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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Rep. Roberts: Fed govt ‘hell-bent on destroying greatest nation on earth’

House Majority Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, is addressing the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho on "state legislative perspectives past and forward." Roberts said as part of his remarks, he'll be commenting on "a very dysfunctional federal government that is hell-bent on destroying the greatest nation on earth."

Roberts also decried the rising cost of Idaho's catastrophic care fund, which helps counties cover indigent residents' medical expenses, saying he objects to "the whole idea of government paying for a growing list of personal needs." Said Roberts, a sixth-term lawmaker, "Are we going to continue to expand the role of government and raise taxes to pay for the growing list of personal needs and wants? ... We must rethink how we think about government, starting with the local fire and cemetery districts and moving all the way up to the massive, out-of-control federal budget."

He said, "We must create an economic habitat which supplies the factors necessary for the existence of our species. Once this habitat is created, businesses will flourish again, but as long as we compare ourselves to other states and other nations and say, 'we are about the same in this area' or 'a tax is a little lower in that area,' we will struggle to have the reforms that are needed. What I'm talking about is a complete paradigm shift that needs to permeate our entire system."



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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