Zinke: 'Our principal threat is ourselves'

Republican U.S. House candidate Ryan Zinke gave his take on Americans during a talk at the Flathead County Pachyderm Club’s July 11 meeting in Kalispell.

“I don’t think many people trust the government — we need to correct that,” he said. “As Americans we need to have faith in our government.”

The native from Whitefish, a retired Navy SEAL and former state senator who unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor in 2011, said the issues most pressing to the country are the budget and the budget deficit, foreign policy, energy policy and immigration.

Of Democrat John Lewis, his opponent in the November election, Zinke said the former staffer for Sen. Max Baucus, who helped write Obamacare, doesn’t have name recognition in the state.

“Whether you like me or not, most people at least know who I am,” Zinke said.

Government needs to get out of business because the economy is in “shambles,” he said.

“Our principal threat is ourselves,” he said. “We’ve let government expand beyond its intended mission. We let government intrude on business decisions that should be in the free market.”

Illegal immigration needs to be stopped, and legal immigration into the U.S. needs to be reformed, he said. Property owners on the southern border can’t enjoy their land because the U.S. won’t defend the border.

“It’s imperative that we shut the southern border,” he said.

Zinke said he supports constructing the U.S.-Canada Keystone XL oil pipeline, and believes it will be approved.

“Energy independence is a priority,” he said. “About 3.5 million barrels of gas are flared in North Dakota alone — wasting that volume of gas.”

Schools are struggling with change and getting new technology into classrooms, he said. Government has placed the burden on teachers to complete compliance paperwork that keep them away from the classroom.

“Innovation in the classroom should be emphasized,” he said. “We need to give more authority to the local school boards. In Montana, education is more of a local issue, but what I think I can do is ensure what comes from the sausage factory in Washington, D.C. doesn’t infringe and put added requirements on the local schools.”

Zinke said the Republican party can stick to the issues and run a positive campaign.

“There has to be a difference between the Democrats and the Republicans,” he said. “We, as Republicans, have to take the moral high ground and make sure what we say is truthful. We need to stick to the issues and what matters to the country and to Montana.”