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Posts published by “Ridenbaugh Press”

Weekly polls

September 25, 2011

You may notice a new polling box to the right on this page. With your help, we'll start running weekly polls here and several other locations (such as Facebook). The poll results on each location will be open; at the end of the week, we'll collect them and run them in our weekly Public Affairs Digests (Washington, Oregon, Idaho).

This first is about predicting who will be the next governor of Washington. If you have a question you'd like to see here next week, let us know.

All the usual caveats apply. These are self-selecting and unscientific. Still, they may be of some interest as a reflection of thinking (at least, of this site's readers). So have at it.

ID redistrict: The overtime plan

September 24, 2011

The falls, formally, into the category of a recommendation only - the same as if any other group of six Idahoans proposed a statewide redistricting plan (as some have).

But because these six are the former redistricting commissioners, this particular proposal - Final Compromise 2 (does that sound like a bad movie name?) - could carry some weight. When the new districters get together (the three Democrats are named, the Republicans not quite yet) they could be tempted by the idea of just adopting this one and cruising home, in a day or two, as opposed to some much longer procedure.

It evidently has support from both parties; their chairs will hold a joint press availability on Monday seemingly in support of it.

Partisan bottom line?

Democrats ought to be delirious about it. What they're getting here is much better than they have had any real right to expect. Central Coeur d'Alene is intact, providing competition there. Moscow and Lewiston still anchor districts and should remain competitive. Boise has a rough equivalent to the current very-Democratic District 19 plus three other competitive district - roughly the setup they have had. The Blaine County-based district will continue with about the same setup as before. The Pocatello area will have one Democratic-based district and one other that should be competitive. That's about what Democrats have now, and considering that most of the last decade's growth has been in Republican areas, doing this well would have seemed improbable at the start of the process.

Who will be unhappy? On a partisan level, it's not as if Republicans somehow gave away the store; the map does not put their huge majorities at any risk. But a number of incumbents will be put at risk - at least three pairs of Republican senators (Shawn Keough and Joyce Broadsword in the Panhandle, Patti Anne Lodge and John McGee in Canyon County, and Denton Darrington and Dean Cameron in the Magic Valley) will be thrown into districts together, presumably knocking out one in each case. And the people in the southeast corner of the state, who've had a bum district boundary linking Teton County through forested mountains south to Bear Lake and Franklin Counties, will see that get worse: That district looks about the same, with Oneida County tacked on in the southwest.

There are issues. But there'll also be a strong temptation to just go ahead and adopt a plan evidently accepted, at this point, by both political parties. How often do you get that?

30 or less?

September 22, 2011

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire's call for a special legislative session for November sounds on its face questionable. Legislators will be coming to town in regular session not so long after that - probably within a month after it adjourns.

Still, the budget numbers have been worsening at a heady clip, so the argument for action sooner than even that does have some weight. Olympia Republican Representative Gary Alexander, after the announcement: “Budget leaders can begin the process now. The longer we wait to address the issue, the harder the budget problem will be to solve." Not a bad point.

And there is one other. By focusing on budget adjustments in December, there should be a better ability to focus on other things - economic problem-solving - in January. That clearly seemed a driver in Gregoire's thinking; her release on the call noted she wanted "to spend the regular session focusing on policy bills to support job creation and economic growth." Passage might be a little easier than way, with fewer opportunities, in some quarter or other, for hostage-taking.

So how long will be the special be? Don't figure on a lot less than 30 days, though there'll surely be a strong push to get home well in advance of Christmas.

New preferences

September 21, 2011

Four years ago, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was all the rage among Idaho Republicans. It didn't matter much, since by the time Idaho Republicans got to vote in the primary Romney had dropped out and John McCain had the nomination in hand. But Romney was the clear early favorite among Idaho Republicans, at the upper reaches of elective office and party structure, and well down below.

This year, not so much - or rather, things are a lot more complicated.

For one thing, Idaho Republicans' presidential preferences - at the nomination stages - will matter a lot more in 2012, since the party has chosen to move (as the Democrats did a while back) to an earlier caucus, probably March 6. That means the party's activists actually will play a meaningful role in the nomination process.

And there are indicators to what that could mean.

Romney again has the support of much of Idaho's Republican leadership. His Idaho co-chairs are Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter and U.S. Senator Jim Risch and the steering committee (Representative Mike Simpson, Lieutenant Governor Brad Little, Secretary of State Ben Ysursa, Superintendent of Public Schools Tom Luna, State Controller Donna Jones, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, Senate Pro Tempore Brent Hill, Speaker of the House Lawerence Denney, Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Chuck Winder, House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke and House Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts) could hardly be improved on as a measure of support from Idaho Republican elected officials.

But what about voter support? What about the activists who outnumber the leadership?

The Kootenai County Reagan Republicans have been running a straw poll in the area - picking up votes mostly at a regional fair but in other locations as well - and have announced results, which suggest different preferences among Republican voters.

First place went to Texas Governor Rick Perry, who wasn't even yet in the race when many of the votes were cast, with 123, or about a quarter of the total. Second place went to Texas Representative Ron Paul with 55 votes, and third to Sarah Palin (who's not in the race) with 54.

And Romney? Tied for fourth (with Representative Michelle Bachman) at 39 votes.

We've been seeing pieces of evidence for some time that there are two Idaho Republican parties. Add these little factoids to the list.

Carlson: A bygone hero

September 21, 2011
carlson
Chris Carlson
Carlson Chronicles

The weekend of September 17-18 marked the 50th anniversary of the death of one of my youthful non-baseball heroes----Dag Hammarskjold. Most Idahoans and many readers will ask who?

He was the seemingly faceless Swedish bureaucrat selected as a compromise candidate by the five-member United Nations Security Council in 1953 to be the second Secretary-General of the world organization set up after World War II to promote peaceful resolution of the world’s conflicts and prevent nuclear conflagration.

Almost single-handedly he willed the UN into a major force in world affairs. He died at the age of 56, fittingly, in September of 1961 when his plane crashed while on a mission to Africa to try to resolve tribal conflicts with UN peacekeeping troops stationed in what was then Rhodesia.

I was 15 at the time of Hammarskjold’s passing, and like most teenagers, while I may have noted his death, it mattered little to me. He became a hero three years later with the posthumous publication of a book containing his private musings called “Markings.”

Something about that book moved me beyond a teen-age fixation just on girls, baseball, and the latest hit songs. So, I pulled out my hard-back copy of Markings the other day and reread the numerous short thoughts Hammarskjold jotted down during his life. (more…)

Speaker to chair

September 20, 2011

The announcement by Dave Hunt, the Oregon state House member who is a former speaker, that he's running for chair of the Clackamas County commission, isn't a shock; word has been circulating for a while.

The sheer number of Democrats departing the Oregon Legislature in the last few months, or seeking to, is interesting, though: A couple now running for Congress, another moving into the Kitzhaber Administration.

One guess that redistricting might have had something to do with this could seem reasonable, but doesn't hold up. Like other legislators, Hunt was not thrown into a district-untenable situation for 2012; he ought to have been able to manage well enough in his new district. Maybe better than in Clackamas as a whole, since Clackamas is a politically marginal county. Party registration does tip to the Democrats (a reversal from a decade ago), but not by a lot. And more-Democratic Washington County has in recent times chosen more-conservative over more-liberal county officials. Clackamas chair isn't a slam dump.

But it could have an effect on politics in 2012 in Clackamas overall. And a strong candidate running countywide could have some benefit for Democrats in the marginal areas.

The other California immigrants

September 19, 2011

From Linda Watkins, Ridenbaugh Press editor who works with rescue dogs through PEt Adoption Network.

Facebook and several Oregon news stations are full of updates today about a “rescue bus” that broke down in Grants Pass yesterday. The bus was carrying approximately 100 small dogs released from the East County Animal Shelter in Los Angeles and bound for Sunny Sky’s Rescue in Puyallup. Included is one Chihuahua who just had puppies, and another ready to whelp at any moment.

At the last report state police had arrived with water, help, and volunteers. Groups on Facebook have set up donation accounts to help the rescue with bus repairs, possible vehicle rentals, and/or housing for the dogs if needed.

It’s turning into a heartwarming story of people trying to help otherwise doomed animals and needing help themselves – another story of the community stepping up to help neighbors in need.

But the drama of the story overshadows the real question: Why in the heck are 100+ dogs being shipped out of California to Washington state for adoption? Aside from the fact that such a long drive can’t be good for small dogs who already have some health issues, surely with their population California shouldn’t have any problem finding homes for these dogs in-state?

Sadly the answer is “no” – the dogs are being shipped north because there are no homes for them in California. Nor is there enough space in the California shelters or rescues for these dogs.

In the last three years the number of dogs being shipped out of California has skyrocketed.

At first there were single-dog or at most a half-dozen to a dozen-dog transports from Northern and North Coast shelters. It made sense as these shelters are actually closer and more easily accessible for Oregon rescues. Then a few Central California shelter dogs were added into the mix. And that made sense too as they were usually sending breeds in high demand up north, but in short supply – breeds like Chihuahuas, small terriers, poodles, etc. It seems that most of the dogs in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia shelters were larger, outdoorsy, active breeds and the small house and lap dogs were hard to come by. So providing a few of California’s excess “ankle biters” the opportunity to have a good home seemed like a good thing to do.

As the rescue networks grew, and the transportation up I-5 became more established, the numbers of dogs increased, and they started coming from shelters further south: Stanislaus County/Modesto, Kern County/Bakersfield, Lancaster, San Bernardino/Devore, Los Angeles, and Orange County. And as word of the abysmal conditions in these shelters spread, more rescues (and shelters) offered to take more of these easily adoptable small dogs – resulting in multiple transports that regularly ferry 40 to 100 dogs per week to the Pacific Northwest.

There’s no doubt that these dogs needed to get out of the shelters: Each day I hear (and have experienced) more horror stories about the conditions in the California shelters: overcrowded and underfunded, many of them contain twice the number of animals they were built to hold; dogs sit in overcrowded cages and fight for food as they are not able to be fed separately; the lack of volunteers and shelter staff means little exercise or attention and minimal sanitation; dogs coming in as strays with broken bones or other injuries are left without medical treatment and at the end of their “stray hold” period are either euthanized or offered to “rescue only;” kennel cough is rampant because of the overcrowding and lack of sanitation. Dogs come out of the shelters dehydrated, underfed, severely depressed, suffering from PTSD, and severe upper respiratory diseases as well as parasites, parvo, and distemper.

A healthy, well-adjusted dog will have some chance of getting out onto the adoption floor, but for each dog that makes it that far, several will go into the “holding” area where they will eventually be killed unless a rescue can find room to take them. So it’s no wonder that shelters and rescues in other states are stepping up to help these dogs – but the cost is great. (more…)

A legalization turning point?

September 18, 2011

Up to this point, the effort to end flat criminalization of marijuana - as opposed to the idea of legalizing, tax and regulating it possibly along the lines of alcohol - has gotten support from occasional politicians, of both parties at various times. But the breadth of support has been limited. It takes broad support to make a major change.

Which makes this of interest: The Washington Democratic Party has gone on record endorsing such a measure: Backing Initiative 502, to legalize, tax and regulate.

That action was taken by the Washington State Democratic Central Committee voted 75-43 on Saturday afternoon. Will be interesting to see what a number of Democratic officeholders in the state, most of whom have not gotten on board the idea, will have to say about it. But you do in any event get the sense that, politically, a corner is being turned.

Carlson: The grain of truth

September 16, 2011
carlson
Chris Carlson
Carlson Chronicles

There was some hullabaloo a couple months back about the possible establishment of a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) near the Boise Airport with the People’s Republic of China.

Some members of Idaho’s Republican right wing immediately smelled a plot. Conservative Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter was accused of selling off Idaho to the “Reds.” Resolutions condemning the FTZ were passed in several counties by GOP central committees. Obsequious legislators promised to introduce legislation prohibiting such heinous activity.

The media had a fine time ridiculing this paranoia by the philosophical descendents of the John Birch Society. Proponents were likened to the all-time champion communist hunting senator from Wisconsin, Joseph A. McCarthy, and his cohort in the Senate, Herman Welker, mockingly known as “Little Joe from Idaho.”

As is the case, though, beneath the hullabaloo, an element of truth is present. After all, Senators McCarthy and Welker were partially correct - there were card-carrying members of the American Communist Party working in the State Department and sympathizers in Hollywood. The issue was the excessive abuse of one’s civil liberties the witch-hunting senators applied in their zeal to save America from the threat of take over from within.

The element of truth lingering beneath the surface of this latest manifestation of a commie under every bed is the fact that the Chinese are well on their way to achieving a super power role and becoming the world’s dominant power by the end of this century. To say this is not to be paranoid. The factual evidence is already present.

Say what one wants, but the Chinese are executing a 50-year plan that will see their economy replacing ours as the world’s largest. As most military experts will testify, it is economic might that underlies true military strength, and the Chinese appear to have divined that the key to both economic and military might is controlling the production and ownership of the so-called rare earth minerals critical to the further development of technological aids in the world of computers and advanced electronics.

Statistics published by the National Mining Association indicate the Chinese already own or have a dominant position in firms controlling 96 percent of the world’s production of rare earth minerals. Some argue this reflects the realities of the demands of China’s expanding economy and is not a consequence of any strategy to dominate the future. Rather it is a necessity. Perhaps.

Idaho is a player on the chessboard of world geo-politics also, though not because of the possible establishment of a free trade zone. (more…)