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John Livingston

Medicaid is the Ticking Economic Time Bomb

In light of the Idaho Republican House of Representatives “kicking the can down the road” regarding our State’s ever-increasing Medicaid budget and recognizing that when the Federal match for the expansion program will most likely drop from 90/10 to 80/20 and the regular Medicaid match will drop even more when the Republicans in Washington regain […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

Suggestions for the Idaho Legislature

Greetings Idaho State legislators: cc: Governor Little and Lt. Governor Bedke: Some items to consider: TAXES: The Idaho Tax Commission is canceling the Circuit Breaker Program for many seniors on fixed incomes because the inflated property values has disqualified them. A friend with a home that has been paid for years lost her Circuit Breaker […]

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John Livingston

Capitulation

There seems to be little appetite amongst the rank and file in either the Idaho House of Representatives or The Idaho Senate to address the real “Elephant in The Room” that will eventually—sooner rather than later I believe, come to have a real negative impact on Idaho families, businesses, farmers, and ranchers. CORRUPTION in government […]

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John Livingston

The Smell of Money

My wife and I passed the Capitol on State Street yesterday on our way up to Table rock to look at the Elk herd wintering on the Boise front. There was little going on at the Capitol inside or outside four days before Inauguration Day. We didn’t see any Elk, but we did see a […]

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Bob's Words of Wisdom

Mike Moyle Idaho’s new House Speaker “A Proverbial Fence Sitter”

While I have a lot of respect for Idaho’s new House Speaker Mike Moyle, there are better qualified members of the House who could have filled that position. All you need to do is see how he has organized the House committees to make sure he has complete control of what bills get passed and […]

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John Livingston

The Right Man for the Job

I am so looking forward to Mike Moyle becoming the Speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives. I have had the pleasure of knowing Mike and his family for almost 30 years. Over the past 10 years he has reminded me when he is wearing his political hat of a combination between Tom Brady and […]

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John Livingston

Legalized Corruption in Government Sponsored Medical Care

Who will Stop the Corruption, Malfeasance and Complicity? Two items crossed my computer screen this morning within minutes of each other. One was an e-mail from an Idaho State Legislator complaining about my use of the word “corruption”. He believed by my describing many of the processes that occur in our state government in the […]

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News

Official Idaho Republican Party Statement on Constitutional Amendment SJR 102

In Great Britain, the king could control when Parliament could meet and when it could be dissolved. Our Founding Fathers knew British history, and they knew that no king or executive should be able to choose when the People’s representatives could meet. They gave Congress the power to meet without the President’s consent. Unfortunately, Idaho […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

What SJR 102 would do for Idaho and why it’s on your ballot

If Idaho’s framers wanted the governor to write laws and spend Idahoans’ money, they would have written those responsibilities into the Idaho Constitution—but they didn’t. Indeed, a major virtue of Idaho’s government is how it separates the executive and legislative branches with the principle of the Legislature as the law-writing and appropriating branch, and the […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

OP-ED from Idaho Freedom PAC – Protect freedom: Vote yes on SJR 102

Imagine for a moment that an emergency comes up in Idaho. The governor of the state decides to wield unilateral power — to shut down the state’s economy, change laws with the stroke of a pen, and even appropriate millions of dollars from the federal government.  Imagine also that some local government agencies — cities, […]

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Opinions / Op-eds

Medicaid quagmire is costing Idaho dearly

“War is hell,” as the saying goes. Every war comes with costs on and off the battlefield, especially wars fought when there is no intention of ever winning. President Lyndon Johnson’s “war on poverty” is such a war. It’s a welfare monstrosity with a 57-year history of collateral damage including families it was supposed to […]

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Bob's Words of Wisdom

Bend over Taxpayers, Here it comes Again

So once again Governor Little and his puppet masters at IACI have screwed the taxpayers of Idaho. As I had said a couple of weeks ago, this was a done deal lame-duck session of the legislature and there was no changing it. If the citizens of our state don’t realize after this special session that […]

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