Red State Rebels

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.

One year ago today ...

He told us he "intended" to resign. Relive it, if you like, here and here. Or forget it, if you prefer.

Midweek melange

Thanks to Reggie for pointing out this new video from Big Boi and Mary J. Blige. Good stuff. I can't figure out the $7+ gas ... can any of you? (I mean, I know that's coming down the road in the not-distant future, but we're not there yet ...)

This isn't an explicitly pro-Obama video, but there's a quote from him at the start: "If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress." With the election now less than three months away, that's my attitude: America gets the leadership it deserves. There will be fear, fraud, and swiftboating; we'll need a landslide to ensure victory. But after two suspect elections and eight years of chicanery, we are ready for something better - and yes, I do think we deserve it, and that we can rise to greatness. Don't forget to register and vote.

Speaking of swiftboating, the good people at Media Matters are exposing the latest crap from Jerome Corsi, the same dude responsible for taking down war hero John Kerry in 2004. Media Matters also will be scrutinizing media coverage of Corsi's latest screed - and another anti-Obama book due soon - to be sure reporters don't repeat the same cluelessness with which they greeted Corsi's anti-Kerry diatribe in the summer of 2004.

In another sign that Idahoans are getting fed up with the GOP, we learned this week that Idaho taxpayers designated more money via the state's voluntary tax refund check-off for the state Democratic Party than for the Idaho Republican Party. Each taxpayer can only designate one dollar, and the tally for the 2007 tax year was $35,540 to the Democrats, $25,438 for the Republicans, $2,854 for the Idaho Libertarian Party, and $2,144 for the Constitution Party. Hmmmmmm ...

Hey, guess which infamous U.S. Senator will be among those skipping the GOP's national convention next month in Minneapolis? Word is that Dick Cheney will probably stay away, too. Of course, we'll know by then who will be The Next Cheney. 

OMG! Paris Hilton responds to John McCain's ad lumping her with Brit and Barack. (Hat tip: Chryssa.)

Some upcoming events of note:

Twin Falls Drinking Liberally, 7 tonight (Wednesday), August 6 at Pandora's. The Twin Falls County Dems will also be at the TF Hispanic Heritage Fiesta this weekend.

A fundraiser is planned next Monday, August 11, to help send a dynamic duo of Idaho Young Democrats Steven Mercado (a national delegate ... w00t!) and Jessica Taylor (who will serve as a DNC page) to Denver later this month. Join Mayor Dave Bieter and other Dems of all ages as we gather at The Melting Pot, 200 N. 6th St., Boise, starting at 6 p.m., to honor Steve and Jessica and help them fund their trip. Suggested donation is $25 to $100, but all donations are welcome.

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.

Weekend edition 5/30- 6/1 and open thread

Perhaps you've seen the orange-shirted gals and guys bounding around town on those stilt-like thing-a-ma-bobs. They're promoting Think Boise First, a new alliance of locally owned businesses that is asking us all to well, Think Boise First when it comes to spending our money. The group has had a rudimentary website up for a while now, and it was also featured in an Idaho Statesman story today. Eventually, the organization hopes to have a directory of locally owned shops and services. It's also part of the national Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. Cool stuff.

Shea Andersen, for the past year the editor of Boise Weekly, writes in this week's issue that he's moving on and that Rachael Daigle is taking the reins. Best of luck to them both. Andersen bows out with a story that explores the West's key role in this year's Democratic presidential campaign, which mercifully wraps up in Montana this Tuesday. We hope. It'd be unfortunate to face High Noon rather than Love Story in Denver.

So the Twin Falls Western Days Parade planners are going to allow a local LGBT group into the procession on Saturday (after denying them that right last year). But according to this story in The Times-News, the Southern Idaho Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Community Center will need to use the name  "Southern Idaho Community Center" on its float and refrain from using "rainbows or other colors associated with gay pride." Um, that would be pink, I guess? (Elle Woods, what do you have to say about this?) I ran into RSR regular David Erin Anthony at our kids' school concert last night, and he said this is what the group ought to do: Put an outhouse on the float and paint on it, "I am not gay and never have been gay."

Forget the DNC's Rules Committee meeting in Washington on Saturday. The real political blood bath is brewing in the Idaho Republican Party, where the extremists are braying for chairman Kirk Sullivan's head. The fighting continues over the party's division over whether or not to close its primaries.

As already noted here at RSR, Saturday afternoon will bring a fun party for Larry LaRocco's Senate campaign on the Basque Block. Be sure to check that out if you're in town.

I leave you for the weekend with this thought from Michelle Obama, which she voiced at a Phoenix rally this week where a supporter voiced concerns over Barack Obama's safety on the campaign trail:

Fear is the reason this country is where it is today. Fear is a useless emotion.

Don't ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn't.

Don't ever make decisions based on fear.

Amen to that, sisters and brothers. I'm planning to spend most of Saturday and Sunday away from the computer, so feel free to add events below - and also react to whatever we hear from the rules meeting in DC.

Baseball souvenir of the year

Too funny ... check out what the St. Paul (Minnesota) Saints baseball club will be handing out to the first 2,500 fans at this Sunday's game. It's a bobblefoot, a not-too-subtle poke at disgraced Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who was arrested last year in a men's room at the Minneapolis airport. The Saints definitely like to have fun. In addition to cheeky promotions, the team has a pig mascot that in 2008 will go by the name Boar-ack O-ham-a, succeeding 2007's Garrison Squeallor. Hat tip to A.K., who points out that the anniversary of Craig's arrest is coming right up, on June 11.

Just to fill out this post, I'll also note that minor league baseball season is drawing nigh in Idaho, too. Both the Boise Hawks (a Chicago Cubs affiliate) and the Idaho Falls Chukars (with ties to the Kansas City Royals) start their seasons at home on June 17, as do the Spokane Indians. There's no better way to spend a sultry summer night than sitting in the bleachers - in the shade along the third-base line, please - at the Hawks' Memorial Stadium, and I'm sure Idaho Falls and Spokane fans will say the same for their parks, too.
 

Larry Craig tries to derail GI benefits

Remind me again: Which party supports the troops? From the Huffington Post:

Mostly avoiding the political spotlight since his brush up with both the law and the bathroom stall, Sen. Larry Craig quietly created presidential campaign ripples on Tuesday by interjecting himself into the debate over a popular veterans education measure.

The Idaho Republican, who was famously made a pariah in his own party after allegedly soliciting sex in the Minneapolis airport men's room, announced that he would offer an amendment to the forthcoming Iraq war supplemental that would strip the legislation of Sen. Jim Webb's GI Bill. ... The bill is, for all intents and purposes, a non-controversial measure offering veterans who have served three years educational benefits equal to the highest tuition rates of in-state public universities. Updating an antiquated system that was implemented during World War II, Webb's legislation took more than a year to craft and currently has 57 co-sponsors.

More here.

Breaking: Statesman a finalist for Pulitzer

The 2008 Pulitzer Prizes were announced today, and the Idaho Statesman was a runner-up in the breaking news category "for its tenacious coverage of the twists and turns in the scandal involving the state’s senator, Larry Craig." The recognition comes in the "Breaking News" category, for which The Washington Post won for its coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy and The New York Times was the other finalist. Not bad company. 

To see the citation, click here, then click on "2008 winners announced," then scroll to the bottom for the press release (winners and nominated finalists). As the Statesman reports on its website, it's the first time the newspaper has been a finalist for journalism's most prestigious award.

Idaho ranks dead last again ... lower than '07

When we reported last year that Idaho ranked dead last among the states in Congressional delegation power, we couldn't imagine that we could lose even more ground. But we have: Largely because of Larry Craig's fall, we now have a power score in the new Knowlegis/Congress.org rankings of 11.10, lower than the 2007 score of 11.39. Click here, scroll down to see the map, and notice that Idaho and Wyoming - with a score of 12.26 - are is the only states in stark white. (Power is connoted in deepening shades of purple.) Yeah, it's that bad.

Click here see to see individual legislators ranked in order of clout among the 100 senators and 435 House members. Sen. Larry Craig predictably had the worst year in the wake of his airport bathroom scandal, with a ranking that plunged from 61 in 2007 to 98 in 2008. Despite a year under his belt, Freshman Rep. Bill Sali remains mired at 423, the same place he started and just above his fellow Club for Growth beneficiary Tim Walberg. (The CFG must be so proud!) Even Sen. Mike Crapo had a bad year, falling from 66 to 72. Rep. Mike Simpson was the only Idahoan who moved up, from 318 to 220.

This year's 1st CD candidates jumped right on the news of Sali's continued insignificance, with both Larry Grant and Walt Minnick sending out press releases. "It’s clear that Bill Sali’s term in Congress is a failure," Grant said, recalling a July 2007 interview with the Spokesman-Review in which Sali said he he finds Congress "goofy" and that he found the legislative process confusing. "Congressman Sali has been so focused on his own personal, divisive agenda that he’s utterly failed to be an effective voice for Idaho,” said Minnick. "You cannot get things done for Idaho in Congress with partisan bickering and name calling. We need a congressman who can work together with all sides to be effective for Idaho."

Could Idaho's ranking go even lower? Well, with a Democratic president taking office next January and stronger Democratic majorities in the 111th Congress, it's certainly possible if we stick with an all-Republican delegation. But if Craig Grant or Minnick boots Sali from office, we'll start climbing. Even better: Larry LaRocco would enter the Senate with credit for his previous House service, so electing him over Jim Risch could prove a real power boost.

There's more from MountainGoat Report and Kevin Richert.

'Public letter of admonition'

That's the phrase slapped across the Senate Ethics Committee's letter delivered yesterday to Larry Craig.

In rendering its judgment that Craig's actions have "reflected discreditably on the Senate," the panel of three Democrats and three Republicans noted Craig's "accurate, intelligent, and voluntary guilty plea" and his attempts to withdraw it; his decision to give the arresting officer his Senate business card ("What do you think of that?"); and his use of more than $213,000 in campaign funds to pay legal fees and defend his reputation.

It's been nearly six months since word of Craig's arrest in a Minneapolis Airport men's room triggered saturation news coverage around the world and Craig's laughable and lamentable legal maneuvers to clear his name. First, the bombshell revelation in Roll Call and the subsequent Statesman coverage. Then the "resignation." Then, the un-resignation. Then the Halloween costumes. Oh, the ignominy of it all, not just for Craig, but for our state.

Idaho finally captured positive headlines again when more than 14,000 people packed a sports arena to hear Barack Obama and the state subsequently gave the Democratic candidate his largest Super Tuesday margin. No, it wasn't the 24/7 coverage we suffered with Craig, but it was probably enough to start removing the senator's stain from the nation's image of Idaho. Until this. But it's OK: Craig is a lame duck. (His reaction yesterday: disappointment and a vow to continue "serving the people of Idaho.")

Gee, thanks, Senator Craig. I think it's time we give a Democrat a chance in the Senate. The last one was pretty good.

Cross-posted at Daily Kos.

Update 11:45 Thursday: Per the MountainGoat Report, Walt Minnick has some questions for Bill Sali. There's also more at New West.