Imagine there’s a business you are looking to invest in. The businessman pitches you a compelling plan, explains how your money will be used, and promises long-term returns. You cut them a check and leave them to their work, excited for the future. A month later, you check in — only to find the original plan you were sold has been abandoned, the funds were spent on unrelated side projects, and there is no clear accountability for the outcome.
In the private sector, this would be called fraud or at least serious mismanagement. In politics, this is par for the course.
As a citizen, your political currency is your vote. You vote for candidates who promise solutions for issues you are passionate about and that directly affect you. Yet, when it comes time to actually deliver on those promises, many choose not just to ignore their words, but to do the opposite of what they vowed to do.
This seems to be a disease that plagues Idaho politics. Many elected officials rarely hold to the words they run on. Over the past several years, voters gave the Legislature clear mandates to cut spending, shrink government, reduce taxes, and take action on illegal immigration, among many other things. Instead, the people have been handed a masterclass in political doublespeak and legislative foot-dragging.
Candidates like to “tough talk” about hot-button issues such as spending, taxes, and immigration; however, they often find themselves falling on the wrong side of a vote during the legislative session about the very issues they made bold promises about.
Year after year, elected officials promise Idahoans they will slash spending and reduce government agency bloat. Voters are continually told they’ll see real action — particularly through initiatives like the multiyear Medicaid Review Panel. But during the session, what do lawmakers typically do?
They overspend and grow government.
Not only has the budget grown by approximately 55% between 2020 and 2025, but it is also tied up in socialist-style programs such as LAUNCH — a multi-million-dollar "workforce development" program that funnels taxpayer money into educational subsidies with minimal oversight. This is a far cry from "knee-capping bureaucracies.” Instead, the Idaho Legislature has helped expand them.
During election season, Idahoans were sold a vision of a type of Golden Age — a time when elected officials would “keep taxpayers’ hard-earned money in their pockets.” Sounds nice, right?
Well, after all the speeches and slick mailers, what actually changed? Not nearly as much as we were promised.
The grocery tax repeal — consistently supported by the vast majority of Idahoans — was once again left to die without serious consideration. Additionally, there was no deliverance on significant property tax reform. Instead, Idahoans were afforded breadcrumbs for bookkeeping (grocery tax credit) and a minimal property tax reduction. Idahoans continue to shoulder the weight of overtaxation in an inflated economy.
In a state where nearly 67% of residents voted for President Trump in 2024, candidates are often quick to “jump on the Trump train” regarding his bold stances on issues such as immigration and spending cuts. Candidates echoed America First rhetoric by promising to uphold the rule of law and make Idaho a state that is non-conducive to illegal immigration.
Yet, when the rubber met the road and it came time to vote, critical bills such as House Bill 11, House Bill 94, House Bill 335, and House Bill 382 — each aiming at addressing immigration enforcement at the state level — were quietly dropped, delayed, or outright rejected by members of the Legislature. The same legislators who championed America First border security during campaign season suddenly found excuses and cited "procedural concerns" once the session began.
So what happened? Perhaps political cowardice is the answer.
We find many lawmakers fail to follow through on their promises as a result of the “three Ls”: coercion from leadership, lobbyists, and (personal) loyalties.
Instead of representing their constituents, too many elected officials play a different game — one where the goal is not liberty, but rather the preservation of their own power. If a private citizen lied to secure your hard-earned money and then spent it on personal perks, justice would be demanded. Yet, in politics, we are told this phenomenon is part of a broader “strategy” or to “wait until the next election to remove them.”
We don’t know about you, but we’re pretty tired of the excuses. Idaho is one of the reddest states in the nation demographically — yet, we can’t achieve grocery tax repeal? We can’t shut down socialist government programs? We can’t limit spending? We can’t safeguard our borders?
Getting conservative legislation across the finish line should not be a heavy lift in a state like Idaho. The fact that it is, is not simply a failure — it's a betrayal of trust.
When politicians lie to secure your vote and then govern in direct contradiction to their promises, it isn’t strategy — it’s fraud. And if we continue to accept them without consequence, we are complicit in our own exploitation.
Politicians must be held accountable for the gap between what they say and what they do. If elected officials can lie, fail, and coast through reelection with no consequences, then we’re living in a rigged game. The only way to win is to stop playing by their rules.
Thank you for your excellent article.
Agree 100%. Very few legislators have kept their promises, and the ones who do are shut out of committees, thwarted when proposing bills, or ridiculed and scorned by fellow legislators.
Idaho House and Senate leadership and committee chairs have too much power and agendas that don’t include “we the people.”
The legislative body should be very careful about whom they elect to leadership positions, or we will have more of the same, as most in leadership seem to win re-election consistently just because voters know their names.
Voters also are at fault because they swallow slick campaigns hook, line, and sinker, vote for insincere candidates, and do not stay engaged between elections to hold legislators to account.
We need people who truly want to serve — not self-serve — to run and stand for the people.