
I would like to tell you it is all about the weather. I would be lying. Even though it seems like rain has followed me from Washington to Glacier to Harlem to Glendive, I am simply not that powerful. I do not make the rain. Much as I would like to think it is all about me, it is not. Nor is it all about the weather. Weather is weather, variable. Today weather is rain. This is Montana. Tomorrow might bring a heat wave or it might snow. This week and a half is all about family....
During the last two weeks I have read three well-written articles that appeared in the Billings Gazette, that spoke of the importance of the 1989 Montana Bad Actor Law. The Montana Legislature, at that time, spoke a truth held by many Montanans, that the “Treasure State” had been desecrated by some, but not all people from the mining industry. Yes, we need an economy, and we appreciate the good paying jobs that were created by the mining companies, we also place a stewardship trust on those who mine. The 1989 Leg...
This spring, we had a flood that did damage throughout my district, Senate District 14. The damage was in Hill, Chouteau and Liberty counties, plus three other Montana counties. This past week, the State Emergency Management Services folks, along with Federal Emergency Management Agency people, were in our area helping counties figure out the paperwork. I attended the meeting in Havre in the hopes that the new e-system, which is the way FEMA processes paperwork and payments, has been improved since I worked with it last. As...
Montana’s rural communities have always been the backbone of our economy, driving economic growth through a foundation of hard work and a strong tradition of agriculture. In Montana, when our rural communities are thriving, our entire state thrives. Gov. Steve Bullock and I recently visited our rural communities to hear from rural Montanans as we tackle the issues facing our state. Farmers and ranchers described what is a “perfect storm” threatening Montana’s most important industry. When we look at what is happening with tr...
Montanans will have a direct say in what we pay when the 6 mill university levy comes before us again this election year as LR 128 on the November election ballot. There may be other states that have statewide voted university levies, but I’m not aware of them. In the case of the 6 mill levy, a top-heavy majority of Republican and Democratic legislators voted last year to refer it to Montana voters as the Legislature has done every 10 years since the 1947 session. It has always passed; it has never been increased. There m...
As I’ve said before, I’m not much of a conspiracy buff, mostly because you have to keep track of so many details and care very deeply and madly about stuff, and I’m all, “Bleh, this is just crazy talk. I’m gonna go watch funny cat videos on Youtube.” Sometimes, though, I look at the headlines and I think the animal kingdom is fixing to mount a coordinated effort, an animal war of sorts, to take humans down. My ongoing coverage of this phenomenon is an attempt to create a pe...
Two dozen Harlem High, Class of ’63 grads, arrived at the Great Northern Lodge for our 55th Class Reunion. Hugs, jabber, huge smiles: We provide instant love, just add self. I blurted, “We can no longer say, ‘My, you have not changed a bit.’” I am not sure anybody appreciated my comment. Truth is, undeniably, we have changed. Life has its way with us. But we are still us. Maybe more us. Pretense and posturing fell away over the years. Better usses. We still say, “You look...
This year as voters decide critical races in the upcoming midterms, they will have a chance to make decisions on major policy initiatives that will be on the ballot. In Montana, there is a terrible measure to increase taxes. Specifically, this measure would raise the tax on cigarettes by $2 per pack, which would represent a 118 percent increase in the current tax. The measure would also increase taxes on chewing tobacco and all other tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and other vapor products. Montana I-185, the Extend...
Prior to bipartisan Medicaid expansion, Montana had the highest percentage of uninsured veterans in the nation. Only 40 percent of eligible veterans are enrolled in the VA health care system. Because the VA has only one main medical center in the state, Medicaid is critical for health care for thousands of veterans and their spouses living in rural communities. They are afforded access to care that is closer to home. Nationally, nearly 1 in 10 veterans relies on Medicaid. In Montana, fully 10 percent of our population are...
Elections have consequences. It’s frustrating to hear people say differently, despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary. One of the consequences, if not the most momentous, is who elected officials nominate and confirm to sit on our nation’s courts. Amongst these nominations and confirmations, the single most important decision is who sits on the Supreme Court. Not only is this the highest court in the land, but justices serve for life. The 2016 election outcome means that President Trump has already, less than two...
