Hold your horses!  It’s simply irresponsible and extremely disingenuous to in any way refer to Senator Tester’s FJRA as somehow creating 550 new or saved jobs.  That’s simply a made up number.

In fact, when I sent the following letter to Senator Tester’s Missoula office representative about 1 1/2 months ago I was told directly that Tester’s office has no detailed, specific economic information regarding jobs created or saved. I was also told that Tester’s office has no detailed, specific economic information regarding total cost to US taxpayers associated with implementing the FJRA.

This is just another example of talking points and sound bites taking precedent over documented facts when it comes to the promotion of Tester’s bill by some of the supporters.  Seriously, if Tester’s office can’t come up with a detailed economic analysis regarding jobs or taxpayer spending associated with the FRJA, the last thing supporters should do is just toss out a bunch of info about 550 jobs and 550 mortgages, etc. Can we at least agree to this?

And Wayne, opposition and concern with the major provisions of Tester’s bill are not because “Some people aren’t interested in working things out.”

The concerns and opposition are due to what’s actually written in the bill as it currently stands. The mandated logging, NEPA provisions and budgetary implications are simply un-workable…so says everyone, but the groups who actually hatched this deal. 

Besides, a few days before I testified before the US Senate regarding Tester’s bill, I got this email from Wayne, which said the same thing:  “There are alot of problems in this bill, as you know. Nobody can like all of it.  I sure don’t and neither do you, as well as many others.  As it is currently written, it is unworkable.”

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Good Morning Tracy,

On February 1, 2010 I wrote to Senator Tester via his official website comment form asking if anyone in the Senator’s office has figured out just how many jobs S1470 will “create or save.”

I made the inquiry because Senator Tester and supporters of S1470 have been making general claims about “jobs” without actually providing any detailed jobs figures or economic analysis. 

To date, I haven’t gotten any response to my February 1st inquiry, so I’m writing you today to request the following:

• A detailed economic analysis of the amount of jobs S1470 would “create or save” if passed.

• A detailed economic analysis of the total costs to US taxpayers associated with implementing S1470.

I’ve heard from a number of Montanans who are also curious about jobs and taxpayer costs associated with S1470, so I believe that it’s in the best interest of all Montanans for Senator Tester to provide this economic information to the public as soon as possible.

If you have any questions regarding my request, feel free to contact me anytime. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Matthew Koehler
WildWest Institute