Montana Standard: Decision expected in days on Butte’s airline service
A decision on future service for Butte’s Bert Mooney Airport is expected this week as two companies compete to land a two-year contract backed by federal subsidies.
Billings Gazette: Senators want to revamp campaign spending laws
Montana’s Democratic U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus said Tuesday that they are backing proposed constitutional amendments to reverse a controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision on campaign finance laws.
AP: Mont. lawmakers focus on Keystone pipeline as Obama talks energy in State of the Union speech
Montanans expect Congress to “put citizenship ahead of partisanship” and get Americans back to work, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester said Tuesday after President Barack Obama called for bipartisanship in safely developing domestic energy and helping middle-class Americans.
Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Conrad Anker: In a democracy, does money equate to free speech?
Humans have a tendency to anthropomorphize animals. Penguins, with their tuxedo like plumage and waddle, are a fine example of how we extend characteristics and behavior of humans to animals. The physical similarity makes the connection logical: They are born; they die and they share a brief time span on this planet. Obviously animals, cute and adorable as they are, would not be granted personhood in the Bill of Rights. Less obvious are corporations and unions. Do groups of people speaking as corporations and unions have the same rights as individuals?
NY Times: Montana Takes on Citizens United
Two years ago, when the Supreme Court struck down bans on independent corporate and union expenditures in elections in the Citizens United case, Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion claimed that money does not “give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.” While it might result in “influence over or access to elected officials,” he wrote, it is not the same as bribery.
Beartooth NBC: MT Chamber Business Days
Senator Jon Tester spoke at the Montana Chamber Business Days on Friday morning.
He thanked small businesses for the work they do as the foundation of Montana’s economy. The senator is hosting his tenth small business workshop at the University of Montana in Missoula on February 21st. He says keeping those lines of communication open is crucial.
KECI: Senator Tester Visits Montana Sheet Metal Workers State JATC
Senator Jon Tester paid a visit to Butte on Friday to check out the Montana Sheet Metal Workers State JATC.
The apprenticeship and training program is located in South Butte.
NBC Montana: Rehberg Gets Senate Challenge From The Right
A Terry farmer unknown to statewide politics is filing a U.S. Senate race primary challenge to Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg.
Rehberg is looking to unseat freshman Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in November. Both sides have been gearing up for what is expected to be one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.
Independent Record: OpEd: Release a Bad Bill
There is a draft bill in Congress called the Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act (H.R. 1581), cosponsored by Rep. Denny Rehberg. This bad bill falsely promises to increase sportmen’s access to public lands, but what it really does is open Montana’s 6.4 million acres of national forest roadless areas to industrial interests. The legislation does nothing to increase sportsmen’s access.
Hungry Horse News: Border bill is not necessary
As a Montanan who has worked near the International Border for more than 20 years, Rep. Rehberg’s H.R. 1505, The National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, leaves me scratching my head. What is he thinking?
The bill, which Rehberg co-sponsored, would hand sweeping powers to the Department of Homeland Security and the Border Patrol within 100 miles of the border. In Montana, that swath of land extends as far south as St. Ignatius, Great Falls and well below Ft. Peck Reservoir. But what is the emergency that justifies such a radical move?
