The best state in the US

World Population - 6,817,500,000
United States Population - 307,006,550
Montana Population - 974,989
Idaho Population - 1,545,801

Why is it that the world population keeps going up but Montana's small towns keep disappearing.  How do we bring people back to Montana?  This was a question I personally asked House of Representatives candidates Jack Allen and Steve Fitzpatrick.  Both of them gave me some what the same answer, some towns just die that is a fact of life.  Being from a small town it breaks my heart to know that probably in a few years my high school will not exist anymore.
Back when gold was discovered then ran out we had the same problem towns that were very large  just disappeared.  They disappeared so quickly because there was noting to keep them in the area, but it today's technology we should be able to find ways to create jobs in smaller community's as well as the larger ones.  I think this is a very big issue facing Montanan's today, why do people not want to stay in Montana?
First lets talk about jobs, some of the biggest industries in Montana are farming, ranching, and mining.  Most farmers in Montana grow wheat or barley because that is what people have always grown here.  Well the fact is the world doesn't need wheat and barley as much as we used, so the state government should be pushing for more diversified crops in Montana.  Why not give incentives and free clinics to help farmers get more educated about these new crops and how to grow them.  The eastern part of the state can be growing Canola it was developed to grow in Canada so I know it will grow here.  Grow Canola and you will get bio diesel factories popping up to convert it.  Once you have the farms and the factories you will need trucking companies to haul it.  The money these people make will trickel down to the local communities.
Canola isn't the only crop that can be grown for profit in Montana, hops, sorghum, sunflower, amaranth, and millet.  These are just to name a few that can be grow in the right areas of Montana, all we need is to educate the farmers on how to grow them.  
As far as farming and ranching go why don't we create a new tax that taxes grocery stores that do not buy their meat and veggies locally.  That will boost the economy of the local growers around Montana which again will trickle down to the communities they live in.  
Another suggestion I had was for the government to come up with some kind of grant program for first time small business's since the average wage of a Montanan is so low and the cost of starting a business is so high everyone is reluctant to take the chance with their whole life savings.  Which in turn has us relying on out of state people who make their money in bigger cities then move out here to start a business.  Which does not happen often enough to really help the economy.  The state government should come up with a $10,000 grant program that people can put as a down payment on a small business loan.  By doing this banks will get more money and you will be able to tax the new businesses that are starting up.  The more businesses that start up the quicker the government will get their money back from the grant program.  I just wish the state government would see fit to invest in the future of Montana's economic growth.


Please comment and give me your ideas on how to make Montana a better place to live.

Montana Primary Elections

I decided to compare the people who were running for office in my district and one other district here in Great Falls.  Its took me about 20 minuets to compare these people just from doing a little research on the internet.  I found out who would be the best for the job, so please before you vote this year do your research and vote for the person most qualified.  If you would like me to blog about your district just let me know and I would be happy to do so.


HOUSE DISTRICTS:
18: Jesse O'Hara*, R;
19: Mike Milburn*, R
20: Jack Allen, R; Steve Fitzpatrick, R; Lee Anne Gills, D; Donna Zook, D
21: Eric J. Bakly, R; Patrick Flaherty, R; Jean Price, D; Dale Crosby, D;
22: Jonathan D. Martin, C; Craig Such, R; Trudi Schmidt, D
23: Carlie Boland*, D; Jerald L. Patterson, R
24: Brian Hoven*, R; Gary Lucero, D
25: Cleve J. Loney, R; Rick Tryon, R; Lindsay Love, D; Rod Lukasik, D
26: Robert "Bob" Mehloff*, D; Lola Sheldon Galloway, R
SENATE DISTRICTS
11: Jim Whitaker, R; Anders Blewett, D
12: Mitch Tropila*, D
13: Edward Buttrey, R; Kathleen Galvin-Halcro, D


House District 20


I wanted to start with this district because I live in this district and thought about running myself.  Looking at the competition I am glad I decided to wait.  Deb Kottel holds the seat now and one thing that always bothered me about her is she doesn't live in the district.  I never had her stop by the house and campaign, it just didn't seem like she was in touch with the voters in her district and the whole point of voting for representatives is that they will represent what the people in the district want.
So first off I wanted to make sure that all of the candidates live in the district.  There are three that live in the district, Steve Fitzpatrick, R, Lee Anne Gills, D, and Jack Allen, R.   Donna Zook, D owns three or four lots in fox farm which is generally the richer part of Great Falls, and District 20 is more middle class, so immediately I think Donna would be out of touch with the people in HD 20.  Although she was the first one to email me back asking for the address to this blog.
Out of the three that actually live in the district I wanted to find out that they did before deciding to run for office.  
 Steve Fitzpatrick works for Smith, Walsh, Clarke & Gregoire, he is a lawyer and I don't know about you but I don't trust lawyers but don't let a few bad experiences sway your vote against the lawyer.  I have already had Steve stop by the house campaigning, to bad I was gone because I would have liked to talk to him.  Also I would have liked to see if it was actually him campaigning or just someone who works for him.  Steve looks to be the youngest of the candidates which from first look would say lack of experience.  However I am only 25 and I still feel I could do a stand up job in public office.  This being said the kicker for me is he is a lawyer and lawyers of course know the law and some use their knowledge of these laws to push unnecessary laws through.  Because of this and knowing what I do about the other two clients I cannot see Steven making through the primaries.
Jack Allen works for the Great Falls Police Department and from what I can see is a pretty stand up guy.  Of course anyone who would put their lives on the line everyday to help a neighbor is a pretty amazing person anyways.  Also  I have seen many signs for Allen and had him stop by the house, he was very friendly, I invited him in and we talked for about 20 minuets.  I am really impressed with how he has campaigned this year.  You can check out his website at www.jackallen.net for more info.
Lee Anne Gills has not been by the house yet and have not even seen any of her signs out yet which doesn't impress me.  However Lee Anne works for the MSU-College of Tech so not only does she live in the district but she works there also.  She works as an administrator in the Arts and Science department which has really grown in the last few years.  I got my degrees from the COT's Arts and Science department and I am amazed at how much it has grown since I started.  Being around a school all day she must see how important schooling is for our youth and probably has some good ideas of how to fix our education problems.   
I am thinking that Jack Allen, R and Lee Anne Gills, D will make it through primaries because they are both very qualified, live, and work in the district.  What it comes down to I think will be campaigning, Allen has been getting his signs out in neighborhoods already while Gills is a little behind.
 Looking at the three candidates they are all good options, I am a member of the Whig party and usually if I have this close of a race I will generally vote Republican over Democrat.  Also since Jack has gotten out and really campaigned hard so far I am going to have to go with Jack Allen to win House District 20. 

 House District 21

Ok this one was both an easy choice and a hard one.  Easy because from what I can tell Jean Price, D is really the only candidate that lives in the district.  Patrick Flaherty, R and Dale Crosby, D live right on the edge.  Eric Bakly, R does not even live close to the district.  
The hard part with these candidates is there isn't much more info on these people.  I found Patrick works at a law firm, Jean Price is an artist,  Eric Bakly is a CNA at Benifits, and Dale Crosby runs A to Z lock and key and dropped out of school before earning a high school degree. 
I automatically ruled out Dale Crosby because I am dyslexic and I still worked hard to graduate high school and get a college degree.  Today's day in age if you dropped out and didn't at least get your GED then that is just laziness, which would not make a good politician.  Eric Bakly is a CNA which requires a few weekend classes to get certified for if he had real ambition and heart he would have probably went to college and got at least his nursing degree, because who really wants to clean up puke and clean sheets all day.  Patrick Flaherty again is a lawyer and we all know how hesitanat I am about voting for lawyers.  Jean Price is an artist, I have not seen any of her work yet but hopefully she is creative.  I like Jean because I can see her artistic side coming up with creative solutions to fix up that part of town.  Lets face it HD21 is the lower end of Great Falls and we need creative ideas on how to fix up the neighborhoods and raise the property values in that area.  I hope she is up to the challenge.
 

Legalize It!

I was going to start posting today about the primary elections coming up but decided to put that off for a while to talk about Marijuana.  Let me begin by saying personally I have never smoked marijuana, I grew up in a small town and was not around it until I went to college and by that time I was just growing out of my experimenting stage.  With that being said I am totally for legalizing the use of marijuana.  We can put laws on it that says you can only smoke it on your own private property so it will not effect others, we could tax it for extra income, and just think of the amount of college students we would get transferring to Montana just for the fact they can smoke.  Along with college students think of the tourism benefits, I mean really who goes to Amsterdam for the great  culture.  No mostly people go to Amsterdam cause they can smoke weed there.  I really don't see why we haven't done this yet, the one big concern with smoking marijuana is impaired driving.  Well last time I checked we have DUI's for that sort of thing.  After doing some research on-line about the dangers of marijuana, it seems to me to be a smoke form of alcohol, the only difference is beer is a downer while marijuana is and upper.  Personally I would rather have a bunch of happy pot heads in Montana than a lot of old angry drunks.  I would really like to hear from some of our Senators and Representatives on this issue, why is it that we are not taking advantage to the extra income that this would bring in, especially since law enforcement can't control the use anyways.  I am not sure if I am just on crazy pills here or not but why don't the people we elect to do the best thing for our state not act and start doing their jobs?  Is it the whole reelection thing, I know that once you become a politician it is hardwired in your brain to think of being reelected for another term.  I think that is why people don't take risks anymore, they are so afraid of failing, but that is how we learn.  You can't always go with the sure plan, every once and a while you have to gamble, it may work out and it may not.  Either way you will stand out as a person who has the interests of their state, not themselves, in mind.  That builds trust and if people trust you are doing the right thing to benefit the state, then it doesn't matter how many time you fail you will get reelected.

Mandatory Health Care

Last night I was watching the news when I found out about the new Health Care bill. First off I have been trying to find a copy of the bill to read for myself, which I have been unable to find. A few points that I have heard about the bill is that insurance will be mandatory for everyone to get which sounds pretty socialist to me. They keep comparing this to car insurance, car insurance is mandatory "if you own a car". Since this is the land of the free there is a way to not get car insurance, you can ride your bike, or the bus maybe. Yet health insurance you will have no choice, the only way to live without it is to move out of the country or die. I have a problem with this, I personally do have health insurance and I don't plan on getting rid of it but I think this is the exact opposite of what this country stands for. We are suppose to be the land of the free but we keep making stuff mandatory and that is just anti-American. I know this isn't the biggest problem we are facing in the country right now but this really stands out to me as becoming an issue in the future. Starting with the government owning shares in the car companies then making health insurance mandatory are just the base for the country to turn toward a socialist government. All of these little changes that we may think are nothing major will eventually add up to the United States moving from a federal constitutional republic to a Socialist government.