Governor Kempthorne Explains Freedom to a Liberal

I’m not a huge fan of Governor Kempthorne, but when I read about his response to Diana Pauls on Liberal Idaho, I was very impressed.

For those who don’t, Governor Kempthorne has proposed giving everyone in Idaho a $50 per person rebate to help with Energy Costs. Diana Pauls wrote to Governor Kempthorne (or Mr. Kempthorne as she referred to him.):

What I would suggest is that instead of sending a one-time “bonus” to Idahoans to assist with high energy bills, a better investment would be to appropriate the funds to Community Action Agencies to assist low-income families to weatherize their own homes with better windows, insulation, system repairs/upgrades, etc., so their energy costs can be lowered (for this year AND years to come!).

Even if it won’t help my family, it will help many other families who really DO need the assistance for high energy expenses, and I would prefer our taxes to be invested in that way instead.

Now, she posted this Friday Night, in 13 hours she had a response from Governor Kempthorne which to me indicates that he responded personally to this e-mail, but Diana was less than satisfied:

In his letter, Kempthorne stated that he wants to help “every resident in the State of Idaho”.

His mindset must be that families who are building 6000 square foot homes and bringing home six-figure incomes need their $50 as much as those who live in 50+ year old homes and don’t even have health insurance.

We’re all suffering from the high energy prices in one way or another. The rebate, if passed is going to help and it’ll help both richer and poorer people. Most of the people in Idaho who have 6,000 Square foot homes are paying a ton on these extra energy bills, though there aren’t that many of them.

He also stated he has established a “clear path” to set aside monies for the future. Whose future? Our children? Our educators? Our seniors? Idahoans in poverty? WHO?…

Am I the only one who struggles with faith in our government’s decisions on how they spend our money?

He also stated that by putting this money back in our hands, we can “control its destiny”…

What control do we have if we pay it right back to Idaho Power, Intermountain Gas, and put it in our fuel tanks? That doesn’t help us for very long at all. It only helps the CEOs of those corporations. The families who suffer most will continue to suffer after their $50 per person has been spent.

What cracks me up is the inconsistency of the liberal argument. On one hand:

1) She doesn’t have faith in the government’s decision on how to spend the money.

2) On the other hand, she wants the government to spend the money rather than giving it to people.

She seems to be of the opinion that the poor people can’t be trusted to make decisions with their rebate. They’ll spend it all! The truth is if you’ve got a family of 4, $200 can go a long ways towards some basic winterization. You just have to bank it, or go out and spend it on the supplies when its cheap.

But our Governor really got her riled with his conclusion:

In his closing, Kempthorne tells me that if I “believe that the money is better spent in another area”, I can donate it to whatever cause or charity I choose.

Well, Mr. Kempthorne, I “choose” to have my government cut out the “middleman” and take care of our neediest residents to help them meet their energy costs.

So, you hear that folks. When you give to charity to help out the poor, you’re just the middle man. Charity is just you doing the job Government should have already taken your tax dollars to do. Wow, gives a wh

The government should have taken that money from you and distributed it to meet the needs they see as important. What we need is for:

1) People to Stop Giving
2) The Government to budget up and divide our money

That’ll work, especially as the Government is so good at budgeting its own money. As for me, I’ll trust the people.

To be fair, another member of the Idaho Liberal site has worked up a good site encouraging people to donate their refund to a worthy charity such as the Idaho Food Bank or Youth Ranch. Its a good idea and something I’ll consider if I actually get it.

Linked to TMH Bacon Bits, Rhymes with Right, Votes Wagon, Stop the ACLU, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, Oblogatory Anecdotes, The Bullwinkle Blog, Point Five Blog, The Liberal Wrong Wing

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