Opinion
Editor, Besides wondering how many of our citizens understand that our government is made up of three co-equal branches, in these troubled times, we may legitimately wonder if many in Congress recognize that truth. We can see why this might be so. The office of the presidency has, to date, always been filled by one man. So one consciousness is making the decisions. As George W. Bush used to say, “I’m the decider.” But Congress is necessarily made up of many minds. Many minds move, under almost all circumstances, more slowly, more circumspectly, than does one mind. So our founding fathers gave Congress - not the president - the power to declare war. ...
I don’t claim to be a master of many things. I’m rather more of a Jill of all trades. I’m simply interested in everything, which stops me from being an expert in anything. Except for maybe two things. I like to think I’m rather a master of words. I’ve always loved wo...
Over the past 40 years, Montana’s property tax burden quietly shifted from natural resource extraction and industries to homeowners. From 2003 to 2023 alone, residential property as a percentage of the total taxable value went from 58% to 76%. From 2020 to 2024, residential values rose about 66% sta...
Over the past week, residents across Cascade County have been receiving their property tax bills. Thanks to the Homestead Exemption passed last legislative session, the news is good. Nearly 89% of Montana homeowners — about 375,000 households — are seeing reduced or flat property taxes. Here in G...
How town halls can be productive again ... “I do think it’s my job to be there and I do think that I need to model the behavior that I want our government to model.” Nebraska’s Congressman Mike Flood had just gotten a tongue-lashing from constituents at a town hall meeting, faci...
I do the Wordle each morning. For those of you living in a bubble, Wordle is a puzzle that gives you six guesses to find a five-letter word. Before we go any further, I have to get two things off my chest. Wordle is a game about five-letter words, yet the name of the game - Wordle - has six letters....
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act recently signed into law by President Trump contains important reforms to Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion program. It helps control taxpayer costs and incentivizes able-bodied adults to work, go to school, or otherwise meaningfully engage as productive commun...
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act recently signed into law by President Trump contains important reforms to Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion program. It helps control taxpayer costs and incentivizes able-bodied adults to work, go to school, or otherwise meaningfully engage as productive commun...
Take charge and lower your utility bills by using energy and water more wisely and at the same time make Montana healthier. What’s the connection? Most of the energy used in Montana is from fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, and oil) resulting in the release of pollution and greenhouse gases when the ...
In most respects, Idaho and Montana have been enthusiastic in their pursuit of tax competitiveness. But if there’s one area of tax policy on which they are worse than their peers, it’s in their incorporation of GILTI—the federal tax on Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income—into their own...
