Letters to the editor May 21
Jan. 6 reparations
I just read the Trump IRS settlement. I am disgusted and it is illegal on multiple grounds.
First, the Constitution requires a genuine “case or controversy” between two opposing parties. Trump is suing agencies he controls. The same person cannot be on both sides of a lawsuit. That is a sham, not a case.
Second, Congress holds the “power of the purse.” No appropriation was ever voted on for this $1.776 billion slush fund. The Constitution says no money shall be drawn from the Treasury without a law passed by Congress .
Third, a secret addendum bars the IRS from ever auditing Trump or his family. That is not a settlement. That is a bribe.
Fourth, this is fraud. DOJ lawyers agreed to an unreasonable payout with no real defense. That is a collusive settlement. It is a crime to conspire to defraud the United States .
Let me be clear what this is. This is reparations for political allies and Jan. 6 defendants.
For decades, the same people celebrating this have screamed that reparations for Black Americans are impossible. Too expensive. Too complicated. Unconstitutional. But overnight, they found $1.8 billion for themselves.
Strike this down now. Every American who believes in the rule of law should be furious.
— Angela Burns, Kalispell
Defend Montana values
I’m looking at my ballot and thinking about Ryan Busse, who, among many other attributes, works to defend constitutional rights, advocates for hunters, defends our public lands, works to keep data centers from sucking up Montana’s water, is not afraid to speak truth to power and is not a career politician.
Rarely have I seen a candidate so in step with what we need in Montana at this precise point of time. He’s who I most trust to defend Montana values in the halls of a Congress gone crazy.
— Rick Bass, Yaak
Financial disclosure loophole
Conservatives4MT has filed with the Montana Office of the Commissioner Of Political Practices. COPP discloses in the last month receipts of $600,221 that came from just three incidental action committees located in other states. No fundraisers, just $600,000 from three committees. One hundred thousand dollars was donated and according to COPP records, distributed to Republican candidates by the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters Legislative Improvement Committee in California, a union that endorsed Kamala Harris for president.
Is that a definition of special interest money being filtered into Montana to certain candidates to alter our elections?
Do Montanans want outside money flowing into Montana to certain “so called” Republican candidates to push their outside special interest agenda?
Look at your political flyers you receive in the mail. Who is paying for that flyer? Research the PAC and the source of their money. Will the candidate be a puppet to special interest groups, or listen to and represent you?
Next legislative session needs to address this loophole in campaign financial disclosure. The public deserves transparency.
— Cathy Mitchell, Whitefish
Campaign flyer
What should I come across in my recent visit to the Flathead but a glossy flyer proclaiming, “Courtenay Sprunger will take away your guns! Only outlaws will have guns!”
Apparently, the flyer, sourced in Virginia, draws its conclusion from her vote on the ill-fated, flawed HB 733, which died 77-22 on the House floor. Joining Courtenay were known local conservative representatives such as Ed Byrne, Terry Falk and Steve Kelly. Even Freedom Caucus dignitary Jerry Schillinger voted against HB 733.
If the “anti-gun!” claim weren’t so patently false, it would be comical. It has about as much credibility as saying Courtenay is “anti-oxygen.”
Courtenay and I grew up in a home filled with guns. Reverently treated, our rifles and handguns were, and are, part of a family legacy. Our uncle, Dick Riedel, had a collection that would have awed a U.S. cavalry unit, and one of Courtenay’s own treasured mementos is our dad’s handgun. Guns, valued like jewelry, accompanied us on hunts, hikes in the woods and afternoon target practices. On an occasion or two, a hogleg came in handy on a dark night.
Apparently, the Virginia dark money group hasn’t bothered with research, either: Courtenay is endorsed by both the NRA and Montana Shooting Sports Association. She’s been a tireless advocate for law enforcement (law enforcement wouldn’t get far with pop guns) and she’s an ardent supporter of Second Amendment rights.
And yeah, she’s my sister and I’m proud of her. If you see any further fodder heralding Courtenay Sprunger as “anti-second amendment,” do what I did. Pitch it into the nearest trash can where it belongs.
— Justin Burt, Geyser and Kalispell