Letters: Some Idaho lawmakers are not competent, but boy are they good for a laugh | Opinion

Idaho Statesman
·5 min read

Congratulations to you silly lawmakers who proposed the following silliness: prohibiting the MRNA vaccine in lettuce, informing young minds of the fun of AR-15’s and teaching children of the silliness of feminism. You had all reasonable voters in stitches. We almost thought you were serious, but no one could be that silly. We know your proposals were tongue-in-cheek (and so silly). Not sure the parents of children killed by AR-15’s will appreciate your attempts at silly parody — and gosh, who wouldn’t find value in satirizing guns that kill children — but I’ll go ahead and forward your name to Sandy Hook and Uvalde parent groups. I’m positive they will show you the same compassion and empathy you’ve shown them. So keep these silly parodies coming until you quit wasting taxpayer-funded time to deal with the real issue Idahoans are concerned about: education funding. Remember, in school board and midterm elections, reasonable voters turned out in droves to reject extremism and silliness. We will do it again. Go ahead and provide your comic relief, you silly lawmakers, you.

Julie Davis, Boise

Blocking student voters

The Idaho House State Affairs Committee has decided to propose a bill to remove student IDs as identification for voting. This is due to a concern that students from out of state might come here and vote when they don’t actually live here.

I find it disturbing that our elected officials do not understand the process for voting. In order to vote you must first be registered. In order to register you must prove that you have been a resident in the county for at least 30 days. You can prove residency with a state-issued ID that has a current address. Or you can use a student ID, but you must also have a document that proves a current address. It is not possible for someone to show up at the polls with only a student ID and vote.

I have been a poll worker for 3 years and have learned a lot about how secure our voting system is. Idaho does a good job. We should encourage young voters to vote and allow them to use their student ID. The legislature should not be wasting time trying to create a solution for a problem that does not exist.

Constance Brumm, Moscow

Conspiracy theories

Accepting prevalent conspiracy theories requires an intentional, wholesale rejection of the entire work product of the finest minds civilization has ever known. Our advances in science, medicine, engineering, technology, education is unparalleled in history. The notion that these incredible men and women have joined forces to peddle fraud and lies is insanity. Our best and brightest are not Satanists. They are not pedophiles. They are heroes.

Ralph Sims, Eagle

Disenfranchisement

Aggressive moves by Idaho Republicans to disenfranchise younger voters speaks volumes about the kinds of unwelcome change they see coming in future election cycles. National trends show voters age 40 and under solidly rejecting the current GOP’s toxic swill of racism, homophobia, climate/medical/science denial, mass species extinction, election denial and voter suppression, censorship of school curriculum and library books, and perhaps most especially the theocratic breach of church and state culminating in the moral horror of government-forced childbirth.

As has been seen worldwide from South Africa to Georgia, efforts to clamp down on “too much democracy” produce the opposite result: the harder old conservative white people and their rich enablers try to stop everyone else from voting, the more resolved we become that everyone will get to vote and everyone’s vote will count.

The most ironic and absurd argument against “letting” younger people participate in the electoral process and related legislative activities such as public hearings is that they are simple-minded fools whose only understanding of current events comes from social media and the internet. Look in the mirror, oldsters: the economic, political, and educational disenfranchisement younger Americans experience daily is first-hand, direct, and undeniable.

Chris Norden, Moscow

Are you in support of the wealth tax?

It sounds good and the wealthy should pay their fair share. This is the thinking behind a push for a Wealth Tax. However, the numbers just do not support the idea. What do you mean? The Wall Street Journal has reported for years that the top 20% of earners pay 84% of federal income tax revenue. The bottom 40% of people eligible to pay federal income tax, pay nothing. In fact, the bottom 20%, they get paid by Uncle Sam.

The US has collected record-breaking revenue for the past several quarters. In 2021, the federal government collect $4.5 trillion dollars. However, it spent $6.8 trillion. I am not a math wiz, but even I can see we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Finally, who do you think provides jobs and drives economic growth in the country? The short answer, not the bottom 20%.

Chipp Leibach, Boise

Maternal mortality

The way to save Idaho pregnant moms’ lives is to know what killed previous Idaho pregnant moms.

This data is called “maternal mortality”.

Five Idaho moms died from pregnancy causes in 2019. Maternal mortality more than doubled in 2020, to eleven. Only one death was related to COVID.

By knowing what killed other pregnant moms, Idahoans can take steps to prevent fatal situations from occurring again. This saves lives. Idaho’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee is a group of physicians, midwives, coroners, and public health officials who gather data about maternal mortality, review what happened, and recommend steps to prevent future deaths from happening.

Funding for Idaho’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee expires in July this year. Some argue that this should remain unfunded, that national studies are sufficient.

National studies on maternal mortality are inadequate, as Idaho is a unique state with unique conditions causing its increasing maternal mortality.

Idaho moms deserve to live, not die in childbirth. Idaho’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee helps future moms live. Continuing its funding this year will help us live through pregnancy, childbirth, and go on to be grandmas.

Kama Parrish, Nampa

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