Category: From the Editor
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The Dream of Shoeboxes
By Evelyn Pyburn Some noted figure recently said that the only way to end the housing crisis is to build more houses. Totally true. And, Bozeman, where the crisis could hardly have been more acute, is proving that. Rents are dropping like stones in Bozeman, where 3,042 rentals have been built since 2021. Rents that…
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If you can keep it.
By Evelyn Pyburn “If you can keep it…” Can we? Those were the words of founder Benjamin Franklin as he emerged from the signing of the new Constitution of the new United States, when asked by Elizabeth Willing Powel “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Benjamin Franklin’s response was, “A republic, if you…
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Never to be Forgotten
By Evelyn Pyburn In the name of freedom, the world around, we cannot let the events of Tiananmen Square be forgotten. June 4 marked the 36th anniversary of the massacre at Tiananmen Square, of hundreds and maybe thousands of peaceful protesters. The exact death toll has never been released by the Chinese government, but some…
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Force is Immoral
By Evelyn Pyburn When liberties seem to be in conflict, one must check their basic premises. One must go back and determine what they know (or don’t know) about the Bill of Rights. It should be remembered that the whole point of the Bill of Rights is to protect the individual citizen from the over…
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The Nonsense of Nonpartisan
By Evelyn Pyburn To declare an election to be “nonpartisan” is a farce and everyone knows it. The declaration isn’t made to claim that the candidate has no opinions or political views – it is to declare that the voters have no right to know what they are. It is an orchestrated scheme to favor…
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Another Shot
By Evelyn Pyburn Unleashing the American citizen — that’s what Trump is doing. It’s the act that built America — allowing citizens to pursue their own happiness, dreams and ambitions. How some of Trump’s actions will impact our economy and relations with other nations may not be readily evident, but the fact is it cannot…
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Just saying….
By Evelyn Pyburn It must be said. People losing jobs — as many federal government employees are– is a difficult and very bad turn of events for the individuals involved — no matter who you are or for what entity you were working. It is not a new kind of malady. OK, maybe it is…
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Subsidies Prop Up Failure
By Evelyn Pyburn The message that is conveyed in the marketplace whenever government funded subsidies are applied to any commodity is so glaring it is hard to imagine how so many – apparently learned experts – miss it so completely. Government subsidies scream to the high heavens that a product has no market viability. That…
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Because it Feels Good
By Evelyn Pyburn So Billings, Montana has been noted as a place where people work hard. Good job! For all the things we are noted for this is perhaps the best. It’s been my observation over the years that human beings in general seem not only to like to work, but we are hard-wired to…
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So Let’s Keep Solution Local
By Evelyn Pyburn It was quite disappointing to read the Governor’s Housing Task Force report and find not a single mention of property rights. It is after all the colossal violation of property rights that contributes most significantly to the imposition of costly regulations that make housing unaffordable. The closest they came to giving even…