Thanks, Idaho delegation, for the One Big Beautiful Bill | Opinion

Thanks to senators and representatives

A heartfelt thank-you to Idaho’s Republican senators and representatives for backing the “Big Beautiful Bill” —a bold, selfless act to ensure millionaires and billionaires finally get the financial relief they so desperately need.

While some complain the bill slashes healthcare, food aid, and education to funnel wealth upward, they miss the bigger picture: pleasing our Dear Leader Donald Trump and the oligarchs who fund the GOP. That’s what really matters.

Sure, some working families might struggle more. But if it puts another private jet in the hangar or helps a hedge fund manager buy a sixth vacation home, isn’t that a worthy sacrifice? The rich have been job creators in theory for decades now — any day now those jobs and wealth will trickle down, we’re told.

Let’s not let fairness or economic reality get in the way of loyalty to billionaires. Idaho’s delegation understands that the path to prosperity begins with gold-plated tax loopholes and ends with thoughts and prayers for the rest of us.

So here’s to you, brave defenders of the ultra-wealthy. The yacht class salutes you. The rest of us will just try to keep the lights on.

Sincerely,

A Grateful Peasant

Ron Nichols, Boise

Trump just raised your taxes

For all you MAGA supporters, how does it feel to have your taxes raised without the approval of Congress? Trump just bragged about his trade deal with Vietnam, that was the trade deal where we consumers get to pay an extra 20 to 40% more due to his tariffa. But Vietnam doesn’t have to pay anything.

How about the price of gas are you happy with that? Are you happy about a lot of the farmers in the Midwest being bankrupt?

How about the drop in prices on groceries? Wait, they haven’t dropped, have they?

Aren’t you also glad that with that big, beautiful budget, you will probably have to raise property taxes to pay for the schools now Trump has cut billions from education. Are you also going to be happy seeing children go hungry and others with no health insurance?

Yes, all of you must feel proud that you supported a criminal who was a failure in his first term and now is to the point of completely destroying the country.

Jerry Johnson, Payette

Simpson shills for Trump

Rep. Mike Simpson just sent out his talking points for President Trump’s big bill. They are quite remarkable:

Lowers taxes? Yes, for billionaires, at the cost of lost benefits for the poorest and most disadvantaged.

Secures the border? Without addressing the mechanisms for legalizing undocumented workers or even dealing with the need for more immigration judges.

Cuts red tape? Creates red tape for the poor and disadvantaged, cynically intended to reduce their participation in Medicaid and SNAP benefits.

Reduces government spending? In a bizarre choice of areas that invested in America’s future, while increasing spending in useless, poorly considered and counterproductive border “security” initiatives.

Invests in America’s defense? In the one area (Ukraine) that really matters most to Western security, Trump withholds support, while kowtowing to Russian interests.

Restores American energy dominance? By trying to cripple our growing solar and wind industries that produce low cost energy, are quick to bring on line and provide American jobs while propping up dirty, increasingly expensive fossil fuels.

It is time for our representatives to lay off the Kool-Aid and stand up for Idaho’s interests.

Tom Menten, McCall

Enforce bike speed limits

While there does not appear to be much speed enforcement of bicycles (primarily e-bikes) on the Greenbelt, one approach that might work is to install radar speed signs on the Greenbelt, also known as driver feedback signs, which are used on some high-traffic streets in Boise. It uses radar technology to display a driver’s speed as they approach it. These signs are designed to alert drivers to their speed with the speed limit posted above and encourage them to slow down.

They do not issue tickets; their primary function is to provide visual feedback to drivers. The city could install the driver feedback speed signs in high traffic areas on the Greenbelt, and they run off solar power so installation would be relatively simple.

Chris Dresden, Boise

What are we willing to accept?

What began as a promise to deport dangerous criminals has shifted to the detention of innocent people — some U.S. citizens — by masked, unidentified agents. People are being held without charges in for-profit detention centers and in secrecy.

As of June 14, ICE has detained 204,297 people, with 65% having no criminal convictions (Cato Institute). Families are torn apart by mass detentions while others live in constant fear — of going to work, picking their kids up from school or answering the door.

We — as taxpayers — are funding this nightmare, while businesses benefiting from undocumented labor remain silent. E-Verify, a system to confirm legal work status, is underused. Employers often avoid it, not because it’s difficult. It’s easier not to ask.

While E-Verify needs work, its failure isn’t an excuse to abandon it — it’s a reason to fix it. In states where it’s required, undocumented worker issues ease. The bipartisan Border Act of 2024 made E-Verify mandatory, but despite Senate support, the House let it die.

So here we are.

We have a choice. As business owners, lawmakers, and citizens, we can push for a fair, functional and humane system — or we can allow injustice to continue in our name.

Georgia Smith, Boise