Idaho Freedom Foundation Sounds off on Brad Little and Ammon Bundy

Contrary to what you may have heard from the legacy leftist media, neither the Idaho Freedom Foundation nor Idaho Freedom Action has endorsed Ammon Bundy for governor. The Idaho Freedom Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The Idaho Freedom Foundation does not endorse candidates for elected public office, and while Idaho Freedom Action, a 501(c)(4), can endorse candidates, it typically does not do so. Idaho Freedom PAC, an organization that shares IFF’s values and vision for the future of our beloved state, did endorse Bundy. But IFF/IFA and IFP are not the same. They have different leadership and different donors. It’s irresponsible of the press to report misinformation connecting IFF or IFA to the Bundy endorsement. However, IFF and IFA can and do comment on the candidates for governor and other races, and I’ll do so now, because it’s important. I expect that when the votes are counted on election night, Brad Little will still be governor of Idaho. The problem is that Little will have won through a campaign of dishonesty and misdirection. He likes to travel the state and claim that he never shut down the state’s economy during the Covid pandemic or that any of his policies resulted in the permanent closure of businesses or the arrest of people for not wearing masks, congregating at church, or going to a city park with kids. He’s lying. Equally important, Little, when faced with a $2 billion budget surplus, called for a fraction of the money to be returned to taxpayers and proceeded to surrender to the socialists at Reclaim Idaho by dumping more than $400 million into Idaho’s failing government schools. He did so by putting lawmakers in a box by giving them just one take-it-or-leave-it bill to consider in the September special legislative session. These are facts worthy of debate, yet Little has refused to commit to a debate on his record, either in the primary or the general election. That’s terrible for voters. Bundy raises important objections to the status quo in state government -- such as the continued existence of property and income taxes. And recently he began an ad campaign suggesting that as governor, he’d help welfare recipients who don’t want to work leave the state. Whether his plan is executable is not of huge concern. But the fact is, Bundy raises an important issue that has never been properly addressed: Too many Idahoans are dependent on government programs and payouts. This is not sustainable, as we’ve mentioned many times before. Moreover, government dependency is not healthy in society. These government programs disconnect people from communities, charities, and churches in a way that destabilizes society. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a candidate for governor talk about this issue, and so Bundy is saying something refreshing. Bundy isn’t perfect either. His support for Black Lives Matter a couple of years ago is cringy, as was the scene of the Idaho State Police wheeling him out of the Statehouse zip tied to a chair. That, too, is worthy of discussion. Most importantly, today we have two very different candidates for Idaho governor with two very different visions for the future. The role of the Idaho Freedom Foundation is to research public policy matters and communicate our findings to the public. The role of Idaho Freedom Action is, as suggested by the name, to put our ideas into action by engaging with the public. Endorsement of candidates is not what either organization does. Political opportunists and the media attack IFF and IFA because they’d rather not talk about the real issues facing real Idahoans. That’s why they’ve used a tenuous connection between Idaho Freedom PAC to attack IFF/IFA. This is all a distraction so that you focus on the issues they think are important and discount our ideas as “extremist.” In fact, we believe our ideas are the ones that will save our state and save America. There’s nothing extreme about ensuring Idaho doesn’t go the way of California, Colorado, or Oregon. And no amount of whining by washed up leftists will stop us from bringing about the conservative change we all believe in. Send a message to these hacks today. Join Idaho Freedom with a donation of as little as $25 to show that you will not stop and you will not let them silence you. Together, we will preserve our state for generations to come. Yours for freedom,

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BREAKING: President Trump Grants Full Pardon to Hammond Family

This is YUGE.

I met with Ammon Bundy in Northern California two months ago. He related to a large crowd of God-fearing conservatives

President Trump pardons Oregon cattle ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond. pic.twitter.com/qJv7MWp88a

— Red Nation Rising (@RedNationRising) July 10, 2018

I had wanted to write about this for the past week, but now I have the time to glory in this latest pardon.

Two down-to-earth farmers in southeastern Oregon were savaged by the federal government for a controlled burn on their property which accidentally slipped onto federal property. The problems go deeper, however, since the feds have unlawfully taken property from farmers throughout the Western United States to create national parks, which in turn cater to well-connected private investors and other interests.

The UK Independent reported:

President Donald Trump has pardoned two ranchers whose arson case sparked the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon.

The takeover was not as sinister as the press makes it out to be. I met Ammon Bundy, who helped the Hammonds take back their lands and fight for their rights against the oppressive, overbearing federal government.

Dwight and Steven Hammond were convicted in 2012 of intentionally and maliciously setting fires on public lands. The arson carried a minimum prison sentence of five years, but a federal judge, on his last day before retirement, gave the father and son much lighter prison terms. Prosecutors later won an appeal and the Hammonds were re-sentenced to serve the mandatory minimum in October 2015.

They did nothing wrong. They should have never been prosecuted. Not only that, but the federal courts violated their Fifth Amendment rights protecting them from double jeopardy.

Congressman Greg Walden lobbied for President Trump to issue them a full pardon, and Trump came through. In fact, two months ago I met with Bundy and his family when he spoke to the Siskiyou County Republican Women Federated and other connected groups. He had spoken with me and a few of the event organizers privately that he was hoping that the President would step up to set the Hammonds free.

So glad that President Trump is responding to the individual concerns of American citizens who want to be free, who want to Make America Constitutional Again.

That decision sparked a protest from Ammon Bundy and dozens of others, who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near the Hammond ranch in southeastern Oregon from January to mid-February 2016, complaining the Hammonds were victims of federal overreach.

Bundy stood his ground on the private rights of the farmers in the region. They faced incredible odds and unspeakable abuses form the Obama Administration. The previous President viewed himself as impervious to criticism and above the law. Despite this unrelenting arrogance, the United States Supreme Court struck down his executive orders on a routine basis, and then Republicans took back both chambers of Congress for the rest of tenure in office.

The fight to release lands from federal control continues, however, but at least two more farmers have had their liberty restored to them.

Ammon Bundy, the Abusive Federal Government, and the Fight for Our Rights

Last month, the Siskiyou County (one of the northernmost in the state of California) Republican Women Federated and Yreka Tea Party invited me a second time to their wonderful State of Jefferson. The people there really care about our country and the state of California, but most importantly they will stop at nothing to protect their rights.

They wanted me to hear Ammon Bundy, their featured guest speaker for May, 2018. I was privileged to meet him, one of the sons of Nevada rancher Clive Bundy. The Bundy family went national--even international--because they stood up to the overbearing federal government, particularly under the oppressive Obama Administration. For my report on the Bundy Family' victory against the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada, click here. Ammon Bundy has not relented in taking on the federal government's overreach, especially against farmers and ranchers. Here's the entire video of Ammon's speech to the GOP Women Federated Group.

The Bureau of Land Management had been chipping away at the rights of cattle ranchers throughout the Nevada territories for decades. They would separate grazing and water rights, then the feds would lay on more rules and regulations. In order to gain ownership over the land, the Bureau of Land Management would have the farmers and ranchers in the region sign off on contracts to assert older claims, yet within those contracts were written numerous stipulations, exceptions, and expectations.

When land owners would run awry of even one little law, their land would then face seizure, or the ranchers would have to settle and sell.

Clive Bundy was the last rancher standing, so to speak, in Nevada, a state where the vast majority of the property still belongs to the federal government. When the Bureau of Land Management showed up to try to push Clive and the rest of his family off their land, they stood their ground. In spite of the massive military presence and unlawful seizure from the federal authorities in the region, The Bundy family made their fight massively public.

Within 24 hours, supporters from all over the country arrived on scene with firearms. The people one, and the federal agency had to back off.



Like a growing number of outraged and overwhelmed farmers, Bundy is taking a stand against the federal government's incessant overregulation and land-grabbing. First, he stood his ground with the rest of his family to save their ranch against the Obama Administration.

He then joined with farmers in rural Oregon to restore their private property, which had been unjustly seized for a national park. If anyone has been following President Trump's latest actions, he has been restoring state and local sovereignty over public lands. It started with the Hammond family of Harney County, Oregon. They faced outrageous terrorist charges just for a prescribed burn on their own property which ended up burning a little property on a federal wildlife refuge right next door.

Just like what happened in Nevada, the Feds had engaged in unjust, unlawful, unconstitutional land takings to build up a federal wildlife preserve. Ammon Bundy read about what happened, researched the federal and constitutional law on the matter, then joined with the residents of Harney County to reverse the unjust land takings. Following the common law precedents about adverse possession and perfecting private property titles, Bundy led a group of residents to go to public lands in the region and reclaim it for the Harney County residents.

This process so alarmed the FBI and elected officials around the state. Federal officials were even intimidating Congressmen in the region to back off. We the People. Despite these heinous tactics, Bundy with  other ranchers in the area and began restoring local control of the region. Bundy was well-regarded for his efforts. His stance to protest within the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge inspired many around the country. First responders and veterans arrived on scene to show their support. One veteran gave Bundy the Bronze Star he had earned while in active duty.

Ammon Bundy received the Bronze Star
from a veteran because of Bundy's brave stance
to retain our God-given rights.

Another man gave Ammon the American Flag which had shrouded the burial casket of his fallen veteran brother:

Ammon Bundy with the American Flag

Why did these men give Bundy such prized possessions of honor? I submit that they wanted to show what appreciation they could for Bundy's brave stance for the rights of all Americans. He was exercising the rights which these men fought to preserve and enhance. Bundy's legal fight against the lawlessness of these federal agencies demonstrated to the First Responders and America's veterans that there are still good men out there who are using what they had fought for.

In spite of his brave and legal efforts in southeastern Oregon, he was arrested and even placed in solitary confinement. For two years, he suffered not just unjust incarceration, not just painful separation from his wife and four beautiful children, but incessant abuse from prison guard and inmates. They stopped up his ears once and blew out his eardrums, for example. There other abuses he suffered which I will not detail at this time. The point remains that the fight against the abusive federal government is rule. The corruption of the Deep State in Washington DC affects everyone, not just President Trump and his staff our elected officials trying to get to the bottom of the Swamp Rot.

Ammon Bundy with his daughter Avery

For decades, the federal government has seized property or claimed public or non-owned property without constitutional authority. Bundy said "Enough", and more people around the country are teaming with him. During my private discussions with Ammon, he frequently referenced the United States Constitution. Nowhere does the federal government have a right to take property and transform it into national parks under strict rules and regulations.

Our federal government has declared war against farmers and ranchers: men and women, the farmers and ranchers who till the land, who raise livestock to our general benefit. These abuses have not stopped Ammon and a growing contingent of farmers, growers, harvesters, men and women who trust in God's goodness and refuse to relinquish their God-given rights. "You fight for your rights where you are, not in a courtroom," he told the Siskiyou County audience. Indeed.

Bundy was not afraid to point out the source of rights. They do not come from the state, they do not come from other people. We are created in God's image, and from Him we receive our authority, our ability, our prosperity. Ammon Bundy's struggles and victories must be told, but his courage must be emulated. We can't Make America Great Again until We the People demand that the government at all levels becomes constitutional again.

Ammon Bundy At the Siskiyou County Republican Women Federated, Yreka (Photos)