We are facing historic inflation and the rate of consumer prices increases have hit a 40-year high. Costs of everything from building supplies and energy to groceries and home products have skyrocketed under the Biden-Pelosi agenda. Under President Biden, Montanans are paying more.

It’s bad enough that the Biden-Pelosi Administration has already cost Montana jobs and much needed revenue through the shortsighted cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline and the ill-fated moratorium on energy development on federal lands. Now, the Democrats have selected a nominee in Monica Tranel who is hellbent on destroying the oil and gas industry and will be nothing more than a rubber stamp on this disastrous agenda.

By comparison, when Ryan Zinke led the Interior Department, federal energy revenues increased by billions – which meant more money for Montana and better energy prices. ($30 million in 2019). Ryan and President Trump made America energy dominant, not just independent.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re in Whitefish, Whitehall, or Wibaux, Montanans feeling the pinch right now, and it could get a whole lot worse. Uncontrolled government spending plus rising consumer prices has sent our economy into a deep recession. We’re already seeing too many small businesses unable to find workers, even while unemployment remains low. We must recover our economy.

Congress must:

• Pass additional tax reform
• Rein in the out-of-control government spending
• Cut red-tape and government mandates on businesses and job creators

It wasn’t long ago that the U.S. economy was booming under President Trump’s pro-growth economic policies. Unemployment was at a half-century low, around 3.5%. Median household incomes increased about 10% over the end of the Obama-Biden years, and the poverty rate was the lowest in recorded history. We can get back to a booming economy with pro-growth policies.