YouSaid · the spoken record

Jon Tester

lines on the record: 72
first: 2022-02-10
most recent: 2022-02-10
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Well, you're very kind, David. I can tell you that everybody's replaceable in this body. Everybody's, there are good people all over the place. I like to think that I add value to the United States Senate, and we're going to continue to work to add value.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, it could, but I've been fairly effective in the minority and the majority, so it makes a difference to me because I'd rather be chairman of the video committee. I'd rather be chairman of the defense subcommittee. But the truth is... If I'm in the minority, we're going to still get stuff done. But ultimately, and you know this, this is a big job. It's a job where you have to have family buy-in. And as with every election cycle that I've had, I will sit down with my wife and my kids. But, you know, a two-year election cycle is plenty long enough. I don't want to make it a three or four.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely, we're going to be monitoring everything moving forward. And I think the 2022 election will be instructive. I don't think it's going to be what ultimately makes my mind up, but I think it'll be instructive.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That matters to people. You know, in 2020, we had a disaster of election for Democrats in Montana. And I talked to Max Bacchus right after. Former senior senator from Montana. And Max, you know, I didn't hear the word jobs once from any Democrat in the state of Montana. Jobs, the thing that's most important to everybody. You want to have a good paying job. And shame on us. Shame on us for not leading with what our strengths are. And our strengths are and always have been job creation. Take a look at the last numbers that came out of the Biden administration. Pretty darn impressive. And those don't happen by accident. They happen with good policy. And we've seen it. But we get hung up on all the other stuff that is important to some, make no mistake about it. But I think makes the national brand more toxic and rural American.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Let's start with the infrastructure bill. Okay, that's about jobs. Jobs, job, job job, job job, job job, job, job, job job job job job job job job job jobs. It doesn't matter if you're talking about water, electricity, the ability to have your internet work. Then on the other side, you have folks that want to talk about defending the police or packing the court and all that stuff. We've got to really focus, as far as I'm concerned, there's a very, very small sliver of the Democratic Party that wants to defend the police. I think it's a stupid damn thing to do if you want to be honest with you. I mean, an Indian country in Montana where crime is pretty high. Every reservation saying we need more police officers, not less. And that's a fact. People value safety. And when you have a sliver of the party that that all gets blown up on, it is not helpful. And then on the other side of the coin, we don't talk about the size.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I mean, I think it sends the wrong message, and I honestly don't think the Democratic Party can be a majority party unless we start appealing to Middle America a lot more. I'm talking about the area between the two mountain ranges, the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountains. And if we're able to do that, I think it will provide success. And look, I live in a neighborhood where most of my neighbors are rock solid Republicans. Some of them were Trump Republicans. But that doesn't mean they don't have good ideas. They do. And if you're willing to listen to them two ears in one mouth act accordingly, if you're willing to go out and listen to them, you're going to get some good ideas. And you're going to be able to do some things that I think they will be able to relate with, but you got to show up to do that. And that's really what's important.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Then once again, we'll have made a mistake. And I think all that stuff tends to add up. And after a while, you got folks in Middle America that just don't have any faith in the Democrats. When quite honestly, I see it just the opposite. They should. And when I look at who's made the biggest difference for rural America, it hasn't been the Republican Party. It's been the Democrats that have worked for generations to try to empower rural America. And I will tell you right now, rural America needs some attention. It is dying on the vine. And if we show it some attention, I think it will result in good politics. Good policy usually does.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And then we don't talk about what we do the best. I mean, take a look at what we've done this year with the rescue plan and job creations and the bipartisan infrastructure package, with job creations. And we don't talk about the positive side of the ledger near enough. It seems like this last year especially, we would pass a piece of legislation and we're already talking about the next piece of legislation before the last piece of legislation was even signed. The rescue plan is a prime example. The bipartisan infrastructure plan is another example. We're on the cusp of passing a China competition bill, make it in America bill. And if we don't take the opportunity to tell the American people that the Democrats in the Congress pass this bill and it's going to help us make things in this country,”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Toxic, the National Democratic brand in, I think in rural America generally is toxic. And it's because, quite frankly, we don't show up. I'm talking about national Democrats. We're not willing to go places. We're not wanted and answer questions. And I think it's critically important if you're going to win. You've got to go to those places as miserable as it might be. You still go. You still contact the people and you still let people know that you're a human being and you have a view for this, a vision for this country.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, I mean, that's the rule change that we brought forth two weeks ago, and it was voted down. And I think that that's a mistake that people will be able to look back on with hindsight being 2020 and say that was a mistake. I think maybe next Congress it'll be possible to be done. The minority is saying we aren't protecting minority rights, but I think minority rights are incredibly protected. As president of the Montana Senate, I had to get through an agenda. Chuck Schumer or Mitch McConnell, if they're leader, If you've got somebody that's willing to hold the floor and stop action on the floor because they're willing to filibuster with a talking filibuster, people are going to want to negotiate. I guarantee it. And that's how you get good legislation, compromise negotiations.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To completely lock up the Senate. Because if you're going to lock up the Senate, you got to be on the floor talking. And if you're one person, the best you're going to be able to do is about 10 hours. And that's if you got a great bladder. If you don't, it's going to be far less than that. And so, you know, I honestly think that if Mike Mansfield was alive today, Mike Mansfield would have said, this is the right thing to do. I honestly believe that. And that right thing to do is if people feel passionate about an issue, they can still block it, but they have to invest the time to do it. And then also brings up to the American people, you know, if you want to go read green eggs and ham, you can't. It'll show you as being a farce. If you want to talk about the issues and debate the issues that are in front and center, you might be able to change some minds and actually get some votes to stop a piece of legislation.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely has. And I can tell you that before I got here, I thought we were still in a Mr. Smith goes to Washington kind of thing where people had to hold the floor to filibuster. That's not the case at all. And the filibuster has morphed over the years. And it's one of the reasons that I was for making the filibuster like it used to be, restoring the filibuster to the good old days where if you want to hold the floor, then you have to make an investment. And that investment is you got to be on the floor, talking. And I still believe that if we were able to do what we tried to do a couple weeks ago in the United States Senate, the Senate would become a more bipartisan body. There would be more people working together. Because quite honestly, who wants to spend a week on the floor or two weeks or three weeks on the floor listening to the people talk about an issue, you're going to be more inclined to negotiate and to compromise. And then the other side of the coin, it doesn't allow one person”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, he didn't. And by the way, I might say for the Ronnie Jackson thing was a difference of opinion, and I think the record has proven me right. But of all the people in the Senate that he could have developed a relationship with to actually work with him, was somebody like me. And he never made the attempt, didn't care to make the attempt. It was my way, the highway thing, and that's not how I was brought up. You always listen to people. You always tried to collaborate. You always tried to find common ground. And quite honestly, if you look at his business acumen, he is not somebody that I would put a lot of faith in. But American people did. And I think that part of what we're dealing with now is that you sow division and you can profit from it. And I think that's very dangerous.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. And I think the best way to navigate it is be honest in what you believe and tell the people the truth. I think that's the best way to offset this kind of stuff. Look, I've got my own feelings about Donald Trump. He isn't exactly the kind of person I would look to for advice”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You know, we started out a conversation talking about change, and it's the truth, and this country's changing. And I think that it is becoming more diverse, and I think we should embrace it, not shun it. And I think if we embrace it, our future is strong. I think that if we don't, I think it puts our nation at risk.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't know. I think that you could do the analysis and say that a lot of it, what's going on today was rooted in that this country, I thought was more mature than it was, than it is maybe. On the other hand, maybe that's not it. Maybe it's the fact that we have a huge income disparity in this country. Maybe it's the fact that we have a bunch of folks that are working two jobs and don't think they can get ahead. Maybe it's the fact that we have a $28 trillion debt. I mean, there's a lot of things out there that people can look at and say, wow, it's bad. I will tell you that I think it's probably a combination of both.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“What that means is he had a presence, he had an incredible presence. And I think anytime you're the leader of the free world, that presence counts for something. And that isn't the reason and I supported him. The reason I support him because I thought his policies were right and I thought he was a hard worker. And I think all those things are important moving forward. But I think that presence is important, especially when you're dealing on the national stage.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So I like his work ethic, quite frankly. I think that he showed, you know, I served with him for two years in the Senate. He showed that he was incredibly focused on working and he wasn't afraid of hard work. And he also, he's one of those people, I've got to tell you, when I was running in 2006, there's been two people in my lifetime that I felt were in the room before I saw them in the room. One of them was Bill Clinton and the other was Barack Obama. And I was at an event and I was in the room and quite frankly you could feel it. I don't know if anybody's, I don't know if don't call me crazy, but the truth is I could feel his presence before I saw him. And that is a pretty amazing quality to have. And the same thing happened to me with. With Clinton a few years before that.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was absolutely amazing. I mean, it was going out, touching voters, letting people know what you stand for, and that's what Democrats have to do.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I mean, that's an incredible memorable experience. I can tell you, it was out of Billings and Barack Obama. Did a VA roundtable in the middle of a park.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, what Barack Obama did in the election in 2008 is he showed up in Montana more than once too. He tried to win that state. I think a lot of national Democrats don't show up. We don't show up, you're going to lose, and you're going to lose by a lot because the other side can paint you whatever they want. You're not there to tell people who you really are. Brock showed up and he did. And he darn near won it. In fact, I thought he was going to win it, quite frankly.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So there certainly is some pressure, but the truth is I think that for the most part, and there's been some pretty good scraps, make no mistake about it, but in the end, I think that my belief and where I'm at still aligns with creating jobs and fighting for the little guy. And I still believe that's where Democrats are. And I think those foundational issues are important. And so look, there's always pressure. You know that.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I can tell you this is the greatest country in the world. It's the greatest country in the world because we had incredible sacrifices by previous generations. I think that we need to keep in mind that you have to work at a democracy if you're going to keep that democracy. And right now, there's a lot of folks that I just wonder if they're not tools of the Chinese government that serve here because they're advocating for things that go directly against our constitution.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, it doesn't bode well. I mean, we have to get back to a point where work is being done in the middle, in a bipartisan way. And I think anytime people get further and further out to the fringe. It really does put up obstacles to working together. And I think that's where we're headed. And look, every one of those people that you mentioned, every one of them are people that I can go up to and visit with and they'll shoot straight with you. And I'm afraid we're going to get replaced with people potentially that have an agenda, an axe to grind or looking at runner presence so they're running to the right hard to try to make sure that they stay in office.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“They absolutely do. And I'll give you a prime example. The impeachment vote, if that would have been done secret ballot, I think the president would have absolutely been impeached. There were a lot of Republicans that thought that because it was an open ballot, they couldn't vote against it being under a party.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's really important, and it somewhat speaks to the gravity of the situations we're in as chairman of those committees. But I think the biggest difference is this place is much more divided than it was when I first got here. There's much more fringed talk than there was before. I mean, you take a look at the presidential election, for example. We had people that I know that I work with that were saying the election was stolen. And it wasn't until January 6th happened that a lot of them flipped, but some of them didn't even flip that. That's very dangerous for democracy. I think it's very dangerous for moving forward if people start thinking the elections don't count. Where does that put us as a country? And where does that put our democracy? And I think it's very dangerous.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was right then is there were far more moderates here. There were a lot more folks that were willing to get work done in the middle. That has changed pretty exponentially, I think. Both the right and the left are being forced further and further out, I think, because of campaign money myself, but other people could have a different reason why. I think that just simply, you know, this, David, the Senate is a body that depends upon seniority. And so when I first got here, I was number 100 in seniority. And I was treated with incredible respect. And we worked hard and we got a lot of good stuff done. But now, you know, I chair the Veterans Air Affairs Committee. I chair the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations, which are the two largest budgets in government. And you've got people that actually value your opinion. They want to know what you think. They want to know why you think it. They want to know what your vision is. They want to know how you're going to move forward. And I think that's all really.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, as long as they were based in truth, I was not a squeamish. Look, David, you know politics is a contact sport. It's just the way it is. And if you're not willing to point out deficiencies, you're just not going to win. That's just the way it is. And would I rather approach it from the positive side of the ledger? Absolutely. And talk about me exclusively. Absolutely. But that won't get you across the finish line. You have to talk about the failures of the other person now. If those failures aren't true, then you have no business bringing them up. But if there's truth to them, then you have to do it.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, absolutely was. And, you know, they say there's more races lost than are won here in Washington, D.C. And I think that in some respects, Conrad was his own worst enemy because of some of the stuff that had transpired. But I will say this, of all the people I ran against, Conrad was a class act. And we fought and we argued and we had incredible debates and there were some horrible ads that were run. But in the end, I had won and not by a huge margin like you said 3,500 votes. And Conrad was the first one to stand up and say, I will help any help you need. You call me. I will, my staff is at your disposal. And it was a pretty class thing to do on his part.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Pretty handily and it put us into a really good position to run against a three-term incumbent in Conrad who was no slouch himself. He was pretty darn good. But we were able to once again get around the state, talk about what I'd accomplished from the school board days to my days in the state legislature and how I was going to bring that work ethic to DC and we end up winning.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, you've got a very good memory, David. No, I was running against this guy who was Date Otter, which is a statewide elected position who looked like a senator unlike me. He wore a suit well And he had done a lot of work by the time I got into this race. But as things worked out, we got around the state. We visited with people. We did everything we could do retail politics-wise, and we won the primary. And then that matched me up against Conrad in the general. But no, I'm going to tell you, I remember the first time I came back to DC to visit about my candidacy, which was in the middle of the primary. I got two senators to visit with me. And that was it. I mean, I couldn't get anybody to even give me the time of day. But you know what? I wasn't running in Washington, D.C. I was running in Montana. And it was about making sure that we did the work that we had to do the wind. And it was a lot of work. And it's hard to raise money in primaries because people don't want to give and I don't blame them. But in the end, we were good enough that we won that primary.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, right, exactly. And it changed pretty darn quick, to be honest with you. But no, it was a battle. Conrad had been in three terms. And I was turned out of the state legislature. I had a number of people that said they thought I should run for this. And I did”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And you had the ability to get things done. Now, look, we didn't deal with near the issues we're dealing with at the federal level. So you could get your arms around it as a human being. Staff is a necessary thing here because I depend on them a lot to do a lot of the groundwork to get policy in a position where it makes sense for Montana and the country. And so, but it's different in the state legislature. And it's cool. One of my mentors said, you're going to learn more in one year of the state legislature than you do in a year of college.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, well, I mean, you didn't have a lot of staff, and I love my staff, but the staff oftentimes prevents things from happening. Not far, they're always just the way the system works. When you were in a legislature, if I wanted to go visit from the senator from Deer Lodge, Montana, I walked down the hall and opened his door and talked to him or her. And that made it neat. If I want to talk to people on the house side, you know, it was a 50-yard walk and you were on the house side and you could talk to people.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Quicker than it should have been. But nonetheless, I learned a lot about how people work and about how policy gets done and how the cake is baked. And so it was a good experience. I look back on it fondly. I had a great caucus when I was president of the Senate had some people that were just whip smart and it worked out for us.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, no, look, it was one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life. It was one of those things where you could go in with an idea and gather a few people in a committee meeting and actually get it done with not a lot of staff. It was pretty refreshing and pretty incredible experience. But the bottom line is we had term limits that went into effect when I started the term limits weren't there between my fourth and fifth year term limits kicked in so you had to you didn't have to but you either you either rose to leadership very quickly or you didn't rise to leadership at all and so my second session I was whipped my third session I was my order leader in my fourth session was was president of the senate and I could only serve four sessions eight years and then I was turned out and so I had a it was it was a very quick rise probably”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Right. I mean, that's exactly right. But so I ran and we worked hard. But that was the motivation factor in that expenses were high enough. We didn't need to artificially add additional expenses to our electricity bill.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, it is. I mean, when I was in high school, we went to the legislature and got to meet the people who served there and I said, hey, this would be a great place to do one day. One day never came around until the 1997 legislative session when they deregulated electricity in Montana. Now we had the fourth lowest electricity rates in the country, but they deregulated them and it didn't take a nuclear physicist to figure out that our rates were probably going to go up because of this deregulation. And it did. And so it was the time for me to do it. Deregulation was kind of complicated. But the bottom line was it.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. I think it's one of the reasons we have farm subsidies to this day. And it's because we don't have enough competition in the marketplace. And as I pointed out before, take the meat industry. For example, you can have four packers that control 84% of our beef supply in this country. They go on a golf course and figure out what they're going to pay for beef. And that's not right. And it's putting a lot of right now. It's putting a lot of cow cap people out of business. We just got word this week where one of those big processors returned record profits. And I can guarantee you those record profits are not flowing down to producers. And so we need to do some things at the federal level. And so I've got a number of bills that deals with consolidation in the marketplace on the selling side, particularly as it applies to beef. There's more to do on that.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In the marketplace, where you have more than just two or three companies that are bidden for your product. And I think capitalism is a good thing, but you have to have competition for capitalism to work. It does in the organic so far.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You to raise Durham every year, and I was like, if there was any doubts about the conversion to organics, it's over with. I finally found somebody that appreciates what I'm doing and doesn't treat it like a commodity, treats it like food. And so we did it. We converted the whole place shortly thereafter. By 1990, the whole place was converted. And it's been that way ever since. And I would just say this, all the farmers out there that are listening, you know, it may be something that you want to do. And if you want to do it, do it. It may be something you don't want to do. And as a good friend of mine told me there's as many ways to farm as there are farmers. And if you can make a living at it, that's the best way to do it. And for me, the best way to do it is an organic agriculture. I think it helps with the soil health. I think it helps with food quality. And I am totally sold on that situation. And by the way, it also helps because you've got competition in the marketplace still. Although it's starting to decline some, you still have competition.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You want organic durham, told me she had paid me a really good price for it. I said to Charlotte, I said, this is good because we're becoming the smallest place out here and we can add some value. And so we did it. And here's what sold me on it, to be honest with you. The outside of the organic field you sell in the conventional market. I cut it. I took it off to the local elevator. I went in to settle up with them and it was about, you know, 200 bushel of wheat. And they told me everything that was wrong with it. The rest we loaded onto a semi and we shipped it to Michigan. And I saw the lady a few months later in person and she ran up to me and she said, that is the best Durham we've ever gotten.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“They take dockage for low protein, for example. And look, I get it, but in the end, I didn't feel like any sort of appreciation for what I was growing. My dad never did like chemicals and told me that I should try to stay away from him as much as possible because they were bad for you. And he was right when I was doing chemical agriculture and I would spray with a Willie's Jeep and a yellow devil sprayer. I would be sick for a week. I'd spray for three or four days and then I'd be sick for a week with flu-like symptoms. So what happened is a lady showed up.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Drove that decision as I was taking a load of wheat to town and was thinking about how they were going to dock me for this and dock me for that and thought to myself how this isn't as much fun as I thought it could be.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's correct. And you learned that you didn't put down mandates. You have to live up to them. But it was interesting. But in the end, I used, when I ran for the state senate, I used that music degree. You could go into senior homes, but you couldn't talk politics. So I'd go in and I'd polish up my trumpet and place into it for them. And it worked.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Because it just didn't pay enough to make it work out. And so I gave up on that. But when I first moved, when I graduated from college in 78, I was already married. I got married nine months before that. And my wife and I moved out. We took over to the farm. I applied for a job, got that job and taught school. It was a good experience. It's a good experience. I'm glad I had.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. I thought, look, I can do my own mechanic work. I can work on digital motors and maybe even add a little income to the farm income in the process. I had a teacher, a music teacher that came up to me and said, and I was a decent trumpet player. He said, would you, you ought to consider taking up music? And that kind of inserted the seed. And then he visited with me a few other times. And then I went home and I talked to folks about it. And my folks said, no, we think you should do this. You don't want to put all your ducks in one basket. Diversify your opportunity. You never know if this farm's going to be here 50 years or 20 years from now. And you'll have something to fall back on. incredibly good school, had incredibly good music department at that time, and taught for a couple years, taught elementary music for a couple years. It didn't work out simply.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, well, it's interesting. When I was eight years old, I told the folks I wanted to farm. Which is totally bizarre when I look at it even now. And so it was pretty much decided I was going to take the farm over long before I took the farm over. And then when I was a junior and a senior in high school, I decided that I was going to go into diesel mechanics at the tech school in Helena, Montana and already paid the fee to get in in my junior year. And we got a music teacher that said, you know.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I'll tell you, my best friend in high school, I still see him. He lives over in Seattle. I call him up every once in a while and he still gives me grief. Bad time, it's done with the best of interest”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And my folks were great because they said you never want you to look like you're disadvantaged at all. You're going to take this and you're going to run with it. And I was raised in a small town where basically the 40 kids that I started school with in first grade were the 40 kids that I graduated with in high school. And those kids had given me a lot of grief, but they had my back every step of the way. If somebody from out of town came in and started making some kind of crazy joke about my hand, they were right there. And quite honestly, that's pretty cool. I mean, that's pretty cool. It's part about what small town's all about.”
2022-02-10 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 477 — Sen. Jon Tester · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source