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Gianforte’s ‘money problems’

It’s called “follow the money.”

Here is a wealthy candidate giving money away in the forms of scholarships, campaign contributions and donations to organizations and community projects. His conservative political and personal religious beliefs overlap and are out-of-step with Montanans. His trail illuminates his desire to put religion and junk science in schools to give religious students a way out of learning about actual science and evolution. His money is used to glorify biblical stories and faulty science at the Dinosaur and Fossil Museum in Glendive, where dinosaurs are marching two-by-two onto Noah’s Ark.

One of his campaign talking points is, “Protecting access to our public lands.” How could a lawsuit, against the state of Montana, to privatize a public river access for his own personal use, be an example of “protecting access to public lands”? No, Mr. Gianforte, you cannot buy that access. It belongs to the people of Montana.

A nice tidy donation of $8 million was given to Montana State University with strings attached. Accept the money and rename the Computer Science Building to Gianforte School of Computing. Two problems came with that money. Students objected because they knew the name Gianforte was associated with deceptive practices. This candidate, running for the governor’s position at the time, used this donation to exploit the attention received in the media for political purposes. His money creates ethical problems.

The Gianforte Foundation and the Montana Family Foundation (to which he contributes) are known to spread propaganda against the following: same-sex marriage, women’s choice, birth control, gay rights, and homosexuality. Supporting degradation of these issues as well as advocating the privatization of public schools leads to hate and divisiveness.

The trail of money we are seeing in the 2017 campaign for the U.S. Congress tells us this GOP candidate is eager to donate, pay, accept and approve thousands of dollars to pour out fake news, false and twisted information against his opponent. Candidate Gianforte’s money covers up the real truth. It is dark and deceptive. It does not belong in Montana.

We need Rob Quist to represent us in Washington, D.C. He is truthful and trustworthy. He will be the voice for Montana. He is one of us. —JoLynn Yenne, Bigfork

Gianforte is the right man for Montana

Greg Gianforte is a perfect example of the kind of man we need to represent Montana in Washington, D.C.! Why he is being criticized for his self-made success is absolutely beyond me! Everything he has he accomplished with ingenuity, integrity, creativity, hard work and can-do spirit. He was not handed his success on a silver platter. Greg and his wife, Susan, dedicated themselves to a strong work ethic to become successful and reaching out to help others. That’s what their life is about. They met across the snack table after they had both donated blood … that’s the kind of folks they are and they continue to give of themselves.

Greg Gianforte and his wife founded RightNow Technologies 20 years ago in the spare bedroom of their Bozeman home and grew it into the town’s largest commercial employer. They created over 500 high-paying Montana jobs, with an average Montana salary of nearly $90,000 a year.

Please don’t be fooled by false accusations against Greg Gianforte. He is truly the right man to represent Montana in the U.S. Congress! I hope you will join me in supporting Greg Gianforte on May 25. —Cynthia Waterman, Big Arm