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We are asking for your help!

Dear Friends: We at the Gem State Patriot are a not-for-profit service for the people of Idaho. We have been serving Idahoans for nine years and we seldom, if ever, ask for donations. Unfortunately, like so many other conservative organizations, we suffer from time to time from a lack of recognition of the services we […]

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Bob's Words of Wisdom

“Kill Bill”

No, Kill Bill is not about the movie but about how our legislature is hamstrung by a group of committee chairmen who hijack good bills and make sure they are never voted on. This is nothing more than a legislative veto and should no longer be tolerated. This is not a one-off but a consistent […]

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Podcast

A Closer Look at Failed Priorities and Wasteful Spending in Idaho

A Conversation with IFF President Ron Nate & Tea Party Bob Podcast Notes by Bob Neugebauer The Idaho legislative session is approaching its conclusion, and the results are profoundly disappointing for fiscal conservatives. My recent conversation with Idaho Freedom Foundation President Ron Nate exposed how legislative leadership is deliberately blocking critical reforms while pushing wasteful […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

Lessons Learned

Wisdom is the thing you get right after you need it. At the recent Kootenai County Republican Town Hall, we got played. Agitators successfully manipulated the situation to fit their narrative. Looking back, it’s clear it was a planned, practiced, and coordinated effort. President Trump posted: “Paid ‘troublemakers’ are attending Republican Town Hall Meetings. It’s […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

Labrador Letter: Idaho’s Defense of Life Act

Dear Friends, I’m pleased to share the Trump Department of Justice dismissed the previous administration’s attack on Idaho’s Defense of Life Act. I have been fighting against the Biden Administration’s twisted interpretation of federal statutes to keep individual states from enacting pro-life laws for the last two years, and this dismissal is a welcome relief. […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

President Trump Orders Expansion of American Timber Production

President Trump issues new Executive Order: Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production Policy Paper: Enhancing Wildfire Response and Forest Management Through Rangeland Fire Protection Associations (RFPAs) By Viki Purdy County Commissioner of Adams County Abstract Wildfires have become an increasingly severe and costly issue in Idaho, with nearly one million acres of federal land burned […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

Idaho Republican Party Issues Statement Supporting KCRCC, Reaffirms Commitment to Free Speech and the Rule of Law

Boise, ID – March 7, 2025 – The Idaho Republican Party (IDGOP) today announced its official position supporting the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC) following recent events at a legislative town hall in Coeur d’Alene. The Idaho GOP State Party stands firm in our belief that free speech is the bedrock of a free […]

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John Livingston

It’s Not Too Late for Audits

In a Feb. 6th Newsweek report by Martha McHardy cited below, the progress made in the 11 States that are initiating DOGE-like programs to cut waste and State government inefficiencies, is reviewed. Since January I have been making a siren call for such a program in Idaho. The problems with the LUMA accounting and reconciling […]

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John Livingston

Walls and Bridges

In February 2016, Pope Francis said that “a person who thinks only of building walls, wherever it may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian.” I was reminded of those words as I was watching President Trump’s speech before Congress last week. The theme of “WALLS AND BRIDGES” has been applied most often […]

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John Livingston

A Tipping Point

Adam Ferguson was an eighteenth-century political scientist and economist. He was a Scottish contemporary of Adam Smith. His work is reviewed in a recent Hoover Institute paper by Niall Ferguson entitled FERGUSON’S LAW DEBT, SERVICE, MILITARY SPENDING, AND THE LIMITS OF POWER. In his 1766 paper Adam Ferguson identified what today is being called the […]

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Bob's Words of Wisdom

Is Idaho and our Country Heading in the Right Direction?

There was lots of cheering this week as Governor Little signed a very minimal School Choice Bill. Let’s face it folks, the only reason he signed this bill is because Trump gave him kudos for our legislature getting this bill passed. To be sure, the teacher’s union and democrats are screaming that this is the […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

Citizens Should be Concerned About the Rise of Corporate Lobbying in Idaho

As President Donald Trump and DOGE push for reforms at the federal level, many large corporations are shifting their influence and strategies to the state level. This shift is particularly evident in Idaho, where corporate lobbyists and industry associations are playing an increasingly dominant role in funding and influencing legislators to shape legislation. Legislation that […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

AI Action Plan

Keeping to his promises, President Trump is fulfilling two Executive Orders (EO) of January 23, 2025, to develop an AI (artificial intelligence) Action Plan with a new EO. A couple of individuals who will lead this will be AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks, and Mike Waltz, National Security Advisor. Though not advertised very well […]

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