Republican rhetoric is fanning the flames of hate against the LGBTQ community

LGBTQ attack

GOP rhetoric is fanning the flames of hatred and violence.

I am saddened and angry at the senseless violence against the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs. It brings back to light several attacks on the LGBTQ community here in Idaho at both the Pride event this summer in Coeur d’Alene, and the orchestrated harassment campaign against sponsors of the Boise Pride Festival.

Dorothy Moon led a campaign against the Pride Festival under the narrative that the call to cancel sponsorships was to protect children. The hypocrisy of this narrative is that it led to harassment and threats against LGBTQ families to the point they didn’t feel their children were safe.

Lauren Boebert, a GOP member from Colorado, has been making the similar hateful comments for years. Comments and behavior like this from leaders in power embolden these types of attacks.

Idaho citizens need to speak up loudly and often when this type of rhetoric is used and when legislation is proposed to discriminate against the LGBTQ community.

Idaho can and should be a welcoming place for all and deserves better than Dorothy Moon and other “conservatives” that focus on culture wars rather than serving the people of Idaho.

Amanda McConnell, New Plymouth

Swipe fees

As retailers, we always work hard to keep our prices low for our customers — its central to our ability to retain and grow our customer base. With supply chain tensions seeming to ease though, our biggest concern is something that the average customer may not even be aware of: credit card swipe fees.

A credit card swipe fee is a fee that a retailer or merchant must pay a credit card company to utilize their network to route and complete a credit transaction. These hidden fees amount to 2-4% of the cost of every transaction, a cost that we unfortunately have to calculate into the cost of every product we sell.

We have no power to negotiate these fees — until now.

The Credit Card Competition Act seeks to require credit card companies to offer more than one network for routing credit transactions, giving retailers the ability to lower what is often the third-highest operating expense. With additional, cheaper options available, many retailers will choose to pass these savings on to consumers. Tell your representatives in the Senate and Congress to support the Credit Card Competition Act today.

Pam Eaton, Boise, president and CEO, Idaho Retailers Association

GOP priorities

Remember when all the Republicans were talking about the high price of gas, high price of groceries. Yes, that was what they campaigned on.

But now with their new agenda, it is more important to investigate to see if a son, Hunter Biden, didn’t profit off his father’s name and position. All of a sudden, your elected official doesn’t care about the cost of gas, or the cost of commodities. The important thing now is to investigate the Democrats. All because a child made a profit off of their father’s name. Now, which one of all the senators’ or representatives’ children didn’t profit off of their father’s name?

Face it Idaho, you voted for a group that talked about helping you, but now you’re on the back burner. It appears that if the corporations are price gouging, that is not important. We have to find out if a son profited from daddy’s name.

Looks like we are all stuck with higher prices as the Republicans in the House prepare their do-nothing agenda. Let all of us now keep quiet and never mention inflation again.

Jerry Johnson, Payette