This article is written specifically with the State of Idaho in mind. Idaho is a state that refused to expand Medicaid after the passage of the Affordable Care Act. It was later approved using the Initiative Process and having it placed on the state ballot. Despite that approval several legislators try to repeal it or … More Medicaid Expansion Isn’t Broken
We have the criminal, now we only need the crime. This may be how government works in this time of Trump. The crime is the alleged bloated budget in the government caused by over staffed agencies and the over funded bureaucracy. Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy have decided the solution is to cut the federal … More In the Time of Trump
I never met Donald Trump. I worked on a couple of buildings that had his name at the roof line, but I wasn’t working for him. Between what I knew of him, read of him and learned about him; we would not be friends. Our worlds were so vastly different in so many ways. Him … More The Donald Trump I Never Knew
“O say does that star spangled-banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” The American flag still waves today, but does it wave over the land of the free? Our nation, any nation, claiming Democracy must work to increase freedom for its citizens. That’s a word we all … More Defining Freedom
Are people with moderate views an endangered species? Does our entrenched two-party system block new competitors, restrict voter choice and ensure their near-total domination of our elected leaders? Does it even matter, does anyone really care? People are disgusted and concerned about the dysfunction we see our our election process. Can we change the system … More Open Primaries/Ranked Choice Voting
Wars often have an accidental beginning. History demonstrates this to us. Do our leaders acknowledge that? In my earlier days perhaps motivated by self interest I studied the US entry, as a nation, into the Vietnam conflict. Did our leaders actually visualize a monolithic communism, comprised of various countries, spreading their unified tentacles across the … More Containment Forgotten/Accidental Wars
A couple of friends asked if I would join them to watch the movie “Boys in the Boat.” Having spent most of my life on the East Coast, this movie was not particularly significant to me. Now, residing in the Pacific Northwest its importance in this region became obvious. In 1936 in this part of … More Winning The Race, Losing The Gold
Open space is essential for any community but is the public buying land for open space a rational way to regulate development and keep growth orderly? Are there other options that work to both provide open space and distribute density? Growth equates to development, more houses, apartments, roads and traffic. Those are only some of … More Growing Separately Together
In rapidly growing communities, the need for a traffic management information center (TMC) should never be decided based on political misbeliefs but rather facts. In a community where extremists abound a proposed traffic management center (TMC) was suddenly dropped by the regional planning organization after at least two public meetings with over 300 people objecting … More Reason Must Supersede Self Preservation
Is the party over – the Republican Party that is? This is not a description to demean but rather to warn of the demise of the current Republican Party through a review of the significant detours which it has taken. Political parties are not necessarily permanent political fixtures. Parties endure as long as they alter … More Is the party over – the Republican Party that is? (6 min read)
Phil's Personal Perspectives 