Posted: May 10, 2012 at 12:56 pm

Political Quick Hits

Taylor on the Ropes

A Flathead area property owner is taking on Republican Rep. Janna Taylor for paying less than 20 bucks in property tax for lakeshore property and raking in over a million dollars in federal farm subsidies. In fact, the TEA Partier is the number one recipient of government farm subsidy cash in the Montana Legislature.

Anne Marie Semsak, in a well-written letter in the Missoulian this week writes:

It is a matter of public record that Rep. Janna Taylor owns 15 acres, including 660 feet of Flathead lakeshore property, near Rollins, for which she pays $19 annual property tax, plus a little over $2,000 for the improvements on the land – house, dock and outbuildings. Her taxable value is $400,031.

We own 4.87 acres with 180 feet of lakeshore with two older houses and a mobile home. Our taxable value is $1,064,136.

Taylor is a state legislator, entrusted to fairly serve her district. She lists “rancher” on her biographical information, but their ranch is in central Montana, far from this legislative district. I have not seen “cherry farmer” on any of her information. One could conclude that she is taking advantage of the agricultural exemption, and I find this disturbing.

Taylor made waves in the Montana legislature for her hypocrisy in government spending and her statement that the death penalty is needed to address prisoner spitballs. Taylor is running for the Montana Senate against incumbent Sen. Carmine Mowbray (R-Polson) in the June 5 primary elections.

Tim Baldwin (R-Crackpot) Running in Derek Skees’ footsteps for Whitefish House Seat

Whitefish residents thrilled to find TEA Party Republican Derek Skees aiming for statewide office and abandoning his legislative seat are re-thinking their good cheer. That’s because TEA Party Republican Tim Baldwin, son of Chuck Baldwin, is running in his place. Baldwin is basically Skees with a law degree + uber-religious conservative + has dad with ties to the white supremacy movement–a truly scary thing.

In the video below, Baldwin discusses his theory on why true Christians don’t need to follow the law if they decide they don’t like the evil government:

Elizabeth Best Campaign Ad Up

Montana candidate for Supreme Court Elizabeth Best has a campaign ad up. Here it is:

Posted: May 2, 2012 at 7:32 am

Hill Campaign Financed by Convicted Felons

Rick Hill set the bar high when he first ran for congress.

He attacked his opponent in the press for taking money from an organization he said “had ties to organized crime.”

An Associated Press article (pasted below the fold) from ’96 quoted Hill as saying:

“The fact that he took this contribution is arrogant, insensitive to our Montana values and insulting to Montana voters.”

As it turns out, Congressman Hill has himself taken large sums of money from well-known convicted felons.

Super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Former Congressman Tom Delay, and former Montana Businessman Dick Dasen have exactly two things in common.

1. They’re convicted felons.

2. They finance Congressman Rick Hill’s campaigns.

Tom Delay is the former U.S. House Majority Leader. Delay is also a convicted felon who contributed $5000 from his Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC) – as well as $1,000 from his Congressional Committee PAC – to Congressman Hill’s campaigns. Delay earned his felony conviction after he was found guilty of conspiring to circumvent a state law against corporate contributions to political campaigns. Specifically, that meant conviction for one charge of money laundering, and one charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Dick Dasen – a felon and former Montana businessman – contributed $500 to Congressman Hill. He later was convicted in Montana on five counts of sex charges related to a major prostitution scandal. Dasen spent an estimated $1 million to $5 million for women to have sex with him, usually in hotels.

Jack Abramoff is a convicted felon and former lobbyist who amassed a fortune by bilking Indian tribes of millions of dollars. His fortune allowed him to contribute $250 to Congressman Hill. He later plead guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials in a wide-ranging, D.C. corruption scandal. Furthermore, he plead guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges related to the casino boats he bought.

And so, it looks like Congressman Hill’s hypocrisy is coming back to haunt him. Besides treating his staff like dog crap and being a terrible boss, this former congressman has a seedy crowd of convicts who have funded his political endeavors.

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