Letters to the editor Oct. 29

Bad initiatives

If in doubt, vote no.

Because of my political experience, many have asked me about the constitutional initiatives on the Montana ballot this election. 

All are complex and very deceitfully written. All are bad. I’m happy to have an in-depth discussion about any of the initiatives, but the most important thing to know is that millions of out-of-state and even out-of-country dollars funded all of them. Extreme liberal organizations flooded Montana in the hopes of controlling our policies and values. 

Please don’t let Montana go by the way of California; vote no on all the ballot initiatives.

— Ken Miller, Laurel

Send Tester into retirement

Sen. Jon Tester tries to project the image of a local Montanan fighting against the bureaucrats in Washington D.C. It is interesting that during Tester’s last election cycle, he did not carry the county in which he lives.  Seemingly, those are the people that know him best.

At this time, the Democrats hold a razor thin majority in the Senate. Out-of-state donors have contributed tens of millions to Tester’s re-election. Tester’s vote has been key to enabling the Biden-Harris administration to pass woke legislation and policies relating to border control, inflation reduction, energy production, etc.

What the Democrats have allowed to take place at the U.S. borders constitutes treason. Many thousands of convicted criminals have been allowed to enter our country.  I am afraid the most serious repercussion from open borders is yet to come.

The massive spending bills Tester voted for have increased our national debt to nearly an unmanageable amount.

Much of the legislation introduced by the radical left is based on emotion rather than reason. One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intention rather than their results.

Jon has been feeding out of the public trough for too many years. It is time he got back up on his tractor and ride off into the sunset.

Never forget the people made America great, not the government.

— James Quinn, Condon

Independent for PSC

We are retired Montanans living in all seven counties within District 4 of the Public Service Commission. Most of us are on fixed incomes. Some of us are Republicans and some are Democrats. But all of us are voting for Elena Evans, an independent candidate for the PSC.

We’re voting for Elena because she’s a nonpartisan candidate who is fighting for affordable power and because her opponent, Jennifer Fielder, has cost ratepayers millions.

Fielder was the deciding vote against a $9.1 million rebate for NorthWestern Energy customers, and then she voted to increase utility rates for those same customers by 28%. We feel it’s important for Montanans in this PSC district to fully understand these two regrettable decisions.

In 2021, the Public Service Commission had a chance to refund customers $9.1 million in “excess” payments to NorthWestern Energy. Two Republican commissioners voted to return the money to ratepayers, its rightful owners. But Jennifer Fielder cast the conclusive vote in a 3-2 decision against the refund.

Then, two years later, in October 2023, she voted to raise utility rates by 28% for families and small business owners across Montana. That’s an increase of more than $240 per year for many of us, and on a fixed income $240 means a lot.

These two decisions are really all the information we need to cast an intelligent vote. As retired Montanans, we can’t afford more rate hikes. That’s why we’re voting for Elena Evans, a working mom who’s focused on our budgets rather than NorthWestern’s profits.

— Kristen Newgard, Libby; Shelly Eisenrich, Hot Springs; Alison Young, Columbia Falls; Jeff Smith, Polson; Liz Gupton, Superior; Karen Booker, Missoula; Henry Cloud, Stevensville

Quote worthy

Here is a wonderful quote my daughter shared with me about homeless people. 

“Bernard Glassman Roshi, who does a lot of work with the homeless in New York, said that he doesn’t work with the homeless because he’s such a great guy but because going into the areas of society that he has rejected is the only way to make friends with the parts of himself that he’s rejected.”  

Page 56 of “The pocket Pema Chodron.”      

— John Lavin, Kalispell