I am done letting Idahoans be taken for granted

---

The Idaho leadership has given away billions in federal funding to other states. It doesn't take much to assume it went to purple states to win elections because they figured Idaho was a lock. It doesn't have to be that way we can send a message that you can't take Idaho for granted. Idahoans are a strong breed and we don't lie down for anyone.

It is time to get the money back for our rural schools here in district 23. Cuts across the board might sound fair, but in practice they are far from it. It is just lazy on behalf of our representatives. 

Imagine a large school in a neighborhood like Meridian or Boise. If you cut 10% of their budget of millions it can easily be spread out. And if they hold a fundraiser to make up for the loss they have a huge community with plenty of disposable income to pull from. Then take a small town of maybe 300 students. That same cut is far more significant, 10% of 1,000,000 is 100,000 which leaves 900,000 to work with. That equates to one optional program they can just cut. 10% of 1,000 is 100 Leaving only 900 to work with. That is a year's worth of paper to a small school. And that is about all they can afford to cut with energy prices being what they are. It's time we got that money back.

Let's talk about health care. Again across the board cuts may sound fair in the beginning, however, for a large city with clinics on every corner, losing a few has no real impact. For a small town with one clinic serving 1000 people, one small cut means they have to close their doors at least a few days out of the month. Now consider a child getting seriosly hurt, without that clinic being open on that particular day, a 45 minute trip turns into hours and it is very possible the child may not make it.

Our public lands are our heritage. Idaho and this district in particular not only loves to use our public lands for entertainment but depends on them for industry. We enjoy the dunes and deserts for high speed ATV's and the Owyhees for a large variety of hunting. Farmers and cattlemen depent on the quality and quantity of public land for grazing and water. If we continue with the pratice of selling and restricting our lands the inpact will be irreversible.