One of the greatest things about the United States of America is our Constitution.

Right now, many of the fundamental tenets of that Constitution are under direct attack. The first oath that I swore when I decided to serve our country was an oath to support and defend the Constitution.

My dedication to the protection of these rights did not end when I retired and I will continue to stand up and fight for these protected rights.

In Idaho, we love our public lands!

I will not allow our beloved public lands be sold to the highest bidder for them to just put up fences and road blocks to deny access.

Farming is hard.

We cannot make it less profitable for smaller producers.

The current national political actions are making it almost impossible for smaller farms.

ICE raids keep legal workers home. Not having our workers safely making it to their jobs hurts every industry and will be felt in every corner of our state.

Tariffs causing other nations to switch their supplier countries, for instance China is now purchasing their soybeans from Brazil vs the US.

The farming inputs are significantly more expensive due to inflation, greed, or trading spats with nations we used to be friendly with.

The outcome is farms on the razors edge of failing, will fail.

Those properties, water rights and histories are being scooped up by mega corporations, private equity, or investors, who only let them stay as farms until they can be butchered and sold off in pieces for the greatest profit.

I will help to insure that promises made to those who bravely served our nation are kept without the political games. Utilizing systems like automatic enrollment into the VA Health Care system upon discharge from the military, I will help pave the way for better care for our veterans and their families.

We must properly fund the VA so that our national heroes receive what they are due.

Since 1992, the Veterans Administration has been able to negotiate drug prices. No other government program that paid for medical drugs are allowed to negotiate drug prices.

In 2003, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 was signed into law.

This act included a “Noninterference Clause” in it which prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating drug prices.

The Idaho Congressional Delegation all voted to pass the bill.

If the drug prices that the Veterans Administration pays for drugs were applied to Medicare and Medicaid, the estimated annual savings for the Government and copays would range from $20-$40 billion per year.

Why did Mike Simpson vote yes to this bill?

Term limits are important to reduce the influence of long-term lobbyists and special interest groups, to better focus on constituents, and to reduce the possible corruption of career politicians.

I am stepping forward to serve my community, the citizens of Idaho, and the United States.

I promise to serve a full term; two if I’m effective in making changes.

Stagnation breeds decay and I think it’s important to make way for the next generations to have space to lead our country forward.

I am stepping forward to serve my community, the citizens of Idaho, and the United States.

Serving the people is an honor and a responsibility that should not come with a drive for personal financial gain.

I believe that members of Congress should not be allowed to invest in individual stocks and bonds while serving in Congress.

The government should not serve money, but should serve the people instead.

The influence of corporate donations and Super PACs has taken away the focus of service the people.

None of us can out donate a massive corporation. They should not be able to influence government.

Mega corporations are too big and have too much influence on how the United States is run. If the top 4 companies in an industry control 20-25% of a market, it is considered highly consolidated industry.

Four examples of consolidation that I want to target. These industries are not all of them, but it is a start and they affect Idaho farmers directly.

4 Beef Processors are 80-85% of the market
4 Pork Processors are 70% of the market
4 Chicken Processors are 60% of the market
4 Milk Processors are 48% of the market

In 2019, Idaho was the third state, following California and Wisconsin, for milk production with 7.2% of the nation’s milk production. (Dairy Farmers America, Dean Foods, California Dairies Inc, and Land O’ Lakes Inc)

There are just twelve companies that own over 550 consumer brands. There are NOT 550+ different companies.

This limits consumer choice, competition, and gives too much power to these mega-corporations. If you provide inputs to these companies, you are a captive consumer and are negatively impacted.

There are just six companies that own 90% of the American media market that is TV, radio, newspapers, movie production companies, etc.

They have great influence over our opinions and are adept at making us believe we formed our own conclusions.

We need LESS mega-corporations influence and MORE competition which benefit farmers and consumers.

The Fairness Doctrine required news and public affairs broadcasters to give equal opportunity/time to all sides. This meant that a media license holder could not promote one-sided opinions, but had to present more than one side of all the issues a media company was covering.

However, since it’s repeal in 1987, broadcasters now present heaviliy to one side of issues. Given that all of mainstream media is owned primarily by a select few individuals whose primary motivation and goal is profit, it is fair to say that “We the people” are being played by companies less concerned with truth and more concerned about investors and profit margins.

This can also be said of social media companies. I want to help Americans regain our trust in news, broadcast, and social media outlets.

Right now, individuals do not pay any Social Security taxes on any wages above $184,500.

Removing that cap so that we can extend the viability of the Social Security fund and quickly begin closing the funding gap to significantly reduce our overall deficit.

End tax loopholes and enforce our tax laws.

Target the tax gap which is the amount of tax revenue not collected due to under reporting by individuals.

End the system of buy, borrow, die, which allows the ultra wealthy to avoid paying taxes.

125,000 High Income earners, 25,000 who make more than $1 million and 100,000 who make between $400,000 and $1 million per year, have not filed their tax returns. The IRS has received 1099’s, W-2, etc, that identify these high income earners who just have not filed their taxes for voluntary compliance.

My biggest question is why are these tax payers not filing, and why is the IRS not pursueing these individuals. I have asked our Jim Risch and Mike Simpson why they are not interested in these folks filing and paying the taxes owed and instead of addressing the question and their email replies did not address my question. You and I file and pay our taxes, but apparently if you make large sums of money, you don’t have too and Mike Simpson is OK with that.

https://courthousenews.com/irs-launches-crackdown-on-125000-wealthy-non-filers/

Before the 80’s, stock buy backs were considered a form of stock price manipulation. But today, the practice is common and just as bad for our country.

Currently, a company can buy back their own stock. Many times, these stock purchases would then be used to reward employees with a majority going to CEO’s.

This creates an environment where CEO’s just get richer regardless of how well the rest of the employees may be fairing.

According to Harvard Law’s CEO Pay Study, just last year alone, CEO’s earned at a rate of 192:1 when compared to regular employees. This means for every dollar earned by a regular employee, a CEO would earn 192 dollars. A large portion of these earning come directly from stock awards. This also creates a short term goal versus a long term goal of growing the company and it’s earnings.

Many companies use the metric of Total Shareholder Return when awarding compensation to their CEO’s. The Total Shareholder Return can be manipulated via stock buybacks.

If companies have excess cash, they should be incentivized to invest into all of their employees via bonus’s, training, higher pay rates.

Bonus, investigate Private Equity and the effects on the market, which is not a net positive.

They are currently buying up service companies like HVAC, Plumbing, Electrician, etc, and pushing expensive replacements or repairs.

Healthcare decisions are a private decision between a person and their provider.

It’s not my, your, or their business to tell you how to keep your body healthy and well.

President Trump signed an executive order banning large companies from “investing” in homes and raising rent on working people. I agree with this executive order and believe it is in the best interest of Americans to have access to affordable housing.

The percentage of homes owned by large companies is a small percentage of homes, but any relief is helpful and useful.

The dream of home ownership has disappeared for a large section of our population and that is unacceptable.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/stopping-wall-street-from-competing-with-main-street-homebuyers/

I support President Trump’s efforts to bring down the cost of medicine! This is lifesaving. It’s unfortunate Mike Simpson couldn’t do the same with his affirmative vote to prevent the government from negotiating drug prices.

More must be done!

First, the office of the President should not be in the business of negotiating drug prices. That’s a role for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Second, the American consumer should not subsidize greater for drug prices and drug research. We all need access to the medicine, and we should all share in the price. That may mean that American prices go down while the rest of the world evaluates its financial responsibility to our shared costs for access.

It is estimated that the tariffs currently in place has increased costs to the average household by about $1,700 per year. This is an increase that most Idahoans simply cannot afford.

I believe responsible tariffs are a useful tool in limited circumstances. However, we need to get back to responsible tariffs and reform our relationships with other countries who not only rely on us, but with whom we rely on for goods.