Letters to the editor: Priorities, Jan. 6, party affiliation, climate and big lie
Legislative priorities
With the Idaho Legislature convening for 2022, and well over a billion dollars unallocated funds in the “kitty,” what will happen this year? Here are the things I’ll be watching for:
Will Idaho make it easier for all Idaho voters to freely cast their ballots in any election, or continue in the attempts to restrict voting? Will they support the efforts to fight the COVID pandemic using the federal agencies’ recommendations, or attempt to ignore them? Will our school system get the additional funds needed to draw Idaho from nearly the bottom of money allocated per student to something closer to what other states provide for their students, or ignore or cut funds again? Will they eliminate the State Grocery Sales Tax? Will preschool get the go-ahead, or will they ignore the issue? Will the Idaho rich and Idaho big businesses get yet more tax breaks across the board, while the middle and lower classes see little or no tax relief?
All these are important issues, and I’m sure there are others. It all breaks down too: How will the Idaho Congress decide the top issues of Idaho that face Idaho?
Donald Oremus, Nampa
Jan. 6
It was with a great sense of relief that I read Ian Max Stevenson’s article about the January 6 Capitol riot. After hearing and reading from all quarters that the rioters’ actions were simply a ‘peaceful demonstration’, his article reminds me that not everyone in America suffers from amnesia. Like millions of Americans I watched in horror as those violent events unfolded at our beloved nation’s Capitol. Mr. Stevenson summarizes those events – succinctly but in horrifying detail – and their impact both on our political leaders of both parties who were gathered to perform their Constitutional duty and on the courageous police officers who defended them. The events he describes happened. Hours of video documentation prove it. We saw it with our own eyes. And today Mr. Stevenson pulls no punches in recounting the events of that tragic day. I thank him.
Paula Huntley, Star
Party affiliation
My wife and I are now registered in the Republican party. Being lifelong Democrats, it was a difficult thing to do to change our party affiliation. The upcoming closed Republican primary is unlike any in recent history. Janet McGeachin and Ammon Bundy as governor of Idaho pose a risk we are not willing to take. Janet McGeachin is a pawn of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, who would like nothing more than to take our public lands and sell them to the highest bidder. This is one of many concerns I have should either one of these extremists obtain office. Count on losing funding for: education, police and fire protection, public health, public lands, Fish and Game, the list is endless. The right you would most likely see expanded: The right to bear arms anywhere, anytime, regardless of criminal record, mental illness, etc., which is practically allowed in Idaho already. Party affiliation may changed again before the general election. To get the form search: Idaho Political Party Affiliation Form. Fill it out today, as there is a time limit. Save Idaho!
Grant Haller, Boise
Climate change
Last month the McClure Center for Public Policy Research at the University of Idaho released their Idaho Climate-Economy Impacts Assessment. The purpose of this nonpartisan study – to understand the economic risks and opportunities in Idaho’s changing climate – is an important tool businesses and government leaders can use to plan for limiting the destructive downsides of climate change on our economy, and for identifying and maximizing productive, potential upsides. I urge Idahoans to pay attention to this report as it very clearly demonstrates that while our warming climate is a reality we cannot escape, it is also a reality that determination, strategy, and vision can mitigate. See report details and get more information at uidaho.edu/iceia.
Josie Fretwell, Boise
Big lie
Our nation’s democracy is at a crossroads between destruction and preservation. Our efforts to save it must begin in Idaho by insisting that anyone we send to Congress must first unequivocally refute the” big lie”.
Bill Tonkin, Boise