So, by now, gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell's Obama tags story has been across the wires and around the nation. For those who didn't read it, here are the facts:

After an audience member shouted a question about "Obama tags" during a discussion on wolves, Rammell responded, "The Obama tags? We'd buy some of those."

Rammell, a veterinarian and former elk rancher from Idaho Falls, said his comment was a joke and he would never seriously talk about President Obama that way, although he doesn't support anything Obama's done as president.

"I was just being sarcastic. That was just a joke," Rammell said. "I would never support him being assassinated.

"She kind of caught me off guard, to be honest with you."

That...read more

I wrote a post, making the argument that if Alex Rodriguez were represented by a union like the teacher's union, he'd make far less and the game would be far less interesting. Several people pointed out in comments that A-Rod is represented by a union. Yes, he is, but he is not represented by a union that is like the NEA

The MLBPA does not try to limit rewards for merit. It focuses on maintaing...read more

• Apologies for being AWOL. I've been busy completing a college course.
• While Rep. Walt Minnick's 100% score on the Club for Growth REPORK card has made news, the score of his House Colleague, Mike Simpson garnered a 1% anti-pork rating, supporting 67 pieces of wasteful spending and opposing one. I'm at a lost as to what to do about Simpson's voting record. I've had ideas for several protests including advising members of the public to send pork rinds to Simpson's office, as well as having a protestor in a pig costume try to shame Simpson and attract media attention to Simpson's fiscally wreckless voting record. The problem is that Simpson can't be shamed. He figures that he owns this seat as long as he wants it. The media doesn't care. I'm open to ideas.
• Endorsements are coming hard and fast in the 1st District Congressional race. I've received e-mails announcing support for Vaughn Ward from former Governor and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and former Ada County GOP Chairman Ben Doty. In the meanwhile,House Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts (R-Donnelly) Meanwhile Roberts picked up the endorsement of 29 legislators including such Conservative stalwarts as Senator Russ Fulcher (R-21), Representative Marv Hagedorn (R-20), and even the more moderate George Eskridge (R-1).
• Will any of these endorsements matter? In and of themselves, no. Former State Senator Skip Brandt received the endorsement of former Congresswoman Helen Chenoweth in the 2006 GOP Primary and Brandt finished dead last. Both Ward and Roberts are little know across the district, however national political coverage almost always lists Ward as "the candidate" against Minnick, which means a lot of out of state money will float in, and that Ward is the frontrunner right now, particularly with Ward having the backing of a lot of the State political establishment. The challenge of Id. Rep. Roberts is to get known and show he can raise serious cash. This is going to be a challenge. Roberts has a solidly conservative voting record (85% Idaho Conservative rating), but not a spectacular one, so he's not going to excite a lot of out of funds from groups like the Club for Growth, as Bill Sali did. Of course, as the Republican Caucus chair, he may be able to raise more in-state dollars. Though Roberts may need to weigh his options on that. Serving in the State House will mean taking two months off the campaign trail to focus on the legislative work, while Ward can continue to campaign freely could tie his hands. Leaving the State House and letting Governor Otter appoint a replacement probably wouldn't be abad idea.
• A bad headline for Democrats in the last couple of weeks. Idaho Schools showed big academic improrvementwith 2 out of 3 schools meeting their goals in Math, Reading, and English, up from 56% in 2006-2007 school year and way up from 27% under Democrat Marilyn Howard in the 2004-05 school year. Not sure how this adds up to Tom Luna being vulnerable.
• A News Story that proves people comment on the news without reading it. The Statesman ran an article talking about how Gallup found Idahoans had a sense of well-being. A political foodfight ensued in the comments with liberals excoriating the stupid Idahoans for being happy, and many political points were made. However, reading the article itself, the sense of well-being had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with"life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors and access to basic necessities." Other than access to some basic necessities, government has little to do with any of these things. Or perhaps liberals have a much greater expectation of what government is to provide. However, if Democrats depend on Idahoans being anx-ridden wrecks looking for government to save them, they may be infor a rude awakening.

A favorite philosophical question often asked is, "Why does your average teacher earn a little more than one percent of what Alex Rodriguez does in a year?" There's a simple market-based explanation for this. Alex Rodriguez can play the game of baseball like few other people and his services come at a premium in a free market.

However, Alex Rodriguez would earn far less if only the...read more

For the past three years, my church has hosted a video simulcast of "The Leadership Summit" from the Willow Creek Association. I've not attended in years past because I don't have an actual leadership title or position. However, I'm applying to move up into a role with a bit more leadership responsibility, so I thought it would be worthwhile.

I don't know how much the...read more

I must confess I'm in a minority. More than 80% of Republicans voted for Congressman Mike Simpson in the GOP Primary and 71% voted to re-elected Simpson over Yellow Dog Democrat Deborah Holmes.

Yet, I'm that statistical anomaly. I'm a Republican and I don't like Mike Simpson. When it comes out in conversation, the idea is pooh poohed or a fellow conservative will sympathize and admit...read more