Cheers to NNU Faculty: I had my first official encounter with NNU"s faculty on Friday and Saturday and have to say that I was truly impressed. They are very warm and kind people who are doing great work educating the Treasure Valley.

Cheers to Kevin Richert for taking on the Boise Mayor Dave Bieter's simplisticdescription of the street car debate as some argument on which entrepenural...read more

At a Christian conference I attended this weekend, a fellow attendee suggested conservative Christians don't want to be identified with the environmentalist movement because it is identified with liberalism and that we have missed our great commission to be green. The idea is that only our petty labeling stops us from working with others for the good of all mankind.

I must disagree. I don't...read more

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID 14) missed a committee hearing today. The Wardpounced andreleased a statement:

Today, State Representative Raul Labrador skipped the legislature to campaign for Congress in Northern Idaho. While campaigning, Labrador missed the House State Affairs Committee.

Among the important topics covered in today's hearing was a briefing from Idaho's military division. They discussed the possible assignment of three F-35 Strike Fighter squadrons to Boise that would effectively double the size of the Idaho Air National Guard. The Air National Guard's payroll would double, which would be a significant economic impact for southern Idaho.

"Raul Labrador must think it is more important to campaign for higher office than to work on behalf of the Idaho taxpayers that elected him," Ward spokesman Ryan O'Barto said. "If Raul is not going to fight to bring jobs back to Idaho in the State legislature, then how can we trust him to do it in Congress."

O'Barto continued, "The State legislature costs Idaho taxpayers $33,000 per day. Some state workers are being asked to work without pay to balance the budget. Why is he getting paid to not work? Raul might believe it is not important to fulfill his duty to the taxpayers, but I do. He needs to either focus on working on behalf of the people of Idaho or resign his seat in the State legislature. With such important issues facing Idaho such as an all time high unemployment rate and the upcoming budget, Idahoans deserve someone who can represent them on a full time basis.

If...read more

Boos to Vaughn Ward: Idaho Conservative Blogger asked Vaughn Ward about criticism he's received for his campaign's perceivedWashington ties and after initially promising a response, his campaign delivered this statement:

"we are gaining a great deal of momentum. We are traveling the district discussing how Vaughn is going to put Idahoans back to work. Our campaign is focused on the issues that are important to Idaho and America and how we can fix these problems.

We are humbled by the overwhelming support we have received over the last 10 months and we look forward to continuing to talk and visit with all Idahoans across the district."

The...read more

As things stnad now, JFAC won't get defunded based on what's coming out of JFAC from Republicans:

Lawmakers on the joint budget committee said they've been deluged with calls and emails asking them not to cut out state funding for Idaho Public Television. "Nobody wants us to eliminate funding for public television," said Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said her constituents have been asking her "not to cut it - to find someplace else to cut." Said Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, "The only emails I'm getting from my constituents are in support of public TV."

Sen. Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson, said, "There's a lot of support out there, but we have to weigh it against the other needs and wants of the state."

Now...read more

All the cheers and boos I can put into 40 minutes of writing:

• Cheers to Senator Joyce Broadsword (R-2) for introducing a bill to double the sentence for felony injury to a child. We need to take crimes against children more seriously.
• Boos to Rep. Carlos Bilbao (R-11) for introducing a bill to make grafiti a felony. Let me be clear. Grafiti is bad. There was some in the park across the street from our church and its an eye sore to the community. That said, do we have space for felons? Do we really wanttomake some19-year old aFelon for grafiti?This is not an issue for the legislature.
• Cheers to the Idaho Meth projectwhich has actually done a good job changing Idahoans minds about meth through education.
• Boos to the Idaho Education Bureaucracy: Two Idaho businessmen testified that our Idaho schools are failing to prepare kids for the jobs of tomorrow. Of course, an argument could be made that the public schools shouldn't turn out corporate chocolate soldiers. But what do schools turn out consistently? Do they turn out great artists or people who are knowledgable in the great cultural works of the country? Do they turn out people who know history? Do they turn out great artists? Great scientists?

Yes, you'll find some of that number among the graduates of public schools, but these are exceptions rather than the rules of public education. And the Teacher's Union knows it. When unions argue against merit pay, they argue that it's not fair to teachers because whether they get good students or bad is all luck of the draw, and a teacher could be saddled with parents who don't care or are abusive, or kids in difficult situations. If teachers have so little control over what happens to student performance, it suggests our education system doesn't work.

What's required is a fundamental re-examination of how we educate. People act like publicly funded schools that keep kids in class 180 days a year for six hours a day is the ONLY way to do education, and promoting alternatives to public education undermines this wonderful system. Yet this system isless than two centuries old, and in America, it is failing to achieve worldclass results.

I support education, kids aren't getting it, and they won't continue to do it as long as we continue to act to please the teacher's union.

1. Whatever one thinks of the arguments for public television in the 1960s and 70s, the world has changed. With the expansion of Cable and Satellite packages, home movie rentals, libraries lending films, and films posted on the Internet, the public has more access to educational television than at any time in the history of mankind with or without taxpayer funding to Idaho Public Television.
2. In this time, when schools and so many programs on which Idahoans depend are being cut back, it is incumbent on the state to prioritize and to eliminate unnecessary spending and programs.
3. Most of Idaho Public Television's funds do not come from the State of Idaho, and therefore they should be able to continue their work in some form regardless of what the state does.
4. While I acknowledge that there are some special programs, features, or stations which may be curtailed as a result of cuts, Governor Otter has laid out a sensible exit strategy providing plenty of time for IPTV to find alternate sources of funding.
5. I further acknowledge that it is possible that some rural communities may no longer have public television. However, it is not the job of taxpayers to provide this.
6. I believe that institutions for the common good of the community can and should only survive through voluntary support from those who care about their work. If the supporters of Public Television have decided that if IPTV is defunded by Idaho that it's not worth the sacrifice to make up the difference out of their own pocket, why should those who don't watch IPTV or don't care about it have to pay for it?
7. It is no more the job of the government of Idaho to ensure that that IPTV is on the air in Burley than it is for the state of Idaho to ensure there's an opera house and disco in Burley.
8. In regards to the Idaho Public Television coverage of the State legislature (which some say is threatened by these cuts), I'd point out that I'm among the vast majority of this state that rarely or never sees the coverage. The reason? I'm working while the legislature meets, so is most of the state. Again, the many are subsidizing the wants of the few.

Cheers to the late Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage (R-ID): One person I'm asked repeatedly about is Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage. "Do you remember when Helen Chenoweth..." Her name is brought up frequently, repeatedly, and reverently in the political circles in which I move and I heard her name this weekend at the March for Life as well. Unfortunately, I only met Congressman Chenoweth-Hage...read more

Vaughn Ward is having a 17-city announcement tour for his campaign for Congress. While this may seem odd, I understand why Ward is doing it. If you're a normal human being (as opposed to a political junkie), you don't pay attention to who is running for Congress the year before. So, while Ward may not be new to me, but he's new to many voters.

However, there's a problem with the...read more

Idaho faces tough challenges in the year 2010. Unemployment, Education, a broken tax code. One man understands the needs of our state and the moment in which we live. Rep. Richard Jarvis (R-21) showed his deft understanding of our state's needs when he stood up and proudly introduced H389.

H389 proudly delare that in Idaho, our state amphimbian is the Giant Salamander.

That'll fix the...read more

Martin Luther King, Jr. is very different from most American holidays. Holidays like Washington 's Birthday, July 4th, Veteran's Day, or even Columbus Day are truly celebrations of great people's lives and accomplishments. The accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr. are certainly worth celebrating. However, in the hands of many radicals the day has become something quite different.

Festivus...read more

Confession: I've become very cynical about politics and politicians. This is odd because I was one. I ran for the State legislature and before that County Treasurer. I've thought about running since then, but at this point in my life, I think I'd rather have a root canal.

There are less pompous spewers of hot air among politicians than there are in the political press, but given the percentage...read more

Former Boise City Council Candidate Lucas Baumbach isn't that much into Vaughn Ward's Congressional campaign, not anymore. In a scathing piece, posted at the Boise Picayune, Baumbach lambasts the Ward campaign.

To be fair, not of all of Baumbach's assaults on Ward are reasonable. For example,Baumbach blames Ward for McCain losing Nevada. McCain lost Nevada by 12 points.Could a different...read more

Ken Roberts' congressional campaign helped land him in the hospital. Part of it may have been the insane travel according to the Statesman:

"I would be in Coeur d'Alene or Sandpoint one day and then Boise the next day," Roberts, 46, said in his first interview since ending his campaign. "It was not fun."

The geographical size of both of Idaho's Congressional...read more

The semi-annual round of blogospherich battles over Idaho Public Television is heating up with Sharon Fisher's confusing piece over at New West. There are several things wrong with. She spends most of the piece responding to Wayne Hoffman's suggestion that the state has more necessary things to do than spend money on the arts and public television.

Fisher than spends most of the article...read more