State Auditor - Roger Roots

ROGER ROOTS (L)

• Criminologist and Legal Scholar
• College Professor of Law
• Member of the Board of Advisors of the Fully Informed Jury Association

Why did you decide to run for State Auditor?

I am a longtime Libertarian activist and I previously ran as Libertarian for Secretary of State, U.S. Senate, and Clerk of the State Supreme Court.  The Party approached me this year about running for State Auditor and I happily agreed.  The Libertarian Party is the party of principle.  We believe society functions best without government force, coercion, control, surveillance and bullying.   

Why should MSU students vote for you? 

College students are being screwed by the government, every minute of every day.  Government funding and control of higher education has produced absurd outcomes such as the explosion of fake government “science” (e.g., doomsday climate change hysteria and the hyper-exaggerated covid scam).  The MSU campus is one of the only places in Bozeman where you must pay for parking; a sandwich costs 20% more than off-campus; your thoughts and ideas are monitored and controlled; and classes are far more expensive than those that could be offered by the private sector.      

What is your top priority regarding higher education in the state of Montana?  

Privatize, privatize, privatize.  MSU and its overpriced oak-paneled, Italian-marble-plated palaces and facilities should be auctioned off to the highest bidders.  Montana would immediately become more educated and more prosperous. 

How do you plan to get insurance costs down for Montana residents? 

Government “support” for health care has driven health care costs higher than inflation every year for over 40 years.  This is because government policies mandate people must pay for more insurance than they need; and overregulated providers are able to game the system.  Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, etc. all increase demand without increasing supply—causing prices to rise.  The Libertarian solution is to get government out of health care completely so that the free market will immediately bring prices down.  In a free market, even the poorest Montanans could afford quality care.  The same goes for the other areas of insurance.   

In your own words, what is the role and responsibility of the Montana State Auditor?

My opponents see the Auditor’s role as primarily a regulator of private industry.  I see the Auditor’s role as primarily an investigator of State government and its negative impacts on industries in Montana.  Montana could be a mecca for investment, securities and tech development if only the heavy hand of State control were more limited or eliminated altogether.