Red State Rebels

Exxon-McCain '08, live in Idaho Falls

John McCain is in Big Oil's pocket, and a Friday morning event in Idaho Falls will help Eastern Idahoans understand why voting for McCain is such a bad idea. Head to the Exxon station at 1940 W. Broadway in Idaho Falls at 11 a.m. Friday for an event that organizers say will "highlight John McCain's promise of $4 billion in new giveaways for oil companies already enjoying record profits and a gas tax gimmick that will line their pockets even more.  The event will highlight Exxon John's opposition to Senator Obama's plan to give middle class families an energy tax credit paid for with a windfalls profits tax, his pattern of voting against incentives for alternatives to oil, and his history of opposing efforts to increase fuel efficiency standards for automobiles."

Click here to learn more about the national Exxon-McCain '08 campaign.

Debbie Holmes: Simpson's oil stand

Last week, Mike Simpson voted against H.R. 6251, The Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act, which discouraged oil and gas companies from buying leases in areas that they had no intention of utilizing. This is yet another sign that Mike Simpson is more interested in sustaining the status quo of the energy economy than fixing a system which is hurting his constituents. Tell Mike Simpson that you want a representative who will work for an energy plan that helps the American public, not a congressman who feels we should stay in the oil economy for another 50 years.

Visit our website and donate to the campaign on ActBlue.

Obama campaign announces platform meetings

Just got this email from the Obama campaign:

Every four years, the Democratic Party assembles a platform that outlines the party's position on a number of issues. Traditionally, the drafting of the platform is not open to ordinary people.This year, that's going to change.

For two weeks in July, people all across America will hold Platform Meetings in their own communities to discuss the issues and share their input. The outcome of these meetings will be reviewed by the Drafting Committee as it creates the final Platform.

The window for meetings is July 19-27, which is actually just over a week. No meetings have been set up in Boise yet, but if you're game to do so, you can get info here. The campaign suggests that rather than tackle the task of writing an entire platform, meeting organizers choose to focus on one key plank. It'd be great to see separate meetings emerge in Idaho population centers on such key topics as energy and the environment, the economy, education, health care, and America's role in the world.

Debbie Holmes: kickoff event/energy policy

Come to the Debbie Holmes for Congress General Election Kickoff Party tonight at 5:30, at Davies Reid (515 Main) in Downtown Boise! There will be free food and beverages, although a donation to the campaign is recommended.

I recognize the change we need concerning our government's stance on energy issues. We need a strong research program dedicated to improving the sustainability and safety of various alternative forms of energy. Right now, between our dependence on foreign oil and climate change, we are very vulnerable, both on a national and a global scale. I believe my answer to the previous question answers this question for the most part.

Currently, with the price of oil per barrel wavering around $130, there's quite a lot of interest in making alternative forms of energy sustainable and safe. But for at least 30 years, we've known we had a problem. Every time the price of a barrel of oil goes down, we lose interest in renewable and sustainable energy programs. We do not have energy security or sustainability in the status quo, and we need to focus on changing this in the long term, regardless of short-term improvements in the carbon-based fuel market.

An aftereffect of a strong research program such as the one I propose would be an increase in the number of jobs available in this country. With unemployment up and wages, this would be a great benefit, if an incidental one.

Mike Simpson has discouraged government investment in renewable energy and has refused to cut a penny in big oil subsidies. I pledge that I will never be in the pocket of big oil and will always look at the bigger picture; we need a sustainable energy economy; sticking with the failing system of the past is not the route to a brighter future for America.

Visit our website here or donate to the campaign at ActBlue. Go to SEFORA for related policy statements. 

It's Dump the Pump Day

This is the third annual Dump the Pump Day. I have more on that at the Boise Bus Blog, as well as a link to the Idaho Statesman story about how a labor dispute may be hurting Boise bus service at the expense of intercounty lines.

Meanwhile, news stories show that Americans cut back - way back - on our driving as fuel neared $4 a gallon over last winter and spring, and that many people consider the lifestyle change permanent. What about you? How have the higher gas prices affected your local driving habits? Will you be traveling out of town less this summer?

Al Gore endorses Obama

OK, so it's a little late at this point, but still significant: Al Gore is endorsing Barack Obama. An event is planned for 6:30 p.m. Mountain today. Here's more.

Energy and the environment are practically the only area in which John McCain has nominally distanced himself from George W. Bush. So it'll be great to have Gore letting Americans know which candidate stands the best chance of making progress against global warming and growing green jobs.

Update Tuesday 6.17.08: Here's a video from the AP of Gore's endorsement. Here's the best passage:

Many people have waited for some sign that our country is awakening once again. How will we know when a massive wave of reform and recovery and regeneration is about to take hold and renew our nation? What would it look like if such a change were beginning to build? I think we might recognize it as a sign of such change if we saw millions of young people getting involved for the first time in the political process. I think we might just recognize it if we saw that new generation casting aside obsolete and hurtful distinctions and reaching out to one another across the ancient divisions that have frustrated action in the past. I think we would know this change was coming if a new generation rejected the special interest politics of the past and the big money that fueled it, and instead used the internet to get small donations and unite Americans in a common effort to realize our common destiny.

And check out the front page of today's Detroit Free Press.

I'm voting Republican

You know, I just think they've been right all along - so why fight it?

Seriously, on behalf of my fellow Boise Democrats, welcome to the 2008 Idaho Democratic Convention. I won't be with you - I'm in Denver on a business trip - but I am there in spirit. Have fun and get ready to kick some GOP butt! (Thanks for the video, Dale ...)

Weekend edition 6/7-8: Clinton endorses Obama

Hillary Clinton plans an event at 10 a.m. Mountain today (Saturday) to announce her endorsement of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. Add your reaction in the comments below.

Update 11:30 a.m.: Senator Clinton did a great job with her speech this morning. Here's the key passage:

The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand, is to take our energy, our passion, our strength, and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States. Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.

Clinton said Obama displayed "grace and grit" in their long primary campaign. The same can be said of her remarks today. Thank you, Senator.

Some other items of interest:

Both Larry Craig and Mike Crapo voted to stall the bipartisan climate change bill in the Senate yesterday. There will be no more action on the pressing issue until after the elections, so Idahoans need to ask whether Larry LaRocco (who supported the current legislation) or Jim Risch (who opposes it) is more serious about having a responsible, secure energy future.

The 2008 National Conference for Media Reform is under way in Minneapolis this weekend, according to an email we received from Boise Community Radio. The event is being webcast at Free Press.

A few months ago, Serephin of 43rd State Blues and I attended an excellent bloggers' summit put on by the New Organizing Institute. NOI is taking its show on the road this summer, with political trainings in many regions of the country, including one in the Northwest the second week of July. Click here for more information on "Training Technology-Enabled Leaders."

This is a ways off, but we got the good news this week that Buhl, Idaho ... yes, Buhl ... has one of the nation's newest Drinking Liberally chapters. Its first meeting will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, June 27, at the Cosmic Jolt, 120 Broadway Ave. S. DL also meets in Boise, Idaho Falls, Moscow (on hiatus a while due to Sara's recent surgery), Pocatello, and Twin Falls. Get details here.

Timber vote fallout

Bill Sali is in a heap o' trouble over his vote to deny continued timber program payments to rural communities hurt by logging cutbacks - money that helps fund schools, roads, police protection, and more across 700 rural counties in 39 states.

To be fair, almost all the House Republicans - including Mike Simpson - voted against the bill because they didn't like Democratic plans to pay for the extension by collecting back payments from big oil companies. But Sali is taking more heat than most because he represents a district that will be one of the hardest hit by the decision. As the Walt Minnick campaign noted yesterday, losing these funds could mean a $2.8 million budget shortfall for Idaho County, while Shoshone County stands to lose $4 million - a full third of its annual budget.

The Sali campaign blasted the bill as a sham that will boost gas prices. But writing at New West, Jill Kuraitis noted:

So far, the Sali for Congress campaign has accepted $21,000 from oil PACs and $371,366 from all PACs, which is 75% of his contributions. The Minnick for Congress campaign has accepted no oil PAC money, and $29,500 from all PACs, which is 4% of his contributions.

At Ridenbaugh Press, Randy Stapilus says that this bill was crafted by Dems to put Republicans on the spot, but that it nonetheless served to show where GOP legislators' loyalties lie - and it's not with rural communities:

You can ask the question, If top priority was getting a funding bill passed, why would (Oregon Rep. Peter) De Fazio and his allies run one that was so likely to draw Republican fire and therefore likely doom it? (Of course, finding the money hasn’t been an easy thing regardless - (Oregon Rep. Greg) Walden and other Republicans haven’t yet found a winning formula either.) But we suspect that will be superseded by another question: When the choice came to a decision between taxes paid by oil companies and desperately needy counties in the Northwest, why did those Northwest representatives vote on the side of the oil companies? That could be a deadly question.

The evening news ...

It's been a busy day. A few highlights:

In Congress today, Bill Sali helped defeat a bill designed to help rural communities and schools. Idaho would've been one of the bill's biggest beneficiaries. Sali challenger Walt Minnick has more, as does the Washington Post.

From the Huffington Post, Idaho and the 2006 Larry Grant campaign get huzzahs from the Barack Obama campaign, as Exhibit A of how Democrats can compete here. Ah, it sure is nice for the '06 Grant campaign  to get a little respect. (Disclosure: As most of you know, I was its campaign blogger and netroots outreach person.) Also, Hillary Clinton (who plans to endorse Obama on Saturday) has distanced herself from efforts to promote her as the VP nominee.