Letters to the editor Nov. 22

The People’s Compact

I suspect that the one thing that nearly everyone in Montana can agree upon is that the 2015 CSKT Water Compact was and still is one of the most divisive legislation ever to be produced from the state of Montana. Four years after its questionable passage in the Legislature, and two years after Sen. Tester’s grossly expanded version died in the U.S. Senate, we are no closer to either understanding what was in the CSKT Compact nor why it differed so wildly from every other compact in Montana and across the United States.

What time has revealed is that the only beneficiaries from the CSKT Compact were the three governments involved; the CSKT Tribal Council, the state of Montana and the federal government. The people of Montana, tribal members, residents of the Flathead Reservation and Sanders, Lake and Flathead counties were left out and left behind. Eastern Montana citizens were punished by the Tribes’ filing of 10,000 water rights claims on their private property, leaving a cloud of uncertainty over two-thirds of the state.

Determined to find a permanent solution to the legitimate federal reserved water rights of the CSKT, and anxious to heal the wounds created by the division, citizens from across the state of Montana have developed an alternative solution to the CSKT Compact called The People’s Compact. The cornerstones of the People’s Compact include the quantification of the CSKT federal reserved water rights, the resolution of an outstanding water claim filed by the Tribes in 1951, and a settlement fund that provides for the development of the Tribes’ federal reserved water rights.

In the next few months, the Peoples’ Compact will be introduced and discussed across Montana in workshops, meetings and on the radio. I hope you can join in some of these discussions and informational workshops to learn more about the effort and process of getting this document directly to Congress as a viable alternative for consideration in the resolution of the federal reserved water rights of the CSKT. In the meantime, information on the People’s Compact can be found at www.thepeoplescompact.wordpress.com

— Sen. Keith Regier represents District 3

Facts do matter

Reading the election 2018 sections in the paper it is apparent most Republicans would like to end the Montana Medicaid expansion program. This was best noted in Matt Regier’s interview when he noted the $87 million program cost that Montanans must finance. Checking out his estimate led me to the below facts.

It turns out his number was actually a biennium cost and the real yearly cost is about $40 million. This itself, however, is a bit misleading as it is offset by a surprising but actually greater DECREASE in state costs of traditional Medicaid. Traditional Medicaid requires 35 percent matching state funds versus the current 7 percent for the expansion patients. Expansion has allowed Montana to shift some payments into the less expensive funding pool and save Montana roughly $40 million a year.

For a bottom line Montana cost of essentially zero, the program covers almost 90,000 previously uninsured Montanans. It brings in $350-$400 million a year of federal dollars into Montana that have created 5,000 excellent paying jobs across the state and helped build and maintain the health-care systems we all rely on when we get sick. It has decreased the uncompensated health care that our hospitals have had to give away in ER visits and hospital care by $130 million. It allows previously uninsured patients to get primary care and preventive care instead of relying on the more expensive emergency room as their only care.

These facts DO matter, and I suggest you consider them and inform a Republican who you otherwise support or know to put the truth and common sense in front of partisan bickering.

—Ken McFadden, Whitefish

Border invasion

Five thousand illegals are nearing the border of Arizona, getting ready to invade. We’re told they were sitting at a cafe one day and suddenly decided to walk into our country. Better yet, that some Guatamalan politician decided to attack America. Really? I don’t think so. Nobody even knows what country is north or south of Guatamala.

It was decided upon by a handful of Globalists, hell-bent on dismantling the boundaries of the United States as a nation. We are the only country left that can stop their world-wide agenda. Yes, there are a host of agencies sponsoring this, all subsidized by our government through our taxes. But they too are only “useful idiots” in this game. This was a well thought out plan. Five thousand uenemployed people have been mobilized and motivated to travel a thousand miles this week. Only a few people are pulling the strings to this charade.

Perhaps, President Trump needs to contact these “very important people” with something more than a phone call. It’s now obvious that had Hillary won the election we would be flooded by these illegals, and martial law would have been enacted to “protect” us. What needs to be watched for is the progressive groups along the American border supporting this invasion. If in fact it happens, we will end our long history of domestic tranquility. It will be a nation under formal siege on both sides, against our border. It can no longer be contained by any normal police action.

My faith is in our American soldier. They are sworn to defend our nation from enemies, both foreign and domestic, and that oath is for life!

—Mike Donohue, Kalispell

Which one is it?

Global Warming! Global Warming! It’s killing mankind. The sky is falling! Ice caps are melting. Oh wait! Now it’s Global Cooling! Darn that decimal point.

Just an observation, but have you noticed that the global warming folks are not so much into math and science?

—Roger Dwyer, Punta Gorda