Ballots arrived in Wallowa County mailboxes on Friday and Monday bearing Greater Idaho ballot measure 32-007. Voters have received mailers in favor and opposed to the measure. We object to the most recent opposition mailer, which claims that right-wing “extremists” support “secession” and Greater Idaho.
Two can play this game, so we wonder what side left-wing extremists support? Do antifa, pedophiles, satanists, and communists oppose Greater Idaho? If Charles Manson votes Democrat, does he make it wrong to vote Democrat? Will we let Charles Manson determine who it is morally acceptable to vote for?
The leadership of the Greater Idaho movement has never been contacted by the groups or persons mentioned on this mailer. We know that most eastern Oregon voters vote in favor of our ballot measures, so we’re pretty sure that many types of people are voting yes.
The mailer asks “who is pushing to radically alter our borders”? Yet all of the pro-Greater Idaho mailers state exactly who paid for the mailer. The mailers in opposition do not. If you know who is behind them, contact us.
The leader of our movement, and the president of the group that paid for our mailers, is a concealed-carry instructor in La Pine, Mike McCarter, who is the former president of the the Oregon Association of Nurserymen and the Oregon Agribusiness Council. We are not tied to extremism. We want to move the state line because we object to Portland extremism. You can learn more about us on greateridaho.org.
We’ve noticed that recently, when their other arguments aren’t working, some Portlanders create a poisonous partisan atmosphere by accusing people of racism who have nothing to do with racism. No one has ever made a coherent argument for how preferring Idaho governance over Oregon governance is motivated by racism. Why would we want to be governed by people who treat us this way?
Real white separatists move to another place to get away from people of color in their area. We are doing the opposite. We don’t want to move. We want to extend red-state governance over the area where we live. This won’t change the racial balance where we live.
An earlier mailer made the point that a couple maternity wards in Idaho closed recently. Yet Oregon has the lowest number of hospital beds per capita in the country.
Another mailer complained about Idaho’s choice to have a lower minimum wage law. You can read our response at our section on frequently-asked questions.
Another mailer complains about the taxes in Idaho, yet we showed that overall, Idahoans pay less taxes than Oregonians, including all taxes, at our facts page. Because so many people are moving to Idaho, the property values shot up recently, and not enough local governments have reacted by reducing rates yet, but this month the Idaho state government forced a $355 million tax reduction for this year. Since the annual budget surplus is almost $1000 per Idahoan now, another $1.5 or $1.9 billion tax cut would result in a balanced budget next year, according to Idaho Rep. Heather Scott. Meanwhile, more than eight tax increase bills are still alive in the Oregon Legislature this session.
Oregon spends more on schools but gets much worse results according to school test scores.
Who is sending these opposition mailers? If you know, contact us. Tell us about the opposition ads you’ve seen on the internet or in your mailbox: what points did they make?
UPDATE: A heavily-funded Portland social justice warrior group and a former Democrat state rep are secretly sending postcards and TV ads against Greater Idaho’s ballot measure in Wallowa County. They are breaking campaign finance law. Click here for the story.