United They Stand — Divided We Fall

What does Take Back Idaho (TBI) stand for? I know several of the Board members and I have the deepest respect for Ben Ysursa and Wil Overgaard. I have been introduced to Bruce Newcomb, Jim Jones, and Bob Geddes. I respect their service to our country, and to Idaho citizens and students. In my opinion the organization is very much out of step with the values of Idaho citizens and families. If you don’t believe me, ask them how they stand regarding Pro Life issues. I do not want to win elections being supported by an organization who has Board members that don’t support and respect the life of the unborn child. The establishment wing of the Idaho Republican Party—RINOs, are conflicted regarding the Right to Life issue. Ask Bob Kustra and Jim Jones if they support overturning Roe vs Wade. Ask them if they support the way Crises Standards of Care (CSC) were implemented by a Governor’s emergency order that allowed for hospitals and providers to deploy emergency orders that violated patient rights.

The issue is the same—the right to life of an unborn child and the right to make end of life decisions by patients and families are sanctity of life issues. David Ripley and Idaho Chooses Life made this argument before the legislature when passing a law confirming the validity of Living Wills and Powers of Attorney as being valid even during emergencies. At the urging of the Governor’s Office the establishment of an Ombudsman in the Governor’s Office created a power within the executive branch of government that was the antithesis of what the law itself claimed. Take Back Idaho supported the Ombudsman legislation that was written by the governor’s staff. This is how RINOs work. They say they are conservative; they say they are pro-life; they say they respect end of life issues and patient’s rights. They in fact hide behind the label “conservative” when they are more like the Romney, Bush, Cheney wing of the Republican Party. They go to great lengths to camouflage their true positions.

Conservatives in Idaho have self-destructed—again. We have not consolidated around candidates, and we have allowed ourselves to be triangulated in primaries allowing candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor never having to stand before the people and debate before asking for our votes. And the winner of a primary may win with less than a majority of the vote! Does Take Back Idaho support candidates debating each other? Does Take Back Idaho support legislation requiring independent outside audits of government agencies that distribute billions of dollars of transfer payments to private and non-profits? And what about requiring audits of organizations receiving more than $100million of transfer payments to voluntarily present audits to the legislature as a condition for the receipt of future payments? Does Take Back Idaho support not holding accountable a Medicaid program in Idaho that has been identified as being the 4^th most fraudulent in the country with 39% fraudulent billings, claims, and enrollments?

Are Idaho values reflected by politicians who receive most of their campaign contributions from companies and individuals who they are charged with regulating or from out of State sources? I would invite voters to tally the amount of time and money that members of (TBI) have been on the government payroll. For several members, the great majority of their lives have been spent getting a government paycheck paid for by private citizens who earned their living in the private sector. Most of the Board members from (TBI) are part of the system that has thrived and survived by receiving campaign financing from those sources. When a candidate receives such financing what does that say for the respect that they have for their constituents?

(TBI) is more concerned with maintaining the status quo of symbiotic corruption than they are with the concerns of the people of Idaho and their families. Politics is about the projection of power. (TBI) understands this better than the confederation of individual conservatives. By consolidating the power of special interests and lobbyists, (TBI) protects the power of the corporate class—not WE THE PEOPLE.

“United They (TBI—IACI—IHA—IMA etc.) Stand; Divided We (Conservatives) Fall.