The Rachel Report
Monday, March 28, 2022
Issue #2
Dear Liberty-Lovers,
This week has been another great one of taking ground on the campaign trail! We continually have floods of patriots talking to and contacting us, excited about seeing conservative change in our state!
Today marks 50 days until primaries on May 17th!
Last week, we talked a lot about civics which is defined as: “the rights and duties of citizens.” As Americans, I believe it is our civic duty to participate in our government.
As we launch our next three weeks of prepping literature and door knocking, this is a great opportunity for We the People to engage in our civic duties in our state!
Campaigns can’t be won without boots on the ground. Your action is power. Your small chunks of time spent door-knocking go a long way. Going door to door and making phone calls is what wins elections.
We have a lot of work to do to save Idaho but it starts here at the bottom with We the People getting involved.
This Weeks Liberty Gem
One of the groups nearest and dearest to my heart in this country are veterans. I come from a long line of heroic Americans who served their country in World War I (my paternal great grandfather), World War II (maternal great uncle), Vietnam (maternal grandfather and uncle), and Afghanistan (older brother).
This week is a special week because March 29th marks 49 years since the last combat troops left the Republic of Vietnam and is celebrated as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
Vietnam has always been a painful period in our nation’s history. The way the men and women who courageously served during Vietnam were treated during and after the war represents, in my opinion, one of the greatest marrs on the American character.
Growing up, I remember my grandpa talking about his time serving during Vietnam. He used to say they had to change their uniforms before leaving base for fear of being verbally or physically attacked, called horrific names, or having their property destroyed.
For context, Vietnam was the 4th bloodiest conflict the United States has ever fought in (I say “conflict” for historical accuracy because we never declared war and it was technically classified as a “proxy war conflict”).
47,434 American service members were killed in action in Southeast Asia and an additional 153,303 non-lethal battle wounds were sustained. Recent statistics show that between 30% and 40% of all Vietnam veterans (homefront and battlefront) suffer from PTSD as a result of not only the horrors of war,
but from their return home and time serving home in the United States.
EVENT’S & MEET AND GREETS COMING UP:
Monday, March 28th, I will be speaking at the Liberty Dinner at Still Water Hollow in Nampa at 6pm (Sold out)
Thursday, March 31st, I will be speaking at a meet and greet for candidates from district 9 and 10 at the Indian Creek Steakhouse in Caldwell at 6-8pm
Monday, April 4th, I will be speaking at a meet and greet along with Raul Labrador at 11808 W Carlisle Bay Dr. Star, ID, 83669 at 6:30pm
Tuesday, April 5th, I will be speaking at the Treasure Valley Republican Women’s luncheon at 11:30-1 at 1411 Shilo Dr. Bob’s Restaurant in Nampa
I’d love to see you there!
I grew up aware of the trauma Vietnam veterans experienced but I’ll never forget watching that manifest in what became one of the most impactful moments of my life as a young girl.
My parents raised their children to always thank service members when we saw them, regardless of where we were. When I was 9 or so, we were at a Memorial Day event and there was a man in a car with a cap on that read “Vietnam Veteran.”
My dad broke off from us and walked towards the man. He stuck out his hand and said “thank you sir for your service to our country, and in case no one ever told you, welcome home.” The man immediately started crying and said: “In almost 40 years, I have never been welcomed home.”
My heart breaks when I think of that moment. I’ve always firmly believed that our military and veterans are the bedrock of this great nation. They are the ones who have fought, sacrificed, and died for our freedoms.
At the heart of the Vietnam War was communism. The United States intervened to safeguard the world against the expansion, promotion, and brutality of communist regimes.
As I think of the lives lost to fight this ideology, I find myself at a loss to explain the socialism seeping into our nation a mere 49 years later.
THIS WEEKS Legislative Updates
The Legislative session has drawn to a close and while some great bills were passed this year, there were a lot of big losses that Idaho took. Here are a few big ones for me:
Wins for Conservatives in Idaho this Session:
Passed SB1309-This amendment to the Fetal Heartbeat bill is the single best piece of Life-protecting legislation the state of Idaho has had since abortion was legalized.
Bills the Establishment kept from passing: HO675- Amends existing law to protect all Idaho children (male and female) from genital mutilation; prohibiting sex-changing surgery for children in the state of Idaho punishable by felony imprisonment for life (Unfortunately this bill passed the House but was killed in the Senate).
HO666- Removes pornography available to children in libraries in Idaho (This bill passed the House but was killed in the Senate. However, the House was able to kill libraries budgets in HO826).
HO492- Rep. Ron Nate and Rep. Tammy Nichols tried to force this bill on the floor to cut the gas tax for the next two years but were shot down on all attempts.
Bills that the Establishment passed:
HO678- This bill adds to the existing law that provides tax exemptions to some semiconductor projects. This would exempt semiconductor facilities in Idaho from sales tax on building and construction materials used to expand and modernize their facilities (My opponent was the lead sponsor on this bill).
HO777-This bill expands medicaid and takes us one step closer to socialized healthcare. This is costing us $4 billion. That is a staggering $11 million a day of our tax-payer money.
