National politics and Montana politics

By Bob Williams, Stevensville

Here’s the present situation, at the national level. Last December the Gallup Poll found that about 41% of the USA identified themselves as Independents, with 31% identifying as Democrats, with 25% identifying themselves as Republicans.

And from what I gather, about 70% of Republicans now look back at the 2020 Federal Election, and believe that wrongful, even criminal, actions led to the 2020 Federal Election defeat of Donald Trump.

What’s been going on, across recent years?

In 2007-8, FED deregulation plus lack of regulation triggered forces that crashed the dollar. The FED enabled low interest loans to buy stocks on the margin further inflating a bubble economy. An economy mishandled by the Federal favored wealth class unable to contain market exuberance for stock market linked profits.

After two decades of worming its way into New York, and Washington D.C., the Putin-Oligarch-Crime network got actively involved in well documented attacks on Hillary Rodham Clinton,  committed espionage, and employed information warfare, against targeted classes of likely voters, even Registered voters, for the 2016 Presidential election. Of course undertaxed Robert Mercer wealth evidently employed Russian agents to disseminate propaganda that would help elect Donald Trump.

Who got along well with Putin who shut down health clinics for women, oppressed non hetero people, and was tight with an Orthodox clergy.

Since 1980 tax cuts have enlarged and emboldened the swelling USA wealth class, where billionaires like Robert Mercer finance divisive issues like abortion.

Note that the Federal government favored American wealth class, did not push back on Putin-Oligarch-Crime interferences in our 2016 Presidential Election, or when new President Trump surprised us by secretly inviting the Russian Prime Minister, and Russian Ambassador to the USA, into the oval room of our White House. Where our President announced that he had just fired the head of the FBI, and disclosed the top secret location of a secret agent of the USA.

Then in 2017, the Federal supported wealth class received record breakng massive cuts in Federal income taxes courtesy of the Republican party and the Trump administration. Wealthy Americans received hundreds of millions of US 

dollars from the PPP program, but often failed to put that money into required jobs and wages for working class people.

From what I have gathered, the USA wealth class did not work against the Trump Administration radical foreign policy failures with North Korea, and Iran, nor the Trump trade policy with China, that got so costly the Federal Treasury paid some $28 billion dollars to American farmers harmed by Trump foreign trade policy.

Of course, Charles Koch got his man Marc Short installed as head of legislative affairs for the Trump administration. 

Of course, on three different occasions, wealthy individuals in the Federal Society effectively told President Trump whom to appoint to the Supreme Court. Of course, multi billionaire Charles Koch spent six figure sums to promote to Senators, each of the three Trump nominees to SCOTUS. Of course the Koch brothers have long worked to successfully influence even re-educate many State legislatures.

In 2020 the Trump administration looked at Covid-19 but grossly neglected American public health also the American economy. Considering that Covid-19 caused the ongoing to now loss of 8.4 million jobs, and the recent death toll in India, suggests that Covid-19 must not be a hoax.

Right now in 2021 the American wealth class seems comfortable with a base of populist voters loyal to Donald Trump.

So far that Federally favored wealth class is comfortable with aggresive GOP actions to make it harder to vote for Democratic candidates in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Arizona. Georgia GOP wants the GOP controlled Legislature to have authority to remove “uncooperative” elected County Elections Administrators.

MT GOP Legislators have long sought to take some authority away from elected County election administrators.

The Republican party is the dominate political party in Montana. MT GOP Legislators voted on nuclear energy, marijuana, and Northwestern Energy, bills against the stated interest of voters.

Our Governor signed into Law Senate Bill 358 that takes away phosphorus and nitrogen pollution levels in public waters that supports jobs within the $7 billion outdoor recreation business in Montana.

Governor Gianforte has signed House Bill 121 with his amendment requiring county commissioners to vote on, and approve actions taken by elected county Officials to establish public health measures to mitigate the effects of a pandemic like COVID-19.

Here in Montana, new GOP backed Law takes away from the authority of fast growing Bozeman and Kalispell to continue to require some new worker affordable housing as an integral part of new subdivisions. As if the State has radical new power, and the predicted consequences of shortage of workers are grossly neglected. As if big brothers in the central party can disregard local political expression and decide what’s best for Montana, with a State Law that will likely take job opportunities away from Kalispell also Bozeman.

Meanwhile new GOP backed Law takes away procedures made available by the Bullock administration, for a Montana trans person to have an all important MT driver’s license, that indicates the gender of the person.

No more of that, although there are maybe few if any Medical Doctors in Montana who are practiced with what is being labeled as gender affirmation exploratory surgery, radical new MT Law imposes a likely impossible burden that a trans person must have gender affirmation surgery to indicate gender on a MT drivers license.

Sure looks to me that a decade of work by ALEC, AFP, and the Koch brothers has re-educated some MT legislators, forced divisive laws about abortion, and forced cuts to human services provided by Montana. 

If one is looking for conspiratorial influences in Montana. Look in the direction of Charles Koch, ALEC, AFP, Club for Growth, Richard Uihlein, also the Wilks brothers, the second largest landowners in Montana.

Let them have their way, and Montana values will get polluted by values in Arizona and Georgia. Where apparently plutocracy gave way to autocracy, which is now showing signs of kakistocracy. Why did one of our Senators look for election conspiracy in Arizona also Georgia? Perhaps to act in the interest of conservative voters. 

What are the conservative purposes of the tax cuts the MT GOP has given to the wealth class of Montana?