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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Trillhaase: Butch Knows Best

When professional economists analyze how well Idaho will do in the next 18 months, they consider a host of factors. Will interest rates spur investment? Will more people have jobs? How much will they get paid? What will Idaho's commodities and manufactured goods command on the open market? How will the timber and mining sectors perform? Will the nation as a whole prosper? And what do some of the country's leading analysts predict? That information is spun into a statistical formula, then massaged into a formal projection of how much tax revenue Idaho can expect to have on hand for its programs. It's not flawless. Coming within 1 or 2 percentage points is remarkable, but even that can produce shortfalls or surpluses. No matter. Gov. C. L. (Butch) Otter knows better. He relies on his instincts and his ideology/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

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Question: Does Butch really know best about the Idaho economy & budget?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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