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John Livingston News

Conservative or Progressive – It’s Your Choice

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 […]

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John Livingston News

Why Legislative Do-Gooders Hurt More than Help

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 […]

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John Livingston News

Would You Take the Life of an Unborn Child?

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 […]

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John Livingston News

The Medical Problems with Legalizing Marijuana

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 […]

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John Livingston News

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 […]

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John Livingston News

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 […]

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John Livingston News

Single Payer Medical Care is not the Answer

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 […]

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John Livingston News

Health Care is neither a Right nor a Common Good

Last weekend was a great moment in time for the State of Idaho. Seeing power being transferred to a new generation of Idahoans and fresh young legislators eager to represent their constituents is always uplifting. Unfortunately, we heard the echoes of past debates when proponents of Medicaid Expansion again asserted that all people have a right […]

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John Livingston News

“Governmentalist” – Another word for Government Healthcare

Last week I took a trip back to my home State. I helped teach a group of military surgeons from all over the world at the National Center for Medical Readiness at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton Ohio. We had several hours at the end of the course to talk about the State of […]

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John Livingston News

Liberalism is a Disease

For years I have tried to relate my own personal experiences with friend’s colleagues and family members and the events being played out politically today. It is said that “all politics is local” My mother and father came from a generation that lived through the great depression and World War II. They realized through real-life […]

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John Livingston News

Medicaid Expansion Who’s Being Robbed?

I would like to refer to the Wall Street Journal articles “Obama Care is Robbing Medicaid’s Sickest Patients” by Alyssa Finley and “America Is Running Out of Family Caregivers, Just When It Needs Them Most” by Clare Ansberry. These two articles describe the position that those who are against Medicaid Expansion in Idaho should try to […]

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John Livingston News

Fake News and the Swamp Needs a Brain Scan

When I was 5 years old, my Quaker grandmother told me to be careful of the thoughts I think. Thoughts turn into words, words turn into actions, actions turn into habits, and habits define a life. Before the end of the 20th Century, neurobiologists believed that the brains of humans reached full development around the […]

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