Montana town votes for DOGE. Immediately regrets it.
If ignorance is bliss, then the people of Hamilton, MT, should be blissful. But they aren't. They voted for Trump. They got Trump. Now, they are shocked to discover that Trump is doing exactly what he said he would do. And the town is losing a big slice of its economic base — federal government employees.
Charitably, you could argue that the citizenry listened to Trump's 2024 DOGE rhetoric and decided that it was campaign puffery. That once the Bozo was in the Oval, he would forget about it and focus on his self-enrichment. They had some justification. The man never keeps his promises and rarely does what he says he will do.
However, they failed to notice that the few times Trump did get something done, in an otherwise serially bankrupt career, was when it hurt people. The man is a sociopathic sadist.
Uncharitably, you could say that the residents of this town of 5,000 on the Idaho border, nestled in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains magnificent scenery, were racist schmucks who had no idea their livelihoods depended on the federal salaries paid to local workers.
The results of a reckless disregard for facts
Either way, these MAGA maniacs are discovering the consequences of their ill-considered vote. Thursday's Washington Post ran a piece titled: "A small Montana town has thrived on federal jobs. Now come Trump's cuts.
The subtitle fleshed out the topic: In this pocket of red America, locals worry that the losses at Rocky Mountain Laboratories and the Bitterroot National Forest could have dire consequences.
The report began:
HAMILTON, Mont. — In an era of rural decline, this town of 5,000 touts art galleries and upscale cafes. Its Main Street, with a homegrown department store still going strong after 75 years, remains a draw not just for locals but for the tourists who come to explore the surrounding mountain wilderness.
But many people worry that the future is at risk. Hamilton has depended for decades on what seemed a reliable economic foundation — the federal government, which employs hundreds at a world-renowned scientific laboratory and in the Bitterroot National Forest. Now staff and funding cuts at both are shaking this pocket of deep-red Montana, prompting its leaders to warn the Trump administration of "dangerous safety and economic consequences" and sending citizens into the streets to protest.
The report continues by mentioning a droll aphorism outlining the dichotomy in the educational outcomes of the inhabitants.
"As one saying here goes, locals either have a PhD or a GED."
It doesn't take an advanced degree to guess which of the two populations voted for Trump's 'burn it down' philosophy. The paper adds:
It's wry recognition of the outsize role of federal employment in an area where most alternatives pay little despite a median home price of about $600,000. Hamilton leaders fear researchers at Rocky Mountain Laboratories and forest managers who lose their jobs are likely to leave, taking their salaries, families, firefighting skills and community contributions with them.
Robin Pruitt, the city council president, acknowledges the obvious:
"They [federal employees] are participating in the local economy. They're volunteers for our nonprofits, for our schools. They're very engaged citizens. We know that our community would be devastated to lose these community members."
Local motel owner Mary Casper added her alarm as the labs canceled bookings for visiting researchers at her motel in downtown Hamilton:
"This is the small business, main street American economic impact."
I wonder which way Pruitt and Casper voted. The odds are 2/1 that they voted for the agent of their own destruction. Hamilton is in Ravalli County. The county went for Trump with 69% of the vote — while 28% picked sanity. Is it schadenfreude to say, "Be careful what you wish for"?
Residents, regardless of how they voted, are miffed. At a recent town meeting, the citizens expressed their negative opinion of the effect of DOGE cuts on the local economy. A local MAGA pol weighed in but did not sway the crowd. The NYT reports:
"There's some reason for concerns," commissioner Greg Chilcott responded, "but at the same time, we're 37 trillion dollars in debt as a nation. … Something has to be done."
His comments were booed.
Of course they were. Republicans treat the US like a gold mine where a select few get the bulk of the gold while the vast majority, who get little, are expected to pay for the cleanup.
An April 5th #handsoff rally drew a crowd. Local news outlet, The Bitterroot Star, reported:
Hundreds of Bitterroot Valley residents gathered in Hamilton on April 5th to participate in the "Hands Off!" event, part of a nationwide protest of the policies of President Donald Trump and his billionaire allies. According to national media outlets, millions turned out in cities and towns all over the country. Organizers of the Hamilton event, with the group Bitterroot Indivisible, estimated a turnout of about 500 to 600.
In Hamilton, participants first gathered at City Hall Park to personalize pre-made signs. Underneath the "Hands Off!" logo, a myriad of concerns appeared, ranging from federal worker employment, freezing of health, science and research funding, sell off of public lands, women's rights, veterans benefits, and federal grants to education, clean air, and issues related to refugees (see related stories).
Sadly, this evidence of Trump's perfidy, enabled by craven Republicans, will not lead to Montana voting Democratic anytime soon. They might be ruing their choice today. But in 2024, the state's residents voted out its incumbent Democratic Senator, Jon Tester, and ensconced a Republican in the office. This placed all state-wide positions and Montana’s two US House seats in GOP hands.
FAFO
If you vote for it, you have to expect you will get it.
Reflections on the 'tax cuts lead to economic prosperity' lie
The MAGA delusion that somehow cuts to the federal government won't affect them cohabits with the equally misguided belief that benefits to the rich will somehow trickle down to them.
It is GOP orthodoxy that tax cuts on corporations and the wealthy lead to investment and jobs. Really? Consider that Apple (1976) and Microsoft (1975) were both founded by two (very different) tech entrepreneurs, along with their sidekicks, in the mid-1970s — when the US's top individual tax was 70%. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates proved that entrepreneurs don't sit around waiting for tax rates to hit a certain number before they get off the couch and start a business.
Between 1950-2025, America saw its best decades of GDP growth in the 1950s (avg., 4.2% per annum) and 1960s (avg., 4.5%). Yet, during those 20 years, the highest income tax rate was always above 70%; from 1950-1963, it was 91%.
Let's also note that the 1980s — the Reagan era — had a lower growth rate than the 1970s. Despite
- A: The 1970s being the poster child for economic malaise
- B: The widely advertised economic benefit of Reagan's budget-destroying tax cuts for the rich.
In addition, the reader has probably already noticed that the 2000s lagged the 1990s despite Bush Jr's further budget-busting tax cuts.
However, it isn't the liars who are sending the US to hell in a handbasket, as much as it is the rubes who vote for them.
