[Vision2020] Advice For The Governor of Idaho

[Douglas Stambler]

Dear Esteemed Public Servant:

The State of Idaho is about to encounter its worst budget crisis ever.  Having been a fan of the State of Idaho since childhood, I have taken the time to come to your state in order to assess its fiscal woes.  Here’s what I have found:

1) Products made in Idaho are being sold outside the state, and demand for those products is rapidly diminishing.
2) The paper manufacturing industry is in the process of relocating to the Southeast and Mexico, and there is no back-up industry that will replace lost jobs here.
3) Illegal immigrants from Mexico are finding easy access to the state through Salt Lake City, and are gaining access to Idaho’s under-budgeted welfare system.
4) Adjacent states like Oregon and Washington are beginning to “shed” unemployed workers, many of whom are moving to Boise and Twin Falls, where the job markets are already saturated with workers and lower paying than the national average.
5) More and more of Idaho’s senior citizens are gambling at casinos in Idaho and Nevada.  Last year in Moscow, a couple in their early 70s committed double suicide after losing their life savings at a nearby casino.  This scenario is being repeated, albeit gradually, throughout Idaho.
6) Residents of Boise live much better than most other residents in Idaho: More state spending occurs for the arts, infrastructure and advertisement on behalf of Boise than is spent on any other city or town, per capita, in Idaho.  This is creating class inequality within the state for the first time in Idaho’s history: Historically, Idaho has been well balanced in its disbursement of tax dollars throughout the territory.
7) There is a redundancy of funds being spent on technology for schools, when the emphasis must be placed on job training for young adults, instead.  A brief look at Idaho’s community college system, for example, shows that a typical boy or girl raised in Idaho would have to attend a community college in Utah or the State of Washington in order to acquire a high quality, two-year degree that is a money-maker in the Northwest.  The best community college in Idaho is NIC, but many residents of northern Idaho prefer the community colleges in Spokane, due to the plethora of job-related fields offered in the mechanical arts (automotive repair, industrial machine repair).  Idaho seems very much behind the times when it comes to providing residents with alternatives to the U of I and Boise State.
8) The Idaho 4-H Club, anchored at the U of I, has allowed its local chapter in Moscow to de-emphasize agricultural activities for area kids.  The Palouse is one of the most fertile regions in the United States, yet the 4-H chapter in Moscow has kids collecting canned food for the poor, instead of teaching them about farming in their own backyards.  It doesn’t make sense, and it doesn’t bode well for Idaho’s future.
9) Finally, the Governor seems a bit aimless in his quest to put a finger on Idaho’s economic problems.  In January’s address to the state, Governor Kempthorne appeared confused and directionless, and promised to balance this year’s budget: It is almost certain that the budget will not be balanced this year.  Also, in his appearance on CNN recently, the Governor did not seem prepared willing to ask other governors to share their solutions to their states’ budget shortfalls.  Mr. Kempthorne is leading the Idaho public to believe that single-minded insistence on a “plan” will somehow get Idaho through this quagmire of increasing unemployment and a shrinking property tax base.  I assure you that the old method of plunging ahead will not help Idaho in the slightest.  In fact, I think that the State of Idaho is headed for bankruptcy within two years.  I challenge you to prove me wrong.


I encourage you to write me back, as I intend to be involved with the financial matters of the Northwest for a long time to come.  The local government here in Moscow is already starting to ask for my advice.  However, if you feel that now is not the time to respond to the nine assertions I made here in this e-mail, then simply remember that I did warn you about your state’s future, and that when I finally wind up consulting for your state’s government, it will come at a hefty dollar amount: For what Idaho is up against, I would have to charge about $300 million in personal loan guarantees in order to set your state back on the right track.  Don’t get me wrong: I’m no crackpot, and I won’t write you again unless your reply, and I won’t show up in Boise to talk about Idaho’s fiscal problems.  I’m a very patient person, who is a Republican and a supporter of environmental groups like the Green Party.  My impression of the Northwest at the moment is that OR, WA, ID and MT will !
 all eventually go bankrupt: When that happens, I will simply rely on the goodwill of Idaho to put me to work to repair the economies and governments of the Northwest.

I wish you lots of luck in the coming months, and I only pray that things don’t turn out as badly for Idaho and the Northwest as I’m projecting they will.


All the best,
Douglas Stambler
Moscow, Idaho

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