If there is one issue the Montana U.S. Senate race is all about for me, it's this:
http://billingsgazette.com/...
Every 65 minutes, a veteran takes his or her life. That's roughly 22 veterans in the span of a day.
On Saturday, the National Alliance on Mental Illness Billings held a special vigil in Veteran's Park to honor those soldiers.
Roughly 30 people gathered in the park, including NAMI Executive Director Clementine Lindley and U.S. Sen. John Walsh.
After Walsh spoke, 22 candles were lit in remembrance of the soldiers have taken their lives.
For Walsh, who led an infantry battalion in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, the event hit close to home.
"Shortly after we came home, one of my young soldiers died by suicide," Walsh said. "So this is very personal for me. I know the impact it has on family, on friends, on communities."
That soldier's name was Christopher Dana.
"I just don't think we recognized that he was having problems," Walsh said.
Largely in response to Dana's death, Walsh said the Montana National Guard created the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The program, which was modeled after a Minnesota program, was established to better prepare soldiers "before, during, and after deployments."
"It is our responsibility to prevent tragedies like these, they are part of the cost of war and we owe it to our men and women in uniform to provide them the support they need when they return home," Walsh said. - Billings Gazette, 5/18/14
Since Walsh was appointed to the U.S. Senate, he has been making preventing Veterans suicide a key priority and he hasn't stopped fighting:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Sen. John Walsh (D-Mont.) posed a question to his colleagues on Capitol Hill this Sunday: If lawmakers are willing to spend billions of dollars on war, why are they less willing to invest in the welfare of veterans when they come home?
Walsh, an Iraq War veteran, appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" to discuss legislation he introduced last month called the Suicide Prevention Act for American Veterans. The bill would extend veteran eligibility for the Department of Veterans Affairs' health system to 15 years, as opposed to the current five-year window. It would also require the military to review discharge cases for soldiers who were removed from service for exhibiting behavior related to post-traumatic stress.
When host Candy Crowley asked Walsh if concerns have been raised over how much his bill would cost, he said that was simply "the cost of war."
"We spend billions of dollars making sure that our men and women are trained and equipped and ready to deploy, to go to Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever they're stationed around the world," Walsh said. "So we should take that into account when they come home, as well ... We need to make sure that they're ready to go back into society."
"We do a very good job of taking [a] citizen soldier and making a warrior out of him," he went on. "But we aren't doing a very good job of taking that warrior and reintegrating him back into society."
A VA study from last year found that an average of 22 veterans commit suicide daily. According to a member survey conducted by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, more than 47 percent of respondents said they knew a veteran who had attempted suicide after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. - Huffington Post, 4/20/14
More below the fold.
Walsh has introduced legislation to address this issue and he has some big support on this bill:
http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/...
SEN. JOHN WALSH (D) MONTANA: Well, Candy, I've introduced a bill in the Senate, The Suicide Prevention Act for American Veterans, to try to solve this problem or do what we can to help out with this problem.
You know, it's a seven point plan to try to focus on, uh, mostly the psychological health issue associated with, uh, suicide.
CROWLEY: I think the president, at one point, did say this is - you know, this is such a big problem with not a single answer.
If you could pinpoint one thing that you think would help, what would it be?
TOM TARANTINO, IAVA: Well, I mean this is actually really critical to understand about suicide and mental health. And suicide isn't, in and of itself, a problem. It is the end result of 20 problems, of - of system of failures. And so one of the things the SAVE ACT does is increases access to care. And that's a huge part you know, one of the things that we do know is that veterans who seek care often get better. And seeking care is one of the best things you can do, but when that care is either unavailable or it's, you know, or you don't live near a VA Hospital, it becomes that much more difficult.
TARANTINO: I always tell soldiers - and I'm an old Army guy, so I use the word soldier. But I say, look, if you get shot in the chest, you're not going to walk around with a bullet wound in your chest. If you have an invisible injury, you shouldn't walk around with it. You can get treatment, because treatment does help.
CROWLEY: And I was also struck by another figure, which is 69 percent of these veterans are over the age of 50, which tells me a lot of things. First of all, I - I think in - in society in general, uh, the suicide risk in 50 and over is higher. But it also tells me about the length of time it might take people to seek help.
WALSH: Exactly. And that's one of the aspects of this bill, is right now, we take care of a soldier for five years after he gets out. I want to extend that to 15 years - or this bill wants to extend - we want to extend it to 15 years, because the - everybody is going to react different - differently to, uh, psychological issues.
CROWLEY: I know, uh, that you had a - were in command of a unit in Iraq. You lost a soldier to, um, suicide. I know that when you were, uh, in the National Guard in Montana, that again, you saw, uh, some in that unit commit suicide.Did anyone in the unit have any idea?
WALSH: You know, we didn't. And that's, you know, one of the issues here, that the - and especially in the reserve components of the National Guard. You know, we see these men two days a month. So we really have to - and if we don't see it during that, those two days, if one of their fellow soldiers or airmen doesn't see an issue pop up during those two days, we don't see it.
So we have to rely on family members, employers, other people to, uh, to bring that to our attention. - CNN, 4/20/14
And Walsh's bill has been gaining support amongst his colleagues in the U.S. Senate:
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/...
Alaska's GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski has signed on as co-sponsor for Senate Bill 2184, the Suicide Prevention for America's Veterans Act, introduced in March by Montana's Democratic Sen. John Walsh.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that more than 22 veterans die by suicide each day. The bill would expand veteran eligibility for mental health services from five to 15 years.
“Preventing America's heroes from falling to suicide isn't a partisan issue,” Walsh said. “It is our duty to come together and fight on behalf of those who fought for us, and Sen. Murkowski's support will strengthen this bill and send the urgent message that our veterans need care now.”
Walsh and Murkowski's home state colleagues Sens. Jon Tester and Mark Begich, both Democrats, have co-sponsored the SAV Act, as well as Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Patty Murray of Washington, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Ron Wyden of Oregon. - Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 5/9/14
And Walsh has gained a strong ally in his fight:
http://www.newsday.com/...
For years after leaving the Army, Iraq War veteran Kristofer Goldsmith seethed over his forced discharge after combat-related depression led him to attempt suicide days before he was scheduled to be sent back into battle. He embraced an outsider's attitude and wore a Mohawk haircut to indicate his disillusionment.
But disgruntlement gave way to organizing, and Goldsmith, a student at Nassau Community College, eventually persuaded Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to look into the Pentagon's practice of kicking soldiers out of the military because of service-related psychological problems.
Gillibrand Wednesday cited Goldsmith's apprisals as she announced her support for legislation that would force the military to include psychological health experts on panels that handle appeals from veterans seeking to clear their records of disciplinary discharges.
"While the men and women of our military risk their lives to protect our country, too many of the service members have been discharged as a result of undiagnosed or improperly diagnosed mental-health conditions," Gillibrand said.
Gillibrand, who made the announcement at the NCC campus in Garden City, said unfair disciplinary discharges can deny veterans access to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical care, disability checks, GI Bill student aid and other benefits they earned with their military service.
Employers often shun veterans who have less than a full honorable discharge, making it even harder for veterans to transition from military service to productive civilian life.
The Senate legislation, initially sponsored by Montana Democrats John Walsh and Jon Tester, was based on recommendations by the Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans of America, an advocacy group in which Goldsmith has emerged as a leader. - Newsday, 4/16/14
And Walsh's supporters of this bill have played a big role in writing it:
http://www.collegian.com/...
A supporter of the bill, Jason Sydoriak, served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Sydoriak is the president of the student veterans at CSU and went to Washington, D.C. to lobby for the bill alongside 30 other veterans.
Walsh, a sponsor of the bill, is the first Iraq combat veteran to serve in the U.S. Senate. He led an infantry battalion in Iraq, and one of his corporals died by suicide after returning home.
Sydoriak represented the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the largest not-for-profit, non-partisan organization lobbying for veteran rights.
“(We’d) tell them what we want. Some of us have some stories — people that either have dealt with suicide themselves (or) know someone who has died by suicide,” Sydoriak said.
One of the main provisions of the bill includes extending the free health care coverage for veterans receive coming out of the military from five to 15 years. This would give veterans more time to determine whether or not they have symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, depression or anything else.
Nick McCormick, a legislative associate at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, was one of the people responsible for writing the bill.
“We do the largest survey of Iraq and Afghanistan vets outside the government and from the feedback we got from that survey this year, the top concern we had was suicide and other provisional mental health issues … (so) we took a look at the suicide and mental health legislation pending before Congress,” McCormick said. “There were a lot of stand-alone bills that tackled a lot of different issues, and so based upon that, we just decided the best way to go forward was to package all these ideas in a comprehensive piece of legislation that addresses a few different things.”
“This is a very personal issue for him,” a representative from Walsh’s office said. “The senator views it as a non-partisan issue because all Americans should be committed to taking care of our veterans right now. It’s just Sen. Walsh sponsoring it with a handful of other democrats but he has ongoing conversations with other Republican members to ask them to support the legislation.” - Collegian Central, 5/5/14
And more Veterans are standing up and speaking out on this issue:
http://www.newsandtribune.com/...
“When it comes to veteran suicide, I was almost a causality of that war,” said Indianapolis resident Zach McIlwain.
Combat isn’t unfamiliar to McIlwain. In the Army for eight years, the 27-year-old served two tours in Iraq, finishing his military career as an infantry platoon sergeant. Once he left the Army, things didn’t go as easily as planned. Figuring out employment and other matters in the civilian world can be tough for those recently out, especially for veterans harboring mental and physical problems from their years in war zones. Missing their support group of friends from the military also takes a toll. For McIlwain, a 980-day Veterans Affairs backlog and processing problems with his injury claims didn’t help either.
“Nothing was moving forward. Nothing was really going the way I wanted. I was missing something from my life and I couldn’t figure out what it was,” he said. “I got to a point almost like ... if this is what life has to offer me, I don’t want to live it.
“Luckily my wife is fantastic. She said, ‘Look, you’re down in the dumps. You’re really struggling. You need to go get some help.’”
And he did.
Using the Post 9/11 GI Bill, he finished his degree in economics with cum laude honors from Ball State University and works in the banking sector. But McIlwain’s passion revolves around assisting other veterans overcome their mental health struggles through his position as a Veteran Leadership Fellow for the IAVA.
In March, McIlwain participated in the IAVA’s Storm the Hill initiative as one of 32 advocates for veteran’s affairs. This year, the group focused on suicide prevention. More than 1,000 American flags were placed on the National Mall lawn to remember those veterans who had killed themselves thus far in 2014.
In addition, throughout their time on the Hill, members of the organization met with Congress about legislation that could reduce the number of veterans who take their own life. One bill called the Suicide Prevention for America’s Veterans Act received its full support. - News & Tribune, 5/19/14
Walsh is the only member of the U.S. Senate to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. He's need now more than ever because we need someone who has experienced what these troops coming back from war have gone through. We need men like Walsh to help us address this serious issue.
Of course Walsh has also been handling other issues in the Senate and taking this job seriously. He's been looking out for Native American issues:
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/...
Walsh is supporting Senator Jon Tester’s Native Language Student Immersion Act (S. 1948), as well as the Native American Languages Reauthorization Act of 2014 (S. 2299).
Tester’s Native Language Student Immersion Act will establish a grant program to fund Native language immersion programs throughout Indian country supporting schools using Native American languages in order to improve high school graduation rates, college attainment, and career readiness. All parts of tribal life from housing, school facilities, employment, economic opportunity, and cultural opportunities will be explored and improved through language immersion programs.
The Native Languages Reauthorization Act of 2014 supports and strengthens language immersion programs through federal grants, including support for language nests, language survival schools, and language restoration programs. - Indian Country Today Media Network, 5/17/14
And he's also been fighting for this:
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/...
Laura Juarez is supposed to receive close to $1,200 as her share of a $3.4 billion settlement among hundreds of thousands of Native Americans whose land-trust royalties were mismanaged by the government for more than a century.
The Bakersfield, California, notary public was going to pool that money with her husband’s share, along with a portion of what was coming to her father’s estate, to send her 17-year-old daughter to a student-ambassador program in Australia.
But the money, which she expected in December, still hasn’t come and her daughter isn’t going on next month’s trip.
The payments have been held up by more than 2,400 appeals by people who were ruled ineligible to participate in the settlement. As the special master appointed to the case goes through those appeals, Juarez and other American Indians are growing increasingly frustrated over what they see as justice delayed.
“It seems as if the Native Americans are being screwed again,” said Juarez, a 39-year-old member of the Comanche nation. “I know several others who have given up on it. It’s created a sour taste in their mouths. We get our hopes up just to have it knocked down.”
The 493,724 beneficiaries identified as of the beginning of May already know how much they are supposed to receive from the settlement — the individual payments range from $850 to nearly $10 million — and many had earmarked those amounts to splurge on big purchases or simply pay their bills.
The delays have resulted in complaints to the claims administrator, an online petition and even a letter from Montana Sens. Jon Tester and John Walsh about a lack of transparency and misinformation regarding the payments.
“This delay is placing a financial burden on Montana families, and forcing many who are expecting payments to take out loans that they are now unable to repay,” the April 3 letter to the settlement’s claims administrator, Garden City Group, said. - Great Falls Tribune, 5/19/14
Walsh has been building a closer relationship with Montana's Native American community:
http://www.charkoosta.com/...
Democrat Senator John Walsh spent part of the Congressional Easter break meeting with tribal leaders at various Indian Reservations in the Big Sky state. Last week he spent time on the Flathead Reservation to, among other things, conduct a listening session at Salish Kootenai College pertaining to a smorgasbord of elder related issues. He got an earful of the needs of the tribal elders and others who are negatively impacted by the double-barreled onslaught of a depressed economy and sequestration that have pinched up the federal budget. The result in some cases has been the elimination or cutbacks of some services to the tribal elders due to the lack of adequate federal funding. Walsh said the federal budget shortfalls are the result of Republican led obstructionism and a Republican crafted budget proposal that cuts into services for the most vulnerable people while leaving the upper income tax payers and corporations for the most part unscathed. He said that needs to change and said that is why he is running to retain the U.S. Senate he currently occupies.
“What can I do to help shore up or improve the programs that affect seniors in your area, how can I help?” Walsh asked of the 30 plus people at the listening session.
Tribal Health and Human Services Director Kevin Howlett said the Indian Health Service is chronically under funded and that negatively impacts health care services it provides through the IHS Contract Health Services. Right now health care procedures are only okayed and paid for by IHS CHS if they are life or limb threatening.
The fiscal year 2015 IHS budget received an infusion of $200 million to bring the total to $4.6 billion, a 4.5 percent increase over the FY 2014 IHS budget. That amount is fairly substantial but isn’t when present funding accounts for roughly 50 percent of identified need in Indian Country.
Howlett said that Tribal Health is putting the pedal to the metal in seeking out other sources of health care funding and/or revenue to weather the monetary shortfalls. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a game changer when it comes to health care services provision for tribal people, he added.
“There are a lot of better health care opportunities in the Affordable Care Act for the elderly,” Howlett said, adding that Tribal Health provides $1 million annually for in-home health care for tribal elders. “That funding comes from revenue generated at our clinics for services we provide. We will be doing a pilot project to find out the real needs of our elderly population. We need to identify and quantify their needs whether they are for housing, transportation, nutrition, or health care. We have the utmost concern about our elders and we have a commitment to help them live in dignity. I encourage you to continue your travels in Indian Country listen to their concerns.”
Sen. Walsh said the first thing he would do when he got back to Washington, DC is check on the anemic Indian Health Service budget. “I am your partner, a partner in Indian Country,” Walsh said. “The first call I’ll make when I get back to Washington will be to the Indian Health Service.” - Char-Koosta News, 5/1/14
Walsh has also been going after defense contractors:
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/...
Studies have found that the government’s reliance on contractors has grown significantly in recent years, and Democratic Sen. John Walsh, Montana’s junior senator, introduced a bill Thursday that he said would cut those costs.
The Cutting Contractor Use and Taxpayer Savings Act, or CUTS Act, would target service contracts at overseas bases, Walsh said.
He said he planned to recruit co-sponsors and supporters once the bill was introduced.
The bill requires that after Sept. 30, 2017, the total spent on Defense Department service contracts must be less than or equal to 67 percent of the aggregate amount spend on service contracts in the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
The amount spent on service contracts after Sept. 30, 2024, may not exceed the amount obligated or spent on service contracts in fiscal year 2002, adjusted for inflation.
The bill would also require annual reports on the use of contractors in the intelligence community. - Great Falls Tribune, 5/2/14
Walsh has also been looking out for public lands:
http://www.nbcmontana.com/...
In Bozeman on Saturday, Sen. John Walsh talked up his support for keeping public lands public. He met with local business owners and conservationists at Wild Joe's coffee.
In his speech, he pledged to oppose all measures to sell public lands to private owners, to support and fight for the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, and to back a fully funded land and water conservation fund.
"I have a grand daughter who's one year old, I've been fortunate to grow up here in Montana," Walsh said, "and the primary reason we invite people to Montana is to enjoy our clean air, clean water, and access to our public lands. So, making sure that we protect these areas is very important." - NBC Montana, 5/10/14
And Walsh even introduced a bill to prevent public lands from being affected by any future government shutdowns:
http://www.ktvq.com/...
Montana Senator John Walsh wants makes to make it illegal for future presidential administrations to close national parks and other public lands when lawmakers can't agree on a spending bill.
Walsh has filed the Keeping Public Lands Open Act, a measure aimed at preventing the kinds of shutdowns that closed Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park and many other parks and monuments across the country last fall.
That shutdown lasted for 16 days when Congressional leaders got in a budget standoff with the Obama Administration. The national parks were closed until the spending stalemate was worked out.
Walsh said the shutdown cost Montana an estimated $45 million in economic activity, occurring during a period with beautiful weather during the fall "shoulder season" for tourists.
The closure also impacted many federal campgrounds as hunting season was getting started. It's estimated the shutdown cost $18 million in "gateway" communities bordering the parks. - KTVQ, 5/13/14
This is a smart move because Walsh has been hitting his opponent, Tea Party Rep. Steve Daines (R. MT-AL) for his support for the shutdown and public lands and parks are a big part of Montana's tourism business. Daines actually had a chance to work with Walsh in looking out for public lands in Montana but instead sided with his party's obstruction:
http://missoulian.com/...
Sen. John Walsh tried to pass by unanimous consent in the U.S. Senate a bill protecting the North Fork of the Flathead River from mineral development. Rep. Steve Daines, when he was asked to help the bill by talking to the three tea party senators – Ted Cruz of Texas, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma – asked why Senate Democrat leaders couldn’t have brought the bill to the floor for a regular vote, avoiding the need for unanimous consent.
Then he bragged that he got his version of the North Fork bill passed in the House because he wants to get it done for the people of Montana.
He could care less about Montana and the people of Montana.
Here was the perfect opportunity for him to work with Walsh to get this North Fork thing passed and done.
He has said he wants to work with the rest of Montana’s congressional delegation and here was his chance and he totally blew it and showed he is completely unfit to be either our congressman or our U.S. senator. - The Missoulan, 4/17/14
By the way, Daines might appear to be rational on the outside but he's really an extremist:
http://mtstandard.com/...
The truth is that Daines supports so-called “personhood” measures which, if enacted, could interfere with a woman’s personal medical decisions relating to birth control, access to fertility treatment, management of a miscarriage, and access to safe and legal abortion. Indeed, “personhood” is government gone too far, and the defeat of “personhood” state constitutional amendments all across the country — from Colorado and Ohio to Mississippi and Oklahoma — sends a clear message: health care decisions should be left to a woman, her family, her doctor, and her faith — not politicians like Daines. That’s also why, through comprehensive voter education, supporters of women’s health were able to keep personhood off the Montana ballot in 2008, 2010, and again in 2012.
Daines wants to impose his views and judge what’s best for all women. In his short career in Washington, D.C., Daines has proven that he is no friend to Montana women. Whether it’s endorsing bills to restrict access to health care, voting against food stamps for single working mothers, or putting over 12,000 Montana workers out of a job during the government shutdown, Daines is one of the reasons Congress has the lowest approval ratings in history.
He’d prefer government interfere in decisions best left to a woman, her family, her doctor, and her faith. He believes a woman’s boss should be able to dictate her birth control access. He wants to outlaw safe and legal abortion and sponsored controversial legislation dubbed “the most restrictive abortion bill” to come to a vote in a decade. When Daines announced his support for the legislation, it did not include exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. This is the very definition of government intrusion.
Montana cannot move forward while politicians like Daines try to take half the population backwards — and Montana women won’t stand for Daines’ attempt to deny his anti-women’s health agenda. That’s why we’re proud to support Sen. John Walsh in his re-election campaign for U.S. Senate.
Walsh fights for women and families, and fights for the issues that matter to women’s health. He understands the difficult situations women and families can face and defends a woman’s freedom to make decisions about her reproductive health, without government intrusion. - The Montana Standard, 5/2/14
And of course there's this:
http://www.motherjones.com/...
In an interview that aired on November 2, 2012, Sally Mauk, news director for Montana Public Radio, asked Daines, who was then running for Montana's lone House seat, whether public schools should teach creationism. Daines responded, "What the schools should teach is, as it relates to biology and science is that they have, um, there's evolution theory, there's creation theory, and so forth. I think we should teach students to think critically, and teach students that there are evolutionary theories, there's intelligent-design theories, and allow the students to make up their minds. But I think those kinds of decisions should be decided at the local school board level." He added, "Personally I'd like to teach my kids both sides of the equation there and let them come up to their own conclusion on it."
Daines did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Lauren Passalacqua, a spokeswoman for Democratic Sen. John Walsh—who was appointed in February by Montana Gov. Steve Bullock to replace longtime Democratic Sen. Max Baucus and could potentially face Daines in the general election—says, "Sen. Walsh respects everyone's right to practice their faith but believes public school is a place for science, not religion."
The radio interview wasn't the first time Daines dabbled in creationism. On July 31, 2012, Don Pogreba, a Montana high school teacher who blogs about politics, reported that Daines was scheduled to attend a breakfast fundraiser for his campaign at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky—an establishment that says it "brings the pages of the Bible to life." Visitors to the Kentucky museum learn about what the world looked like "6,000 years into the past"—at "the dawn of history"—and can see "children play and dinosaurs roam near Eden's Rivers." A notice for the event was reportedly posted on Daines' campaign website. A few days later, Alex Sakariassen, a reporter for the Missoula Independent, asked Daines' campaign why the congressman was holding a campaign event at the controversial museum. Zach Lahn, Daines' campaign manager at the time, replied that "all location details and speaker invitations have been made by [Daines] supporters," not the campaign itself. After the Independent published a story about the event, the announcement for the fundraiser disappeared from the Daines campaign's website. And a spokeswoman for the Kentucky museum says the fundraiser never took place there.
On the campaign trail, Daines points to his executive experience at a Bozeman-based tech firm, RightNow Technologies, as evidence he's a pragmatic businessman focused on economic issues. Greg Gianforte, a longtime Daines ally and donor who founded RightNow and sold it in 2012 for more than $1.8 billion, also has a history of supporting creationism. In 2009, his charity, the Gianforte Family Foundation, helped fund the $1.5 million creationist dinosaur museum in Glendive, Montana. According to the Billings Gazette, Gianforte's foundation made "the largest donation for a specific exhibit," funding a display featuring Tyranosaurus rex and Acrocanthosaurus. In the years since that museum opened, Gianforte has become one of Daines' campaign backers; he sued the Montana Democratic Party in 2012 for allegedly making false claims about Daines and RightNow, he contributed the maximum $5,200 to Daines' campaign in 2013, and the two men appeared together publicly as recently as March 2014, at a Yellowstone County Republicans dinner. (Gianforte did not respond to multiple requests for comment.) - Mother Jones, 5/16/14
Walsh hasn't just been painting Daines as an extremist but also a job killer:
http://mtstandard.com/...
Narrator: “Congressman Daines has gotten comfortable with Washington double-speak. He attacks John Walsh, but his ad fails to mention that Daines himself has voted twice to increase the debt ceiling. More jobs? Daines worked for years in China, helping an American company build factories there, at the same time Daines’ company was firing thousands of American workers here. Congressman Daines, some free advice: Montanans don’t trust dishonest politicians.”
Analysis: This ad cites two examples that allegedly show Daines has somehow misled voters on two issues: Debt-ceiling votes and his business track record. Whether these examples amount to “double-speak” is certainly open to interpretation. Here are the facts behind these claims:
Daines criticized Walsh for voting in February to raise the federal debt ceiling, extending it until March 2015, without any strings attached – a vote that Walsh did cast (while Daines voted “no”). It’s also true that an earlier Daines TV ad including this criticism did not mention that Daines has voted twice to increase the debt ceiling. Daines says his votes to increase the debt ceiling in 2013 were linked with efforts to reform spending.
His January 2013 vote to raise the debt ceiling for five months was tied to bill requiring Congress to pass a budget before members would get paid. His October 2013 vote ended the 16-day shutdown of the federal government and raised the debt ceiling until February, with Senate and House leaders promising to attempt to work out a longer-range spending plan.
The second example refers to Daines’ employment with consumer-products giant Proctor & Gamble. In the early 1990s, Daines worked as a manager for P&G in China, helping oversee the marketing of P&G products in Southeast Asia and the opening of factories in China to serve those new markets. At the same time, in 1993, P&G announced a corporate-wide restructuring that would cut 4,000 jobs in the United States. The company said it hoped most of the job reductions would be through attrition, transfers and early retirements. - The Montana Standard, 5/16/14
Hopefully these ads will gain traction because the GOP is serious about taking this seat:
http://www.usnews.com/...
Daines, a chemical engineer who spent a decade at Procter & Gamble, is now seeking to construct a similar firewall – a likable, acceptable brand that smashes traditional GOP stereotypes.
He’s connecting with Indian tribes – a staunchly Democratic constituency – on the issue of energy development as they struggle to develop coal on their reservations. He’s also championed a watershed protection act to highlight his dedication to conservation in an environmentally sensitive state.
“It takes some of these constituent groups that I think were somewhat revved up against Denny. At best, they may actually vote for me, at worst they might say, ‘You know what? We’re just not going to be anti-Daines.’ I don’t sense that John Walsh is capturing the imagination of the base right now,” Daines says.
He's also quietly investing in one of the most fruitful digital campaigns in the country, devoting more human and financial resources to reaching people online than the typical GOP campaign. For instance, their campaign kickoff video last fall recorded 4.6 million impressions and 125,000 views, an impressive reach in a small state like Montana. - U.S. News, 4/14/14
But Walsh has been out talking to students and conservation groups about the issues affecting them:
http://missoulian.com/...
“Nobody wants another Berkeley Pit,” U.S. Sen. John Walsh told a room of representatives from conservation groups and the timber industry on Sunday.
Walsh, D-Mont., hosted a listening session at Missoula's Triple W Equipment to hear ideas about the implementation of the Farm Bill, especially as it relates to forestry in Montana.
Walsh, who sits on the Senate’s Agriculture Committee, said with agriculture being Montana’s largest industry, it’s important to make sure different opinions and ideas are represented and forests are handled in a way that is best for the economy and jobs, as well as the environment.
Walsh will be heading around the state on a tour of several college and university campuses to discuss a new piece of proposed legislation the senator recently signed onto as a co-sponsor. The bill, called the Federal Loan Refinancing Act, seeks to help reduce the amount of loan debt students have after they graduate. The bill would allow people repaying federal student loans at an interest rate above four percent to refinance.
The senator said with some students graduating schools in Montana with as much as $30,000 in student debt, recent moves to cap tuition levels aren’t enough to solve what he called one of the biggest problems with Montana education.
“Right now, people with a home loan can refinance, but students with debt can’t, even with interest rates going down,” Walsh said. - Missoulan, 4/14/14
And Walsh has been talking with seniors about Social Security and Medicare:
http://www.krtv.com/...
Walsh said, " What I'm taking away from this is that Montana seniors are really against cutting Social Security and cutting Medicare, and I'm with them and I will go back to Washington D.C. and do everything I possibly can to make sure we are not cutting Social Security or Medicare."
He added, "I think we do need to reduce our deficit, reduce spending in this country, but we shouldn't be doing it on the back of our most vulnerable citizens."
Walsh also stopped at the Mighty Mo Brewery in downtown Great Falls for a discussion on the proposed Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act. - KRTV, 4/21/14
And I liked his response to this question:
http://www.kxlh.com/...
U.S. Senator John Walsh (D-MT), who faces John Bohlinger and Dirk Adams in the Democratic Senate primary, sent a statement that did not rule out Colorado-style legalization: "Montana voters long ago recognized the importance of legalizing medical marijuana, but we also recognize the need to protect kids and communities. As for the future of marijuana, I think it's something Montana voters should continue to decide what's best for our state." - KXLH, 5/1/14
Karl Rove's own polling showed that Walsh remains competitive so you know Rove and the Koch Brothers are going to be spending big to defeat him. Lets make sure Walsh's campaign is ready to go for November. Click here to donate and get involved with his campaign:
http://johnwalsh2014.com/