There is a giddy sense of optimism in the public sector unions of the United States of Trumplandia and union bosses are walking hard-heeled through the halls of state Capitols spoiling for a fight.

West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, and Puerto Rico the workers walked, are protesting, and talking walk.  So far those who have walked are a respectable 1.5-0.5 because no one is quite sure Oklahoma is a clear cut victory or a draw.

Are we seeing a labor resurgence similar to the heady days of the Flint sit-down strike of the 1930s or an anomalous phenomenon? Spring is in the air and public employee unions are feeling the sap rise.  But the Janus decision is waiting on the wings to trim the new growth from this budding sapling of hope.

And what about Montana where the teachers’ union, MEA-MFT just merged…with…some one and is now the largest union in the history of Montana.  Recently elected President Eric Feaver of the Montana Federation of Public Employees is quoted, “We are exponentially beyond being a teacher union.” It begs the question what does the long-lasting, long serving, everlasting indefatigable, incomparable Mr.  Feaver plan to do with the exponential power at hand?

The University system is a mess, state employees haven’t seen a decent raise since 2013, and the Montana Department of Corrections just closed the Great Falls Youth Transition Center as part of their $40 million budget cuts courtesy of a special session steered by the Republican caucus.  The end result of Governor Bullock and budget director  Dan Villa getting an atomic wedgie from Senator  Lew Jones, Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen, and loyal minion Representative Rob Cook.

It begs the  question is there enough anger and stamina within the ranks of state employees to pull off a strike?  Does Eric Feaver have the savvy to pull the trigger on a statewide strike during the upcoming session?  Remeber, the 1991 strike was engineered by the late  Jim McGarvey of the Montana Federation of Teachers/Montana Federation of State Employees and Tom Schneider, former executive director of the Montana Public Employees Association.   Feaver watched from the sidelines. There hasn’t been a repeat of that action in almost thirty years.

So do you  wield the collective power of the most powerful union in the history of Montana or use the possibility of a strike as a bargaining chip?  Time will tell but time is waning for the aging labor boss to pull something epic and will it occur because union members want it or because Feaver is feeling his oats and the sap is on the rise?

Just remember summer follows spring and shit burns in Montana and winter is coming.  Just ask the Syrian  rebels how  that Arab Spring is working for them.

“Wherever you find injustice, the proper form of politeness is attack”.  – T-Bone Slim

University of Montana President Seth Bodner announced today that he has created a Vice President position who’s role will fit well with The Messina Group’s work in digging deeper into the patterns of UM’s current students and those Bodner hopes will flock to campus.  ‘We believe we’ve found the perfect fit for my wife’s directive to mine all of the data possible and enhance our enrollment.  In addition to the work we’ll be doing with the Messina Group, we are extremely excited to announce that Mark Zuckerberg will begin his work as the Vice President of Social Intelligence.’ Bodner said.  ‘Zuckerberg brings a wealth of data as well as connections to think tanks who have proven their ability to manipulate that data with results.’

The announcement, first delivered on Facebook and later via email to the campus community, came as a shock to faculty given Bodner’s intention to begin slashing academic positions and shuffle departments yet again.  When pressed as to how UM can afford someone of Zuckerberg’s net worth, President Bodner explained that his wife had negotiated and agreement to allow the Facebook creator to work from an ‘alternative worksite’ given that the nature of his work will not require him to actually ever set foot on campus.  ‘People willingly share all the information on social media we’ll need so there’s no need for a bricks and mortar approach to his employment.  I mean this matter of factly, but President Trump isn’t too far off when he calls voters stupid, they share everything.’

Zuckerberg most recently made headlines by being summoned to the nations capitol for a set of congressional hearings related to the discovery of personal information which was collected and used to allegedly sway voters in the 2016 presidential elections to Trump’s favor.  Cambridge Analytics collected ‘private’ data of millions of Facebook users without their knowledge.  Chelsea Elander, Bodner’s wife and chief advisor, suggested that what Cambridge did could work for UM.  ‘We’re toying with some sort of ‘Monty Crush’ type game in hopes of getting users to send invitations to their friends and allow us access to as much personal data as possible.  I mean, it worked once, right?’ Elandar joked.

Along with gathering student and prospective student data through social media, UM also announced the release of a request for proposals to secure a medical provider to ‘chip’ all students or visitors to campus who may be interested in enrolling.  ‘We’ve been chipping our football players for over a decade now in order to better track their movements on Saturday nights. We use the trackers, I mean chips, to round the boys up on Sunday morning so they aren’t left in a sticky situation.’ Said head coach Bobby Hauck.  ‘I guess it could work on students who don’t contribute to the football program too if that’s important to President Bodner.’

TGTJ

‘Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.’

 

 

Helena Industries is closing and kicking all of its staff and clients into the gutter.  By now this is old news, and even more so, very sad news for a some of Montana’s most in need residents.  Yep, we’ve been hearing that for some time now and it’s not Helena-centric by any means.  The State’s ability to pay for these services, as they have for decades, has been on this track since a Republican majority planted the seeds of disaster in 2003.  Those seeds have taken root, grown trees and are now bearing rotten fruit.

That’s the bigger picture.  But in regard to HI there’s much more to the story and pointing the finger at the Department of Health and Human Services as the hammer that put the nail in their proverbial coffin is disingenuous at best.  What you won’t find in the news are accounts of mismanagement by hired leadership to include real estate speculation and a phony scheme to establish E-Recycling across Montana.  What you won’t see is the amount of money sunk into that program full of false promises and contracts with large entities that were never established or negotiated.  In a manner of speaking, what you won’t see are the fancy clothes tailored to fit HI’s Board of Directors who feel oh so bad for the loss.

According to Vice Chair of Helena Industries’ Board Chuck Siefert “This doesn’t feel like who we are as Montanans, that the most vulnerable of our society are the ones that take the hit,” he said. “It’s sad to see this evaporate like this.”  He has a great point, however, it is who Montanans and Americans, for that matter, are becoming.

So what did HI do wrong in their effort to save themselves and continue to serve the needs of their clients instead of the ignoring the failures of their leadership team?  It’s really a simple formula and was all played out in the 2015 Legislative session.  HI could have easily taken the script from AWARE and run with it.  Here’s an easy breakdown:  Hire Mary Caferro and have her collude with Disability Rights Montana to close any near by and important institution run by the State of Montana.  Then, coordinate with someone or some entity that dumps a fair amount of money into state political scenes via a big purple delivery truck.  Have Disability Rights file a load of complaints on behalf of clients of that state institution, have that purple money machine promise to take care of the new workers and then get the Governor to shut down his operation and lay off his own employees in order to save HI.  So simple and so few people to move around.  What could go wrong.  Oh well, too late now Helena Industries, but what a great opportunity for Mary and AWARE.

TGTJ

‘Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.’

Broward, the latest on the assault rifle hit parade has once again got the pundits jawing and the POTUS yawning.  The gun lobby is circling the wagon and breaking out the 2nd Amendment signs...”you can have my gun when you pry it from my cold dead hands.”  Okay, if that’s what it takes maybe it’s time to start calling out a few of these freedom loving Americans.  On the other side of the fence, the cry is once again focused on the evil of guns and those who carry them.  And yet, neither side budges so we play the fife lowly and beat the drum slowly as we carry more of our children off to boot hill.

Democrats cringe every time there’s a mass shooting, in part due to the unholy loss of life but also because of the tightrope they will now be forced to walk when up for re-election.  Take a hard-line in favor of gun legislation in a state like Montana and you might as well tell your mamma you’re a sissy-boy.  You just got branded as a steer in the herd of liberals corralled by Nancy Pelosi!  As Senator Daines and Representative Gianforte have lips firmly attached to the ass off the NRA and receive their A+ grade from the gun lobby machine of ‘Merika.

Meanwhile, Democrat Jon Tester does the two-step to avoid alienating his out-of-state PAC money or his constituents back home whose biggest purchase in the last year was a gun safe advertised to hold 48 “long-rifles” with a 40 minute survival time in a house fire of not more than 1400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Despite the fact everyone knows Tester, like a majority of the professional politicians, would never support repealing the second amendment but he/they could very well endorse legislation limiting bump-stocks, high capacity magazines, a national gun registry – oh wait, we already have that because unless you buy the gun off the back of a truck, you register it before you leave the store or gun show – or, shades, a waiting period.

“Now wait, nobody says you can’t own a gun. Nobody’s even saying you can’t carry a gun. All we’re saying is you can’t carry one in town. Now that’s not so much to ask, is it?”  Yes, yes it is you dirty pinko-liberal-tree hugging disciple of communism!  This is ‘Merika, land of the free, home of the brave and we don’t need no gub’mint telling us how to manage our shootin’ irons.

When it comes to Americans and their guns…”poor souls, they’re just too high strung” to ever do more than discuss implementing stiffer gun laws.  Consider the fact that it took a Civil War and another 100 years to tackle head-on slavery and discrimination and we still screw that up more often than not.  It’s time to accept the inevitable and revel in the marketing of military grade tactical gear in the civilian sphere.  We are, after all, a gunfighter nation and little Johnny and Sally will look adorable in their basic black Kevlar vests with faux ammo pouches and grenade loops.

“Wherever you find injustice, the proper form of politeness is attack.” T-Bone Slim

When is a legislator not a legislator?  When that legislator takes the lead in a law suit against the State to throw out a law passed while he was a sitting legislator.  The irony, a legislator can’t be sued for legislative action, but a legislator can sue as a result of legislative action.  That’s a lot of legislative action!

In this case that would be Representative Greg Hertz of Polson.  Hertz made no secret of his disagreement with SB 4, a bill to charge a management fee to certain portfolios managed by the Montana Board of Investments.  In fact, Hertz’s outspoken opposition appears to be earning him the designation as Montana State Fund’s new legislative lap dog.

The Fund’s exorbitantly paid high level managers have made no secret of their displeasure with the change of direction from a new board of directors.  In most cases ’employees’ with an inability to follow a directive would have been given their walking papers by now.  But this team has been around a long time and have figured out how to work a room and they live to collect yet another paycheck.

Of course there will be plenty more to see as this plays out and no doubt Hertz and crew will see this case all the way to the seven wizards in Helena.  However, the real show here is to watch Lanny Hubbard, State Fund President, drink water while Hertz talks.

TGTJ

‘Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.’

But first it’s important to figure out who your friends really are, or more aptly put, aren’t.

The Montana Post recently put out a general introduction to Robert Farris-Olsen.  Yeah, so?  Well, Farris-Olsen will be entering the Montana political world in a primary race against the fallen flower Mary Caferro.  From the outside looking in this may look like both a bold and dumb move on his part, however, there is a bit to know about dear Mary and how this has come to be.

Sometime back in late February of 2017 as the doldrums of the session dragged on and legislators had too much time on their hands because leadership wasn’t leading, some termed out legislators started talking about their future.  Enter Caferro, who for all intents and purposes, has made herself a career politician having been first elected in 2004, some 14 years ago, and now hopes to spend a little more time back in the House where she first started.  As the Helena political machine operates, Mary sought out a few local House members hoping they’d do a seat swap.

Mary’s first run was at the now veteran and much admired Representative Funk.  ‘Uptown’, as she jokingly refers to herself, is no fool and saw the game for what it was.  On to the next, House Appropriations Committee member Janet Ellis.  Keeping Ellis in that power position, minority or not, would have been a wise move by Democrats and leadership.  But what about poor Mary and her status in the world?  What about all that good work she’s been doing for Montanans?  What about her free health care?  Well damnit Janet, she said yes.

And now come the complications.  Surrogate party leaders were looking for a spot for Melissa Romano after her narrow loss to the Sarah Palin of Montana.  The claim to Caferro’s soon to be vacated Senate seat was staked out for Romano with plenty of talk so no one could say they didn’t know.  Mary can say she just didn’t care.  To make a long story short, Ellis gives Caferro her word.  Party surrogate number 1, Eric Feaver, comes into play.  Ellis expresses anger that Feaver has abandoned her for Romano.  Feaver makes clear that Romano called ‘dibs’ first.  Ellis makes an angry face.  Feaver claims more innocence.  Tempers flare.  Talking stops.  Caferro knits in a corner smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

Fast forward several months and there is much wringing of hands as sides must be drawn in this Ellis vs Romano battle royale.  MEA-MFT has already made clear where they stand, and in turn so will follow the rest of organized labor in Helena.  Ellis has done no wrong, except for being duped by the Mata Hari of the Senate.  And then comes Ellis’s reprieve!  Romano is deluged with Teacher of the Year duties and must drop out of a race she had barely started.  While Ellis will still face a challenger, at least she has a record to stand on with labor for their support.  That is if she still wants it.  Caferro has knitted an afghan to hide under while the sparks fly.

Sound convoluted?  Feel confused?  Mary likes it that way.

Isn’t this a post about Ferris-Olsen? Or is it a post about Caferro?  Let’s go with Caferro for the finish, because really, she should be finished.   Head back to 2013 when she proposed legislation to close a long standing public institution and decimate another of Montana’s small towns.  Due to a lot of very poor work by Mary and those backing her play, the bill was tanked, but with the warning, she’d be back.  And back she came in 2015, never mind the fact that her employer would benefit most from privatization.  This time with more backing to include the Governor and majorities in both houses.  Keep in mind that MDC is, well was, unionized by both AFSCME and MEA-MFT.  Union busting through legislation, a mortal sin.  Word has it that Mary spent a little time in 2017 skulking into various union headquarter offices in an attempt to recreate her Hari role and win favor with elected and hired union heads.  She remains exiled.

And now the test.  Ferris-Olsen is a fresh face on the scene with a far more broad view of what needs to be done.  No doubt the Democratic Party will do it’s usual corner cowering and not back any one candidate while the work of drumming Caferro out will be left to folks who pay the bills for the party.  Which makes a fella wonder, why shell out that cash in the name of the party anymore?  With Mary as their darling girl and to claim we’re all ‘friends’, who needs enemies?

Best of luck to you Rob!  Caferro will make a fine lobbyist when this is all over.

TGTJ

‘Maybe all men got one big soul ever’ body’s a part of.’

Helena City Manager Ron Alles announced this morning that he would be sending the City’s lone plow to Florida today as a rare winter storm blasts the Southern United States.  “We are excited to have been asked to assist in this effort and to show the South how we handle snow up here every winter.”  Alles doesn’t believe this will create any hardships for Helena residents as they have completed their snow adjustment operations for the season.

Helena’s solitary plow has been in operation for sometime and, according to City officials, is in pristine condition given it’s low miles and time stored in the City shops.  While many Helena residents have expressed concerns, and at times, even anger over the lack of plowing on local streets, Alles insists the City runs a model program.  “Helena runs an admirable plan to the adjustment of snow on the two streets we believe should be dealt with.  We move that snow from the driving lanes into driveways and walkways of local residents and then get that plow back into the shop to prevent rust on both the plow and the undercarriage.’

Alles also pointed out that the City approach will work well in Florida given the population of Florida and it’s image as a retirement state.  “Most of those elderly citizens of Florida really don’t have anywhere to go so having their driveways blocked by snow should be of no consequence.  And this should be a short lived event in Florida given that normal temperatures are expected to return to Florida soon.”

Alles anticipates that the plow will be returned to Helena sometime in early August in time for it’s annual showing in the Last Chance Stampede Parade.

TGTJ

‘Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.’

And the infirm, the disabled, the poor, the at risk, the underprivileged, the….  As 2018 is welcomed with great hope for a better year than the last, there is also a great sense of despair as Montana’s state government continues to carry out the slashing offered up by the Governor and blessed by the Legislature during the November special session.  State workers have been feeling the pain since last summer.  And now it’s time for Mom, Pop and Jr to start suffering out in the hinterlands.

There wasn’t much in the way of lamenting as state employees received their pink slips late last summer and then through the fall. After all, Montana’s state government needs to live within it’s means.  Part of learning to live in a smaller budget world also means eliminating some long standing ‘contracted services‘ to private providers.  It’s important to remember that programs like case management as they existed before the cuts and for the last three decades were entirely publicly funded.  Yes, a government program carried out by the private sector with tax dollars. In this case, that’s not at all a bad thing.  Case management for the developmentally disabled carried out by the non profits who have successfully provided employment services is like a one stop shop and makes sense.  That is until the public money dries up. Truly a sad situation and those cracks that people like to lament about others less fortunate than themselves falling through are much larger than they’ve been in years, in fact, in decades.

If that was all, if that was the only loss, the only scaling back, it would be one thing.  It’s not.  There’s the loss of mental health services, the closing of public assistance offices in rural counties, reading libraries for the blind, services to at risk youth.  The list goes on, and will grow longer given the course that’s been charted.  And on that course could be a return to the days of the county poorhouse and county poor-farm, institutions from days of old that no one ever envisioned coming back.  2018 brings a new round of campaigns and elections.  No doubt we’ll soon be asked ‘is this is what you voted for’ as the Montana Democratic Party tries to figure out a win in November.  Unfortunately Nancy, yes, this is what Montanan’s voted for, but didn’t believe it would happen to their neighbors.

So as the holiday season is ushered out and the doldrums of January begin, harken back to Christmas Eve and the three ghosts who visited Scrooge in hopes of his redemption.  In particular the Ghost of Christmas Present.  As he opened his robes, he revealed two malnourished and scared children.  ‘This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want.  Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom….’  Ignorance has grown up.  Ignorance is angry.  Ignorance hates his government, yet fiercely defends it’s flag.  Ignorance is barely getting by and in debt.  Ignorance believes it’s someone else’s fault, someone who snuck into the country to do the work he won’t.  Ignorance has the nation’s attention.  Ignorance has the Republican Party’s attention and the Democratic Party’s scorn.  And worst of all, Ignorance votes.

TGTJ

‘Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.’

The whiskey has dried up, the thick steaks are all gone and the dust of a Special Session has settled.  The dramatic late nights of deal making have ended, even the scrambling of who gets all the glory for saving the day has waned.  But if you close your eyes and listen carefully during the dark of night, you’ll hear a whimper, perhaps the gentle weeping of some great hurt, some great loss.  If you’re feeling adventurous pull on your boots and venture out to follow the sound and find the origin of that sorrowful mouning.  Yes, it’s coming from the Montana State Fund building where a solitary light shines high up from a corner office on the third floor.

You see those tears belong to Lanny Hubbard and his well paid, highly dedicated and well scripted team of Vice Presidents at the Fund.  In case you missed out or were preoccupied with dread over another political family Thanksgiving, here’s what happened in cliffnote form.  65th Legislature leaves state in a shambles by not recognizing it needs money.  State budget becomes crisis.  Big Llew and Little Dan make deals.  Governor calls special session to enact said deals.  Senate Bill 4 becomes one of several revenue generating components of the Big and Little deal.  SB 4 establishes an investment management fee that charges for the ‘free’ investment services MSF has been receiving from the Board of Investments.  Hubbard sends in a crack team of lobbyist to wring hands and gnash teeth.  Crack team gives inaccurate information and dozes in the corner.  SB 4 becomes law.  Hubbard, who runs a quasi state agency and isn’t a team player, sues state.  Governor recognizes rogue MSF President and appoints new board members.  Board votes 5-2 to drop law suit.  Hubbard maintains composure and follows ‘wishes of the board’ (read ‘directive of the board’) and withdraws suit.  Management team gathers each night to wail and wallow the great mistreatment by both the Governor and Legislature.

Shouldn’t that be the end of the story?  Couldn’t it be? Please?  Not with good ol’ Lanny.  Nope.  Hubbard, the once deft player to the middle, may have finally overplayed his hand in covertly suggesting to the likes of Representative Greg Hertz that if he can’t sue, maybe some yet to be damaged policy holders could get their day in court.  Certainly this doesn’t play well to Hubbard’s ego given his penchant to be the front man, however, it could be salve to his wounds.  For the rest of us, we  can only hope he’s left his DNA on the legal documents to be filed.  Those fingerprints in anyone else’s world would be otherwise named ‘insubordination’- a big word for ‘Lanny isn’t carrying out the wishes of his employer and now it’s time to pack up his office’.

So what’s left?  Well, policy holders with State Fund, who have no where else to go, are wondering why there is over a BILLION dollars in reserves, a reserve filled by their high premiums.  Injured workers wonder why they have to fight for a decent benefit when there are over a BILLION dollars in reserves, yet their own bank accounts are empty.  The Governor and the Legislative body are wondering how much deeper they can get into that BILLION plus dollars without affecting policy holders or injured workers.  Montana citizens are wondering what kind of government agency can have over a BILLION dollars to brag about.  State Fund employees are wondering how soon the weight of over a BILLION dollars will bring the Taj MaHubbard Building down on their heads.  And Victory Insurance, with it’s own new lobbying firm, is wondering how much longer it will have to bide it’s time before it can get access to over a BILLION dollars through privatization of the Fund.

And maybe, just maybe, the Montana State Fund Board is wondering how quickly they can hand Hubbard his golden parachute and salvage what’s left of a severely damaged image.  Then again, if Hubbard goes where will the tears come from to fill the water feature in his legacy shrine in downtown Helena?

TGTJ

‘Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.’

Imagine the myriad of reactions recently when the Montana Professional Teaching Foundation, aka MEA-MFT, named Melissa Romano the 2018 Teacher of the Year.  Say what?!?!  Melissa came closer than any other 2016 “tier b” Democratic candidate of winning her statewide race against now superintendent of public instruction Else Arntzen.  Admittedly with more than a fair amount of financial support from the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers and why not since she was the MEA-MFT heir apparent to the legacy of Nancy Keenan, Linda McCulloch, and Denise Juneau.

She is the  2012 recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, a contributor to Better Lesson where her math lessons are shared on a national platform, as well as running to represent the residents of Montana’s Senate District 41 in 2018.  Considering her teaching vitae it isn’t a stretch to see why she was named Teacher of the Year by the MPTF.  But dadgumit, there’s that little political tickler out there – Eric Feaver, president of MEA-MFT (aka “the teachers union”) as well as head of the Montana Professional Teaching Foundation.  Uh oh!  Hey Eric…you got some explaining to do!

In the right circles Eric Feaver, we’ll call him “the tickler”, is responsible for everything from the death of Christ to global warming.  Not bad for a transplanted Okie who coincidently didn’t burn his draft card down at the courthouse ala Merle Haggard.  Anyone who sees machinations from “the tickler” behind Melissa’s award needs to stay away from the railroad tracks because “stupid is as stupid does.”  No one with any political savvy will claim this helps Melissa in her 2018 bid for the state senate or for a potential 2020 re-match with Elsie.

Yeah, there’s bad blood between Feaver (Elsie’s deplorable voting record) and Arntzen – “I’m taking back the TOY and making it great again‘ – but “the tickler” ain’t stupid.  However, given the current political climate in Montana and pending Trump Armageddon, it shall be shouted from the mountains to the prairie that “the tickler” is trying to “gild his lily” in the hopes of burnishing her reputation for future political office.  Is that a double entendre?  Sorry Melissa!

The interesting story will be listening to the “right” Republicans hammer on Feaver, Romano, Bullock, and MEA-MFT that this is proof positive of nepotism, cronyism, and cubism within the ranks of the Democratic Party.  So let’s not forget that Greg Gianforte kicked off his gubernatorial campaign by giving $8 million to Montana State University for the Gianforte School of Computing and wrapped it up with the body slam of a left leaning reporter. Now he’s Montana’s man in the House of Representatives poised with pick, shovel, and sump pump to drain the swamp.  Makes Melissa’s TOY award seem rather tame.  Maybe she can find a right leaning reporter to rough up…who knows “Governor” Romano?!?

What I hope doesn’t get lost in all the political scuffling is the fact that Melissa Romano is an excellent teacher and deserving of this award regardless if she has political aspirations or not.  After all this is ‘Merica and it’s your right to stand or take a knee.

T-Bone Slim – “Whenever you find injustice, the proper form of politeness is attack.”