Dennis Rehberg, your aspiring Senator, yesterday:

Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today reacted strongly to the release of federal unemployment figures that, for the first time since 1983, breached 10 percent. Last month alone, the economy lost 190,000 jobs bringing the total job losses since the February passage of the “so-called” stimulus to more than 2.8 million.

He continues:

“It’s well past time for better economic solutions in Washington,” said Rehberg. “From the start, I’ve said to follow the models that worked for John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan – smaller government and lower taxes that empower individuals and small businesses.”

I hate to compete with the historical knowledge of Representative Rehberg, but I am fairly certain that Ronald Reagan was President in 1983 and that his deficit-blowing tax cut passed in 1981. Let’s recap: Reagan, higher rate of unemployment  two full years after his tax cuts passed and a massive expansion of the federal deficit = a sound economic model. Obama’s plan, which hasn’t had time to fully be measured=reckless socialism that endangers our future.

Since Republicans, have for the past decade, tried to give Reagan credit for the Clinton boom, maybe they should take a deep breath, get some oxygen in their brains, and give Obama’s economic policies time to work. After all, he does have eight years of decline and structural failure to address.

Keep sending out those press releases, Representative Rehberg. It’s almost like doing something.

Is Dennis spending all of his time on Facebook and Twitter because he is planning a run against Jon Tester? Politico suggests he might be:

Rehberg, who was seen exiting the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s Capitol Hill headquarters Thursday morning, is the state’s lone representative in the House.

There’s mutual interest between Rehberg and NRSC officials, according to a source familiar with both sides.

It makes sense for Rehberg to think he’d fit in with the Republican members of the Senate. With an impressive resume consisting of grandstanding stunts, stubborn opposition to helping working Americans, and a legislative record consisting of resolutions honoring football teams and Montana cities, Rehberg seems like he’d be a star member of the GOP caucus.

It’s just unfortunate for him that Montanans are much more likely to vote for a Senator like Jon Tester, who’s already doing important work in Washington, than for a glorified resolution writer who votes against the interests of his constituents far more often than he does for them.

I feel like a little sunshine myself today. Let’s take a look at Representative  Rehberg’s claim that no private insurance policies will be allowed under the bill. He writes:

"Prohibits the sale of private individual health insurance policies, beginning in 2013, forcing individuals to purchase coverage through the federal government."  In 2013, after the 2012 presidential election.  In 2013, there is no private insurance allowed.  The sale of it will be prohibited. 

Oops. That was Limbaugh. Here’s Rehberg:

Page 94 prohibits sale of private individual health insurance policies forcing you to go through fed government

The obtuseness of this misreading is astonishing. The purpose of this section of the bill, which anyone with an 8th grade reading level could easily discern, is to ensure that private insurance plans can be grandfathered in and that they meet certain minimum requirements after the bill’s passage.

What insurance companies hate about the bill is that they will be forced to compete in a free and open market under the Health Insurance Exchange.

Demagoguery. Pure and simple.

Dennis is so excited about yesterday. He was pretending to have read the House health care bill, doling out bits of “sunshine” as he feverishly read through through the text, exposing its nefarious schemes to socialize American life. Rehberg was excited, the Montana media was excited, and the Park County Republicans had to clean up after themselves:

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) went to town on Facebook and Twitter in Sarah Palin fashion yesterday, exposing the nearly 2000 page Pelosi-care bill that was "unveiled" in a closed-to-the-public ceremony the other day. What wasn’t unveiled in that event was put under a spotlight on Rep. Rehberg’s page.

You know was most excited, though? Probably Rush Limbaugh and the insurance company executives that Rehberg cribbed his comments from, many of which were flat out lies.

Let’s put Rehberg’s posts on Facebook side by side with the transcript of Limbaugh’s program yesterday, and see how much independent thinking Representative Rehberg was really doing.

It’s certainly interesting to see that Rehberg managed to not only hit on all of the arguments advanced by Limbaugh, but he used the same language. I wonder if it’s possible that Limbaugh and Rehberg were using the same playbook, while Rehberg pretended to be evaluating the bill.

In what is perhaps the most astonishing twist, Limbaugh was more honest than Rehberg.  Consider the claim about a loss of 114 million people losing coverage. Rehberg leaves out that claim comes from the Lewin Group—and for good reason. The Lewin Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest private insurers in the country.

I’ll get back to the rest of the specious talking points that Rehberg is being fed later, but at a basic level, how can we trust Rehberg, who is presenting himself as some consumer champion, when all he is really doing is parroting talking points from insurance companies and the far right?

It’s an embarrassment, and it’s a damn shame that the media couldn’t search to find the source for the claims before promoting Rehberg’s “work.”

Two protracted wars, a deep economic recession, a crumbling health care system. Certainly serious issues for members of Congress to address, but perhaps nothing measures up to the important work Dennis Rehberg did in Washington last month:

Montana’s Congressman Denny Rehberg helped arrange White House tours for 80 Montanans during a particularly busy month of tour requests. White House tours are only available through a congressional office, and Rehberg’s office normally receives approximately 20 requests a month.

That’s the kind of leadership you really only see on self-serving press releases and Facebook.

I’m not a political consultant, but if someone’s efforts in Congress are so minimal that he needs to post a SNL parody-worthy achievement like this, isn’t time to let someone who understands important issues take the job?

It’s well-documented that American health care is a system in crisis. Rapidly escalating costs, personal bankruptcies, and families denied access to preventative care, all while Americans spend more than nation in the world on health care, represent a looming economic threat and an ongoing human tragedy for far too many of us.

Given this crisis, what kind of leadership has Montana’s sole representative in the Congress shown? The kind of leadership you’d expect from someone whose greatest legislative achievement is a resolution honoring the city of Billings: inane posturing and Facebook posts.

Today’s latest stunt is an EMERGENCY town hall meeting to discuss the House bill in Billings:

House Democrats unveil a new health care reform bill Thursday, prompting Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg to call an emergency Town Hall meeting for Saturday in Billings.

Rehberg’s office says Montanans have a right to know what’s in the new House bill and what’s missing.

I know what’s missing: a Republican alternative. Pressed for one today House Minority John Boehner demonstrated the Republican-Rehberg approach to health care reform, doing nothing.

It’s certainly telling that Representative Rehberg doesn’t consider the state of health care in the United States today an emergency, but is concerned that Democrats are moving forward with bills to address the problem.

I don’t often have the time to catch the comics page in the Independent Record, but today I was fortunate enough to get a couple of good laughs on the Opinion page. It seems that former Attorney General candidate Tim Fox is troubled by the idea of negative campaigning and mudslinging:

Too often, negative campaigning is rewarded with publicity while attempts at straight talk are seen as insincere and overlooked by the press…There are consequences that come with making unfounded allegations about another person; a realization I came to not during the practice of law, but during the course of my upbringing in Montana.

Given Fox’s despicable, dishonest campaign  last year and the fact that Republican Party’s entire strategy against Dennis McDonald consists of sleazy innuendo based on his work as a defense attorney, one has to wonder if Mr. Fox is either incapable of understanding irony or just continuing the same kind of shameless behavior he displayed as a candidate.

Fresh news that the public option may still be alive and kicking presents two opportunities to marvel at the craven nature of some Democrats in the Senate.

We’ll start with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu:

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), for one, dismissed recent polls that show public support for the idea, telling NPR, "I think if you asked, do you want a public option but it would force the government to go bankrupt, people would say no.”

For that kind of logical fallacy you usually need to listen to Fox News in the morning. In other news, Americans would also oppose Easter if it mean that every bunny in America had to be tortured to death slowly. Perhaps Senator Landrieu is less worried about the Treasury drying up than she is about less revenue coming in to her campaign war chest.

And then we’ve got Max, who went all War Games at the news. Baucus was:

apoplectic when Reid told him he wanted to include the public option.  “Baucus went to DEFCON 1,” said a source familiar with the negotiations, referring to the alert level the military uses for an imminent attack on the homeland.

How dare the majority leader offer a proposal that the public prefers? How dare he upset the delicate balance crafted by Senator Baucus’s mighty bipartisan coalition which contains one Republican who might vote for his bill?

It’s be nice if Senator Baucus was apoplectic about the idea of Montanans who are losing their homes and their economic dreams because of the burden of health care costs, wouldn’t it?

About a month ago, I decided the best way to become interested in consistent blogging again was to take a full break for a month or so, rather than go through the cycle of feeling guilty about not posting rather than posting. After just over a month of no blog writing and limited blog reading, I think I’m ready to get back at it, and what better way to start that making fun of a Lee Newspaper.

In my inbox this morning, I received an e-mail from the Billings Gazette, the subject reading Billings Gazette wants to know.

Inside, no message of any kind. Seems about right some days.

To be fair, I should give the hat tip to Jason, who received the same e-mail.

I have to wonder whether Judge Katherine Curtis routinely issues gag orders for every criminal investigation in Flathead County, especially without the attorney for the investigative target asking for one:

Monday, Corrigan told KCFW-TV that he could no longer discuss the investigation. The District Court administrator says all information in the case is sealed by order of Judge Katherine Curtis unless or until any charges are filed against Barkus.
Barkus’ attorney, Todd Glazier, says he doesn’t know anything about the order.