Election selection
Quist will help workers
Rob Quist supports American workers, for more jobs and higher pay. In the last election, the Democrats proposed to create 10 million jobs through an infrastructure program (fixing highways, airports, sewage plants, etc.). This would be paid for by taxes on the billionaires and the top 1 percent, with lower taxes for the middle class. This is how to do it.
Trump spoke of an even larger infrastructure plan, but he also proposes huge decreases to taxes on billionaires (like himself and Greg Gianforte) and the top 1 percent. The economy cannot handle both.
The top 1 percent gets 5 percent of the income. The top 5 percent own more assets than the other 95 percent. Most people agree it is time to tax the top 1 percent a bit more. Greg Gianforte is against this. No surprise there.
Montanans told him no once. Let’s poke out the lies in his TV ads and tell him no again. —Jon L. Heberling Whitefish
Quist is a ‘zero’ socialist
Democrats really had to dig deep in their garbage can to find Rob Quist. I have never seen such a zero as him. Besides toeing the Democratic, socialist Sanders line, he really does not have a clue on most issues.
When he was asked serious questions on la recent episode of “Meet the State,” his main answer was “I’ll have to study that” or “I’ll listen to everyone in Montana to figure that out.”
He is clueless on North Korea; military financing (not just veterans); humanitarian issues; who employs people; businesses that make dollars employ people, including “middle class;” Social Security is going broke and must be fixed; paying his personal bills even taxes (he is supposedly a successful musician — get insurance!) and socialized medicine is not the answer. Quist even misses the Obamacare penalty issue.
We need more than a successful “in tune” singer. —Warren McConkey, Kalispell
Quist gets it
It’s time for me to express my frustrations again. I read your article in the paper about Rob Quist, and we need more representatives like him and a lot less multimillionaires and billionaires. This is just my estimate, do not take it seriously, but I would estimate that 30 percent of our millionaires and billionaires are people who actually obtained their wealth the hard way. The rest, I would say, inherited it and were raised without knowing what it feels like to go without food, clothes or a roof over their head.
Medical insurance is no problem for them, so why worry about the rest of us. They can go to the best hospitals and get the very best doctors. We are limited to the health-care coverage we can afford and what doctor will accept the insurance coverage we have. The only thing our rich representatives and such are interested in is how they can make a buck off whatever the need is.
I think, all of us poor folks are going to get shafted because I don’t think they care one little bit if we survive or not. My wife and I are on Social Security and the only cost of living increase we have received in the last four years covered the increase in Medicare charges they hold out of our checks. The price of groceries and clothes, doctor co-pays and hospital co-pays do not stand still. It is harder every year to try and keep our heads above water.
We need people in office who will do something besides fight among themselves. I don’t care if they are Republican or Democrat; they need to suck it up and work together. We do not need another 12 years of incompetence. If they can’t get together and work out their differences, we need to get rid of them and get someone who will. We need to get rid of all the dark money out there and get people who will think for themselves and us and not what the dark money people want. All I can say is it’s disgraceful.
We need to be able to stand up and say, “This is our country. Don’t mess with it or we will find the people that won’t.” —Sid Anderson, Kalispell
Gianforte’s success is good thing
Good grief! There are some suggesting that we should hold Greg Gianforte’s success against him. Instead, let’s have some of that success rub off on Montana, making the lives of you and your family better.
Greg Gianforte has the knowledge, the skills and the love of Montana to do just that. Education and good jobs for our citizens are two of his major goals for Montana. Let’s take advantage of this to improve our business climate and to have a better qualified work force.
Montana can’t lose by electing Greg Gianforte to the U.S. Congress in the special election. Please vote. —Suzanne Booker, Polson
Wealth not enough to make a leader
Concerning the upcoming election to replace Ryan Zinke in the U.S. House of Representatives: President Trump and Greg Gianforte are, similarly, both wealthy and both lacking in previous political experience.
I see no evidence whatsoever that wealth or business success has any connection with being an effective political advocate for the common man. The political success of such men, I feel, depends on deceptive campaigning and voter gullibility.
Rob Quist, who also lacks political experience, is nevertheless a real Montanan of long-standing and good reputation. It seems to me he has much more reason to advocate for the benefit of the average Montanan than does Mr. Gianforte.
Now is not a time to think “Republican versus Democrat.” It is a time to think “Wealthy people and big corporations versus the average Montanan, ethical and hardworking!” I invite you to join with me to help elect Mr. Rob Quist to the U.S. House of Representatives. —Ray Jacobs, Eureka
Don’t let stories about Quist sway your vote
It is very disappointing to realize that some people are so easily influenced by stories that try to put a candidate in a negative light. Too often a negative article written by someone who has been compensated by a wealthy candidate provides unsubstantiated information that undiscerning readers take as truth without ever checking the facts.
Anyone who may be having misgivings about Rob Quist because of a story about his past financial history should take time to consider the fact that they may have experienced similar challenges themselves.
A professional entertainer does not have the luxury of a predictable steady income. Even with the most careful judicious financial planning one can muster as an entertainer, an unexpected medical situation can create serious challenges.
Rob Quist was faced with just such a problem when a gall bladder procedure went badly and his wife also had some medical problems. They had to deal with the loss of insurance during this time as well.
People should know that all of the debts that were referenced in the article that was published originally in the Billings Gazette have been paid. It obviously took some time, but there was never any attempt to not pay these debts. The bill from the excavator was paid in full in four months.
I truly hope that anyone who may have any questions about Rob Quist and his qualifications will take time to research all of the facts and not simply make their decision based on one article.
Rob is a real Montanan who will represent the rest of us based on the fact that he has experienced the challenges that most of us have faced at one time or another.
Do we really want to send another millionaire to Washington, D.C., instead? —Edd Blackler, Bigfork
Gianforte most qualified
The partisan poison of spite and self-centered bickering in Congress must stop for the good of the nation. The electorate must place their decisions on the most qualified individuals to represent them in the halls of Congress.
Candidates to replace Ryan Zinke are both good men. There are many fine men and women in Montana, but not everyone is equipped to cope with the serious decisions made in Washington. Gianforte’s opponent is a highly respected Montanan with great entertainment talent and a big heart, but these attributes are not qualifications for a congressman.
Greg Gianforte and his wife Susan have devoted their lives to improving the quality of education. The many businesses they have created to provide jobs to keep our young folks in Montana has given them outstanding backgrounds for job creation needed by people across the nation. Greg will champion a strong national defense and the right to keep and bear arms. He is for a simplified tax code to reduce our tax burden.
The distortion that Gianforte prevented access to public water from his land is deplorable. His actions made access possible from public land after a surveying error. The only way he could get action by the state was to close access from his land.
We do not need another Montanan who will walk lockstep with his party, and not reflect the interest of Montanans and their values. We need qualified representation that puts the best interests of America first. Vote for Gianforte for Congress. —Mimi and Irv Milheim, Dayton
Gianforte has true vision
What does Montana need?
It needs a man with a vision and one who can put that vision unto action. It needs a man who has created over 500 jobs for Montanans and wants to double that. It needs a man who loves our state and its people. One who wants to protect the land and the people who trying to live on it despite the burdensome regulations.
It needs a man who believes we have a right to protect ourselves and defend out borders from people who come here to exploit and take advantage of our great country. It needs a man who believes we have a unique and potentially prosperous state that does not need leaders who are beholden to Washington, D.C., to tell us what we can and cannot do.
That man is Greg Gianforte. Yes he is rich. How did he get there? By hard work and sacrifice. Yes he pays taxes — lot of taxes. He also gives millions to causes helping people have a better life. How can you compare this man to his opponent who only takes and has nothing to offer or give. —Billee Collins, Polson
Quist will fight for state
In following our current congressional contest closely one must question, “Is this Montana office for sale to the highest bidder?”
Rob Quist’s opponent and backers are once again spending millions trying to buy another Montana leadership post with clever corporate TV ads filled with falsity attempting to smear Mr. Quist. Gianforte boasts he cannot be bought because of his personal wealth.
For more than 40 years I have observed the way Rob Quist treats his family, friends and neighbors — always with courage, honesty, dignity and respect. Despite family health setbacks, Mr. Quist, in the tradition of a true Montanan (and Harry S. Truman) refused to declare bankruptcy and continued to pay his creditors. How many of us would choose the same course? It only deepens my faith in his courage and integrity. Actions speak louder than words. “One man with courage makes a majority” (Andrew Jackson).
Rob Quist will fight for Montana. Together let’s send this good man to Washington. —Richard F. Syverson, Bigfork