I love it. We may finally have a moniker equal to the reflexively retrograde Idaho legislators who are holding our state hostage. From the Idaho Falls Post Register via Tom Paine at 43rd State Blues, William T. Sellers writes::
Whether it’s trashing the efforts of our Congressman and Senator to established balanced wilderness areas, voting against community colleges, public input on feedlots, daycare and early education standards, local option, or haranguing that “Godzilla was on the loose in Boise” (the prehistoric reptile was now “big government”), one rural state representative always shows her colors.
Yep, it’s Lenore Barrett preachin’ again, the legislator-curmudgeon from Challis, who purports to represent District 35. Barrett, a 72 year old pistol-packing plutocrat who curiously lists her vocations as “mining” and “investments”, keeps quite an estate up there. Having atrophied in place for 14 years, hers is a gigantic rural district, except as it approaches Idaho Falls & Rexburg. It stretches across nearly 50% of the state’s east-central region, and therein lies the mystery.
I say it’s a ‘mystery’ because House leadership has allowed Barrett, the alpha-sister in the Clan of the ‘Cave’ People (a.k.a. “citizens against virtually everything”), to chair the important Local Government Committee.
It gets better. Read it all here. It's beeeyoootiful, fearless stuff. I'm saying it here first: Bill Sellers for Governor. Or as Tom Paine said in posting it, "Whatever this guy's drinking, we need some RR tankercar loads of the same."
She's holding SB1056 hostage in the Loc. Gov. committee. That's the bill that allows those who are affected by CAFO's to comment at public hearings.
Alma Hasse of ICARE brought it to my attention this morning and I've updated a post with some contact info. Click my name for the link.
Posted by: MountainGoat | March 17, 2007 at 10:05 AM
Hello
(we get out to all the schools everywhere)
and Alma Hasse is one of my best friends !
Maxie Casebear
Posted by: Max Casebeau | March 17, 2007 at 03:04 PM
MG, thanks for the link. Everyone, write Barrett and Denney and tell Barrett that she MUST give a hearing to SB 1056.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | March 17, 2007 at 03:16 PM
She's doing exactly what leadership in the House wants her to do. I'll write her but it'll be beating my head against the wall. We need to amass the droves of backward decisions by this session in preparation for the Democratic sweep in 08. Her district has major ranching interests involved. As you can see she could give a damn about anyone outside her district. I'd be holding her pigeonholing this popular bill against leadership and her party cause she obviously doesn't care what the rest of the state wants.
Posted by: Sisyphus | March 17, 2007 at 03:55 PM
The Sunday Idaho Statesman has two interesting items of note: a Page 1 story on frustrated GOP moderates and Kevin Richert's column on Barrett and this bill. Click my name for the latter (which appeared earlier in the week on Richert's blog).
Here's the page 1 piece on the tyranny of the CAVE dwellers (which the conservative majority disputes, natch):
http://www.idahostatesman.com/101/story/76150.html
I wonder if some of these disgruntled moderates would consider simply running as Democrats next time? Their party has left them. Ours is a big tent. It's time to move Idaho forward, and the CAVE dwellers aren't gonna do it, so we need to overwhelm them.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | March 18, 2007 at 09:48 AM
An interesting thing left out of that modererate story is that when Denney and Deal were running for Speaker, I swear that they quoted Denney saying there wouldn't be any reprisals against people who supported Deal.
Posted by: sharon fisher | March 18, 2007 at 10:28 PM
Gee, guess Denney lied...
He's getting foes fired and friends hired... click my name...
Posted by: Diana Rowe Pauls | March 22, 2007 at 08:00 AM