By Russ Lawrence, Hamilton
I am grateful for thoughtful, pragmatic Democrats like Mike Cooney and Steve Bullock – and I am tired of being “represented” by multi-millionaire Republicans whose greatest accomplishments in office have been to reward their wealthy buddies.
Steve Daines and Greg Gianforte tout their business experience, but as a small business owner, I knew that one of the rules of business is that when times are good, you pay down debt, in anticipation of the proverbial “rainy day.” Instead, in 2017 these two very wealthy men gave away billions in tax breaks to their pals, inflating our national debt.
Now, our nation is less able to deal with a public health and economic crisis, scrambling to find the funds to help those in need – because these Republican “business men” gave it away to their fat cat buddies three years ago.
These two also voted with their Republican cohort to do away with the Affordable Care Act. If they had been successful, tens of thousands of Montanans – your neighbors, your friends, your family, and possibly you, dear reader – would have ended up with no health insurance, as a pandemic struck.
Meanwhile, Mike Cooney and Steve Bullock worked with Democrats and Republicans to make sure that Montana’s budget was robust enough to deal with this emergency, and that every Montanan enjoys access to quality, affordable health care.
Montana voters: Democrats up and down the ballot will look out for the average Joe – and Jody – instead of giving breaks to millionaires.