Red State Rebels

Wayne Hoffman's six cents

Wayne Hoffman, former spokesman for the lamentable Bill Sali, has found a few new ways to occupy his time. He's now director of a supposedly nonpartisan free-market think tank and a columnist for the Idaho Statesman. Here's a snip of a guest commentary I did earlier today at NewWest.net regarding Hoffman's new gigs. (I would've sent this straight to the Statesman except another op-ed of mine has been bottled up there for several weeks.)

Few would disagree with the main point of Hoffman’s first column, published Sunday: We ought to have more transparent government spending. Democrats have been calling for that for years, and President Obama is moving ahead to be sure it happens, both for government in general and his proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan in particular.

I’m sure that all Democrats, Republicans and Independents agree with Hoffman’s premise. But Hoffman’s opening paragraph is worth a second thought since it belies the key difference between the two major parties. He wrote:

“I’m one Idaho taxpayer who is delighted that state government is undergoing major surgery. Every time the state adds 6 percent onto the price of the things I buy, I imagine ways I’d spend that money if I were not giving it to the government.”

Every time he spends money, he thinks about that? Clearly, Wayne Hoffman is obsessed with taxes more than your average Idahoan.

Like most people, I just pay the six cents. But every once in a while, when I’m prompted by someone like Hoffman to think about taxes, I don’t think about how I’d spend my tax pennies if I had them all to myself. Instead, I think about how – as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously said - “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.”

Read it all over at NewWest.net - and let's plan on keeping a very sharp eye on the, ahem, nonpartisan writer who not six months ago accused the Idaho media of being "shrill news lemmings all marching willingly to a sea of liberalism, filth and innuendo.” - JF

'Suspended' campaign, eh?

John McCain made a big show yesterday of saying he'd "suspend" his campaign to work on the financial crisis. Many Americans immediately suspected that McCain was throwing his second "Hail Mary" pass in a month - and indeed, we learned today, as Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said:

John McCain did not “suspend” his campaign.  He just turned a national crisis into an occasion to promote his campaign.  It’s become just another political stunt, aimed more at shoring up the Senator’s political fortunes than the nation’s economy.  And it does nothing to help advance this critical legislation to protect the American people during this time of economic crisis.

There was ample evidence today - in commercials aired, surrogates spinning, and volunteers welcomed - that the former "Straight Talk Express" has lost whatever credibility it still had. You have to wonder: What's the real reason John McCain doesn't want to debate Barack Obama? This is pathetic.

Update, Friday morning: The debate is on. McCain is accusing Obama of political posturing during Thursday's White House meeting (at which the hapless McCain reportedly sat mute for 40 minutes). Such leadership.

New Minnick ad calls out Sali

The Walt Minnick for Congress campaign debuted this hard-hitting ad against Bill Sali earlier this week. Predictably, the Sali campaign called foul. But as its lead story last night, KTVB in Boise fact-checked the ad and found it to be 100 percent accurate. It's too bad that, at the end of its piece, KTVB noted a poll showing Sali ahead of Minnick - but not the one that has Minnick ahead. There are plenty more stories on the 1st CD race on Minnick's campaign blog.

Idaho GOP wants to abolish Federal Reserve

Idaho Democratic Party executive director Jim Hansen reminds us all at the state party website that the state Republican Party is on record as wanting to abolish the Federal Reserve. A snip:

There are few people alive who remember the 1929 stock market crash and the devastating depression that followed. If Idaho Republicans got their way, a crash of similar or greater impact would have happened this month.

It is clear that years of irresponsible lending fueled by Republican economic deregulation policies has accelerated into a dizzying series of near-disasters in the global economy. To put on the brakes and prevent the economy from completely derailing, our government must turn to a tool that Franklin D. Roosevelt created during the Depression: The Federal Reserve.

Read it all here. Jim raises an interesting question: Do Bill Sali, Jim Risch, Mike Simpson, Mike Crapo, Larry Craig, Butch Otter, and other Idaho Republicans actually stand behind this plank in the state GOP platform? Also, isn't it interesting how 1st CD candidate Bill Sali lashed out against the financial market bailout package before he knew anything about it - and now he's having to promise he'll keep an open mind? In complex times like this, we need leaders who think before they talk.

Update 9/24/08: Check out what Kos pointed out Tuesday afternoon (h/t Jill) ... this passage from the Republican Party Platform adopted mere weeks ago:

We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself.

I can only imagine the moral confusion that free-market zealots are experiencing this week, as they realize that their black-and-white positions don't work in the modern world.

Dems seek changes to GOP bailout plan

Fighting as ever for middle-class families, Congressional Democrats are seeking key changes in the Bush administration's bailout for the financial industry. From the AP:

Judges could rewrite mortgages to lower bankrupt homeowners' monthly payments as part of changes congressional Democrats are seeking in the Bush administration's proposed $700 billion financial system bailout. Also, companies that unloaded their bad assets on the government in the massive rescue would have to limit their executives' pay packages and agree to revoke any bonuses awarded based on bogus claims, according to a draft of the plan obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

The proposal by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the Banking Committee chairman, gives the government broad power to buy up virtually any kind of bad asset — including credit card debt or car loans — from any financial institution in the U.S. or abroad in order to stabilize markets.

But it would end the program at the end of next year, instead of creating the two-year-long initiative that the Bush administration has sought. And it would add layers of oversight, including an emergency board to keep an eye on the program with two congressional appointees, and a special inspector general appointed by the president.

More here. This is just one more example of how Democrats put Main Street before Wall Street.

Update, late Monday afternoon: It sounds like the White House will agree to some of the Democrats' demands. This truly is a situation where bipartisan support is needed.

Health beat: McCain's records, LaRocco blogs live

John McCain is 72 years old and has several serious health conditions. Particularly considering the national inexperience of his vice presidential running mate, Americans need to be able to take McCain's health history into account before making a decision on his fitness for the world's most difficult job. Watch this video and sign the open letter asking McCain to release his health records.

In other news, U.S. Senate candidate Larry LaRocco plans a repeat visit to Daily Kos today to discuss his plans for health-care reform. The Idaho Democrat is calling for an American-based system that will provide more options, both public and private, with added portability. Join Larry online at dKos from 1 to 2 p.m. Mountain/noon to 1 Pacific.

Weekend edition: spreading truth over manure

Nothing I can add to this, other than be sure that it's seen by your friends, family, and colleagues who are considering a vote for McCain.

I've also added a new blogroll at right: Sites for Skeptics. It includes Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films, which made this video and many other good ones; FactCheck.org and PolitiFact/Truth-o-Meter, which offer nonpartisan assessments of campaign ads and claims; News Hounds (motto: "We watch Fox News so you don't have to"); Media Matters for America, a progressive group keeping tabs on media coverage; and The Ed Schultz Show, the best common-sense, mainstream Democratic talk radio show out there. (Schultz airs from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays on AM 630 in Boise and noon to 3 Pacific on KPTQ AM 1230 out of Spokane. Or listen online at any of dozens of stations listed on his website.)

Mid-week comic relief - except for Dirk

I heard about this Sunday (at church, as a matter of fact), and 43rd State Blues had it days ago, but I just now watched Idaho state Sen. Michael Jorgenson attempt to explain "small-town values" to a Comedy Central "reporter" at last week's Republican National Convention. Check it out at New West.

Meanwhile, a year after Larry Craig's career was reduced to a punchline, his attorney today suggested in court "that his foot tapping in an airport men's room may have been protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of speech." There's more at CNN and the AP.

Also from the Republican culture of corruption department, get a load of this breaking report of sex, drugs, and other bad behavior at the federal agency that's supposed to be regulating the oil industry. I'll wait for your jokes in the comments ... they're so obvious ...

To be fair, we'll note here that the period covered in the report is from 2002 to 2006, so Dirk Kempthorne had just arrived on the scene at Interior. Still, this is certain to create headaches for our former gov. According to The New York Times, "The reports portray a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush administration’s watch." More here. And rec this diary at Kos. (And this one, too.)

IDP questions Republican attacks and tactics

Writing at the Idaho Democratic Party website, executive director Jim Hansen questions why Republicans have chosen to attack everyday people who work to improve their communities:

When Republicans mocked Barack Obama's experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, they mocked the most fundamental American experience that has made our country such a beacon of hope throughout the world.

ALL of America’s great movements – our country’s struggle for independence, to abolish slavery, to give women the right to vote, to end child labor, to provide for the 40-hour work week – happened because ordinary people organized in their communities and demanded change from their government.

Elites in big corporations or in government don’t start the wheels of change moving, ordinary Americans do!

The strategy to attack not just Barack Obama but to attack the millions of Americans who are finding their own voice and are getting involved this year for the first shows how desperate the Republicans have become. Their policies have failed for the vast majority of American families. Americans are fed up with the culture of corruption, secrecy, massive deficits, oil-driven politics and a weak economy that their policies have created.

Read it all here. Jim also has a piece on how Idaho Republicans are using coercion and the courts in a cynical and arrogant attempt to limit voters' choices in November.

A fellow P.O.W. on John McCain

Watch this before the big speech tonight. It's only one voice, but this man's testimony ought to lend credibility to the case against John McCain and his inexperienced running-mate. In U.S. history, one in three vice presidents has wound up becoming president.

We'll have an open thread up later this evening for McCain's acceptance speech. Meanwhile, here are some excerpts.