Letters to the editor Nov. 4

Promises

A major problem of the two party political system is the difficulty of fixing blame. The House blames the Senate and the Senate blames the governor and the governor blames the Legislature. Not a problem in Montana. You don’t even need to listen to political ads to find the truth because for more than eight years the Republican party has controlled all state offices including a veto free majority in both state legislative bodies.

 Four years ago, Republicans were promising the same things they promised four years earlier and despite all their bragging at the end of the last session they have yet to fulfill any of those promises. We still have the highest teen suicide rate in the nation and a mental health system in tatters. Teacher’s salaries rank 51st in the nation.  Ten years ago we had some of the cheapest power in the country and today only the upcoming election stopped the power commission from hitting us with the second big power hike in less than a year. Property taxes are soaring, and the Governor is buying another mansion.

But our legislators hav been busy, not legislating which they don’t seem to know how to do, but worrying about what bathrooms you should use and whether a trans person is playing on a women’s sports team despite the lack of evidence this is happening. They have been busy worrying about what books you and your children should read obviously not trusting you to know how to manage this.

If you are unhappy with high taxes, uncontrolled growth, desperate housing shortages, decaying roads and bridges and legislative intervention in your most personal choices there is only one possible culprit here. You deceive yourself if you ignore the obvious.  

— Loraine Measure, Kalispell

Stop, look, listen

They look like sheep, they act like sheep and they sound like sheep but underneath they’re not.

This election season, let us try doing like the old fashion railroad sign: Stop, listen and look.  

Let’s stop and think and use common sense about the things that we’ve heard. Let’s listen to what our own minds say, our own hearts and our own conscience. 

Let’s look at the past and present actions of the politicians that are serving now. Action speaks louder than any words. If someone does not accomplish for the majority others, not a select few, but the majority that they represent that they have been serving in the past, then they will most likely not accomplish what they are promising in the future. It’s easy to say the pleasing words that people like to hear to get the votes that a candidate wants. 

No candidate is going to be perfect, but each candidate is going to have certain talents and strengths and knowledge to take care of the most important things in the office that they’re running for.  

So when one is pondering about which candidate to choose they need to look at those talents and that knowledge, the strengths regarding the most important issues regarding the office they’re running for. 

So we need to stop, to look and to listen, otherwise that train, that choice that is made based on pleasing words, is going to run us over.

— Elizabeth Walter, Kalispell