In reference to a recent Spokane newspaper article about District 2 candidates in Idaho, Vito Barbieri has much to say about his belief in “no compromise.” Yet he compromises this principle all the time. He says he is all about “shrinking government,” but when it’s time for him to attend an ALEC conference in Utah at the taxpayers’ expense he wants to be sure government is just big enough to foot the bill for him. He says he doesn’t like wasting the taxpayer’s money, but he used state tax money to set up a legal defense fund to protect himself against our own attorney general.

Mr. Barbieri talks about getting the federal government to pay the state of Idaho when wolves kill “wildlife.” He’s being a little vague here. Does he think the state should be compensated when a wolf kills a deer? How about when a fish eats a bug? And where does Mr. Barbieri think these “federal dollars” should come from when he is constantly espousing a philosophy of independence from the federal government and its dollars? I mean, wouldn’t those federal dollars be our tax dollars being used to help us? Hmmm… sounds like business as usual to me.

The depth of this hypocrisy is painful. These legislators who talk to you about smaller government while seeking government jobs and using their positions to get perks and upgrades for themselves are just the kind of compromise of principles we do not need.

When a legislator uses government to “do for himself” while telling you that government is not here to “do for you,” you should think about what this means and throw that individual out of office.

STEPHEN D. BRUNO

Hayden