ITHO: Otter @ Throttle Of Train Wreck

Let’s answer right now the question of who will win the standoff between Gov. Butch Otter and the Idaho House’s Republican majority over maintenance of state roads: Neither. A governor who lets his top legislative priority of the last two years sit unaddressed by leaders of his own party until after most legislative sessions have ended, and then starts vetoing bills en masse to force his will on legislators who never had any intention of supporting him is inept. A legislative session is a time for the chief executive and the legislative branch to come together, which has happened in Idaho even when they were of different parties. But when a governor and a legislative chamber in which 75 percent are members of his party can’t do that, it’s a train wreck/ Jim Fisher , Lewiston Tribune. More here .

• Friday 4.24 /Unequivocal Notion
• Otter deploys ex-House Speaker Newcomb /Dan Popkey, Statesman
• The occasionally open Demo caucus /Kevin Richert, Statesman
• Man down /IdaBlue
• Time to spice up Idaho’s reality show /Rocky Barker

Question: Jim Fisher points out that Gov. Butch Otter waited until late in the 2009 session to press leaders of his own party to provide more funding for his top priority over the last two years: Transportation. Do you believe, as Fisher suggests, that Otter’s inept?