Editorials
Positive Snowpack: A Companion Of Productivity
Annual snowfall in Idaho's mountains is what feeds most Idaho waterways, and measurements of snowpack provide an excellent forecast of expected water resources. Around this time of year, people from all sectors are eagerly reviewing this information and planning their year. Without a doubt, our water supply is a critical element to Idaho's economy and a major factor in annual productivity. The importance of water to Idaho communities cannot be overestimated. Public and domestic water su… Continue Reading
March 28, 2011
Economy Boosting Energy Solutions
Identifying growing energy demands and increasing oil and gas prices as problems is easy. Far more difficult is taking the next, productive step of identifying and implementing solutions. Fortunately, we have options, such as expanding access to U.S. oil reserves and increasing responsible domestic oil production. As fuel prices escalate again and threaten economic recovery, advancing these sensible solutions is increasingly critical. Such accomplishments could increase our nation's energy s… Continue Reading
March 21, 2011
Health Care Law: A Year Older And None The Wiser
March 23 marks the first anniversary of the health care law that is failing to achieve the results, including control of health care costs and better access to quality care, Americans sought and deserve. Instead, the law continues to deepen our nation's unsustainable deficit and debt, results in higher premiums for consumers and business owners and persists in stifling job growth. Rather than restraining health care costs, the health care law worsens our national debt, now more than… Continue Reading
March 14, 2011
Veterinarians Needed In Rural Communities
Life in rural America is exceptionally enriching. However, those who live in the rural parts of our country also deal with unique challenges. While many times these challenges make them stronger, shortages in certain occupations hinder our economies, threaten our safety and weaken the fabric of communities that are otherwise the rock that our nation is based upon. Food animal veterinarians are a sometimes overlooked but essential sector in human and animal health. Veterinarians defend agains… Continue Reading
March 07, 2011
Plenty Of Room For Belt Tightening
Americans recognize that our inflated federal government currently spends far too much, as confirmed by our more than $14 trillion national debt. Just as families eliminate wasteful spending to ensure they can put food on the table and provide necessities, the federal government must also eliminate redundancies to get our national deficit and debt under control. A just-released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report sheds additional light on potentially redundant government programs and… Continue Reading
February 28, 2011
Americans Deserve A Fair And Competitive Tax Code
While an irresponsible and unrestrained explosion in federal spending is the primary cause of our record deficit and debt, an essential part of digging our nation out of our economic struggles is reforming our tax code so that it encourages, not discourages, job creation and economic growth. New, lasting jobs come from turning creative ideas into successful businesses. To enable those ideas to grow into jobs, we must remove barriers to productivity, including overly-burdensome and complicated ta… Continue Reading
February 21, 2011
Dating Violence Takes On Many Forms
My recent visit with middle school students to help young people understand the differences between healthy and unhealthy dating relationships provided an important reminder that dating violence is not just a teen issue. Regrettably, middle school, high school and college students are widely affected by dating violence, which often conveys life-long effects. Unfortunately, dating violence has a number of forms, including digital abuse, which can fall under the parental radar. The tragic death… Continue Reading
February 14, 2011
Idaho Farmers And Ranchers Grow Our Economy
Idaho is home to more than 25,000 farms and ranches growing 185 different commodities. Many of the farm families that comprise Idaho agriculture have persevered through great adversity, difficult economic times and natural disasters to help sustain our economy and provide a sector of resilience, especially during our nation's economic difficulty. The contribution of Idaho farmers and ranchers to our economy and communities is considerable. In a recently released report, University of Idaho ag… Continue Reading
February 07, 2011
Solvency Necessary To Uphold Valued Programs
Unrestrained federal deficit spending is choking our nation's economic recovery. Mandatory programs, including Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, account for the majority of federal spending. Therefore, long-term debt solutions must address automatic federal spending. More importantly, fiscal strains on mandatory programs must be removed to ensure preservation for future beneficiaries. We must correct the Social Security program's expected funding shortfalls in order to ensure it can con… Continue Reading
January 31, 2011
A Legacy Of Strength And Optimism
February 6, 2011, marks the centennial anniversary of President Ronald Reagan's birth. This anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on the late President's legacy and his important achievements. The "Great Communicator" left an indelible mark, including a stirring and visionary speech, known as "A Time for Choosing," that he gave long before his presidency. While this speech was given nearly fifty years ago, many of the issues he raised run parallel to the challenges we face today. In 1964,… Continue Reading
January 24, 2011
Time For State To Resume Wolf Management
Idahoans deserve a timely, lasting solution to the wolf issue that returns management of wolves back to the state, which has proven it can effectively manage the species. When the wolf was listed as endangered in 1974, it was almost extinct in the continental United States. In the 1990s, the federal government introduced 34 wolves to the Northern Rockies. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Environmental Impact Statement stated that a fully recovered Idaho wolf population would need to be… Continue Reading
January 17, 2011
Death Tax Bandage
Families should not be forced to sell their farms or small businesses to pay the federal Death Tax when they lose a loved one. Selling off productive farmland and businesses to meet unfair, overly-burdensome tax liabilities reduces jobs and destroys families' financial futures. While the Death Tax must be permanently and fully eliminated, I supported the recent proposal to prevent the tax from springing back to previous burdensome levels for the next two years. In the meantime, Congress must wor… Continue Reading
January 10, 2011
Our Escalating Debt Requires Tough Spending Reforms
America's growing debt crisis threatens national survival, and we must take decisive action now. While the President's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform's plan is flawed and incomplete, the proposed tough spending reforms would provide important budget discipline necessary to start putting our country's financial house in order. Since 2007, our public debt nearly doubled from 36 to 62 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Our more than $14 trillion debt equals a $45,0… Continue Reading
December 29, 2010
Priorities For The 112th Congress
January is a fitting time to establish priorities to maintain focus on critical goals. While not all-inclusive and adjustable to meet unforeseen circumstances, the following are some of my general objectives as we begin the 112th Congress: 1) Fiscal Responsibility: Getting our nation's fiscal house in order is Congress' most critical challenge. Our nation's extreme debt is unsustainable, cedes sovereignty to foreign creditors, impedes economic growth and saddles future generations with an un… Continue Reading
December 27, 2010
Unified Focus To Benefit Idaho
Idahoans, like many Americans, have clearly indicated that the current levels of unemployment, out-of-control federal spending and ever-increasing national debt are unacceptable. The public demand for congressional focus on these important issues is unmistakable. Idahoans are standing up and engaging in issues in new and inspiring ways. This increased involvement is encouraging as we, your elected delegation, face those challenges with an emboldened and unified voice in Washington. We share … Continue Reading
December 20, 2010
Away From Home, But In Our Hearts
One of the best gifts during the holidays is time with family and friends. The holidays provide time to catch up with close and distant loved ones. We can relax in the familiarity of shared traditions and celebrate common memories. We can reflect on experiences and lessons from the past year and discuss plans for the coming year. We are afforded this time of enjoyment due in large part to the diligence of American service members forgoing holidays at home and vigilantly defending our nation. … Continue Reading
December 13, 2010
Debt Commission Report Good Starting Point
Our debt crisis is a threat to not just our way of life, but our national survival. History has not been kind to great nations who borrowed and spent beyond their means. Doing nothing will, sooner rather than later, guarantee that this nation becomes a second-rate power with less opportunity and less freedom. The plan developed by the debt commission, while flawed and incomplete, will help America avoid this fate and secure freedom for future generations. The time for action is now. We can't … Continue Reading
December 06, 2010
Feeding The World's Hungry Enhances Security
Every nation faces poverty and food insecurity challenges. However, we are blessed as Americans to live in a country with a productive farming industry cultivating a safe, abundant and affordable food supply nourishing families worldwide. Idaho farmers and ranchers produce far more than is consumed in the state. The same cannot be said for many areas of this world. While efforts continue to provide necessary food aid, agricultural development assistance and shared research and production innovat… Continue Reading
November 29, 2010
Inspiring Compassion
Many demonstrate steady acts of compassion: donating to canned food drives in local schools; collecting coats for those without them during the cold months; tutoring struggling students; and visiting with seniors. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines compassion as "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it." Recognizing the kindness and giving spirit throughout Idaho, I am not surprised by the numerous examples of compassionate Idahoans. However, I am… Continue Reading
November 22, 2010
Global Success Depends On Empowering Youth
With accelerating advancements in technology and the global marketplace, today's youth are essentially preparing for challenges we have not yet seen, and cannot yet imagine. At the same time, market productivity is increasingly dependent on technology. To best enable the U.S. to continue to lead in developing technologies used by the world and, importantly, manufactured in the U.S., our nation must maintain systems that encourage ideas to flourish and promote an educational culture providing the… Continue Reading
