One week after the Idaho House Health & Welfare Committee shamefully killed a day-care safety bill, the House on Monday defeated House Concurrent Resolution 18, which would have established early childhood learning standards. The bill, proposed by Democrats Branden Durst and Donna Pence, aimed to establish a quality rating system to help parents make better choices on child care. But it failed on a 43-27 vote. Read more here.
In related news, kudos to Fort Boise and Idaho Public Television for pointing out this gem from the Idaho Falls Post Register:
JEERS to Rep. Tom Loertscher, R- Iona. Just a few days ago, he helped sink a badly needed improvement in
Idaho's day-care licensing program -- ranked the worst in the nation by
the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.
And here's what he said, "What can we do to keep Mom at home?"
Is this the same Tom Loertscher who in 1996 voted to slash welfare? That change pushed more than 20,000 poor Idaho women into the work force -- and their children into government-subsidized (at a cost of $31.2 million a year) day care.
Not that Loertscher has anything against welfare - provided he's the one getting it. The Environmental Working Group estimates Loertscher has raked in more than $900,000 in farm subsidies during the past 10 years. Included in that is $765,000 he received through the conservation reserve program. Essentially, he got that money for doing nothing.
What a hypocrite.
I'm stunned by this guy...
Posted by: Jay Stevens | March 06, 2007 at 12:05 AM
I'm stunned by the people who voted to send him to the legislature.
Posted by: Irwin Horowitz | March 06, 2007 at 09:33 AM
And he's in his what ... 10th term? Yikes ...
I'm just back from the legislature this morning, and I am happy to report that John Rusche's robocall bill sailed through the full House. Only two people voted against it. Guess who?! Tom Loertscher and Lenore Barrett. (I dunno; I guess they don't get robocalls in Bone and Challis.)
Posted by: Julie in Boise | March 06, 2007 at 12:06 PM
Hi Julie. Is there a link to the Environmental Working Group where you got those figures?
Posted by: Sisyphus | March 06, 2007 at 03:17 PM
Sorry, but that wasn't my story; it was the Post Register's.
Seems like they ought to be an issue in Mr L's next election, though.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | March 06, 2007 at 03:49 PM
Loertscher has the safest Republican District in the state (31) -- and *that* is definitely saying something, in this state. Unless another Rub (possibly one mad about the farm subsidies thing) takes him on/out in the primary, we may not get a crack at him until the 2011 redistricting.
Posted by: The Nickel-Plated JA | March 06, 2007 at 04:49 PM
Sorry Julie. I guess I failed to recognize the italics continuing through. I followed the link and was a little dismayed that immediately afterward the Post Register cheers Jancie McGeachin for voting her principles on another matter, even though her hypocrisy was shining through loud and clear right there with Loertscher's on the child care vote. Local papers failing to report on the votes of our reps is one thing I've been griping about in the comments over here: http://www.boiseguardian.com/2007/02/28/barefoot_and_pregnant_in_the_kitchen.html Thanks for the heads up on PR article.
Posted by: Sisyphus | March 06, 2007 at 05:13 PM
I saw Loertscher do a lot of this sort of thing last year. It's pretty much his MO.
Posted by: sharon fisher | March 06, 2007 at 09:45 PM
This disgusted me when I first read about it.
However, I became outraged when four of these legislators tried to justify their reasons in today's post register op-ed section.
I wrote an article that clearly lays out their hypocrisy.
Please comment, and especially use the Share feature to email two of those legislators and ask them to answer the charges of hypocrisy.
http://idahofallz.com/2007/03/08/legislators-reveal-their-hypocrisy-in-family-values/
Posted by: Joe Vandal | March 08, 2007 at 09:03 AM