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GOP gather to hear challenges for Idaho
The state remains in a "turbulent storm" of economic turmoil, but one of the county's representatives in the state legislature said newly elected Republicans will help Idaho chart a steady course to recovery.
Richard Wills (R), representative for District 22, which encompasses Elmore and Boise counties, highlighted the progress made to date during the GOP's Lincoln-Reagan Day Banquet Friday evening in Mountain Home.
Wills and other state Republican leaders met with local party members during the banquet held at the Mountain Home Auto Ranch.
During his address that evening, he urged people in places like Elmore County to hold steadfast to the ideals of the Republican party and the American people to keep the state and nation from faltering.
Quoting former President Abraham Lincoln, Wills emphasized that "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
With state Republicans earning the confidence of state voters and gaining several seats during the November elections, Wills said these elected officials "have done a marvelous job for the people of Idaho." Their hard work starts well before sunrise with the lights still on at the state capitol building well into the evening.
The county representative credited people like Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter (R) for standing firm and "holding the high ground" on issues affecting the people of Idaho.
In his opening comments, the governor emphasized that voters in places like Elmore County sent legislators back to the state capitol to handle the tough issues facing the state. But despite their initial progress, "we've got a lot more heavy lifting to do," Otter added.
In fact, the state's budget crisis represents the toughest issue currently facing the people of Idaho, the governor said. Seeking to curb this economic plight, Idaho's elected officials found ways to cut more than $1 billion from the state's budget over the past four years.
The governor credited state legislators that took the initiative to make those needed changes "and to find efficiencies and new ways to save those dollars," he said.
"We'll continue to find ways to do the job effectively with fewer dollars in our budget," Otter added.
The governor also credited the education plan introduced by State Superintendent of Public Education Tom Luna -- a proposal currently making its way through state committees. Acknowledging that some people remain concerned with introducing this concept in public schools across the state, Luna's plan isn't a new idea.
"The plan has already been working over the past four years," Otter said. There are rural schools successfully using this initiative where one teacher oversees larger classrooms. In fact, Luna's education plan helps reach out to public schools in rural communities that couldn't get this level of education through other means.
"Idaho shouldn't be afraid to give a ninth grader a laptop to help them compete in today's world market," Otter said.
On a related note, Idaho's importance continues to grow exponentially in shaping this international market. In 1986, for example, the governor said Idaho's overseas sales topped out at $700 million with agriculture comprising about $500 of that economic input. This year, the state's international sales stood at $5.1 billion.
"Idaho stood tall in that international market place," Otter said. "The world is looking at Idaho, and will continue to look at Idaho, because we're doing great things."
From southwest Asia to Europe, countries around the world have seen Idaho's importance as a leader in agriculture, the governor added.
For example, an Idaho potato processing plant and feed lot built in Turkey in the 1980s helped pave the way for capitalism to breach the Iron Curtain in the final days of the former Soviet Union, he said. The first McDonald's in Moscow served french fries from that Turkish-based processing plant with the restaurant's golden arches casting their shadow on the Kremlin wall.
"Why are we so successful in Idaho? It's because we can do it -- to make great things happen," Otter said. "I've seen it happen all around the world."
Turning to other issues, the governor said state Republicans remain committed to repealing the president's federal health care system. Contrary to popular belief, the state has spent very little -- less than $6,000 -- to contest the federal takeover of peoples' inherent right to choose their type of medical care, Otter said.
The governor vowed that Idaho will continue to support other states fighting to overturn "Obamacare" and allow the voters of their respective states to decide what they want.
"It's the right thing to do," Otter said.