Dear Gov. Otter,

I want to thank you for appointing me to serve on your task force to advise you on Idaho's next steps regarding a health insurance exchange. I know you have received a copy of the committee's opinion and a "minority report" from Rep. Lynn Luker and me.

I want to add just a few more thoughts for your consideration. Even if one agrees that Idaho will have some modicum of greater flexibility under a state exchange (and I sincerely doubt that is true) or that Idaho businesses will be better off under a state exchange (also doubtful), it still doesn't negate the reality that the Affordable Care Act threatens our very form of government and the freedom of ALL future generations of Americans. Any temporary relief that proponents expect to gain from having a "state exchange" would be substantially diminished by what we give up in submitting to this obvious government overreach.

Future generations will rightly wonder what the hell we were thinking. They would wonder if our actions were motivated by self-interests and temporary convenience, and they would be correct. Today, we are told the state should administer the federal government's program of requiring all Americans to buy health insurance. How can the state possibly refuse when the federal government decides the state should also administer programs that dictate what we eat, what we drive, what we wear and where we live?

James Madison said if men were angels we wouldn't need government. But we do need government, and our Founders gave us a great one. But great as it is, our government is only as good as the mere mortals who occupy seats of power. Madison and our other Founders knew that our government depends entirely on the goodness and foresight of people who believe in the Constitution. It is up to us to protect and sustain it. It is also our duty to stop, oppose and frustrate tyrannical ideas and behavior. When all three branches of the federal government conspire to endorse an idea that is not validated by the Constitution, our Founders understood that our system of dual sovereignty would provide a powerful backstop to protect citizens and their rights. That, of course, can only happen if elected officials like you, operating with the support of people like me, are willing to stand for liberty.

There is one question that was never brought before our working group: "What terminal illness does the creation of a state insurance exchange inflict upon our state and our nation?" I submit to you that the answer is clear to all of us who fight for freedom. If we DO create a health insurance exchange, we will be aiding the destruction of our system of government and subjecting American citizens to future encroachments on their freedom. Idaho stands to lose in a big and irrevocable way. So does our country.

Yours for Freedom,

Wayne Hoffman
Executive Director
Idaho Freedom Foundation
"Restoring Liberty, Improving Lives"