I used to assign this book by William F. Buckley, together with John Kenneth Galbraith’s The Good Society and The Best of Abbie Hoffman, in my first-year writing class. No outside observer could complain that the students were not getting exposed to the full spectrum of political ideology of our country. Though most of the speeches were older than my students, and some even older than me, they made a significant impact on all of us.

Buckley was truly a renaissance man, though one could see him as more medieval in his attitude and approach to life. He was a scholar, writer, spy, publisher, sailor, an accomplished harpsichordist and true wordsmith. One assignment for my students was to look up any word Buckley used that they didn’t know. Over six or seven speeches, most students would have to look up at least ten words. Amazingly, English was Buckley’s third language having grown up with the Spanish of his nannies and the French of his Swiss mother. Buckley not only made my students more fluent but also more erudite in general.

We saw yesterday that our highway problem on I-84 is due to treating the road as a free resource and our own commons. Any solution should be based upon the underlying problem and not just paying for expensive Band-Aids to cover a festering sore.

There is an inherent problem with how our society provides highways. Political economists would call it a “Public Good” problem. It isn’t that highways are an inherent public good like national defense; it is that we as a society provide the resource as if it were a public good. Roads, especially in this area of the country, are provided publicly though there is no inherent reason to do so. Roads can be a private good and many are such in other parts of the country. Matt Beebe, the Canyon County commissioner, proposed such an idea for I-84 though it does not seem practical any time in the near future. I do not think that the technology is far off where people will be able to be charged for driving on the road automatically through sensors on entrance ramps of highways.

I have been encouraged by one of my readers to write about transportation issues since they seem to be the most hotly contested topics between the state legislature and governor these days. I decided for today to write about the inherent problems that we face with roads in our area and leave for tomorrow some ideas on solutions. How better to title this work than from a song by Talking Heads from their “Stop Making Sense” album.

Roads in our area pose a problem because we treat them like a “Commons.” The classic explanation of this issue is by Garrett Hardin in his famous article, “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Hardin describes a town with a common grazing area that is free to be used by all for their privately-owned cattle. This inevitably leads to overgrazing.

One usually hears state legislators or Members of Congress state, “I am going to do what my constituents want.” This sounds nice but is that what they really do? Is that the role we want our representatives to perform? Is it even possible?

Generally, representatives can be split up into two categories or roles:

• Delegate: A delegate is supposed to embody the people he or she is chosen to represent. As a representative, the delegate follows the views and even instructions of the electorate in making decisions and casting votes.

• Trustee: A trustee is someone who looks out for the best interests of the organization he or she is entrusted with. The College of Idaho has a Board of Trustees who make decisions based upon what they believe is best for the College. When applied to a representative, a trustee makes decisions based upon what he or she believes is best for his or her constituents. The representative does not take directions from the voters but follows his or her own conscience.

I have heard many people write and talk about creeping socialism when it comes to pre-kindergarten education and health care but I have not heard anyone criticize the clearest example of socialism since the old Soviet Union: liquor sales in Idaho.

Currently, the Governor has a task force working on reforming the state’s liquor sale laws though there is no hope for a report or bills emanating from the committee during this legislative session. Among other issues, the group is looking at the method for allocating liquor licenses. The state now allocates liquor licenses based upon population. This has caused problems with some localities and especially with resorts and other high impact areas that have a large number of tourists but a small number of residents.

This week I am concluding my series on books by former Idaho governors with a book and governor who is not as well known as the others.

Don Samuelson’s political career was rather short though extremely important in the evolution of Idaho politics and today’s Idaho Republican Party.

Samuelson was born in rural Illinois and spent his early life in the Midwest braving the hardships and tribulations of the Depression. Much of the time before his entrance into politics is so common and routine it does not make for interesting reading. The only important aspect of the beginning of the book is his outlook on life. Samuelson believed that “the Good Lord had His hand on my shoulder.” Whether it was close calls with death or a clairvoyant feeling for traumatic events far away, Samuelson felt he possessed a higher calling.

Given that the vast majority of what the state legislature does during its session is creating the budget, taxes are important aspect to their work. Reducing taxes is favored by just about everyone though this is not always easy since the state's budget must be balanced. With the economy in the state deteriorating, reductions in taxes may be as hard to accomplish as increases in spending. Which tax is most in need of revision and is the concern of most Idahoans does not seem to be clear to some legislators.

State Reps. Robert Schaefer and Gary Collins, both from District 12 in Nampa, have recently written about taxes and their roles on the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. Though the sales tax on groceries is briefly mentioned by Schaefer, both legislators see a much more sinister tax affecting the people of Idaho: the personal property tax.

Idaho’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, which I wrote about last Thursday, is an excellent program for our youth but Barack Obama has an even better idea that reminds me of how I paid for my education.

Thirty-two years ago next month, I left my parent’s home and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. There were many reasons for joining but two stood out: I wanted to give back something to my country; and I needed money to go to college.

I am considered a Vietnam-era veteran though the war was long over before I joined. This meant I was eligible for the original G.I. Bill. Since I was married by the time I got out, I received over $400 a month for 48 months while attending college. The G.I. Bill helped to pay for my undergraduate and even some of my graduate school. I gave my country four years of service for the opportunity to receive an education.

The Idaho Republican Party, or at least a faction within the party, is calling for a change in the method by which voters choose party nominees for offices besides president (which I discussed last week) and municipal elections (which are non-partisan).

There are currently three general types of primaries used with slight variations available. Each state has its own idiosyncrasies so in actuality there are 50 systems.

Before 2001, there was a fourth system -- the blanket or jungle primary -- which allowed voters to vote for candidates in either party in every election. One could vote from amongst the Democrats for governor while voting from amongst the Republican for Senator and so on. This type of primary was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Democratic Party of California v. Jones.

I believe a remark that was attributed to me did not clearly convey my views on the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program. Part of the problem was due to an indistinct characterization of the program by some media outlets. What is especially problematic is that this is certainly one of the most important programs before the legislature this session.

The Idaho Opportunity Scholarship Program is an endowment fund whose proceeds are used to assist Idaho students with tuition to Idaho institutions of higher education. It has been reported that these scholarships are only for students attending public universities. That is not correct.