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U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, addressing the Idaho Senate today where he once presided as lieutenant governor and as president pro-tem, hauled out the actual printout of the congressional stimulus bill - all 1,100 pages of it - and slapped it on the lectern. “If you go through this, you cannot tell the answer to three questions of the money - how much, when, and what strings are going to come with it,” Risch declared, slapping his hand on the stack of paper, which was secured by several rubber bands. “There is very little in this bill that talks about that.” He restated his opposition to the stimulus idea, saying the country can’t spend its way out of recession.
Shortly before his speech, asked by a reporter if he’s read the stimulus bill - which Risch opposed - he said, “I did read parts of it, but only parts. It’s 1,100 pages long. … And reading a bill is not like reading a novel. It’s difficult reading.” Risch disputed President Obama’s contention that the bill lacks earmarks, saying it has $50 million to save the “red-breasted harvest mouse” in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s California district, and $8 billion for a “magnetic, levitating, high-speed train from Disneyland to the Las Vegas strip” in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s district.
Betsy Z. Russell covers Idaho news from The Spokesman-Review's bureau in Boise.
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ThomG on February 18 at 10:51 a.m.
Jim Risch is repeating the GOP talking point about the “red-breasted harvest mouse” in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s California district.”
Only problem for the GOP is the tale is a lie.
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fortboise on February 18 at 11:52 a.m.
Which is worse, the fact that Risch is waving his hands around at the train station after the train departed, or that his tale of woe is Faux News?
http://mediamatters.org/items/2009021…
As political theater, it's all good though. You go Jim.
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darcyism on February 18 at 12:08 p.m.
Guys, Guys, we don't pay him to read, we pay him to keep us mis-informed. He's just doing his job as he sees it.
Let's continue to cut the Idaho Education Budget too so that none of us can read a bill again.
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Sisyphus on February 18 at 12:22 p.m.
Thanks for the link Tom. These lies have been thoroughly debunked. But even if they hadn't, why does he repeat them if, as he says, he hasn't read it? Because Risch is not living up to his campaign rhetoric as an agent of change. He's going to be completely ineffectual as a senator for Idaho. As predicted, he's reverting to being a flamethrower, his first love.
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BRR on February 18 at 12:44 p.m.
The bill he waved around is double spaced with wide margins for mark up. The actual bill in the Congressional Record in 261 pages. The changes made in conference have been available since last Thursday from any of the three Republican senators who negotiated them.
The so called earmarks have been debunked — the high speed train funds go to the Dept of Transportation (DOT) to be distributed amongst competing high speed train corridors, several of which are already established in the east, mid-west, and west coast. If the proposed route from S.Cal to Las Vegas, not yet established by DOT, jumps to the top, then he might then argue it was an earmark.
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/arc…
Using Risch's (and Crapo's too) line of thinking the $5.1 Billion for non-defense cleanup, of which INEL will get an estimated couple hundred million dollars, is also an earmark.
As for the mice: There's no money for mice in the bill. There might be (how would Risch know) money for a major coastal restoration project in California that could help out the mice and water quality and any other creatures in the ecosystem including humans, deer, racoons, and beaver. And a state agency submitted the project, not Pelosi.
With his staff in D.C, his staff in several offices in Idaho, and himself, instead of spreading propaganda around the state, he could have spearheaded a task force to see how best to manage Idaho's share of the bill at the Federal level. But so could have Sen Crapo who is the fourth ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee.
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