Sunday, April 05, 2009

Melinda Smyser

The Statesman has an article about Sen. Melinda Smyser, who was appointed by Gov Otter to replace Brad Little when Little was appointed as Lt. Governor. This statement kind of jumped out at me:
A long-time activist in Republican and Canyon County politics, Smyser subscribes to a simple political philosophy: Keep government out of our lives.
(Emphasis mine) Also:
Smyser, a member of the Health and Welfare, the Commerce and the Agricultural Affairs committees, said she has been astounded by some of the bureaucracy in state agencies and the Legislature.

"We've got a lot of government going on. That's what I've found out," Smyser said.
First off, Ms. Smyser, if you want government out of your life, why are you in government? Wouldn't it have been more consistent with your philosophy to decline the appointment to the legislature? Right now, isn't your life kind of all about government?

Do you ride a horse from Parma, or where ever you are staying in session, to the legislature, or do you use the government-built roads to drive around? How about those government traffic signals? Do you rely on them to hold traffic for you, or should you get those out of your life as well? Are you happy that other drivers must be licensed and meet minimum standards of competency, or would you prefer to just have a free-for-all?

I note that you live out in the countryside. Do you have your own firetruck and water supply? Or are you relying on those government firefighters should tragedy strike?

Ms. Smyser's legislative info is below. That's a screen shot from the legislative web site. (Click to enlarge).



Did you note her employment? Safe and Drug Free School Program Coordinator. If that job pays her a salary, then since schools are government, perhaps she ought to give up the job and get government out of her life. Even if it doesn't pay and she does it for free, seems like she's still awfully involved in government. Have a look at this resource page of the Idaho Dept. of Education about Safe and Drug Free Schools. Man, government abounds. I'm a bit astounded by that bureaucracy.

Oh, and one more thing. Ms. Smyser's husband makes his living lobbying government. I'm surprised she hasn't gotten him out of her life.

3 comments:

slfisher said...

Beautiful. Hope this gets more play.

Dean said...

You have rightly pointed out the inconsistency of her positions. Another interesting fact is that her husband is a lawyer and was a long-time state senator(1980s), prior to becoming a lobbyist. No surprise that he would make that transition. However, her position is an interesting one to take given that for most of her husband's adult livlihood has been directly connected to having taxpayers pay his salary, directly or indirectly.

Anonymous said...

So you are saying that only people who think larger government is a great thing can be in government? What a farce! Have you ever stopped to consider that people who believe in smaller government need to get involved in order to bring that about? Open your mind to other possibilities than your narrow point of view.