Treasure State Politics says Senator Jon Tester got to “party like a rock star” during the Senator’s latest fundraiser in San Francisco.
For some odd details on the San Francisco fundraiser, click here to read an awkward blog post on The San Francisco Chronicle’s website about our “lovely” senator.
Here’s an example of the post:
The first question came from a woman standing in front of me who asked, “What’s your favorite thing you’ve done as Senator?” I was delighted. Oh good! We’re asking normal questions. How refreshing. But then, somehow the crowd got into this discussion on wolves, which is apparently a thing.
I am embarrassed to admit this (no, not really) but I was distracted. Senator Tester was standing in front of one of the Matrix’s flat screen televisions, which while muted, featured a 5-minute commercial for the Shake-Weight. So while this lovely and interesting man was discussing the importance of land preservation and sustainable farming, I was looking over his shoulder at a topless muscle model jiggling his pecs to a Shake-Weight.
“Party like a rock star”….”Getting Jiggy With It” to Shake-Weight…either way- don’t be surprised if the Montana GOP has some fun with Senator Tester looking to San Francisco yet again for cash.
Here’s what TSP had to say on their blog:
Jon Tester loves nothing more than to brag about his flat top hair cut and ample belly, as if those attributes alone will excuse his record of voting with Obama 97% of the time. In his first run for U.S. Senate, he claimed he was going to “make Washington look a little bit more like Montana.”
Now after nearly five years in office, it looks like the allure of the big cities and their bright lights have finally gotten to the self-proclaimed dirt farmer from Big Sandy. One day he is jet setting to San Francisco, the next he is handing out sweetheart legislation to Big Banks on Wall Street.
In this revealing piece from San Francisco Chronicle blogger Beth Spotswood, we get an idea of just exactly who is behind Jon Tester’s campaign. (Hint: They ain’t from around these parts).
Meanwhile, newly minted Rehberg Campaign chairman Erik Iverson is responding to a guest opinion column from the AFL-CIO’s Al Ekblad with this:
GUEST OPINION COLUMN
Answering the Tester-Ekblad Two-Step
By Erik Iverson
Organized labor in Montana has a long and proud tradition. It’s as much a part of our heritage as the resources that gave our state its nickname: The Treasure State.
For all of the natural resources our state exports, Montana’s most valuable resource is our people with our gritty work ethic and strong sense of community.
So it’s a shame to see Al Ekblad, the newly minted head of the Montana State AFL-CIO, choose politics over the interests of Montana workers. In a recent guest editorial, Mr. Ekblad threw his blind partisan support behind Senator Jon Tester, despite the fact Tester has supported President Obama’s job killing, big-city agenda 97 percent of the time.
Mr. Ekblad’s excuse for his preemptive endorsement is the anniversary of a federal minimum wage increase. Never mind that Montana’s minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage. But apparently Mr. Ekblad won’t let the facts get in the way of a good story, so he plows ahead using his empty shell of an excuse as an opportunity to spread untruths about Denny Rehberg’s record.
First, he says Denny didn’t support a minimum wage increase when, in fact, he did. Denny voted to increase the federal minimum wage while also reducing the tax burden on small businesses to help defray the costs.
Finally, Mr. Ekblad claims Denny has voted for every Congressional pay increase – which is not only completely false, but also ignores the fact that Denny has sponsored legislation to stop automatic pay increases for Congress and introduced a bill to prevent any pay increase until Congress balances the budget. Mr. Ekblad also conveniently fails to note that Senator Tester has accepted every single pay raise since coming to Washington and that as a State Senator in Helena, Tester also voted to increase his own pay.
Denny Rehberg stands with Montana’s working families. He’s fighting to protect our workers, families and small businesses. Always has. Always will.
On the other hand, Jon Tester continues to march in lock-step with President Obama’s extremist agenda, voting with it 97 percent of the time – even when it harms Montana workers.
So let’s take a look at what seems to be the main issue for Mr. Ekblad, namely his claim the minimum wage increase resulted in a better bottom line for workers in the form of an annual pay raise of $4,000 per year. And let’s see whether or not Jon Tester helps or hurts that bottom line.
As you’ll see below, in just two key areas, Jon Tester completely wipes out that pay raise and actually puts Montana’s working families in a worse financial position.
Jon Tester backed President Obama’s “Cap and Trade” plan that would institute a national energy tax that would cost the average working family $3,100 per year.
Jon Tester also cast the deciding vote for Obamacare, which will increase health insurance premiums $2,100 per year on Montana’s working families. Which is probably why so many union bosses are asking for, and receiving, exemptions from Obamacare for their members.
So, to recap, Tester wants to increase energy taxes $3,100 per family and increase health insurance premiums $2,100 per family. So much for that wage increase, Mr. Ekblad.
You see, what Mr. Ekblad and Jon Tester don’t understand, and what Denny Rehberg does understand, is that you can’t have a narrow view about what impacts the bottom lines of Montana’s workers.
That’s why Denny supported an increase in the minimum wage and a decrease in taxes on Montana’s small businesses. That’s why Denny opposed the “Cap and Trade” energy tax on Montana families. And it’s one of many reasons why he opposed Obamacare and its health insurance premium increases on working families.
Denny believes we should encourage energy development and the good paying jobs that go with it, not tax it. And Denny believes the federal government should be doing everything it can to keep more money in the pockets of workers and families, not increase their health insurance costs and take more of their hard-earned dollars.
And that’s why Denny Rehberg is the right choice for Montana.
Erik Iverson is a 5th generation Montanan and serves as Campaign Manager for Montanans for Rehberg