Family. Prosperity. Local governance. Law and order.
Our Republican Legislature and governor are trampling all over our values. Rather than valuing our families, Republicans assembled in Helena are harming our families by reducing our health care services and protections, refusing to invest in resources to reduce suicides among our children, punishing our LGBTQ young people, weakening our public school systems and penalizing our local communities that are working the hardest to protect our health.
Rather than advancing middle and lower class prosperity, through reductions in government services paired with yet more tax cuts for the wealthy, Republican legislators are transferring more of our hard-earned money to rich individuals and corporations, supporting NorthWestern Energy’s self-serving efforts to dramatically jack up our monthly energy bills, trying to reduce our wages through deceitfully-misnamed “Right to Work” legislation (fortunately, they failed this year), and weakening protections for our public lands, natural environment, and wildlife — the foundation of our state’s prosperity.
Rather than supporting local governance, Republican legislators are using their self-serving, big government philosophy to disregard our voices and to dictate what our cities, towns and counties can and cannot do.
Rather than upholding law and order, Republican legislators, led by a governor who is a repeat lawbreaker, are ignoring the advice and experience of our law enforcement professionals, attempting to destroy the bipartisan independence of our state’s judiciary system and suppressing our voting rights.
In short, our Republican-dominated government is trampling all over us. Their out-of-touch, self-serving agenda is a political power trip disregarding laws and harming our families, prosperity, and communities.
Tragically, Republicans’ war against us cannot be stopped right now. But, right now, we can commit to restoring common sense, pro-family, pro-prosperity, pro-community, pro-law and order values by evicting out-of-touch Republicans from the Legislature in the next election.
Bruce Gourley
Churchill
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letter to the Editor 4/24/21