I Once Was Blind but Now Can See

Part 1 — in the Beginning

For almost a decade, we at the Gem State Patriot have been trying to get Idahoans’ attention to the fact that too many of its government officials have been growing more corrupt every year they remain in office. The challenge has been to wake them up so that they can actually see why and how Idaho is being changed by the big money elitists who have taken over our state. We hope after reading this three part series they will think really hard about who they vote for in the next election.

It pains me greatly to think about how much damage an organization like IACI has done to the state of Idaho and its citizens. They have single handedly taken over our state from a political perspective as their political PAC’S helped put into office some of the most egregious legislators Idaho has ever had in its history. In twenty years they have moved Idaho from one of the most conservative legislators of our 50 states to a moderate mix of monkeys, puppets and political hacks who no longer answer to the people but to those who fund their campaigns. Idahoans have been so busy hunting, camping, riding ATV’s, watching sports and drinking beer that they have allowed these corporate elitists to stealthily take over our state in just two decades. From Kempthorne to Little it has been a quick jump from sanity to total insanity with Butch Otter being one of the primary movers in turning our state from patriotic blue to a bright purple.

Let’s take a trip through history and see what our illustrious elected representatives of the people of Idaho have done for our state. Kempthorne served two terms as Mayor of Boise from 1984 till 1992 when he pursued Idaho’s senate seat formerly held by Steve Symms by defeating Democratic candidate Richard Stallings. During his six years in the senate, he was most known for sponsoring the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 and introducing amendments to the safe drinking water act. Kempthorne decided not to run for a second term but instead to run for governor when Phil Batt decided to retire at 71. Kempthorne won in a landslide receiving 68% of the vote and again won in 2002 but with only 56% going into campaign debt by out spending his opponent Gerry Brady by $200,000.

The big question was how many of the IACI members and Idaho’s big money elitists were a part of reducing his campaign debt. After his second term, he was appointed by President Bush as the 49^th Secretary of the Interior. He accepted the nomination in May of 2006 and resigned as governor of Idaho putting Lt. Governor Jim Risch in his seat. Before leaving office, he appointed Brad Little as a Senator representing district 8 which at that time covered part of Gem County, Boise, Valley and Adams counties. This was the beginning of the Ascension of Little from Chairman of IACI to his current position as governor. IACI clearly had a plan to eventually take over the political arena of our state and this was just the beginning.

Kempthorne held the record for protecting fewer species over his tenure than any Interior Secretary in United States history, a record previously held by James G. Watt for over 20 years. Kempthorne was never a man of the people but just another politician who weaseled his way to the top through the auspices of lobbyists’ money. What makes his record more interesting is that his appointment as Secretary of the Interior was contentious from the beginning because of his history of receiving large campaign contributions from corporations based in Boise, (IACI members???) many of whom were natural resource extractive industries such as Boise-Cascade and J.R. Simplot both companies had long histories of EPA violations. Among his many other previous, large campaign contributors were Hecla mining, ASARCO, and FMC Gold.

He was confronted with the issue of his close connections to environmentally damaging industries by his Idaho constituents and lobbyists seeking measures of environmental preservation and protection. Kempthorne gained a reputation as a man known for fostering intimate coziness, and open door policies, with corporations irresponsibly handling natural resources, particularly in the western states, and as one who would simply ignore the very individuals affected by and knowledgeable of the corresponding environmental degradation.  This was the beginning of the corporate elitist i.e. IACI’s rise to power in our state.