LETTER: Give credit where credit is due

Gov. Schweitzer inherited millions in surplus from Republican Judy Martz’s time as governor. His reign as governor coincided with a congressional Republican majority that fought hard to control spending. These are the real reasons why Montana had a surplus. Schweitzer has dishonestly taken credit for the surplus and people have fallen for it.

Gov. Schweitzer recently bragged about “325 million in the bank.” Actually, it is his theoretical projection. With a decreasing tax base due to high unemployment and a growing pool of government employees, the projection by an independent analysis is a $400 million deficit over the next two years.

We see the corollary of his bragging played out on the national stage, as the two major parties blame each other for a shattered U.S. economy. The truth is, both parties are to blame to the extent they promoted out of control government spending. Every government program, agency, department, every government employee with their pension, insurance and other benefits, every extension of unemployment benefits, radio spots by the Ad Council, the layers of bureaucracy in the health care bill, etc. — these are paid for by YOU, out of your taxes. No matter how great the program, or how attractive the multitude of government services may sound, they are breaking this nation. When we reach the tipping point, there will not be money for anything.

It remains to be seen if Gov. Schweitzer is capable of caring more about Montana’s solvency than his own ego, rolling up his sleeves and working with fiscal conservatives to get our state back in financial shape.

To do this, he would have to be honest about who is truly responsible for the work and not take credit where it isn’t his due. We’ll see if he’s up for that task.

— Roland Horst, Bigfork