Chenoweth Critics Make A Statement Miffed New Yorkers Send Her 15 Pounds Of Bologna

Folks in a rural upstate New York county think Idaho Rep. Helen Chenoweth is so full of baloney they are sending her a 15-pound hunk of the lunch meat.

Chenoweth caused a tiff when she said central New York Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, a fellow Republican, was from a “mostly concrete district” where floods do not measure up to the ones out West.

Officials in Delaware County were quick to point out that last year their area was devastated by floods that claimed several lives. And nothing rankles upstate New Yorkers more than an outsider lumping them together with New York City.

Chenoweth and Boehlert are on opposite sides of a contentious environmental issue - a proposal to exempt flood-damaged levee repair from endangered species requirements.

Her comments prompted one radio station to put together a box stuffed with listener-donated items, including 15 pounds of bologna, that is being sent to Chenoweth’s Washington office.

Inside is a tag reading, “Dear Helen Chenoweth: You’re full of baloney. Respectfully, The Citizens of Delaware County.”

Chenoweth recently issued a statement in which she defended her comments, saying critics missed the point she was trying to make - that the legislation they were at odds on was targeted to help the West and Boelhert should not have butted in.

A.K. Lienhart-Minnick, chairman of the Idaho State Democratic Party, faxed a note of apology to Boehlert’s congressional office, saying that “most Idahoans respect a sensible approach to problem-solving and not insensitivity to the grief experienced last year in Boehlert’s own district.”

Lienhart-Minnick also said New Yorkers, just like Idahoans, pay taxes to fund flood relief. And she noted that Chenoweth hasn’t hesitated to speak out on non-Idaho issues, from a Utah land issue to rules on foreign aid for family planning.

“To deny Boehlert the same privilege is somewhat disingenuous,” Lienhart-Minnick said.

, DataTimes