Taxpayers could save $265,000 by consolidating two transportation agencies in southwestern Idaho, but only one elected official supported the idea at a recent meeting of the Valley Regional Transportation Board.
Ada County Commissioner Sharon Ullman cast the lone vote to pursue consolidation with the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho.
Legislation Without Representation: Are We Being Counted Out?
1,073 pages.
That’s how long President Obama’s economic stimulus plan ended up being when it was passed in February. This $787 billion document increased the federal government’s power more substantially than any in recent memory. A spending plan of this magnitude must have had a lot of time go into it to make sure it was constitutionally sound and that it would work, right? I mean, 1,073 pages is a lot of material. Anything could be in there.
Earning $6.55 an hour doesn't sound like much, but
for more than 50 people employed by the state of Idaho, a steady job
adds robustness to life spent in a state institution for the
developmentally disabled. That work experience is being jeopardized
because of Congress' decision to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an
hour.
The following commentary, by retired professor Gene Malvino, appeared in the Coeur d'Alene Press in response to an article. We thought you'd enjoy it:
By Gene Malvino
I believe a response is in order to the article by Shirley Thagard appearing in your paper on June 20, 2009.
By Chuck Malloy
Remember those wonderful days when the federal government would spend $500 on toilet seats and $700 on hammers?
Well, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has dramatically increased the ante by approving legislation to provide $700 million for wild horses. Yes, you read it correctly -- $700 million for wild horses. It's an amendment to the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burros Act and the idea is to improve the management and long-term health of wild free-roaming horses and burros. The highlights include:
The plan to spend $50 million on a streetcar circulator in Downtown Boise is built on Ray Kinsella-like beliefs that posit that more than 500,000 riders a year will use the rail system and the economy will flourish as a result. I don't buy it, and I can no more understand the nostalgic desire to rekindle a 1920s streetcar in Boise as I can visualize the need for the government to invest in pay phones or town criers. And really, I can't stand it when people start taking public policy advice from the disembodied voices in a Kevin Costner movie. That's what's happening now.
If it were up to Rep. Darrell Bolz, there would be a lot more discussion about the role of government in these uncertain economic conditions - in the interest of efficiency in government, and to the benefit of Idaho taxpayers.
"What do committees do right now?" Bolz asked rhetorically. "They talk about legislation - bills that may or may not help government operate better."
This column appeared in the Idaho Falls Post Register newspaper on Sunday. The following views do not reflect the views of the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
By Karin Lund, high school graduate from eastern Idaho
Ever since Barack Obama took office, some conservatives enjoy snarling phrases like, "The liberals are ruining this country with their socialism!" Surprisingly, as a liberal, this doesn't offend me because I'm pretty sure the people wielding this verbal sword have little sense of what socialism really is.
By Darrel Deide
Chairman, Idahoans for Choice in Education
This year marks my 50th year in Idaho education as a teacher, counselor, administrator, legislator and advocate. I taught science in the 1959-1960 school year, the year that the microchip was invented, the year that the first rocket escaped Earth’s gravity and the year the Mercury program launched Sam the Monkey into outer space.
The play is the thing that exposes the idiocy of federal stimulus. There are now 14.7 million Americans out of work. The unemployment rate in the Boise metro area is in double digits. In Canyon County, unemployment has climbed to 12.2 percent - the highest in the state and the highest level since 1983. Ah, but at least out-of-work Idahoans will be able to sleep, perchance dream, knowing that their tax dollars will be used to produce a rousing play at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival - next year. The future is unknown. The mortgage is in doubt. But the arts are safe.