Posts published in “Malloy”

Writing political columns is what I do professionally (OK, it’s more like a hobby), but raising awareness about diabetes is at least a few notches higher on my “care” meter.

That’s because I have been battling the disease for more than 20 years and playing on “house money” throughout that time. I was on death’s doorstep 20 years ago, with a clogged heart slowly, but steadily, sucking the life out of me. A five-way bypass surgery took care of that problem and here I am today.

Working for free and enjoying every minute of it.

I belong to the Meridian Lions Club, which is a marvelous outlet for my passion. Globally, the Lions have been long recognized for its focus on eye and vision care and, in recent years, diabetes has moved toward the top of the priority list.

For good reason. Diabetes is a leading cause of blindness and the Lions figure, correctly, that stopping diabetes is a key to improving vision care.

The battle is never-ending. According to the American Diabetes Association, 37 million people have diabetes (it was just 25 million when I started making pitches more than a decade ago) and 95 million people have this ticking timebomb called pre-diabetes. So, that’s more than 100 million people in this country dealing with diabetes in some form.

Worldwide, the number jumps to nearly 540 million – with no signs of slowing down.

So, please forgive me for making a pitch for the Breakthrough T1D (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) walk, which will be held Oct. 12 at Kleiner Park in Meridian (9 a.m.). Around 400 people are expected to participate, and the fundraising goal is more than $63,300. That may not be huge numbers or big dollars, but it is one small step toward stopping this horrible disease.

The event may not have great relevance outside of the Treasure Valley, but the Breakthrough group is an important one – and especially for individuals and families dealing with type 1 diabetes. As the folks there put it, “no other does more to improve the everyday lives of people with type 1 diabetes – from therapy development and access, to expanding research advocacy and community support.”

Yes, they make the world a better place.

So, what does diabetes have to do with politics? More than you think. The insane cost of insulin is at the forefront of political discussions, with politicos battling to take credit for lowering the monthly cost of insulin. Republicans remind us that it was President Trump that got the ball rolling for some Medicare recipients, and Democrats want to make the $35 monthly cost available for everybody. And every year, Congress decides on increasing funding for continued research through the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health. Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, for one, has long been singing praises for those agencies.

Here’s another connection – a political figure who is raising a child with type 1 diabetes. Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, who is spending much of his time these days to ensure fairness in elections, knows all about the trials and tribulations. His 12-year-old daughter, Kennedy – known for her infectious smile and joyful personality – has type 1 diabetes.

“There are no days off, or breaks from diabetes,” McGrane told me. “It was particularly hard at the onset, and remains a challenge. My phone buzzes and I get alerts when her (glucose) readings are high or low.”

The saving grace is that today’s technology has phone apps, insulin pumps and precise monitoring to keep parents and patients informed. Years ago, test strips and glucose meters were hard to find. There is no cure for diabetes, but the sophisticated monitoring systms are byproducts of research and development.

McGrane and his wife, Angella, have been through it all – from the parental nightmare that went with learning about their daughter’s diabetes diagnosis to doing everything under the sun to ensure a normal, and healthy life, for their daughter. And make no mistake, type 1 diabetes does not have to hold back their daughter from anything.

The McGrane family will be in good company when they line up for the start of the Breakthrough walk on Oct. 12. They will be with some 400 other people who are going through the same challenges.

Chuck Malloy is a long-time Idaho journalist and columnist. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com

 

Sens. Mike Crapo of Idaho and Ron Wyden of Oregon have more common ground than most Republicans and Democrats, given the fact that they represent neighboring western states. Life in rural Idaho is not much different than Oregon – where some folks are trying to become part of Greater Idaho.

But the senators are deeply divided when it comes to big-ticket matters such as the Inflation Reduction Act – one of the Biden administration’s hallmark pieces of legislation. The differences were on full display during a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) health-care provisions.

The opening statements submitted by Wyden (the committee chairman) and Crapo (the ranking member) also serve as an illustration of why health care in America will continue to be a mess. Wyden is married to the Democratic agenda, which also is the case with the party’s nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. Crapo, an avid supporter of former President Trump, is a good soldier for the Republican Party, and has been for decades. He isn’t about to sign on to an IRA, health-care plan or anything that has the Democratic Party’s stamp of approval.

This is not to fault Crapo and Wyden. They have been in office for a long time and know how politics is played. If left to their own, without partisan politics getting in the way, Crapo and Wyden are the kind of guys who could come up with a bipartisan solution to health care. The senators are as congenial, thoughtful and intelligent as they come in the U.S. Senate. But their political parties are looking for one thing – a clear-cut victory over the other party. And that isn’t going to happen with the numbers so close in the Senate and House.

So sit back and enjoy a bit of the partisan gridlock – courtesy of the Senate Finance Committee.

Wyden said in his opening statement there are two choices. “One choice is to sign up for concepts of a plan by Donald Trump. The other choice in America is to sign up for concrete health care results delivered by Democrats through the IRA, which was passed into black-letter law two years ago.”

So much for getting Republican support on the issue. For good measure, Wyden took a swipe or two at the GOP’s vice presidential candidate, JD Vance.

Crapo, taking a more statesman-like approach (initially) said that health-care access and affordability are in everyone’s best interest. This committee has proven that bipartisan consent and deliberating policymaking can yield real solutions, from driving down prices at the pharmacy counter to ensuring patients can confidently select a mental health provider who fits their needs. Unfortunately, the IRA took the opposite approach, advancing top-down problematic program overhauls through a rushed, partisan process that sidelined the minority and ignored constructive input.”

Those darn Democrats, anyway. The bill probably was put together in a smoke-filled room, with no Republicans allowed inside.

As Wyden sees it, the IRA has taken on “price gouging” practices by Big Pharma, allowing seniors to save through out-of-pocket caps on prescription drugs while allowing working families to pay lower insurance premiums.

“Taken as a whole, this new law is making a concrete difference in the lives of millions of working families and seniors in Medicare,” Wyden said. “These cost-saving measures need to be protected and strengthened in the years to come, not watered down or erased by putting Big Pharma or insurance companies back in charge.”

Who could possibly be against all those good things? Your turn, Sen. Crapo.

“Bureaucratic price fixing, under the guise of negotiation, may sound appealing, but it comes at a massive cost – particularly as firms begin to look elsewhere to launch new life-saving treatments. The implications for the therapeutic (research and development) pipeline are already apparent, with at least 21 drugs and 36 research programs discontinued since the law’s enactment. Even for approved drugs, delays and denials in care have started to skyrocket – and yet the Biden-Harris administration inexplicably excluded medications from its price authorization reforms.”

Leave it to Democrats. They never tell the whole story.

But Crapo (back to his statesman mode) offers a solution. “Instead of perpetuating a tax-and-spend agenda, we can and should work together to improve health-care choices, affordability and reliability.”

Unfortunately, the “working together” part is the sticking point.

Chuck Malloy is a long-time Idaho journalist and columnist. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com

 

In Idaho’s all-Republican congressional delegation, there are two things you will find during a presidential election campaign: Heavy praise for the Republican nominee (in this case, former President Trump) and plenty of darts to the Democratic nominee. Vice President Kamala Harris has been labeled as a disaster, if you talk with some of the higher-ups in Idaho politics.

There are no congressional Democrats in the Gem State to counter those claims – unless you look to a couple of our neighboring states. Sen. Ron Wyden’s constituency in Oregon includes those who are aspiring to be part of “Greater Idaho” and Sen. Patty Murray of Washington represents areas that practically are an Idaho Vandals’ first down away from the Evergreen state’s border. That is, if you are living in Lewiston, Moscow or Post Falls.

And, as with three of the four members of Idaho’s congressional delegation, Wyden and Murray have been around for a long time. Wyden was elected to the Senate in 1996 and has been in Congress since 1981, the same year that Ronald Reagan came into power. Murray is in her sixth term in the Senate. Not surprisingly, both are enthusiastically endorsing the Harris-Walz ticket. 

“I’ve been proud to work with Vice President Harris and the Biden administration on a record of Democratic successes these past three and a half years, including historic wins over Big Pharma and major gains in the fights against wealthy tax cheats and the climate crisis,” said Wyden in a statement from his office. 

Murray, in a released statement, touted her candidate’s accomplishments. 

“Vice President Harris helped deliver the strongest economic comeback in the world after Trump badly mismanaged much of the COVID-19 pandemic. She helped pass landmark bipartisan legislation to rebuild our infrastructure, bring semiconductor manufacturing home, and to greatly expand care and benefits to our veterans. Kamala was the deciding vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which has created hundreds of thousands of jobs and is lowering prescription drug costs.” 

It’s no mystery where the three Pacific Northwest states are likely to go in this election. Trump is poised to carry Idaho by a wide margin, as all GOP candidates have since 1968. Harris is almost a cinch to carry Oregon and Washington – the only real question is by how much. But it doesn’t stop the leading politicos from expressing their views about the election. Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have attacked Harris on the economy and foreign policy, and Democratic senators have no hesitation about building a case for Harris. 

“From the start, Kamala has made clear her campaign is focused on growing the middle class,” says Murray. “She is focused on building more housing to lower costs, expanding the child tax credit and making child care more affordable and accessible. Kamala knows that you don’t grow the economy by cutting taxes for billionaires and giant corporations – you invest in families.” 

Wyden was among the many Democrats nudging President Biden to step aside after that disastrous debate performance in June, saying “I have made it clear that the top priority has got to be defeating Donald Trump.” Wyden says the Harris-Walz ticket gives Democrats the energy, and momentum, needed to accomplish that goal.

The Oregon senator says Harris and Walz can build on the administration’s “impressive record and defeat Donald Trump – a convicted felon who wants to yank America backward with his checkered and erratic past of right-wing extremism on women’s health care, dirty energy and more.”

In Murray’s eyes, the stakes in this election go beyond the presidential race.

“With a Democratic majority in Congress, Kamala will restore a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions,” the senator said. “If you want to protect your freedoms and build an economy for working people, not billionaires, Kamala is your candidate.”

Chances are that Harris won’t be Idaho’s candidate as electoral votes are tallied, although a fair number of folks will appreciate the remarks from the neighboring Democratic senators.

Chuck Malloy is a long-time Idaho journalist and columnist. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com

 

Vice President Kamala Harris’ ambitious economic agenda would have two chances of making it through the next Congress. Slim and none, unless she’d happen to have a Democratic majority in the House and at least 60 Democrats in the Senate.

It could happen, in theory, but not in reality. And the prospects of Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo voting for her economic proposals are absolutely zero. If he has his way, former President Donald Trump will be back in the White House next January and Crapo will be chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. All that, of course, depends on the outcome of the elections, and Crapo is among the Republicans who is slicing and dicing through Harris’ economic agenda and overall philosophy.

Here’s how Crapo thinks it will go if Harris wins: “It would be like the Biden administration’s policies on steroids. It would be tax and spend and regulate while pursuing a left-wing agenda. The last four years have been an economic disaster.”

Crapo points to the ever-rising national debt and high inflation as a couple of the lowlights of Biden’s three and a half years in office. And he thinks things will only get worse under Harris.

“Regulations would explode even further and she wants to increase taxes by more than he does – which is saying a lot. He wants to increase taxes by a trillion dollars,” Crapo said. The “Biden experience” is a good indicator of what Harris would do as president, “but she would do more.”

The senator might have a point. Even Biden has not talked about price controls, as Harris did in her vision for the economy. Price fixing has not proven to work in countries outside of communist or socialist regimes.

Crapo predicts that, under Harris, regulations would skyrocket, trade negotiations would slow to a crawl, and the premature push for electric cars would continue.

The senator acknowledges that the national debt went up during Trump’s four years in the White House, but a big part of the reason was the COVID pandemic. “And Congress, with Republican support, kept the country alive with deficit spending. Yes, it happened under his watch, but it happened under a pandemic.”

The best hope for trimming the deficit, he said, would be with Trump as president and a Republican Congress.

“Our deficit is in such a bad situation that it will go up regardless of who is president,” he says. “There is a way to solve it, but it requires Congress to stop the spending spree and get some control of the phenomenal growth of mandatory spending. But you can’t do that without 60 votes in the Senate, support from the House and a willing president.”

Crapo says the president could start the recovery process by rolling back regulations, which Trump did during his term, and changing the tax code. If Crapo ends up as the finance committee chairman, he could play a role in extending the tax policies that were implemented during the Trump years.

“The committee will need to work with him to extend, review and improve on what’s there,” Crapo says. “If we don’t get that done, it will result in a $6 trillion tax increase on Americans and it will hit those who make less than $400,000 a year. If it’s not extended, a large amount will be on those making less than $150,000 a year, or even $100,000.”

The Trump presidency, Crapo says, produced “the strongest economy in our lifetimes. That one-two punch of tax reform and regulatory reform did it.”

Crapo, as with other Republicans, is hoping that Trump will focus his campaign more on the nuts-and-bolts economic issues – opposed to leveling personal attacks or re-living the 2020 election.

“We need to get refocused on the economy,” Crapo said. “The border also is a problem for our economy, and it’s something that President Trump can – and will – fix. The No. 1 issue, I think, is the border, but I think that the next issue is the economy.”

He says that the charge of a new administration, regardless of who wins, is “to protect, strengthen and build on our economic security.”

Crapo doesn’t see any of that happening with Vice President Kamala Harris in charge.

Chuck Malloy is a long-time Idaho journalist and columnist. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com

 

Steve Symms’ mark on Idaho politics was undeniable and his 1980 stunning victory over Sen. Frank Church was historic. Church was the last Idaho Democrat to hold a U.S. Senate seat.

Accolades came pouring in after his recent death.

“Steve Symms routinely pushed back on government overreach, stood up for the working people of Idaho and defended freedoms we hold dear,” said Gov. Brad Little.

“He was a staunch defender of conservative values in Washington, D.C., for the people of Idaho. His commitment to Idaho and conservative principles has stood as an inspiration for our state leaders,” said Idaho Sen. Jim Risch.

“Steve was an exceptional public servant whose dedicated years of service and unwavering commitment to Idaho have left a lasting legacy on our state,” said Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson.

Those viewpoints were appropriate, and well stated. I remember Steve in a different way, as one of the most personable political people I’ve encountered in more than 45 years. I’ve heard stories about Steve being a favorite traveling partner of the late Arkansas Sen. Dale Bumpers. I had some exposure to Bumpers during my days in Arkansas and they were two of a kind – gregarious and funny. I can only imagine the entertainment they provided to one another during long plane flights.

Many years ago, Steve told me a story about him filling in for Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virgina during a speaking engagement. Keep in mind that the two were polar opposites politically. But Byrd, as I was told, had a scheduling conflict for a particular event and asked Steve to substitute. That arrangement probably wouldn’t happen in today’s crash-and-burn political environment.

The first time I met Steve was early in my career (very early) when I was writing sports for the Daily Idahonian in Moscow (now the Moscow-Pullman Daily News). Steve dropped into the office one Saturday and, as usual, was the model of charm. I still remember a comment from a colleague after Symms left the office: “He just loves being a congressman.”

Indeed, he did.

I went to different places a few years later and was not in Idaho during his run for the Senate 1980. But I I had many occasions to converse with Steve when I returned to the state in late 1984 and became a political writer for the Post Register of Idaho Falls. I wasn’t always kind to Steve with my writings, but Steve never complained (perhaps much to my disappointment). If congeniality were his main weapon, then Steve took me to the woodshed at least a few times.

Access to Steve was not a problem, since he didn’t hold grudges. He always was willing – if not eager – to explain his positions on issues.

I had occasion to talk with Steve some time ago, and a “few minutes” turned into a lengthy conversation about politics (past and present) and life in general.

I was fascinated about his perspective of his campaign against Church. I’ve heard so many stories about how “bitter” and “nasty” that campaign was. As old-timers tell it, surrogates on both sides were quite active during that campaign. But for Steve, who typically was an upbeat campaigner, there was nothing dirty on his end. He had plenty of talking points during that campaign, including the need for “conservative leadership.” But as Steve told me, he had respect and admiration for Church, personally and politically. And no one was more surprised than Steve when he won that election.

One quality about Steve that I especially admire was that he knew when to quit. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1986, in a hard-fought battle with then-Gov. John Evans, but he knew that a second term would be his last. Maybe that explains why he paid little attention what I, or anyone else, wrote about him.

Steve was just 54 when he left the Senate, which is the prime age for many political careers. But Steve thought there was more to life than politics, and he didn’t want to spend his golden years in the Senate. He also thought that, after two terms, it was time to give someone else a chance to serve.

There was something that remained consistent about Steve, as a member of Congress and during my conversation with him. In both settings, he seemed to be quite comfortable with himself.

Chuck Malloy is a long-time Idaho journalist and columnist. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com

 

Vice President Kamala Harris may be the Democratic Party’s brightest star at the moment, but the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says he’s not impressed with her resume when it comes to foreign policy.

“What has she done in the three and a half years as vice president? The only thing that people can point to is that she was named as the border czar,” said Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, who has been on the committee under three administrations. “They are now running away from that, saying she was not the border czar. But she was supposed to straighten that mess out. It did not get better at all; it got worse. That’s a foreign-relations thing, no question about it, and she was a total failure.”

Risch says illegal border crossings of 10 million or more a year is hardly a success story, “and that’s not just the border with Mexico. We have lots and lots of other foreign relations issues and, so far, I have not seen her produce anything in foreign relations, let alone any level of success.”

Harris and others have countered that a bipartisan bill aimed at solving the border crisis was in the works, only to be nixed by former President Trump and Republicans who feared that resolving the border issue would give Democrats an advantage in the fall elections. Risch tells a different story.

“Many people have bitten on that bait,” he said. “But if you drill down on the bill that they are talking about, the bill solves nothing. One Republican signed onto that bill, which does not make it a bipartisan bill. It allowed 2,500 illegal crossings into this country every day. I would not have voted for that. I would not vote for a bill that allowed even one person to cross into the country illegally every day.”

And even if it were the perfect piece of legislation, Risch said, “Why would you need a bill at all?”

It’s no surprise that Risch favors Trump policies over Biden-Harris, but the stakes go beyond partisan politics. The Idaho senator, who had a strong working relationship with Trump during his four years in the White House, could play a key role in the shaping of foreign policy in a second Trump term. Such prospects would not exist under a Harris administration.

Risch says he has no doubt that Trump would be superior to Harris in the handling of foreign policy.

“He says, ‘America First,’ which makes all those on the left bristle. Well, if you don’t want America first, who do you want first? The job of the president of the United States is to make America first,” Risch says. “The result of that is what you saw in Trump’s foreign policy. Can you argue about some of it? Sure, you can. But Trump had the unique ability to frustrate foreign actors, especially the autocrats that you should worry about, because they never knew what he was going to do.”

Risch says Biden’s administration has been plagued by a series of wrong turns, which includes the “embarrassing” withdrawal from Afghanistan. “The move to get out as he did cost the lives of 13 Marines and who knows how many private citizens. That tells you the story right there.”

But his critique of the Biden-Harris administration’s foreign policy doesn’t stop there. Recently, Risch released a report analyzing the administration’s policies on China – with the unflattering title, “One step forward, two steps back.” Risch also offered a blueprint for what needs to be done with China in the years to come.

“In November, 2020, I published a report on the importance of the United States and our European partners working together to counter an increasing confrontational China,” he said. “Nearly four years later, China’s efforts to undermine prosperity, security and good governance in every region of the globe continue to be what I consider the most important foreign policy challenge of our time. If we are to succeed in confronting China, the next administration must do more than the Biden-Harris administration has over the last four years.”

It’s a good guess that Risch’s comprehensive report and blunt critique is not on the president’s or vice president’s late-night reading list. But he could have a much friendlier audience with Trump back in the White House.

Chuck Malloy is a long-time Idaho journalist and columnist. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com

 

What a difference a single decision can make in a presidential election.

In a span of a couple of weeks, Democrats have gone from the sleepiest to some of the most exciting moments since Barack Obama came onto the scene. And it appears that the convention will not have the look and feel of a yawning festival, which would have been the case with President Biden heading the ticket. Poll after poll has shown that the vast majority of Americans did not want to see a Biden-Trump rematch, yet that’s what the Democrats were about to validate.

That is, until President Biden dropped out of the race and threw his support to Vice President Kamala Harris. Her nomination isn’t official yet, but putting this into football terms, the score is 48-0 with about a minute to play.

“There is pretty much unanimous agreement, coast to coast, that she is our standard bearer,” said Idaho House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, one of 27 Idaho delegates to the national convention.

And, suddenly, excitement is building. As Rubel tells it, “It is supercharged.”

Rep. Lauren Necochea, who chairs the state Democratic Party, agrees. In a released statement, she said, “Idaho Democrats are fired up and ready to get to work because the stakes in this election couldn’t be higher. This November, voters face a clear choice between MAGA authoritarianism that will keep stripping away our freedoms and future where we have a say over the decisions impacting our lives. Harris is uniquely positioned to make this argument, having been an unrelenting champion of our freedoms, especially when it comes to abortion care.”

As “supercharged” as Democrats may be in Idaho, it probably won’t make a big difference in the outcome in Idaho. This state has not favored a Democrat since 1964, and it’s not going to change this year considering that former President Trump’s popularity is somewhere on the level of God’s. But Idaho’s Democratic delegates will find plenty of friends on the convention floor. And with Harris leading the ticket, Dems now see the White House and both houses of Congress in play in November.

Rubel says she was one who was worried about the party’s ability to take the fight to Trump, especially after Biden’s historically awful debate performance. Rubel sees a lot of nice talking points for Democrats – a low unemployment rate, a long stretch of job growth overall and the addition of some 800,000 manufacturing jobs. Wages have increased, and while inflation is high, it’s not so outlandish on a global scale.

“We were just having problems getting the message out, and Vice President is going to be able to get that message out,” Rubel says.

And Harris won’t back down from Trump on the debate stage – while exposing his flaws. The “age” issue, which ultimately drove out Biden, will be turned against the 78-year-old Trump. Says Rubel, “This is a man who called the secretary of state in Georgia and told him to falsify the election results. This is a person who incited a mob to storm the Capitol. This is a person who does not have respect for American democracy.”

Republicans counter that it is the Democrats who turned their back on democracy, discarding the 14 million people who voted for Biden in the primary races. Of course, Biden was running unopposed, but there’s no need to let facts get in the way of good campaign rhetoric.

However, Biden deserves goat horns for waiting so long to get out. It would be understandable if he came into office with the notion of being a transitional president, one who would serve four years. But somewhere in the midst of that embarrassing withdrawal from Afghanistan and failed border policies, he decided that he was the only person in America who was qualified to do the job. His inept debate performance showed otherwise.

So, Democrats are left with Kamala Harris – like it, or not. Fortunately for the Dems, Harris has shown herself in the early going as being up to the task as a campaigner. The 2024 election, which was on its way to being one of the worst in the nation’s history, is shaping up to be among the most interesting.

Chuck Malloy is a long-time Idaho journalist and columnist. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com