Op-Ed: Dams and Debts – Controversy in the 2nd Congressional District

The following Op-Ed was submitted by David Goerg. Note: Op-Eds do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of those at the Idaho Dispatch. 

If you are on the fence about voting for Bryan Smith on May 17, consider this:

Matthew was a tax collector.

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I’m referring to the apostle Matthew, the man who wrote the first book of the Bible.

 Interestingly enough, the most notable information we have about him and his life prior to his ministry is that he collected taxes from his own people on behalf of the Roman Empire.

In a biblical list of the followers of the Savior, he is mentioned as: “…Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector[.]”(Matthew 10:3)

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It is often observed that his own people probably hated Matthew for doing his job. In fact, we might underestimate the amount of animosity directed against him. After all, the phrase “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” is an incredibly famous answer to the question: “Do we really have to pay taxes?”

The same taxes Matthew helped enforce and collect.

Apparently, Matthew was good at his job – something we are thankful for in our day, due to the fact that his technical skills as a tax collector translated into the skills of penning scripture and cataloging the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

And while Matthew’s contributions to the “cause of the Christians” is uncontested in our day, it is certain that in his own time, as he began a new chapter in his life, this apostle’s profession of tax collection was heavily resented.

In pointing these things out I am not charting new territory in the world of scripture. These things are common knowledge across all Christian denominations.

And I’m sure you see the point I’m making.

Bryan Smith is a debt collector.

Which is worse, collecting debts for medical professionals or collecting taxes for the Roman Empire?

To conservatives who are sitting on the fence, wondering about Bryan Smith and his activity collecting debts, I would say debt collection and tax collection are both unpleasant professions which deal with sensitive elements of human life. We can acknowledge this.

I would also propose we are engaged in the process of choosing a representative who we will send into a swampy, corrupt, vile, and tempestuous hell hole called Washington D.C.

What type of person do we want to send? Someone who will bend and break beneath the so-called persuasion of endless compromise and pork-barrel bartering?

Someone like Mike Simpson?

Or do we need someone who will be able to rigorously adhere to a conservative course of action, despite all buffeting and outcry to the contrary?

Simpson’s plan to breach four dams on the lower Snake River blatantly defies Idaho’s interests on its face, as even a casual observer will admit.

If you look into the matter or hear Simpson speak about the plan himself, it becomes apparent that the prospect of compensatory spending far outweighs the salvation of any fish.

Behind Simpson’s virtue signaling and empty environmental lip-service lies a plan to channel millions of dollars in selective spending toward certain sectors of the private market, in the aftermath of his dam breaching.

No wonder Simpson dodged his debate with Bryan Smith.

If this were the 1980’s, we would probably be enamored with any politician who seemed sufficiently bi-partisan or charming – but this election is not taking place in that more peaceful era of American prosperity.

I hardly need to point out that now, in 2022, we are watching important components of our American Republic fragment beneath abuses of authority from the highest offices of power. Unconstitutional laws and the successes of an insidious Leftist agenda have even begun to penetrate Idaho.

We urgently need a genuine constitutional conservative defending our home and liberty in the House of Representatives.

Bryan Smith has sounded a bold conservative voice – consistently – for well over a decade. He has the skills; he has the will; and he has the proper temperament, partly due to his professional legal experience.

Smith is not the only option for constitutional conservatives (although that argument can be made), he’s actually a damn good fit for our distressing circumstances.

We all will have to make up our own minds on these controversies in the second congressional district.

 And yet I earnestly hope the Idaho I wake up to on May 18th is better, in part because of the vote I cast in the hour of decision.