Commentary

The following guest opinion by Rep. Lenore Barrett appeared in the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday:

Where would we be today if David had looked up at Goliath and said, “Whoa! I ain’t takin’ on this dude!”

Well, David showed up at the American Revolution, and the rest is history. It only took 236 years, but we finally forgot the roots that gave us wings. The power of the “Crown” still dwells amongst us. Only the names have changed. God is being mocked, and sacred honor goes to the highest bidder.

Sovereign states have become tiny fish in a big federal puddle and can’t see the hook obscured by the fat, federal worm. Why, if your car stalls on the track in front of an oncoming train, would you not get out? America is a country in decline; and, since misery loves company, the federal government wants state government to join it on the way down!

So, what is happening at the Idaho Statehouse? Depends on who you ask!S1042 (Idaho Healthcare Exchange) sailed through the Senate and is docked in the House Health and Welfare Committee, where it will get a new shade of lipstick on the same old money-sucking mouth.

House freshmen want to sugar coat (amend) it and make it more palatable, or they won’t support it; however, if you sugar coat a cyanide pill, you’ll still be dead. Make no mistake, this is a sovereignty issue. Idaho passed a Health Care Freedom Act, joined in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare, and the Idaho Republican Party, by resolution, has repudiated the state exchange, as has the Idaho Farm Bureau and a majority of right-thinking Idaho voters; but, the “Crown” moves amongst us and extols the delight of savoring that fat, juicy worm obscuring the deadly hook.

Over half the states in the Union have rejected state/federal exchanges. They understand that the state will be nothing more than a federal flunky, with or without amendments to the contrary. If the House passes S1042, it will enable the federal government to move forward with Obamacare. So much for State Sovereignty!

The Heritage Foundation suggests that if the feds are stuck with it, they will fail and the whole exercise will implode. No more Obamacare! Only if the state pays the bills, enforces the regulations/rules and submits to the IRS, can the feds succeed; but, the feds can’t succeed with this unconstitutional activity unless the Idaho Legislature acquiesces. There ARE other options, but we must first rid ourselves of this federal healthcare albatross around our neck.

If anyone gets to read this, S1042 may well be fait accompli. So, save it for “I told you so!”