One would have to be living under a rock to be unaware of the added scrutiny the elections process has come under since 2020. People are paying attention and that’s a good thing. However, the abundance of information concerning election integrity can easily lead Idaho citizens to believe all…
In the aftermath of such events as the Uvalde school shooting, come inevitable and inaccurate attempts to pin the blame solely on mental illness. At a press event following the shooting, a senior Texas official said “Anybody who shoots somebody else has a mental health challenge. Period. We …
The troubling reality of the world we live in today is that many of us, whether directly or indirectly, have felt the devastating impact of depression-linked suicide. As we try to process these traumas, many are left to ponder the incomprehensible answer to the question:
As I watched the first January 6th Committee Hearing, I watched not as a congressional candidate and not as a Democrat or a Republican, but as an American.
Americans spend millions of hours and billions of dollars filing their taxes. At the very least, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should open, read, process and protect what Americans send them. Unfortunately, a recent report by the IRS watchdog, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Admi…
The official holiday is Juneteenth National Independence Day. It is also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Black Independence Day. By any name, it celebrates the end of slavery in the United States, observed annually on June 19 (or the 20th when the 19th falls on a Sun…
Agriculture is the backbone of Idaho. The agricultural industry is one of the largest contributors to the state’s economy, and our farmers’ crops feed people all over the world. A big reason why this is possible is thanks to the dams along the Snake River.
I have read with alarm the reports of high national rates of police officers murdered or ambushed by violent criminals. When communities are soft on crime and focused on defunding the police, we are all less safe. I stand with Idaho’s law enforcement and will continue supporting their service.
The apparatus governing Idaho’s public schools is huge and made up solely of volunteers. I’m talking about the people serving on local school boards, all 115 of them and on the 75 boards that oversee our public charter schools – a total of more than 800 volunteers who give of their time on b…
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the tree planter’s holiday, Arbor Day. Did you know that 40% of Idaho is covered in trees? Forests cover more than 21 million acres, that’s larger than the states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.
Idahoans have been rightfully concerned with the Biden administration’s brazen attempt to establish a federal propaganda panel under the guise of countering disinformation. If the administration truly intended to counter disinformation threats to national security, it would not have establis…
I gather from the phone calls and emails I’m getting that people don’t realize what a monumentally successful night conservatives had in Idaho’s primary election on Tuesday, May 17. This one was one for the record books, and it could help usher in a new chapter in Idaho’s political history.
Idaho voters made one thing clear this month – they approve of their state leaders’ track record of unprecedented tax cuts and historic investments in education and infrastructure, and they want more of it.
Though media attention has understandably been focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in recent months, China’s global destabilizing efforts have continued in the shadows. China’s goals of trade and military dominance are a threat to the United States, and we should not neglect our policies…
It seems the lower Snake River dam debate is always one side against the other: fish versus agriculture, hydropower versus alternatives, or “my science” versus “your science”. The question is: Who is actually winning?
One of my priorities as U.S. Senator representing the great people of Idaho has been to prevent federal overreach into Idahoans’ right to be left alone. From navigating our waterways to navigating ever-advancing technologies, banking services and so much more, opportunities for the federal g…
Over the last year, my campaign has provided me with incredible opportunities to listen, learn, and begin a dialogue on what needs to be done to improve Idaho education for students, parents and teachers. I have been in living rooms, classrooms, small and large businesses and everywhere in b…
A constitutional right will likely be taken away from us.
During my time in the Idaho Legislature, I’ve been asked “what’s your Freedom Foundation score?” Some years I’m in the 90s and some years I'm in the 70s. I’m then asked, “why don’t you have a 100%?” My answer is simple; “because the Freedom Foundation isn’t always right, and I favor conserva…
The right to vote, free from discrimination, is fundamental to what makes America great. But Congressional Democrats have introduced several bills in the 117th Congress, along with a litany of actions at the state level prior to the 2020 election and since, claiming to support voting rights …
Like most Idahoans, I grew up in a conservative family, deeply rooted in our faith and values. As a husband and father, I have endeavored to instill in my own family those same principles and virtues. As an entrepreneur, I have experienced how regulations can hamstring economic prosperity an…
During my nearly 30 years working in various capacities to support public education, I worked for three superintendents of public instruction. Two of those were Republicans, one was a Democrat. Two were former educators, and one was a former elected school board member and board chair, with …
Most Republicans in the Idaho Legislature vote with the most leftist Democrats as much as 90% of the time, and the results are telling.
Some small but powerful Republican groups across the state are demanding absolute loyalty to their choice of candidates for the upcoming Idaho primary. They are driving a stake through the heart of the party, creating deep divisions, and pitting friends against friends.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the tree planter’s holiday, Arbor Day. Did you know that 40% of Idaho is covered in trees? Forests cover more than 21 million acres; that’s larger than the states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.
Who needs debates in a time where 30-second advertisements funded by multinational corporations will suffice? Yes, it’s true, the Governor and Lt. Governor refused to participate in the debates. Three of us were invited by the Idaho Debate Commission to participate in the long-standing and c…
Hayden Beverage is a family business, doing business as a family. As a second-generation owner, I have an obligation to our employees because many of them have been with the company since I was a child. I understand and appreciate that their hard work and commitment helped to put me through …
When you eat a slice of layered cake, would you agree it’s really the middle layer of frosting that gets you through the bite? The outer layer of frosting, in fact, is often too much. So much that you scrape the whipped sugar off your dessert to better enjoy the cake. You can think of this m…
In Idaho, charitable organizations stepped up to serve Idahoans when they needed it the most during the darkest days of the pandemic. The nonprofit sector adapted to the COVID-19 situation incredibly well, often fulfilling their missions with fewer resources and volunteers or even canceled e…
The Forest Service has announced a new strategy to address the nation’s wildfire crisis, where we will work with partners to increase forest management actions that reduce wildfire risk. On the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, we have been increasing our fuels reduction and forest mana…
Idaho and Montana’s successful recovery of the gray wolf was a significant achievement in species conservation. In less than ten years, not only were biological recovery targets for gray wolves met, but they were also exceeded. Unfortunately, the delisting of the wolf has been mired in polit…
The latest Idaho legislative session has ended, thank goodness. Instead of rolling up their lawmaking sleeves to address the real day-to-day problems Idahoans wrestle with — such as sky-rocketing housing costs, unfair property taxes, and crumbling infrastructure — the extreme, but powerful r…
As one of the most critical services Americans depend on approached collapse during the pandemic, the childcare industry finally began getting much-deserved attention. The system in the United States was severely flawed prior to the pandemic, with affordability and access challenges causing …
As participants in the decisions made in Congress, Idahoans contact me with valuable input about the issues our country faces. I post information about various issues of importance on my website, http://crapo.senate.gov. Concerns with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (…
In Speaker Scott Bedke’s House of Representatives, Republican politicians don’t want small government – they want control.
Vladimir Putin is a madman. He is a thug. He is a power-hungry criminal with no regard for the rule of law or human life.
The Federal Reserve is tasked with an incredibly important role to set monetary policy decisions independently of political persuasion. I had serious concerns with Sarah Bloom Raskin’s public statements targeting the oil and gas sector. I have fought for many years against progressive left p…
At our skilled nursing facilities across the state, the care we provide for our residents is like the care we would provide for our own family members, and our residents aren’t just like family to us, they are family. They are the family members of our communities in Idaho, your grandparents…
Idaho’s next State Superintendent needs a vision where skills, preparation, and job readiness puts students first and restores value to education. I think we can agree we want every student to have access to the knowledge, credentials, and vocational programs that are needed to not only succ…
More than a third of Vladimir Putin’s budget comes from the sale of Russian oil and natural gas. Congress must target that—and more—to hold Putin accountable, long term, for his unacceptable aggression against the Ukrainian people. In addition to banning Russian energy imports, we must revok…
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unfolds, Americans are witnessing the troubling global impacts. Oil has passed $100 a barrel, and the European Union remains beholden to Russia for almost 40% of its natural gas supplies.
As Idahoans file their annual tax returns, the 2022 tax filing season grows more troubled. Currently, millions of Americans must file their tax returns, despite not having their last year’s tax returns even processed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the ability to reach the agency fo…
When I think about the many purposes of education, I include the confidence that comes when a student knows they can apply their knowledge to any situation and the value that comes from work. I am a big proponent of knowing and doing. This takes in many areas, but few skills are more importa…
The Kamiah School District Safety Committee, with the cooperation of local agencies, is going to be conducting a “lockdown drill” later this month. For some reason, this drill has been misconstrued to be an “active shooter drill or simulation.” This is not accurate.
Whenever I am asked about teachers who influenced me growing up, I recall Mrs. Summers, my first-grade teacher.
Do you want to keep Idaho a conservative state? Are you tired of socialist propaganda sneaking into our state capitol?
If you live two hundred miles or so north of the Idaho capitol, it looks like Idaho’s political leaders are running against the people.
Sometimes you wonder if certain members of the Idaho Legislature have even read the Idaho Constitution. For all their pronouncements about honoring and faithfully following the U.S. and Idaho Constitutions, they pay precious little regard to them when passing legislation that fits their agenda.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) raised serious red flags about the protection of confidential taxpayer information and fundamental civil liberties when it announced a major expansion of its collaboration with ID.me, which would have required taxpayers to submit to ID.me a trove of persona…
Every 10 years, following the census, states across the country redraw their political maps in order to ensure every legislative and congressional district is equal in population. Although many have speculated about the process, redistricting has a very simple and foundational purpose — to e…
Aren’t we all tired of elected officials telling us what to do without any understanding of the consequences? Enough is enough. It’s time to tell elected officials in Washington state they shouldn’t start a trade war with Idahoans – not now, not ever.
