We have a problem where I live every spring when the runoff from out winter snowpack in the mountains raises the flows in the Boise River. When that happens the animals that take refuge along the river find their ways into the basements and yards and ponds just a few feet above the river banks. […]
Category: John Livingston
The White Coat
I have noticed over the past 12 years that a very small number of physicians have posed with politicians in their “white coats”. There are over 3000 physicians practicing in Idaho today and when a small group 5, pose in the capital building in their white coats the general public may believe that this small group is […]
The “Varsity Blue” DOJ investigation into College Admission cheating and scamming by people and families of means is consistent with the narrative today that there are two separate classes of people. Those in the upper ruling classes who believe that they can play by a very different set of rules and those in the middle […]
Medicaid: Gaming the System
We hear from all quarters that health care is a complex issue and solutions are difficult to implement. One political faction argues for a “single payer” command control Health Care system. Conservatives like to point out that we haven’t had an unfettered health care market place since 1965 and the problems we have today with […]
Late last week Idaho Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin posed with and then removed on Facebook a brief meeting she had with two members of The Three Percenters. This group is described by Jeff Taggert in his most recent Idaho Politics Weekly post as being “wacky and extremist at best”. The group met with and posed […]
When I listen to progressive socialists talk about morality, I first have to ask what is the bases of their moral position? When someone says a “bridge is immoral” I have to ask how can a thing be immoral. A person or idea can be immoral. Can a hamburger be immoral? Thomas Aquinas defined the […]
Minimum wage and Medicaid Expansion are programs designed to help those on the margin. Unfortunately, those who seem to assume a position of moral superiority—in days past, they were called “do-gooders”—don’t understand the lessons of economic history and don’t realize that the programs that are supposed to help those in need actually hurt innocent citizens […]
Any discussion regarding abortion rights should acknowledge certain fundamental truths. First of all, there is no sin greater than God’s Love and Grace. God loves us and wants us to experience his love. My Quaker Grandmother told me to always look into the faces of people—strangers and those we hold close and understand that each […]
One of many definitions of a “libertarian” is that they are a fiscal conservative and a social progressive. Historically libertarian political philosophy is predicated on the US Constitutional principles of reserving whenever possible political power to the people and the States as secured in our 9th and 10th Amendments in our Constitution—the so called “Federalist […]
Health Care: Cost vs Price
We are so lucky to live in a State where we have an incredible group of health care providers. Doctors, nurses, and technicians, Family Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants are as knowledgeable and skilled as any place in the world and I have practiced all over the world. That being said there were two recent […]
What is Virtue Signaling?
I never heard of the term “virtue signaling” until last Sunday when I listened to news reports about the confrontation between the Covington Kentucky Catholic High School students and the Native American Elder. Now I know what “virtue signaling” is all about. In retrospect, I have probably been guilty of “virtue signaling” myself, maybe even […]
Over the past 7 years and since the time of the passage of the ACA, I have listened without interjecting myself into the debate about the efficacy of moving forward with—Medicaid Expansion, SHIP, and Access to Health Care to those on the margin. This year the debate surrounding Health Care will begin to discuss once […]