Idaho’s two U.S. congressmen are split over whether the American people need another taxpayer-funded “cash for caulkers” plan, formally called the Home Star program. 1st District Rep. Walt Minnick voted “yes” earlier this month on HR 5019, the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010, while 2nd District Rep. Mike Simpson voted against the bill.
stimulus
Minnick, Simpson differ on $6 billion winterization program
May 20, 2010 | posted by Jay Howell inOne-week stimulus contract counted as creating two jobs
May 07, 2010 | posted by Jay Howell inA Caldwell contractor received $13,000 in "stimulus" money for a one-week gravel hauling contract for a road project in Owyhee County. The contract was awarded on Sept. 1, 2009, by the Bureau of Land Management. According to a spokeswoman for the BLM, the company began work on Sept. 9, and concluded on Sept. 16. Of that week, actual gravel hauling took place on four days.
Stimulus money used to plant flowers and trees in Idaho, no jobs created
April 02, 2010 | posted by Jay Howell inThe Pocatello Housing Authority recently spent nearly $14,000 in federal “stimulus” funds to plant new flowers and trees and install new sprinklers at a Pocatello housing project. The project generated no new jobs, even though that's what stimulus money was supposed to accomplish.
An artful use of stimulus dollars?
March 22, 2010 | posted by Jay Howell inMore than $470,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka the stimulus plan) funds have found their way to Idaho arts groups. This money came from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and went either directly to groups like the Boise Contemporary Theater, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and the Log Cabin Literary Center, or was distributed to groups statewide through the Idaho Commission on the Arts.
Greetings from Spokane, Idaho!
January 08, 2010 | posted by Jay Howell inThere they go again…the same people that brought 34 new congressional districts to Idaho, have now moved the cities of Spokane, Portland and Great Falls to the Gem State!
Idaho's "new" Congressional districts
November 17, 2009 | posted by Jay Howell inIn addition to the money that Idaho has received under the federal stimulus plan, the state was apparently awarded a number of additional congressional districts…34 to be exact!
Funding of arts shows idiocy of Fed stimulus
July 13, 2009 | posted by Wayne Hoffman inThe 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.
Boulton: Constitution bans tax code punishment
March 28, 2009 | posted by Craig P. Boulton inImage a commercial world where one’s neighbors get together to form a mob that goes out and burns down your home and business all because you’d attempted to get them to at least pay you the interest they owed on monies you’d loaned to them. Also imagine having a judge dismiss out of hand a lending contract you and one of your neighbors had freely entered into because he felt that you had enough money already and your borrower was his best friend who didn’t feel like paying you back.
Hoffman: Use stimulus money to cut taxes
March 22, 2009 | posted by Wayne Hoffman inHere's what I don't get: If $45 million can be used to stimulate the economy, why is the government the only organization capable of facilitating that stimulation?
Don't seduced by 'free' federal money
February 08, 2009 | posted by Wayne Hoffman inIf you were angry about the bailout for Wall Street, if you were angry about the bailout for the Big Three automakers, you should be equally angry about the bailout now being considered for everyone else, including Idaho. Our nation's Treasury is being treated as if it is a magical fountain that spontaneously spews money, fulfills dreams and shields us from economic hardship. That was never the intent of the designers of our system of government.
