Category: Politics

  • Mask Mandates: Medical Intervention on Healthy People

    The evidence for masks (as explained below) cited by health authorities (supposedly our nation’s “experts”) is inadequate and does not justify forcing what could be considered a medical intervention on millions of healthy people.  In even considering a sweeping mandate the burden of proof is on health and government officials to provide sufficient and conclusive (not anecdotal) evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that there are NO negative health effects (physical, mental, or emotional) associated with the implementation of mask policies.  Please review all the citations given on the governor’s website from the CDC and Idaho Health & Welfare (https://coronavirus.idaho.gov/idaho-resources/) used to justify face coverings?  Here is our summary.

    CDC Citations –

    1. The CDC provides a list of 19 citations.  Citations 1-12 only discuss asymptomatic transmission and are not actually mask studies.
    2. Citations 13 – 15 are the only studies that address cloth masks (see below).  If the government is not going to provide a constant supply of surgical masks to the entire population, most people will opt for cloth masks due to affordability and availability.  CDC encourages the general public to use cloth/home-made masks to preserve the surgical mask supply for healthcare workers.  These 3 studies show some potential benefit to masks, but efficacy depends on proper use and fit (no gaps), the number of layers and type of fabric, and other measures used to reduce infection.  A mandate will not be able to control these factors.  Study #14 shows that filter efficiency was significantly reduced by gaps – this problem alone makes universal masking unrealistic and unsupported as a mandate.  The general public is not fit-tested or trained on mask-wearing, they do not seal or tape masks to their skin, and do not live in a clinically controlled environment.  Many of the materials in these studies were sealed around a tube, not tested on real people.  Look around – you will rarely see a lay-person with a mask that does not have any gaps (not to mention those people who pull their mask down to sneeze!).
    3. Citations 16 – 19 only address surgical mask material with no gaps, or a patient was instructed on proper use.  It should be noted that not all viral RNA droplets/aerosols actually contained virus, and infectivity was not confirmed.

    Citation 13 (author Davies): “…the homemade mask did not significantly reduce the number of particles emitted… In contrast, the surgical mask did have a significant effect.”  “Although any material may provide a physical barrier to an infection, if as a mask it does not fit well around the nose and mouth, or the material freely allows infectious aerosols to pass through it, then it will be of no benefit.”  “An improvised face mask should be viewed as the last possible alternative if a supply of commercial face masks is not available, irrespective of the disease against which it may be required for protection.  Improvised homemade face masks may be used to help protect those who could potentially, for example, be at occupational risk from close or frequent contact with symptomatic patients.  However, these masks would provide the wearers little protection from microorganisms from other persons who are infected with respiratory diseases. As a result, we would not recommend the use of homemade face masks as a method of reducing transmission of infection from aerosols.”

    Citation 14 (author Konda):  This is the only study that tested mask materials with and without gaps.  Surgical masks and multi-layered fabrics had some filter efficiency, however, “Whereas the surgical mask provides moderate (>60%) and excellent (close to 100%) particle exclusion below and above 300 nm, respectively, the tests carried out with the 1% opening surprisingly resulted in significant drops in the mask efficiencies across the entire size range (60% drop in the >300 nm range).”  For example, the 1 layer 80 TPI quilter’s cotton (which is stated as often used in DIY masks) as shown on Table 1 only has a 9% filter efficiency, even without a gap.  A surgical mask with any gap only has a 50% filter efficiency.  “Our findings indicate that leakages around the mask area can degrade efficiencies by ∼50% or more, pointing out the importance of “fit”.  “It is critically important that cloth mask designs also take into account the quality of this “fit” to minimize leakage of air between the mask and the contours of the face, while still allowing the exhaled air to be vented effectively.”

    Citation 15 (author Aydin):  This study showed some benefit to cloth masks (1-layer T-shirt had a 43.3% blocking efficiency) but tested only droplet dissemination (not aerosolized particles), and only tested the materials without any gaps.

    Idaho Department of H&W Citations –

    1. Reference numbers 3 – 7 and 9 are duplicate citations from the CDC list.  Reference #8 is the CDC article that provides the link to their mask references.  Reference #10 is a short article with no mask information.
    2. Reference #1 is an article written by doctors that actually questions the benefits of masks and has no mask data.  “We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection…. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.”  “What is clear, however, is that universal masking alone is not a panacea. A mask will not protect providers caring for a patient with active Covid-19 if it’s not accompanied by meticulous hand hygiene, eye protection, gloves, and a gown.  A mask alone will not prevent health care workers with early Covid-19 from contaminating their hands and spreading the virus to patients and colleagues. Focusing on universal masking alone may, paradoxically, lead to more transmission of Covid-19 if it diverts attention from implementing more fundamental infection control measures.”  “One might argue that fear and anxiety are better countered with data and education than with a marginally beneficial mask, particularly in light of the worldwide mask shortage, but it is difficult to get clinicians to hear this message in the heat of the current crisis.”
    3. Reference #2 concluded that “Results obtained in the study show that common fabric materials may provide marginal protection against nanoparticles including those in the size ranges of virus-containing particles in exhaled breath.”  “…fabric materials show only marginal filtration performance against virus-size particles when sealed around the edges.  Face seal leakage will further decrease the respiratory protection offered by fabric materials.”  This study did not measure face seal leakage.

    Other studies and citations questioning masks:

    “We do not recommend requiring the general public who do not have symptoms of COVID-19-like illness to routinely wear cloth or surgical masks because: There is no scientific evidence they are effective in reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission… Sweeping mask recommendations—as many have proposed—will not reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission, as evidenced by the widespread practice of wearing such masks in Hubei province, China, before and during its mass COVID-19 transmission experience earlier this year. Our review of relevant studies indicates that cloth masks will be ineffective at preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission, whether worn as source control or as PPE.”  “In sum, given the paucity of information about their performance as source control in real-world settings, along with the extremely low efficiency of cloth masks as filters and their poor fit, there is no evidence to support their use by the public or healthcare workers to control the emission of particles from the wearer.”  COMMENTARY: Masks-for-all for COVID-19 not based on sound data, https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data

    “Laboratory tests showed the penetration of particles through the cloth masks to be very high (97%) compared with the medical masks (44%).”  “We have provided the first clinical efficacy data of cloth masks, which suggest HCWs should not use cloth masks as protection against respiratory infection. Cloth masks resulted in significantly higher rates of infection than medical masks, and also performed worse than the control arm”.   “A cluster randomized trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers”, https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/5/4/e006577.full.pdf

    “While there is some experimental evidence that masks should be able to reduce infectiousness under controlled conditions [7], there is less evidence on whether this translates to effectiveness in natural settings.  There is little evidence to support the effectiveness of face masks to reduce the risk of infection.  Cowling, B. et al. (2010) “Face masks to prevent transmission of influenza virus: A systematic review“, Epidemiology and Infection, 138(4), 449456. doi:10.1017/S0950268809991658 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-infection/article/face e-masks-to-prevent-transmission-of-influenza-virus-a-systematicreview/64D368496EBDE0AFCC6639CCC9D8BC05

    “None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection.  Some evidence suggests that mask use is best undertaken as part of a package of personal protection especially hand hygiene.” (bin-Reza F et al. The use of mask and respirators to prevent transmission of influenza: A systematic review of the scientific evidence. Resp Viruses 2012;6(4):257-67. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5779801/)

    “….homemade masks are not considered PPE, since their capability to protect HCP is unknown. Caution should be exercised when considering this option. Homemade masks should ideally be used in combination with a face shield that covers the entire front (that extends to the chin or below) and sides of the face.”  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/ppe-strategy/face-masks.html

    Potential health risks voiced by doctors and other professionals:

    • Possible increased risk of infection (inhaling trapped virus, bacteria, and other toxins you would normally be exhaling?):  “The rates of all infection outcomes were highest in the cloth mask arm, with the rate of ILI (influenza-like illness) significantly higher in the cloth mask arm compared with the medical mask arm.”  (the cloth masks were 2-layer cotton) “Adverse events associated with facemask use were reported in 40.4% of HCWs in the medical mask arm and 42.6% in the cloth mask arm.  General discomfort and breathing problems were the most frequently reported adverse events.”  “The physical properties of a cloth mask, reuse, the frequency and effectiveness of cleaning, and increased moisture retention, may potentially increase the infection risk for HCWs. The virus may survive on the surface of the facemasks, and modelling studies have quantified the contamination levels of masks.  Self-contamination through repeated use and improper doffing is possible….Observations during SARS suggested double-masking and other practices increased the risk of infection because of moisture, liquid diffusion and pathogen retention.  These effects may be associated with cloth masks.”

    “A cluster randomized trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers”, https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/5/4/e006577.full.pdf

    • Hypoxia and immune system impairment (hypoxia can cause heart attacks, strokes, seizures, death and more. Low oxygen levels stress the body resulting in increased cortisol. Cortisol suppresses the immune system rendering people MORE susceptible to illness).

      Shehade H et al. Cutting edge: Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1 negatively regulates Th1 function. J Immunol 2015;195:1372-1376.

      Westendorf AM et al. Hypoxia enhances immunosuppression by inhibiting CD4+ effector T cell function and promoting Treg activity. Cell Physiol Biochem 2017;41:1271-84.

      Sceneay J et al. Hypoxia-driven immunosuppression contributes to the pre-metastatic niche. Oncoimmunology 2013;2:1 e22355.
    • Increase of CO2 and immune system impairment

      https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32008-x.pdf

    Have you considered these questions/potential problems should you implement a mask mandate?

    1. What about people who cannot breathe well in the masks, including those who do not have a respiratory medical condition (i.e. anxiety symptoms caused by oxygen deprivation)?  Would they require a “doctor’s note”?  How would you regulate this?  Businesses (i.e. grocery stores) in California are refusing service to un-masked patrons even if they have a doctor’s note.  Is this illegal discrimination?  Does this violate HIPPA regulations?
    2. Will you be providing a mask supply to businesses?  (many of which are already struggling financially).  What about the stress caused to employees who must face potential violence from angry citizens who disagree with a mask mandate?  Can police services handle these extra calls and are you willing to place this burden on law enforcement agencies?  Are you prepared to fine or jail citizens and businesses, already stressed and financially burdened by consequences of the lockdown?  Is a universal mask mandate based on flimsy scientific evidence worth the trouble that it may cause?  Could it exacerbate the economic depression?
    3. What about potential infection via the eyes?  Lack of eye protection eliminates any benefit a mask would provide.
    4. Please recall that as of just recently the CDC, WHO, and US Surgeon General did NOT recommend masks for the general public (healthy people) outside of healthcare facilities. 

    In addition, the American Medical Association states that “Face masks should be used only by individuals who have symptoms of respiratory infection such as coughing, sneezing, or, in some cases, fever. Face masks should also be worn by health care workers, by individuals who are taking care of or are in close contact with people who have respiratory infections, or otherwise as directed by a doctor. Face masks should not be worn by healthy individuals to protect themselves from acquiring respiratory infection because there is no evidence to suggest that face masks worn by healthy individuals are effective in preventing people from becoming ill. Face masks should be reserved for those who need them because masks can be in short supply during periods of widespread respiratory infection. Because N95 respirators require special fit testing, they are not recommended for use by the general public.”  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762694

    1. Have you found studies that measure the long-term health risks of masks for both adults and children?  Could the intervention be worse than the illness itself?   Is it legal and ethical to mandate an intervention for children that could potentially affect their health, where the child’s parents or legal guardians alone have the right to make these decisions for them?
    2. Could you consider a less intrusive mandate based on more on conclusive scientific evidence, i.e. face mask mandate in public only for those who are sick/vulnerable, or requiring hand sanitizing at business entrances.

    We agree with common sense science-based measures encouraged for any type of viral illness i.e. handwashing and staying home when sick, but it seems much of the nation is reacting based on hysteria, emotion, and fear.  For this virus, the focus should not be on the number of cases sensationalized in the media (since many people are asymptomatic and most recover without medical intervention, there are problems with testing i.e. false positives, and there is evidence of data fraud) but on COVID-caused hospitalization and death rates.  

    The world population has been living with several types of coronaviruses (and millions of other kinds of viruses and bacteria) for decades, and current science is still making discoveries about the complex and amazing nature of our God-given immune system.  Our society will adjust to this new virus as the population achieves natural herd immunity.  

    We are certainly not going to support authoritarian rule and the destruction of the economy, community, and our personal freedoms, based on a current 0.26% CDC estimated COVID mortality rate.  Mandating face masks and lockdowns (never enacted before in recent history for any other virus) is an over-reaction unwarranted for this virus.  Illness is part of life.  Instead of fear-based reactions, public health efforts should focus on protecting vulnerable populations (i.e. nursing homes) and educating medical practitioners and the general public on COVID treatment remedies and how to strengthen and support the immune system.

  • Central District Health Chooses Anecdotes Over Facts

    On the evening of July 7, 2020, I “attended” the virtual meeting of Idaho’s Central District Health board. During this meeting, the main discussion was the increase of Covid in Idaho’s Ada County.

    I have to say, as the meeting went on I became quite unimpressed. In fact, it sounded like I was listening to high schoolers.

    Most surprisingly, when the topic turned to masks, the board didn’t ask for any hard data on their efficacy. 

    Let me explain.

    During the meeting. Jim Sousa, Chief Medical Officer of St. Luke’s Heath Care System, was one of the guests on hand to give information and answer questions.

    Sousa said it was important we do something, because earlier in the year, their hospital in Idaho’s Blaine County had to shut down because half the staff went out sick and under quarantine with Covid, and it looked like Covid cases in Ada County (home of Boise / the State Capitol) might resemble what happened in Blaine County.

    Sousa then gave anecdotal evidence as he advocated for masks.

    For example, he told a story about a couple of hairdressers in a southern state who had COVID, but because they wore masks, none of their clients became infected.  

    At that point, the question I wanted to ask was, “If masks work that well, why didn’t they prevent the hospital staff in Blaine County from catching Covid?” But it was a virtual meeting and there was no opportunity for questions.

    Souza also stated that none of the recent spike in Covid cases came from the George Floyd protests, “because from what I saw, over half of the protesters were wearing masks.”

    How’s THAT for science?

    I should point out that this is the same Jim Souza who wrote an op-ed that appeared earlier this year in many Idaho papers, informing us that the virus “lies in wait. It likes crowds. It picks on the vulnerable. It waits for us to lose our focus. And then it moves in,” as if the virus were sentient.

    No evaluation of the pros and cons

    Amazingly, NONE of the CDH board members asked ANY tough questions of the hospital representatives on hand.

    And like I said, no hard science on masks was presented. One would expect a board of this stature – making a decision that will impact 500,000+ people – to demand (& evaluate) hard data on the PROS & CONS of wearing masks.

    Nope. Nothing.

    Also, during his time speaking to the CDH board, Souza said that treatment for Covid in Idaho hasn’t changed much. He listed all the drugs & treatments being used, and NEVER ONCE mentioned hydroxycholoroquine, zinc, or azithromycin. The HCQ/zinc/azithromycin treatment, also known as the #ZelenkoProtocol, has been proven to clear Covid symptoms in people within 8 – 12 hours of starting the protocol.

    This begs a deadly serious question. WHY are Idaho’s doctors NOT using the Zelenko Protocol?  Do they still think “orange man bad?” Do they not realize that all the articles slamming HCQ as dangerous have been proven wrong & that multiple studies have shown HCQ to be safe & effective for treating Covid?

    If Idaho’s doctors are letting Covid patients die without putting them on the #ZelenkoProtocol, and if our Central District Health board isn’t recommending that Idaho’s doctors look into the Zelenko Protocol, then both the doctors and the CDH board have blood on their hands.

    Could it be that these hospitals would rather admit a Covid patient and collect large sums of cash for doing so instead of prescribing a valid, $20 treatment?

    They will no doubt vehemently deny any such motivation, but the way Idaho’s government went all Jekyll-Hyde since $1.25 billion came our way in March / April, I have serious questions.

    So what’s the next step?

    The CDH board voted for CDH Director Russ Duke to draft a Mandatory Mask recommendation for Ada County, and possibly Valley County.

    Yes, Idaho’s Central District Health board plans on making facemasks mandatory in Ada County, Idaho because a chief medical officer gave anecdotal stories yet had ZERO hard evidence for mask efficacy.

    The Board didn’t examine any other evidence at the board meeting. None. Zip. Ziltch. Nada.

    It really was like listening to high schoolers. There were so many holes in Souza’s talking points, a high school debate coach would have laughed him out of the room. And the fact that the board didn’t seek to weigh evidence from both sides of the issue was equally laughable if it weren’t so sad.

    It was obvious most of the CDH board had already made up their mind to vote for mandatory masks, evidence be damned. Without waiting for the board to discuss or make a motion, CDH Director Russ Duke eagerly said he would write up a mandatory mask rule if the board wanted it.

    Almost immediately after him saying that, board member District 1 Ada County Commissioner Diana Lachiondo gushed over the fact that Duke spent so much time on the phone with her this past week.  At that point, it became quite apparent that this meeting was merely a formality to invoke a decision they had already reached.

    Only one board member, Representative Megan Blanksma, seemed to want more consideration of facts. Thankfully, when it became obvious the board was getting carried away and about to make a decision on a far-reaching mandate concerning schools, Blanksma wisely jumped in to curtail it.

    CDH Board Faux Pas

    As a side note, earlier in the meeting the board went offline for a while to confer with legal counsel in executive session, because last week’s private board meeting (when they first voted to take Ada County back to Level 3) was in violation of the state’s open meeting law. As a result, when they came out of executive session, the board voided the minutes of their last meeting!

    Of course, then they had to vote again to put Ada County back into Stage 3, but in so doing they also added the rule that no meetings of more than 50 people would be allowed. So much for church services!

    And I think there was less than 60 seconds of discussion on this issue.

    To wrap up their meeting, the CDH board voted to instruct CDH Director Russ Duke to draft an order that all of Ada County, Idaho MUST wear masks when in public and in enclosed places. No timeline was discussed for how long that might last, and board member Ted Epperly included plenty of undefined terms in his motion. And they will include masks for children, too, because even though their infection rate is phenomenally low, Souza thought it would be a good idea.

    Bottom line, the board came off looking like a rubber stamp for whatever Jim Souza recommended.

    It would be good to get the CDH board to CONSIDER ACTUAL SCIENCE at their next meeting. Maybe – JUST MAYBE – Idaho’s CDH will act like professionals & carefully consider both pro and con evidence before deciding any rule that will affect 500,000+ Idahoans.

    Treat Our Covid Patients Better!

    Idaho also needs to stop the politics and get our Covid patients treated with the Zelenko Protocol. There is rarely a reason for people to be hospitalized for Covid if they begin the Zelenko Protocol within five days of symptom onset.  And with that, the hospitals would NOT be dealing with Covid patients, and there would be no need to consider mandatory masks.

    Per the peer-reviewed research, there’s no need to wait for a test result to start the Zelenko Protocol, just prescribe the protocol on clinical suspicion. If our Idaho doctors and our CDH board cannot fathom that this protocol works, then we need more open-minded doctors and a better-informed Central District Health board.

    As it stands, this board meeting was unimpressive. We’ve had enough knee-jerk decisions the past four months. I hope to see more professionalism and a more balanced examination of facts at their next meeting.

    Health Freedom Idaho wants to thank author Daniel Bobinski for allowing us to share his report of the virtual meeting by the Central Health Department

    Health Freedom Idaho encourages readers to TAKE ACTION.

    Start by EMAILING your Mayor and those of your surrounding cities.
    The Health Departments have failed to consider the lack of safety and effectiveness of paper masks, bandanas, and face coverings as protection from a virus. Tell them you do not want them to mandate masks allowing each citizen their own body autonomy and the freedom to maintain their personal responsibility when it comes to health.
    Here are some resources to review and share:
    https://hfi.designbyparrish.com/mask-mandates

    mayormclean@cityofboise.org – Boise Mayor McLean
    rsimison@meridiancity.org – Meridian Mayor Simison
    MayorStear@kunaID.gov – Kuna Mayor Stear
    jPierce@cityofeagle.org _ Eagle Mayor Pierce 
    jevans@gardencityidaho.org – Garden City Mayor Evans
    tchadwick@staridaho.org – Star Mayor Chadwick
    sfleetwood@cityofcaldwell.org – Caldwell Mayor Fleetwood
    mayor@cityofnampa.us – Nampa Mayor Debbie Kling
    srule@middletoncity.com – Middleton Mayor Steven Rule
    mayor@mountain-home.us – Mountain Home Mayor Rich Sykes
    phendricks@sunvalleyidaho.gov – Sun Valley Mayor Peter Hendricks
    nbradshaw@ketchumidaho.org– Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw
    martha.burke@haileycityhall.org – Hailey Mayor Martha Burke
    nburns@bellevueidaho.us – Bellevue Mayor Ned Burns
    mayor@cityofbuhl.us – Buhl Mayor Tom McCauley
    sormond@burleyidaho.org – Burley Mayor Steve Ormond
    mayoralanjay@gmail.com– Hagerman Mayor Alan Jay
    mayor@idahofallsidaho.gov – Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Noah Casper
    mayor@pocatello.us – Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad
    mayor@cdaid.org – Coeur d’ Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer
    shawkins@tfid.org – Twin Falls Mayo Suzanne Hawkins
    rjacobson@postfallsidaho.org – Post Falls Mayor Ronald Jacobson
    mayorthomas@cityofweiser.com – Weiser Mayor Diana Thomas
    srhodes@cityofwilder.org – Wilder Mayor Steve Rhodes
    mayor@cityofpayette.com – Payette Jeffrey T. Williams
    cityofhomedale@cableone.net – Homedale Mayor Gheen Christoffersen 
    cityclerk@ctcweb.net – Councilman Bruce Gardner
    cityofcambridge@ctcweb.net– Cambridge Jack Toothman
    mayormarshall@centurytel.net – Salmon Mayo Leo Marshall
    idahocityclerk@gmail.com – Idaho City – Phillip J Canody
    cityclerk@stanley.id.gov – Stanley Mayor Steve Botti
    clerkfairfield@frontier.com – Fairfield Mayor Terry S Lee
    ddavis@ci.jerome.id.us – Jerome Mayor Dave Davis
    bgiles@mccall.id.us – McCall Mayor Bob Giles
    darbeyedwards2@gmail.com – New Meadows Mayor Darbey Edwards
    blambert@ci.moscow.id.us – Moscow Mayor Bill Lambert
    mcollins@cityoflewiston.org – Lewiston Mayor Michael Collins

    # # AUTHOR:

    For 30 years, Daniel Bobinski has been a management / leadership coach and corporate trainer. He’s also a certified behavioral analyst, NYT best-selling author, and long-time columnist on workplace issues.

    In 2019 Daniel decided to start writing about news & politics, penning a weekly column for UncoverDC. He also writes for RedState.

    Daniel is a veteran and a self-styled Christian libertarian who believes in the principles of free market capitalism while standing firmly against crony capitalism.

    To inquire about 1:1 coaching with Daniel or corporate team training, reach him through MyWorkplaceExcellence.com. For things political, use @newbookofdaniel on Twitter and Parler. You can also follow him on Facebook.

    RESOURCES:

    Zeleko Protocol: https://joshmitteldorf.scienceblog.com/2020/06/18/suppression-of-chloroquine-is-scandalous/

    The 7 individuals who make up the board of Central Health in Idaho
    GENERAL EMAIL BOX for comments: https://cdhd.idaho.gov/cf.php

    There are 7 individuals on the Board of Central Health they include:
    Betty Ann Nettleton, R.N.

    Board Chair
    Representing Elmore County through 2021 Retired Nurse

    mblanksma

    Megan Blanksma
    Vice Chair
    Representing Elmore County through 2023
    State Representative



    Elt Hasbrouck
    Trustee
    Representing Valley County through 2020
    Valley County Commissioner

    ryan stirm

    Ryan Stirm
    Representing Boise County through 2024
    Boise County Commissioner
    Photo credit: boisecounty.us

    Dr. Epperly

    Ted Epperly, M.D.
    Representing Ada County through 2021
    Family Practice Physician



    Diana Lachiondo
    Representing Ada County through 2025
    Ada County Commissioner



    Jane Young, CRN-P, DNP
    Representing Ada County through 2022
    Family Nurse Practitioner

  • Declaration of Independence

    The signers of the Declaration of Independence believed so much in the unalienable rights – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – they were willing to sacrifice themselves for the hope of freedom for their children.

    You might not be aware, those 56 Americans pledged their live, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. It was no idle pledge.

    • Nine signers died of wounds during the Revolutionary War.
    • Five were captured or imprisoned, wives and children were killed, jailed, mistreated or left penniless.
    • Twelve signers’ houses were burned to the ground.
    • Seventeen lost everything they owned.
    • No signed defected. Their honor like their nation remained intact.

    For more than 200 years, we have been bound by the principles and ideals expressed in our founding documents, but it is up to citizens
    like us to carry on this legacy for future generations.

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – Citizens Almanac

    When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

    Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience has shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

    But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

    He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

    He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

    He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature; a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

    He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

    He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.

    He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

    He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

    He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

    He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

    He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

    He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.

    He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.

    He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

    For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;

    For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states;

    For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;

    For imposing taxes on us without our consent;

    For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;

    For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses;

    For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies;

    For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments;

    For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

    He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us.

    He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

    He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

    He has constrained our fellow citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

    He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.

    In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress, in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

    Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

    We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

    RESOURCES: Citizenship Guide https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Office%20of%20Citizenship/Citizenship%20Resource%20Center%20Site/Publications/M-76.pdf

  • Mask Mandates on the Rise But Where is the Health Emergency?

    As local and state governments around the nation debate legislation mandating masks, let’s review what we know about the danger of the new corona virus, the state of any health emergency, asymptomatic spread, and the impact of mask-wearing.

    https://www.lesliemanookian.com/socio-political/mask-mandates-on-the-rise-but-where-is-the-health-emergency/

    Following is a list of facts, data, scientific articles and other links addressing the issues outlined above that come from https://www.lesliemanookian.com/socio-political/mask-mandates-on-the-rise-but-where-is-the-health-emergency/.
    Information will be updated as it becomes available.

    SHARE YOUR CONCERNS WITH IDAHO HEALTH DISTRICTS

    Contact information for Idaho Health Districts. Most Districts are meeting in July to discuss and vote on mask mandates for Idaho. It is critical that the public voices their concerns about the lack of scientific evidence of the effectiveness of masks and the obvious decrease in mortality for this virus. The CDC claims that testing doesn’t represent cases as a person can test positive numerous times. We should be focusing on the decrease in mortality rates as testing increases but the number of deaths has not.

    Idaho Department of Health & Welfare Phone: 208-334-5500
    PANHANDLE HEALTH DISTRICT
    Hayden | Sandpoint | Kellogg | Bonners Ferry | St Maries
    https://panhandlehealthdistrict.org/contact/

    NORTH CENTRAL HEALTH DISTRICT
    Clearwater | Lewis | Idaho |Nez Perce
     COVID-19 related questions, please call our hotline at: 866-736-6632

    SOUTHWEST HEALTH DISTRICT
    Email: publichealthidaho@phd3.idaho.gov
    Phone: (208) 455-5300

    CENTRAL HEALTH DISTRICT
    District Director Russell Duke at 208-327-8501 and by email at boh@cdh.idaho.gov

    SOUTH CENTRAL HEALTH DISTRICT
    CONTACT FORM https://www.phd5.idaho.gov/contact-us/

    EASTERN HEALTH DISTRICT
    EIPH COVID-19 HOTLINE(208) 522-0310 or
    (855) 533-3160 toll free
    Email Us

    SOUTHEASTERN HEALTH DISTRICT
    COVID-19, call our hotline at 208.234.5875
    Contact form: https://www.siphidaho.org/contact_us.php

    There is no health emergency – deaths are declining and hospital bed utilization is low

    The whole purpose of the lockdown and other measures was to flatten the curve so as not to overwhelm our hospital systems and despite media reports of rising cases, deaths and hospitalizations continue to trend down having peaked in late April. (See graphic below.)


    At this point “the curve” in Idaho is non-existent with CDC estimating 70 beds with Covid-19 patients representing 1.7% of available beds, based on 80% of hospital reporting.

    We cannot determine whether these are patients who went to the hospital from Covid-19 or for another reason and then tested positive. After some calls, I was told that St. Lukes in Idaho, one of our biggest hospital chains, is testing everyone who is admitted to the hospital or comes in for a procedure. St. Alphonsus (the other big change) is only testing pre-surgery. This means a patient could go in for a heart condition and test positive, then be counted as a Covid-19 case.

    Also, the Idaho website on corona states, “COVID-19 may have been the underling [sic] cause of death or contributed to the death.” That means people have died with COVID-19 not from it but have been counted as COVID deaths. What we don’t know is how many.
    https://public.tableau.com/profile/idaho.division.of.public.health#!/vizhome/DPHIdahoCOVID-19Dashboard_V2/Story1


    CEO’s of hospitals in Texas clearly state the case numbers and hospital bed situation are being distorted. Same for Florida.


    Up to 80% of test-positive people have NO symptoms. Even 60% of those 70-79 have no symptoms  Over 95% of people have moderate symptoms.

    Up to 60% of all people already have background immunity due to previous coronavirus infections which are the common cold. 

    The median age of those who died is over 80 years and only 4% of those had no serious underlying conditions. The age and risk profile of the deaths corresponds to normal mortality patterns. 

    Up to 30% of the deaths were caused by the lockdown itself, panic, and fear, not the virus.

    Blaine County, ID, one of the nations HOTTEST SPOTS making national news for weeks, has reported 5 deaths from Covid-19 out of over 5000 cases. That equals a fatality rate of 0.1% – the same as the normal seasonal flu.

    Asymptomatic Spread

    On June 8th, WHO admitted that asymptomatic spread of the virus is “very rare.”  The WHO official stated (beginning at 1:16), “What portion of asymptomatic individuals actually transmit?…We have a number of reports from countries who are doing very detailed contact tracing, they’re following asymptomatic cases, they’re following contacts, and they not finding secondary transmission onward, it’s very rare. And much of that is not published in the literature. From the papers that are published….it still appears to be rare that an asymptomatic individual transmits onward…But from the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual.”

    The following day WHO and the media attempted to put that genie back in the bottle by reporting “Maria Van Kerkhove says she accepts models show up to 40% of infections come from asymptomatic people.” To be clear, the models (which were disastrously wrong) show that, but the real world data shows otherwise, as she stated the previous day. CNBC Archive.

    Research and Information on Masks:

    Mask wearing is bad for your health. Masks reduce our flow of oxygen and cause a condition called hypoxia or low oxygen levels in the body. Hypoxia can cause heart attacks, strokes, seizures, death and more. Low oxygen levels stress the body resulting in increased cortisol. Cortisol suppresses the immune system rendering people MORE susceptible to illness. 


    WHO warns that “the wide use of masks by healthy people in the community setting is not supported by current evidence and carries uncertainties and critical risks” PDF

    WHO’s most recent recommendations say the following: “Masks can be used either for protection of healthy persons (worn to protect oneself when in contact with an infected individual) or for source control (worn by an infected individual to prevent onward transmission).”  They do not recommend mask-wearing in healthy people unless in contact with a sick individual.

    Research shows that cloth face coverings are useless at best, dangerous at worst.

    OSHA says environment with less than 19.5% oxygen is unsafe. Gases such as CO2 displace oxygen. Wearing a mask for just a few seconds causes CO2 to accumulate and displace oxygen causing oxygen levels to fall below 19%. OSHA says anything below 19.5% is an “imminent threat to health or life.”

    The 7 studies CDC uses to justify its mask policy do not support that end. They do not evaluate healthy people. They just hope no one will actually read the studies.

    NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE – Harvard doctors and scientists “We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.” 

    Overview on MasksComprehensive list of science on masks (covers all the points below and more)

    -N95 masks are designed to protect the wearer from dangerous toxins in the environment. They do not restrict the flow of exhalation or protect anyone else.
    -Surgical masks are designed to be worn in sterile environments – not around generally. Experts say that they should be changed every 20-30 minutes if worn outside a sterile environment. 
    -Research shows that these masks and face coverings worn outside sterile environments can become germ carriers. They interfere with normal breathing and are neither healthy nor warranted.

    While individual studies may suggest masks have an impact, there have been extensive randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies, and meta-analysis reviews of RCT studies, which all show that masks and respirators do not work to prevent respiratory influenza-like illnesses, or respiratory illnesses believed to be transmitted by droplets and aerosol particles.

    Anecdotal Evidence on Mask Wearing

    A week apart, two 14-year-old boys died in China wearing a mask during PE.

    Either I or a friend was an eyewitness to the following three cases in our little valley in the past 6 weeks:
    1) A 70 ish-year-old woman wearing a mask in the Sun Valley, ID post office passed out and hit the floor, hitting her head.
    2) A woman wearing a mask in Chateau Drug in Ketchum, ID a week after the above incident had a seizure.
    3) Ten days ago, an elderly man walking on the bike path near Sun Valley wearing a mask hunched over saying “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”

    Given the very low risk posed to 99% of the public, how can any government entity justify a mask mandate, let alone a state of emergency. Moreover, wouldn’t it be a good thing for all those at low risk to get the virus and be done with it not only for themselves but also because then they would protect those at risk? Isn’t natural herd immunity the BEST outcome?

    For those afraid to speak against government overreach, I encourage you to remember Thomas Jefferson’s sage words:

    Written by Leslie Manookian of The Greater Good, the movie.
    shared with permission

    MORE MASK RESOURCES:

    https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1435/rr-40

    https://medcraveonline.com/…/effects-of-long-duration-weari…

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18500410/

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32232837/

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23514282/

    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/…/…/j.1365-2044.2006.04767.x

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7242931/

    Hat tip to The Healthy American, Swiss Policy Research, Corona Circus and many others for their invaluable work.
    Posted in Freedom, Health, SociopoliticalTagged asymptomatic, CDC, Coronavirus, COVID-19, flu, influenza, Mandates, Mask, NEJM, New England Journal of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson, WHO

  • Using FEAR to steal your FREEDOM

    I’m Priscilla Giddings, District 7. I was not going to speak, but now I am here, and I’m the only one who has not spoken, so I’m getting the elbow nudges. I have no prepared remarks. I can tell you it is an honor to serve with every one of these representatives. Just listening to them speak, they have more words of wisdom than anything that I could ever say. And the only thing that is left on my heart as we slowly depart today is the word of freedom.

    Rep Giddings

    So for those of you that don’t know, in my former life, I was an A10 pilot and an MC 12 pilot. There’s one thing that I did spend a lot of time doing, and that was a thousand hours of combat flying over Afghanistan, watching and surveilling people who did not know what freedom was—people who lived in fear and people who lived under terrorism. Because terrorism is the absence of freedom. And the common theme that’s running through all of this as we fight for the type of government, and which rules and laws are being enforced, is that we have fear.

    Why are there legislators in the hallway?
    Why are there legislators at home?
    Why are there people not going out?
    Why are there people not going to the park?

    Why are there mothers… I have two, under two years old…
    Contact tracing, if they were to test me and I have something, they can take me away from my kids. That’s fear!

    It’s the absence of freedom that is fear and that’s terrorism. We’re being terrorized in our own country and our own emotions and to me that is unamerican.

    And so what can we do?

    We’re here.

    We’re trying.

    But all we can do is Pray.

    And every night my husband  gets on his knees with me and we pray, because there’s only one thing, the verse that comes to my mind is, “where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” That’s the only way we can get our freedom back.

    And so thank you for the honor to serve, thank you for being here, keep fighting! We need freedom. We need the spirit of the Lord. Pastor, will you please close us in prayer, and then we can all depart.

    Listen to the remarks of all the Legislators at the special meeting held on the House Floor at the Idaho Capitol June 23, 2020

  • Freedom is Maintained by Informed Citizens

    How empowered do you feel when it comes to dealing with political issues? How confident do you feel about understanding government and your rights? Do you fear the government?

     If you feel like you aren’t sure how to deal with political topics, or don’t understand quite how government works, and aren’t sure you really know your rights, well guess what? You aren’t alone. And it’s pretty much by design.

    2020 Upheaval, pandemic, chaos

    How easy it to gain control over others? It doesn’t happen overnight. This is like the year that a giant red launch button was pushed. Plans were in place. Hell, even the planets are aligned for all this upheaval, pandemic, and chaos going on. So my question, how easy is it to gain control over others and have them fall right in line?

    THE STEPS TO CONTROLLING THE POPULATION:

    • Don’t educate them on certain topics, control what they learn
    • Don’t truly educate them on their rights and how to use them
    • Confuse the crap out of them, until they don’t know what’s up or down anymore
    • Indoctrination, propaganda, programming
    • Mainstream media
    • Hollywood

    The list goes on a mile long, but you get the gist. But that wouldn’t happen in your state, in your country, in America, the land of the free… right?

    How much do you remember from civics class? Did you take a civics class in school? If you did, was anything you ever learned put into practice? Probably not.

    Here’s the short of what I’m getting at:
    The government’s job is to protect our rights. To create equal laws. Its purpose is to serve the people and uphold the constitution. Do you feel like that’s happening right now? I don’t. I can’t even recall a time when I felt like my voice was heard or that government was looking out for the people. But it’s truly out of control this year. Everywhere in this country.  

     The government isn’t responsible for us, and it’s certainly not meant to reign over us. If you’re living in fear of the government, that’s tyranny. If you’re being told how to live your life by the government, that’s tyranny, that’s a dictatorship, and you certainly wouldn’t see that in America…..right?  
    ​

    Picture

     Yesterday evening I attended an event put on by Rep. Heather Scott and Health Freedom Idaho at Julia Davis Park. I saw her speak at the Capitol in Boise on Tuesday (read about the rally here). She was amazing, as many of the 15 that showed up for that special session were. I was inspired and felt some hope, and unity, and like my voice, and the voice of the people around me in the gallery were being heard. Sure we didn’t get a resolution we had hoped for, but for the first time ever in my life, I felt like there are actually people, legislators that care and really do want to do their job. They want to be a voice for the people and uphold their oath and the Constitution.

     My initial impression of Heather is that she’s down to earth, approachable, passionate, and empowering.  She wants to keep America a Republic and she wants people to understand their rights.
    ​
    Really quickly, I’m going to do my best to sum up the topics she discussed, what I got from her presentation “Plannedemic”:

    1. Power grabbing by our Governor. Running Idaho like he’s a king. Making his own advisory board, making, amending, and suspending hundreds of statutes.
    2. Extreme emergency in Idaho that’s never happened (see information on that here)
    3. The 1.6 billion dollars our Governor has taken from the feds, which of course is strings attached, and it’s 38% more money than Idaho even spends in a year. This money is also not being tracked by the State Controller office. Why?
    4. Contact tracing plans which started at $7 million dollars and are now up to $55 million dollars (correct me if I’m wrong, I’m pretty sure she said 55 mil). This staffs up Idaho for massive surveillance, CPS, and breaking up family units. This is a big one, folks. If you have kids, you need to read over the 37 page document that covers the governor plans. And you need to know your rights about how to protect your children and your family.
    5. Information overload by news and social media
    6. Government “running amuck”
    7. Turmoil, tyranny, and anarchy in America
    8. The “bludgeoning” of messages around Covid i.e. “ new world,” “flatten the curve,” “stay home,” “stay safe,” “self-quarantine,” and last but not least “social distancing.”
    9. Christianity, churches closing their doors when people needed them most. How the media has become the church, telling us what to do, how to spend time, how to interact with each other, etc. The topic of Christians seeing this as a spiritual battle.
    10. Draconian policies. Messages to be afraid, shun socialization, snitch on people not complying, and follow government edicts. Sounds like themes from far too many books and movies, but I won’t go there.
    11. Stickers on businesses to show they’re a “non-hating” business. I don’t know about you guys reading this, but sounds to me a bit like the ol Green Book days, when black people knew/told where they could travel safely. Again, not a topic I’m getting into right now, but you can ponder on yourself.
    12. Mail-in ballots that can lead to fraud.
    13. DNA databases, all the massive swabbing, forced vaccinations, deep state, elite globalists, the book of Revelations, Nanotechnology, oh, and how about all the money that biotech companies are dumping into Idaho.
    14. Businesses only taking credit cards. This way we can be that much more easily traced on where we’ve been.
    15. She explained some phone calls and honestly what sounds like a federal takeover, here’s the language used,” locally executed, state-managed, federally supported scenarios and regulations.” Hhhmmm, so our governor can pretty much free himself from responsibility by putting things off on the health district, some other region, or the President. You may think your hands can be wiped clean Gov. Little, but we the people see otherwise.
    16. She explained socialism briefly: “marginalize, demonize, criminalize, litigate, incarcerate, and exterminate.”
    17. She expressed over and over how critical it is to know our rights, but also how to stand on them, how actually use them.
    18. She asked the question, “What’s your line in the sand? When is enough is enough?” Basically, what do we value, what do we stand for, what can’t we take any more, and what’s it going to take to get people to want to protect their freedom.  

    Freedom isn’t free. Know your rights was drilled into every bit of the presentation. She wants people empowered to be in a free country that know how to use their rights. We are all responsible for ourselves and to stop being so complacent to the government edicts. We need to know the system we’re in.

    Okay, awesome presentation, Heather. Seriously, she was hitting the nail on the head with all of her points she wanted to make. And she didn’t leave us hanging. She did give some pointers. In case you didn’t know, a representative’s job is to uphold the constitution and make laws. If you want the government to hold your hand then you don’t want to live in a free nation. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Any society that will give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

     Folks, that’s where we are. Right now. What are you willing to give up? What are you willing to lose?

    Picture

    We must persevere if we want to keep this country a free nation. We all have to step up and do better. We have to do better for our children, for each other, and for ourselves.  Don’t lose yourself to the propaganda and fear. Remember who you are. Get in touch with that light and love inside. Get right with yourself. Get right with God. Go do some good in the world. Fight for what’s right. Exercise your rights. Learn how to connect with people again. And I don’t just mean because of all the isolation this year. We’ve all been far too removed from one another for far too long. I’m always learning. I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zones.  We can all do this.

    shared with permission from blog Allisonsattitude

  • Rep Christy Zito and Rep Heather Scott. We are here to represent YOU!

    Representative Christy Zito and Representative Heather Scott share insight into today’s historic event trying to return Idaho to a representative republic. This was published on Facebook live, downloaded, and reshared on Youtube.


    Hi everybody. I’m Representative Christy Zito and I’m here at the Capitol on the house floor with Representative Heather Scott. We just wanted to take a minute and talk about what see happening here today. Representative Barbieri , Idaho District 2 has crafted a beautiful proclamation stating how we feel, how we feel the people of our state feel, and how the people want to be represented. And it’s our plan to sign that today. We need to do something to draw attention to what is happening across our state.

    We are still a free society and, and that being said, you can’t just have one person barked out edicts and everybody fall in line and follow. And what we have going on in our, in our city right now is not a Republic form of government. And that’s what we’re hoping to draw attention to and get citizens to wake up and push back on some of the injustices that are happening, right?

    And we want it to be from a citizen’s perspective. We’re not here to recall the governor. That’s your job, right? And you’re taking that responsibility and you’re doing a good job with that.

    We’re not here to compete. We’re not here to do anything like that at all. We’re here to represent your voice, get that proclamation signed, get it out there so that the world knows no for one person to arbitrarily say, this job is essential. That job’s not essential. You have to wear a mask. This is the United States of America.

    This isn’t some third world foreign country where we have someone telling us… sorry, I didn’t get off on this. I apologize.

    You know, we’re not a free state in Idaho. Our country’s gone. If we can’t do this in Idaho, well, what are we even doing exactly the last strong hope. We’ve just been too complacent for too long and we really have to get back engaged in our government and maybe try to save what we have left because we are going to do everything we can every day.

    And I’m so grateful for all of you that are watching. I’m grateful for the people that showed up here today. Let me do that thing at the gallery here. There are a lot of people outside, a lot of logs gathered here today.

    So, you know, this is history-making and, and I’m not because it seems to be making it, but we are part of history, history, and you’re part of history and this video and the people here and everything was taking place. This is historical. Like God bless you. And thank you. Thank you. And you know, let’s, let’s remember, what’s really happening today.

    When you hear the headlines of what you may see, that the media will distort today. And we want to make a strong statement and a strong proclamation from the house members that showed up today that worked for the citizens and not the executive branch, not the establishment, not leadership. We are here today because we work for you, the citizens.

    And I hope you know that exactly. That’s exactly it.


    When, when this first came up a couple of months ago about the legislature showing up, um, we said, we’d be here whatever capacity it was on this day that we would be here to be your voice and represent you. Because like Heather said, I work for you. Don’t work for the state. I’m not looking for chairmanship or you’re accredited to represent you. And a lot of people are looking for appointments. They’re looking for jobs down the road. They’re looking for retirements. We’re here to represent the people and that’s what we’re going to do today. So thanks for watching.

    Thank you. We appreciate it. Thank you. God bless you.

    The proclamation will be shared here once published for public review.

  • Special Session and the People’s Representatives

    One can speak liberty and freedom but it is only till you see it in action does one truly sees you are more than words. A limited number of the people’s representatives showed up today. Each was given the opportunity to speak to the people who packed the house galley and watched on live streaming video.

    Here are the live streams from today:
    MISTE KARLFELDT, Health Freedom Idaho

    Our Liberty Minded Representatives

    You do not represent the Governor, the agencies, or any other executive branch member.  You represent the people who you seek to gain our votes each election.  You want our vote then get out there and REPRESENT US! 

    Dist 2 Rep. Vito Barbieri(R)
    Dist 9 Rep. Judy Boyle(R)
    Dist 32 Rep. Chad Christensen(R)
    Dist 13 Rep. Brent Crane(R)
    Dist 8 Rep. Terry Gestrin
    Dist 7 Priscilla Giddings(R)
    Dist 6 Rep. Mike Kingsley(R)
    Dist 3 Rep. Ron Mendive(R)
    Dist 8 Rep. Dorothy Moon
    Dist. 11 Rep. Tammy Nichols
    Dist 2 Rep. Tim Remington
    Dist 1 Rep. Heather Scott
    Dist 7 Rep. Paul Shepherd
    Dist  3 Rep. Tony Wisniewski(R)
    Dist 23 Rep Christy Zito(R) 
     
    We the People of Idaho THANK YOU for doing the job we sent you there to do.  
    #StandOnTruth #StandStrong

    Today’s Wrap Up

    The Power to Convene
    Do the Legislators how the authority to represent the people
    without the Governor’s express permission?

  • The Power to Convene

    Our state has been placed under a ‘state of emergency’ going on 90 days June 23, 2020. The people of Idaho have requested that our Legislators convene a special session to handle the situation representing their constituents whose rights and freedoms have been violated numerous times by our Governor. There are three obvious reasons why legislators could convene at the Idaho Capitol on June 23, 2020.

    1. ONLY THE LEGISLATURE CAN APPROPRIATE MONEY

    • The US Treasury has deposited $1.25 billion into the Idaho treasury pursuant to H.R. 748, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act. Article VII, Section 13 of the Idaho State Constitution says “MONEY –HOW DRAWN FROM TREASURY. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in pursuance of appropriations made by law.” 
      • The Governor’s use of a financial advisory committee to distribute the CARES funds violates the intent of the Idaho Constitution. The Governor usurps legislative authority by appropriating this sum of money — over $1 billion — and treating it as if it is “non-cognizable funds.” Typically, treating money as non-cognizable funds is the statutory provision for spending small sums of federal grant money made available after a legislative session.

    2. THE LEGISLATURE IS NOT INFERIOR TO THE GOVERNOR – AN EMERGENCY DECLARATION BY THE GOVERNOR CAN’T BE USED TO CREATE AN INDEFINITE SHIFT IN THE BALANCE OF POWER IN FAVOR OF THE GOVERNOR 

    • On March 13, 2020, Governor Little issued a proclamation, citing Idaho Code 46-1008, declaring a disaster emergency. The code section that describes the length of the emergency reads as follows: “the governor shall terminate the state of disaster emergency by executive order or proclamation; provided, however, that no state of disaster emergency may continue for longer than thirty (30) days unless the governor finds that it should be continued for another thirty (30) days or any part thereof. The Legislature by concurrent resolution may terminate a state of disaster emergency at any time. Thereupon, the governor shall issue an executive order or proclamation ending the state of disaster emergency.”
      • The Governor has maintained this disaster emergency (which ran concurrently with the Extreme Emergency declaration, which began on March 25 and ended on June 11) since March 13, and on June 11 issued another proclamation maintaining the disaster emergency. Therefore, the Governor has signaled he is not bound to the 60 day limit and may continue to govern Idaho by executive action without input from the Legislative branch.  
      • It is unconstitutional to claim that the Governor can operate the state under a disaster emergency indefinitely, yet maintain that the Legislature must be in session to “terminate a state of emergency at any time.” The words “at any time” are clear. Acceding that the Governor can usurp full power, to change laws and appropriate money, without any power on the part of the Legislature to act as check is to accept the notion that the Executive and Legislative branches are not equal branches of government. Was the Idaho Constitution written to make the Legislature the inferior branch, by allowing only the governor to call a special session? This allows the same governor to effectively serve as two branches of government, and to prevent a Legislative check on this action, except for the period of roughly January through March?

    3. EXECUTIVE ACTIONS BY THE GOVERNOR HAVE BEEN ARBITRARY AND IN CONTRAVENTION TO AMERICA’S FOUNDING PRINCIPLES 

    • Much has been made of the decision by the Governor to allow state liquor stores to remain open, for which there is no constitutional protection, but to restrict constitutionally-protected religious worship. 
    • Similarly, the notion that one person can arbitrarily determine which businesses are “essential” and can operate and which businesses are “non-essential” and can’t operate flies in the face of the very notion (contained in the Declaration of Independence) that all … “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” 

    *Thank you Fred Birnbaum Vice President of Idaho Freedom Foundation and Idaho Freedom Action for sharing these points.

    Convening in a special session

    Unconstitutional Action or Legislative Duty?

    Several legal opinions have been written on the matter of the Legislature ‘calling itself into session’ to do the work of the people. Many Senators have responded to citizen’s requests claiming that they have to await the Governor’s request in order to convene which is traditionally in January.
    What if our Governor, doesn’t call the legislators back into session in January? Under this ‘perpetual’ state of emergency, he could very well say we have to wait until sometime later next year.

    There is a serious issue as of RIGHT NOW our state is not operating as a representative government.

    In this video lawyer, Colton Boyles discusses with Miste Karlfeldt and Sarah Clendenon of Health Freedom Idaho the opposing legal opinions. 

    The Legal Opinions:

    AG analysis of LegislatureDownload
    Bedke Special Legislative Session Legal OpinionDownload
    Response-letter-to-Speaker-Scott-BedkeDownload

  • Rights Suspended Under Martial Law and Active Duty Chapter of Idaho Code

    Alert! Rights suspended! Money allocated without legislative input! All power lies solely in the hands of Governor Little! Emergency declarations have time limits of 30 days with the option to extend it for another 30 should the situation warrant. In order to get around those expiration dates the Governor keeps rescinding emergencies and replacing them, restarting the expiration clock. The June 11 update Governor Little rescinded the extreme emergency to replace it with a new emergency order that will have a 30 day/60 day time limit UNLESS the legislature terminates it by resolution AT ANY TIME. (46-1008.) Notice that does allow him to suspend rules but of course NOT laws (also referred to Idaho code).
    Article II of the Idaho Constitution is very clear about the separation of powers. Even the extreme emergency code does NOT allow him to write/suspend the law. In the June 11emergency order, the Governor has suspended 4 laws. Governor Little has AGAIN violated the Constitution thus violating his duty as Governor.

    We demand all our elected  REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS do the job WE THE PEOPLE hired them to do.

    • The Governor illegally seized the power of the legislative branch by suspending and amending sections of the code and Allocating funds.
    • The legislature must convene to fulfill its constitutional obligations regarding code and allocating funds.
    • The legislature has the duty to ensure the continuity of state and local government pursuant to article 3 section 27 of the Idaho Constitution.
    • We demand that they TERMINATE the state of emergency pursuant to I.C. 46-1008.

    Governor acts as King

    Rather than call the legislature back into session and work with our representatives to speak on behalf of the people, Governor Little moves forward with a plan to invade privacy, remove parental rights, and remove the elderly’s rights, all for an illness that has caused 82 deaths in Idaho and causes no symptoms in 80% of people. Idaho has only 97% of the deaths that would have been normally expected between February 1, 2020 and May 29th, 2020.

    What can YOU DO? Contact your legislator and tell them you expect them to represent you on June 23rd! Why the 23rd? Watch the Video below!

    Why did Brad Little use martial law powers to suspend multiple line items in the Idaho Administrative Code related to parents’ rights when their children are in state custody?

    The COVID-19 EMERGENCY DECLARATION Timeline:

    ➡️ MARCH 13 Declared ‘State of Emergency’
    Brad Little puts Idaho in a state of emergency on March 13 using Idaho Code 46-1008(5)(a) to justify suspending line items from IDAPA Administrative Rules.

    ➡️ MARCH 23 By Proclamation Governor Suspends 125+ Rules
    Hundreds of rules are suspended, but the most concerning are parents’ rights when children are taken into state custody. No visitation, no notice of transfer of children, changes to facility requirements where children are housed when in state custody (numbers of bathrooms, etc).

    Proclamation & List of the one hundred and twenty-five + rules suspended Download

    March 23 there were 1,818 hospital beds available in Idaho only 9 of which were needed, representing a mere 0.5% utilization rate of hospital beds.

    ➡️ MARCH 25 Governor declares a State of EXTREME Emergency
    State of Extreme Emergency on March 25, invoking Idaho Code 46-601 – the Martial Law and Active Duty Chapter of Idaho Code.

    April 10 At the peak of the “crisis” Idaho utilized only 3.8% of the available hospital beds on April 10, 2020.

    CDC’s own data released May 23rd shows that the risk to those under 60 is less than or equal to the flu. We also know that those who test positive but don’t have symptoms are actually NOT sick and can’t infect others, 1/3 to 1/2 of those who died were in nursing homes where they are fed nutrient deficient food and given flu vaccines which increase the risk of respiratory infections such as coronavirus, the actual number of deaths is about  1/20th the original extreme estimates Still, the Governor to move forward with mass testing.  

    ➡️ APRIL 17 / APRIL 20 Idaho receives $1.25 Billion from the Federal Government from the CARES Act with more on the way. Governor Brad Little allocates as he sees fit because he refuses to convene the Legislature to do so.

    • Governor Little plans on conducting primarily molecular (genetic) tests, not serology (antibody) tests – because serology tests detect antibodies and would prove most have been exposed, had the disease, and recovered. With molecular tests, government and media can continue to frighten people with the now old trope “You’re asymptomatic but test positive so you must be quarantined as you’re a danger to others.” even though FDA admits, “The detection of viral RNA by RT-PCR does not necessarily equate with an infectious virus.”

      Got that, FDA admits a positive test does not mean you have an infectious virus! But a positive test will be followed by, “If you have no one to care for your children then we must ‘provide out of home care’ through social services/CPS.” Little and his team can continue to push the lie that those who test positive without symptoms can infect others despite the fact science has clearly disproven this.

    ➡️ April 24 Waived Additional Regulations Proclamation
    – Waiving additional regulations 

    ➡️ May 12 Proclamation — Extension of Emergency Declaration 

    Each time he issues a new emergency order the clock starts over giving him unlimited power and control under the 30/60 day extensions until the Legislature convenes and terminates the “emergency”.

    Representative Tammy Nichols shares summary of Governor’s call with legislators

    ➡️ June 3 Governor Little Tells Legislators that he reinstated the regulations suspended. There was no proof provided.

    ➡️ June 11 Governor Clearly Suspends Rules with Amended Executive Order Proclamation – Related to emergency declarations 

    Summary: He rescinded the extreme emergency. This is a new emergency order with the 30 day/60 day time limit UNLESS the legislature terminates it by resolution AT ANY TIME. 46-1008. Notice that does allow him to suspend rules but of course NOT laws (also referred to Idaho code).
    Article II of the Idaho Constitution is very clear about the separation of powers. Even the extreme emergency code does NOT allow him to write/suspend the law.
    NOTE: In this new emergency order he had suspended 4 laws. Governor Little has AGAIN violated the Constitution thus violating his duty as Governor.

    Other Authoritarian Acts:

    ➡️ Federal Bill HR 6666 – This is a Federal bill that intends to provide Federal money to HHS to conduct mass forced COVID testing, including at people’s homes
    ➡️ Washington State Governor Inslee has hired people to supervise children in state Emergency Quarantine Centers. Will Idaho do the same?
    ➡️ Idaho is increasing the number of Contact Tracers from 23 to 255
    ➡️ The federal government gives states billions of $$$ if states declare an “emergency” and even more for declaring an “extreme emergency”

    Constitutional Republic form of government in Idaho completely gone, all power is held by Governor.

    ➡️Legislature discusses convening, acknowledges authority to, but sees no legal ‘mechanism’ to do so.
    TITLE 67
    STATE GOVERNMENT AND STATE AFFAIRS
    CHAPTER 4
    LEGISLATURE
    67-422. CONVENING OF LEGISLATURE IN EVENT OF ATTACK.
    In the event of an attack, the governor shall call the legislature into session as soon as practicable, and in any case within ninety (90) days following the inception of the attack. If the governor fails to issue such a call, the legislature shall, on the ninetieth day from the date of inception of the attack, automatically convene at the place where the governor then has his office. Each legislator and each emergency interim successor, unless he is certain that the legislator to whose powers and duties he is designated to succeed or any emergency interim successor higher in order of succession will not be available [unavailable], shall proceed to the place of session as expeditiously as practicable. At such session or at any session in operation at the inception of the attack, and at subsequent sessions, limitations on the length of session and on the subjects which may be acted upon shall be suspended.

    ➡️67-422 Idaho Code demands that Legislature shall convene no later than 90 days following an ‘attack’ whether the Governor calls them back or not.

    ➡️Attack is defined in 67-415 Idaho Code. By the definition given and by the comments of the POTUS, Covid is certainly an attack as defined by law.

    We are asking our legislators to do the following:

    • The legislature must convene pursuant to 67-422 Idaho Code and Idaho Constitution Article III Section 27 and must end the emergency declaration pursuant to 46-1008 (2).
    • The legislature must properly reallocate the funds granted by the Federal government.
    • The legislature must reinstate all suspended sections of the Idaho Code and all suspended sections of IDAPA Administrative Rules.
    • This is the only way we return to our Republic form of government.
    The Idaho Legislature enacts statute/code and delegates to the Executive Branch’s State Agencies the ability to write rules to implement the statute/code.

    Rights Removed including daycare, children in CPS custody, guardianship, foster care, assisted living care for elderly and vulnerable adults…

    Link to IDAPA 16.03.19

    06.02.01 Dept of Corrections – Response matrix (scroll to the end)

    16.03.19.200.06.a-d Family members of a resident in a home-centered care facility usually have a right to see the resident (as do medical professionals and visitors), but those rights are suspended here. 

    06. Access to Resident. Each provider and individuals living in the home must permit immediate access to any resident by any representative of the Department, by the state ombudsman for the elderly or their designee, by an adult protection investigator or by the resident’s personal health care professional. Each home must also permit the following: (3-20-20)T a. Immediate access to a resident by their relatives, subject to the resident’s right to deny or withdraw consent at any time; (3-20-20)T b. Immediate access to a resident by others who are visiting with the consent of the resident, subject to reasonable restrictions and the resident’s right to deny or withdraw consent at any time; (3-20-20)T c. Reasonable access to a resident by any entity or individual that provides health, social, legal, or other services to the resident, subject to the resident’s right to deny or withdraw consent at any time; and (3-20-20)T d. Reasonable access to the resident’s records, medications and treatments by the resident’s health care professional subject to the resident’s permission.

    Because the suspended part references a-d, residents are still required to see representatives from the department of health and other government officials, which is explained in the section before a.

    16.03.19.200.08. The same residents have the following rights suspended:

    Health Services. The resident has the right to control their health-related services, including: (3-20-20)T a. The right to retain the services of their own personal physician and dentist; (3-20-20)T b. The right to select the pharmacy or pharmacist of their choice; (3-20-20)T c. The right to confidentiality and privacy concerning their medical or dental condition and treatment; (3-20-20)T d. The right to participate in the formulation of their plan of service; (3-20-20)T e. The right to decline treatment for any medical condition; and (3-20-20)T f. When the resident is unable to give medical consent, the provider will give the name and contact information of the person holding guardianship or power of attorney for health care to any health care provider upon request.

    16.03.22.550.17 Residents in a traditional facility have the same rights suspended as those above, and this additional one. 

    17. Access by Advocates and Representatives. A residential assisted living facility must permit advocates and representatives of community legal services programs, whose purposes include rendering assistance without charge to residents, to have access to the facility at reasonable times in order to: (3-20-20)T a. Visit, talk with, and make personal, social, and legal services available to all residents; (3-20-20)T b. Inform residents of their rights and entitlements, and their corresponding obligations, under state, federal, and local laws by distribution of educational materials and discussion in groups and with individuals; (3-20-20)T c. Assist residents in asserting their legal rights regarding claims for public assistance, medical assistance, and social security benefits, and in all other matters in which residents are aggrieved, that may be provided individually, or in a group basis, and may include organizational activity, counseling, and litigation; (3-20-20)T d. Engage in all other methods of assisting, advising, and representing residents so as to extend to them the full enjoyment of their rights; (3-20-20)T e. Communicate privately and without restrictions with any resident who consents to the communication; and (3-20-20)T f. Observe all common areas of the facility. Residential Assisted Living Facilities Link

    16.06.01.50.06, .07 , and 09 (.07 may be a typo, on the governor’s list is says .07 but then lists the title for .08) – Suspended parents/legal guardians rights

    06. Visitation for Child’s Parent(s) or Legal Guardian(s). Visitation arrangements must be provided to the child’s parent(s) or legal guardian(s) unless visitation is contrary to the child’s safety. 

    07. Notification of Change in Placement. Written notification must be made within seven (7) days of a change of placement of the foster child if a child is relocated to another foster care setting. Notification must be sent to the child’s parent(s) or legal guardian(s). When the child is an Indian child, written notification must also be sent to the child’s Indian custodian(s), if applicable, and to the child’s tribe. 

    09. Notification of Right to Participate and Appeal. Written notification to the child’s parent(s) or legal guardian(s) must be made regarding their right to discuss any changes and the opportunity to appeal if they disagree with changes in placement or visitation. Child and Family Services Link

    WHY ARE THESE SUSPENDED?

    Suspension/seems unrelated to health concerns:

    16.03.14.150.02(b)

    b. When a hospital is leased by the owner to a second party for the operation of the facility, a copy of the lease agreement showing clearly in its context the responsibilities of both parties shall be filed with the application for a license. Hospitals Link

    16.06.02.729 

    729. BATHROOM FACILITIES. A building used to house children must have adequate, clean, and easily accessible bathroom facilities. The number of toilets is one (1) per eight (8) females and one (1) per ten (10) males; bathtubs or showers is one (1) for each ten (10) individuals; washstands is one (1) for every five (5) individuals according to the International Building Code applicable for the type of building and its use. There must be separate use of bathroom facilities for boys and girls over six (6) years of age. There must be separate bathroom facilities for staff.  Child Care Licensing Link

    And this section of the Idaho Constitution: 
    https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idconst/ArtIII/Sect27/

    Send this to your legislators – your Senator and both Representatives. Demand that your legislators follow the Constitution and convene the legislature on June 23.

    Tell your legislators that you expect them to do the following:

    • The legislature must convene pursuant to 67-422 Idaho Code and Idaho Constitution Article III Section 27 and must end the emergency declaration pursuant to 46-1008 (2).
    • The legislature must properly reallocate the Federal funds.
    • The legislature must reinstate all suspended sections of the Idaho Code and all suspended sections of IDAPA Administrative Rules.
    • This is the only way we return to our Republic form of government.

    RESPONSES TO COMMON OBJECTIONS

    Your legislators will come up with all types of excuses to try and shirk their responsibilities.  Don’t let them.  Here are some responses for you to use:

    Excuse: Our lawyers have said that we can’t have this special session.

    Response: Who said that?  What are their names and phone numbers.  Let’s have a three way call and address this issue together because the law is clear. If you won’t follow the law and simply want to hide behind the flawed interpretations of unelected lawyers, then tell me, what purpose do you serve?  Why should I ever vote for you?

    Excuse: This was not an “attack,” so the protocols don’t apply.

    Response: President Trump said it was an attack.  Do you agree with him?  Yes or no?  The Governor used the statute that specifically mentions attack. And the definition in Idaho State Law plainly states that an attack is defined as “any action or series of actions taken by an enemy of the United States resulting in substantial damage or injury to persons or property in this state whether through sabotage…bacteriological, or biological means or other weapons or methods.”  (video of Trump stating its an attack)

    So do you believe that the coronavirus brought damage or injury to persons or property here in Idaho through bacteriological or biological means?  Yes or no?  If Governor Little wants to try to legally reject the clear definition in Idaho State Law, then he must make that case publically and he must also make a public declaration stating that the Governor of Idaho disagrees with President Trump and does not recognize President Trump’s statement calling the coronavirus crisis an “attack.”  Until that happens, our legislature must meet on June 23rd.

    Excuse: Only the Governor can call a special session.

    Response: No, you are required by law to convene automatically on the 90th day after the definition of the attack.  June 23rd would be the latest day justifiable for that.  Have you even read the law (Idaho State Code 67-422)?  Do you know what it says?  Furthermore, Idaho State Code 46-1008 which the Governor also cited to justify his Executive Orders and which only allows for 60 days in total for emergency powers, plainly states, “The legislature by concurrent resolution may terminate a state of disaster emergency at any time.”  What does “at any time” mean to you?  It didn’t say, only during a special session called by the Governor.  Any time means any time.

    Excuse:  I can’t go all the way to Boise.

    Response: First of all, the Republican State Convention is going to be in Nampa 2 days later, so you’re already going to be in town.  Second of all, it doesn’t matter since this is required by law, and if you can’t go, the law stipulates in section 67-422 that you are supposed to send your “interim emergency successor.”  So, if you’re not going to come, then send your interim emergency successor.  This is the law.

    Objection: Your children will never be taken away from you because of the coronavirus.

    Response: Then what is the reason for the suspension of parental rights by executive order?  If you don’t know, then do your job and go the special session and find out.  Then undo it.  Furthermore, if there is no purpose to have these rules suspended, then there should be no reason for you NOT to vote to undo it.

    Objection: Relax, the Governor cannot spend the $1.25 billion dollars however he wants.  He is going to have input and oversight from the legislature.

    Response: How and when?  This money is going to be disbursed immediately.  The Governor is not going to wait until January 2021 to start spending this money.  So how and when are you, as a legislator, going to have a chance to review this spending?  This is why you must be at the special session, which is required by law, on June 23rd.

    This post has been edited to clarify the powers assumed by the Governor are under the “Martial Law and Active Duty” Chapter of Idaho Code.

    Join us at the Capitol Steps for the People’s Rally June 23rd.

    RESOURCES LINKED:

    Federal HR 6666 https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6666?s=1&r=2&fbclid=IwAR3T3BahOU6HXtxPcvIPYs9T0KAlyD-72UuLCs_BDsQ1q4–UdAQjVVxU3s

    https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title67/t67ch4/sect67-415/

    https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title67/t67ch4/sect67-422/

    https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title46/t46ch10/sect46-1008/

    https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title46/t46ch6/sect46-601/