Anatomy of a Malfeasance This article courtesy of the Idaho Freedom Foundation By all appearances, officials of Bannock County and Idaho State University (ISU) colluded to keep control over $850,000 of state money and are using it like a slush fund, even though the law requires them to return unspent appropriated money to the state. […]
This article is courtesy of the Idaho Freedom Foundation One of the favorite phrases of conservative budget hawks in the Idaho Legislature is “starve the beast.” What they mean is that if you want to control or even reverse outrageous government growth, then you need to stop appropriating (spending) so much money. Government agencies will […]
Reprinted with permission of the Idaho Freedom Foundation Government is an overachiever in collecting taxes on nearly everything we do. It’s hard to imagine anything in our everyday lives not attached to some sort of tax. We are taxed for our food, our homes, our property, our cars, our purchases, our earnings, our investments, and […]
Republished from the Idaho Freedom Foundation Idaho’s Legislature is a representative government — or so we thought. Instead of 105 legislators casting their votes on the hundreds of proposed law changes, bills often live or die at the whim of a single, stubborn, committee chair. This session, Sen. Jim Guthrie has taken it upon himself […]
This article published with permission of the Idaho Freedom Foundation Want to know how to get escorted out of a committee hearing in the Idaho capitol? It’s easy; just shine a light on how a proposed bill benefits the donors to Governor Little. That’s what I did, and the committee chair, Senator Kevin Cook, immediately […]
If Idaho’s framers wanted the governor to write laws and spend Idahoans’ money, they would have written those responsibilities into the Idaho Constitution—but they didn’t. Indeed, a major virtue of Idaho’s government is how it separates the executive and legislative branches with the principle of the Legislature as the law-writing and appropriating branch, and the […]
“War is hell,” as the saying goes. Every war comes with costs on and off the battlefield, especially wars fought when there is no intention of ever winning. President Lyndon Johnson’s “war on poverty” is such a war. It’s a welfare monstrosity with a 57-year history of collateral damage including families it was supposed to […]
Idaho (March 14, 2022) — Ron Nate announced his re-election campaign for a 4th term to the Idaho House of Representatives Seat B to a crowd gathered at the Madison Armory in Rexburg, Idaho. Representative Nate holds a PhD in Economics and is an accomplished educator, teaching Economics to over 10,000 students at BYU-Idaho for […]
The world is a bit hysterical these days, there is a palatable fear about the virus and public health. But we must be careful to prevent fear from destroying freedom. People should not be forced into medical decisions they are not comfortable with—especially in an experimental setting. The Declaration of Independence states “…all Men are […]
Dateline: BOISE, IDAHO, February 2021 — When you hit the neighborhood grocery store to do your weekly shopping trip for eggs, milk, bread, fruits and other staples, you pay the cost of the groceries plus an additional 6% in state sales tax which goes into the state general fund. The grocery tax brings in about […]
By Ronald Nate, Ph.D. and Lindsey Zea Idaho laws put clear limits on local governments’ taxing, spending, and regulating ability. As sure as water runs downhill though, local governments push for more money and more control. Here’s an example. Let’s say your local school district needs a new high school. In Idaho, the way it […]
What if we bought groceries the same way we “buy” public education? Each community would have a local grocery district and families would be assigned their local grocery “stores.” Many would mistakenly think the food is free because there would be no charge at the public grocer for what you consume. It would all be […]