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Bob's Words of Wisdom

The Cost of Growth

There is an old saying, “Be careful what you wish for as you might just get it.” Most people don’t realize that, along with the positive changes, there are many negative consequences that accompany growth. Idaho is a great place to live, and much of that has to do with the fact that it still […]

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John Livingston

Idaho DOGE is Not DOGE

Elon Musk and his “band of merry guys and gals” has created controversy and consternation in the hearts of the entrenched political bureaucratic deep state in Washington DC. We need the same thing to happen in Idaho State Government, and the entrenched Republican establishment in Boise is doing everything within their power to not let […]

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John Livingston

A Call for Trump & Musk – Idaho Accountability

Elon Musk and the Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Steve Davis—both rocket scientists, and the six DOGE executives running the DOGE-XAI software reconciliation of government accounts, were interviewed by Bret Baier on Fox News yesterday. A couple of observations and then some comments about the media narrative surrounding DOGE. First […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

Wokeness in Rural Idaho Classrooms?

What is Going On in Salmon School District No. 291? This article courtesy of the Idaho Freedom Foundation Kids should not have to be subjected to sexually and politically charged flags and banners in their junior and senior high school classrooms. They should not be punished for expressing support for traditional family values in school […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

The Wave

Legislators may campaign as true conservatives but once elected they usually drift towards the establishment deep state. Surprisingly the reason is psychological. The 1984 Olympics were in town and my brother had Olympic soccer match tickets at the Stanford Stadium. Having “attend an Olympic event” on my bucket list, I enthusiastically accepted the invitation. The […]

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Bob's Words of Wisdom

Idaho was DOGE before DOGE existed?

Over the past week, we have had a lot of talk about our DOGE Governor Little with his signing of the School Choice Bill that will give 10,000 students out of over 300,000 the ability to chose the school they want to attend. This amounts to $50 million which is such a miniscule amount when […]

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John Livingston

The Arc of Mischief

I have been an observer of local and Idaho State politics for years. I have never been a lobbyist or a corporate insider. My four years on the Your Health Idaho Health Insurance Exchange Board allowed me access to both the Department of Insurance and The Department of Health and Welfare. I learned that many […]

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John Livingston

The Price and Cost of Medicaid

After the last legislative session, a special task force was convened to explore how to save money in the Idaho Medicaid program. There are only three ways to save money in the Medicaid program: reduce the number of people on Medicaid, provide people with fewer services, and reduce payments to providers. After the 2024 session […]

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John Livingston

Time for an Idaho DOGE

Political transactions and economic transactions are very different. In most of our daily economic transactions we give up something we want in the form of a tangible asset or our own valuable time. Since the days of the barter a tangible representation of the value of the asset or our time is needed to facilitate […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

How our Tax Dollars are Being Spent

This article is courtesy of the Idaho Freedom Foundation The Idaho Freedom Foundation has written extensively about Idaho’s budget and will continue to do so. Numbers and financial analyses can be difficult for people to understand who don’t focus on it. Let’s discuss some of the basics. Let’s start with a few terms from the […]

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Podcast

Will Idaho Boldly Move Toward Educational Freedom of Choice?

Understanding Idaho House Bill 1 A Conversation with Ron Nate, IFF President, & Tea Party Bob LISTEN HERE: IdahoRadio.com Idaho’s legislature is currently considering what could become the nation’s most comprehensive school choice program. House Bill H.001, sponsored by Representative Clint Hostetler, proposes a groundbreaking approach to education funding that would offer refundable tax credits of […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

Labrador Letter – Idaho Lands in Idaho Hands

Dear Friends, This past Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would not hear a Utah public lands lawsuit filed in August of 2024 to move undesignated Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands to individual state control. This decision was made without consideration of the constitutional merits of the case. I filed an amicus brief […]

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