If you want to know who a politician values, look at their budget. House Republicans just passed a federal budget that makes their priorities painfully clear: handouts for billionaires, paid for by working families, including thousands of Idahoans.

Nearly 60 percent of the tax cuts go to the wealthiest 20 percent of households, and more than a third go to people making over $460,000 a year. Meanwhile, families in Twin Falls, Caldwell, and Pocatello are told to pay more and make do with less.

These upside-down policies spell disaster for our local economies. Homegrown businesses thrive when working families can afford to celebrate birthdays on Main Street, keep up with car repairs, or get a haircut. When most of the money flows to the top and working families have empty bank accounts, the whole economy suffers.

The deep cuts in the Republican budget are just as troubling. It slashes Medicaid, Medicare benefits for seniors, and food assistance at historic levels. Health care for hundreds of thousands of Idahoans is in jeopardy. More than 130,000 Idahoans, primarily children, count on nutrition assistance to keep food on the table when paychecks don’t stretch far enough. These cuts mean fewer doctors and nurses in rural communities, higher premiums for everyone, and more hungry kids.

The damage doesn’t stop there. It makes college more expensive and repeals clean energy investments that lower utility bills. That includes funds that brought electric school buses to places like the Genesee Joint School District, saving taxpayer dollars and reducing pollution. The budget even guts protections for nursing home residents.

It has new restrictions on reproductive health coverage. And it arbitrarily cuts off access to cancer screenings, family planning services, and routine care for thousands of Idahoans who rely on Planned Parenthood as their primary health care provider.

But the indoor tanning industry? It gets a break. Republicans gave tanning salons a nearly half-billion-dollar kickback by repealing their excise tax. Apparently, they have better lobbyists than everyday Idahoans, because Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher chose tanning bed owners over teachers, nurses, and working families.

The Republican Congressmen also voted to put the Trump regime above the law. A provision in the budget makes it easier for Trump’s cabinet of billionaires to defy judicial rulings. Court rulings have protected the public from some of the regime’s most harmful and unlawful actions. This includes a recent decision that struck down reckless tariffs driving up prices and destabilizing the economy. But for Simpson and Fulcher, loyalty to Trump outweighs their duty to the Constitution and the people they were elected to serve.

Idaho deserves better. We need leaders who will put Idaho families first. If Republicans won’t do the job, let’s elect people who will.

Onward,

Lauren Necochea
Idaho Democratic Party Chair