LETTER: Bullock's campaign ads mislead the public

Bullock has lied about Greg Gianforte being a New Jersey millionaire when in fact Greg spent only a short time there and brought his work ethic to Montana where he wanted to raise his family, and he became a millionaire by starting a business in his garage which grew to a business that employed 550 people locally and 1,100 worldwide.

Gianforte is a businessman rather than a career politician. Greg openly discusses taxes, management of public lands and other controversial issues. In the beginning of Greg’s campaign he did not realize that people would be paid to follow him every place he went to record everything he said so HIT ads could be developed by taking his words out of context and totally distorting his position on issues. Unfortunately, discussing taxes in public provided the opportunity for demonization of Gianforte’s character. Gianforte has stated he does not support a sales tax or raising taxes. By far his major priority is a robust economy in Montana with high-paying jobs. He proved that it could be done in Bozeman, Montana.

Access to public lands is perhaps the biggest lie used by Democrats to demonize Republicans who have always supported access. In a letter to the editor, Hertha Lund, an attorney, summed it up: “Instead of being against public access, as the Democrats are alleging in ads, and as proclaimed by Gov. Steve Bullock, Gianforte actually worked to provide the public with a better access point while protecting his property rights.” Gianforte provided land for a new access which was closer to the river and much better than the one that was too close to his house. Gianforte has proven to be a generous, truthful man. Greg is a true Montanan.

Bullock ended bipartisan cooperation when he was elected as governor of Montana during my last session (2013 session) in the Montana Senate. I served with Racicot, Martz, Schweitzer and Bullock. I never had a bill vetoed until Bullock was elected. Previously many of my bills were co-sponsored by Democrats. This cooperation ended with Bullock. Bullock works only with Democrats and RINOs (Republicans in name only).

Bullock claims to be a fiscal conservative and takes credit for balancing the budget each year. Our state Constitution requires the budget to be balanced by the Legislature each session. If the budget is greater than the expected income, spending is cut or taxes are raised. The budget has been raised on Bullock’s watch by $800 million, and Bullock proposed to increase our tax burden more to build government buildings (erroneously calling it infrastructure) by using bonds. —Verdell Jackson, Kalispell