Lawmakers aid special interests

Do you care about jobs? Do you want accountability and ethical behavior from your legislators? We have to help make it happen. The 2012 session of the GOP-dominated Idaho Legislature is half over. What is there to show for the hundreds of hours and thousands of taxpayer dollars wasted over the past six weeks?

Instead of working to put Idahoans back to work, the GOP spent weeks focused on removing the peaceful Occupy protesters from exercising their First Amendment rights on public land.

Instead of developing a state-based health care exchange that would have reduced costs for all Idahoans, they considered creating a special license plate whose proceeds would go directly to former congressman Bill Sali.

On issue after issue, the GOP chose to work for the benefit of their special interest donors, rather than work on legislation to make life better for average Idahoans. With only six weeks left in the session, we must let them know that we want more.

We want our legislators to look at ways to create more jobs, not dismiss proposals. We want them to consider ways to make legislators more accountable. We want better sunshine laws. We want them to do their work.

Cheryl D. Halverson

Tensed, Idaho