2.25.2025 -- NLS -- Bedke, Bongino, and Idaho’s Water Battle

 On this episode with Neal and Julie, they dive into key issues shaping Idaho’s legislative session, including the ongoing debate over parental choice in education and whether Governor Little will sign the bill into law. They welcome Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke to discuss water management in Eastern Idaho, focusing on aquifer recharge, legislative efforts to fund water infrastructure projects, and the impact of water rights on local farmers. Neal and Julie also explore the complexities of political decision-making, media integrity, and potential changes within the FBI. Plus, they touch on national politics, the influence of figures like Dan Bongino, and the broader implications of government actions on everyday Americans. 

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Transcript

Good morning. It is 807 on Newstalk 1079. It's good to have you along. And coming up in a half an hour, we'll talk with Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke. And yes, we will talk about water and the legislative session, which is it's humming along and we're still waiting whether or not the governor's going to sign parental choice in education.

We also are awaiting a signature or a veto of a mask mandate. Ban and yet follow the reversals there. So there were a ban on the requirement to wear, Let me ask this. If the governor vetoes it, is it called a mask mandate ban? Ban? Does he ban the ban on the mask mandate? I don't know, but, here's what I know.

No government ever anywhere should be able to tell you that you have to put a mask on your face, period. Now your workplace, if you are in voluntary employment as part of the workplace requirements, they can, but you as an individual operating in society, can a government tell you to put a mask on your face? Not only.

No, but heavens no. Sorry for the language. So, I'm feeling like the governor's probably going to sign this one. He would say, because we asked him about this the last time we interviewed. He would say I never initiated and, mask mandate, which is true. Which is true? He he did not. He did issue a stay at home order and said, you can't go anywhere unless you need to go somewhere.

I would say that's probably just about as egregious. But he he's correct in saying that he never issued a mayor a mask mandate. Now, there were there were, lower levels, things going on. And we here's, here's what I like about this bill. Even if the governor never issued a mask mandate, I do like bills that champion personal freedom.

And this champions personal freedom. So I cannot complain about this, this particular, bill. But here's here's the thing. I joked with Julie and I said that, if you if you want a really fast, efficient way to lose all your faith in humanity, just go to the comment section of just about any news story and you will lose your faith in humanity.

It's a it's a really quick and easy hack, to in fact, you don't even need a whole book on how to lose your faith in you made the complete guide to how to lose your faith in humanity. All you have to do is just go to the comments on any story about Donald Trump or a Republican majority, and you'll lose.

You will very, very efficiently lose your faith in inhumanity. So the governor is looking at House Bill 93, and we're sort of waiting. And yes, we will ask Lieutenant Governor Bedke about that particular bill to see if he is going to. I say he won't tell us, even if he knows he's not going to tell us. He's not going to get out ahead of the governor.

But that won't stop us from asking. And either the signature of the veto could come today. He's got to do it in five days. And I believe the bill passed. Was it Thursday? I think it passed Thursday. So we're looking at tomorrow because you use you exclude Sunday. So five days the five days that count will be tomorrow.

And so we're you know, we're we're winding down here. There's a chance that he just doesn't sign it. In that case it's as good as a signature. It will just simply go into law without his signature. And sometimes governors just won't sign them because they don't want their name on them, but they don't want to veto it either for for multiple reasons.

So I suppose that could be a really antique climactic outcome that the governor just lets it go into, into law, without without his signature. And I, I will say, I think he's probably kind of conflicted over this one. He has not been. Well, I will just say, and I like Governor Little, like I really do. We always have good conversations.

We certainly have not agreed on a number of things. And so when I say this, I characterize it with some level of respect. He has not been making a beeline to help parents have choice in education. Now, they would take issue with my characterization because they would say, well, yeah, no, there is choice in education. Here's your menu of government options.

You can choose from that. And well, and they would also say, and if you want to pay double for your kid's education, then you can go out and find a private school or a parochial school or homeschool or a micro school or whatever the case may be. But if you want to choose outside of the menu of their government options, then you get to pay double for your kid's education so that for many families, middle class or lower class, that's really not, not a choice.

So, so we were talking right before the hour as well about this woman, Teresa Boren. Paul, who was forcefully removed, dragged out, the Cooney County Republican town hall event in Court Lane. This story has actually become gotten some national attention. And, you know, I'm not really sure why, the it's become a First Amendment story, and it's, it's a liberal pushing against conservatives.

So that kind of thing is always going to elicit the, the empathy and the support of a very liberal media. So this is getting widely reported. But it was a private security group called Leer Asset Management Inc, private security firm, and so they came to help with it. And you have to understand the context of this. There is a lawmaker who had received death threats, Jordan Redmond, had received online threats made against him.

References to gasoline cans, explosions and killing Redmond and all of that. And you would think that a media concerned about a secure democracy would pick that up as the story that here you have a duly elected official who's receiving online, very serious online death threats. Oh, no, that is a peripheral detail. You would think that a woman biting like biting one of the security personnel to keep things calm at this event would be a core detail.

Some media outlets didn't even include that detail. No. This is the big threat. Is this woman's perceived First Amendment rights. So I would ask you and where I don't ask you in the context of thinking we're all First Amendment constitutional rights experts here, can you show up to a public forum and disrupt the speaker without consequence? And that's protected First amendment speech.

I mean, it is a public event. It's not a ticketed event. It's not a you know, it's not an exclusive meeting. It was open for the public to attend. So that context is is important. But does the First Amendment in the Bill of rights give you the right to continually interrupt the speaker, to continually try to stop the proceedings with your voice and with your outbursts, and they have to just sit there and take it, because First Amendment is that hell, I, I genuinely don't really know the answer to this.

And I, I don't know that anybody actually does. I think, there are situations where it's very clear cut and there are situations where it's not so clear cut. And this might be one that's in in that gray area. However, I, you know, you watch this and it's three security guys. They're taking her out because she and I don't mean taking her out in the Mafia way of taking somebody out.

I mean it in the way they're literally just picking her up, and they're. They're pulling her out. It. It was crazy for a minute, but I don't think that she received any sort of permanent injury or, you know, she says she was traumatized and so she shouted, this man is assaulting me. As, someone else stood by, recorded the scene on his phone.

They grab her by her hands. They dragged her into the lobby. This is the Idaho. Excuse me, this is the spokesman, Spokesman-Review. And, they grab her by the hands, drag her into the lobby, and a mix of boos and cheers filled the auditorium. Two Coeur d'Alene police officers later dressed born Paul and the men who dragged her in the lobby, still surrounded by people bearing cell phone cameras.

Regan Brant Regan said an unfortunate aspect of the scene is that it caused an 18 minute recess from the town hall, taking away time from constituents looking to hear from and address their elected leaders. Regan said when the mic was being passed between the various legislators, she would yell out long enough and loud enough to interrupt them. Boren poll declined comment when reached by phone Sunday afternoon.

She later provided a written statement. I could never have imagined my right to free speech and my right to assemble could be stripped in such a violent way, she wrote. She spoke to the Coeur d'Alene Press on Sunday. Her recount of the incident, Coeur d'Alene police cited and released Boren poll for misdemeanor battery because she bit one of the men as they dragged her.

Okay, I'm going to tell you something. They dragged her, but I'm not reading where she got injured. Did she get it? Did she have to go to the hospital? I mean, was she injured physically? It's a question. So she bit one of the officers. But but she. See, I don't get it. And I cannot parse out how the media functions.

You you have and the spokesman reviews a newspaper. They have an online presence, but you have newspapers that are folding left and right. They're dialing back their operations because people aren't buying them anymore. They're consuming news and getting their information a different way. You would think that newspapers would want to tell the truth to be more value of more value to their readers.

And I'm going to tell you when this lady's biting. Cops are not cops, but when she's biting a security officer and that's just a minor add on detail late in the story. This is another reason why people say, you probably should have told me that. So they're just supporting a narrative. It's just it's so frustrating to watch the media behave the way that, that they behave.

Right? So, that it's almost 820. We're going to take a break pretty soon here. But, Dan Bongino gave a little more, detail, a little more contour to his, announcement from yesterday. This is how he opened his show, how do you start today's show? No, I, I how? Jasmine said. I kind of laugh and, like, what do you say?

Hey, guys. Monday morning. Whoa. Let me give you a weekend update. Quite the weekend update. Kind of. Probably the most interesting Weekend Update ever. And the interesting thing about this Weekend Update is producer Jim, at least on the radio show, is not going to have to run the, let's take a brief interlude to Dan's personal life, because my personal life is no longer, personal.

Folks, I'm sure by now you've heard the news. Ray. Let me just. Do I have it on? I already took it. Sorry. Someone gave me the man card. Give me, like, an actual man card one day, like, it's a little, it looks like a credit card. Kind of a joke. Obviously. So let me just turn that in right now, because this may be a little bit emotional.

And let me apologize in advance. I, I was home last night, and, I'm sitting there. I'm just. I was watching the show. I don't even know what I was watching. Food That Built America or something like that. And I was falling asleep, as it had been a really long day. You. Now you know why. And, some of you kind of understand why the show had a different tone over the last couple of weeks.

And, I got a call from the president. And it couldn't be. Couldn't have been nicer. And I obviously keep the contents of it between us, but I think you get the gist about what it was about. And, kind of broke down a bit because it was, this is now real. So president, Attorney General Bondi and, now, director.

Gosh, that sounds good to say. FBI Director Akash Patel offered this role. Role I expressed an interest in. And ladies and gentlemen. I told you, you see, it's hard for me. I'm, I'm going to accept, the role proudly as, deputy director, the number two spot at the, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Okay, so there's Bongino making the announcement.

I think I know one of the reasons why Trump wanted him. The. You can look through one lens and say it's retribution. You could look through another lens and say, this was an existential threat to our republic, to allow a complex of lies to be accumulated and then weaponized, as if true, to try to unseat a duly elected president of the United States is a far bigger insurrection than anything that happened on January 6th.

There is no comparison. This was done in the shadows over a long stretch of time, and you have Dan Bongino, and I just want to play the tail end of this, talking about how he cannot let that go, that Adam Schiff was the ringleader of this plot to undo, unravel the will of the voters of the United States of America and you must get to the root of it and bring justice and and reset the standard that that can never happen.

I'm not letting it go. And you listen to me. This is going to be very important in the coming days. I'm not letting this go. I want to find out what happened because it can never happen again. Not to a Democrat, not to a Republican, not to a libertarian, not to any United States citizen. You do not get to alter or try to change the course of electoral politics by fabricating a story, hijacking the justice system, then to give the patina of truth to a fake story.

You don't get to do that. Why do I bring that up now? Because who is the ringmaster of that circus? Yes. Adam Schiff. And no, I'm not letting it go. And I'm glad he's not letting it go. But I think that segment right there that you just heard probably helped Trump decide to ask Dan Bongino if he would join Kash Patel at the FBI.

Buckle up. It is. It is going to be crazy. 825 we got to break away. We'll come back and continue just over ten minutes away now from Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke joining us from the Capitol this morning.

It's 829 on Newstalk 1079. Neil Larson along with Julie Mason. And coming up in just a few minutes, we're going to talk with Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke and Julie, the Theresa Boren poll. The woman who was pulled out of that term is a Republican town hall. Right. And that she $218,000 has now been raised on her GoFundMe account.

I look I saw this GoFundMe yesterday and it was at $20,000. Yeah. Apparently because this went national it is now at $218,000. But my question is it someone just texted that the charges have been dismissed against her? Is that right? I heard that, yes. So chompers doesn't face any legal apparently. Right now? No. Did chompers go to the hospital?

I think this is so that she can, like, launch a, like a lawsuit against. I'm sure she's going to sue. Whoa. Oh, okay. I mean, if there's a lawsuit. All right, well, I'm not sure my chompers is needing the money. If we live in a crazy world, it is a crazy world. And you know what? If people want to give her money so she can go, like, I don't usually we give charitable money like this to victims, people who are needing a surgery or she's not victimized.

I don't I don't understand it. All right. It's 831 on Newstalk 179. We'll be back with Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke. Okay. You should be able to talk with him. Okay. Lieutenant Governor, are you there? Yes. Okay. I'm here. Okay. Julie and I are here. I'm stepping away for a minute, but Julie's here, so. Hi. How are you doing this morning?

I'm doing well. Who's chompers? Okay, so chompers is the the woman that. That's Nail's nickname for the woman who bit the hired security team up in Cooney County at that town hall that was held,

Okay. Just trying to keep up. We like to have a fun time here, because if we're going to cover a story. What we were saying. Yeah, she. I do. Have you followed that at all? Do you know that about that disruption, at least from a distance? Yeah. Hey, we're just a little shocked. First that it went to the place it went that something, you know, eroded to that place.

Secondly, that she has a go fund me. That's $218,000 now and she's not a victim or anything. You know, I don't know where what the need for the $218,000 is, I guess. So she can sue, the unarmed security team, I don't know, I I'm I'm not clear what she's hoping for there either, so I don't know. Okay.

So, That's good. So you. So chompers is a code name between you and Neil? Oh, no. He said that on there. He called her chompers on air. Oh, I'm sorry, I think I'm just trying to catch up. Yeah, yeah, we we referenced her name several times earlier in the segment, but. Yeah, he called her. He gave her the nickname chompers because she bit that, that security detail guy.

So. Because she get the guy, all right. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah. Security details need to be clearly identified. Not in plain clothes. And that's that's the hard thing is they're all wearing the same black jacket with logo. But if you're not aware to look for it, you probably don't realize that they all have on the same black jacket with the logo.

So yeah, when we when Neil and I were up at Trump's rally, for, Senator Sheehy, he, he had his own paid detail there. Yeah. There was no doubt who they were. They all looked exactly the same. That's the thing. And, when you have private security, at least around here and down and around the building, they there's they have to be clearly identified, you know, otherwise, you know, you don't want overtones of militia.

So. Yeah. Yeah. So I, I'm not sure black is the appropriate choice up there. At that rally, they were all in these exact green shirts. They had the same black pants on, the same set up on their belts with their, you know, their walkie talkies and their phones and their their guns and everything. You know, it was no doubt you knew who they were.

Yeah. Okay. And massive biceps and tattoos, sleeves on their arms. Yeah. Everything about them just screamed, watch out, we're security. Yeah. Yeah, right. Don't don't mess with these guys because you won't like the outcome. But, we are about a minute and a half away. Lieutenant governor, we sure appreciate you joining us today. You're welcome. What are we going to talk about?

Well, obviously, waters big issue on this side of the state, but, the legislative session and, how you think it's going and and, we know a couple of bills are sitting on the governor's desk. We may try to pry some information from you, which I know you well. Okay. Well, the I can't you can't pry information that I don't have.

Okay. So that'll be a perfect answer to that. So. All right, standby for noon at 1230. Retire. Right. Radio. Learn how to make the most out of your retirement years. Tune in Saturday afternoons at 1230 for retire. Write radio with Mike Stevens firm offers insurance services, advisory services offered through Capital Wealth Advisors, LLC, a State of Utah registered investment advisor.

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Jennings your locally owned appliance store. Hey, Bill O'Reilly here. Please join me weeknights at seven for the No Spin News Only on Newstalk 179. It's 836 on Newstalk 179. Welcome back to the Nielsen show along with Julie Mason and joining us this morning from his office at the state Capitol is Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke, Lieutenant governor, welcome. It's good to have you on with us this morning.

Good morning mail. Good morning Julie. Well, I you asked what we were going to talk about today, and I said I was going to try to pry from you any information. A couple of big bills are sitting on the governor's desk right now. House Bill 93, which, of course, is the parental choice and education bill. And then I don't know, the number of the other one, but it's the mask mandate ban.

And, you told me you can't disclose any information that you don't have yourself. So you're waiting like the rest of us to see what the governor. Yeah. I, you know, I'm obviously aware of the process here, and I'm aware that, there are bills on the governor's desk. I believe that, constitutionally, he's got till Thursday under, the 93 I, like, you don't know, the bill number on the mask mandates.

Anyway, so, those are on, those are both on his desk. They've come through the pipeline, and we'll see what happens, and I'll watch, just like the rest of Idaho. Obviously I'm interested and and, in the, in the outcome. But, but, you know, there's a lot of noise around this, you know, these issues, but typically these big issues, you know, the the one side cancels out the other side and, and, and there's all this noise and, and and, having been in that position, not as a governor, but having to make some tough political decisions, you end up one side, cancels out the other, and you end

up just doing what you think is right. And I think that that's what the governor will end up doing. This is he'll do, he'll make his his choice because he's got to live with that. So one of the developments that we had late last week was this hotline that residents could call and press one if they wanted him to sign the bill, press two.

I think if they wanted him to veto the bill. Have you been privy to the results of that that call in poll? I haven't seen anything published publicly, but have you have you been able to know what those results are? Well, I'm aware that they automated that because of the volume of calls, but I don't know, I don't know any of the numbers.

I don't, I, you know, obviously it's a, it's a, it's a big issue and, and people are calling, a lot, but I don't have any of the numbers. And, and this, this ends up being skewed. And one way or the other. So that's that's what I mean. One side ends up canceling out the other side, and you end up just doing what you think is best.

So now, well, let's talk water. The last time we have left off on this discussion, they had put a halt to the building of the recharge stations. So first off, I'd love an update on do you know if that has been removed and the recharge stations are going forward again? And then, how you feel about the upcoming farming season?

What? Let's first talk about the injection. Wells, that's, you know, those the they did press pause on those, basically just to be upfront and transparent and to let the communities know what was, you know, kind of what's going on. The issue is, you know, we we can fix this problem when we get more water back into the aquifer.

And we got to do that some way and, and recharge wells or injection wells are, they are a good way to do that. In some places it's, it doesn't work in others. And so the they've identified some spots, they've done a couple of of them already. But there are concerns about the quality of the water that we're putting back down in the aquifer.

Now. I think everybody needs to keep in mind that, if you've been drinking out of the aquifer, in eastern Idaho or in fact, Magic Valley or anywhere, you're, you're drinking runoff water that has been filtered down through, you know, the, the different layers of sediment, etc.. And that's, that's, and that is no different now we we have to be careful and, we don't want to alarm anyone unnecessarily.

And maybe the best way is to do it more, you know, arguably more naturally. You know, through the, you know, just just farming. There are places, I'm, I'm, I've been to them in eastern Idaho where they're, you know, it's marginal farm ground. It's very rocky, very gravelly. And so you can turn a lot of water up with the out at the head of the field, and it doesn't make it to the bottom, you know.

And so that, so whether we do it via, injection wells where you, where you, you know, put it directly into the aquifer or you, let it infiltrate down through, from the surface. Down. Both. You know, both can be effective means and but I think the take home message is, is is that the plan that we put together last summer will not work.

We cannot balance the water budget unless we augment the amount of water that is in the aquifer. So I guess to add to Julie's question here, if if it's on pause, how how do those farmers in East Idaho that need the aquifer to, to get recharged and to fill back up, meet their end of the deal when the government is now sort of preventing them from being able to meet their end of the deal.

Well, remember that the that the government is reacting to the to the interest in eastern Idaho and push pause. Now, you know it. It's it's not during the winter. We don't drill. I mean, it's, you know, we we kind of naturally push pause, because you can't, you know, there's not a lot of wells being drilled in the middle of the winter, but, but I but I'm told that there's been town meetings and, groups and they've been they've they've allayed a lot of concerns.

I think these, these concerns can be allayed through education. And, I'm very optimistic. Well, we're not going to be on pause forever. And when we can and when we can, continue. But, when we continue these injection wells, where then I'm assuming we will, but they're only going to be on a very limited, basis. The amount of water that we need to get back into the aquifer.

It's not going to be done through if you didn't show, injection, recharge Wells, we're going to have to put large volumes of water, you know, all of the water, that, you know, we don't do anything with water in Idaho without a water. Right. And, so the water that accumulated in in Teton Dam, for example, that was all accumulated, in a water right now, we don't have the dam.

So all of that water that would have gone into and it's been being stored in Teton needs to go someplace. I mean, during the crisis last year or last spring, you know, there was still close to 700,000 acre feet of water that went, out of the state from the upper snake and, that that is water that that needs to be put over into the aquifer.

And we we're doing everything that we can to, you know, to build projects that that divert the water out of the river and get it to the places where it will do the most good in the aquifer. So that that's the problem. We did we got to get it. We've got to get it out of the river and back into the aquifer and not just let it leave the state.

Now, the good news is, is there have been there is a bill, you know, Senator Burton Shaw and as the is the Senate, Resource committee chairman, introduce a bill here this, this week, actually Monday morning that, that gets the, like, clean appropriation, you know, $30 million additional on going to do projects, of this nature, in the in eastern Idaho.

We're going to need, we're going to need the money. The local, groundwater districts are going to need the help from the state. We are not, you know, some of alleged. Yeah, we press pause because we want this thing to fail. There's nothing that that could not be further from the truth. If you have my commitment to see this thing through and to effect and to put into, action the plan that we came up with last summer, the the thing that everybody agreed on in the summer, we there was zero quarrel about the need for more projects and to enter middle move the water budget in a positive way by, doing manage

recharge. So, Lieutenant governor, I, I want to, I guess, ask you maybe a broader question here because I don't think certainly farmers in East Idaho and those interested in the economic viability of East Idaho never want to see what happened last year ever happen again, because we didn't actually have a water shortage. It was a bureaucratic rule that for a few months seemed to, or at least a few weeks, seemed to threaten our entire economy on this side of the state.

And it it ruffled feathers deeply, as you know, as it as it would be expected. Can you assure that that's not ever going to happen again, that it that should never happen because I call it a bureaucratic imposed drought. You are shutting, not you personally, but but the government was shutting off farmers wells when there was enough water to go around and enough water to irrigate crops.

That should never happen in a state like Idaho. Well, we have that thing, that pesky constitution that, says first in time is first and right. And, you know, we had prior appropriation. Now, where were mistakes made? Last, last year leading up to this? Yes. There there obviously were. We can, prior appropriation is harsh.

It's abrupt. It's just eruptive and we. But but those rough edges can be rounded off and fixed through these mitigation plans. And, and that's what we worked on last year. Last summer, we the first mitigation plan that I was aware of was was created in 2009. It, didn't work as well as the mitigation plan of 2015.

And, and then it didn't work as well as this one that we created in 2024. You have my assurance. We're trying to maximize the number of acres under production in, in the whole of Idaho, including the eastern Idaho. And, and as you say, we we don't have a water problem. We have a location and timing problem.

And that can all be fixed by our positive live, you know, inserting ourselves into this water and into this watery equation. I have framed on my office wall here a red tag from last year. I never want to see that repeated again. And I think that that. But, But not repeating. It starts with careful, careful preparation and careful use of our existing water resources.

It it galls me no end to see that kind of water leave our state when we have the issues that we that we did and, and, and we worked diligently all summer long. We've got a good plan. You know, everybody, I every party signed off on it. They can see their way clear, to execute the plan, but it's going to take some, resources back into, again, water projects that, put this.

Yeah, but the water where we need to have it so it can do the most good. And, anyway, so it's all it's the answer is all of the above. We're going to do everything we can to get every drop of water back into the aquifer. The water year. Now, look, we know it's it's shaping up to be about average, which means we got to be careful, like we always do here in Idaho.

And so, anyway, I'm. But I'm very optimistic, you know, two things. There's two things that have to happen this session to make this all fly is that the states manage recharge program needs to move up from 250,000 acre feet on average. And we've hit those goals. And that needs to move up to 350,000 acre feet. And at the same time, we've got to move these appropriations so that there's ample resources to do the projects that we all know have to be have to be done.

And every area, whether it's Bingham County or Bonneville County or Jefferson County, everybody knows what has to be done and what projects need to be done so that we never do so, so that we never face this again. All right. Let's well, let's let's address one of those. We need to get back to, Burton Shores legislation that you said came forward on Monday.

This stuff takes time. I've had an extended conversation with a gentleman who builds these recharge wells. I know how long it takes. What? Give us a timeline. Even if if, Burton Shores legislation gets through, how long before that money would be available for more recharge stations to be built? Well, we have money to do the existing ones that are on the on the drawing board right now.

And and you're right, these things don't happen overnight. And, but there's flexibility built into the plan that, that recognizes this need to ramp up and, like say no one wants to see this be more, be successful more than I do. And all of the stakeholders, frankly, and, you know, but it's got to start somewhere.

We have 10 million ongoing. We've done a good job at that, at pushing one time money towards the Department of Water Resources to do the things that we've already done. And, we we and we got to be careful where we put, the recharge wells. You know, that if you live next door to one, you're not a fan.

And, you know, so we've got to ameliorate that, but to but to point to recharge wells as they will only provide a fraction of the relief here. Yeah. We need to do them. And but to fixate on the wells, is folly because it needs to be much broader and, and at a much larger scale than, than, a half a dozen wells.

We we mentioned earlier, you mentioned earlier, the Teton Dam. And there I am hearing renewed talk from different corners that the political will to rebuild the Teton Dam may be growing, or at least getting close to having that happen. Obviously, that's going to be a multi-year project, but can you give us any insight on that so that here in East Idaho, we don't see that water flow down the river when it could be used for our our fields and, and for production here?

Yeah, that's that's the problem is all the water comes out in six weeks, or 6 or 8 weeks every spring. And just the sheer volume of water, and to find enough places to tuck that water out in the in, in the, in recharge sides is very is very challenging. So we've got to have dozens more, recharge sites and, like I say, but I'm not going to it's easy for me, living in Magic Valley or living in old clay, frankly, to to decide what's best for, the upper Valley.

And should they put the dam in and should they not, there, you know, there will be a lot of environmental hurdles to, to overcome. There'll be some cultural hurdles to overcome. And, but I do I think that we ought to be storing water in Idaho every chance we get. The answer to that is an emphatic yes.

Whether it's in a surface water system, as like the Teton Dam or the other. The other dozen dams. Yes, but also we've got. But in the meantime, we've got this aquifer that can store a lot and it can help, you know, and it can ameliorate their, our, our situation. And, and like his hand, the good news is that the farmers are optimistic, you know, remember when we kicked the lawyers out of the room and the farmers just started talking to farmers?

They immediately came up with the principles that they could all agree to. And then, of course, you had to bring the lawyers back in the room to capture the agreement because everybody's, has to, you know, that will be the roadmap. But, there's broad support for the plan and, and yeah, there's some changes and, and we've got to we can't operate as if we had an unlimited resource.

But, we do have plenty of water. Yeah. Like I said, we don't have a water shortage problem. We have a timing and location problem, and and I that makes me optimistic because we can work through that eventually. And we've got to be patient with each other and we've got to allow you know what? We're not it's not going to happen overnight.

But we what we know we're going to need resources. That's the Burton Sharp Hill. Senator Burton, Charles Bill. And and and we know that that's a bill that has to get through the Idaho Legislature. Not everyone lives in eastern Idaho. Not everyone, you know, feels the acuteness of this issue like we do. But, I'm very optimistic that that Bill can grow legs and get through.

I, I talked to, Senator Bert Shaw yesterday, and he's well on his way to getting getting 50 co-sponsors for this thing. And I get to get that thing through the process because, like, again, all of these other issues that you bring up, one thing we do know for absolute certainty is that we're going to need additional money to put in all of these different, projects that we're talking about.

Yeah. All right. We're going to have to leave it there. We're out of time. Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke joining us this morning from the state capitol. Lieutenant governor, thank you for your time. You are always welcome. It's been too long since we've talked. And, I'm always just one phone call away, Neal. All right, let's do it again soon.

Thank you, Lieutenant governor. You're welcome. See you. All right. Bye bye. And we'll be back after this. It's 855. You think things get out of hand on the air? Yeah. Maybe a real crazy happens on the Facebook post show. Actually, every weekday on Facebook Live. Hello? Hello, this is Rick Stewart from Newstalk 107.9. I'm talking with my good friend Mitch Loveland from stones Kia in Idaho Falls.

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You and I have a rendezvous with this destiny. We'll preserve for our children. This the last, best hope of man on earth. Or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of doctor, we will keep in mind and remember that you and I have the ability and the dignity. The right, the right. To make our own decisions and determine our own destiny.

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Your world, your country, your communities. And you. Let's talk about it now on The Neil Larson Show with co-host Julie Mason.

All right. Welcome back. It's 907 on Newstalk 1079 Neil Larson and Julie Mason experienced Republican event emcees. I just want to humbly offer ourselves up to MC the next Bingham County Lincoln Day. Yeah, because they love us down there. They do love us. I mean, why not? Sure. All right, welcome back. We can't tell our jokes down there.

Oh. We can. We just won't get invited back. Look, we're not even getting invited once. Who are we kidding? So, Good. I still remember some of our epic roasts that we did. Balls and strikes. Balls and strikes.

I totally forgot about. You know, I mean, here's my philosophy. You have to acknowledge the elephant in the room, right? Absolutely. And that's what we were doing. See? That's what you're doing. Yes. And it's your job to make it a little awkward. Yep. Have they not been to other events, I guess no. You know what? Look, this is part of our off air conversation.

I think my, I think I keep my cool pretty well. Yeah. Working in this job, dealing with politicians, doing all of the things that we do. Yeah. I don't do very well with politicians who voluntarily ran a campaign. And earned a position. Yeah. To serve people, whether it be people in your district, whether it be people in your state, whatever your position is.

Yeah. And then you're bothered when the people ask what's going on. Yeah. I don't do that very well. No one made you take this position. That's true. And this is true for lots of different political forces all over the place. Yes, it's all over the place. We're, In fact, Julian, I cited several examples of this off the air of how, you know, you take the job that job comes with.

Yeah. Comfortable situation. Yeah. But just is. So when Mick show up at an event and tease you for something you said, right? Sorry. You voluntarily took the job. I will say we used to get, a Christmas card from the Washingtons, but we don't get Christmas cards from the Washingtons anymore. Which makes me kind of sad. Does it?

Yeah. Yeah, right. Welcome back. It's our two. I want. I want what everyone desires in in their relationships, in life. You know, I want relationships to be as uncomplicated as possible. Relationships are complicated, but we make them more complicated when they don't need to be. That is. So the desire is for them to have the least amount of complication possible.

Yeah. And for each party to recognize who they are. Honestly. Yeah. And what the expectations that they bring to this relationship are. That's it. Right. That's that's true. That's all. That's all I'm asking. And those relationships can be friend to friend, bastard employee, peer to peer, constituent to politician. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. It's all I'm asking. I, I believe you know what, Julie?

I believe authenticity is a superpower. And if you'll just be who you are, it might close the door on some opportunities. I'm sure it will. But guess what. It's gonna open the door to others that are probably better then what's the doors being close to. And you're going to live more comfortably as your authentic self to like that.

And that doesn't mean you have to vomit your whole personal life to everyone. What it means you can keep some things close to the vest. Just don't be dishonest in the things you choose to disclose. Yes, perfect. That's all. That's it. Just be honest. Yeah, and and I, I feel like we have and we've talked about this yesterday and I think our job I like I look at politicians as individuals.

And then from there sometimes we take groups of politicians and then we put them in groups which in certain contexts that make sense, like we have a term rhinos, Republicans and but not all rhinos are identical. I think, for instance, in a this is kind of how much complexity and nuance it has. When I look at Governor Little, when you are a governor, you sort of triangulate, you're the governor of all the people.

And so you're you approach it a little bit differently. Then if you're a representative of one district or one, you see what I'm saying? You're one vote in a body of 105 people. But when you're the governor, you're the head of an entire branch of government. And so you approach it a little differently. And I think Brad Little has approached it differently.

And sort of from that triangulation phase, however, the governor little has been very solid, I believe, on the cultural issues. I think that when it comes to transgender stuff, he's been in our corner, not every cultural issue, but on a lot of them, he has been in in our corner. He did eventually sign the porn in library bills, which I'm grateful that he he did sign that.

But, I think we lose him though a little bit as conservatives on education. I think we lose him a little bit on some of the fiscal issues and, but but I think it's important to recognize where they're good as well as where we wish they were a little bit better on on that. Then you have some politicians and I need to make this contrast and we can move on.

You have some politicians that are there almost entirely disingenuously. They they have run as a Republican in their district. The situation was right for them to win. They don't give a crap about the Republican Party only insofar as it can help them advance their ambitions politically or professionally. Then they use it. But they're they're not dedicated to the principles of the Republican Party.

It's just a tool for them. It's a stepping stone for them. And it's it's a very self-indulgent one. At that. And those are the politicians I think that we can begin to identify pretty quickly once they start to amass a voting record over after a legislative session or two. That or they have a very, very lengthy Twitter history.

That that I wasn't even thinking, yeah, I got you. That you can't hide thanks to the Wayback Machine. Is that what? Tag them? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Good news. Joy Reid is out at MSNBC, and so, the 34 seconds of MSNBC that I watch every year, I won't be seeing Joy Reid. Dang it. How many set how many seconds of MSNBC of you?

Actually not. And I'm not talking about seeing clips on Twitter. I'm talking about turning on the TV, watching MSNBC live. Oh, I bet we're under ten minutes in my whole entire life now. We're in hundreds of minutes of clips that I've watched on as well. Sure, but but going to the TV and choosing MSNBC as a channel, they don't get credit for that because you're not watching the commercials.

Yeah, I bet under ten minutes because you I, I don't know how anyone didn't know what MSNBC was. Yeah. And I'm not in the mood for the view masquerading as a news channel. That's what MSNBC is. Yeah. You're right, I don't I don't need to watch that. I don't watch The View. I don't need to watch it. Now, I can say I have voluntarily watched CNN.

Yeah, that does happen. Yeah. And and I have appreciated some of the efforts that CNN has, put forward over the years. And I feel like even the last six months, they've done more of that than they were in the previous six years. They're trying. Yeah. But MSNBC, there's a it's been nothing but a clown show for me from day one.

They've never they've never left clown show territory. You're right. CNN used to be respected. I mean, they were a centrist, maybe a little center left. And then Zucker came along. The media landscape was changing, and his strategy was we got to go hardcore left. We got to find our niche. And he turned CNN into a more prominent MSNBC.

And it it's sad. It's it's devastated CNN it has collapsed them. They made little gains in certain areas. But overall the the watershed of respect they used to have is all spent. It's gone. It is gone. And I think they have to they're going to have to rebuild. They I think they've been trying to run on those fumes for a few years, but I just I don't see it happening.

They're they're very hack political hack ish. But I think part of the problem is it's hard to actually go out and find prominent journalists who are actually journalists. That's a that's the problem. People who have the connections at that stratospheric level that have that can get in with interviews. And I think it's just tough to find actual people that are going to go out and do good, respectable journalism anymore and just ask questions.

Yeah. So it takes time to rebuild. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, meanwhile Fox, I had this thought because I I make this joke about getting tired of winning in the era of Trump and it, it is entirely a joke. I don't get tired of winning, but it's getting a little more boring. I'm not tired of it.

It's just a little less exciting than it used to be. It's like your gateway drug that is now not supplying the endorphin rush you need. So you got to have more and a little bit. Yeah, it's like we've had this whirlwind month of the first month of Donald Trump's presidency, and it it has been it's been a wild ride.

But I actually think more turbulence with greater intensity than what we've seen this last month is coming. The Epstein list, the JFK files being released along with MLK and RFK junior RFK. I think there are big changes coming within the FBI that are going to be wild to, to watch. I, I do think that Adam Schiff is going to get prosecuted, hopefully.

And finally, although he did get a pardon. So maybe not. But now we saw a story yesterday that that Trump may be appointing a pardon czar that is going to look at this and say, can you give a quote unquote blanket pardon for giving crimes that are not even known? Yeah. It's some I think she was black. She was it looked like a mixed race.

But, a lawyer, that is an expert on these sort of matters. And she's going to do a deep dive and figure out can those pardons have actually happened? Yeah. I just want to take this moment to remind everybody that that what you're seeing, the outrage that you're seeing from the left is not accurate to a and that's a reflection of the country.

No. On the 20th and 21st, a Harvard Harris poll was conducted. Multiple questions were asked, do you support Trump's DEA initiatives? Do you support the work being done by Doge? What's the favourability of Donald Trump? What's his disapproval rating? Okay, it is important to know everything I just said was 60% or above. Yeah. That's phenomenal. Some of them landed 70% or above.

Yeah. When it comes to immigration and the removal, you're near 70% when it comes to those you're near 70%. So when you hear the outrage online, people frustrated about what's happening, it's not reflective of the of the country as a whole. Okay. Follow up question to that. It is I'm going to ask a question and then I'm going to explain the question is the spell broken?

Meaning it used to be the media could set the tone and the mood for the country. We're ignoring the media, the media right now, you watch it, they are running around with their hair on fire. Trump's a fascist, Trump's a dictator. He's, and all of this. And the country's going, no, he's just deporting criminals. And that's good.

And he's looking at government waste, fraud and abuse. And that's good. And because these support levels a month in, they're staying way up there for what he's doing. I think they actually like what he's doing better than they like him. Yes I agree with that. And you and they're like, okay, we're going to tolerate a personality we're not so hot about because he's doing things that we're thrilled with.

They're not tyrannical. There's nothing about this that is fascist. He's just moving forward at a fast pace. And the country is saying it's about time. Yes to get it done. I completely agree with that. Because his favourability was one of the lowest on that Harvard Harris poll. As far as the numbers that were being reported. Yeah. It was still good and better than his first term, but it was lower than the others that were hitting around 70%.

I think you're exactly right. There's a portion of people are like, I don't really care about his personality, and I like what he's doing, so I like him. Then there's a portion of people that are like, I kind of rubs me the wrong way, but man, we need a change in our in our country. And it looks like he's going to provide it.

And that's where you're seeing the difference in the polling. So I let's talk about Doge for just a moment, because I think that this is a really good example of the disconnect where we have all seen you watch network TV, non Fox network TV for two minutes and you'll see one of these stories about the federal employee that lost his job and he's three years from retirement blah blah blah.

And they of course want you to like like fold over in the fetal position in grief for this person. And most of America says, yeah, people lose their jobs like most people have lost a job. It's not fun, but it's also not the end of the world. It's only the end of the world. If you've been in that bubble of expectation, where every federal job is an immovable object that can never be touched, every every federal job is a sacred cow.

But the vast majority of America doesn't see it that way. They look at it and say, yeah, that's unfortunate for that guy, but he'll be okay. He's got a degree, he's got skills, he's got some experience. And, you know, give it, brush up your LinkedIn profile and you're going to be okay in a few months. Everything's going to be fine because so many people have gone through it.

So the media is trying to create this emotion porn, but they don't care about the people that lost their job. Actually they don't. They want to make Trump look as bad as possible. But America at large is saying, yeah, job losses come and go. They're going to be okay. Like it's it's a much more measured look at it.

And you know, like I watch it, I do feel bad for somebody who lost their job. But the economic viability of our country is at stake. We cannot afford to keep racking up the massive numbers of debt, amount of debt that we have so that Philip can keep working for the Forest Service, doing a job that he loves, but may not be that necessary.

Yeah. Hey, this is just reality. When all of the blockbuster stores closed it, did we hold a wake? Did we hold a funeral service for those people? We did not. They were expected to go out and find jobs and I need I remind everyone we have an unemployment rate in America. Yeah. Like it happens. It happens. So you figure out and find a new job.

You adjust those people who got laid off from the oil fields, they adjust. Apple just committed to Trump yesterday that they're going to bring 20,000 new jobs. Those are high paying jobs 20,000 new jobs to America $500 billion. Yes. So the adjustment will happen. You know what I want to say to these federal employees? You know who the smart ones were?

The ones who took the buyout. Yeah. Yeah, I bet they're wishing they did. Yeah. At this point, so, yeah, we're going to be okay. I think the media driven emotion pouring around this is just not getting any traction at all. And people are actually excited that we might have a government we can afford. Yeah. This it's more efficient.

It's going to be great if it feels good. And it also feels good that people who know how to make a lot of money are buying into what Trump's doing. Yeah, go at all these people who who criticize Elon Musk. Good luck. He's the richest man in the world. Go ahead and criticize Tim Cook. How many people have an Apple device in their hand or on their desktop?

Yeah, on my arm, in my ears. Like, yeah, they're everywhere. The man knows how to make money. And if he is bought in and don't and committing to that amount of money and 20,000 new jobs, maybe pay attention to the people who've done it. Right. So there's a meme that's been bouncing around and obviously in context of the news cycle, it's referencing Elon Musk about if you think billionaires are showing up, impacting the president of the United States for your benefit, you're more on I'm like, how long did that other side tolerate George Soros, not tolerate embrace and welcome George Soros, impacting our politics in America.

These people are the biggest hypocrites ever. So if Tim Cook builds a plant and brings 10,000 jobs to your your community, you're going to look at him and be angry. Yeah. What's wrong with these people? I don't know, I don't know. Hey, can you even imagine how that benefits the community? 10,000 extra jobs, benefits the housing market benefits, the the local restaurants.

It benefits the grocery stores. It benefits the hospital because those people need care and their family needs care like they're crazy. Do you sense that there's something else like, can I can I write a movie script for a minute? I'm not saying this is happening. I'm saying that there's more going on than sort of the surface level news that we're watching.

I thought it was incredibly telling that cook showed up. The guy from Google showed up, Bezos was there. Musk was there at Donald Trump's inauguration, when they spent years and years nurturing algorithms to try and prevent Donald Trump from having any political power and all of a sudden they're in his direct orbit. What is going on? It like what I feel like, and I don't know this to be true.

There's only speculation here. But when you see something weird like that, you you're going to speculate and you're going to wonder, and I, I this is what I wonder that these CEOs may have been under the thumb of some global elite effort where very powerful people in companies can direct funding. They have the power to destroy a corporation or guarantee the success of a corporation.

Does that make sense? Oh, totally. So they were playing the game. Donald Trump is the disruptor that has obliterated that game. And Biden was more than willing to play the game because he was his family was getting rich from it. And his, you know, who knows what other incentives there were. But the fact that all of these people who had been working very hard to try and stop Donald Trump are showing up in tuxedos celebrating.

They're not like they're still playing the game. They don't want to. Now get on Trump's bad side. But I feel like underneath all of it, there's been this seismic shift that goes beyond just America. Chose a new president, that there's something globally happening and the power structure that we don't see. There has been a massive shift in that.

Yes, I, I think that that's very, very possible that the directive came down, that this term, he will not be controlled by the swamp in the ways that he was controlled. Yeah. And if the American people want it, you better get on board or you'll be down with them. Yeah. And maybe that's why they all showed up and I think it also explains this first month of what I call shocking awe, where Trump is coming in.

He's putting in cash Patel and RFK Jr and Dan Bongino and Pete Hegseth. These are true disruptors that are coming in, and they are not afraid to walk through the fire to to drain the swamp and to replace these people. And so I feel like Trump didn't realize how what he was up against in the first term. But he's had four years to plan and think about what he really wants to accomplish.

And that first term was so important because it made those those people who are patriots hungry. Yeah, it made cash Patel hungry. It made RFK Jr hungry. It made Dan Bongino hungry. It made them go, I'm going after this. This man showed us it was possible we didn't quite get there. Let's do this. Yeah, yeah I agree. All right.

Let's go to the phones really quick. Hi, caller. How are you today? Oh, they hung up. I did make them. Wait for a minute. We did. We were talking back. That's. Yeah. All right. We're going to break away. We'll take a break here. And when we come back, more calls or some calls on Newstalk 109. Did you miss The Neil Larson Show?

Catch every episode on the new. Okay. Hello. Hello, Facebook. I've got to go get more of the, electrolytes, but what's up? Okay, let's read this text. Chem. I hear you talking about all the good stuff the Trump's done, and that's great. Yeah, I voted for him. But some things are really hurting people. Like cutting so many people at West Yellowstone that it may not be safe for people to go up there because not, no, not as many people will be around to help them stay away from danger.

What? Okay, I have never gone to West Yellowstone and relied on somebody to keep me out of danger. I'm a big girl. Yeah, I keep myself out of danger. The Forest Service has people that will come in and help the ranchers reduce the number of coyotes, gang up on the herds. Okay, I got a. Okay, I look, I don't know how I'd have to talk to a rancher.

I'd have to talk to a rancher. I'm not going to take that at face value, but I've never gone to a national park and waited for somebody to protect me. Yeah, I haven't either a look, it's going to be okay. Like. All right, here's here's what I, it doesn't make me sad, but I wish people would understand this.

You cut a lot, and then you look at your needs and rehire. There will be jobs that come back there. There will be this. These are not like permanent vacancies. Now, Trump, Trump's cutting a lot. And then we're going to see where we're at. And if there are needs then those agencies can make the case. Yeah we do need to hire for this.

There may be some further cuts. They might find other little areas of fat. But you know what it's like. I'll tell you exactly what it's like. I get it, if you get, a big roast and sometimes a roast has a chunk of fat on it, and you cut off the fat and you realize, oh, there was still a piece of roast on that.

I need to cut that piece of roast off and put it back in in the crock pot. That's what this is there. And so I think we should address we can talk about it this text and I agree with you though I don't I do not go to Yellowstone National Park thinking the staff is going to keep me safe here.

No, I know geysers can kill me, bears can kill me, moose can kill me, and I take I take responsibility for my own safety. If I'm going into the wilderness, I guess maybe I just don't think that way. I don't drive around my community waiting for a cop to protect me either. Yeah, I carry a gun with me.

Yeah. I pay attention to what's going on around me. I don't walk around at night alone. As a female, I. I'm not looking for other people to protect me. Right. I'm. I'm actively making choices to ensure my safety to the best measure that I can. Yeah. And then if something does happen, I expect aid. Yeah. From law enforcement.

You are your own first responder. Yes. Yes. First responders are actually second responders. Yeah, I it's weird I yeah I, I couldn't live with that mentality I it's it's just a weird thought process to me. Yeah I even address my health that way. Right. I expect my choices to be the first responder to my health. Yeah. Then sometimes my body fails me or my choices fail me.

And you got to go to the doctor. Yeah. Exact make no.

936 on Newstalk 1079 we want to read a text, but first let's take the phone call and caller go ahead. You're on the Neil license. Yo, how are you today? Hey, thanks. Good morning. You guys, I, I, I was really quite ready to listen to Ed this morning because I thought maybe we learn something new, but I really don't think we learned anything new, did we?

Did you guys get something new out of that? Except that everything's on pause? I, I didn't I didn't feel like we learned a lot. I don't know how much new there is to know, but I didn't. I didn't feel like we learned a whole lot from the interview. Yeah. And so my question is this, the reason for the recharge on the aquifer is because it's not where it used to be, and there's ground water usage of it, and they're making a claim to the springs that come out into the river and that that's their, water that, would, would be coming out.

But, that's all based on this model that they keep talking about. So what I'd like to see is I'd like to see a roundtable of, Brian Murdock, Ron Carlson, Scott Bedke, and, you know, the other guys that know a lot about water and have them each aches in time to talk publicly, put it out on YouTube and explain that model and why it wasn't working last year.

And they needed to turn off the water. And and maybe there's something wrong with the model, because the model reminds me of the witch's broom in The Wizard of Oz. The the wizard says, go get me the witch's broom. And they they go get it. You know it. All the rest that they took. And they bring the witch's broom back.

And he says, well, you know, really? That's still not enough, right? And I feel like that's what this model is, is it just never is enough. And so you have all the East Idaho farmers sacrificing their water, and as far as I know. So that's what I would like to know. What else is going on in the state.

Are the farmers in Burley, in Twin Falls and on down the valleys that are using ground water? Are they sacrificing like the people in East Idaho? Are they cutting back on their water? And if they're if they're not, why? Because, it should be based on water rights and that those water rights are for the whole state. And we're only asking people in a certain area to give up water.

And so it's only this area that's given up water. I, anyway, I just don't think it's been explained to us. Well, and he says, oh, it went real great when the farmers got together and said, well, I'm sorry, but I think when the farmers got together back in 2016 and prior to that and oh five or whatever, what all these years were, were they came to agreements that they were trying to, you know, just like your neighbor.

Okay. My, my fan, you know, might be a little bit, you know, straight down the property. It's causing you a problem. I'll move it a little bit my way. How's that? Well, that well, that resolve it for us. And we just have to keep moving the fence onto our property further and further so that these guys, you know, are are appeased.

Well, we were also told by, by Bedke this morning, though, was that there's excess water going down the river because we don't have a dam, the Tom dam. So that's sending a lot of excess water out of Idaho. And so if excess water is going out of Idaho, how come Twin Falls isn't snagging any of that excess water?

I mean, that doesn't make that didn't make sense to me either. So, anyway, there's there's still a lot of questions. Why is East Idaho paying all, you know, all the cost, all the, you know, giving up water, you know, sacrificing everything. And where else in the state is that going on? Yeah, no, a great, great series of questions and concerns.

There. There are there is a great series of questions and concerns there. I, I think it's important to understand that Lieutenant Governor Bedke is trying to serve two masters, and I don't mean that to sound as evil as it sounds like. Yeah, biblically, there are the people that live near him that obviously want something different. Yeah. And the people who live in East Idaho.

And he's trying to keep both of them happy. That's not a great that's not a fun position for him to be in. Yeah. Unfortunately he chose this. He chose to be lieutenant governor. He ran for it. He's got to face that a little more head on than he is. Yeah it it is. It's a it's a very difficult position.

One of the ideas that I like is to restructure. So that you don't have one single water judge. Yes. Because the way it's structured right now, the water judge has the same conflict. Yep. Absolutely. From the Magic Valley. But making decisions about water for the whole state. Create a panel of judges and have regional representation that that's what that would be.

That's not the whole fix that that would be very helpful though. Yes. And and so because I feel like you, you look at this and very few of us know all of the legal complexities and everything that goes into the water. We it's just that complicate it. So there's not a lot of people that know everything about this.

But what I think we can say from the 30,000ft level is that East Idaho's farmers had nobody in their corner. When it came to the the people who hold political power right now. And I don't I don't mean that like because Frank Vandersloot was very vocal and and really stood up for the farmers. So I'm not I'm not excluding those people, but they're not inside the political process, making the decisions with the political power.

You had Matt Weaver walking around slapping red tags on Wells. You have the lieutenant governor who comes from Oakley in the Magic Valley, but put in charge of the negotiations you had. I mean, the whole power. Idaho Power is another good example. The water judges from the Magic Valley. And so we understandably felt like this region was hung out to dry.

We don't want to we don't want to create conflict with the lieutenant governor. We don't. But I do want them to understand they let this entire region, which is an incredibly important region economically for the state. We were worried for months and a few critical weeks there. Are we going to be able to produce our world renowned potato crop?

You think about our coverage area, Julie. Our three FM signals that we have between Utah and Montana. The the amount of potatoes that is produced on that same footprint is massive. And by bureaucratic rule, they, they put a big question mark over that, that like I said it's government getting in the way that. Absolutely. And there was enough water.

There was enough water to pump into irrigate and and the governor we asked the governor about this. He said, well, we need to have some pressure to make sure that people come to the table. Well, that's that's great if there's equal pressure on both sides. But to use I think it was Frank van der Sloot analogy. Only one side had a gun to their head.

That's that's an agreement that's made under duress. That's a cartel. Yes. That's you're not wrong. There. So you we shouldn't have to get to that point where, by the way, you're coming to the table here. Your livelihood is at stake. On one side. So your negotiating parameters are going to be very different than the other side. Who holds all the cards?

Yeah. So this is why we've got to disperse the power out a little bit, create a bigger number of water judges. I, whatever the constitu tions, you know what? I will say this and this may be people will clutch their constitutional pearls in just a moment. I love the Idaho Constitution. I think it's needed. But but if if truly, it's the Constitution that forced some wells to be shut down in East Idaho, even when there's plenty of water, it's a crappy constitution.

And we need to change it. Yeah. There needs to be something altered to it. Yeah. Also it's, it's interesting to me that any time we interview anyone about this and either Neil or I ask the question about the restoration of the Teton down, we get a whole bunch of people go, that's a good idea. That's a good idea.

Now that seems like a really good idea. Yeah. Nothing's happening. Yeah. I don't know if it's a really good idea. Let's do it. I, I agree, put it. You could probably get federal funding for some of that stuff. Bureau of Reclamation type funding. I don't I don't maybe not right now. Let's take a break. It's 946. We'll be back after this.

All right? Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right. I'm doing the, the last artist shuffle with my calendar tonight. I know I've been noticing.

How is everyone? How are we doing? I texted Neil last night, and I said, I'm wearing my generation X shirt tomorrow if you want to be twinsies. Yeah. So I got this message. Sorry. We had a little internal thing. We had to deal with it, which I will. I can't tell you this. It has to do with the Bongino replacement.

Yeah. So we want to make sure we don't get any let in, you know? You there. You just keep things close to the vest until you've secured stuff. But it's close. I think we're close. I think we're close. Is that him saying go ahead and move forward? If you feel confident in this? I think so. Absolutely. Okay. Yeah.

Which is the what I, the phrase I said to Neil was pull the trigger. Yeah.

Okay. Yellow's the theme. What's the what's the theme today. Because both always everyone wearing yellow. Yeah. Harrison her wearing the identical shade of yellow. What's today the 25th of February. I don't know I don't know. Yeah. National Daisy day. National I don't know I don't know. I put for those of you who care, some of you don't care.

But for those of you who care I put the video that is hilarious of my grandson lip syncing to the greatest Showman. It is great. It is so funny. So I put it up on my Facebook today. So yeah, on my stories. So if you're looking for a good laugh, make sure you visit my stories because it's hilarious.

You have to have the sound up because he's he's actually lip syncing to the song that's being played over his car radio. Oh, this story about intelligence community members having like, explicit sex chats going, oh, okay, that was crazy. I sent this to you because today I, Daily Wire supposed to drop something on it. They knew about this before it was leaked, and apparently they've done a deep investigative dive.

And so they just pushed it forward faster than they were going to release it. And, and apparently it's going to shock us all at what they found out really. Okay. So I'll be watching Daily Wire. Supposed to put it out this afternoon. There are 951 on Newstalk. 1079 Neil Larson and Julie Mason. So hoping to have an announcement for y'all very soon.

Not today, but maybe tomorrow or Thursday. About the Bongino replacement plan here at Newstalk 1079. So stop asking. I'm just kidding. That was me with my jokey, aggressive posture. All right, let's go to the phones. Hi, caller. How are you today? Just fine. So to address this last caller, Idaho or eastern Idaho came to the drinking fountain late.

Okay. First in use is first and right. And Twin Falls and and downstream have water rights that predate, therefore are superior to eastern Idaho water rights. So eastern Idaho farmers need to pull some money together if they have such huge, incomes or the state needs to step up and buy out water rights further downstream because that's the law.

It's the Constitution. That's what's doing it. Okay, it's not that Bedke wants to steal water from, you know, eastern Idaho. Nobody said. But he said bet. Nobody's saying, yeah, wanting to do that. I understand that, but that's the insinuation from some of these eastern Idaho farmers. And it's just, you know, I've seen so many center pivots go in in the last, you know, 30 years that of course, those guys are going to get shut off because their water rights are inferior to the older ones now.

Yeah, there's older ones here, but they're not going to be shut off. Or maybe they will if it's a really bad drought year. But that's basically the deal, is that eastern Idaho farmers came to the drinking fountain late, and so their water rights aren't as good as everybody else's. Downstream. Now, what's the main reason I called? I haven't been listening because I've been out of town with with work and whatever.

How do you guys reconcile Trump's misrepresentations and lies and whatever? I mean, Macron yesterday had to correct Trump on is false accusation that Europe's secure. And Macron said no we're not. We gave that if we get paid back, great. If we don't, it's, you know, neither here and there and it's just he's calling Zelensky a dictator today. You and or yesterday.

The United States representatives voted against condemning Russia as an aggressor state. I mean, it's just on a world stage. The United States is just. Well, we we actually are up against the clock here. If I don't take a break, it's going to be a bit of a train wreck. But, I will when we have more time.

Call earlier in the show. Next time we'll we'll take it on. We'll be back after this.

I will never understand why anyone would have an issue with Trump using his negotiating power to repay America with valuable mineral rights from Ukraine. I don't either. Why would we ever think that? That's weakness? I don't I don't know, I think he's so dug in on it, like he just can't, can he? I mean, I don't care enough to go back and find all the phone calls we've gotten.

He was predicting World War three by now. If Trump gets elected. Yeah. In fact, he voted. I don't think he voted for Biden. But he said, I can't vote for Trump because he's going to take us into World War three with Ukraine and Russia. He was right that Macron and him, disagreed. Yeah, that doesn't mean Trump was lying.

Yeah, I know you're automatically signing that. Well, if there's a disagreement then Trump lies, right? If there was something that was factually incorrect, there's a lie. And that's not true. Yeah. Yeah. It's true. See, and I think it's a he knows that. But yeah, you you don't it if it doesn't help you to argue in good faith and argue in bad faith, you know, he's putting words in the farmer's mouths.

Yeah. And he was insistent. He's right. Yeah. Oh, okay. Well, we've interviewed farmers on this show, and not a single one has used that verbiage. Yeah, nobody's saying that they're stealing water. No. Yeah. He's just a gentleman who thinks that he knows everything. And there is no more room for any other conversation. Yeah, yeah. That's true. It's.

Yeah. If I was a farmer and I was in Twin Falls and the Constitution read that I had first rights to the water. Darn. Well better believe I'd be using that as a weapon. Yeah, sure. That's how it goes. Right. In fact, before he called, the exact wordage that you used was it's time to change the constitution so that all of the state can flourish.

Yeah. No stealing. No. Well, here, here's one little detail, and and I go back to this because you had one entire groundwater district that said however much you think you're injured in terms of not getting your water right, we will send you those acre feet. We'll send them down the river to you. Yeah. And they said no to that.

That tells me no. They they want to shut this region down. Absolutely. They're good with it. Yeah. So and you within the requirements of the Constitution, I believe that you could change it so that a deal like that would satisfy those, those water rights holders. So yeah. All right. We're going to have like no time standby. All right.

958 and that is going to do it for the show today. We thank you for joining us tomorrow. Senator Mike Crapo and Representative Barb Earhart. We got a lot to talk about. And will the governor sign the bill? Well, we'll keep you posted on that to stick around.