Little, Risch and Crapo are betting heavily on Trump’s MAGA program

The envelope in my mailbox screamed out, “this ENDORSEMENT has IDAHO LIBERALS worried.” Fearing the worst, I gingerly opened the envelope, only to find that the liberals were supposed to be worried because Governor Brad Little had “received the complete and total endorsement of President Donald Trump in June.”

We have had good reason to believe that the Governor was headed toward full-on MAGA. After all, his support for substantial cuts to Medicaid this session and his belief that parents who send their kids to private and religious schools should get a tax credit of $5,000 per kid, is right in line with the MAGA playbook. Little’s letter begged for campaign funds so that he can implement MAGA policy in Idaho for four more years.

Little strongly supported Trump’s Big Beautiful Billionaire Bill (BBBB), which will explode the national debt to an unsustainable 40 trillion dollars and result in the largest ever transfer of wealth from poor to rich Americans. The Idaho Fiscal Policy Center estimates that top income earners will get an average of $78,000, while the lowest earners will get only $20. Over the next decade the bill will cut $4.3 billion in federal funding for Idaho Medicaid and reduce enrollment in the state by up to 40,000 people. Heaven help our local hospitals. SNAP and other safety net programs will also sustain massive cuts.

Senators Risch and Crapo have already signed onto the full Trump program and both voted for the BBBB. In fact, Crapo was the chief architect of the Senate bill, making deeper cuts to Medicaid than the House version and increasing the amount of national debt we are bestowing upon future generations. In recognition of Crapo’s major role, Trump’s office distributed a lovely picture of Crapo looking quite pleased at the BBBB signing ceremony. Let’s pray that modest-income Idahoans don’t get sick.

The BBBB drafters were clever to disguise the damage their handiwork will do to working people. The tax benefits for the wealthy will kick in right away, but the massive cuts in safety net spending for the masses will only kick in after the midterm elections next year. To top off their allegiance to Trump’s command, both Risch and Crapo voted last week to cut 1 billion dollars for public radio and public television. The Trump regime has no use for cultural programming or balanced reporting.

Little, Risch and Crapo seem to think that obedience to Trump is a ticket to keeping their precious offices. Reading the tea leaves, including the most recent polling, it is a good bet that they are woefully wrong. By the time the general election rolls around next year, I expect that Americans, including a majority of Idahoans, will have had enough. It is likely that Idaho’s MAGA sycophants will lose out to candidates who are willing to honorably and courageously serve their state and nation.

Take Trump’s premier issue–immigration. Voters responded to Trump’s call to remove violent criminals from the country, but they are now recoiling at his rounding up and mistreatment of law-abiding, tax-paying laborers who are milking cows, tending crops, cleaning hotel rooms and performing a range of other services that citizens refuse to do. And, as they say, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet. With the BBBB’s $170.7 billion in funding for immigration and border enforcement, the unsavory conduct of ICE agents will only get worse. The 10,000 new agents hired with that money will be Trump loyalists, whose activities will very likely expand beyond the immigration arena to intimidation and coercion of American citizens. That won’t go over well.

Trump has done little to address the cost of living, the other main issue that put him in office. He has taken no meaningful action since his inauguration to lessen the cost of living. In fact, prices of food and other essentials have continued to rise.

The chaotic actions taken by Trump on tariffs will result in even greater price increases across the board. Let’s take two examples–tomatoes and coffee. Trump has announced a 17% tariff on fresh tomatoes from Mexico where we get about 70% of our supply. The purported purpose is to protect U.S. growers, but Trump did not say where we are going to get the workers to grow and harvest the crop.

Trump threatened to slap a 50% tariff on all imports from Brazil unless prosecution proceedings are halted against his bosom buddy, Jair Bolsonaro, for trying to stage a coup against Brazil’s duly-elected president. That makes our president look like a lawless despot. And it would certainly cause the price of a cup of coffee to skyrocket.

Suffice it to say that when the midterm elections are upon us, Little and Risch will likely be scrambling to distance themselves from Trump’s governmental malpractice. It is doubtful they will keep their seats. Crapo won’t have to answer until 2028.

About the Author

Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served 8 years as Idaho Attorney General (1983-1991) and 12 years as a Justice on the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017).