Letters to the editor, May 2, 2021 – MDJOnline.com

History

My years of military service and 40 years of hard work were rewarded by the freedoms afforded by this wonderful nation. Not once did I discriminate or abuse anothers rights. The Founding Fathers and the Constitution have been the basis on which this wonderful exceptional Nation was founded. Slavery was a terrible thing, however the lives of over 700,000, mostly white men finally settled the issue. Yes, there has been discrimination, Catholics, Jews, Italians and many others to include my ancestors the Irish. They all accepted it and solved it by hard work and accepted the American way. The news print, news TV media, TV shows, motion picture industry and educational liberal machine has perpetuated the Cancel Culture. I am appalled at the biased reporting. When the unarmed demonstrators entered the Capitol building, both papers screamed Insurrection, not even close. The Idaho Press headlines today read Anti-school indoctrination was passed by the Legislature. This is an attempt to level the playing field. I will bet you the students in the gallery dont know true history.

Bad ideas

Bad ideas in Idahos Legislature often resurface. Rep Joe Palmers bill to more than double electric vehicle registration fees is dead for this session, but it will boomerang back next year in some form.

Electric vehicle owners in Idaho are willing to pay their share for road maintenance. But pulling numbers out of the air is not a fair approach. There will continue to be more alternatively fueled vehicles in Idaho, so the gas tax a reliable source of revenue since the 1920s will be less useful every year.

Tying a use fee to the miles driven by each vehicle is a better, though not perfect, approach. If, as in Palmers failed legislation, 2.5 cents per mile is a number that would be fair for electric vehicles as an alternative to paying a flat fee, then it is also fair for gasoline-powered automobiles.

Legislators need to find a better solution to funding roads than spitballing fees to discourage the use of electric vehicles.

Radical

I have learned. Being a Democrat. I am part of the radical left. According to the r.n.c. thats because I believe that everyone should get a fair shake. When it comes to paying taxes. Even the top one percent does not do. We need to create more green type jobs for our future. Drive down high drug costs. We need police reform. So when police cross the line with excessive force. They need to be punished. We also need to raise the minimum wage to $ 12.00 dollars an hour. Everyone needs a fair shot. When it comes to being to have a decent life. For you and your family. So, yes. I am a left wing radical.

Initiatives

This years Legislature and Governor enacted legislation that makes it almost impossible for the people to propose and pass/reject an initiative or referendum. Idahos history bears no signs of of problem with this area. In our history, wed have 31 initiatives proposed, and 16 passed. With referenda, weve had just 6, with 2 passed. California, on the other hand, has had over 300 initiatives. I am a fiscal conservative, and I was raised to believe that Republicans believed in the power of the people to govern. Shame on them for this pro-government, almost imperial, law. They remind me of the gasbag Democrats I grew up hating.

Think

I wonder if our retrumplican Lt. Gov. and state legislators have ever heard of the McCarthy hearings in the 50s and 60s, or about what happened in Germany in the 1930s. Apparently not. I noticed that our Lt. Gov. while railing against different forms of government and ideologies didnt mention Fascism. I wonder why?

Rep. Nichols, Middleton, said our rights were given to us by God. Really? So after giving Moses the ten commandments he waited five thousand years then came to Idaho and wrote our state constitution. Or does he communicate only with Rep. Nichols tells her what he likes and dislikes and she then gets to tell everyone what to do like it or not.

Rather than choose to find paths that will help our state move forward in a sane responsible manner our legislators have decided to follow an agenda of goofy conspiracy theories and nonsense that has no truth, facts, or proof. Only I HEARD.

Qanon, the I.F.F. and other crazy no facts idiots are destroying our nation. THINK FIRST!

Climate

Idaho is poised for a very bright and clean future because our state is already blessed with an abundance of natural beauty and resources. We are the envy of many other states. One of our greatest assets includes a significant capacity to produce agricultural products that will meet our nations needs long into the future. Yet we can only do so if we are able to preserve and protect the environment that we all live in and depend on.

One of the ways we can ensure a sustainable future for Idaho and our farmers is by quickly passing the Growing Climate Solutions Act (GCSA). This bill, recently reintroduced with Senator Mike Crapo as a cosponsor, will help create consistency and reliability for ag producers who want to participate in carbon markets by creating a certification program within the US Department of Agriculture.

My sincere thanks go out to Senator Crapo for seeing the value in farmer-friendly legislation, like the GCSA, that seeks to leverage the power of the free market to address a changing climate.

Support

Im writing to elevate the story of the 19-year-old intern at the Idaho Legislature who has accused Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger of sexual assault. Von Ehlinger happens to also be a teacher. This story must be seen by as many people as possible.

As an adjunct professor of English, I teach young, impressionable people usually they are in their late teens to early twenties. What Ive learned from teaching this age demographic is that these individuals need support and guidance. Rep. von Ehlinger is accused of assaulting a young intern and is claiming that it was consensual, and his colleagues have come to his defense, to the extent that some of them are doxing the victim. This is a story that risks being dominated by the louder, more powerful voice, which, in this case, is the perpetrator and those on the far-right that support him.

CRT

The phrase critical race theory keeps appearing again and again in Idahos legislature this year, but I have yet to see anyone define it. Even in the Idaho Press Tribune article about finalists for the West Ada superintendent position, the writer indicated the finalists had to struggle to define it. I have not seen or heard anyone identify the source which created the phrase. Nor have I seen or heard anyone referencing any studies about how, when or where it is being taught. Even if you google critical race theory, all one can find is the phrase being used by our legislators, Fox News Network and the Idaho Freedom Foundation. I would like to see the Idaho Press interview all the legislators who are against whatever critical race theory is to provide their definition(s) and information identifying where it is currently being used to indoctrinate anyone in any school anywhere before creating a law which includes such a vague phrase.

The Idaho Press does not vouch for the factual accuracy or endorse the opinions expressed in Letters to the Editor. If you would like to respond to anything you read here, please submit a letter at idahopress.com/opinion

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Letters to the editor, May 2, 2021 - MDJOnline.com