REDISTRICTING
Denney, Semanko offer a real-world civics lesson
On behalf of all Idaho school children, I would like to thank House Speaker Lawerence Denney and state GOP Chairman Norm Semanko for giving us all a lesson in civics for the real world. Their actions regarding the redistricting commission have taught us that what we learn in school is nice in theory, but has no place in the real world. They have taught us:
If you have an official charged with providing legal opinions and you do not like his opinion, get a different one.
If you do not like a decision, get rid of the person who made it and find someone more amenable to your wishes.
Most importantly, the purpose of being in public positions is to preserve one’s own position.
Perhaps their next task should be to revise Idaho’s civics texts to eliminate those nonsensical references to serving the public and playing by the rules.
BRAD MALONE, Boise
Denney and Semanko are not above the law
I think that Lawerence Denney and Norm Semanko need to be booted out of their ivory towers.
We are supposed to have a democracy here in Idaho. Differing opinions do not justify removing the members of a commission. In a majority Republican body we need elected officials who will express their differences. Perhaps Dolores Crow and Randy Hansen need to be in charge. Kudos to both of you. We the people allow this to happen by not staying on top of things. Denney and Semanko acted like they were above the law and they are not.
REX MCCOY, Boise
Good for Crow, Hansen
Good for Dolores Crow and Randy Hansen. The majority of Idaho Republicans are getting tired of the good old boys club doing everything they can to get their own way. The law says there is to be one vote per person in equal proportion to every other voter, not that they are to protect the existing leadership in our House. If these incumbents are afraid to run against another incumbent, it must be because they cannot make us believe they voted for our interests, and not their own.
RANDALL TAYLOR, Notus
This Boss keeps working
One must hand it to Boss Denney; he sure doesn’t let anyone get him down. Be it the Idaho Supreme Court rejecting his “power to fire” claim or the state attorney general, Boss Denney still feels the need to rant and rave publicly. The Boss even goes so far as to say anything done by the redistricting commission “hangs under a cloud of uncertainty.” For a man who claims on his own website to be in favor of as little government as possible, he seems to have no limit to how far he’ll go to save his own can this November.
JOSHUA PETERS, Boise
LIVING WAGES
Employers also need to invest in the workforce
I’m writing in response to Stephen Cook’s reported assertion that the state of Idaho trails other states in wages, and that the answer to our troubles lies in a more educated workforce. While I agree with his statement of fact, I partially disagree with his proposed solution.
As an educator, I agree that a more skilled workforce will be valuable to our state. I nonetheless feel that our business community needs to do its part through investing in human capital as well. I know plenty of 20-somethings with master’s degrees, including myself, who have trouble finding a decent job with benefits. While looking over classifieds recently, I saw a skilled machinist’s position paying the same as janitorial work. By moving to Utah, my dad saw a $20,000 salary bump for doing the same job. Idaho people are skilled, but our businesses often exploit an isolated population that’s eager for work.
Though many businesspeople are upstanding, human capital is too often viewed by them as a resource to be strip-mined, rather than as an asset to be developed. In fighting low wages, education is only one part of the solution — employers need to invest in their communities as well.
JEREMY BRANSTAD, Boise
LAND BOARD
GOP grows government
Gov. Butch Otter, Secretary of State Ben Ysursa, State Controller Donna Jones, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, members of the Idaho Land Board, have discovered a new way to grow government. Last month, they approved a new “State Trust Lands Asset Management Plan.” http://www.idl.idaho.gov/am/amfiles/122011-AMP-final.pdf
The thrust of this plan is “managing revenue generating activities within a government agency.” They also want to “operate a profit oriented business within a government agency.” This is called growing government. The Land Board wants to “change social and political attitudes and values, markets, and products.” The plan also calls for “executing procedures to foster the agency’s ability to be competitive in the real estate market.”
One has to wonder what happened to these Republican officeholders who claim to stand for a political platform that supports the free enterprise system and smaller government.
ROBERT FORREY, Nampa
RALPH NADER
Media blacklisted a candidate with ideas
If a third-party candidate had somehow been elected president years ago, America wouldn’t be bankrupt. Don’t blame me; I voted for Ralph Nader.
In the first decade of this century, Nader was the only candidate to stand up for the average American; the only one who wanted to put an end to the outsourcing of American jobs; the only one to advocate an America-first national policy; the only one to really promote energy independence from the Mideast oil cartels; the only one to promise the end of perpetual wars for profit; the only one to favor antitrust safeguards against monopoly capitalism; the only one to side with ending the failed war on people (a/k/a the War on Drugs); the only one with a real plan to balance the budget.
In 2008, a nationwide blackout by the corporate media prevented Nader from being heard. He had to sue 45 states just to get on the ballot. The elitist power brokers wouldn’t let him debate the mainstream candidates. When he tried to attend the presidential debate in Indianapolis, he was given a police escort out of the auditorium.
Makes me want to become an anarchist!
WOLF HOFFMAN, Boise
PHONE DIRECTORIES
Overloaded? Just opt out
Responding to the letter regarding telephone directories, Jan. 19.
Tired of all those telephone directories? Cancel them. Printed on the cover of the January 2012 Treasure Valley Dex Plus directory is the following notation:
• Find recycling options, order or stop delivery of this directory DexKnows.com/green
• To change or stop delivery of directories from all publishers, visit yellowpagesoptout.com
Telephone numbers of cell phones are not listed (yet). If you do not have a regular landline, you will not be listed.
I believe it may be possible in the future to list cellphones, but people sometimes change their numbers and it could be difficult to keep up with them.
I hope this information will be useful to the newcomers from Alabama.
VIRGINIA ROSE, Boise
