Jun 10, 2026 · 1 hr 38 min · 10 segments
My long time friend Stephan Weber joined the show to talk about The Montana Plan! We discussed the history of money influencing and corrupting politics from way back during the Copper Kings era…
Stephan WeberGuest
Luke BarrettHost
Uh, kinda, so really it's kind of a funny, weird, random-ass little story actually.
I mean, the Whitehall area has actually been kind of in this fight for since like the 18, 19, like early 1900s.
Um, Butte really, the Copper Kings really started this fight back in like 1907-ish, right in there.
And the 17th Amendment really came from, of the Constitution, came from that fight.
I mean, William A. Clark was just, like, literally buying senators from Montana.
And I mean, I f- I just figured that this way is a better way, 'cause so hopefully getting in this fight now hopefully is a better way than, uh, doing it the way that they did in Butte.
And then there's a whole bunch of miners that kinda looked like me and kinda act like me, and big dumb assholes who, uh, had a bunch of ax handles and, uh, beat up a whole bunch of cops and broke a whole bunch of everything.
... we're gonna try and do it the, uh, you know, nice way and, you know, the, uh, legal way, and try and get this thing signed up and try and get everybody on board here, and do it the, you know, constitutional way this time.
... everybody knows that this is, like there's a fight, this is a fight that's been coming and, I mean, I can't remember how much the spending was for the last, uh, Senate, um, what was it, Sheehy versus Tester.
It was over 100, or like it was, I think it was close to $200 million for the, just that election alone.
And I mean, so I mean, like, that's for a small little state like Montana, I mean, there's, you know, a million people, like a little bit over a million people here, that's ridiculous amount of money.
Uh, kinda, so really it's kind of a funny, weird, random-ass little story actually.
I mean, the Whitehall area has actually been kind of in this fight for since like the 18, 19, like early 1900s.
Um, Butte really, the Copper Kings really started this fight back in like 1907-ish, right in there.
And the 17th Amendment really came from, of the Constitution, came from that fight.
I mean, William A. Clark was just, like, literally buying senators from Montana.
And I mean, I f- I just figured that this way is a better way, 'cause so hopefully getting in this fight now hopefully is a better way than, uh, doing it the way that they did in Butte.
And then there's a whole bunch of miners that kinda looked like me and kinda act like me, and big dumb assholes who, uh, had a bunch of ax handles and, uh, beat up a whole bunch of cops and broke a whole bunch of everything.
... we're gonna try and do it the, uh, you know, nice way and, you know, the, uh, legal way, and try and get this thing signed up and try and get everybody on board here, and do it the, you know, constitutional way this time.
... everybody knows that this is, like there's a fight, this is a fight that's been coming and, I mean, I can't remember how much the spending was for the last, uh, Senate, um, what was it, Sheehy versus Tester.
It was over 100, or like it was, I think it was close to $200 million for the, just that election alone.
And I mean, so I mean, like, that's for a small little state like Montana, I mean, there's, you know, a million people, like a little bit over a million people here, that's ridiculous amount of money.
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