No headline

Don’t slash funds for seniors & long-term care

My heart just about stopped when I heard the Montana Legislature is proposing to cut $93.4 million from the Department of Health and Human Services over the next two years.

Of that amount, $52 million would be slashed from senior and long-term care. For many seniors who spend their lives raising children to be productive members of society, their greatest anxiety is over whether or not they will have enough resources so that they won’t become a burden on their children. It is an absolute shame that the Montana Legislature is looking to balance the budget on the backs of our seniors. We are all watching and hoping they will do the right thing.

I urge you to contact your local legislators and let them know that making ends meet shouldn’t be at the expense of our most vulnerable neighbors. —Theresa Pelican, Social Service Director, Lake View Healthcare Community, Bigfork

Some reasons why sales tax is a bad idea

We have a local politician proposing the age old solution for government excess, spending, and abuse — the proverbial sales tax.

Previous representatives have been fully aware of this burden often placed on the poorest of our citizens, especially those retired on a fixed income. It is common knowledge that lack of jobs and opportunity in our state for people have driven most youth into the military, college, or out of state for their employment. We have a population of barely 1 million people, and presently have federal lands being sold to foreign interests, especially China. I personally have met a group of five Chinese business men from Beijing right here in Kalispell, just last year.

Any sales tax is a disproportionate tax on customers of small business as well, since they rely mostly on local customers. Industries, such as fast food, box-stores, and grocers may not survive. Small Montanan entrepreneurs will fail, or find it harder to succeed in most endeavors.

Indirectly, this type of taxation falls heaviest on rural states such as Montana, as compared to California and New York. It eventually creates havoc on one class of people, and evolves into a universal problem endemic to it, such as greater poverty, hopelessness, drug addiction, crime, and incarceration. Privatized penal institutions will grow and benefit, then get federal funding from taxes for support. Twenty five percent of the entire world’s incarcerated people reside in America, even though we only have 4 percent of that world population. Anyone in law enforcement is aware of this economic phenomenon. Only a hypocrite or a scoundrel would deny this.

What is good for NYC with 8 million people is not good for Montana with only 1 million. Our electoral system recently protected our freedom; a sales tax may do the very opposite. —Mike Donohue, Kalispell

Thanks for caring about neglected animals

An open letter of extreme gratitude to the person or persons involved in notifying our law enforcement of the neglected dogs and mini horses in the Creston area. YOU are MY HERO!

Besides myself, there are lines of people out here who want to shake your hand or give you a super-duper hug. Without YOU getting involved and PAYING ATTENTION, these precious animals would have died a miserable death. YOU, my hero, were not willing to look the other way and say to yourself, “it’s not my problem.” No! You took a stand and did the right thing!

Thank you for being the kind of person who I would want to “break bread with” any day at my dinner table. We need more people like you to be on the lookout for things in their neighborhood that just don’t seem on the up and up ... whether it be the little children you may see out and about ... or those pets looking distraught.

To you, my hero ... I wish you a long and blessed life. —Brenda Anderson, Columbia Falls

Collaboration effort shows way forward

The legislative session brings one of Montana’s most powerful and widely held values into question — our public lands. Some aim to transfer management and ownership of our public lands heritage, and this is unacceptable.

Montanans value the responsible use of public lands for reasonable commercial purpose, recreation, tourism, and research. Public lands, accessible and universally shared by all, are an important part of our heritage and identity. We don’t need the top telling us how to manage our land — we the citizens of Montana have the solution.

Two strong Montana-made collaborations in Western Montana are the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project and the Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition. Both collaborations include the timber industry, conservationists, local officials, business owners and outdoors folks of all types. These citizens agreed to sit down together to discuss their needs and differences, and move forward as neighbors toward balanced solutions. And just last week, Sen. Jon Tester listened, when he announced he will introduce the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act. Turns out there’s room for timberlands and motorized recreation alongside Wilderness. How refreshing is that?

These collaborations are made for Montanans, by the local Montanans who know and cherish their public lands. These spontaneous efforts by responsible citizens, collaborating for the benefit of the entire community, are the essence of democracy and the real work of patriots. The citizens of Montana are demonstrating that we do not need wealthy outsiders to tell us how to use our land ... and they can keep their greedy hands off our heritage. We are figuring it out ourselves, for our own backyard. —Rick Nagle, West Glacier

Lesson from Muhammad Ali

I ain’t got no quarrel with them Russians. They never threatened to detain me indefinitely, or murder me at will. They never called me a terrorist. They never replaced my Officer Friendly with Darth SWAT. —Roger Dwyer, Kila