Schweitzer calls out Montana's nut wing

It's been said countless times that The Last Best Place is not Oregon (even though the states show commonality in the white nationalist bloc) and elects Democrats with Blue Dog credentials. Both Senator Jon Tester and former Governor Steve Bullock believe that with vigilant environmental oversight they would support TransCanada's tarsands enema beginning in Montana. Montana's Left has a hard-on for what it perceives as Democrats being GOP-lite who have deserted progressive ideals just to woo centrist voters.

Democrat Brian Schweitzer was governor when this scrivener was living in Montana but after leaving office he chose not to run for the US Senate allowing raving lunatic Steve Daines to win the seat. The sometimes bombastic but widely-liked Schweitzer became chairman of the board of Stillwater Mining Company, Montana's largest revenue producer. 

In 2020 South Dakota-based NorthWestern Energy attempted to buy an additional 25% share of Colstrip Unit 4 in eastern Montana for a dollar. It owns 30% now. South Dakota, of course, has no corporate taxes and banks there hoard trillions for an exclusive set of Republicans.

Today, the Montana Legislature is at least as demented as South Dakota's and the state's Earth hating governor has even contracted the Trump virus.

Senate Bill 266 would nullify a contract signed between private companies in Washington, Oregon and South Dakota doing business in Montana. These companies signed a private contract between themselves 14 years ago to maintain an aging electric-generating power plant in Montana. The South Dakota company doesn’t want to abide by the contract with its partners. So they got a state senator (who is the son of a former prominent executive of the same company) to propose a bill that would exclude the experienced owners of the power plant from trusting the advice of the mechanical and electrical engineers who have run the plant for 35 years. A fine mix of Socialism and Crony Capitalism to match Russian President Vladimir Putin. SB 379 would put hundreds of millions of dollars in the pockets of the same South Dakota company by taking the money from the pockets of Montana families and businesses. [Guest opinion, Brian Schweitzer]

Utilities are not your friends.

Above image belongs to Steve Brodner.