Two headlines in the Dec. 11 issue of the Idaho Capital Sun caught my attention because they typified Raul Labrador’s track record during his two years in office. While Labrador promised to represent the interests of the people, he has utterly failed to do so.
The first headline proclaimed, “Judges in Oregon, Washington, block Kroger-Albertsons supermarket merger.” The second headline said, “Appeals court considers next step for emergency abortion care in Idaho.” In the first instance, Labrador chose to sit out a case that would have increased the grocery bill of Idaho families in areas where Fred Meyer and Albertsons compete for customers.
In the second, Labrador has spent an inordinate amount of time trying to prevent women with dangerous pregnancies from getting life-saving care in Idaho emergency rooms. Jim Jones When the Kroger-Albertsons merger was announced in October of 2022, the anti-competitive implications of the first- and second-largest traditional grocers combining were obvious. It was practically a no-brainer that competition would suffer and grocery prices would rise.
In March of 2023, Labrador’s office indicated that he was reviewing the deal. The U.S.
Federal Trade Commission and eight states, including Oregon, Nevada and Wyoming, filed suit against the grocers, claiming that the merger would increase grocery prices in the areas where the two companies competed head-to-head. That was certainly the case in significant portions of the state of Idah.
