Red State Rebels

Hate in this state

Randy Stapilus noted a comment that was recently left on a thread at Huckleberries Online, a thread that begin as a discussion of recent events in Madison County and eventually became an all too realistic commentary on southeastern Idaho. I believe the reader's comment deserves repeating:

"I’ve seen it before, and although it saddens me, I am not surprised. There are some VERY narrow-minded people in that part of the state.

The big difference - in North Idaho people with that kind of view are more likely to be “white trash” or “anti-government hillbillies.” People who dress in camo, have jacked up pickups, etc etc. I mean no offense, just trying to form a picture.

But in SE Idaho, that point of view is attached to bankers, church leaders, and others in the “professional” class. The squeaky clean people. And that is far scarier."

This particular comment stopped me dead in my tracks as it is something some of us in the blogosphere have been saying all along.

The kind of hatred, racism and bigotry in southeastern Idaho is not simply a problem because it exists, it is a problem because the people who represent it are otherwise upstanding members of the community who are listened to and revered. Instead of reporting simply on the investigated and most egregious events throughout the state as the editorial board of the Idaho Statesman suggests, we should not be standing idly by, we should be yelling from every rooftop that hate exists here and we must do something about it.

Hate in this state has long been associated with groups that no longer exist here or no longer have much of a presence; this doesn't mean hate no longer lives here. 

Debbie Holmes: Lack of oversight causes Fannie and Freddie to fail

This week, the irresponsibility of the federal government's housing policy has come to a head with the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As a real estate agent, I've seen this coming for a long time. The government was propping up an entire market that was giving loans to individuals at rates they could never afford to pay back. You can hardly blame the industry; it's hard to see any downside to your bad corporate policies if the government will fully back you, however badly you perform. It's the worst of both worlds; the leaders of the mortgage industry didn't have responsibility to voters, as would a public official, and didn't see any reason to worry about their shareholders, as they had every reason to believe that the government would bail them out if their accounts were in any real peril. They were, in effect, accountable to no one.

Congress had every opportunity to establish oversight of the mortgage industry, but for the 14 years the Republican dominance, they've hardly even tried. My opponent was a member of that do-nothing Congress for 8 years. Mike Simpson has supported a lot of band-aids, but never looked into a long-term solution to avoid the all too predictable situation we find ourselves in today. I've seen this crisis growing from the ground, and I have watched my clients and the clients of my colleagues suffer. It's what got me into this race. Idaho can't afford to let Mike Simpson continue to support the same old shell-game as American families lose their homes.

Donate to the campaign via ActBlue and visit our website to learn more about the issues at stake in this election.

RSR v2.0 is one year old today

Red State Rebels has been around as a blog for almost five years, but the multi-author version is one year old today. I'd like to thank the authors listed below who helped write 572 posts over the past 12 months; the people who posted 3,257 comments; and everyone who reads this blog, whether faithfully or occasionally. Together, we are bringing real debate and two-party government back to Idaho. Here's to the next year, and especially the next two months. ~ Julie Fanselow (a.k.a. The Blogmother)

Branden Durst, Brett Adler, Brian Cronin, Chris, Chryssa Rich,  Dean Ferguson, Debbie Holmes, Deborah Silver, Don Rosebrock, Elizabeth Wasson, Jessica Cavalieri, Jim Hansen, John Foster, Kurt Holzer, Lane Startin, Larry Grant, Larry LaRocco, Linda Langness, Ryan Hill, Sara E. Anderson, Serephin, Sheryl Dowlin, Steven Mercado, Tara Rowe, The Nickel-Plated JA, theresa reel, T.J. Thomson,  and William Thomas.

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.

Simpson skips debate

This press release will be going out to Idaho papers tomorrow.

Simpson Skips Debate

BOISE, ID - The AARP Candidates' Forum for the Idaho's Second District, which would have been broadcast across the district on CBS, has been cancelled, as Congressman Mike Simpson has refused to attend.

Debbie Holmes, the Democratic nominee for Congress, is not afraid to make her case to the people of Idaho. She is willing to meet Mike Simpson any place, any time, and discuss their different approaches for how to address Idaho issues.

At the beginning of this campaign, Mike Simpson said that he looked forward to illustrating the clear difference between himself and Holmes, so that the people of Idaho could make an informed decision. Now, he seems to be backpedaling on this pledge.

Therefore, Debbie is challenging Mike Simpson to appear in at least three debates over the course of the campaign; the League of Women Voters' debate, the KTVB debate, and a town hall forum in Eastern Idaho. If our congressman turns down another debate, the people of Idaho will know which candidate wants to represent them, and which one is hiding from them.

Sending a message against hate

Most of the Idaho progressive blogs have weighed in on the inflammatory comments that were broadcast last week on a southern Idaho talk radio show, racist comments that have no place on public airwaves and no place in our communities, but it does not matter that these were progressive blogs. This is not a partisan issue. This is a community issue. This is about whether or not we allow and support hatred to be spread through our communities.

Do you want to send a message against this hatred that seems rampant in southern Idaho? Tell the sponsors of Zeb Bell's radio show that enough is enough. Tell the sponsors of Zeb Bell that you will not tolerate hate speech and if they continue to support him monetarily you will no longer support their businesses.

A complete list of Mr. Bell's sponsors can be found at 43rd State Blues.

A list, by no means complete, of stories appearing in the Idaho progressive blogosphere over the past week appears below.

• The Political Game: A Community in Chaos; Bell Wants to Face Accusers; Racism on the Airwaves; Where Does the Hatred End?; Racial Slur Broadcast in South Central Idaho; Derailed: Zeb Bell & Free Speech.
• Red State Rebels: Hate not in our state, not on our airwaves.
• 43rd State Blues: Racist Rupert, Idaho radio talk show hosts; Confronting Hatred in Idaho.
• Unequivocal Notion: Racism--alive and well in Idaho.
• The MountainGoat Report: Racism still in Idaho; A response to Zeb Bell; Why Zeb Bell Matters.

Please take a moment to send a message to Zeb's sponsors as well as your fellow Idahoans that hate will not be tolerated here.

Au revoir, Areva ... or bienvenue?

I got dueling emails this afternoon, one from Boise, the other from Idaho Falls. First, from the Snake River Alliance, came word that there will be an "Au revoir, Areva" rally at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday on the Capitol Annex steps to protest the Idaho Legislature's recent (and much-criticized) tax breaks to French nuclear company Areva. It continued:

Tell the legislature we're not fools ... Idaho is one of five locations Areva, a French government owned nuclear giant, is considering to build a uranium enrichment plant. 

As an incentive, the Legislature is providing Areva millions of dollars in tax breaks if they choose Idaho. Their facility would import a uranium concentrate, called "yellow cake," and then separate out the rare uranium-235 to be used in nuclear reactor fuel -  leaving TONS of NUCLEAR WASTE  in Idaho and taking their PROFITS BACK to FRANCE. Read today's press release, join the Alliance, make a contribution, at www.snakeriveralliance.org.

Minutes later, I got this reply from John McGimpsey of Idaho Falls, who narrowly lost a legislative race there in 2006 and who is running again this year. McGimpsey, a Democrat, had this to say:

This MUST be an April Fools joke! The proposed enrichment plant has nothing, NOTHING, to do with yellowcake. The material entering, and leaving, Idaho would be UF6 (uranium hexafluoride) gas. The "waste" (which is uranium hexafluoride gas depleted of U-235) will be shipped to the DOE facility in Ohio for separation. If the SRA is saying that yellowcake would be imported into Idaho, they're either being willfully ignorant or lying - there's been more than enough testimony, that the SRA's executive director has attended, that presented accurate information. 

The U.S. imports 80 percent of the enriched uranium it uses in existing plants. The majority comes from Russia - the contracts for which expire within 5 years. Regardless of one's views on building additional nuclear plants, I don't know anyone who seriously believes that we can replace the 20 percent of existing US electrical power supplied by nukes in that time frame. Therefore we will need a supply of enriched uranium for fuel, or else be subject to huge supply risks which present significant security, economic, and social justice risks!

While Areva is a French company, they've been operating in the U.S. for 50 years, and have thousands of U.S. employees. The proposed plant would provide 250 high-paying jobs, plus several years of good-paying union construction jobs.

While I don't like tax exemptions, the fact is that there will be NO break if the plant doesn't locate here, and even with the cap, the plant will REDUCE property taxes for families. And there is, in my mind, NO
justification for requiring this plant to pay $20M+ in property taxes to the county when it requires few services. That would constitute more than 1/3 of Bonneville County's budget. ... With the exemption, the plant would STILL be paying 10% of the county budget, still subsidizing local taxpayers.

Sorry, in my opinion, the SRA's not being progressive on this issue - they're just using scary language to try to generate an emotional response.

So now I'm interested to know what others think. My long-held view is that although I believe Idaho needs to focus on clean, renewable energy - and definitely turn down merchant nuclear plants like that proposed for Bruneau - the nuclear industry remains an important part of the state economy, especially in Eastern Idaho, and it may still have a small role to play in helping us kick our fossil fuels addiction. But I am no expert, so I would like to hear from people (like both the Snake River Alliance and John McGimpsey) who know more than I do, and who have suggestions on how to boost Idaho's chronically low-wage economy while protecting our precious environment. At this point, with Areva apparently within days of announcing its decision, conflicting messages are the order of the day.