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Eating humble pie is never easy. I’m an expert on the subject lately. There are a few others who need to take blame for poor ideas that manipulate the market and lead to unintended consequences and economic devastation. Let us start with Idaho Democrats. Take the Idaho Statesman’s recent revelation that airline carrier United will […]

The community organizing tactics made famous by President Barack Obama have landed in Idaho, as activists in at least two cities fight for higher local minimum wage laws. In his run to the presidency, Obama shined a light on community organizing, an aggressive political move the left deploys to push for more programs and government […]

You can tell when an idea is gaining some traction, critics will attack it from all angles. The transfer of federal lands to Idaho, and other Western states, is one such idea. And it’s an idea whose time has come. If we go back to our history books, we see the federal government has already […]

Two Idaho cities went big to kill a bill that would allow the state to regulate companies like Uber and Lyft, but came up short in the final tally. On a 5 to 3 vote, the Senate Transportation Committee approved the new rules, which would block cities and counties from imposing their own restrictions on […]

Credit the Coeur d’Alene Tribe with cleverness. It took me a while to realize exactly what the tribe was up to with its Senate Bill 1011, but now I know. The tribe argues that the Legislature should pass its bill to repeal historical horse racing. Historical horse racing is a type of gambling where, sitting […]

Credit the Coeur d’Alene Tribe with cleverness. It took me a while to realize exactly what the tribe was up to with its Senate Bill 1011, but now I know. The tribe argues that the Legislature should pass its bill to repeal historical horse racing. Historical horse racing is a type of gambling where, sitting […]

Sometimes in the halls of the Capitol in Boise, the answer to bad government is — wait for it — more government. Such seems to be the case with a new proposal to license Naturopathic physicians, which passed the Idaho House on a 37 to 32 vote Tuesday. Idaho law already regulates — at least […]

Despite an extra attempt to kill the plan, a bill to end legislative pension spiking will move forward to an Idaho Senate committee for more deliberations. The bill, sponsored by Republican Reps. Steven Harris of Meridian and Kelley Packer of McCammon, passed the House twice Tuesday, first on a 38 to 32 vote, then again […]

The other day, House Health and Welfare Chairman Fred Wood said something that is so outrageously, patently false, it deserves special recognition for its fallaciousness. After professional sign language interpreters flooded his committee room, the panel voted almost unanimously to make it illegal for people to offer sign language interpretation services without a license. That’s when the Republican from Burley, Wood, said, “It’s […]

Upstart auto maker Telsa is officially in the game here in the Idaho Capitol after the company registered a lobbyist with the secretary of state’s office last week. Amy Lombardo, an attorney for Parsons, Behle & Latimer, registered on Tesla’s behalf Feb. 26, just one day after the Idaho Automobile Dealers Association pitched legislation that […]

Members of a special committee introduced legislation Wednesday that would protect Idaho auto dealers from upstart competitors who want to sell cars directly to consumers. The bill, approved for further hearing by the House Ways and Means Committee, is the brainchild of the Idaho Automobile Dealers Association. It has the support of Rep. Kathy Sims, […]

As Idaho lawmakers consider restrictive licenses on two professions, genetic counseling and sign language interpreting, experts warn against adopting new regulations, saying they won’t help consumers. They also say the state has better options to ensure quality, low prices and easy entry into the market. “Licensing does not guarantee high quality,” warned Sanford Ikeda, an […]