Bad wrist column

Sort of fell off my exerciser machine this week and really hurt my wrist, so am doing something I never did before in the 54 years of writing this column. Am printing a 17-year-old piece by faxing the original newspaper copy rather than reworking and retyping it. Iris said it was OK.

Poacher death penalty

April 8, 1999

“It would be foolish to expect perfection from a Legislature which is made up of people.” That is the “Quote of the Week” from Old George.

When we elect local citizens to look out for our interests in the Montana House of Representatives and the Senate, we get the whole package. These are not perfect individuals with the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job, and the forgiveness of Jesus. They are a cross section of us, the people … warts and all. Some are smarter, some dumber, some nicer, and some ornerier. Just like us.

My favorite bit of action in the House last week revolved around S-381, the “Chronic Poachers” bill. It makes second and third serious violations of fish and game laws subject to big fines. Third offenders would get up to $10,000 in fines and lose licenses forever. Representative Doug Wagner from Hungry Horse thought the bill was a little on the harsh side, so he jokingly added an amendment requiring the death penalty for fourth-time offenders.

In a state where tens of thousands of deer are killed on the roads every year, it is hard to build a heated public rage against the average meat-hunter type poacher. We even have a lake in Glacier Park named after one of our best known poachers, Joe Cosley. Anyway! We’re not about to have the death penalty for fourth-time poachers, but legislators liked Wagner’s amendment enough that 37 of them voted for it.

The most abrasive quote of the week in my eyes, came from Democrat Dorothy Eck of Bozeman, “I don’t know how in the world you get people to vote a sales tax on themselves to give tax breaks to big business.” Dorothy Eck is typical of too many folks in Helena who would have us believe every business is General Motors, Burlington-Northern, or U.S. West. Truth is the vast majority of businesses in the United States are “Little Business.” Small businesses provide more jobs than any other employer in the country. At last check, they still employed more people than even the government. Small business and big business together pay all the bills … for everything we have.

Montana has the lousiest tax climate in the West for encouraging existing small businesses to expand, let alone encouraging new ones to come in. Taxes on business equipment, real estate, and inventories are unfair and unwise. That is the problem serious legislators are trying to fix, and the enemy is not “Big Business.”

It takes hope, a lot of guts, hard work, and usually all the egg money to start a business. After she has accumulated a bit more common sense, Dorothy ought to try it … from scratch. In the meantime, she and her fellow liberals could avoid saying ridiculous things about people who create the jobs and pay the taxes.

Another interesting quote last week came from Republican Bob Davies of Bozeman. In defending his proposal requiring voter approval of all tax increases, he said he believes that in the eyes of too many politicians, “The art of taxation is like plucking a goose: Get the most feathers with the least amount of squawk.”

Here at the Ostrom house, the quote of the week comes from 4-year-old grandson Wyatt. He and grandson Parker were discussing people’s ages. The question eventually got around to “How old is Grandpa?”

Wyatt thought about that a minute then said, “Well! I know he’s more than grownups.”

G. George Ostrom is a national award-winning columnist for Hungry Horse News. He lives in Kalispell.