Gazette Article

Matt Hagengruber's article on my race is in the paper today - here's the link;

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/government-and-politics/elections/article_5415228c-51bf-11df-90a8-001cc4c03286.html

It could have been a few more words, but I'm happy with it.

And that's high praise from me, given my criticisms of The GAZETTE in the past.

Of course, Mary Jo Fox had to chime in with a personal attack right away on the comments, maybe she should get over it that Tussing lost? (Yes, I know the names you hide behind.)

Oh well, I'd be disappointed if she didn't show up I guess.

The article really didn't go into my background very much though.

So I'm going to elaborate a little more.

I grew up as a kid in NE Iowa, and as soon as I was of age I moved to Montana in 1981.

Not having a penny to my name, I hitchhiked here and lived in my Mom's basement at first.

My first job was with Carl Weissman & Sons, working in their hardware store, making the sum of $4.35 an hour and considering myself lucky to have the job.

Customer service was first priority down there, and we had most of the contractor business in town.

I met my wife Lori Kinney there, she had worked upstairs in the office for 4 years.

I was at Weissmans for 2 1/2 years, before I went to work for Senco as their first Inside Sales Rep. they also stressed customer service, and our Manager, Nick Degel, sometimes would say that if if we "lose a customer, we lose an employee".

I still think that's not a bad motivator for employees.

I was at Senco 5 1/2 years.

I then went to Safway Supply, and I was there for 7 years.

At Safway we had a genuine Team Effort, and everybody there could do anybody's job.

We sold tools and equipment, sold & rented scaffolding, and serviced much of what we sold.

Then in 1995, RD Kirkness called me up and wanted to go have a cup of coffee.

I knew RD well, because he was a customer of mine all the way back to Senco, and at Christmastime I'd work with him selling Christmas Trees at West Park Plaza. That was how I came up with the money for Christmas for my first two kids.

His idea was to open up a lumberyard in Red Lodge, and at JB's on the corner of 24th & Central we drew it out on a napkin.

So I left Safway, and started something new.

I had never been a Store Manager before, but I had worked for some good ones, and I knew what needed to be done.

We opened on April Fools Day, 1996.

Customer service was, and is, job number one there too.

If you walk in the door there, you will be greeted, and if they know your name it'll be by name.

If they don't know the answer, they'll get it for you.

In November of that year, we didn't have a Makita Power Tools Rep, so I called up Makita to buy some table saws. I found out that they needed a Factory Rep., and they were interested in talking to me.

I went to work for them two weeks later.

As a Factory Rep, I was responsible for all of Montana, and the Northern 1/4 of Wyoming.

Which meant that I travelled 55,000 miles a year, and spent a lot of nights in Motel rooms.

My customers would call me anywhere from 7 am to 10 pm. I had a policy - if their store was open, my 'store' was open.

BUT - In November of 2000, my wife let it be known to me that she didn't sign on to be a single Mom, and that I hadn't made it to a school function in over two years, and it was time to quit travelling.

So I went back to work at Safway Supply, and put in another 2 1/2 years.

In July of 2003, Cody Irons called me up, because United Rentals needed a Sales Rep. They had a new store, and hadn't had any luck in really getting it going.

Always up for a challenge, I went to work for them.

Fortunately, most of my customers from Safway Supply kept doing business with me. If it wasn't for Sletten Construction, Western Sugar, and a few other big accounts we would have never got it going.

in 2002 they did $40,000 in sales.

In 2003 we did $572,000.

In 2004 we did $859,000.

In 2005 we did $1.100,000.

In 2006 we were on pace to do $1,500,000, but we were merged with another Division of United Rentals, and they decided to do away with the Contractor Supply Stores, and focus on Rentals.

It hasn't worked out too well for them, if you google up their earnings, nationwide, they lost millions in 2008, and 2009. I have been gone from there since October.

This is the story that The GAZETTE didn't tell you, mainly because it's too long winded.

If I am elected, customer service will be job number one down there.

It will be a learning curve at first, but it's not one I'm afraid of.

So, I hope you vote in the June 8th GOP primary, and I hope you give me your vote!

One man, One Vote

Today, the Yellowstone County is mailing out 66,201 ballots for the upcoming school election.

If you're a registred voter, in the district, one will be in your mailbox, probably Wednesday.

Are you going to be one of the 44% of voters who'll send it back, or will you be one of the 56% that won't bother?

I hope you send it back.

Why?

Because this is your chance to make your voice heard.

If voters approve the levy, your taxes, or rent will increase. Your costs of business will increase. The amount of money in your checking account will be less.

Deciding whether-or-not the schools really need it is up to you.

But if you don't vote, don't grumble.

Maybe you don't like Senior High's curriculum. Maybe you don't think they should drop Latin classes, while keeping pushover classes like 'Family living' or 'Single Survival' or how about 'Culinary Essentials' where they teach you how to read a measuring spoon. We don't need kids to be able to get a classical education over there, do we?

The school board decides that curriculum, and if you don't vote, don't complain about who your trustee is.

So take the time to vote.

Please.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

....Edmund Burke

Campaigning

Just in case you're wondering whose signs are sprouting up around the county, they're mine.

As you can see, they are gorgeous, red/white/blue signs, 4' wide, by 34 1/2" high.

Thank you Matt Hagengruber, who is getting to be the GAZETTE's top investigative reporter, because I lifted the picture from his article about campaign signs!

I had a high-priced designer do the artwork, my daughter Sarah, who aside from being the Jewelry Manager at KOHLS likes to do graphics.

This is going to be a busy week.

I got up 4 more signs today, and I was offered 10 more properties to put them on today, but since I'm running low on signs I'll scout out the locations to see where they can do the most good.

I've got 3000 door-hangers ready for a literature drop, and my bulk mailing isn't nearly done, but it doesn't go into the mail until the same day as the absentee ballots, May 10th.

So I've got dark circles under my eyes, from sorting out EXCEL spreadsheets with voters names on them.

And I've got myself so broke that I couldn't get out of sight if it cost a quarter to go around the world.

Thursday at noon, there is a rally at the courthouse lawn, Thursday night a fundraiser for Denny Rehberg by the Tea Party movement, and Friday night there's the Aaron Tippin concert at the Shrine Auditorium that's being sponsored by The Conservative Coalition.

I have volunteered to help wherever I could, after all, the chance to meet voters is what it's all about, and what keeps me going.

27 days and counting until the absentee ballots go out - 58 days until election day.

The clock is ticking, and it is NOT my friend!

Keep your favorite candidate in your prayers, whoever it is, OK?

Or, better yet, get involved. After you go vote on election day, make a few phone calls, and make sure your family remembered to vote.

Get a few signs out for your candidate. Everybody has someplace.

Give your candidate a Saturday, and do some literature dropping for him or her. Every flyer you hang on a knob saves them .44 cents.

Give them a contribution. It doesn't matter if it's money, a book of stamps, a $5.99 box of #10 envelopes, or whatever, it'll let them know that they're not out in the wilderness!

End of lecture - LOL - have a great week.

Sen. Tester in Missoula

I was looking around the Montana blogs a little, and I came upon a good piece over in Havre - here's the link;


http://havredailycorrector.blogspot.com/2010/04/no-earmarks-ever-tester-gets-dose-of.html


Isn't it nice to know that not everybody in Missoula is a leftist?

States lawsuits over Obamacare

I've spent some time looking over the States Lawsuits challenging Obamacare, and I believe that they are likely to fail.

Here's why - from article VI of the Constitution;

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof ... shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

So according to the Constitution, the States can pass all the laws they want, but they are still trumped by Federal law, and like it or not, Obamacare is law.

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BUT - I think that the first person who is ever penalized for not having health care, who has their paycheck seized, or their bank account raided, has an excellent chance of having the law struck down.

What's the difference?

The difference is that an individual person's rights would be violated if they were assessed a penalty, and their property (money) taken from them by the federal government as part of Obamacare.

I see violations of the 5th, 6th, and 8th amendment, and possible others.

The Great Leader, President Obama, has denied that the penalty is a tax.

So with the protections agains seizures, the right to due process, and taking a persons money with no compensation, any penalties from Obamacare should have constitutional rights lawyers scrambling to come argue the case.

So my guess is that Obamacare will be here a while, until the first penalty is assessed.

Or until we toss out Obama and replace the bill.

F Y I

FYI

The population of Yellowstone County is approx 143,000 people.

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Yellowstone County has 430 Full time employees.

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The County's budget for 2010 is $81,973,948 (Yes, nearly 82 million bucks)

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The overall taxes budget for 2010 is $33,630,000 - which is up from $32,560,000 for 2009

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What is the signifigance of these numbers?

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It's to point out that Yellowstone County is a pretty good sized 'business' that is owned by you, the taxpayers.

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The way you appoint your 'managers' is at the ballot box.

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We have seen turnouts as low as 10% for off-year elections, and in those years, your elected officials were chosen by 1 person out of 10.

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So please - make sure you vote this year - the primary ballots are mailing out May 10th, and election day is June 8th.

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Given that the polling places have been consolidated, I expect a lot of mail-in ballots.

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There are good, conservative challengers this election cycle, so you have the opportunity to make your votes count.