The choice is clear for the November elections. Whether it’s local, state, or national races, you should consider voting Democrat. Republicans have moved too far right, even for conservative folks. Witness the local Republican debacles: the Stamey/Treasurer fiasco, lawsuits galore, and managerial incompetence. Montana-wide, Republicans refuse to expand Medicaid to help the working poor. Nationally, “Shutdown” Daines shuts the government down, closes our parks, and is firmly aligned with destructive tea partiers. Zinke takes credit for taking out bin Laden, but he wasn’t even there…
The solution, even if you’re frustrated with government, isn’t voting for more right wing extremists who are responsible for gumming up government, but to vote in Democrats who will get things done and work across the aisle.
Here’s 10 things that most Democrats support and Republicans fervently oppose:
1) Keep our public lands in public hands. Republicans will sell ‘em off and lock us out.
2) Raise the minimum wage.
3) Cut taxes for working class Americans—the real job creators—not Shutdown Daines’ and Zinke’s millionaire friends and lobbyists.
4) Rebuild our infrastructure, creating millions of jobs.
5) Protect Medicare and Social Security from Republican attempts to privatize and slash.
6) Take climate change head-on, creating amazing new green technologies, holding polluters accountable, and giving our grandchildren the same opportunities for prosperous livelihoods and outdoor enjoyment.
7) Close loopholes that unpatriotic corporations use to avoid paying their taxes.
8) Protect woman’s choice and ensure equal pay for equal work for women.
9) Permanently reverse the Republican belief that corporations are people and money is free speech.
10) Continue what Obamacare started: making healthcare more affordable and accessible while holding insurers more accountable. Expand Medicaid for the working poor.
If you agree with most of the above, then vote Democrat. If you don’t, vote Republican.
Van P. Keele
Hamilton