Eye On Boise

Reactions and reactions to reactions…

Posted by Betsy

Jan. 12, 2010 7:21 p.m. • 6 comments

As reactions to Gov. Butch Otter’s State of the State and budget message continue to ripple across the state, the Senate majority leadership this afternoon sent out a press release reacting to the House and Senate Democrats’ comments at a press conference this morning in which the minority sharply criticized Otter’s approach. “The statements and remarks of the opposition were contradictory, reckless and amounted to little more than nay-saying today,” said Senate Majority Caucus Chairman Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian; you can read the majority leadership’s full release here.

Also today, GOP gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell held a press conference to offer his approach, releasing a paper entitled “The Rammell Plan” calling for eliminating the state’s personal and corporate income taxes, removing all state control of public schools and turning management over to local school districts, and turning over any assistance for the “poor and unfortunate” to private charities. Meanwhile, the Idaho AARP sent out its reaction piece yesterday, saying Otter’s address “held both promise and problems;” a group of nonprofits corralled by United Vision for Idaho watched the speech and sent out a press release criticizing what it called “advantage to the ‘haves’ at the expense of the ‘have nots,’” while calling on Otter and the Legislature to “open their doors and their minds to our organizations, to listen to different approaches, and to work with us for the common good.” And independent gubernatorial candidate Jana Kemp has sent out several releases in reaction to Otter’s speech; here’s her point-by-point analysis issued last night.

Six comments on this post so far. Add yours!

IdahoRed on January 12 at 11:48 p.m.
Rex Rammell makes the best case. It’s about time someone comes up with a novel idea! If we aren’t willing to take some drastic steps and start running our state like we would our businesses or our households we are doomed to utter failure. Surely many will scream because they don’t want to give up their “entitlements” on the backs of tax payers but it’s time to grow up and be responsible as citizens if we want our state to survive. Your alternative will be to attach more apron strings to the federal government and kiss your freedom goodbye.
Sisyphus on January 13 at 10:20 a.m.
“Your alternative will be to attach more apron strings to the federal government and kiss your freedom goodbye.”—What planet do you live on? Virtually every industry in Idaho is wholly dependent on federal funding as is our state government. Ag, ranching, mining, nuclear, military, all rely heavily on federal commitments. Even Micron got a $5 million hit recently. Instead of thumbing our nose at federal beneficence, our state leaders should be ascertaining ways to be getting more in order to pull our economy outa this mess.
IdahoRed on January 13 at 2:28 p.m.
If you want to live off the federal government you cannot expect freedom or liberty. That my friend is fascism on a fast track to communism. There are plenty of such countries in this world, feel free to pick one and pack your bags, but those of us who love our freedom and liberty will adhere to the constitution and the principles of our founding father’s vision for America.
Sisyphus on January 13 at 4:36 p.m.
Seriously, what are you on? You write like BillSaliFan so its very difficult to take you seriously. Is that you Bubblehead? Can you even define communism or fascism? You do understand they are on opposite sides of the political spectrum so your connection is laughable. Please point out what countries today have a fascist regime so we can see if you’ve had PoliSci 101. Otherwise you, my friend, are a hopeless teabagger whose knowledge of the constitution and history never evolved past platitudes learned in grade school.

This state would sink without getting money from the feds. Please try and get in touch with some reality, Rex, I mean, Red. And don’t impugn my patriotism, buddy boy. I’m willing to work with you but you DO NOT have entitlements of citizenship superior to mine. Please tell me specifically what rights and freedoms you personally are being denied.
IdahoRed on January 14 at 1:49 a.m.
Fascism and communism aren’t the polar opposites you’d like to believe. To consider fascist right-wing is to err in fact and principle. While the degree of co-opting between government and private enterprise and control of the means of production may vary (sometimes slightly), both are peas in a pod with both having strong centers of power that seek absolute control of the economy, and both usurp the freedom and liberty of individuals. The only real difference is, unlike communism where the government confiscates all private property, a fascist government lets you believe you still own your property.
Yossarian_22 on January 14 at 2:14 p.m.
Say there IdahoRed, you might want to do your part in resisting socialism by disconnecting from the Internet and taking your computer back to the store you bought it from and then asking for a “free market” model. But…they won’t sell you one because all computer technology is the result of government socialist programs dating back to WWII. Likewise the Internet. Don’t fly on planes anymore, don’t drive on roads anymore, don’t use drugs developed by the NIH or Walter Reed Army Hosp anymore, and don’t buy anything that was shipped in a Sealand container anymore. All of it is the product of socialist programs. I’m just getting started here. Assuming you’re a gun lover (as am I) you might be interested in knowing that our first President, George Washington, created 4 government run arms factories (including Springfield Armory…a fav of mine) because when bid out to private industry, the contracts yielded poor results and corruption. He stopped them and went the public route. So, can we please stop repeating simplistic Bircher reprints and get educated?