The Great American Outdoors Act passed the House recently, providing full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Greg Gianforte praised its passage. This is ironic since he has opposed full funding of the LWCF every time it’s come up in the House. Thirty-five other House Republicans co-sponsored the bill, a way of showing their true support for it. Gianforte refused to join them, offering the flimsiest of excuses, fear of poison pills being added. Really! It’s been clear for weeks that the Democrats in the House wanted this bill to pass so why would they kill it with a poison pill? Gianforte was simply looking for an excuse so as to cause the least amount of blowback from his anti-public lands base. He voted for the bill but refused to co-sponsor it.
In politics there are leaders and there are politicians. I’m sick of the latter and that’s exactly what Gianforte has proven himself to be. He praised the bill but he lacked the political courage to stand up for it. It’s typical of Gianforte during his time in Congress and its proof he’d be bad for Montana as its governor.
Joshua Dickinson
Bozeman
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letter to the Editor 8/19/20