Idaho loses influence as Republicans relegated to the new minority in the Senate | Opinion

One of the most frustrating aspects of living under one-party rule in Idaho is how Idaho’s Republican politicians force feed us when they return home with their version of how public policy impacts our lives, the nation’s economy and the global marketplace.

With only one party reporting back, you never hear there might be another way of viewing the outcomes of their work in the nation’s capital. When it comes to the complexities surrounding tax and spend bills in Congress, for example, these Republican know-it-alls pontificate from on-high about issues coming straight from the Republican playbook as though they speak the wisdom of Solomon.

Some constituents who have the time and interest to follow national commentators can dissect a piece of legislation objectively and understand its consequences. But many folks are juggling their family and work responsibilities with precious little time to fact check the work of these partisans. The result: very limited accountability for their actions in Washington and very little understanding of the major challenges facing the U.S. and its allies.

Just to be fair, the very same result can occur in states and locales where Democrats are the only party in power and constituents have little or no access to information outside of what is the party line. However, with the Republican Party’s strong surge rightward, one can at least make the argument there is greater ideological bandwidth among Democratic members of Congress than you will find in the Republican caucus.

The Statesman reported recently on Idaho’s two Republican U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and why they voted against the Inflation Reduction Act. The world’s largest microscope couldn’t detect a word in their comments that had anything good to say about the Inflation Reduction Act. They also voted the party line when they voted against the CHIPS legislation enabling Micron and other chip makers to expand their domestic operations, which I addressed in a previous column.

What I did not know when I wrote about the CHIPS vote is how Risch would show up at the groundbreaking of the new Micron facility enabled by the passage of the CHIPS Act and deliver a speech taking credit for the bill’s passage! I’m still searching through my old American government textbooks trying to learn how a senator can vote “no” on a bill so critical to his state’s economy and then take credit for its passage before an assembly of his constituents. He was clearly outfitted in brass that day.

The idiom, Johnny One-Note, comes from an old song about a guy who could sing only one note and it best describes how these two senators and their Republican colleagues in the chamber viewed President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act legislation. All voted “no,” but fortunately for those with the foresight to see the climate train wreck heading our way, there is more to the story. A recent Goldman Sachs sustainability conference in London highlights just how strategic Biden’s legislation is in charting a course for America on our climate-challenged planet.

In attendance at the conference were dozens of European, Asian and U.S. clean technology and energy companies, including Saudi Aramco. Every corporate speaker or panelist drove home the same conclusion: The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act is a total game changer for the U.S.

No foreign entity is likely to send any manufactured goods associated with batteries, solar or wind to the U.S. because all new investment in these areas will be coming onshore, as the Inflation Reduction Act offers companies domestic tax credits for bringing manufacturing home. It’s entirely possible that the U.S. could become a new exporter of clean tech and produce electric vehicles aimed at regional markets like South America, thereby competing with Chinese and other Asian auto companies.

If Goldman Sachs’ focus on sustainability is not enough evidence that the Inflation Reduction Act has distinguished America for its long-range planning, Britain’s daily newspaper on business and economic affairs, the Financial Times, underscores the firepower of the Inflation Reduction Act when it comes to the U.S. competing on the global stage. Considering what they call the act’s potential to build the energy and manufacturing industries of the future, Europe now faces the challenge of reassessing its own industrial strategy, especially since its historic dependence on Russian oil is no longer possible.

As the Inflation Reduction Act strengthens America’s hand in the global marketplace, Europe has no counterpart, no “carrot” to help European companies really accelerate capital investment as the Inflation Reduction Act does.

Critics will argue that the U.S. has set off a new round of climate change protectionism among our allies. French President Emmanuel Macron, for example, on his recent visit to The White House complained to Biden about new subsidies putting European companies at a disadvantage, but what the administration is really doing is setting a course for America that brings manufacturing and jobs home and it also models how our allies can do the very same thing if they so desire.

China has no problem protecting its manufacturing economy, and if we are to compete with its growing influence around the globe, we will have to beat them at their own game.

Senate Republicans’ opposition to the Inflation Reduction Act does not square with an analysis of in-depth surveys of the American public conducted by the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland. The survey was conducted on 20 of the major proposals in the act and it found that 19 proposals received majority support on issues of the environment, health care and the workforce.

There is no space in this column for a complete listing of how Republicans are out of sync with how most Americans feel about the provisions in the new law, but one example says it all.

The Inflation Reduction Act allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and to allow private insurance to use those low prices. In all, 92% of Republicans agree with that proposal as do 92% of Democrats. That’s exactly what you call inflation reduction, yet all Senate Republicans, including Risch and Crapo, voted “no.”

What should Idaho voters make of this seeming disconnect between our two Idaho senators and most Americans who find themselves in agreement with provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act? Make no mistake about it. The recent November election and the special election in Georgia are the answers to that question. The pros thought there would be a Republican win as usually occurs in the midterm elections following the election of a Democratic president, but instead American disenchantment with Republican leadership gave the Senate Democrats control.

Now Senate Republicans will meet up with the consequences of their caucus’ steadfast refusal to cross the aisle and join their Democratic colleagues on groundbreaking legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act.

Remember how many times Risch and Crapo bragged about those committee chairmanships they held that brought the bacon home to Idaho. Forget it. No longer will Crapo and Risch enjoy committee chairmanships, which gave them the levers of majority control they bragged about when they enjoyed majority status. Their clout in the Senate has just been downgraded along with their voices that speak for Idaho, as they now will find their party in the minority.

They will return to Idaho with another partisan bromide to justify their continuing resistance to a president’s agenda that garners respect and sometimes even fear from our allies and enemies across the globe. Don’t believe a word of it. Just follow how Americans vote. We call it a democracy.

Bob Kustra served as president of Boise State University from 2003 to 2018. He is host of Readers Corner on Boise State Public Radio and is a regular columnist for the Idaho Statesman. He served two terms as Illinois lieutenant governor and 10 years as a state legislator.