Gem State Patriot News

Category: John Livingston

  • Stand Against Evil

    Stand Against Evil

    Social change doesn’t happen gradually. It happens in fits and bursts. In retrospect, the line between the old values and the “new way” can be seen very clearly, but when we are in the middle of such a change, we oftentimes don’t know it. I believe we are today at a crossroads and in the middle of such a change. We are in a battle for the cultural soul of our country.

    My Freshman year at Wittenberg was 1969. Student unrest and campus demonstrations were happening all over our country every day. Demonstrations against the Vietnam War and Civil Rights activism reached a level in our country that was unknown for two generations—since reconstruction and “Jim Crow” in the South after our Civil War. Over a short two-year period of time, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated and student violence on the Kent State University Campus resulted in the loss of life of students.

    All this was occurring at a time when recreational drug use (abuse) was being tolerated and even encouraged by those in academia—professors and administrators, and law enforcement turned their eyes away from the problem. Crack cocaine in the cities and methamphetamine and marijuana in the rural areas and suburbs were just as destructive of opportunity and hope for people of all races and nationalities, but especially many of those living on the margins whose hope for upward mobility was snuffed out because the adults in the room didn’t stand up to evil.

    During the late 60’s and early 70’s two great men stood up to the Alinsky’s mobs of organized protestors. Fr. Theodore Hesburgh the President of Notre Dame from 1952-1987 and Cannon Charles Martin the Rector of St. Albans School for Boys at the Washington D. C. National Cathedral during a similar time. Both self-identified as “liberal educators”. Both felt that education was so important that it should not be subject to “the violence of faction”. Both stood up to “non-violent” violence and were unpopular as they exerted order over their institutions. Both stood up to forces that threatened the integrity of the educational process via either political agitation and demonstration or pandemic (influenza in 1975).

    The message is school, and education is so important, that our classrooms and laboratories will always be open. Education will not take a back seat. Those individuals and groups that deny access to the educational process of those seeking such access, are in fact violating the rights of the great majority of law-abiding students who are themselves very serious about education, many of whom realize that such an education is a privilege and a great opportunity. They realize that either they or their parents are paying a great price for such a unique opportunity.

    Those “occupying” space are not demonstrating. Their claim to that property should be well defined by a permit to demonstrate with well-defined side rails of time and place.

    I had occasion to talk to Fr. Hesburgh in 1991. I was asked by Dr. Dave Lachiondo the principal at Bishop Kelly High School to try to get the good FR. to come to Boise and speak at the BK graduation that year. I called up the library at Notre Dame and FR. Hesburgh picked up the phone! All he wanted for giving the speech was an airline ticket, a home with a family—not a hotel room, and a one-day guided fishing trip on Silver Creek. About 3 months before he was to give the speech, he had a massive heart attack and was unable to attend the event.

    I did get to talk to him on two other occasions and during one of those times I asked him about the student demonstrations and how he delt with them.

    The bottom line is that students could march if given permission via permit. They could not deny access to classrooms or laboratories by other students. When asked to disperse they were given 15 mins to disperse—the infamous Hesburgh rule, and if they didn’t and if they were students they would be expelled from school, and if they were “non-student agitators” they would be arrested and turned over to the civil authorities and charged with trespassing. If they were foreign students their visas would be put under review, and if they were foreign non-student agitators their visas would be given to Federal authorities and their stay in our country would be in jeopardy.

    Cannon Martin had a similar policy at St. Alban’s. These two great men, liberals, clerics, educators and academicians understood the importance of law and order. They understood the importance of education. They understood that they were responsible for protecting the rights of all students not just student agitators. There was no room for moral ambiguity in either of their lives. They both were able to project political and personal courage and they both understood their “Christian Duty” to protect their own values, but most importantly the values of the institutions they represented.

    Neither in my humble opinion would have tolerated the antisemitism and hate that we are seeing on our college campuses and streets today. They both supported and advocated for Jewish professors and teachers at their institutions. They both understood evil when they saw it, and they both understood “we are all called to stand against evil”. Fr. Hesburgh.

    Ephesians 4:27 “Do not give the devil a foothold”

    Why are so many of our leaders today afraid to stand up against evil? It is time for all of us to stand up to evil.

  • Our Christian Founding

    Our Christian Founding

    I was challenged by several people last week regarding the connection between the Republican structures of government in ancient Rome and the Enlightenment Principles that were both instrumental in the Founding of The American Republic. As alluded to below our founding was unique because it not only incorporated the political philosophies of Ancient Greece and Rome, but also the Biblical—and this is key, rules for governance that were very much a part of the American contribution to Enlightenment political philosophy.

    Below you will find an expression of my thoughts that I found in Hillsdale College Lecture on the Roman Republic. These two letters between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams at the end of their lives demonstrates their insight regarding the differences in our own Founding Principles and the Laws of the Roman Republic which in the end lead to its’ demise.

    The Founders, however, did not idealize Rome. While Rome’s history provided important examples of virtue, its model of republican government required improvement. Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to John Adams of December 10, 1819, wondered “what was that government which the virtues of Cicero were so zealous to restore, & the ambitions of Caesar to subvert? I do not say to restore it, because they never had it. . . . [S]steeped in corruption vice and venality as the whole nation was, what could even Cicero, Cato, Brutus have done? They had no ideas of government themselves but of their degenerate Senate, nor the people of liberty, but of the factious opposition of their tribunes.” o

    On December 21, John Adams replied that he “never could discover that they possessed much Virtue, or real Liberty—there Patricians were in general griping Usurers and Tyrannical Creditors in all ages—Pride, Strength and Courage were all the Virtues that composed their National Characters.” America does not need to suffer the same fate as Rome because America is based on principles that were not found in Rome—that all men are created equal and endowed by God with inalienable natural rights.” The principles of the Declaration of Independence were foreign the Roman Republic.

    Classical Republicanism had no God for a moral or political predicate. All men were not created equal. The confluence of the ideas of Athens and Rome, Jerusalem, The Enlightenment—The Natural and Biblical Laws first exposed by church Fathers like Aquinas and then by the Enlightenments Fathers—Jefferson in my opinion is on the first team in that group, was what ultimately was memorialized in our Founding Documents.

    The difference between The American and Roman Republics was that we were Founded by Christian people with a Christian moral predicate. Call it “Devine Providence” or God, being a believer or non-believer the history of our experiment speaks for itself.

    We can continue to learn and be informed by the lessons of Classical Republicanism—or not.

  • In God’s Image

    In God’s Image

    Abortion is a difficult subject to talk about because almost every single adult living in the United States either knows of a family member or a close friend who has had an abortion. One in four women in the United States will have had an abortion by the time they have reached menopause. Since Roe vs. Wade in 1973 there have been, according to the Pew Research Foundation, between 60-80 million abortions performed in our country. Progressive Democrats and progressive Republicans have promised to make “a woman’s right to an abortion” a central theme of the 2024 elections at all levels in the elections.

    Any discussion about this subject should always begin with an acknowledgment of God’s Mercy and forgiveness and an acknowledgment that we are all sinners. None of us are “throwing stones and none of us is without sin”—especially me.

    The homily below is the closest approach I can find for dealing with this very sensitive issue:

    Planned Parenthood performed over 390,000 abortions while receiving nearly $700 million in government grants and reimbursements, according to its latest annual report for 2022-2023. 

    Pro-life activists say the findings appear consistent with the long-term trend of the nation’s largest abortion provider performing more abortions and providing fewer health services. 

    According to Planned Parenthood’s 2022-2023 annual report, the corporation performed 392,715 abortions and provided less than 2,000 adoption referrals. The organization also offered over 30,000 fewer Pap tests than recorded for 2021-2022. Additionally, preventative care visits also declined by over 30%.

    Michael New, an assistant professor of practice at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America, wrote in an analysis Wednesday that Planned Parenthood’s annual reports “consistently provide solid evidence that Planned Parenthood continues to prioritize abortion.

    A senior associate scholar at the pro-life research organization Charlotte Lozier Institute, found that Planned Parenthood performed 228 abortions for every adoption referral in 2023 while receiving $700million in government grants in 2022-23.

    The moral progressive “pro-choice” argument places the mother’s “sovereignty” and free will as the primary issue when the decision to terminate a living child is being considered.

    The Christian Pro Life position is that the life of the mother and the life of the child—both body and soul, are of equal importance. Each has a unique body and soul, and science tells us this because each has their own individual unique DNA. They are two—not one. The mother is in fact in the position of “agent” acting on behalf of her child with a duty to protect. In situations where the life of the mother is in jeopardy it is absolutely consistent with medical teachings and ethics and the teachings of the Church Fathers that because of the state of dependency of the child, the mother’s life takes precedence. The “primary intent” of the action determines its’ morality. We know in our State from research done by the Stanton Clinic that less than 5% of abortions in Idaho are done because of a life-threatening problem to the mother. Are the majority of the rest done for convenience?

    Republicans in trying to defend their Pro-Life positions have fallen all over themselves trying to accommodate a large group of citizens who they see as having leverage over the results of the next election. We are today where many Republicans were in 1860 prior to Abraham Lincoln being elected President. These people were against slavery—or so they said but wanted to “save the union”. Abraham Lincoln had been against slavery since he first saw a slave on the Mississippi River when he was 19 years old—he himself had been indentured for wages by his own father for over a year. He also understood that to immediately abolish the practice, the Union would be dissolved and quite possibly the tentacles of slavery would have been extended westward and above the 36.30 parallel of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. He decided to take a piecemeal approach and his Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the secessionist States. Looking back to our Founding Documents and our Founders he knew that initially keeping the union together would be the first priority and had to be the foundational predicate for abolishing slavery in all the States. These two points of reference informed Lincoln regarding the need for a piecemeal approach to the abolition of slavery. It is also important to note that the slave trade in the United States had been abolished by legislation signed by Thomas Jefferson in 1806 and that the Northwest Ordinance that was signed almost at the same time as our Constitution was ratified and also abolished slavery in all the Northwest Territories.

    I am 100% against abortion at any stage of a pregnancy, just like I am 100% against slavery in all its’ forms—there are more slaves today in the world than there were at the time of our civil war! And let’s never forget that 600,000 American souls died in our Civil War to free all the slaves living in all the states and territories. The rights of both the unborn child and the rights of a person living under any condition of servitude, slavery, indentured, or political oppression, are based on the rights of an individual’s “personhood” and free will. We are all created in God’s image—including the slave and the unborn child.

    I am so proud that Idaho has strong laws against abortion except in the cases of a medical necessity. In other more liberal states, I believe we should take smaller bites out of the apple, knowing that in time with abortion just like slavery, the whole apple will be eaten.

    I am also disappointed that many Christian physicians and nurses are not allowed to raise their voices in supporting the strict abortion laws in our state. Several articles in the Idaho Capital Sun about physicians leaving Idaho because of the restrictive abortion laws, did not include comments from Christian Health Care Providers who did support those laws—and there are many believers in the medical professions in Idaho.

    When deciding issues of a complex moral nature—several of these included the withdrawing of the right of habeas corpus in a state or local, Mr. Lincoln advised using the “necessary” test. Was it absolutely necessary to the war effort and the protection of Federal troops to withdraw the Right of Habeas Corpas? In so doing the “right of consent” and expectation of privacy were also withdrawn. Many human lives were at stake in a time of war.

    In the case of abortion, the question in many if not most cases should be—Is it necessary or is it just an act of convenience for an agent of a child who has the “duty to protect”

    Bill Maher had a take on this issue recently and I agree with the first part of his argument. His last statement is nothing less than evil in my opinion, but it is the reality that must be admitted to by many in the Pro-Choice Community.

    https://www.christianpost.com/news/bill-maher-respects-abortion-absolutists-its-murder-but-ok.html

    God’s Grace and Mercy have no limits. “Mary said yes”

  • Turkey Sightings at the Capitol

    Turkey Sightings at the Capitol

    My wife Lynn and I are privileged to live on The Plantation (now referred to as The River Club) golf course in Garden City. Every year we anxiously await the “coming home to roost” of the wild turkeys. This event seems to coincide with The Idaho Legislature winding down and always occurs during the last week of March or the first week in April.

    Not an anthropomorphist I, but as the years go buy and I get older it seems that some of the older birds are starting to look like some of our older legislators. It also seems that there is a hierarchy amongst and within the flock. The life expectancy of these noble creatures is two to four years, or 10-15 times less than some incumbents stay in our legislature. The DNA pool passes through generations in each case; the turnover is just faster for the birds, and it seems the whole flock benefits from the fast turnover.

    There is one “Tom” we have named “CW” who is constantly pushing younger birds into a line along a fence as though surveying a “metes and bounds” property line. This bird does not walk with a presence of dominance, but rather shuffles along and admonishes young sycophants at the oddest of times and locales—behind sheds and outbuildings for example and only at sunrise and sunset and on weekends—never in the light of day.

    Another “old Tom” is “JG” who struts his stuff with an officious air of benefaction, though he on prolonged observation he has no followers. The louder he gobbles, the further the other turkeys get away from him. I feel sorry for him because he doesn’t seem to have any friends or anyone who respects him.

    There is one hen that when she gobbles actually shrieks as though she is scolding. We call her the “minority leader”. She screeches over and again like a mother hen. She seems to have a following however of two younger birds who are always testing their limits. She is reluctant to give up control to these youngsters and seems to shield them from the realities of nature and life.

    Watching the flock is truly like watching politicians at our capital. A few of the birds are brave and fearless—I’ve seen them take on foxes and a mink. Most, I wouldn’t describe as timid, but probably reluctant to take a stand even if it would benefit the future of the flock. When danger approaches, they go to the back of the line.

    Here is what scares me. As I get older, and my imagination turns from non-fiction to fiction I am trying to reconcile the fact that the only time we see the turkeys is when the legislature is not in chambers or in committee meetings. Is there an actual anthropomorphic transformation from legislator to turkey? Maybe there is some sort of wizard in the depths of the capital that waves a wand that says “if you aren’t out of Boise by such and such a date, I will turn you into a turkey. Each day you remain in session I will transform two legislators into turkeys.” We did see more turkeys today than yesterday and I notice there are some absences in both the House and Senate.

    I need to say that I have tremendous respect for people who are willing to serve as an elected official at any level of government. I thank your families for serving and allowing for you to serve and for supporting you. For most it is “service before self” There are some ” older turkeys” however who seem to serve first themselves or some special interest. These are the ones that stay in town the longest after the session and frequent the Arid Club most frequently. Ironically, the open-faced turkey avocado sandwich is one of the best dishes on the menu, so I am told, and is a favorite of some of the “Old Birds” in the legislature.

    I am disappointed because promises were made two years ago about three issues and they have not been kept:

    1. Grocery tax repeal
    2. Property tax reform
    3. Department of Health and Welfare audits

    Even wild turkeys when they get into a grain field don’t “nibble around the edges”.

    We needed big bites on important issues. We need “noble and brave” political leaders not domesticated sycophants run by corporate handlers. We need more younger wild turkeys and fewer Frank Perdue (chicken farmer) “wanna-bees”.

    Now I know what it is like to be a Mets fan—Maybe next season. “Of all sad words of tongue and pen, these are the saddest, it might have been”.

  • We are a Christian People

    We are a Christian People

    Why is it that almost every year as if on cue a legion of pollsters comes out during the Easter season to inform us that church attendance is way down and that our society is becoming less religious?

    Gallup published such a poll yesterday 4 days prior to Good Friday. Only 21 percent of Christians attend church every week. 41 percent attend church at least once a month. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are the most observant with 67% attending weekly services. Evangelical and Baptist congregations report 44 % attendance and Catholics report 33% attendance.

    These numbers do not reflect how many people believe in God, how many families say grace daily and how many people routinely pray and read scripture. The fact that they have been trending lower is not necessarily a reflection of the traditional dogma and doctrine being taught by church leaders, but rather I believe the result of the secularization of all institutions, most importantly The Church. People are turning away from the church not because they are turning away from God, but because they are rejecting a secular humanistic doctrine that many churches and church leaders have embraced. Many of the churches and our church leaders are turning away from God—not WE, the Body of Christ.

    I pray that this rejection of progressive humanism will lead to another Great Awakening in our country. All around us we see the failure of societies being engineered by elite leaders and elite large corporations who no longer feel accountable or connected to their constituents or customers. It is not just the clergy who needs to stand up to materialism, but every believing person in every walk of life needs to witness and teach that we are first of all accountable to God, and secondly accountable to our families and each other.

    The march to utopianism has taken on many strategies over the past 140 years, but it has accelerated and taken on the mantle of a Trojan Horse using names like “social justice”, Black Lives Matter(BLM) Critical Race Theory (CRT), and intersectionality. Social justice was originally a theological term coined by Fr. Luigi Tipparelli and his student Pope Leo the XIII. In the famous Rerum Novarum and In Plurimus, Pope Leo rales against communism, socialism, fascism, and all “forms of totalitarianisms and human exploitation”.

    Over the past 30 years one of my heroes in the American Catholic Church Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, an immigrant he, has continually stood up to the modern day “social justice movement”.

    He stated on July 22nd, 2022, in Madrid Spain, “that an elite leadership class has arisen, one with little interest in religion, in local traditions or cultures. This elite class runs corporations, government at all levels, universities, the media and various cultural and social organization…to this group and its elite world view there is no need for an old fashion belief system or even religions. In fact, as they see it religion especially Christianity only gets in the way of building a brave new world”—a new world order.

    Many Protestant and Catholic Theologians are reluctant to step into the world of politics, but maybe framing the issue a little differently may help. I believe those still operating within “the church” need to understand that the modern-day secularism sees itself a “pseudo-religion” that attempts and rivals Christianity itself. They all claim to provide people with an explanation of the conditions they are living under. To some they even provide a meaning and a cause.

    I would like to compare the Christian story with the “woke Story”:

    As Christians we believe that we are all created in the image of God are blessed as called upon to be in union with Him and our neighbors. By His Mercy and His love for each of us we can be saved through His dying on the cross and resurrection. Jesus reconciles us to God and our neighbors. As Fr. Gomez points out by “working to build His kingdom on earth, working in confident hope that we will share in His kingdom to come.”. On the Cross Jesus died for all of us. In the kingdom to come there will be no black, white, red, yellow, or anything else. As our souls shall be judged in heaven, we should judge each other by “our hearts and the content of our character” Nothing else. That is true equality—not equity.

    The rival salvation narrative—new social justice story, being told by the elitist classes in media, government academia, and many but not all corporatists goes something like this:

    We can never know where we came from, but certainly we must share interests with people of common skin color, ethnicity, gender or position in society. Many of us are suffering through no fault of our own and we are oppressed by other groups in our society. We can only be liberated and find redemption through our constant struggle against those who oppress and suppress us.

    The battle for political and cultural power must be fought in the name of “Equity”. Karl Marx or Saul Alinsky preached the same sermon—the world is divided into innocents and victims, the oppressed and the oppressor, allies and adversaries. These “pseudo-religions” are not theology but materialistic philosophy. They deny the connection between the human soul and body and the transcendent nature of that relationship. They reduce what it means to be human to physical materialistic qualities. By not recognizing that we are all made in God’s image, including those with physical limitations, the poor, the elderly and the unborn and all those who need Christian Charity—are we all not in need of each other’s love(?) it is easy to separate us into tribes.

    Fr. Gomez in the final analysis of our “great divide” opines “that all utopian movements create the illusion that through our own political efforts we can create a “heaven on earth”. All the “isims” have failed for fifteen thousand years—the more modern ones have been the biggest failures. In denying God, these atheistic movements have lost the truth about the human person. This may also be the reason for their harsh treatment of Christians and Jews and their uncompromising politics. This is what has given rise to the “cancel culture”

    Remember, Jesus didn’t cancel anyone. The only commonality that really matters is that we were all made in the image of God.

    WE need another GREAT AWAKENING.

  • One Last Time in Support of Dr. Ryan Cole

    One Last Time in Support of Dr. Ryan Cole

    Last week I was fortunate to be in the audience for a Capital Clarity function at the Capital that featured Dr. Ryan Cole. His presentation, like all of his professional and political writings and presentations was factual and based on the very best science currently available. All my interactions with Dr. Cole since the beginning of the Covid pandemic when I first met him at his office in Garden City have been of a similar nature. He is a professional and worthy of the respect of all in the medical community.

    Dr. Cole has paid a great price for his outspoken opinions regarding Covid mitigation, treatment, tracking, and policy. He has been correct over 90% of the time in his opinions. I do not know the details of the actions taken against him by the various State Boards of Medicine, but I do know that many of his adversaries in the medical and public health communities have expressed to me satisfaction that he has paid a price for his “dissidence”—their words”.

    Nowhere in the press or media, or by any agency of government has there been a review of the State of Idaho Covid policy and response. In light of the fact that editorials were written in major Idaho newspapers by professional people asking for the revocation of Dr. Cole’s license, maybe a review of what The Governor’s advisory committee recommended, and what the various Public Health District Boards recommended would not only be fair to Dr. Cole and those identified as “dissidents”, but it could help us design better and more appropriate responses when similar situations arise in our State. There has not been to my knowledge a formal Morbidity and Mortality review of any institutional Covid responses. The Idaho legislature last week “punted” on appropriating money for such a review.

    Dr. Cole is an Air Force Academy graduate and graduate of Georgetown University Medical School. He did his residency at The Mayo Clinic in Pathology, and he has a special certificate in virology. There was and is nobody in our State of Idaho with equivalent credentials and expertise and who was more capable and knowledgeable about speaking to the Covid policies promulgated by people many who didn’t even have a medical or public health degree.

    Several of the people speaking out against Dr. Cole were attorneys or hospital administrators or worked in the insurance industry. They brandished a legal or administrative—bureaucratic credential that at least to the media who reported on these events carried more weight than the medical credentials of many in our state who disagreed with their policies. If you had 10 lawyers, 10 hospital administrators, and 10 administrators from the Department of Health and Welfare plus Dr. Cole around a large table, and the vote was 30-1 in favor of Covid policy “A” and Dr. Cole was the lone dissenting vote, who would you believe? The applied and practical knowledge of the one dissenting vote was far greater than the other 30.

    I call on the Idaho Governor or Legislature to appoint and fund a “Covid Commission” to review the State of Idaho’s Covid response. I call on all who wrote editorials or spoke out publicly against Dr. Cole’s position and when unable to refute Dr. Cole’s positions they resorted to personal attacks, to apologize publicly using the same media platforms that they leveraged during their personal attacks.

    I have no knowledge of the clinical, scientific, or administrative predicates that were used when Dr. Cole’s license in the State of Washington or The State of Idaho were reviewed, nor do I fully understand the actions that were taken by those Boards. I do know that Dr. Cole was supported in his clinical positions by some of the most respected clinicians and public health specialists in the world including Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Dr. Marty Makary, and the over 5000 signers of The Great Barrington Declaration almost all who have more appropriate clinical and scientific credentials than many who publicly criticized Dr. Cole in the Idaho media.

    I do know that in retrospect Dr. Cole was far more correct in his assessment of the data and the application of the science than the experts were—many who called for his license. Many who don’t have the courage to offer a public apology today.

    I won’t hold my breath waiting for an apology.

    One last item of note. Below is a video of Bill Mahr opining on these same issues that I have just written about. Though graphic at times it states the argument very well.

    Bill Maher Mercilessly Drags the Media for Being Dead Wrong About COVID (townhall.com)

  • The Politics of Medicaid

    The Politics of Medicaid

    Ten years ago, we were told “you can keep your doctor you can keep your plan” and Medicaid expansion will improve “access—quality-and cost” for everyone including those businesses that insure their employees and those individuals and families who insure themselves. Just ask patients in the Treasure Valley about how hard it is to keep your own doctor with insurance networks changing yearly. I am interested to see how the Saltzer Medical Group will resolve this issue with its’ new owner and if patients—providers—and insurance plans will all stay together.

    The connection between Medicaid Expansion and private commercial insurance was a concern of many who warned of the increased costs that were inherent in a flawed system of The Affordable Care Act. Reconciling the costs to providers and the prices charged by providers who themselves are subsidized by government to the tune of over 50% is best done in THE MARKETPLACE. The subsidy itself skews the economic signaling that creates efficiencies. And let us never forget the economic argument that those who were against Medicaid Expansion 10 years ago made. With the consolidation of health care providers into a decreasing number of “systems” and with increased demand for services, prices charged to patients would insure an overall increase in the cost of health care to society. Decreased supply and increased demand raises the equilibrium price point. Not to mention decreased access and quality.

    Hayden Dublois and Michael Greibrok summarized their research at Florida think tank FSG. in the March 8th Wall Street Journal. They reviewed Federal filings of over 4000 hospitals across the country. They compared the financial positions of hospitals in States that did not expand Medicaid to the hospitals in States that did—the most recent expansion State is North Carolina. As perfectly predicted 10 years ago a form of “price shifting” takes place in states that have accepted billions of Federal dollars to subsidize sub-par insurance plans. In states that expanded Medicaid hospital revenue shortfalls increased by 115%. In states that did not expand Medicaid shortfalls increased by 6%.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-medicaid-expands-hospitals-close-obamacare-states-health-insurance-policy-dad2d8ac?mod=opinion_feat2_commentary_pos1

    The design flaw in Medicaid Expansion—was it purposeful (?) was that Medicaid only pays 78 percent to providers compared to Medicare which pays about 80% of what commercial insurance plans can negotiate with providers. All things being equal Medicaid reimbursement rates are 64% of what commercial insurance pays.

    Hospitals and health care systems are in a “pickle”. They can ask state governments for more taxpayer money to further subsidize the cost of services, or they can increase what they charge those who use commercial insurance—businesses, individuals, and families. They call such a switch “cost shifting”, but it is really price shifting. Either way the person picking up the tab is the taxpayer—citizen—patient—constituent, with an increased tax or an increased insurance premium. Next time your health insurance premium goes up call your legislator. Then ask them why he/she continues to accept campaign contributions from the IMA/IHA and large hospital systems. Their health insurance premiums are paid for by the State of Idaho so individually they really don’t feel the pain that those paying their own way do. Come to think of it, taxpayers pick up that tab also.

    The soaring costs persist because with almost 100million people on Medicaid ,and the number growing—how many illegal immigrants are now being covered(?), the number of people on commercial insurance is decreasing. Their premiums go up, and the ability of the providers to price shift goes down. The need for further subsidies goes up. An increasing burden on a smaller number of people is a death spiral.

    Medicaid was designed for people living on the margins who through no fault of their own cannot pay for their medical care. It was not designed for taking care of able-bodied adults who do not have chronic medical conditions.

    The article points out the ultimate truth about the Politics of Medicaid:

    “The facts haven’t stopped Obama Care’s advocates from demanding that the 10 holdout states embrace this foolishness. The way they tell it, these states are heartless, leaving needy people out in the cold. Yet Medicaid expansion hurts the needy, since it forces some of the most vulnerable patients to compete with able-bodied adults for the same care, making wait times and health outcomes worse.”

  • Product Placement

    Product Placement

    I remember when I was a young boy the old guard that ruled professional golf criticized the new up and coming golfer Jack Nicklaus because he wore a logo—a “Golden Bear” on his golf shirt. He also signed a contract that year with Hart Schaffner and Marks and started his own clothing line. The old school purists said it was “advertising” and “unbecoming”.

    The next year every tour player was wearing golf apparel and using equipment that became a model for product placement and advertising in other industries. Arnold Palmer signed a Penns Oil contract that paid him more than he made playing golf. Remember “take care of the equipment”. NASCAR racing not only advertised on their cars, but their drivers and pit crews “rode for the brand” and carried the colors of any advertiser that would pay them a few bucks to use their bodies as a billboard.

    I was thinking that this could be a good way for our State Legislators, City Fathers, and other elected officials to make a few extra bucks by simply sporting the logos of their campaign benefactors and those lobbyists who pay for lunch “at the club” or for a pass to the Governor’s Cup. Instead of identifying as Dems, Progressives, RINOs, and Freedom “Caucetts” they could be for example the IACI, Dairymen’s, Hospital Association/Medical Association, Idaho Education Association Senator or Representative from District 19—for example. Full transparency I say with a capitalistic twist. Product placement for the politician!

    Like NASCAR or the PGA Tour, identifying with a sponsor could help both the sponsor and the player—elected official. I would also suggest that like NASCAR or PGA caddies, the legislators could wear “spiffy” outfits with space for advertising, and “bibs” over top with their names and Freedom Index number. By just looking at the elected official, you could marry the benefactor lobbyist with a vote. These outfits would of course be “gender neutral”. I think white bib overalls with a tucked in blue shirt would be perfect. Working class outfits for working class legislators representing working class constituent’s—how egalitarian! Even the lawyer legislators would have to conform to the dress code. Democrats would look like Republicans and all Republicans would look alike—kumbaya! Confirmation bias and a fashion statement all in one. The People’s Republic of Idaho! Take Back Idaho (TBI) would even endorse the project.

    One other thing. I think some of the lobbyists could wear similar outfits identifying who they actually represent. For example, the Idaho Medical Association could wear an outfit with Pfizer, Moderna, J&J, and NIH/CDC emblems. Some of the other lobbyists like the IEA could wear a special thank you patch that says, “there is such a thing as a free lunch”.

    I will discuss in future articles how Name Image and Likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal (TP) that have so improved college athletics, could be applied to all elected officials.

    “Ride for the brand” or letting the “brand ride you” are not what representative government should be about. Our elected officials should only ride for the people that elected them. Many of our “minor magistrates” have forgotten who they work for.

    Remember Property tax relief? Remember grocery tax repeal?

  • Upon Further Review

    Upon Further Review

    As we get into the last part of the month of March, and our legislators in Boise start getting cabin fever, I thought it would be a good time to see how the agenda that leadership put before us at the beginning of the session is working out.

    1. Property tax relief. Early on in the session several legislators asked to explore our current “mark to market” property assessment system, with a system more like a cost bases system for placing a value on real estate. With increasing property assessments, many seniors and those living just above the margins are having to sell their homes—crickets.
    2. Grocery tax relief—crickets
    3. DHW audits and audits of those in the private and non-profit sector who receive over $100million of transfer payments—crickets
    4. A formal investigation of the now bankrupt Idaho Health Data Exchange that has lost over $97million of taxpayer monies—maybe it is time for the FBI to get involved in this investigation! How many government agencies and branches of government can be allowed to continue to kick that can down the road?

    It really seems to me that many of our Republican legislators are more concerned with growing the size and scope of government and keeping revenues to all government agencies growing, than they are with putting money back in the pockets of citizens who are taxpayers. Are these guys representing the selfish interest of government or the interests of their constituents?

    When government grows—taxes have to grow and money in the pockets of individuals, families, and businesses becomes less available for groceries, mortgages and rents, college savings and retirement contributions.

    And here is what really sticks in my craw—As government programs grow in size, scope, and cost—let’s just focus in on Medicaid, individual citizens and businesses who pay their own insurance premiums, copays and deductibles are forced to pay more every year. Reimbursement to providers for both Medicaid and Medicare (not a State run program) are around 25% less than what commercial insurance pays. As the percentage of people on government subsidized health care increases, the everyday working stiff is paying more and more—but not those in the legislature or government employees or teachers who have the State pay for their health insurance. They don’t feel the pain that those who are covered in the private marketplace feel.

    So as health insurance premiums go up in the private sector, those in our legislature feel none of the impact of their own policies. We the taxpayers pay for their insurance—in addition to our own. They pay almost nothing!

    There seems to me to be an inherent injustice when legislators vote to increase Medicaid spending that causes their constituents to pay higher premiums for their health care and they feel none of the pain.

    It is time to start cutting the State’s budget and one way of doing that would over a period of 5 years make government workers and teachers pay their own way for health insurance. Increase their salaries and make them shop for their insurance plans and providers, just like the rest of us.

    Too many people slopping up to the trough I say.

  • This Ship is Badass!

    This Ship is Badass!

    It oftentimes becomes the job of the poet or great writer to encapsulate a feeling or idea in a few words, so that we can all remember and feel not only the emotion of the thought, but the veracity of what follows:

    “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” — Charles Dickens, TALE OF TWO CITIES

    “All Great families are the same…” — Leo Tolstoy, ANN KARENINA

    “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights….” — Thomas Jefferson, DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

    “Four score and seven years ago…” — Abraham Lincoln, GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

    In a few words, in a single phrase a great reality is transmitted through the ages. Maybe at the time the people reading or listening to those words don’t begin to understand or maybe they are lacking the perspective and context of history themselves to understand what is being transmitted from author to audience.

    Sometimes the emotion of a speech or a feeling one has when reading a great work of literature comes back to haunt us days and weeks and sometimes years later. I had such an experience last week when I watched the events at the Christening Ceremony of the USS Idaho on You Tube.

    Forty years ago, I served proudly on the USS Virginia that was a nuclear cruiser. I had the opportunity to interact with sailors and officers on the crew and the many shipyard workers who were members of various unions working on the ship. In both instances I was struck by how much each group cared for each other and how much the team of civilians and the team of military active-duty officers and sailors reflected the same values and virtues. Both groups reflected their service to a higher cause. There are often times an “us vs. them” mentality projected by the fake news media, and the ceremony seemed to go to great lengths to put to rest such a false narrative. In a world where false political divisions are used to create leverage in a political campaign, common cause, common purpose and common virtues are stories that are left untold. We share more as a people regarding our faith in God, our belief in Natural Law Principles, and the way we care and respect for each other, than those wishing to destroy our country from within are willing to acknowledge.

    Patriotism, militarism and nationalism are often times purposefully used in a derogatory and falsely interchangeable fashion. From the Greek “patriota” — from one’s father, patriotism can have a cultural, linguistic, religious, or even homeland connotation. Be careful when words like “Nationalism” and “patriotism are used interchangeably.

    I also think that patriotism and militarism are used improperly — especially in modern times. When I see shipbuilders standing in line overlooking their great accomplishment, or a Navy Seal Team unraveling the American flag at an isolated base ops camp, those two groups I believe share the same sense of purpose.

    Militarism does not show certain men to be more virtuous. The evil of militarism is that it shows many men to be weak. “The professional soldier gains more power as the general courage of a community declines. G. K. Chesterton Heretics.

    Mr. Chesterton continues that the military man gains the civilian power in proportion to civilians losing their virtues…there never was a time when nations were more militaristic, there never has been a time when people were less brave”.

    He was not talking about physical bravery or even intellectual bravery. He was talking about a moral commitment to civic responsibility.

    Throughout the ages the fact of the matter is that what attracts so many people to militarism is not the idea of courage, but rather the idea of discipline.

    The modern military including the building of a ship or a plane or the deployment of ground troops into dangerous territory properly requires the valor of individuals, but most importantly requires the miracle of organization.

    The interdependence and efficiency of our military and all of our society belongs quite as much to engineers, sailors, pipefitters and welders, as it does to teachers, and pasters, and those who drive trucks. All labor is virtuous. Labor for the greater good is to be highly esteemed. The real romance that the great authors write about — from the Bible — “in all toil there is profit” — Proverbs to Kipling, Tolstoy and Chesterton, is in the division of labor and the art of production and distribution. The same can be said for the writings of Adam Smith and Hayek, Von Mises, and Milton Freidman.

    The lack of patriotism is really a lack of involvement in the civic process — the lack of attaching oneself to any cause or community.

    Thank you to everyone that built the USS Idaho. Thanks to all who will sail it and use it as an instrument for Peace. Thanks to everyone who works to make our country better in their own significant ways. Thanks to the mothers and fathers who raised children to be patriotic — to be shipbuilders and sailors and contributing members of society.

    In one of Idaho Governor Brad Little’s greatest moments he opined on the podium on March 16th:

    “THIS SHIP IS BADASS.”

    Yes, it is, and hopefully our enemies won’t ever forget it. For me that ranks up there with “It was the best of times…”

    Photo Courtesy of General Dynamics Electric Boat

  • Idaho Loves Our Military

    Idaho Loves Our Military

    On Saturday, March 16th the fifth ship carrying the name USS Idaho will be commissioned at Electric Boat in Groton Connecticut. The newest member of the Virginia Class of fast attack subs is SSN 799 USS Idaho. Former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne will lead the Commissioning Committee made up of distinguished Idaho citizens, several who have themselves been in the nuclear Navy — “Nuke’s”.

    The Monday before the commissioning, an event was held at the Egyptian Theater in Boise featuring a PBS documentary about the history of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Featured speakers including former Governor Kempthorne brought out the close relationship between the U.S. Navy and Idaho. Over 40,000 sailors and officers trained on nuclear reactor prototypes at (INL) prior to their assuming their responsibilities on Navy ships and submarines. Many came back to live in Idaho after their service to the Navy including several of my shipmates.

    I served on the USS Virginia CGN 38 a nuclear cruiser. As the medical officer, I was also the “radiation Health Officer”. I did my reactor training at Ballston Spa New York, but of the 22 Nuclear Engineers “Nukes” on Virginia, all but two trained at (INL). The Commanding Officer of our ship Captain George Davis—later to be Vice Admiral Davis, served for one year at (INL) as a site manager.

    Idaho loves the military and the military loves Idaho. Unfortunately, our military is in decline because of progressive liberal policies. During the presentation at the Egyptian Theater, it was mentioned that we have 3 carrier groups currently “underway”. That is very different than being deployed—we are supposed to have 11 carrier groups in a state of operational readiness—the real number is estimated to be 7. In both the Navy and Air Force the operational readiness number for all air platforms is less than 50%.

    President Biden and apparently our Congress believe that in spite of increasing world tensions, now is a good time to place our military budget on a diet in 2025 and moving forward. The newest proposal is for a 1% increase in military spending—a 2% decrease when counting for inflation. The number this year is $850billion.

    The Biden administration is asking for a decrease in force size for all branches of our military. Recruiting numbers are down and retention of active-duty personnel—especially those with special skills like “Nukes”, pilots and weapons specialists is reaching a critical level.

    The US Navy will purchase 6 ships and retire 10 this year. One of the sister ships of the new Virginia Class SSN Idaho has been cut. Our advantage at sea with our submarine force—an advantage very much connected to Idaho at both (INL) and the Farragut Naval Base acoustic facility on Lake Pend Oreille is being threatened by the Chinese Navy.

    Progressives and liberals don’t care about National Defense. Today military spending is 3.2% of (GDP). In 10 years, the Biden budget projects the number to be 2.4%. As the world becomes more dangerous, our ability to protect ourselves is becoming suspect. Our enemies are watching. They will take advantage of even a perception of weakness and just think how much that will cost!

    Here is the scary number. Today our interest payment on the Federal Debt is higher than the amount we spend on our military. We are stealing from our children and grandchildren’s futures and their liberty, and very few people are talking about it. Now is the time to make a downpayment on the future of our country. If Idahoans love and respect our military, how come the members of our Congressional Delegation in Washington aren’t leading the charge against the cuts in the military budget?

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-defense-budget-pentagon-u-s-military-china-russia-israel-ukraine-ba7fd46b

  • Always Life First

    Always Life First

    I believe the progressive wings of the Democratic and Republican parties are going to make women’s rights and specifically access to abortion, a central part of their campaign this year. The issue is not complicated but has become nuanced and conflated with issues of claimed human rights, not necessarily individual rights and responsibilities.

    G. K. Chesterton famously opined that “the man who begins to think without first principles goes mad”. The “Christian right” has presented their case against abortion by meticulously documenting the moral Biblical and Natural Law Principles upon which we base our belief in the sanctity of life. We need to do a better job in expressing our own sinfulness and the need for God’s Mercy amongst all men and women. There is no sin greater than God’s love and forgiveness, and this should be our starting point.

    After 16-year-old Abe Lincoln became appalled at his first site of slavery while traveling down the Mississippi River in a flat boat, he struggled for half a lifetime about how to manage manumission. He hated slavery in all its’ forms, but chattel bondage and the claim of a property right of master toward slave was beyond any moral predicate that he could construct within his own heart. In order to confront such a well ingrained evil a long-term strategy needed to be developed. Even after his inauguration in 1859 in Chicago he didn’t know what that plan should be. He was a fierce abolitionist, but about emancipation and the road forward he struggled and had no concrete plans. It took him two years into his Presidency to finally find one.

    As Christians we maintain that life is both temporal and spiritual and begins at conception. There is no fundamental right to convenience. When one is confronted with the responsibility of another human being, we all have a “duty” to say yes. Mary “said yes”.

    My father was a Christian ob./gyn doctor who delivered well over 10 thousand babies. He performed 3 abortions. That should be the correct ratio of live births to abortions that we would hope to be possible in the distant future. In New York City amongst certain demographics there are more abortions performed than live births—and this has been going on for many years. To use abortion as a form of birth control should be just as hideous as a human owning a slave. Motherhood and fatherhood carry with it responsibilities and duties. Never the right to extinguish a life for convenience without a medical indication.

    Several years after I came to Boise in 1988, I took over the care of a patient from a surgeon who was retiring. As I attended to this wonderful lady in my office for her last post op visit, she asked me If I had any relatives in Minot North Dakota. I was born in Minot. She asked if my father could possibly have been a physician in North Dakota and I said yes. She then told me the story of how she had developed severe headaches while on a track scholarship at Iowa State. She went to the Mayo Clinic and was told that she had a pituitary adenoma—a brain tumor, that in the late 1940s would have required surgery with significant morbidities and even mortality. She came home from College the weekend before her scheduled surgery and presented to St. Joe’s Hospital in Minot again with a severe headache. My father happened to be on call and attended to her. He asked her a question that remarkably no one else had previously asked—”Could you be pregnant?” The answer was yes. The tumor in her pituitary was a physiologic swelling of the gland that was secreting hormones to support the pregnancy. Even though it was illegal at the time and my father risked his license if any of his colleagues had found out about his performing an abortion, the procedure was completed in his office 60 miles away in Mohall the next day.

    She went on to become a track star at Iowa State, then to law school and then to becoming a Justice on the North Dakota Supreme Court. Finally, after relating all this to me 50 years after the fact, she reported that she had 9 children and many grandchildren. None of this would have been possible if she had undergone complicated—in those days, pituitary surgery.

    Our focus should be open to all arguments about preserving and creating opportunities for life. Some attempts by those in the “choice” communities to extrapolate unique and clinically very different situations into the abortion argument—an ectopic pregnancy is itself a medical indication to first of all preserve and protect a mother and her future ability to have children, and if a D&C is part of that process, then the Cannon Law Principle of secondary intention should be operative. I would suggest that such a principle be adopted by the medical professions and consideration for civil statutes that incorporate secondary intention into the law should be considered.

    There is no sin greater than God’s love and forgiveness. Adultery, bearing false witness, if that weren’t the case there would be no politicians in heaven, covetousness—the list is actually endless. The medical indications would be difficult to list, and the judgement of clinicians should be respected—but certainly not abused.

    The issue isn’t complicated. Just nuanced. Always life.

  • Facility Parking and Mission Creep

    Facility Parking and Mission Creep

    It is becoming more complicated for me to understand what certain people in elite organizations actually do. The mission creep that has occurred in academia with the titles President of University or Provost is making the matter even more difficult. In the military there are charts showing the Chain of Command” which can always be found in every administrative office or can be provided upon request. In the civilian world these hierarchical charts are more difficult to find. Several months ago, I asked a City Father in Garden City for such a chart and was referred to their Web page. Not finding what I was looking for there, I was told a formal request would be required. In the cases involving the military, government organizations, or even in private for profit and non-profit organizations, I believe these hierarchical structures always grow in size and become more complicated without necessarily adding efficiency or productivity to the organizations.

    It is my opinion that as these organizations grow in complexity and their connection to the mission statements becomes more obscure, that a system of constant review of structure and process needs to be part of frequent operational audits of such organizations. When such a process becomes the norm, we could be well on our way to shrinking the size of government at all levels.

    I believe the problem of MISSION CREEP has become even more of a problem in structures of education. I recently found a quote attributed to Clark Kerr, many years the President of Cal Berkley that gives me pause to reflect about the function of college Presidents, Regents, Chancellors and their underlings. In 1957 Dr. Kerr opined that the function of a College President “was to provide parking for the faculty, sex for the students, and athletics for the alumni”. A simple mission statement I say.

    Around that same time George L. Cross PhD., the President of the University of Oklahoma opined as he was responding to a State senator’s question about a $5million increase in the University’s budget, His answer—”We are trying to build a University that the football team can be proud of.”

    Both answers in my opinion seem to be succinct, to the point and in retrospect honest. I don’t know what faculty and administrative parking at BSU is like, though it seems one has to be “tenured” faculty or at least a third level administrator to receive such a privilege and most of the faculty who actually teach students are “auxiliary and part time”.

    As far as the ‘sex” part of Dr. Kerr’s answer, I have very little hard data to make a credible assertion except to say where and when Medicaid eligibility for female reproductive services has been more available to students, those services have been increasingly more utilized with a spike noted in the pandemic years when students couldn’t participate or watch in person college athletic events. This was true knowing that “pre-enrollment” and pre-existing condition” restrictions are not operative with Medicaid insurance. This was true in locales with state supported and private institutions. I am only left to believe that with increased reproductive services access, we are seeing increased reproductive activity. I could be wrong, but several academic economists including Dr. Kerr have actually expressed a similar opinion over 60 years ago. I really don’t know how one could prove this without a double blind prospective “peer reviewed” study and even then, there would be issues of “informed consent” and the subjects being held to an “honor’s code”.

    In the new era of name—image—and likeness (NIL), and “the transfer portal”, the connection between scholarship and academic progress is an afterthought. The adults—administrators, faculty, and unfortunately coaches are using athletes as a cheap source of labor toward a financial gain of the university. I bet that the salaries of university Presidents and football coaches is directly proportional to the success of their athletic teams, especially football teams. This is nothing less than indenture hood. The athlete’s academic progress should be tied directly to their ability to continue participating. Knowing that less than 400 Division 1 football players even get an NFL tryout and knowing that those who make a team will be bankrupt 2 years after they are forced to stop playing is something a young athlete never thinks about. In the end their chance for glory and financial stability is through academics, not athletics.

    The College Presidents in the late 1950’s were prescient and honest. They have lived up to their original visions and mission statements. The maze of institutional hierarchies needs to be reviewed and streamlined. Our State Board of Education and our Legislature needs to stand up for our students and those who actually do the teaching of our students.

    Just as a suggestion, tying the number of scholarship student athletes who graduate from the same institution after five years, to the number of scholarships available to incoming student athletes’ year one, would incentivize all the powers that be toward academics and graduation, in addition to athletic performance.

    I, for one, still think faculty parking at BSU is a problem and needs to be addressed.

  • Healthcare through the eyes of a Physician turned Patient

    Healthcare through the eyes of a Physician turned Patient

    I am convalescing at home this evening after having undergone my second and hopefully my last total hip surgery. I related in an article 2 months ago how grateful I was to the entire OR crew at St. Luke’s in an article in The Gem State Patriot. My surgeon and friend Dr. Ron Kristenson led a team of over 40 people including pre-op, anesthesia, pharmacy, physical therapy, recovery, and post-op transition. Pre-op consultants in internal medicine and cardiology made big contributions during the process. Talent, competence, a work ethic, compassion, and focus are frequently referred to as the surgical virtues. They were 47 years ago when I trained, and they are today. Nothing has changed in that regard.

    What has changed are the tools of the surgeon. CAD/ CAM for humans. What is next 3-D printing on an operating room table? The entire operation, all the geometry and trig, the measuring—measure twice….” are done preoperatively with a MAKO CAT SCAN used as a template. What used to take 2-4 hours just 25 years ago now takes 35 minutes. The big morbidities and mortalities of heart attack, pulmonary embolus, infection and air embolus have declined exponentially. The Captain of the ship—the surgeon made technical and clinical decisions for sure, but this evening I would like to talk about “The Executive Officers” and engineers who controlled the process, cadence, and efficiency of the experience

    There were 6 RN’s that orchestrated my journey from the waiting area into the OR. They were the “Executive Officers”. They each were the center of one node of activity—the next node was dependent on the previous node for the patient to proceed through the system. These are technical systems. Redundancy is built into the process hopefully approaching “fail safe”, just like the activities in the cockpit of a plane or the bridge of ship. There was a lot of IT and maybe some AI working behind the scenes. But here is the point—the process of handing off information between the nodes will never be able to be handled by a computer or robot. Even the so-called robots used in laparoscopic surgery point out to us that robots really are simply—TOOLS, to be used by real people who through higher functions must deploy knowledge, judgement, and wisdom. AI and robots in a car or a plane or in manufacturing yes. Transferring knowledge about humans to other humans, not so much.

    Those who practice in the professions of engineering, law, the trades, medicine—and I very much include physicians, PA’s FNPs, pharmacists, physical therapists, and very importantly nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologists, uniquely exercise judgement where judgement is required. In any of those fields and others, where different options are available as solutions to problems involving people, the computer can sort out the options, but only a person can point those he/she is advising to where they want to end up. The same problem and options when applied to different people may end up with a very different solution. The computer is the tool. The professional is the craftsman. It will always be that way.

    The very last 10 mins of my stay in the recovery room was uplifting. There were many people going home that day and only three transporters to take them out in wheelchairs to their vehicles.

    My wait after getting dressed was 15 mins longer than my surgery and my wife was waiting for me in the parking lot. Patience is one of several virtues that I have been practicing with varying degrees of success for all my life. I have been told since I was a child that “I want for several of the virtues”, but most of all it seems patience tops the list.

    Talent, competence, an applied work ethic, focus, and compassion are the pillars of surgical education. When combined with a faith in God and prayer the pieces of the puzzle are able to finally fit together. The founders of St. Luke’s—Episcopal Ministers and lay people, and the Founders of ST. Al’s—Catholic Holy Cross Sisters all had as their foundation a faith in God.

    Many—not all, of the doctors, nurses, and technicians reflect and share the values of those who came before them. We have been so lucky to share with our colleagues and with our patients’ similar experiences. The pioneers that proceeded before us, understood the value of the doctor patient relationship and for most of them it was why they practiced medicine.

    When the wait for me became unbearable I made one feeble attempt to let somebody know about my place in hospital purgatory. After 10 years in retirement, I was reminded of the visual reprimand that seems to be ingrained in nurses and Catholic Sisters who teach 4th grade. So, I decided to do something that I will do more often from now on. I prayed silently in my wheelchair. I prayed in thanksgiving for the journey with its success and complications. I prayed for my wife’s journey for the same reason and with increased vigor. In silence my solitude and peace seemed to catch the attention of an elderly lady across the hall who also was waiting a long time. She too, started to pray, or maybe it was she who inspired me—I was on lots of drugs. Then the patient transfer aid came in the room, and I asked for 2 minutes to finish of my prayer. He agreed and he stood silently behind me. When I turned around his eyes were closed. So were several of the nurses down the hall and the lady across the way. I didn’t say anything, and we moved forward. When he dropped me off at the car, he said thanks for the prayer and I said, “same to you”.

    Pew Research estimates today there are 64% of our people in the USA that identify as Christians. Only half attend church regularly with about the same number that say grace as a family or pray together. They also estimate that the fastest “flight from faith” occurs in the top 2% of income earners and in academia. These are the people that are CEOs of large Fortune 500 companies, and that are teaching our children at Colleges and Universities.

    My own hope and prayer is that those individuals, at the top of the managerial food chain, those in the upper “elite” that sit on hospital boards, will take time to reflect on their mission. As you do, prioritize your actions and please think about 1. What you do? 2. How you will do it? And most importantly (this should be number 1) why you are doing it—to Glorify God. The many “worker Bees” that take care of patients understand all this. They deserve to be led by people who likewise reflect these values, or at least understand the moral predicate that was the inspiration for those founding fathers and Sisters who traveled across a great desert 135 years ago. It wasn’t money or status or a desire for political power that motivated them Only FAITH IN GOD. Only physical, moral and intellectual courage could inspire such a journey. A journey that continues today, continues to bare witness to their faith in God, but is becoming more monetized and corporatized across all institutions including business, education, health care and all levels of government

    Thanks to all who are taking care of me and my family. Our hearts are full of thanks, humility and gratitude.

  • We are all Americans

    We are all Americans

    We are now in Black History Month. How is a white person who was raised in a time of social and cultural segregation—in both the north and the south, and who has now raised a family and has grandchildren, supposed to feel and talk about our great American Sin—slavery?

    Lance Morro in The Wall Street Journal suggests that all people of all persuasions—including political and racial, should approach the subject with respect, reverence, curiosity, but never indifference. This week in many school districts in Idaho and Washington State there is a “winter break” with a long weekend in our schools. I am watching an ever-increasing lack of interest in both American History in general and Black History month in particular. I also see many professional educators exploiting Black History to create a false political narrative. There has been a suggestion of ‘communal guilt” and the need for “reparations”. Embedded in the Judeo-Christian traditions that serve as the moral predicates of our Country’s Founding, we understand the “the sins of the Fathers” do not fall on future generations—though elements in our legal code do not currently reflect this thought. Repentance across generations is possible, even for sins that we did not commit. But with repentance comes forgiveness. Forgiveness without mercy is not justice. Reparations across generations is not merciful or just.

    My own family history is quite conflicted. The Livingston’s of Camden Arkansas owned slaves and several family members fought for the confederacy. The Morrow’s fought for the North. One of my ancestors was wounded four times while fighting under Col. Custer in the Civil War, then fought against the Indians in the West. Looking back, he fought on the good side and the bad side at different times, but always on the American side. Arguments about abolition, slavery, “and the Indian situation” were and are complex and nuanced. We have learned that 5% of slave owners were former slaves themselves or mulatto—descended from mixed marriages. The number is higher in South Carolina and Louisiana. One of the largest slave holders in North Carolina was John Caruthers Stanley—a Black man whose mother was born in West Africa. The Gaskill’s in my family were Quakers, though several fought for the North and two were active managers in the underground railroad. I am sure that almost every family that can trace their roots prior to The Civil War, if they look hard enough, can find a similar nuanced and conflicted family history.

    What we can say is that slavery was a great evil that was eventually confronted and the price of 750,000 souls lost in our Civil War was only a down payment for the injustice of racial prejudice. Those battles are still being fought today in all sections of our country. The haunted sense of conscience will be different for people whose ancestors exploited fellow human beings who worked in the cotton and tobacco fields of the south, but equally also by those whose ancestors lived in Boston or Philadelphia and made a fortune in “the triangular trade”. Those same people should take pride in the courage of their ancestors who fought against slavery. History is full of personalities that are contradictory, conflicted, complicated mysterious, poignant and inspiring. Robert E. Lee inherited slaves from his wife’s father. When his wife’s father died, he emancipated all but the infirmed and the very young before the Civil War. US Grant owned at least one slave and emancipated all before the war.

    Thomas “Stonewall Jackson’s” family-owned slaves. Twice a day he read the Bible and prayed with his Black Servant and best friend in life Jim Lewis. Mr. Lewis was at the side of the General when he was killed by friendly fire prior to the Battle of Chancellorsville. Prior to the Civil War Thomas Jackson formed a School and Sunday School to teach Black children to read and write and perform mathematics. He was ostracized from his community in Western Virginia and threatened with civil and criminal litigation—but his school continued even after the Civil War and his death; graduating slave children who in adulthood would become businesspeople and leaders in their communities.

    Looking back, we should appreciate how nuanced and complicated these situations were and there were at least a few people who risked everything in helping Black slaves finally have an opportunity for upward mobility. The underground railroad, the establishment of schools, the Civil War itself are all testimony to the goodness of many people who in their time stood up to the evils of slavery.

    Please I pray, let’s not forget that slavery exists in our world today. Over 80 million people are believed to be living directly as slaves. Over 200million if political and religious bondage, incarceration and indentured hood and forced labor are counted. In our own country and State there are young children—girls and boys, who are “sex slaves” robbed of their childhood and free will. We don’t have to look back through past generations to define our commitment to removing slavery from our modern lives. We can see it as it crosses our Southern Border daily. If we look hard enough, we can see it at rest stops along major highways and in inner city encampments. We just can’t be afraid of looking and then acting.

    Wilberforce University was the first Historical Black College or University in our Country (HBCU). It was founded in 1856—four years before our Civil War and a period in our history marked and marred by physical bondage. It was founded by the descendants of freed Black slaves and members of the American Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) Its’ faculty today like in the past is surprisingly conservative—probably more conservative than most liberal arts or State Universities. The story of its’ survival during the Civil War and through “Jim Crow”, through the progressive movements of the early 20th century is a story worth coming to know during Black History month. Heartbreaking stories of bondage and cruel treatment are real, but so are the uplifting stories of perseverance and survival. The role of the Black Churches, Black educational institutions and the Black Cotillions and social clubs in our inner cities (just ask Michelle Obama) are no longer being told because they aren’t part of a narrative of victimhood and retribution.

    When reading about the investiture of the new President of Wilberforce Vann R. Newkirk PhD. I saw his valediction at the close of his first letter to the Wilberforce Community. His closing call to action ended with the words:

    Suo Marte—”By ones owns actions” “Pray to God like it is all up to Him, and work like the devil like it is all up to you.”—my Quaker Grandmother. A fall cry from today’s popular political narrative of victimhood and reparations. We need another “great awakening.”

  • Idaho’s Romper Room

    Idaho’s Romper Room

    Down at the capital this morning I heard a new term to describe the more progressive branch of the Republican Party in Idaho—formerly referred to as RINOs. The term was “Romper Room Republicans” I am sure the term was used in a pejorative fashion, but there were some very positive things about the TV show that aired nationally from 1953 until 1994.

    The show unfolded and had the cadence of an Idaho legislative proceeding. The first order of business was a greeting from the host or hostess followed by a prayer and The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of The United States of America. The second, third, and fourth order of business usually lasted about 60 minutes and consisted of games and storytelling—sound familiar? Unlike in our State legislature the cast which were 4–5-year-old boys and girls all with traditional pronouns, was rotated on a regular basis. Prolonged incumbency was not allowed, though a cast member with a special gift of unique “human capital” could be asked back for a second time—this was not the norm, however. No incumbency-legacy privilege in ROMPER ROOM.

    Etiquette and proper deportment were always emphasized on the show. Mr. Do-Bee (an oversized bumblebee) was one of the main characters—I was always suspicious of Mr. Do-Bee. He was too “goody-goody” for me, and he also seemed to give preference to little girls over boys having jumped on the band wagon of affirmative action early on in the game. All kinds of kid’s games were played, but never the big three—football, baseball, and basketball. And at the end of each session—unlike at our legislature, the children all prayed—twice in one day go figure! “GOD IS GREAT, GOD IS GOOD, NOW WE THANK HIM FOR OUR FOOD, AMEN.” On public TV! The participants were then given “free” milk and cookies irrespective of their being eligible for SNAP (food stamps back then). There was no legislation passed during these “Romper Room” Sessions so there were no lobbyists to pay for the milk and cookies, rather it seems the sponsors of the show who received government subsidies for sponsoring children’s educational material paid for the “free milk and cookies”—there was such a thing as a “free lunch” even back then—just not at a country club or Chandlers.

    A better description of the moderate branch of our Idaho Republican Party would be “corporate welfarists”. With over 50% of our States budget coming from the Federal government and being allocated via State agencies and the JFAC budgeting process, the two biggest groups receiving those funds—healthcare and education, have become supplicant to those programs and benefactors to the politicians’ distributing funds. A very bad place to be looking into the future if you’re a K-12 student or a patient dependent through no fault of your own on Medicaid, but who is seeing more monies being given to well Medicaid recipients instead of those who the program was designed to help. Access—Quality—Cost? Waiting times for some specialty office appointments for Medicaid patients in many cases exceeds 4 months!

    But here is where the ideas of “romper room” and corporate welfare get entangled. The “Mr. Do-Bees” in Republican leadership insist on publicly maintaining a façade of equanimity as they run legislative sessions and follow Robert’s Rules or whatever legislative rules they use, but behind closed doors they do all they can to marginalize their fellow conservative Republicans while allowing themselves to be used by the corporate lobbyists. I lived for 18 years in the South, and I know what it means when a political or economic enemy smiles at you and says, “Why God Bless your soul”. What happened at JFAC last week when the new budgeting process that had been designed last summer and was used to pass several agency budgets, was circumvented by the “MR. Do-Bee” corporate sycophants on the JFAC, was Romper ROOM with an “edge of vengeance” and Mr. Do-Bee was the ringleader.

    Politics is a contact sport especially behind closed doors. When fellow Republicans pull the rug out from fellow Republicans and work behind the scenes with corporate lobbyists and Dems to circumvent rules and process, then don’t expect the conservative wing of our party to stand buy and forget. What happened at JFAC last week wasn’t ROMPER ROOM and it wasn’t virtuous.

    Sometimes a bully needs to be bullied.

    Who is Idaho’s “Mr. Do-Bee” anyway?

  • Do We Know Who We Are?

    Do We Know Who We Are?

    I watched the Tucker Carlson—Vladimir Putin interview twice last night. Before I give my impressions of the interview, I want to note that there has been very little notice given to it by any in the mainstream media—including Breitbart and Fox. Could you imagine the “noise” if Bret Baier or Rachel Maddow had been able to “get” such an interview? The Washington Post gave cursory but critical coverage to the event. Professional, ideological jealousy may have inhibited the news media from commenting on a real news event that could end up over time having real consequences.

    I would also like to note that I understand that Vladimir Putin, the former head of the KGB has himself a history of violence and has been connected to evil acts against his opponents in his own country. He has been described as being ruthless. I would also like to add I believe him to be calculating. Most of all what came out in the interview was that he is incredibly smart and understands how the fractured pieces of the world came to be fractured. He has a deeper understanding of history and of economics than those in leadership positions in our country today. This fact came across in the interview and may be why those in the media and in the “ruling elite” don’t want us to know about the interview.

    He also understands our country better than the great majority of our politicians and those that lead our institutions and major corporations understand us. He noted that it had been a long time since he had talked to our President Joe Biden, but that didn’t really matter because he had been in contact with government operatives representing our government. He used the term “special services” to describe these operatives both on his side of the table and those representing Western European and American interests. Throughout the two-hour conversation I was impressed that he knew who the forces calling the shots in the West were and he recognized that our political leaders were supplicant to those in the “elite ruling class”—his words via an interpreter. I must wonder about the relationship of those in our country and the West in the corporate elite ruling class have with our own “special services—CIA and behind the scenes intelligent operatives”, and how they have manipulated the public through naive and uneducated sycophants in the media. Because of the indolent and relentless march toward a New World Order a corporate oligarchy has evolved in the West over the past 50 years that only now is being realized by WE THE PEOPLE. It behooves executives at Raytheon, Boeing and those companies that build tanks and supply ammunition to military campaigns throughout the world to “keep the fires burning”. Remember Eisenhower’s warning about the growing military industrial complex? The corporate interests are controlling our government in Washington DC just like they are doing in Idaho. Today it is not just the control that the military complex has over our government, but also other sectors of the economy like the health care and pharmaceutical industrial complex or the educational complex. Many of our legacy politicians are in on the game. Putin knows it and so should we.

    I can’t imagine our own President sitting across the table from Mr. Putin. I can’t imagine anyone in a leadership position in our government doing so. Those that go to Washington or Boise to serve WE THE PEOPLE, who early on in their careers bring to the discussion an understanding of our country’s history, an understanding of economics, an understanding of our people’s deep religious faith which is the basis of our culture, have many times—maybe more than many, succumbed to the leverage of the corporate lobbyists who in fact don’t represent WE THE PEOPLE, but rather those who believe in THE NEW WORLD ORDER of corporate rule. Can we all say “oligarchy”? If anyone know would know about coercive oligarchies it should be Mr. Putin.

    In the end I was left with the impression that Mr. Putin understands our country and the West better than we do ourselves. He knows the difference between the puppet master and the puppet. He certainly understands his position and the historical and cultural relevance of his actions better than we do. American arrogance is the antithesis of the concept of “American Exceptionalism” that is grounded in humility, reverence for God, a respect for our foundations of hard work and justice and most of all an understanding of who we are and where we came from. Mr. Putin understands American Exceptionalism. He understands and has a disdain for American and Western European Arrogance.

    Sun Tzu in his ART OF WAR admonishes us to first know ourselves. Only then must we strive to know our enemy. I am more afraid for our future because we as a people have lost site of who we are and where we came from, than I am of any of our enemies. The fact that at least one of our adversaries seems to know us better than we know ourselves gives me extra concern.

    WE MUST PRAY FOR ANOTHER GREAT AWAKENING.

  • Priority Inversion and Thrashing

    Priority Inversion and Thrashing

    Today’s article was inspired by my Pastor who knows far more about computers and IT than I could ever hope to learn. He told a story in a sermon about the algorithms that were deployed on The Mars Rover in 1997 that resulted in the delayed execution of a priority task that resulted in a near shutdown of some of the most important functions on The Rover.

    “In computer science, priority inversion is a scenario in scheduling in which a high-priority task is indirectly superseded by a lower-priority task effectively inverting the assigned priorities of the tasks. This violates the priority model that high-priority tasks can only be prevented from running by higher-priority tasks. Inversion occurs when there is a resource contention with a low-priority task that is then preempted by a medium-priority task.” — Wikipedia

    In essence something less important is getting in the way of something more important — sound familiar. We struggle with this every day in every aspect of our lives — both temporally and spiritually.

    It doesn’t matter if we are talking about a computer or our minds when an ever-increasing amount of processing power is used to decide what task to do next, or what problem to solve next, a limit is reached and we soon approach making no progress at all — in computer lingo this is apparently called “Thrashing”. My father often advised me to “set priorities” or “don’t sweat the small stuff”, or “keep your eye on the ball”. Needless to say, I have done more than my share of “thrashing” in my life.

    “See clearly” before doing a task was an admonition I heard frequently from two important mentors in my life — one a football coach and the other an organic-biochemist. Before running a play or performing an experiment see in your mind the process — cadence — and order of the task(s). This purposeful visualization involves seeing what is possible and recognizing what is not possible and not wasting time doing the impossible. It also requires setting a limit on what the task can accomplish — trying to do too much or trying to do what someone else is supposed to do leads to failure of the team running the play or doing the experiment — “do your job first”. FOCUS.

    I have said before that I have the utmost respect for our politicians and public servants that devote much of their lives to serving others. I feel the same way about other “servants” of the public — teachers, ministers, first responders and those in the military and medical professions. But in every instance the covenant between those serving and those being served should be well defined and “limited”. Those serving in a legislative body at all levels of government from municipalities to the US Congress take an oath or affirm their fidelity to The US and when appropriate State Constitutions. When asking for our votes they seek and establish a covenant between themselves and the citizens they represent. There should be no ambiguity about who they serve. They don’t serve the government bureaucrats and regulators who enforce their laws and policies. They don’t serve “stake holder” lobbyists and corporate interests. They serve citizens — period.

    I had several Garden City elected officials tell me that their support for a development was because they needed more resources and a larger tax base for future city services! Growing government should never take the place of “serving citizens” — constituents who supported and elected them. Can we all say together “Priority inversion(?)!

    Officials working in the legislative and executive branches of our State government should first serve the needs of citizens. Not teachers’ unions or large hospital system non-profits with 20% margins that receive fungible transfer payments via JFAC and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW), and then pay their executives’ salaries in the millions of dollars and make Medicaid patients wait many months for routine appointments and surgeries. Remember “Access — quality — care” and what about decreasing costs — to taxpayers and to individuals and businesses that use commercial insurance? — Priority Inversion

    What ever happened to grocery tax relief? Property tax relief? Audits for (DHW) and Idaho Health Information Exchange (lost $90million)? Legislators brag that they can “only nibble around the edges” of these big problems. Maybe the reason is because they are eating too much at the Arid Club lobbyist sponsored lunches — I hear the “tossed mixed rainbow salad” is preferred by many of our legislators, especially those who are into Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) — Priority Inversion

    At the Federal level, our government has one main function — protect citizens. Those serving take an oath or affirm to do so. Are they protecting our border and making sure our military is operationally ready? Recruitments are at many years low and so is operational readiness. Only in the fourth year of his term has Mr. Biden increased defense spending — the other three he decreased spending. And what about the spending of NGOs that are providing the logistical support for the mass migration of immigrants before they even reach the USA? Our government couldn’t provide for safe houses, medical care, and support a transportation network, but they can fund these processes via NGOs. Through these profits, non-profits, and NGOs our government is funding the migration — and few citizens know it. Our schools, hospitals, and city services are crumbling under the stress of programs that “didn’t see clearly” before they were started — Priority Inversion

    Governance through the implied social contract is simple. The outline for governance can be found in our Federal and State Constitutions. Our elected officials take an oath to God or affirm their allegiance to the process. If they lose sight of their oaths or affirmations or choose to serve government bureaucrats or agencies, or entities in the private or non-profit sector instead of serving the people, they aren’t doing their jobs. They are in fact participating in — Priority Inversion.

    And that my friends are why in my opinion there is so much THRASHING going on today in the halls of government at all levels.

    “Steady Even Pressure”

  • Idaho’s War on Fentanyl — Let’s Try Again on HB 406

    Idaho’s War on Fentanyl — Let’s Try Again on HB 406

    All one has to do to see the devastation that has been brought by drug use and its impact on the potential of human capital is to go to Pioneer Square in Seattle or go two blocks from Temple Square in Salt Lake City or go to Portland or any of our major cities. The evil of drug addiction has become ubiquitous in our society and has affected almost every family—including my own.

    Many on the political “right” especially those that identify as being libertarian or “libertine” have expressed opinions suggesting that the use of drugs—including Schedule One drugs like marijuana (MJH) and fentanyl should be liberalized or at least in the case of (MJH) down scheduled. Some have even opined that the active ingredient in (MJH) tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is less deleterious than ethanol (ETOH). Those who make such an argument don’t understand the pharmacology and biochemistry of the two drugs.

    I have written several earlier articles about this, but I was happy to see an article in last month’s New England Journal of Medicine entitled “Cannabis-Related Disorders and Toxic Effects” (subscription required) details the many physiologic and psychologic pathologies associated with acute and chronic (MJH) use.

    Alex Berenson’s book, Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence, has previously documented over 20 years of clinical research that refutes information promulgated from our own National Institutes of Health and Health and Human Services Department—and might I add members of the libertarian and progressive communities in our State. Understanding that our individual liberties are derived from God’s great gift to man (free will) one must begin to understand that any form of addiction is an assault on “free will” and individual sovereignty. If one believes in liberty, then any assault in any form on that liberty—especially when it involves our children must be confronted and destroyed. The liberalization and rescheduling of drugs—(MJH) or opiates like Fentanyl is such an assault.

    Those who participate in the commercial exploitation and assault on such individual liberty need to be prosecuted criminally—those who deal with drugs. Last year it was estimated that almost 100,000 people—the majority young people, died from Fentanyl overdoses. I have been unable to find the number for patients who have harmed themselves or others as the result of acute (THC) psychosis, but if you were to ask any ER doctor who works in a big city, they would tell you that it is very common.

    (MJH) use is dangerous in its’ acute setting and long term it has been recognized to impair cognitive function. According to an article written in the 01/22/24 Wall Street Journal by Allysia Finley (MJH) use is more common in young people (18-22) than (ETOH)—less than 2% compared to 6.8—11%. Similarly, in 30-year-olds the same study from the University of Michigan reported 11% daily use of (MJH). This in light of the fact that (MJH) can precipitate acute psychotic reactions in those who have never used it and in those who use it frequently. It can also exacerbate psychotic episodes in those who carry a previous diagnosis of “psychosis. An abstract from the Journal Permante that reviews articles in the Psychological literature explains my position:

    “There is strong evidence to suggest that chronic and early cannabis use increases the risk of developing a psychotic disorder, and there is at least moderate evidence that suggests ongoing cannabis use among individuals with a psychotic disorder worsens clinical outcomes (e.g., decreased psychiatric medication adherence, more frequent psychiatric hospitalizations). “

    I am a proponent of criminal justice reform. I do not believe in mandatory sentencing of criminals. I do believe in prosecuting and sending to jail those people who are dealing in drugs. There is a fine line between “dealing” and “distributing”. For example, what about a high school kid that habitually gives his friends schedule one drugs like Fentanyl or (MJH) without charging them? Maybe if mommy and daddy are paying for the drugs like what happens at so many well-to-do Idaho High Schools accountability and mitigation could be better directed? Should there be some culpability for them?

    A simple law like the proposed Idaho House Bill 406 is not capable of resolving such situations that are nuanced. I am also uncomfortable with a legislative body prescribing a sentence on a citizen who is not even sitting in front of them any more than I am comfortable with overzealous prosecutors. I still believe in the process, and I have to trust judges. If judges aren’t doing their jobs they should be fired or recalled. I do believe we have made progress with “Drug Courts” in our State. Above all we should do everything we can to keep drugs out of the hands of vulnerable people.

    We should not down schedule either (MJH) or any of the opiates and their derivatives. I will continue to support law enforcement and our Governor in fighting the ravaging effects of drugs on the people of Idaho—lest we end up looking like Seattle or Portland. WE can do better than House Bill 406.

  • Can We All Agree on at Least One Thing?

    Can We All Agree on at Least One Thing?

    Several years ago, I was honored to have lunch with one of the “Grand Dames” of Idaho Republican politics. She and her husband had built several businesses and raised a wonderful family. Her children had built their own businesses, and one became a lawyer. The lunch occurred during one of the many debates in the Idaho legislature over Medicaid Expansion. At the end of our lunch, this wonderful spry septuagenarian said to me—”Whether you are in Washington DC or Boise Idaho politics all comes down to three things—power, money, and sex and it doesn’t matter what political party you are in or what ideology you profess”. I feel marginally qualified to talk about the first two issues and less qualified to talk about the latter.

    My mother who in Ohio had run many political campaigns several at the highest levels of State and Federal government had opined in a similar fashion at her retirement dinner celebration over 20 years ago. These two women, surveying not only the process of governance but also the very different process that is politics, at the end of their careers, may have been “jaundiced and hardened” but they were at least realists.

    So, I believe that we can see in the deep division in the Idaho Republican Party today, elements of exactly what these two wise ladies were talking about. I believe that the conservatives and moderates in The Republican Party agree on 70-80% of the issues that are being contested today.

    Where we disagree is on several social issues and just as importantly on the size of government and the process of governing. More specifically I believe that conservatives and democrats alike in our State are upset about their access to governance. When the establishment ruling monied class in our state control the corporate—lobbyist—bureaucratic deep state both sides believe that they don’t have a voice in government—at City Hall and in the State Capital. When the teacher’s union (IEA) and the hospital medical establishment (IHA/IMA) cast an influence over the budgeting process—2/3 of the State budget is allocated—and or distributed to education and Health and Welfare with 45% of those monies coming from the Federal government, then WE THE PEOPLE feel marginalized. Last week I watched several power point presentations presented before legislative committees by lobbyists that were polished and lasted well over 10 mins. I also watched several citizens before committees who were told the length of their presentations could only be 5mins. This was exactly the experience Citizens had in Garden City during hearings pursuant to a Special Area Permit (SAP) application by a developer. The developer and agents acting on behalf of the developer had 5 years to prepare their presentation and contributed to the political campaigns of the city fathers who would ultimately hear and rule on the application. The applicant had unlimited time before both Planning and Zoning and City Council. Individual citizen objectors were allowed only 5 mins.

    I mention our personal experience before The Garden City Fathers because City Council and (P&Z) should be as much as possible apolitical and non-partisan, but the issue is the same as what happens before our legislature and in Washington DC. Corporate interests and lobbyists with money—much coming from out of state, have an unfair advantage over everyday citizens—we are who our elected officials are supposed to represent—or not(?)

    The issue is “power and money” in each instance, and I believe after being elected to office many—not all of our elected officials, act as if their responsibility is to the best interest of the City or the State, and not to the people who elected them. “Power and money” in politics before an election, needs to be divorced from money, influence, and favor during the course of governance.

    I believe much can be done by all sides to decrease the influence of money in our State’s politics. Decreasing the size of government, decreasing the cost of government, decreasing the influence of special interests needs to be a priority for conservatives and moderate Republicans and Democrats.

    The voice of individual citizens needs to be the priority, and this can only be done by decreasing the amount of money and influence of special interests.

    As a Christian Conservative, I am Pro-Life, anti-drug, and pro-Second Amendment just like our Governor. Unlike our Governor, I am against the disproportionate influence that corporate special interests have on our politics and governance and the inevitable expansion of government that corporate interests have affected, instead of listening to the voices of WE THE PEOPLE. Why not an independent signed outside partner’s audit of the (DHW)? Why not a formal review of the COVID policies implemented during the political pandemic—just like many other states have done? Why not audits as a condition for future payments to those organizations that receive over $100million of transfer payments? Why not an independent signed partner’s audit of the Bankrupt Idaho Information Exchange—Where did $96million go prior to that organization prior to bankruptcy? CHINK-CHINK. The sound of special interest campaign financing is early on in the political season barely audible. Wait till the primaries and then the general election when the change in the pockets of the “little guys” will not be heard.

    It will take personal and political courage for our elected politicians to stand up to the “special interests” who not only fund their campaigns but who also court favor with the agencies who distribute transfer payments—to the corporations and non-profits. It is a vicious cycle of symbiosis and those leaders in our government who stand up to it will have my support—at all levels of government.