Tagged: Kris Hansen

Posted: May 3, 2013 at 6:53 am

Laszloffy’s Losses Part 2

by Cowgirl

The Montana Family Foundation’s Jeff Laszloffy suffered a slew of losses this session, but perhaps none was felt so bitterly as his failure to get a parental consent legislative referendum on the ballot for 2014. The Family Foundation’s legislative referenda work was the organization’s major cash cow last election cycle. Since Laszloffy failed to get the measure on the ballot for 2014, the Family Foundation’s ability to impact elections has now evaporated.

Cowgirl readers will recall that Governor Steve Bullock allowed Laszloffy’s unconstitutional bill to become law solely so that the bill can be struck down in Montana’s courts. As John Adams at The Lowdown reports, the move allows women to immediately challenge the measure in court long before an identical referenda passed by the legislature gets to the ballot in 2014.

Sure, Laszloffy knew that the measure was unconstitutional–everyone knew it. But Lazloffy’s purpose in pushing it was electoral, not policy-driven.

You see, last election cycle Laszloffy raised some $300,000–purportedly for the parental notification legislative referenda which was sent to the ballot by the 2011 legislature. Montana Family Foundation’s Incidental Ballot Committee Reports in 2012 show they were able to raise and spend $320,000 in 2012.

In a typical year, the Family Foundation raises about $20,000 for electoral work. But because of the LR, LR-120, they were able to raise more than 15 times that amount. You can see the reports below.

$18,000 May 8-May 24

$3,000 May 25-June 18

$2,000 June 19-July 3

$6,000 July 4 -Aug 3

$29,000 Aug 4-Sept 3

$191,000 spent Sept 15-Oct 15

$3,000 spent Oct 16-Oct 25

$68,000 spent Oct 26-Nov 19

For one thing, this is money that could be used to supplant Family Foundation funds that had been going toward Laszloffy’s salary. What’s also interesting is that the campaign finance reports for Laszloffy’s ballot committee shows that some of the money he raised was leveraged to actually help the GOP’s top targeted legislative races–not just the ballot initiative.

Here’s a screenshot from his “incidental ballot committee’s” campaign report. It reports the expenditure Lazsoffy made for a mailer that was about the ballot measure on one side, and a top tier targeted GOP race on the other. This means that all of the polling and research Laszloffy did for these mailings was supporting the GOP’s legislative candidates too.

Thanks to Cowgirl tipsters for pointing out these fundraising anomalies. Reader tips are the essence of this blog. Send tips to mntnacowgirl (at) gmail.com

Posted: May 2, 2013 at 7:13 pm

Family Foundation Says “God Governs the Affairs of Men”…but had trouble passing bills

by Cowgirl

The leader of the religious right group called the Montana Family Foundation proclaimed in a recent podcast that “God still today actively governs in the affairs of men.”

If it was the will of God that Jeff Laszloffy introduced such right-wing bills this session— as opposed to the will of the people the legislature is elected to represent — how does Laszloffy explain the fact that so many of his bills failed? Especially when the session was overwhelmingly dominated by members of the Republican Party.

Here’s a sampling of bills Laszloffy was backing which failed to pass.

Clayton Fiscus’s bill to require the teaching of creationism alongside evolution in all Montana schools failed.

Kris Hansen’s private sectarian school voucher bill HB 357

Mary Caferro’s bill to legalize religious ponzi insurance schemes, which was vetoed by both Schweitzer and Bullock. SB 181

Cary Smith’s anti-science sex-education bill. HB 239

Krayton Kerns bill to take away the right to death with dignity. HB 505

But it wasn’t just that his pro-active bills failed, bills that he had hoped to defeat were passed and became law.

Tom Facey’s bill to remove from the books Montana’s law that made being gay an imprisonable felony. SB 107

And Laszloffy had tried to defeat Llew Jones’s SB 175, which made major investments in public schools.

To be sure, Laszloffy did get his way on one very prominent national issue. He allowed religious boarding schools in Montana like Pinehaven Ranch to remain unregulated. These religious schools, which have no licenses, no accreditation and employ teachers who are not certified, are now dealing with allegations that staff used violence to discipline students. And yet the Montana GOP has voted, on a party line, to allow such schools to continue to go unregulated. CNN ran a big story about it on the Anderson Cooper 360 show. Ellie Hill’s HB 236 would have addressed the problem. Laszloffy lobbied hard against Hill’s bill.

Before you start questioning God and his plan in light of this new information, make quick review of Laszloffy’s failed agenda–and how out-of-touch these bills make their sponsors appear. Sure enough, Laszloffy will prove to be the answer to the prayers of local Democrats next fall.

Posted: December 7, 2012 at 7:42 am

Meeting of the Minds

In a little over a month, legislators from across Montana will descend on Helena to make the laws you must live by. Let’s meet them.

1-Rep. David Howard (R-TEA Park City), Chair of the House Human Services Committee. Rep. Howard is on the record saying he believes a Civil War is imminent

2-A FRONTLINE documentary reported that documents found in a meth house indicate potentially illegal collusion between a secretive right-wing group and Republican candidates. Files on Dan Kennedy, Wendy Warburton, Mike Miller, Ed Butcher, Bob Wagner, Joel Boniek, Jerry O’Neil and Derek Skees were found so far.

3-Rep. Roger Webb (R-Billings). This recently elected GOP-er was convicted of shooting his neighbors dogs to death. It was reported in MT’s largest newspaper.

4-We now have a legislator with ties to the militia movement. Yes, Sen. Jennifer Fielder (R-TEA Sanders County) was elected and will serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

5-Then there is the GOP legislator who when called by the press about a former UM student who accused him of sexual assault, handed the phone to his mom. Rep. Nicolas Schwaderer (R-~~Missoula~~ Mineral) denies the allegations. He has also threatened a defamation suit against anybody making “slanderous statements” against him. It is not known at this time whether mom will be coming to Helena with Rep. Schwaderer.

6-Rep. Jerry O’Neil (R-TEA Columbia Falls) demanded to be paid for his legislative acts in gold and silver. O’Neil has been ridiculed for his request in the national press. But recall that last session, half of the House of Representatives voted for Wagner’s bill to require the state of Montana to conduct all business in gold and silver. This includes current GOP Speaker of the House Mark Blasdel and Republican House Majority Leader Gordon Vance and many, many others who are back this session.

7-And let’s not forget Rep. Wendy Warburton and Rep. Kris Hansen (both of Havre) who co-hosted an event with former Gov. Judy Martz to tell Montanans that the War on Women is made up. Warburton has an explanation for the lack of GOP women candidates. She said a couple of years back, that “the biggest reason that more women who are Republicans don’t get into politics is because we are the pro-family party.” Yes ladies, GOP women are home raising kids like the women of the pro-family party should be.

8-After I first blogged it here, the Chair of the MT House Judiciary Committee TEA Party Republican Krayton Kerns (R-TEA Laurel) was featured in a popular Huffington Post story for his blog post claiming that moving some bison will “topple the Republic” and lead to $25/gallon gas prices. This month, Kerns’ concern is the “imminent collapse of society.”

9-The newest member of the MT House Education committee will be an interesting addition. Republican Rep. Sarah Laszloffy, age 19, is an alum of the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, where students of all ages come to learn how to live ”a supernatural lifestyle.” (And you thought Republicans opposed alternative lifestyles. Not true!)

According to the school’s website, Rep. Laszloffy and her fellow students learned how to “live the Bible,” —including useful skills such as “how to cast out demons” and other practical solutions to life’s most pressing problems. Bethel’s members also purport to have the ability to heal people through prayer and bring the dead back to life.

Perhaps the ability to bring people back from the dead will be useful. Former legislator turned Public Service Commissioner Roger Koopman threatened that if his fellow GOP legislators didn’t stop criticizing him, “Republican blood will flow in the streets.”

10-The outgoing GOP House Majority Leader, Tom McGillvray (R-TEA Billings). McGillvary tweeted (from his official Twitter account) that President Obama must release his college records so as to prove that he was not a “foreign exchange student” while he studied at Columbia and Harvard. McGillvray is termed out and his term will end this month.

Posted: October 17, 2012 at 6:58 am

The Foul 57

Republican candidates across the county have tried to distance themselves from Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., who believes that rape victims should be forced to give birth and said that victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

That’s been much more difficult for GOPers in Montana.

A whopping 57 candidates for the Montana legislature actually voted for an amendment to the Montana Constitution to ban abortion, under all circumstances, with no exception for rape or incest. Sen. Debby Barrett (R-Dillon) was one of them, as democratic challenger Richard Turner of Dillan smartly points out in a mail piece (pictured).

The forced birth for rape victims amendment cleared the house and the senate with 96 votes. All Republicans voted for it except Lila Evans. However, because it takes a 2/3 vote of 150 legislators to amend the constitution, the amendment failed by only four votes.

Below the fold is the list of current legislative candidates who voted in favor of forced births for victims of rape and incest. Check it out to see if your legislator is on it–I’ve alphabetized the list by town.

Shamefully, Jonathan Windy Boy and Gene Vuckovich also made the list. To be sure, there are many more GOP candidates for legislature who share these beliefs but weren’t in the 2011 session–like Scott Sales. There are also many more Republican legislators who voted for this but aren’t up for re-election this year.

Rick Hill, Steve Daines, and Tim Fox all support Akin’s position. Rehberg was an early major donor to Akin.

Continue reading →

Posted: September 11, 2012 at 6:58 pm

Judy Martz Says the War on Women is “Made Up”

The GOP’s War on Women is “something fictitious and made up,” former Governor Judy Martz told a group of Havre Republicans yesterday. The Havre Daily News has the story on the latest ludicrous statement from the former Republican governor.

Martz is infamous for diminishing the dangers of domestic violence and belittling the women who are its victims. In a January, 2001 speech to an audience of 650 people in Butte, Martz said:

“My husband has never battered me, but then again, I’ve never given him a reason to.”

Besides Martz, the dream team that Republicans assembed to convince us that there is no War on Women included: TEA Party legislators Rep. Wendy Warburton and Kris Hansen of Havre, candidate for state school superintendent Sandy Welch, and Ronalee Skees. Ronalee is the wife of TEA Party poster boy Rep. Derek Skees, who is running for state auditor.

I can’t think of a worse group of women to make the claim that women’s rights aren’t under attack. These GOPers exemplify the efforts to restrict women’s rights. Each has either introduced anti-women legislation or championed the War on Women through work with right-wing causes.

Definitely do not miss reading this entire article. The Martz quotes alone are mind-bogglingly stupid. There’s even a reference to something Martz calls “meanness ears.”

But Martz’s loony, oddly-worded statements are only the beginning. Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Sandy Welch, who is a transplant from California, told the Havre Republicans of her belief that there is no glass ceiling. Rather, says Welch, women just “weren’t going into positions that would advance them to leadership” by choice. Even Welch’s idol Sarah Palin talked about the importance of breaking the glass ceiling. Perhaps Welch doesn’t read the paper.

And let’s not forget Wendy Warburton’s explanation for the lack of GOP women candidates. Warburton said a couple of years back, “the biggest reason that more women who are Republicans don’t get into politics is because we are the pro-family party” and are home raising kids like the women of the pro-family party should be.

Martz and crew would have us believe that the GOP isn’t really pushing bills to take away women’s rights–well, maybe just a little:

“The issues that … they are beating us up on are just plain not coming up, ” she said. “When you go to (legislative) session there will be some bills that will speak to it, but very, very few. ”

In reality, Montana Republicans pushed a record number of anti-woman bills during the last session that would have decimated women’s reproductive rights, blocked women’s health care access, and legalized discrimination against women in insurance pricing–all of which were vetoed by Governor Schweitzer. A recent report even found that the 2011 Legislative Session “brought the most antichoice bills introduced in the twenty-four years NARAL Pro-Choice Montana has been tracking choice-related votes at the Capitol.”

Martz plans to tour the state with this message on behalf of her fellow Republicans.

Posted: March 3, 2012 at 7:48 am

We’ve Got a Screamer

Anti-intelligence candidate Jon Arnold has filed for office on the Republican ticket. He says he wants voters to send him “kicking and screaming” to Helena.

I will go kicking and screaming into Helena, pushing our leaders to try to take back our powers that have been restrained from us by the federal government.

I think Arnold is confused about what “going kicking and screaming” means. But that’s no surprise, considering that he’ll tell you straight up: ”intellectuals” are the problem:

We have a despotic, unconstitutional fourth branch of government, comprised of a small army of two million bureaucrats….Many of these people are considered to be “intellectuals.” The problem with intellectuals is that they are not smart enough to know the things that they don’t know. This was the brilliance of our founders.

Well, it is “the brilliance” of Jon Arnold anyway.

It used to be that being smart and getting an education was viewed as important in America. But now, it’s the dumb that we put on a pedestal. And to what do we owe this gift of dumb? Right-wing fundamentalism, both religious and political. We have a Presidential candidate who is worried that Satan is attacking America. Rick Santorum says, in public, that college is all part of Obama’s evil plan to corrupt the nation’s youth.

Arnold further demonstrates his aversion to smart when he asks voters to:

Imagine if ten years from now there is a “sin tax” (such as those for alcohol and tobacco) for the purchase of a cheeseburger…The only protection against such injustices is to not grant the government this power to begin with.

What Arnold doesn’t know is that there is already a gaggle of Montana politicians clamoring for policies that would require a massive food police bureaucracy–at an enormous expense. However, they are all members of his own party. Here is a list of legislators (all Republicans) that signed an op-ed in favor of the idiotic boondoggle. The “evidence” for the claims made in the op-ed comes from TEA Party Republican Tom Burnett’s own blog and “research” paper.

Representatives: Tom Burnett, Janna Taylor, Salomon, Wayne Stahl, Jonathan McNiven, Pat Ingraham, Tom McGillvray, Ken Peterson, Jeff Wellborn, Cary Smith, Jerry O’Neil, Bob Wagner, James Knox, Dan Skattum, Wendy Warburton, David Howard, Jerry Bennett, Jesse O’Hara, Christy Clark, Kris Hansen, Champ Edmunds, Krayton Kerns, Ron Ehli, Mark Blasdel, Doug Kary, Austin Knudsen, Kelly Flynn, Walt McNutt, John Esp, Pat Connell, Matt Rosendale, Cleve Loney, Mike Cuffe

Senators: Debby Barrett, Ed Walker, Ryan Zinke, Bob Lake

Arnold is a Republican candidate Montana Senate District 43, which includes Anaconda and surrounding communities.

Posted: October 7, 2011 at 12:10 pm

Montana Republicans Unveil 2012 Campaign Priorities

In a series of guest editorials in the state’s largest papers, Republicans today unveiled the most revealing look yet at how the party would lead if it regains control of the Montana Legislature in 2012.

The rising stars of the “Grand Old Party” have developed an 800-word treatise, complete with florid language addressing “mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, grandparents, cousins, friends, rivals” and deep philosophical questions on what Republicans believe to be life’s most pressing issues.

So of course, the GOP features the shining example of the 2011 session’s focus on irresponsible extremist ideology and frivolous nonsense: Spear hunting.

GOP headquarters has been pushing the op-ed out on email, Facebook, Twitter etc, so it appears to be of central importance to the Republican party. As to why the party is focusing on this kind of agenda…that isn’t hard to figure out. Facing a hurricane-force political backlash post-session, the GOP certainly had the incentive to shy away from their lack of job creating proposals in order to leave opponents a smaller target at which to shoot. But based on the latest reactions to their grand announcement, it looks like the spear has once again missed the mark.

Welcome to the land of nutters, the Montana Legislature.

Posted: March 3, 2011 at 12:47 pm

Damage Control

Here’s what the GOP, frightened by the circus created by the extremists in their party, is doing to try to control the damage from a series of statewide and national stories talking about spear hunting, seceding from the union, and transacting state business in gold and silver.

First a few legislators tried their hand at the damage control, but they only made it worse. Rep. Warburton, Rep. Hansen, and Sen. Hutton managed only to prove the rumors true, talking about receiving thousands of disapproving emails and only three or four agreeing with their actions. Getting a birther involved didn’t work either.

Then Jon Bennion, whose organization, the local Montana Chamber of Commerce apparently has him on loan to the legislature as a GOP strategist, attempted to pass off as “jobs bills” House Bill 100 and Senate Bill 201, which simply create piles of paper in the form of additional reports for legislators on bills. Bennion made no mention of the 92 some unconstitutional bills introduced by the legislature so far.

Then GOP Chair Will Deschamps came out and said not only are there jobs bills, but there are “too many to list.” (If that were the case, he probably didn’t need to re-list the bills Bennion had already mentioned that simply create piles of paper.)

Deschamps sites business equipment tax reduction as an example of a jobs bill, but a Republican put in the bill only after the governor proposed it in his budget. He listed a bill by Sen. Jason Priest to make buildings less energy efficient, and so-called “tort reform” or corporate irresponsibility protection, a bill that GOP leader and Chair of the House Judiciary committee spoke out against at length when the bill was debated by the full House of Representatives.

Finally, Deschamps points to a couple of bills he says make it easier to permit mines, but the bills are “a solution in search of a problem.” Over the last 6 years there have been more new mines and development in Montana than any time within the last 30 years.