Free Republic

Since U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s election six years ago, arguably his greatest legislative achievement, however controversial, was the precedent-setting removal of gray wolves from the endangered species list. If it wasn’t evident already, the delisting, which Tester attached as a rider to an unrelated budget bill a year and a half ago, cemented the flat-topped organic farmer as a moderate red-state Democrat eager to broker bipartisan solutions. His reelection earlier in the month appeared to validate that approach. All signs indicated that Tester would take a significant step toward scoring his second big, bipartisan legislative accomplishment when the Senate voted...

Montana Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg earned the endorsement of Sen. Rand Paul on Saturday in his race to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. Rehberg had previously received the endorsement of Paul’s father, Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul. Libertarian candidate Dan Cox, ... might play the role of spoiler. Rehberg and Tester are locked in a virtual tie, and if Cox pulls enough of the vote away from Rehberg, Tester could emerge victorious.

Sen. Jon Tester, a liberal Democrat, is attempting to hold off Republican challenger Rep. Denny Rehberg in a tight Montana Senate race. Rehberg is a Power Line Pick Six candidate. For Republicans to gain control of the Senate, they almost certainly need to win this race. Tester has been highly unconvincing in his belated attempts to convince Montana voters that he’s not in the pocket of the Obama administration on all the big issues. In a two way race with Rehberg, Tester would likely be toast. However, there’s a third candidate in Montana — Dan Cox of the Libertarian Party....

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie derided Montana Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester on Friday as a “phony” who does not represent the state’s values as he urged Republicans to rally behind the campaign of Tester challenger Denny Rehberg. ... Christie said Tester has turned his back on Montana since his election six years ago by establishing close relationships with lobbyists and lining up behind Democratic leaders like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Should President Obama win in November, it’s a certainty he’ll try once again to ban lead ammunition. Just two months after he moved into the White House, the National Park Service suddenly announced it was banning lead bullets from its parks. The blowback from sportsmen was intense, so the agency backed down. Mr. Obama surely will exert “more flexibility” in a second term to accomplish this backdoor assault on the Second Amendment. Sen. Jon Tester, Montana Democrat, introduced a bill to make sure that can’t happen. Just before the Senate adjourned Saturday to go campaigning, the body voted 84-7 to...

Who else is watching endangered incumbents campaign against Obama? Tester, after voting the Harry Reid/Obama line 90% of the time the last five years is seeking distance. I'm researching for an op-Ed piece about sinking ships, deserting rodents. Names and links to ads, if you please.

Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg continues to hold a modest lead over incumbent Jon Tester in Montana’s U.S. Senate race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Montana Voters shows Rehberg with 47% support to Tester’s 43%. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) warned the United Nations on Wednesday that the effort to craft international rules for weapons sales will go nowhere in Congress if it includes civilian arms. Wayne LaPierre, the CEO of the powerful lobby group, said 58 senators have pledged to oppose the treaty if it covers civilian weapons, fearing an infringement of America’s gun rights. “I am here to announce NRA's strong opposition to anti-freedom policies that disregard American citizens' right to self-defense. No foreign influence has jurisdiction over the freedoms our Founding Fathers guaranteed to us,” LaPierre said at the UN Arms Trade...

Senate Democrats balk at ending Bush-era tax rates for wealthyBy Alexander Bolton - 06/19/12 05:00 AM ET A growing number of Senate Democrats are signaling they are not prepared to raise taxes on anyone in the weak economy unless Congress approves a grand bargain to reduce the deficit. At least seven Democratic senators have declined to rule out supporting a temporary extension of the Bush-era income tax rates, breaking with party leaders who have called for letting the rates expire for people earning more than $1 million per year. That gives Senate Republicans a chance to push a temporary extension...

The Democrats have picked a curious and potentially very costly fight this election year. President Obama came into office promising Big Labor that its agenda is his agenda, and he wasted little time using the National Labor Relations Board to make good on that promise. That board is supposed to be a fair arbiter of labor disputes, but the president packed the NLRB with Big Labor activists, and the board tried to ram a union-favoring “ambush rule” through to implementation. The rule would slash the amount of time employees and employers have to consider unionization in non-unionized work places from...

Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg holds his largest lead yet over Democratic incumbent Jon Tester in Montana’s U.S. Senate race. A new statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Rehberg ahead of Tester 53% to 43%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and another two percent (2%) are undecided.

The lobbying industry’s favorite senator has turned Big Bank protections into a flood of campaign cash. Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.) received nearly $300,000 from lobbyists in 2012, making him the top recipient of K Street dollars, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Tester has denied the fact on multiple occasions, saying it is “not true.” But a Washington Free Beacon review of campaign contributions reveals that Tester leads all Senators in lobbying cash. He is also flush in contributions from Wall Street firms and big banks, ranking second in the Senate for commercial bank donations, third for credit...

I find it sad that Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., refuses to stand up against President Barack Obama's new budget. In order for them to raise the debt ceiling, the Democrats need to find the money to do so. It's ironic that the tax hikes Tester wants is about the same amount needed to implement the president's budget. Instead of looking internally, and working hard to make meaningful budget cuts, Tester is saddling the American taxpayer with $2 trillion in new taxes. It is time for the people of Montana to call Tester and ask him to stand up for us,...

A new poll found Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg (R) running statistically even in his 2012 challenge to Sen. Jon Tester (D). Democratic firm Public Policy Polling reported Rehberg taking 47 percent and Tester 45 percent, further evidence that this is one of the most competitive Senate races in the country.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) appeared on MSNBC and could not name ‘one tought choice’ he was willing to support as the whole budget process goes along. Instead, Tester claimed that people contact his office every day and say they are “willing to feel pain”, be it rich, middle-class, or poor- just not all of the pain. Montana’s come to my office every day, and every one of them will say, ‘hey, we’re willing to feel some pain- middle class, rich, poor, everybody- we’re willing to feel some pain. We just don’t want to feel all the pain.

Despite the next election being over a year away, new polling has come out that should give Tester some pause. Coming off of last year's wave, the Democratic Party has seen its luck go south in the state. Against current Congressman Denny Rehberg, Tester is in trouble. Tester (D): 46% Rehberg (R): 45% Other/und: 9% Tester comes below the important 50% threshold for incumbents. Rehberg is the state's only representative and is relatively popular. Add to that the fact that Montanans don't like government interference or profligate spending, and we're likely to have an interesting 2012.

Senator’s bipartisan bill would prevent tracking of multiple rifle, shotgun purchases by law-abiding Americans (U.S. SENATE) – Senator Jon Tester today introduced legislation to prevent any new “emergency” gun regulations by the Obama Administration. Tester’s bipartisan legislation follows his call for the Administration to formally reject a request by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) to use emergency rulemaking authority to track the purchases of multiple rifles and shotguns by law-abiding Americans.   ATF requested the new rules to help combat violence on the U.S.-Mexico border. Tester rejected that reasoning, pointing to a need to “enforce the laws already...

DID THE DEMOCRATS LEARN ANYTHING from the midterm elections? It didn't take long for the party's congressional wing, at least, to reveal that the answer is "no." House Democrats didn't just retain ousted Speaker Nancy Pelosi... --snip-- Yet liberals are not in the mood to let these Democratic senators do what it takes to win re-election. Politico reported on the rebellion on the left against Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), a darling of the netroots during the 2006 campaign, for his vote against the DREAM Act. "Not only will I do absolutely nothing to help his reelection bid, but I will...

-Survey conducted by NSON Opinion Strategy, 400 likely voters, Margin of Error= +/- 4.65% -Statewide survey conducted Feb 16-17, 2011. Yesterday: A Look at Montana's 2011 Legislative Issues Today: A Look at Montana's 2012 Political Landscape, including the Montana Governor's race, US Senate, and US House. jon Tester-44% Denny Rehberg 47% undecided 7%

Not a single Senate Democrat on Wednesday voted to repeal ObamaCare. That was expected. But with the health law as unpopular as ever, the vote could come back to haunt vulnerable Democrats in 2012. Eleven Democrats up for re-election next year represent states in which Republicans won a majority of the 2010 popular vote for House seats: Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Especially vulnerable: * Montana’s Jon Tester and Missouri’s Claire McCaskill won in 2006 with less than 50% of the vote.