Letters to the editor April 4
What if?
If I was Sen. Jon Tester, I would re-evaluate my tenure as a U.S. senator. I would ask myself if I have represented the citizens of Montana or if I have strayed from the plains of Eastern Montana, my home, to the hustle and bustle of Washington D.C.
Does my 100% party-line vote represent the majority of my fellow Montanans? Does every bill fit Montana values? Have I done all I can to promote and develop our natural resources?
Our republic now has over 100 federal programs that foster dependency and nearly half the adult population gets a monthly check from the government. Have I ever voted against any of these programs which lead to dependency and stifle free enterprise? Why did I just vote to give our prison population $1,400 from the Covid bill? Why did I vote against an amendment that supported the Keystone XL pipeline? This just as we have attained energy independence. Now $3 plus gas? Have I voted for a balanced budget? How come?
Have I lost my empathy for the less fortunate, the homeless, the hungry, the jobless, the sick, the unborn, the cold and hopeless among us? Have I dreamed too much of the home (big) in D.C., the big air conditioned tractor back on the farm, my elbow rubbing with the lobbyists and the likes of Schumer and Pelosi? Have I forgotten the great compromiser, our own Sen. Mike Mansfield?
What if I was to vote against HB 1, then against the filibuster, then against D.C. statehood and any other socialist bills, and I came home and talked to the people? You know what? I think I would feel better and so would the citizens of Montana.
— Dale Haarr, Kalispell
Back to normal
Well, things are back to normal. The press, after throwing a screaming fit for four years, is now content to sit back knowing that they have bludgeoned the citizenry into hating a very effective President Trump enough to vote for a somnolent old man as president. At the same time, they are pleased to know they have the power to throw the American populace into a huge panic over a relatively mild Covid virus. They will remember that in the future.
Pelosi and Schumer along with the “old guy”, while preaching unity, are back to “business as usual” ignoring Republicans totally in order to cram their socialistic, communistic vision for America down the throats of the American people. They passed the “Pelosi pork package” 85% of which had nothing to do with easing the pains created by the Covid prices. The House has also passed the diabolical HR 1 bill which unconstitutionally has the federal government taking over the voting process given to the states by our Constitution. Our borders are wide open, crime is running rampant and antifa and the BLM are still burning down our cities even though the press will not report on it. China is thumbing their nose at us, and gas and house prices are rising out of sight as Biden and the left prepare massive tax increases. Ah, it’s good to have things back to normal.
And now the” swamp critters” are ready for another feast in the form of the $2.25 trillion “infrastructure bill” designed to reward the big businesses that supported the far left during the last election. Big tech, the green industry, bankers, Wall Street, labor unions, big education and everyone else associated and supportive of the left will get their share. Left out of the equation is the ordinary everyday working citizen of America who will be left with virtually nothing except a higher tax bill.
It’s become obvious: Pelosi, Schumer, et al. are out to do away with America as we know it. They are ready to spend whatever it takes without concern for the amount of debt we are incurring to make sure they buy enough votes for the next election. Let’s just hope their exorbitant spending doesn’t lead to another crash. But don’t hold your breath. After all things are back to “normal”.
—Mark Agather, Kalispell
Backward logic
Representative Matt Regier,
You argue that local governments that implement stricter COVID-19 restrictions than the state are hurting their populations and therefore should have to pay for those decisions by receiving fewer relief dollars.
So... your idea of fighting for these Montana businesses and individuals that you believe are being hurt by health and safety restrictions is to cause them potentially more harm?
No matter how much backward logic you try to use to justify adding that clause to HB632 it is mean-spirited and intended as a punishment rather than legislation to uplift and help the citizens of Montana. You claim you are a Christian. Do you ever ask yourself what would Jesus do?
—Brenda Marks, Helena