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Welzel holds to ‘conservative values’

I was very happy to read in the Daily Inter Lake that Bob Welzel has filed for the House District 7.

My wife and I know Bob personally, and we can verify that he holds to the “conservative values that the Republican platform represents,” as he is quoted as saying in the article. Bob believes in the purpose of government as spelled out in the Declaration of Independence, and that the U.S. Constitution is binding, non-evolving, and designed to protect the rights of citizens by limiting the power of government.

Bob is a businessman who believes free market principles are critical for freedom to ring. Bob is passionate about protecting the sanctity of human life from conception.

As a retired lieutenant colonel pilot, he has a proven record of leadership and patriotism. He is a pleasant man to talk to, is highly intelligent and knowledgeable, and a genuine man of great integrity.

He will do a great job representing House District 7 in Helena. —Mike Sutter, Kila

Support school levy in Kalispell

The performance of Peter Pan at Kalispell Middle School was full of magic and beauty. After the show I watched a grandpa taking a picture of his daughter and granddaughter. That picture will be in a scrapbook or on a dresser for the next 50 years.

Book smarts are good, but kids learning to get along, work together and create something wonderful is what builds our future as a community. Team sports and performing arts in the schools are how they learn that. When my taxes go to Helena or Washington, I never see them again. But the money I put into the schools comes right back to me in joy and laughter. That’s why I’m voting yes for the school mill levy in May. I hope you will too. —Mike Merchant, Kalispell

Meet and greet brought forth some new ideas

A few days ago, I witnessed, and embraced the opportunity to participate in, a meet-and-greet with a candidate for Flathead County sheriff and a candidate for Flathead County commissioner. In addition to a gracious host and the acceptance of the invitation by the candidates, I was most impressed by seeing citizens in action, voters who take their job of voting seriously.

The 30 or so people who were invited and who attended the meet-and-greet were genuinely interested in meeting the candidates, listening to them, and asking questions. It didn’t cost the candidates anything except time and energy, and the candidates may have created more than two dozen ambassadors for their campaign. This was a grassroots effort at its finest.

I appreciated the host opening her home to friends who were interested. I also appreciated the candidates who accepted the invitation to address such an intimate group. I certainly hope that winning a Montana election is not determined by how much money a campaign spends, although that has been the political standard. I wish more citizens would open their homes to candidates to offer them face-to-face forums to inform voters and get citizens involved.

I also learned that issues change, are resolved, or are dismissed. We shouldn’t base our vote strictly on the issues of the day, but more on who the candidate is, what are that candidate’s core values, and, regardless of the issue, can we trust him or her to make informed decisions for us, whether we always totally agree or not”

Thank you, Phyllis, for your community service as host; thank you, Randy Brodehl and Calvin Beringer, for accepting Phyllis’s invitation; and thank you to all who attended. I hope there are many more of these meet-and-greets throughout the campaign season. Our state and local governments are more critical to our freedoms than our federal government.

Each state must elect strong leaders to push back, when needed, which is how our Founding Fathers designed this great country’s government, with a Constitution protecting states’ and individuals’ rights. And we always need more informed voters, now more than ever. —Dee Armstrong, Bigfork

Campaigning without your cash

I am the Bob that is running for the House District 9 seat. I will not be accepting cash donations. Make them to your local schools insteadl that’s where the leaders of tomorrow come from.

I will be campaigning by talking to all my neighbors. I have nine-thousand-some-odd to reach out to, so I hope I have time. If you are perfectly happy with the way our state and federal governments are working you need not speak with me. If you are not happy please let me take a minute and tell you where I feel the state needs to go. Whether you believe in climate change or not doesn’t matter to climate change. That is our greatest national security threat, according to the Pentagon. What do you think?

I remember when we had a 30 percent coal tax that some of the same actors offering new “solutions” insisted was just too high and if we cut it they wouldn’t shut down any more coal plants, they’d sell more coal, jobs, jobs. Well now we have one-third the dollars in the Coal Trust Fund to fix failing roads and schools, to bring better broadband to poorly served communities, and the coal jobs are still going.

Ask me about my OOS & AWS idea to support our public lands and still leave them intact for future generations of Montanans. Our Big Sky is home to our greatest resource — the wind! I have an idea to make it possible for Montana farmers to compete with Saudi Arabia and provide new income to make up for shifting dietary habits.

And finally I don’t think the state promotes us enough for film-making purposes — we haven’t had a major movie filmed here for years! But if current government works for you — never mind —Bob Peterson, Evergreen

Rosendale should stick to current job

It is very sad that Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale does not believe that holding public office is about public service — rather than simply furthering his own personal political career.

The job of insurance commissioner has an important impact on the cost of health insurance and the accessibility of health care — and these are critical economic issues for Montana families.

Unfortunately, Rosendale has only been in his job for a year, but he is already bored and lost interest in the health needs of Montanans. After a few years as a state legislator, then a failed run for Congress, and then election as insurance commissioner, it should shock no one that now Rosendale is running for the U.S. Senate.

But what exactly has he accomplished in his year as commissioner to deserve a promotion?

Instead of wasting time on his latest tweets promoting pet insurance (that’s right, pet insurance) perhaps Rosendale should be using his office to make health insurance for our families more affordable. Instead of running his next campaign after only one year on this job, perhaps Rosendale should take our health-care needs more seriously. Essentially he has done nothing to fight for or improve our access to affordable health insurance or quality health care.

After Sen. Jon Tester secured funding for Montana’s community health centers that serve thousands of Montana families, you’d imagine that the state’s insurance commissioner would be happy to know that one in 10 Montanans will continue to be able to access their critical health care. Instead, Rosendale publicly denounced the bipartisan budget, choosing to boost his political career at the expense of accessible health care.

Senate candidate Matt Rosendale is no better for Montana than Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale, and he should consider doing the job he currently has before asking Montanans for a promotion. —Alan Peura, Polebridge