The state constitution, like the federal Constitution, begins with the words, "We the people." The constitution doesn't begin with the words "we the governments" or "we the cities" or "we the bureaucrats."
I point this out only because certain city government officials believe it is their responsibility to "educate" us on the constitutional amendments that are on the ballot this November.
That's not their job.
The way the urban planners describe it, you’d think portions of Boise resemble the tribal enclaves of Afghanistan. You know, dilapidated buildings, barely functional infrastructure, chaos, black cats, broken mirrors and unpermitted, non-conforming uses.
Some of that I made up. But then again, most of the conclusions in a 40-page report to Boise’s urban renewal agency and City Council are also made up.
BOISE -- Records obtained through the state's Public Records Act show Boise city officials are engaging in campaign activity on the taxpayers' dime, attempting to win passage of a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. The Idaho Freedom Foundation filed a public records request in June, asking for documents related to House Joint Resolution 5. HJR 5, if approved during the November general election, would allow cities to debt finance airport projects without a vote of the people.
The future of socialized medicine is already here, and it looks like this: The government is going to insist that doctors treat patients according to the government's terms and conditions. If they protest, argue, complain, fight or plead, they will be pegged as part of a grand conspiracy and silenced. It's happening already.
Recently, the state and federal governments fought a group of Idaho doctors because they decided they would no longer participate in the government's worker's compensation system.
My weariness for party politics came about midway through my time working for Republican Congressman Bill Sali.
Back when gasoline was $4 a gallon, I remember House Republicans issuing a treatise on high gasoline prices. The fault, the House Republicans said at the time, was those darned Democrats for failing to allow oil drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
I challenge conventional thinking because too many people believe efforts to restrict freedom are appropriate, necessary and natural. I got a good dose of that last week after I had the temerity to tell people that police shouldn’t be running dragnets to catch Idahoans not wearing their seat belts.
“But it saves lives!” well-meaning Idahoans e-mailed me.
Walter Williams pointed out five years ago that the Pledge of Allegiance doesn’t say, “and to the democracy for which it stands.” We don’t sing the “Battle Hymn of the Democracy.” And for good reason. This is not a democracy. It is, in fact, a Republic. But if you attended public school anywhere in America, you might not know that. It’s that kind of subtle intellectual dishonesty that has been sneaked into school textbooks, is destroying our nation and rewriting its history.
Increasingly, and in ways big and small, the government is treating us like children.
What we seem to be hearing from some (not all) of our elected leaders is that we’re not smart enough to make our own decisions. Like children, we need to be coddled and controlled, directed and managed.
Enter the government, the Nanny State, which then passes legislation to compel us to perform in a certain way, for our own good. And, says the Nanny Government, if we don’t do what we’re told, we will be punished, be it with a penalty or citation.
This morning, the Idaho Freedom Foundation filed a complaint with the Bannock County prosecutor alleging that the Pocatello/Chubbuck School Board met illegally to discuss budget cuts. While the cuts in question -- reducing administrator pay -- may be appropriate, the law requires certain discussions to take place in public so that taxpayers can understand and weigh what's going on.
All across the state, local school districts are holding meetings, hearings and work sessions to figure out how they’ll come to terms with $128 million in cuts approved by the Legislature and Gov. Butch Otter.
