I had the great honor and privilege of serving Montanans as a commissioner on the Montana Public Service Commission for three terms 1977-84 and 2003-2006. Serving Montana and its people on the PSC was the most fulfilling experience of my professional career.

Serving on the commission provides a unique opportunity to have a significant, positive impact on the well being of Montana people and on Montana itself. The decisions, reputation and influence of the Montana PSC (positive and negative) extend far beyond its borders - so it is critical that the Montana PSC perform at a high level.

Chuck Tooley has the professional expertise, savvy and leadership to represent Montana with integrity and effectiveness on the Montana PSC.  Montanans deserve a leader of Chuck’s experience and stature to deal effectively with complex utility regulation issues that impact people’s lives, economy and environment so dramatically. Chuck Tooley is the right leader for the Montana PSC – right now!

As a former District 2 commissioner on the Montana PSC, I wholeheartedly support Chuck Tooley to serve as the next commissioner for District 2.

Tom Schneider

Continue reading: Vote for Tooley

For nearly 250 years the right to vote has been America’s ultimate check and balance. For some Montanans, this right has been diminished by the current Montana secretary of state.

Primary elections allow for qualified political parties to decide among themselves the best candidate to put forward in a general election for elected office. Ms. [Linda] McCulloch’s directive to forgo a Libertarian Primary is a slap in the face to voters across Montana who identify with that party and effectively dilutes their constitutionally guaranteed vote.

This type of political game has been played time and time again in Montana’s history with those in power using their office to help out their friends and political allies. Apparently the partisan incumbent is no different. The secretary of state needs to be a facilitator for fair elections, not judge and jury for politically charged dilemmas. Make no mistake; Ms. McCulloch had a choice to allow a Libertarian Primary to take place. Instead she chose to ignore the votes of thousands of Montanans in choosing our crucial vote in the United States Senate; this is inexcusable.

Scott Aspenlieder

Republican Candidate

Continue reading: A political game

Referencing the April 19 article about School District 2 levies and bonds, Interim Superintendent Jack Copps said the most attractive feature of the bonds is that the federal government will pay the interest. The federal government also subsidized the 2010 SD2 levies by paying the interest on those bonds as well.

These subsidizes are a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act/School Infrastructure Bond Programs passed by Congress through the urging of President Obama in February 2009. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester voted for the Act while Rep. Dennis Rehberg voted against it.

Colleen Jensen

Billings

Some friends and I had dinner downtown, walked to the Babcock Theater and attended the last concert of the Montana Logging and Ballet Company on Friday evening, April 27. True to form, the quartet of Montana musicians, comedians, political satirists and humanitarians pleased and warmed the hearts of the sold-out crowd.

After performing for 38 years, the group still has its magic. It was a wonderful night of spice, song, silliness and soul that lit up the Babcock Theater.

The members are still best friends. They can still make us laugh at ourselves. They can pick up The Billings Gazette and read the titles of the newspaper’s major articles and make us realize our human foibles. They still are connected to Rocky Mountain College where they met each other back in 1967. In fact, the proceeds from the concert will go towards establishing the Montana Logging and Ballet Company Arts Scholarship at Rocky Mountain College. That kind of generosity has been a hallmark of their work, i.e., in 1991 when they brought Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Helena and raised a million dollars in one night to fund college scholarships for South Africans and Native Americans.

It was Bob Fitzgerald in the final moments of the concert who said goodbye for the group. Bob had brought them back to his hometown for their swan song. Our families were next-door neighbors back in the 1950s on Spruce Street and he made me laugh way back then. Poignantly, he said to the audience, “It isn’t the next leader who will make things better. It isn’t a new political group that can change things. It is only us, each of us, individually who can.”

And so it is, four humble, talented Montanans can make all the difference in the world.

Continue reading: Thanks for show

I just finished reading the article that you, Mr. Crisp, wrote in the April 12 edition of The Billings Outpost, “Tea Party ralliers still have high expectations.”

Several paragraphs into the article, you wrote, “In honor of my own Tea Party roots, I declined to join in the Pledge of Allegiance. My fundamentalist upbringing turned me against the Pledge when the words “under God” were added in 1954, which we viewed as a blasphemous attempt to enlist religion in a rote exercise aimed at promoting a secular cause.”

I must ask a question: If we aren’t one nation under God, than what are we? I would also like to add another quote: “If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”

Those words were declared by President Ronald Reagan on Aug. 23, 1984, and the warning is just as relevant today!

God has blessed this nation and the people living in this nation over and over again! A few of those blessings come to mind immediately: The Constitution, The Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence, which states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator (GOD) with certain unalienable Rights.”

Continue reading: Most people llike Pledge