Power for the People On November 10, 1978 PURPA was signed into law. The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 was designed to encourage small-scale, distributed generation in places like Montana where transmissi...

Republicans including Gianforte, Daines, Zinke, Sheehy, and Downing voted against energy projects that have brought millions of dollars to rural Montana. We the People can find people who will work for us. Even if it means changing a century of habits.
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Tariffs impact on the backbone of the world Yesterday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether the President can, in violation of the constitution, impose unilateral tariffs.

Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the tariff cases, Susan Webber’s challenge to tariffs under the Indian Commerce Clause is pending. Susan delivers a message of hope that community will prevail over big money. The backbone of the world still stands. open.substack.com/pub/monicatr...

Tariffs hurt Montana On November 5, 2020, the U.S.

On November 5, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the tariffs. The President stopped pretending there is a reasonable relationship between the tariffs and a claimed “emergency.” Time to get back to business - and for the republicans to get back to work.
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Join the Farmers Union for some Halloween fun Today the Montana Farmers Union (MFU) kicks off its 110th Annual Convention at the Yogo Inn, Lewistown, that is equal parts policy summit, family reunion, and strategic renewal.

Join the Farmers Union for some Halloween fun
At harvest time, engage with the farmers - ask questions, offer connections, meet new people, plant seeds of relationships to grow your own communities a little bigger and broader.
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Time for the people This month my friend Staci died.

Lincoln said the role of government is “to give everyone an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life.” Montana was founded on many of Lincoln’s policies. Our land can be a place of connection and growth, for all the people.
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We’re paying rich republicans not to work The top five richest members of Congress are all Republicans:

The Republicans strategy of staying home rather than governing means the only people guaranteed a paycheck during the shutdown are the ones refusing to do their jobs. Time to fire this Congress.
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Farm Bill for the People The weather has turned cool here in Montana.

The Farm Bill covers school lunches to crop insurance for farmers. If the Farm Bill isn’t reauthorized by January 1, 2026, the Republicans will be forcing Americans to pay more for milk and butter. Republicans in congress - stop whining and get to work.
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We Need Work Horses not Show Ponies Russell Vought, Elon Musk, and Ryan Zinke should take their three-pony circus on the road as long as they don’t want to work in Washington D.C.

The show pony circus of Musk, Vought, and Zinke highlights the difference between those who seek money and power and those who wish to serve us, the People.

Let’s replace the pretenders, and elect work horses to clean up the mess the show ponies have made.
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October Hunt and Corner Crossings October is hunting season in Montana.

Corner crossings are at the U.S. Supreme Court this week. They are a good symbol for We the People. If we stand together, regardless of party or politics, and stand for public access to public resources, We will preserve our democratic union.
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Starving their base: Republican shutdown hides rural Montana's hunger The republicans shutdown starves their own voters

Starving their base: Republican shutdown hides rural Montana's hunger

In the time of the Republican Grim Reaper We the People can support local food banks, register people to vote, gather data, and be the eyes and ears on the ground that the Reaper fears.
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The Fault in our Stars Tonight at 8:47 pm Mountain time there will be a supermoon rising among the Draconid meteor shower, the debris of ice and dust left behind by the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in space.

Tonight at 8:47 pm Mountain time there will be a supermoon rising among the Draconid meteor shower. A good reminder that here on earth, we can be the masters of our fates, and we can harvest different outcomes than the ones we are seeing play out now. open.substack.com/pub/monicatr...

Prairie county voted to shut itself down Prairie County, Montana has a population of 1,251.

The federal government shutdown as a result of votes from places like Prairie County, which votes 80% republican in every race. The republicans shut down federal workers across America while funding Argentina, and making sure a ballroom continues to get built. open.substack.com/pub/monicatr...

Boycott corporations buying politicians In 1880 Charles Stewart Parnell, president of the Irish Land League, urged tenants to stop interacting with landlords like Charles Boycott, a British agent who refused to lower rents despite a bad har...

Campaign finance reform does not have to be a distant goal. We the People can get money out of politics. Power does not reside solely in legislatures or boardrooms. When we exercise power together, we can change how business and government is done.
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Tariffs hit harvest We reap what we sow

We reap what we sow.

In 2025, the counties that voted most decisively for tariff-heavy trade policy are the same ones harvesting record crops, and absorbing the steepest economic losses.
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Energy and Balance The Governor’s Energy Task Force is holding its first meeting this morning, which you can attend on zoom.

Losing daylight is a good marker of our obligation to stay engaged as citizens of our democracy. Form a watch group, write comments, and find a way to engage with the decisions being made on the way our energy is used in Montana. The power of our voice matters!
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Rail connections The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority’s proposed corridor will restore the North Coast Hiawatha route, linking Chicago to Seattle and Portland through southern Montana.

Rail connections

Possibilities for our American future depend on understanding our history, and leaning into the vision of work being done like that of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority.

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Broadview solar and Crazies Wind The “lake” outside of Broadview, Montana in the early 1980s was an epic skating place.

Montana’s energy future depends on places and projects like Broadview solar and Crazy Mountain Wind. Amy Gamerman tells the story of the Crazy Mountain project, with Jami Moody, at the Montana Free Press event on September 17 from 11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. in Bozeman.
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Republicans are closing Montana’s hospitals as fast as they can In voting for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA), all four of Montana’s congressional representatives made sure that, on a percentage basis, Montana will lose more federal funding than any other st...

Montana’s mental health crisis is not inevitable—it is the result of policy choices, funding priorities, and systemic neglect. But programs like Zero to Five are a bright spot and we can support the work that is holding our communities together. open.substack.com/pub/monicatr...

We're on the wrong list Montana has one of the lowest population density by county in the United States.

We're on the wrong list
Montana has two cities in the top five with the highest suicide rate. Republican cuts to Medicaid means fewer providers, longer wait times, and reduced access to crisis services. The world we live in is shaped by our choices. open.substack.com/pub/monicatr...

Republicans want poop in our meat Intent on returning to the 1800s, the Slaughter-House cases, and Chicago’s horrific meatpacking industry, the Republicans One Big Beautiful Bill passed harsh cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance ...

Republicans want poop in our meat

Republican policies and budget choices will lead to fewer regulatory inspections, fewer clinical trials and studies, and reduced preparedness for health outbreaks.

That means more poop in our meat.
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Rodeo Days Montanans love a rodeo.

The history of rodeo, like America, is one of diversity, tradition, coming together, and fierce competition. For as much as we’ve gotten it wrong, we can continue to do that most American and Western thing: Ride into the arena again, striving to be…..More Perfect. open.substack.com/pub/monicatr...

Back to School Montana has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world.

Back to School

People say you can’t solve education by throwing money at it. But what if we tried that, just once, and see what happens?

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Montana's Power NorthWestern Energy and Black Hills Corp.

Montana's Power
Look at the ownership structure to see who benefits from corporate mergers like this one. Post-merger governance will be shaped by large investors that prioritize long-term returns. Pay close attention to this as it proceeds. open.substack.com/pub/monicatr...

Support America’s Best Idea “National symbols and meccas [like] the Liberty Bell, the battlefields on which our independence was won and our union preserved, the Lincoln Memorial, the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, Yellows...

Support America’s Best Idea
Systemic underfunding of national parks is a choice. For people like Burghum and Musk, it is a deliberate strategy to dismantle America’s Best Idea by undermining our public parks and set them up for private ownership.

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We can’t fix what we don’t measure In January of 1930, Herbert Hoover, trying to calm concerns about the massive joblessness, glossed over terrible employment rates and gave vague, unsupported statements that “employment has been slowl...

We the People know this: Our communities and our future depend on measuring, and then fixing, the damage the Know-Nothings are doing. Find the place where you can dig in, measure, and contribute to the plan that will be needed to restore our communities.
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Coxey’s Army My mother’s big Irish Catholic family had the last name Cox somewhere along the line.

Coxey’s Army
As our rights are being stripped away find a cause and time and place to march, heeding King’s words:

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.

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Hilleman scholars give us hope Maurice Hilleman from Miles City, Montana, along with colleagues, developed the measles vaccine that is still in use today.

Hilleman scholars give us hope

Montanans pioneered vaccine research, and built and trained the public health workforce that kept our communities afloat during COVID. The republican cuts to researchers like Maurice Hilleman betray our legacy.

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E-Verify on ICE If the goal is to make sure that people working in America are in the country legally, there is an inexpensive, fast, simple way to do that.

Rather than incentivizing businesses and labor to use a program that is cheap, fast, and simple, the republicans went all in on criminalizing citizens and legal residents to arrest, detain, torture, and deport people. What is the real goal of the republicans? open.substack.com/pub/monicatr...

Privacy or Food The U.S.

Privacy or Food
No republican in Montana has spoken out in defense of our constitutional right to privacy. Remember that every time you buy groceries, and every time you vote.
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We reap what we sow It’s harvest season in Montana!

We reap what we sow
Montana feeds the world, while our own workers and families rely on SNAP and food banks. This is not an accident. It is a choice. A choice made by the republicans who voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill.
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