Representative Alan Hale, a TEA Party Republican bar owner misrepresenting House District 77, has been given an F rating from the Montana DUI Taskforce for his votes against legislation designed to protect Montanans from drunk drivers. As the task force writes:
Representative Hale has been as non-supportive of DUI legislation as it gets. He has voted against EVERY bill so far and has only registered one “yes” vote on a second reading and then changes his vote back to “no.” He was the one dissenting vote in the entire House against HB 102 – Revise probationary driver’s licence for DUI court participation, and one of three representatives who voted against the 24/7 program. We hope his supporters will notify this legislator and bar owner that DUIs are a priority this session and we expect him to deal with the carnage on our roads by supporting the bills being proposed.
Those of you who followed the campaign are aware of comments that Mr. Hale made in an interview with newspapers saying he thought DUI laws were too strict and were hurting our youth.
Hale also spoke out against tough DUI penalties, particularly when they involve young people, saying stiff penalties have ruined a lot of young people’s lives.
Hale appears to be putting the concerns of the communities he represents second to the fact that he owns a bar. Laws against drunk driving were created to protect youth, and decreasing public safety laws because you own a bar is irresponsible and self-serving. Sources also say that his bar in Basin called the Silver Saddle was recently cited for serving a minor.
If I had a neighbor who looked and thought like that, I think I would move.
Well, you pretty much have to drive to Basin to get drunk at The Silver Saddle.
No-brainer.
I thought legistors, judges had to recuse themselves from votes that would benefit themselves financially. That being said there are a lot of problems with the DUI laws application. First timers who are poor get their lives ruined, wealthy offenders get slaps on the wrist whether its their first or tenth offense. I almost died from my encounter froma drunk driver in 1978 and I’ve watched the laws change, but the problem remains.
It’s the drinking, not the penalties, that ruins lives.
The alcohol lobby is very powerful.
http://www.alternet.org/story/148213/alcohol_lobby_now_openly_spending_against_ca%27s_legal_pot_initiative_in_alliance_with_police_industrial_complex
As a constituent of Hale, I am aware that he says he does not own the bar. Apparently his wife is the manager. No excuse for his votes, just clarification.
He does not well represent all of us in his district.
Sounds like he kept a campaign promise to me. He was open and honest on his views on the issue and was voted in.
Hale is a convicted poacher and a serial domestic abuser. His candidacy included slimy innuendo and pledges to landowners that he’d fend off enforcement of federal and state environmental laws if elected.
Alan Hale is completely out of touch with the world we live in. He is frequently heard making sexist and racist comments, catering to the wackjob fringe, and he seems to me like someone from the south circa the 1950′s.
This guy is one of the worst of the worst, just as bad as Knox. He deserves continuing scrutiny.
Alan Hale seems to me (and granted Ive never met the guy) to be a libertarian Republican. Their philosophy is as long as you are not hurting your fellow man then the activity should be legal. Im guilty of following that train of thaught to some degree. For example on marijauna I think marijauna ought to be legal and taxed just like alcohol and cigs and gambling. The reason I feel this way is that I don’t believe I have the right to go and tell people how to live their private lives. Basically in the words of Barry Goldwater “….I want a government that is out of your wallets, out of your bedrooms, and out of your daily lives.” So on DUI to some extent I see his logic but the thing is a person impaired on alcohol or drugs can not act in a rational way, and our highways and roads belong to all of society, and we do not want to risk the lives of inocent people with behaviors. So henceforth driving under the influence is illegal. Now with Mr. Hale being a tavern owner and allegedly serving minors in his establishment, yes I would say he is voting in his self interest so he can keep serving drinks and making money, which as long as his constituency knows about this and as long as he was open about being a bar owner during his campaign, then I say the voters are getting what they paided for. And if they don’t like it they will have an opportunity to fix it at the next election if Mr. Hale runs for reelection which I would bet he does. But my question is, given the Republican Party being bought and paid for by the neoconservative “Christian” right, aka the guys like Dobson and Lazloff how does Mr. Hale get support from those guys, when he is a. selling alcohol (especially alcohol to minors) and b. voting against bills like DUI laws that the “Christian” right supposedly supports?
I hear where you are coming from Farmboy, but Hale is no libertarian. Ive had the misfortune of speaking with him a few times. Libertarians do not typically have the kind of draconian views on a woman’s right to choose that Hale does. He is a typical republican social conservative who now calls himself a ‘teapartier’. It really is a sad state of affairs that a guy like this is in the legislature, especially when that district had such an outstanding candidate running against him.
Then the guy is a hypocrite, he sells alcohol for a living, probley has dancing and flirting in his bar, yet sells himself as a social conservative.
Yep that sounds about right. He also is not very bright and that is being charitable. Just about par for the course for your standard teabagger.
Hypocrisy knows no bounds………….
you da woman, cowgirl.
Alan Hale also refuses to meet with constituents who are not Tea Party followers…I have proof.
Interested Party ~ what proof do you have regarding domestic abuse?
Click on me, go to the bottom of the page and email me.
If citizens had been bolder and not discouraged, we wouldn’t have so many ‘tea party’ zealots in OUR statehouse. It’s easier to vote in an hour or by absentee ballot and be proactive, rather
then having to rally at the capitol, BUT that’s a great facet of Democracy anyhow, the right to assemble and dissent. When my fellow soldiers can stand guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and ‘grunt’ it out on patrol, it costs dedicated citizens and voters VERY little to get engaged, so all, please vote and on the battlefield warriors don’t leave comrades behind, so I URGE all
citizens to ‘Leave NO voter behind’, especially for 2012!!!
Interested party ~ I went to bottom of page…no email selection there…how do I contact you?
larry(dot)kurtz(at)lycos(dot)com
Hale on the floor: http://www.mtcapitolreport.org/legislators/to-the-gallows