Lawmakers smear Reclaim Idaho

Sage Dixon and the Freedom Caucus want to make ballot initiatives impossible. They were stopped by the governor this time, but they are laying the groundwork to take away our rights.

They have started a smear campaign of hatred against Reclaim Idaho by claiming the group is a front for California liberals. The root of this blatant lie comes from Brent Regan, chairman of the Kootenai County Republicans. His “proof” is that Rebecca Schroder, a resident of Coeur d’Alene, while she was volunteering for Reclaim, spoke to a California union about our grassroots effort to expand Medicaid. Gasp. And that union has ties to The Fairness Project. Double gasp! Who has received money in the past from George Soros! OMG! But in reality The Fairness Project didn’t give a dime to Reclaim Idaho.

The leader of Reclaim, Luke Mayville, is a North Idaho native, and of the 54,000 signatures gathered all but 2,192 of them were collected by unpaid Idaho volunteers. Thousands of Idahoans braved the cold and the bullying to provide health care to 72,000 of their neighbors.

The Freedom Caucus frequently uses this modus operand: If they can’t argue on substance, they lie about the issue. If that doesn’t work, they attack and smear the people who support it. All the Freedom Caucus cares about is their power, not our lives.

It is time for Idahoans to stand for the truth. God put lying in his top ten list of evil. Let us give Sage Dixon his pink slip.

MARY HALEY

Sandpoint