Steve Tanner
Candidate for: District 1 State Representative, Position A
Age: 61
Years of residence in Boundary County: 48
Marital status/family: Married for 37 years and we have 8 children
Contact information:
208-267-9406
Education: I am a graduate of BFHS, and a 1975 U of I graduate with Bachelor of Science in business
Recent or pertinent employment history:
Public offices held:
Nonprofit groups, service or professional organizations to which you belong:
Have served as president of the Boundary County Property Owners. I have served on the board of the North Bench Fire Department.
1. Why are you running for public office?
I am running for office because civil government is not exercising Its proper function. It is failing to do Justice, and it is generally functioning in the role of big brother or mother; and thus is inappropriate for a free people.
2. Describe the top three to five issues you believe are most important; why you believe they are important; and your position on these issues.
The most important issue of government is to do Justice. To punish the guilty and protect the innocent as well as rights of the people. We no longer have justice and the system that we call the "justice system" is the opposite of just. We probably have more people in prison in America than anywhere in the world. We need desperately to execute those guilt of capital crimes - That being murder, rape and perpetual criminals; while those who have stolen should be allowed to work to repay those who have been wronged. Public flogging has historically been a proper deterrent for light offences.
Our monetary system has been debased and we need to return to the system the US constitution established, that being Gold and silver coin. Paper money was excluded so as to stop inflation and further to prevent the international banks from controlling our monetary system. Since 1913 private banking has controlled our nations monetary system. The states are required to use only gold and silver coin.
Our education system has been debased. From our nations founding the Bible has been an integral part of the education system. In the 1960s it was removed from public schools, along with prayer. The beginning of knowledge is the fear of God and He has been expelled from the pubic schools; thus the very purpose and foundation of education has been rejected. There is no amount of money or "programs" that will fix it until we return to His Word as being the foundation of education.
3. At local candidate forums, many of the candidates have identified the economy and job creation as issues of concern. Do you consider this an important issue for legislators; if so, what specific actions would you advocate or support to improve the economy and jobs?
Proper Legislative acts are to prohibit what is wrong and protect that which is right. Law that is legitimate must have its foundation in the Laws of God. Acts of the legislature that are outside this area are illegitimate and in themselves corrupt. Government cannot create jobs anymore that Santa Clause can. The State must Return to the constitutional standard of sound monetary system. Article 1 Section 10 U.S. Constitution. "No state shall ... make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debt." Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Taylor in 1816 - " And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding is but swindling futurity on a large scale." Make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts;".
Our national debt is 17,519,576,495,000 and rising very very fast. The Federal Reserve System has bankrupted us.
4. The state's budget for education was cut back after the recession took hold. The 2014 Legislature approved a $66 million, 5.1-percent funding increase for K-12 public schools this year, yet the budget remains more than $100 million lower than the 2009 budget, and Idaho's per-pupil spending on K-12 schools is second lowest in the country. Do you favor or oppose increased funding for education? If you support increased funding, how should the state pay for it?
The public School system is an over funded bloated bureaucracy. It gets about 65% of the total state budget and much of our county property taxes. The NEA has implemented its policies and programs that are counter to freedom and our nations founding. The public schools teach the religion of humanism and have become incubators for socialism. They need to be defunded. The government schools have become the 'sacred cow' of America - they are worshiped while they trample on the foundational principles of our nation and consume the lion's share of our economic resources.
5. In 2009, governors from 48 states undertook to develop a set of shared educational standards called the Common Core Standards. In 2011 the Idaho Legislature adopted the Idaho Core Standards, which schools are implementing this school year. The new standards have been supported by the governor, superintendent of education, business leaders and business groups; but they are opposed by grass roots groups from both ends of the political spectrum. What is your position on the Idaho Core Standards, and why?
6. With the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, Idahoans signed up at one of the highest per capita rates in the country - with about 50,000 enrollments, second only to Vermont, according to Boise State Public Radio. Although Gov. Otter and most state legislators staunchly opposed the ACA, when it was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court the governor and Legislature authorized a state-run health exchange rather than requiring Idahoans in need of health insurance to use the federal exchange. Do you support or oppose the state insurance exchange, and why?
I oppose the state insurance exchange because it is not a proper function of government to force anyone to buy health insurance. We are to have a representative government that receives their authority from the people. It is in a sense, a power of attorney for them to act on our behalf- they only have legitimate power to do what we as individuals can lawfully do. . We do not have legitimate authority to make our neighbor buy a particular product therefore neither do our representatives.
The next reason is that our nation is a system of checks and balances and though the 'supreme court' may rule something constitutional it does not make it so. A 'good' example is their ruling that abortion is constitutional and that somehow sodomites can legitimately marry. There ruling on these issues are wrong and are at war with truth. The very reason each elected official pledges to uphold the constitution is to be a check on all the other checks, not how someone else interprets it for him, but what they understand it to mean. Each officer of government and ultimately the people have to keep the government within its bounds and claim their rights and responsibilities. Obamacare is unconstitutional and so is the state exchange. To be forced to buy a product is not freedom but slavery.
7. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government encourages expansion of Medicaid benefits in the states and offered to pay up to 90 percent of Idaho's Medicaid costs for those under or near the poverty line. However, Idaho is one of two dozen states that have not expanded Medicaid, resulting in an estimated 55,000 residents unable to get coverage either under Medicaid or the health exchange. Should Idaho expand its Medicaid coverage? If not, do you propose an alternative to provide coverage or health care for this group?
I do not believe Idaho should expand its Medicaid coverage because governments make poor doctors and history has proven they are best a mass murder when they adopt a cradle to grave mentality.
8. In their most recent session, legislators passed the so-called "ag-gag bill," a new law that makes it a crime to take photos or videos that document any practices in the animal agricultural industry, including animal abuse. The bill was supported by agricultural interests, but is now being challenged by animal welfare groups, proponents of First Amendment rights to free speech, and workers' rights groups who say it prevents farm workers from documenting unsafe conditions. Do you favor or oppose the ag-gag bill, and why?
Where the ag-gag bill protects the rights of the people I support it, and if it violates the rights of the people, I oppose it. If it mixes these It must be opposed.
9. Another new law passed this year was a bill that overrides no-carry gun policies on Idaho's college campuses. The bill to allow the carry of concealed weapons on campus was opposed by all eight state university presidents, plus the state Board of Education. It was favored by gun rights’ groups. What is your position on this issue of guns on campus, and why?
I am for the right to carry weapons on campus. The public schools teach the religious faith of evolution, that man evolved from apes, and that the survival of the fittest is law. Anywhere these philosophies are taught we are going to need guns. Should we be surprised when the students act out the beliefs they are taught?
10. What differentiates you from other candidates? Why should people vote for you?
I am a pro-life democratic candidate. I believe in states rights in contradiction to federal power but that the people hold and need to exercise their ultimate check for good limited civil government. Government's proper role is to punish the guilty and protect the innocent. They are to rule justly in the fear of God and when they make 'law', it must have its foundation in the laws of God. If the law they make does not have this as a prerequisite then it is not law at all but in fact a criminal act. I know our nation was founded upon the fear of God and thus began the great experiment of freedom that the entire world came to see what made us great. American was great because it was good. We have left off what is good for what is convenient and rejected His Law in favor of playing god. I know that unless we change our direction our end will be in bankruptcy and death. I offer not hope in me as a candidate but in what made our nation great at its foundation.