Tuesday, September 30, 2008
elections / GOP National Committee chairman finds heaven in Idaho
Posted by Teresa Shipley on Tue, Sep 30, 2008 at 5:36 PM
The Republicans picked a sweltering day for the grand opening of the Ada County GOP’s campaign headquarters in Meridian.
Sid Smith, Executive Director of the Republican Party of Idaho, was contacted only a couple weeks ago by Duncan’s staff to arrange the ribbon-cutting.
“I think he figured Idaho would be a good place to come,” Smith said, “and give us a little bit of an ‘Atta-boy’ for the grass roots volunteers.”
The Chairman used a pair of hedge clippers to cut the red ribbon. Someone had joked earlier that the decision was made on purpose, to reflect how Meridian was still “the hub of the Treasure Valley” and that the clippers symbolized “getting back to our grass roots.”
After the ceremony, Lt. Gov. Jim Risch and Duncan held a press conference. All the questions revolved around the current financial meltdown rather than on the Republican presidential or local campaigns, a marked departure from the direction of Duncan’s earlier speech.
“It is clearly a better product,” Risch said of the newest version of the bailout bill. “On Thursday it’ll be an even better product that it was yesterday.”
He said he didn’t see a lot of leadership out of Barack Obama, but also admitted, “I’m a partisan.”
Several local Republican legislators attended the opening, such as Secretary of State Ben Ysursa, Controller Donna Jones, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna and Norm Semanko, the recently elected Idaho GOP chairman. Several state House and Senate candidates were also present.
fcc / Television citydesk goes digital tv
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Tue, Sep 30, 2008 at 9:54 AM
citydesk took our $40 government coupon and bought a digital converter for the old television this week. It cost about $20 cash, on top of the digital welfare check.
The average, free, over-the-air viewer like us is going to have many more options, McDowell said.
That night we plugged in the box and were quite pleased with the crystal clear reception on every station but 2 (which did not come in well before we went digital, either). With digital, cable-phobes actually get more free channels, including four different public television streams.
But we still have some questions for the FCC. What does the public gain as broadcasters quadruple or sextuple their holdings? What public use of the old analog spectrum is being considered? And will broadcasters be held accountable for more local programming, quality programming or public service programming?
Monday, September 29, 2008
elections Inches and feet of ballots
Posted by Teresa Shipley on Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 5:15 PM
The Ada County Recorder’s office is a hive of election activity.
County officials have been overwhelmed at this year’s number of absentee ballot requests, even if they requested the requests.
“This is just totally unprecedented,” said Chief Deputy Clerk Chris Rich.
Rich says they’re measuring the stacks of returned requests “in inches and feet” because there are too many to count. Rich pointed to a box lid lined with returned ballot requests, estimated at about seven or eight thousand. “By the end of the day, those will have piled up to here,” he gestured several inches above the box.
On Sept. 19, the county mailed out 183,000 requests for absentee ballots.
So far, Rich estimates it has received back between 40- and 45-,000 requests. By contrast, in the 2004 presidential election, the county received about 16,000 ballot requests.
Eleven data recorders, two mail openers and three time stampers are working from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday in the County Clerks Office on absentee ballots alone. Rich expects the hectic schedule will continue well past the November 4 election, saying that the county will likely retain three or four of the seven temporary employees it hired for these elections to work until March of 2009, entering voter registration information.
The county has been actively trying to minimize long lines this election by sending out absentee requests. In 2004, Ada County voters turned out at nearly 76 percent. This year, the Secretary of State estimates a average turnout of 80 percent or higher, according to Rich.
“We’ve got a larger county now, and we’ve got much more interest in this presidential election,” Rich said of the anticipated lines.
At least one candidate expressed concern over the effect of so many absentee ballots. Ada County Commissioner Rick Yzaguirre is campaigning for a third term in District 2.
“I don’t know if those people are going to take time to learn the issues and vote intelligently. Are they going to return the ballots? I don’t know. It’s such a huge number,” Yzaguirre said. (Democrat David Langhorst is challenging Yzaguirre for his seat.)
Rich thinks that the bulk of the ballots have probably come in. Now it’s just a matter of entering the information into the county’s database. He expects the county will begin mailing out ballots the week of Oct. 6.
bailout / elections Minnick, Sali Agree; Sort Of
Posted by Deanna Darr on Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 5:02 PM
Turns out both Republican Rep. Bill Sali and his Democratic congressional challenger Walt Minnick agree on one thing: The proposed Congressional bailout of the faltering economy was a bad idea. The two political competitors just have very different reasons.
Sali joined the majority of the House of Representatives on Monday, Sept. 29 when he voted against the proposed $700-billon bailout plan—a decision that sent the Dow Jones spiraling downward in its worst single-day loss in history.
For Sali, the issue is putting the burden on taxpayers. Instead of having the government buy up the bad investments slogging the national and global credit system, he is in favor of providing tax incentives to encourage private industry to do it instead.
“We need a solution that does not jeopardize taxpayers and does not fundamentally change the relationship [between government and business],” said Sali’s spokesperson Wayne Hoffman.
Sali is part of a bipartisan coalition working on its own plan. Among the possibilities is eliminating or reducing taxes on private investors willing to buy bad investments.
Hoffman said the coalition is also looking at ways to modify fair-value accounting, but said the details of that option are still being worked through.
“There’s a lot of really fresh ideas out there that weren’t considered before, that need to be considered,” Hoffman said.
And while Minnick agrees that the proposal before congress was a poor one, he still believes that the government needs to step in to protect the integrity of markets both in the United States and around the world. The key to that, is providing liquidity, allowing financial institutions to continue the lending cycle, Minnick said.
But rather than a pay-out, Minnick supports short-term loans “not taking bad assets off of questionable banks.”
If the loans aren’t repaid on time, he feels the corporations should be treated like everyone else, and the loan should be foreclosed. He also strongly believes that the CEOs of companies that opt for governmental help should not receive any financial benefit.
“If the taxpayers were going to be asked to step in and help, the CEOs shouldn’t have a plug nickle in termination pay,” Minnick said. “There’s no termination pay for a CEO who has ruined the company.”
Minnick, two large companies, including serving as CEO of Trus Joist, said he would never have expected to benefit if he had ruined one of his companies.
“If I had ruined my company, the board would make sure I was ousted on my ear,” he said.
Adding larger regulatory reform is also imperative to any plan, Minnick said. Among his suggestions is consolidating the number of agencies which have oversight of the financial industry and making sure every aspect of the industry has some federal regulation.
“It’s very hard to get regulatory reform through Congress,” he said. “If you miss this train out of the station, it’s going to be very hard to get it through later.”
Minnick said Sali’s idea of tax incentives for private industry “sounds like nonsense” and doesn’t address the current issue. “We need to keep the banking industry functioning,” he said.
Both Minnick and Sali agree that something needs to happen soon. Hoffman said Sali and other coalition members are working as fast as they can and will hopefully have a new proposal available to the public soon.
Minnick believes time is imperative to stopping the situation from getting any worse.
“We are in a recession,” he said. “We need to act quickly [to] prevent a global depression.”
Saturday, September 27, 2008
spam Urgent Business Proposal
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 9:35 AM
From the spam file:
Dear Sir/Madame:
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a
transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had
crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 700 billion
dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most
profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gramm, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my
replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may
know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the
1990s. This transaction is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds
as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names
of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family
lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person
who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account
numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to
that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive
that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards
that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson
Friday, September 26, 2008
budget Otter holds back $27.3 million +
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 4:36 PM
Gov. C. L. "Butch" Otter announced a 1 percent holdback in all state agencies Friday but is also asking agencies to reserve another 1.5 percent of their budgets, just in case. So the $27.3 million holdback could be read as some $58 million that government cannot spend.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
debates / elections Two debates tonight
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Thu, Sep 25, 2008 at 10:28 AM
There are two political debates in SW Idaho tonight.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
media Stateman layoffs hit newsroom
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 12:50 PM
From BW intern, Mathias Morache:
The Idaho Statesman announced Tuesday that it will lay off 15 employees, including 6 newroom staff. This comes as the second wave of layoffs implemented by The McClatchy Company, the owner of the Statesman, in a plan to cut 1,400 jobs nationwide. This move, according to McClatchy, will save the company $100 million dollars in the next year. Nonetheless, amidst plunging stocks, CEO Gary Pruitt received an annual $800,000 bonus and company executives used the company jet to travel to locations an hour drive away.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
scandal / ethics / Interior Department Allred responds to Interior ethics scandal
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 4:02 PM
While addressing a crowd of Idaho politicians, officials and business and environmental leaders at the Idaho Environmental Forum this afternoon, Stephen Allred, the former Idaho Department of Environmental Quality director tapped by Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to head up the Land, Minerals and Management Bureau said that decisions in Washington are not subject to political pressures.
"I am outraged by the immoral behavior, illegal activities, and appalling misconduct of several former and current long-serving career employees in the Minerals Management Service's Royalty in Kind program ... These individuals have eroded the trust the American citizens deserve to have in their public servants."
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
transit Downtown train tours today
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Tue, Sep 9, 2008 at 8:10 AM
Boise Mayor Dave Bieter will lead two tours today of a proposed downtown streetcar route. Tours are 10:45-11:15, 11:15-11:45 and then 1:15-1:45 and 1:45-2:15. Apparently stops are marked in orange according to the map above. The mayor, BSU professor Todd Shallatt, representatives of CCDC and of Mark Rivers downtown incubator the Water Cooler will be along for the tour.
- Home |
- About BW and FAQ |
- Contact Us |
- BW Classifieds |
- Submit an Event |
- Advertise |
- Post a FREE Ad |
- Subscribe |
- BW Feedback |
- Privacy Policy |
- Submission Guidelines |
- Code of Ethics |
-
|
-
|
- BW Local Guide |
-
|
-
|
- Job Opportunities |
- National Advertising |
- Check Out Food, Music, and Art in Other Cities
