Election: Idaho Can Do Better This Time
By Contributing Writer, Unfiltered 11-03-06
We have a number of important local elections, but my primary concerns are three state-level races: State Superintendent of Schools (Luna vs. Jones), House of Representatives (Sali vs. Grant), and Governor (Otter vs. Brady), as well as HJR 2, the attempt to outlaw not only homosexual marriage but also civil unions.
On HJR 2, this conservative evangelical is voting a resounding "NO." Gays are already not allowed to marry in Idaho; it hardly seems necessary to codify into the state's constitution a ban on that which is already not allowed. But this nasty piece of legislation goes even further to affect something that is far beyond not permitting two men or two women to marry -- it prevents civil unions and domestic partnerships that permit any adult to enter into a contracted personal, civil relationship with another. (This is obviously a gross simplification, but details on what constitutes civil unions serve only to illuminate the bad idea that is HJR 2). I understand that conservatives of many different faiths, or of no particular faith, are uneasy with homosexual marriage, but nothing in state law forces any institution of faith to perform them or any other marriage they deem in violation of Scripture. Unease about gay marriage should not result in a prohibition against civil unions, which are the mechanism by which loving, committed gay couples now secure the civil rights and societal privileges conferred to heterosexuals in marriage.
No church's faith or public witness is compromised by state law as it stands, and too many conservative Christian churches have been sold a bill of goods on this one -- a line of deception that purports to "take a stand for the traditional family" when evangelicals have been publicly and privately some of the biggest enemies thereof in the last century. A vote for HJR 2 isn't a courageous blow against the forces of evil. It's a fear-based, irrational and mean-spirited blow against basic civil rights.
I can't decide which is scarier: Sali as my congressman, Otter as my governor, or Luna as head of Idaho's public education system. By the barest of margins I'll go with the schools race, and probably because of my experience on the school board. I'd have to say that the idea of Tom Luna replacing Dr. Marilyn Howard would be laughable if it weren't so frightening. Luna's support comes from the side of the political spectrum that believes in a solely market-driven approach to public education and denies the reality of an institution that, dealing as it does in the education of human beings, is enormously more complex and crucial to the functioning of society than the management of, say, a jewelry store -- or an industrial scales business, which is the business Luna runs. The crushing burden of No Child Left Behind, social and economic factors that affect children, the complexities of education law and procedure, and the challenges of a largely rural state with very different demographics throughout is something that requires experience in education, administration, and a committment to the institution itself. What I see in Luna and his supporters is a belief that ideology is sufficient -- that the free market trumps all, and what deserves to die, dies. This inability to acknowledge the reality of today's federal oversight of schools in terms of standards, funding, assessments and bureaucracy, coupled with an apparent inability to see children as human beings and not units of production, makes the possibility of Tom Luna's election more frightening even than Butch Otter's or Bill Sali's.
But barely. Otter is only slightly less wacky than Sali, but both exhibit a "conservatism" that the GOP of a half-century ago would hardly recognize. And that's a pity, because with their election, I fear that Idaho is on its way to becoming a state that many of us won't recognize as part of the 21st century or the America our parents loved and fought for. We've just got to do better, and I hope we do.
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Our prosperity is largely due to the improved economic conditions, Idahoans overall have more money to spend. Our state unemployment rate continues to set record lows. The September unemployment rate of 3.3 percent has been below 4 percent for an unprecedented 17 straight months and has dropped half a percent over the past year.
Bush’s The 2001 and 2003 tax relief measures saved taxpayers $70 billion, and the resulting economic growth is now sharply reducing the federal budget deficit by bringing in new revenue. The rebound of the stock market is evidence investors are showing confidence in the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 12,100 points last week, marking the ninth time in nearly three weeks that the Dow has achieved a record high close, up from 7,286 on 10/9/2002. Federal tax revenues are surging, and the economy is thriving because of consumer confidence and tax relief provided by Congress and the President. The federal deficit has shrunk, and Congress has exceeded goals of cutting the deficit in half three years ahead of schedule. Friday new national unemployment showed another two tenths of a point drop to 4.4%.
If a Larry L. Grant win flips the Congress to the control of San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi the tax cuts that are driving this prosperity will end as Charles Rangel will be the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and he can’t wait to let them die. Tax cuts are antithetical to Democrats because they don’t understand the dynamics that cause them to raise revenue for the treasury.
Tom Luna is a leader in education reform; Tom worked under Governor Phil Batt as commissioner and spokesman for the Idaho Achievement Standards Commission. later, under Governor Dirk Kempthorne, Tom was appointed chairman of the Idaho Assessment and Accountability Commission. The success of these two commissions resulted in the popular Achievement Standards and the ISAT, both useful tools for Idaho’s teachers and parents.
Electing Tom Luna, a Mexican American, will go a long way towards showing the rest of America that Idahoans aren’t a bunch of racists as many think; we are not are we? Tom Luna is one of the most engaging and enthusiastic people I have ever met.
If reading Jerry Brady’s Post Register newspaper isn’t reason enough to not vote for him all I can say is you must live outside of Eastern Idaho. Is Butch Otter qualified to be Idaho’s next governor? He has broad experience: Represented Canyon County in the Legislature between 1972 to 1976. Otter has spent 30 years in business, many of those with the J.R. Simplot Co., where he started at the bottom processing potatoes. Otter served as Idaho’s lieutenant governor for three of Idaho’s distinguished governors: Democrat Cecil Andrus, and Republicans Phil Batt and Dirk Kempthorne. He spent six years in Congress, representing the 1st Congressional District. Idaho has been fortunate to have political clout at the national level because governors have had a continued history of holding seats in Congress or in the president’s cabinet. We need the power that only Butch Otter can bring to the governor’s office. He is a Republican and believes in limited government.
Contributing Writer: You don’t sign your name and you claim to be a conservative evangelical, sounds like a ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ Wolf story to me.
What part of prosperity is it that the Democrats don’t understand?
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Republicans and Democrats both have their coalitions of voting blocks. Democrats have their welfare recipients, environmentalists, African-Americans, union members, homosexuals, abortionists, and trial lawyers; the Republicans have their Christians, businessmen, country music fans, Log Cabin Republicans, armed services personal, security moms, and nanny state rejecters. The problem with both our tents is they are to big, but to win, Democrats have made their compromises and the Republicans have made theirs. These constituencies need to be catered to or they will be lost - that’s politics.