Zinke’s gotta go

Our congressman Ryan Zinke must be applauded for his legislation on behalf of veterans. On the other hand some of the other legislation he supports is not beneficial to Montanans. He is sponsoring a bill that requires a person challenging Forest Service decisions to post a high bond when contesting government projects. This bill limits the private citizen of their rights to challenge these projects and turns our national forests over to the timber industry. This bill will limit access to the judicial system and exempt massive logging projects from environmental analysis. This is against the core principles of our country. We have the right to question government projects that favor special interest groups. Zinke voted against Montana citizens and the Endangered Species Act. STRIKE 1.
He is also supporting the push to bring back the U.S. Export-Import Bank which gives major businesses and their foreign trade partners billions of dollars in taxpayer loans every year. Montana taxpayers pay this huge price to support this scheme but receive no benefits. The Export-Import Bank is a fund for corporate welfare when you consider that the U.S. Export-Import Bank is scheduled to lose $20 billion over the next decade and the Montana taxpayers are on the hook for it. It is the same old politics where a few receive benefits at the expense of everyone else. Zinke, contrary to his campaign speeches and website, is not working for the betterment of Montana, he is actively supporting big corporations with our money. STRIKE 2.
His crowning mistake is his co-sponsorship and voting yes on H.R. 1559, the Dark Act which is basically a Monsanto Protection Act. This bill prohibits Montanans from passing our own state food labeling law so we can know that foods we are eating contain genetically modified organisms. He voted against our right to know what we are eating. I am concerned about the carcinogenic chemicals used to support GMO crops.
The definition of a genetically engineered food is a plant or animal that has been changed by taking genes from one species and inserting them into the DNA of another species or altering the DNA in a way that could never happen through traditional cross-breeding or in Nature.
In creating GMO seeds, Monsanto has spliced glyphosate (a known carcinogenic) DNA into the seed. The majority of GMO crops are engineered to resist Roundup. When the crop is sprayed for other unwanted plants it will not kill the crop because it IS the poison sprayed on it. Before “Roundup ready”, farmers used herbicides being careful to spray only the unwanted plants and not on the crops, otherwise they would kill the crop along with the unwanted plants. “Roundup ready” seeds were engineered with glyphosate to grow plants that will not die no matter how much Roundup is sprayed directly on the crops because the seeds have this deadly poison “built” right into the food we eat. With glyphosate spliced into the GMO seeds, there is no need to be conservative when spraying crops. It becomes systemic throughout the plant and cannot be washed off. It is part of the plant and we are eating it unknowingly.
The result is 168 million acres of GMO crops under cultivation in the U.S. 2.6 billion pounds of Monsanto Roundup glyphosate herbicide has been sprayed on U.S. agricultural land between 1992 and 2012. In the 20 years of eating glyphosate in our food, auto-immune diseases have increased 400%. Glyphosate is the new DDT.
Ryan Zinke, our so called representative, voted against science, against 300 environmental groups, against more than 100 year old states rights to legislate on matters relating to safety and labeling, and against the wishes of 90% of the population. Zinke voted to keep us ignorant of what is in our food. 70% of the food we buy in regular grocery stores is banned in over 30 countries. Plainly we are being poisoned to death by herbicides. We have the right to know what is in the foods we eat. It is called freedom. Zinke, you helped take my freedom away from me.
His voting record speaks for itself; It is quite obvious that he is not looking out for the best interests of Montanans. Monsanto went to all members of the House of Representatives, spending over $29 million to convince them to vote for Monsanto’s interests. This is all about money, led by greed, where Monsanto corporate profits are more important than our safety. Ryan Zinke, STRIKE 3 and you are out of the ball game.
I have already begun to support Denise Juneau to replace you because I know she will vote for Montanans and not for corporations who have no heart and have no soul.
James Minckler
Missoula