Kudos to the MT GOP for sticking to their rules and not allowing Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, an elected Democrat, to vote in their Caucus on Feb. 5.  Bohlinger's latest stunt is just another example of politics at its worst from the Schweitzer campaign.  The Caucus hasn't been any secret - Bohlinger's known about it for months and the MT GOP has widely publicized that there were hundreds of vacant precinct positions to be filled.  Bohlinger had every opportunity to qualify for one of these positions - is it any coincidence that he waited until after the Jan. 26 deadline to raise his little stink about not being allowed to participate?

As the MT GOP pointed out, to allow Bohlinger a vote would have broken several party rules - including the rule that requires Caucus voters to vote in the county in which they are registered (Bohlinger is registered in Yellowstone County but made it clear he intended to vote in Helena) plus that nagging little rule that says only Republican elected officials are eligible (Bohlinger was elected in 2004 as the Democrat Lt. Gov.).  Bohlinger's contention that he still considers himself to be a Republican is moot - Supreme Court Justice Jim Rice ran as a Republican in 2004 (and probably would still say he's a Republican) but since he's a non-partisan elected official, he is not eligible for the Caucus.

The Feb. 5 Caucus is a historic event for our state, and we can't help but imagine the Democrats are a little bit jealous over the grassroots surge that the GOP has seen in recent months, having swelled the ranks of precinct captains by a reported 750.  That's should give the GOP a marked advantage in the upcoming election.  It's pretty transparent that Bohlinger's latest stunt was calculated solely to deflate all the positives that the GOP has experienced with the Caucus. 

Jon, that's not how Republicans behave - just more proof of your deepening Democrat credentials.

So another former lawmaker goes to work in the Schweitzer administration - makes you wonder how independent our legislature is from the executive branch.  We found these statements by the Gov interesting:

"It's a question of trust.  The people of Montana deserve to know who their public officials are working for in Helena. Legislators and state officials must be held accountable." - Brian Schweitzer quoted in the Billings Gazette, 7/15/04 regarding ethics legislation he proposed during his 2004 campaign for governor that would have prohibited former elected officials from becoming private-sector lobbyists.

"What this one will do, it will absolutely pour cement in the revolving door."  Brian Schweitzer quoted in the Billings Gazette, 2/14/06, regarding a ballot measure to restrict legislators from becoming private-sector lobbyists.

While becoming a lobbyist and going to work for the administration are not exactly the same thing, the underlying principle of the law/initiative that Schweitzer wanted to pass when he made those statements applies to both situations: the promise of personal gain through employment can corrupt a legislator's judgement, or at the very least lead to the appearance of corruption.  And after observing how the Schweitzer administration operates, it's not hard to imagine that any of the several lawmakers who have gone on to work for the administration would not be in their present posts had they crossed BS during thier legislative days - which is a lesson that other Democrat legislators are sure to take note of.

Legislative Democrats have already been exposed by a vote-trading scandal during the Schweitzer administration, so it wouldn't take too much of a stretch to imagine that a little quid quo pro could potentially take place between votes and employment promises.  Keeping your governor happy is one thing; compromising your integrity is quite another.

Chuck Johnson's Horse Sense column yesterday in the Lee papers included the accusation from MT Democrat Party Chairman Dennis McDonald that gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown had accepted $30,000 in contributions from "Big Oil".

Chuck Johnson is respected by many as one of the top political reporters in the state, but that's a reputation based more on longevity than on journalistic integrity.

First of all, he didn't ask the Roy Brown campaign for any sort of rebuttal to the accusations from the Democratic Party.  He let Dennis McDonald give a free sucker punch to a blindfolded and bound Roy Brown.

Second - and this is a far graver sin for a journalist - he didn't even bother to verify the facts before going to print.  A quick spot-check of Roy Brown's campaign finance report shows exactly no contributions from anyone working for a major oil company!  Where's the Big Oil Chuck?  Second, even if you include the contributions from individuals who work for small, Montana companies in the oil and gas industry, the numbers don't come anywhere close to the $30,000 suggested by Dennis McDonald.  Our independent analysis going off of a hard copy of Roy Brown's report from the Commission of Political Practices office puts the number closer to about $15,000 for the oil and gas industry as a whole - and again, with no money from "Big Oil".  This analysis of Roy Brown's campaign finance report took all of 20 minutes for us to complete.

Dennis McDonald could have claimed twice as much money and Chuck Johnson would have printed it as gospel truth.

Chuck Johnson is going to be the main reporter covering this year's gubernatorial election, and so far he seems fairly comfortable hanging out in Brian Schweitzer's corner.  We'd prefer to see him as the unbiased referee that he should be. 

A good portion of the mainstream still refuses to acknowledge the disconnect between Gov. Schweitzer's pro-energy rhetoric and the behind-the-scenes anti-development actions being taken by his administration.  As a reminder, this is the same administration that last two year promulgated some of the strictest emission standards in the country; killed HB 610 , which would have made it easier to build new power plants in Montana; and implemented new mandates for the state electricity portfolio that have driven up the price of electricity.

And now the Schweitzer administration's Board of Environmental Review is making overtures that they will implement new emission standards on CO2 - and do it without legislative approval.  The Billings Gazette reported on 1/12, "Board  (of Environmental Review) members said they may have the authority to create new CO2 regulations for the state, but that the law doesn't allow the state to impose them retroactively on this plant at this time."

With all the Schweitzer anti-development roadblocks that are already in place, and additional ones on the horizon, it's no wonder that Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota are all seeing more energy development than Montana. 

People have been decrying Schweitzer's big talk, no action on energy for most of his administration - but that's not entirely accurate.  Schweitzer is taking action on energy development - it's just that it's all negative action designed to put up new roadblocks to development.

Montana's greatest asset is the enormous energy reserves we have in our state, and in particular coal.  But while our neighboring states are cashing in on cutting-edge coal development technologies (like gasification, liquefaction, and cleaner-burning power plants), Montana is getting left behind due to the short-sighted policies of Governor Schweitzer.