by Michele Binkley
Those quick to talk about “riding for the brand” often avoid telling you exactly what their brand is. To get myself grounded, I like to remind myself of the brands I ride for: the US Constitution, the Montana Constitution, Jesus Christ, conservative values, Ravalli County, and the veterans who have borne the burdens of our nation, a group that includes my father and both of my sons.
So when I was asked to sign an oath to a political party and its ever changing platform, I reviewed my list of brands. Sure enough, political parties and their fleeting platforms weren’t on the list, so I declined. I don’t ride for some random guy momentarily in charge of a political party. Swearing allegiance to a political party isn’t riding for the brand, it’s being a sock puppet.
The small handful of people currently in charge of the Montana GOP want sock puppets, not representatives. To attack fellow Republicans deemed out of step, they have partnered with Northern Virginia-based Americans for Prosperity, who since February have spent over $420,000 attacking their list of targeted Republicans all over the state: Republicans who have been endorsed by Gianforte and passed his agenda, lifelong Republicans, Christians, veterans. These Republicans have passed legislation that defends our way of life, a term that people throw around as a platitude but is actually hard work that requires the ability to follow a basic train of logic. For example, if families are struggling to make ends meet, then both parents will need to have jobs, which means child care, which means access to child care that many Montanans, especially in rural areas, don’t have. So how can we address this without raising taxes?
One way to address this was HB 924, a bill introduced by Republicans, passed by a Republican legislature, and signed into law by a Republican governor.
The bill allows the state to take interest earned from a growth fund (using money it already has) and spend that interest to help pay for things like access to child care facilities, particularly in rural areas. No tax increase necessary. The fund saves money, invests it wisely, and uses those earnings to strengthen resources Montanans need. What does this sound like to you? Sounds like making your money work for you. It sounds like the conservative values my parents instilled in me: save your dollars, don’t spend money you don’t have, pay for what you need, live simply. It’s not an accident that Montana is the only state in the union that doesn’t need a debt rating.
But Americans for Prosperity and the candidates they support are calling this conservative fiscal policy a “slush fund.” That’s fine. In service to their ideological point, they must not have 401k’s or retirement savings. They must be counting on their children passing tax increases to pay for their lack of planning. This may be a sock puppet’s brand of the Republican party, but it’s not one I ride for. To each their own I guess.
I’m just little ol’ Michele Binkley, a Republican out here in House District 85, trying to protect our way of life as best I can. I don’t mind that people disagree with me. ‘Cause at the end of the day, it’s Montana; people are allowed to think what they want.
Paid for by Binkley for Montana, P.O. Box 1601, Hamilton MT 59840.
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