Rehberg squares off against Baucus, Tester

Montana's lone U. S. representative and its two senators have taken different stances on several issues lately, waging a war of press releases and comments coming from different sides.

The latest hot topic has been Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., attacking Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., for slipping a forest bill Rehberg opposes into an omnibus spending bill that was working through the Senate.

That bill failed in the Senate Thursday, with several Republicans who had said they would support it backing out, citing earmarks and other problems they had with the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, then gave up on the bill.

Earmarks is another contentious issue between Rehberg and Tester and his Democratic colleague, Montana's senior Sen. Max Baucus, along with the tax cut bill that passed the House Wednesday night and is on the way to the president for his signature.

Pros and cons on the forest bill

On the forest bill issue sponsored by Tester, Rehberg has criticized the proposed legislation for months, saying it was done without input from Montanans and is not supported by Montanans.

Rehberg held a town hall meeting via telephone Wednesday, in which he said the opposition was clear.

"The Montanans I heard from are just as opposed to the legislation itself as they are to the underhanded tactics being used to force it through Congress, " Rehberg said in a press release. "The pro-con breakdown of this call mirrors the 22 public meetings I held earlier this year. "

He also has criticized Tester for rewriting the bill and trying to pass it in the omnibus spending bill without holding hearings on it.

Tester's office has responded to the criticism, saying the bill is largely unchanged from the version that was heard by committee in December 2009, with changes reflecting requests from Montana organizations including wilderness advocates, recreation advocates, irrigators, and other Montana citizens.

In a press release, Tester's office listed 11 public meetings held in the state before and after the bill was proposed, and added that all of the legislation, including all drafts, maps and changes made to the bill, have been listed on the Senator's website.

The Montana Forest Coalition contested Rehberg's comment that most Montanans are opposed to the legislation. In a press release, it cited a poll by Harstad Research that showed 73 percent of Montanans supported the provisions in Tester's bill.

Tester's office also released comments in support of the bill in response to Rehberg's telephone town hall.

"I'm a lifelong Republican, " Mark Hathaway, a millworker at Sun Mountain Lumber in Deer Lodge, said in the release. "Congressman Rehberg says he listens, but he wasn't listening when we asked him to support Montana's wood products industry.

"If he's still calling this a 'wilderness' bill, he clearly hasn't read it and doesn't understand that it will create much-needed jobs for Montana's loggers and millworkers, " Hathaway added.

Kurt Rayson, president of Rayson Logging in Libby, also responded to Rehberg's comments.

"I'm not interested in political stunts and the same old heated rhetoric, " Rayson said in the release. "I am interested in keeping my job as a logger. So is Jon Tester. Creating jobs is the idea behind his bill, and I thank Jon for it. "

Earmark moratorium

Rehberg and Tester and Baucus also have been going back and forth on the Republican-backed plan to put a two-year moratorium on earmarks.

Rehberg took a pledge during this year's election to give up making earmarks, and voted with the House Republican Caucus to impose a two-year moratorium on the practice. He wrote a letter to Baucus and Tester in November urging them to support banning earmarks.

Rehberg cited out-of-control government spending and enormous federal deficits as reasons the senators should support an earmark ban.

Buacus replied in a letter to Rehberg that earmarks, including earmarks made by Rehberg, have funded vital projects in Montana and that only 0.3 percent of the federal budget comes from earmarks.

Last Friday, Tester requested Rehberg to join him in posting all earmark requests online, as Tester said he has done since elected.

"The ability for members of Congress to have a say in where our money is invested — as required by the U. S. Constitution — does not raise the debt, " Tester wrote to Rehberg. "Banning smart, transparent appropriations will cost Montana jobs. It will hurt Montana's water systems and highways. It will give all decisions about our federal funding to the Obama Administration. And it won't save us any money. That's not good government, and it's not good for Montana. "

Rehberg's stance also has raised some eyebrows as a change from his record. According to the Citizens Against Government Waste, he was the member of the Tea Party Caucus with the most earmarks to his name for Fiscal Year 2010 — 88 earmarks totaling more than $100 million.

Tax cuts

Rehberg also opposed his Montana Senate colleagues for voting for something he typically supports — tax cuts.

The Senate Wednesday passed a compromise bill that includes a two-year extension of tax cuts implemented in the administration of George W. Bush, including cuts for all tax brackets, with a 81-19 vote and both Baucus and Tester voting in favor.

The House passed the bill Wednesday night with bipartisan support — the 277-148 passage included 139 Democrats and 138 Republicans voting in favor.

Rehberg was one of the 36 Republicans voting against it.

Rehberg said after the Senate passed it that the compromise tax cut bill passed by the Senate is too little, too late.

"Congress should have addressed the pending tax hike months ago, " he said in a release. before the House vote. "Ongoing uncertainty has forced small businesses to sit and wait, paralyzing job creation when we need it the most. But some still just don't get it. Congress is poised to guarantee two more years of crippling uncertainty by only passing a temporary tax extension instead of making it permanent. "

He added that the bill also includes additional deficit spending.

"No one wants taxes to go up on January 1, but that's not a reason to support bad policies that will increase the deficit and prolong the economic crisis by discouraging job creation, " Rehberg said.

But Montana's senators took a different view.

"Today's vote was a vote for jobs, " said Baucus, who supported the tax cuts when they were proposed in 2001 and 2002. "This bipartisan compromise extends tax breaks to let working families keep more of their hard-earned money, provides estate tax relief for farmers and ranchers and extends tax cuts to support wind-energy jobs in Montana. Now we must continue working together to pass common sense policies that will move our economy forward and help businesses create jobs. "

Tester said in a release the bill is not one he would have written, but he supported not raising taxes during difficult economic times.

"A vote against this bipartisan bill is a vote against jobs, " he said. "A vote against this bill is a vote to raise taxes on every Montanan. A vote against this bill is a vote for the biggest tax increase in American history.

"The Montanans I talk with when I go home every weekend have a clear message: they want their leaders to work together on bipartisan solutions to cut taxes and create jobs, " Tester added. "And this bill is a good step. "

Montana's lone U. S. representative and its two senators have taken different stances on several issues lately, waging a war of press releases and comments coming from different sides.

The latest hot topic has been Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., attacking Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., for slipping a forest bill Rehberg opposes into an omnibus spending bill that was working through the Senate.

That bill failed in the Senate Thursday, with several Republicans who had said they would support it backing out, citing earmarks and other problems they had with the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, then gave up on the bill.

Earmarks is another contentious issue between Rehberg and Tester and his Democratic colleague, Montana's senior Sen. Max Baucus, along with the tax cut bill that passed the House Wednesday night and is on the way to the president for his signature.

Pros and cons on the forest bill

On the forest bill issue sponsored by Tester, Rehberg has criticized the proposed legislation for months, saying it was done without input from Montanans and is not supported by Montanans.

Rehberg held a town hall meeting via telephone Wednesday, in which he said the opposition was clear.

"The Montanans I heard from are just as opposed to the legislation itself as they are to the underhanded tactics being used to force it through Congress, " Rehberg said in a press release. "The pro-con breakdown of this call mirrors the 22 public meetings I held earlier this year. "

He also has criticized Tester for rewriting the bill and trying to pass it in the omnibus spending bill without holding hearings on it.

Tester's office has responded to the criticism, saying the bill is largely unchanged from the version that was heard by committee in December 2009, with changes reflecting requests from Montana organizations including wilderness advocates, recreation advocates, irrigators, and other Montana citizens.

In a press release, Tester's office listed 11 public meetings held in the state before and after the bill was proposed, and added that all of the legislation, including all drafts, maps and changes made to the bill, have been listed on the Senator's website.

The Montana Forest Coalition contested Rehberg's comment that most Montanans are opposed to the legislation. In a press release, it cited a poll by Harstad Research that showed 73 percent of Montanans supported the provisions in Tester's bill.

Tester's office also released comments in support of the bill in response to Rehberg's telephone town hall.

"I'm a lifelong Republican, " Mark Hathaway, a millworker at Sun Mountain Lumber in Deer Lodge, said in the release. "Congressman Rehberg says he listens, but he wasn't listening when we asked him to support Montana's wood products industry.

"If he's still calling this a 'wilderness' bill, he clearly hasn't read it and doesn't understand that it will create much-needed jobs for Montana's loggers and millworkers, " Hathaway added.

Kurt Rayson, president of Rayson Logging in Libby, also responded to Rehberg's comments.

"I'm not interested in political stunts and the same old heated rhetoric, " Rayson said in the release. "I am interested in keeping my job as a logger. So is Jon Tester. Creating jobs is the idea behind his bill, and I thank Jon for it. "

Earmark moratorium

Rehberg and Tester and Baucus also have been going back and forth on the Republican-backed plan to put a two-year moratorium on earmarks.

Rehberg took a pledge during this year's election to give up making earmarks, and voted with the House Republican Caucus to impose a two-year moratorium on the practice. He wrote a letter to Baucus and Tester in November urging them to support banning earmarks.

Rehberg cited out-of-control government spending and enormous federal deficits as reasons the senators should support an earmark ban.

Buacus replied in a letter to Rehberg that earmarks, including earmarks made by Rehberg, have funded vital projects in Montana and that only 0.3 percent of the federal budget comes from earmarks.

Last Friday, Tester requested Rehberg to join him in posting all earmark requests online, as Tester said he has done since elected.

"The ability for members of Congress to have a say in where our money is invested — as required by the U. S. Constitution — does not raise the debt, " Tester wrote to Rehberg. "Banning smart, transparent appropriations will cost Montana jobs. It will hurt Montana's water systems and highways. It will give all decisions about our federal funding to the Obama Administration. And it won't save us any money. That's not good government, and it's not good for Montana. "

Rehberg's stance also has raised some eyebrows as a change from his record. According to the Citizens Against Government Waste, he was the member of the Tea Party Caucus with the most earmarks to his name for Fiscal Year 2010 — 88 earmarks totaling more than $100 million.

Tax cuts

Rehberg also opposed his Montana Senate colleagues for voting for something he typically supports — tax cuts.

The Senate Wednesday passed a compromise bill that includes a two-year extension of tax cuts implemented in the administration of George W. Bush, including cuts for all tax brackets, with a 81-19 vote and both Baucus and Tester voting in favor.

The House passed the bill Wednesday night with bipartisan support — the 277-148 passage included 139 Democrats and 138 Republicans voting in favor.

Rehberg was one of the 36 Republicans voting against it.

Rehberg said after the Senate passed it that the compromise tax cut bill passed by the Senate is too little, too late.

"Congress should have addressed the pending tax hike months ago, " he said in a release. before the House vote. "Ongoing uncertainty has forced small businesses to sit and wait, paralyzing job creation when we need it the most. But some still just don't get it. Congress is poised to guarantee two more years of crippling uncertainty by only passing a temporary tax extension instead of making it permanent. "

He added that the bill also includes additional deficit spending.

"No one wants taxes to go up on January 1, but that's not a reason to support bad policies that will increase the deficit and prolong the economic crisis by discouraging job creation, " Rehberg said.

But Montana's senators took a different view.

"Today's vote was a vote for jobs, " said Baucus, who supported the tax cuts when they were proposed in 2001 and 2002. "This bipartisan compromise extends tax breaks to let working families keep more of their hard-earned money, provides estate tax relief for farmers and ranchers and extends tax cuts to support wind-energy jobs in Montana. Now we must continue working together to pass common sense policies that will move our economy forward and help businesses create jobs. "

Tester said in a release the bill is not one he would have written, but he supported not raising taxes during difficult economic times.

"A vote against this bipartisan bill is a vote against jobs, " he said. "A vote against this bill is a vote to raise taxes on every Montanan. A vote against this bill is a vote for the biggest tax increase in American history.

"The Montanans I talk with when I go home every weekend have a clear message: they want their leaders to work together on bipartisan solutions to cut taxes and create jobs, " Tester added. "And this bill is a good step. "