This week's letters to the editor: Berating Tester, political extremism, Pence visit

When I read my Billings Gazette on Wednesday I had to check the mast head to see if the date wasn’t April 1 and not Aug. 1.

In their latest insult to the intelligence of the average citizen, the Trump administration is seeking to justify the roll back of the vehicle fuel efficiency standards put in place by the previous administration with a curious argument: If cars and trucks are more efficient, people will drive more and there will be more traffic accidents!

After being deluged by negative ads targeting Sen. Jon Tester, I felt it was time to speak up. On two occasions I have contacted Tester's office. Once, regarding a problem I experienced at the senior housing project I managed, and the other was more personal. Social Security would not release my disability payments even though I had been granted this benefit I earned. Within three days I had my funds after waiting for two-plus years.

Also, I know firsthand the positive changes Tester has brought to VA during his time in office. My husband's care is great at the VA in Billings.

While the world witnessed the incredible rescue of 12 young boys and their coach, and rejoiced with the parents when they were brought out of that cave in Thailand, our own government separated several thousand children from their parents, saying that this was to stop people from coming to the U.S. border to seek asylum. We know now that there was never a plan to reunite these parents and children, hundreds of whom are imprisoned in sites all across the country. Is this who we are now?

As if there weren't enough awful news coming out of D.C., there was Helsinki. Trump met for two hours with Putin in private, meaning that an experienced KGB officer had Trump to himself to plant ideas, to try to forge covert agreements on subjects probably serving the Soviets more than our country. When some members of Congress tried to subpoena the lone American translator in that room to share her notes so that America has some notion of what went on in that meeting, Rep. Nunes and others immediately blocked the recommendation. Now Trump promises to shut down the government if he doesn't get big money to build that stupid wall.

Thanks to Bike Net for providing the bike paths in Billings.

Thanks, too, to the considerate motorists who move slightly to the passing lane while I am biking on Rimrock Road. Today, however, one driver obviously thought he/she was being friendly and honked loudly as his/her car was coming up behind me. I was startled; fortunately, nothing serious happened but it could have. That behavior is dangerous!

So much of the time the loud noise of our politics is so annoying and deafening that we can’t hear anything at all. And then sometimes we get so caught up in the unproductive and aggravating name-calling that we resort to the same and just add to the discord, rather than helping or escaping from it.

How refreshing to go to a local fundraiser for Kathleen Williams and listen to a dedicated lady discussing her priorities and ideas for government with no silly jabs at the opposition, rather, emphasis on getting things done. She did not come off as a Democrat or a Republican, but rather, a lady that really does want to make our government function for the common good. I am going to send her a few bucks for her campaign and then vote for Kathleen Williams.

On Nov. 6, 2018, voters will have a chance to pick the next senator for Montana. We will have a choice between the two main parties.

The Republican candidate, Rosdendale, won’t say what he will do if elected, but he can tell you what Sen. Tester is doing. I guess Rosendale, the president and vice president don’t know what Rosendale is going to do if elected. Do we want a senator who doesn’t know what he is going to do if elected?

For parents with school-age children, back-to-school often means a sports physical or trip to the doctor. You can safeguard your children from some types of cancer by talking to your health care provider about the HPV vaccine.

HPV is short for human papilloma virus. About four out of five people will get an HPV infection at some point in their lives. While most HPV infections go away on their own, there is no way to know which infections will turn into cancer.

New York Donald has come to help Maryland Matt become a Montana senator. Montana Jon (a farmer) is our beloved senator.

Thomas Van Dyk, MD

I was at the library today and noticed a man looking at pornography on one of the covered public computers. He proceeded to take pictures of the extremely graphic images using his cellphone. Disturbing. I also noticed a security guard walked by twice and didn’t say anything. I chalked it up to him perhaps not being able to see the screen due to the angle.

Upon leaving, I approached the security guard and told him the situation. He responded that he knew who the individual was and what he was doing. Apparently, this creep is a regular and he couldn’t stop him. His superiors told him that it was his right to use the public computer in that manner.

Jon Tester, the only working farmer in the Senate, has my full support for several reasons. First of all, for our agricultural state, this is significant because Jon knows firsthand the challenges farmers and ranchers face. He takes our concerns to Washington and submits them to those working on the Farm Bill.

Another time, when Verizon threatened to pull their cell phone service from eastern Montana, leaving all of the rural residents without any other cell phone options, Sen. Tester went to the executives of Verizon and secured continued cell phone service. For farmers, ranchers and their families, cell phones are more than a mere convenience. When farmers are out in their tractors, sprayers, or combines, they need a way to communicate immediately should an emergency arise, and we know that happens — whether it's a fire in the field, a flat tire, or someone needing directions to the field.

Stooge No. 3 Matt Rosendale: best remembered for his stupid smirk while shooting drones from the sky during his last campaign.

Stooge No. 2 Senator Daines: suggesting that farmers will be great under tariffs in their next generation (most farmers won't own their land then).

In the Sunday, July 22, 2018, edition of The Billings Gazette, there was a lengthy article in the Local & State section about problems in the VA and what our senior Sen. Jon Tester has done so far to address them. Tester’s challenger, Matt Rosendale, offers only lip service that he would get the VA operating more efficiently.

Rosendale obviously is ignorant of the congressional mechanics necessary to put a bill into law. Sen. Jon Tester has sponsored or co-sponsored 16 bills that Trump has signed to improve veterans care. The next step, that Rosendale fails to understand, is that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives needs to fund the bills. This is a time-consuming process over which Sen. Tester has no control and neither would Rosendale despite his blustering. A recent example is the tax cut. It was funded by more deficit spending.

Rumor has it that Republicans in Congress are preparing for another round of tax reform that will take from the poor and give to the rich. Last December, Republicans passed a tax bill that added more than $2 trillion to the national debt. And to what end? Corporations got a fat tax break, which was supposed to lead to increased wages and benefits for workers. Instead, a large proportion of corporate tax relief went toward stock buybacks and dividends to shareholders.

As Donald Trump said to his Mar-a-Lago cronies when the bill passed, “You just got a lot richer.” How sweet it is: Seventy percent of tax relief accrued to those in the top fifth of taxpayers economically, with a whopping 34 percent of tax savings benefiting the top 1 percent. In contrast, on average, taxpayers saw an extra $17/month added to their incomes. That adds up to $204 annually — that our children will have to pay for.

I would like to thank The Billings Gazette for your opinion of July 23, “Billings’ City Council needs better legal counsel,” and your accurate coverage of the franchise fee lawsuit.

I am one of the plaintiffs filing to stop the city from charging its residents what we consider to be an illegal sales tax off our water, sewer and garbage bills. We had to hire attorneys because the city was ignoring our complaints and requests.

Republicans passed a tax bill claiming it would give a break to America's backbone, back-breaking working families — those who do the work and manage paycheck to paycheck. Months later, the truth is clear: Big corporations and billionaires take the money for themselves, buying back stock (to drive the stock price higher) and increasing dividends to shareholders. Their employees get modest one-time bonuses or meager raises.

The cost to productive, working Americans? More than $1.5 trillion up front, and $9 trillion when the fiscal impacts are calculated.

When Kathleen Williams came to Ekalaka on one of her earliest primary campaign stops, she confessed to me and three other Democratic listeners that she strove to work across the aisle in Montana's legislature. So successful in doing so, she claimed, that Taylor Brown, eastern Montana's Paul Harvey, gave her a big hug at the end of the legislative session. Moreover, she informed us that some Republican stalwarts placed candy sweets on her desk daily.

Flash to today's news, we learn that she has metaphorically blown a kiss to the likes of Fox's Sean Hannity (Donald Trump's confessor) by running a campaign spot dissing one of the Democratic Party's most beloved heroines, Nancy Pelosi. (This explosive piece could become as memorable as the 2017 imprudent commercial of Rob Quist executing a TV set.)

Thank you to President Donald J. Trump for being instrumental in bringing home the first 55 veterans’ remains from the Korean War. I pray that all others in North Korea will ultimately be returned.

As a retired United States Army veteran, I salute Trump for accomplishing this feat. And to do so within 18 short months — remarkable. I want the American public to know that closure for these families cannot be measured. Trump has given them a gift that surpasses anything anyone can imagine.

The neighbors of the church shared a letter with us, notifying our church that the city is considering a zoning exclusion. It is City Special Review #967, Project No. 18-00110. We ask next time that in the future the city send us the letter as well.

The review would allow a casino to be built within 600 feet of our church, in violation of current city zoning. Our church is committed to creating a healthy neighborhood, and gambling is shown to have detrimental effect on neighborhoods. In a 2016 article, the Great Falls Tribune noted that Montana ranked fourth on a list for gambling addiction.

It was my pleasure to attend a presentation today by our new mayor, Bill Cole. It was excellent and he is certainly working hard for our city. I was reminded of a prior visit to  Cole's office (before he was running for mayor) in which I expressed concerns about the Yellowstone Kelly initiative as related to access, vandalism, crime, etc. Mayor Cole and a park board member, Tom Rupsis, both listened to my concerns and thoroughly addressed them about some of the negative things that were occurring in Swords Park and at Kelly's monument.

Through their efforts, Swords Park and the monument have become much less littered, vandalism has decreased and the whole area feels much safer and friendlier to everyday use.

As fall elections approach, it is in Montana’s best interest to consider influences that may affect the outcome of said elections. The biggest influence is the influx of money, especially the money of outside interest groups. The donors, thanks to the U.S. Treasury, are hidden from view. The word “outside” suggests their interest is not in Montana, but rather in their own interest. Sen. Jon Tester has never faltered in his fight to remove money from politics, and we need his steadfast leadership in D.C.

The swamp has not been drained. Washington bureaucrats have set the rules to their advantage in allowing rich donors to flood our elections with cash. In other words, wealthy corporations and super PACs have bought them. Tester has relentlessly pushed to improve transparency, hold government accountable, and reduce the influence of money in politics.

It is “reported” that George Orwell arranged for a high tea with Joseph Goebbels and Yuri Andropov after the press conference in Helsinki. The event took place in Hades after Orwell provided an appropriate diversion to Cerberus, the meaty remains of truth, allowing him to join the master propagandist and the Soviet spy master for tea and crumpets. The ghostly, cynical laughter could be heard well beyond the River Styx.

Jim Gransbery

We read about an employee embezzling for years before they get caught. Just clever enough, know how to "cook the books" and, apparently, without a guilty conscience. Seems our state auditor, Matt Rosendale, has proven that he is a clever employee and along with his out-of-state buddies has figured out how to perform some pretty fancy accounting. Campaign financial laws only apply when convenient? Technically legal, ethically questionable, and I know how I'm going to vote with regards to that particular employee. Please see article titled “Rosendale dodged donation limits” (The Billings Gazette, July 13, 2018).

I am enthused about the choices we have this November. We have two good people we can elect. Sen. Jon Tester is a proven entity. He knows what his job is and is not confused by the flash and manufactured chaos of D.C. Kathleen Williams is an experienced legislator who first listens then uses a common sense approach to work with others for a solution. I believe both can be trusted to work for our great state.

There are plenty of ridiculous campaign ads on the airwaves these days, but the one calling Kathleen Williams a “Nancy Pelosi extremist” takes the cake. I knew it would be a challenge for Rep. Greg Gianforte’s campaign, or the dark-money PACs that support him, to come up with something negative about Kathleen — that is, if it was something true. That charge is not.

Kathleen served three terms in the Montana Legislature. Like the current U.S. Congress, the Montana House was bitterly divided on party lines. Unlike our current U.S. “representative,” Williams did not blindly follow party leaders. Instead, focusing on the needs of her constituents and other Montanans, she forged relationships on both sides of the aisle in order to get things done. She served as the vice chair of two committees crucial to all Montanans — Agriculture and Taxation. The resume on her website (Kathleen Williams for Montana) details the many pieces of legislation she worked on during that period, including bills to support small businesses, bring film industry jobs to Montana, and stop insurers from denying payment for routine cancer care to patients in clinical trials.

I'm so happy to see our favorite president is taking on Iran as his next negotiation. After instantly disarming Kim Jong-Un and North Korea's nuclear arsenal, and showing us how Putin is just putty in his hands, the leaders of Iran must be excited to negotiate with Trump. How do you say, "Oh, please don't throw me in the briar patch" in Farsi?

David Swoboda

I would like to know why all of the media in Billings, including The Gazette, refuse to hear Colstrip's side of things. I have talked to many people who have written letters, called the news agencies and it falls on deaf ears. I myself have written several letters to The Gazette and they have not made the letters page, yet they will print every anti-coal, anti-power-plant letter written. I find this paper very one-sided as I do with a majority of the news channels as well. Five dollars says this one doesn't make print either, and I will happily send my five bucks to our favorite writer.

Richard Nielsen

On July 28 and 29, I received emails and voice mails that purported to be from The Billings Gazette, telling me that the credit card used for paying the monthly subscription fee was rejected and that I needed to either go online or call to update information so I would not miss a paper. I used the number that was included in the voice mail message to make the call and very foolishly provided my credit card number and expiration date.

Less than two hours later, I got a message from my credit card company that there appeared to be a fraudulent attempt on that card and that it was being shut down. The lesson for me and for all of us: Don't give out trusted information, and always be on alert for scammers.

We proudly live and work in Yellowstone County. Our refinery is what it is because of our great employees and community. We take great pride as one of the area’s largest employers and understand the impact our tax dollars have on the community.

We thank Yellowstone County and the Montana Department of Revenue. Appealing property assessment values in Montana is complex and requires significant time and effort by everyone. We appreciate the opportunity to come to an agreement.