Governor Otter Says No to a New Park

With a stroke of the pen, Governor Butch Otter saved the state millions:

Gov. Butch Otter has used his line-item veto to slice part of the funding for a new eastern Idaho state park out of the state parks budget. Lawmakers had approved $2.9 million to buy land at the Rising River site on the Snake River for the new park, which was part of Gov. Dirk Kempthorne’s “Experience Idaho” parks project. In his veto message, Otter said Idaho has a “significant backlog of maintenance needs at … existing state parks. Our limited resources must be used to address those needs and to enhance the utility of our existing parks before we add to our state parks inventory.” Otter used his line-item veto to slash $760,000 of the land purchase that was in a separate item in the budget, and ordered the state parks director not to spend the additional $2.14 million that’s rolled into the department’s budget for that purchase, effectively stopping the new state park.

The Idahoan offers up enthusiastic praise for Butch’s veto:

If you do the political calculus on this, you know that Otter stood to gain a great deal by approving the spending. A governor who approves spending for a park ends up with all kinds of glory — a groundbreaking and an official opening to attend, maybe even a park in his name (although “Otter Park” might confuse visitors). Rest assured supporting the spending would have secured his legacy for all time — and the good graces of voters in eastern Idaho.

But Otter’s line item veto was for all the right reasons. We have a maintenance backlog in our existing parks, so why add on when we can’t afford to keep up with what we already have? In other words, Otter did what he did for all the right reasons, very much consistent with conservatism in government. How wonderful! Doing what’s right instead of what’s politically popular is a trait we should all admire and replicate.

I’ve been pretty critical of Governor Otter over the last few weeks, but it’s all about issues. The policy with the Governor is the same as with every elected official: praise ‘em when they’re right, criticize them when they’re wrong.

Lesson 7: Being a Good Blogging Neighbor

When I first got started blogging, I had many problems both in 2002, when I started my initial blog and 2004 when I started this one. In 2002, I didn’t know what I was doing. In 2004, I expressed frustration that despite being a columnist for websites on Google News, I felt like I was writing to no one in particular. His suggestion: start a blog. Through the magic of syndication, you’ll get more readers. Hey, it sounded like a good deal, so I started writing.

A year later in 2005, I’d found the whole blogging biz to have been far from successful. It was rare that I was linked to by anyone. I ranked in the 7000s level of the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem, with a blog that had few regular readers and was hit with far more spam than real comments.

A year and a half later, we’re doing much better. We stand at #324 on the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem, ahead of many great and venerable blog. Readership is generally (more or less) 200 readers a day. How did it happen? Well, we might call it a shift in paradigms.

The Beginner’s Paradigm

When you enter the whole blogging thing, there are two different ideas people have about blogging:

“It’s just a place where I can express my opinions.”

“I’m in a battle against corruption, apathy, graft, etc. and it’s me v. the world.”

Thus, blogging begins with the idea that your blog is about you:

1) Your opinions

2) Your thoughts
3) Your crusade

Now, certainly if you just want to blurt out whatever you think in a way that makes no impact, go ahead. If you don’t care who you’re read by, but you’re mad as heck and you’ve got to let the world know, than it’s very simple. But to go beyond venting requires something else.

Blogging Community

The Blogosphere is not just you. You have millions of neighors. Depending on where you live, you have thousands of people writing about the same thing you are.

Alone, you’re one lonely website, but in community, the blogosphere becomes a powerful engine. It was that engine of conservative blogs working together that stopped the Harriet Miers nomination. It was that network on the left that powered the Democrats to victory in 2006. So, how do you be a good blogging neighbor. Here are some good rules:

1) Read Blogs:

Read a wide variety of blogs, as I showed you in my RSS lesson, I’m subscribed to a plethora of big and small blogs. If you expect blogs to grow in influence, the first step is to let them influence you, rather than relying on traditional media solely. The blogosphere is a great source of information.

2) Study and Participate in Blogs:

Here’s one I wish I’d done when I started blogging. There are few big books of rules for the Blogosphere. We learn in one of two ways: by expereince or by watching others. Learning by experience is tough (as the old saying goes, “Good judgment comes with experience, which come through bad judgment.”) Simply put, find a blog you like, see what the blogger does and then apply it to your blog. Believe me, it beats the heck out of making things up as you go.

3) Always Link Back:

If you quote someone with attribution, you’ve done your duty as a writer, but to do the right blogging thing, if your source is online link to it. There are several reasons to do this:

1) If it’s a blog post, it’ll allow the blogger to respond.

2) It’ll allow people looking for comments on that story to find your story.

Now, of course, not linking back is a great way to avoid debate in that you get really have a debate if no one knows what you wrote, but if you don’t want debate or to be challenged, you don’t belong in the blogosphere.

4) Be Generous with Linking:

The number of links you get is pretty much proportional to the number of links you give. The less you give, the less you will in turn get. A link is good for your readers because it lets them know about a perspective on a story and it’s good for you because, linking to another blogger (particularly with a Trackback.) is like dropping a business card on their desk. Whenever, I see someone knew linking to me, I pay them a visit and if I like what I read, I subscribe to their feed, and they have a faithful reader on their hand who will link to more of their stuff. Thus, a greater blogging relationship is established. Sometimes, it doesn’t happen, sometimes it does. Just keep linking.

5) Hat Tip:

When you find an interesting blog post or news story that you then post about on your blog, it’s typical to give the blog you found the post through a Hat Tip:

A critical issue can come with who to Hat Tip. If I find a link on Instapundit, that takes me to Michelle Malkin and then refers me to a post at Conservative Outpost that has the original story, who do I link to?

Well, Conservative Outpost is an obvious one. Generally, I’ll hat tip only Instapundit as he’s the one I found the post at, unless Malkin added something significant in her post in which case, I’ll hat tip them both. Use your judgment, but I found this model works pretty well.

6) Round Up:

If you run into a news story that’s compelling, but can’t think of much you have to add to it, you can build some blogging contacts, by doing a blog round up.

For an example of a blog round up, click here. You take the URL of the story and go to either Google Blog Search or Technorati and you will find all the blog reaction to a story. You then choose what you find interesting, quote some blogs, summarize their points and perhaps provide some of your own context, you’ll be amazed at what happens.

7) Praise Other Bloggers:

When you see something good in the blogosphere, praise it. Comment on other blogs. Take those steps to build relationship. During the last two years, though I’ve not been a nominee for the Weblog Awards, I’ve offered extensive coverage on blogs and I’ve been surprised how many came over to my site to comment. In the 2006 Weblog Awards, I established many relationships and alliances that continue to this day. By honoring others, you strengthen relationships and help build a blogging community.

Click here to download.

Newcombe, Ring, and Batt

Mountain Goat Report takes issue with a recent Idaho Chooses Life commentary:

Well, if there was ever any doubt that the Idaho Republican Party is in some kind of turf war, this ought to help make it clear. The commentary at Idaho Chooses Life, a formerly effective and worthy advocate for their position, has strayed so far to the extreme it’s almost laughable. They have resorted to calling highly respected, long time Republican stalwarts such as Phil Batt and Bruce Newcomb, Republican In Name Only (RINO).

I generally avoid the term, RINO (at least in regards to Idaho politicians.) I frankly don’t care what the likes of Arlen Specter, Linc Chaffee, or Tommy Kean, Jr. think of me, but when we’re talking neighbors, you’re on another level. Locally, I prefer a more kind term such as Conservatism-Impaired.

What Idaho Chooses Life actually wrote was quite interesting:

Ring even claimed that he was denied a chairmanship on a panel where there is already a sitting GOP chairman with greater seniority. In Ring’s twisted and self-centered view, Denney ought to have stripped Chairman Block of her committee and given it to him – at least if Denney was “fair”.

Both Ring and Batt are full of dribble and guilty of avoiding the underlying facts in order to better deceive Idahoans into thinking that some right-wing fascist has suddenly seized control of the Legislature.

Both gentlemen are unabashed social liberals. Both are supported by the ACLU for their liberalism on issues like abortion and gay rights. So let’s establish one fundamental consideration: They both dislike Denney because he is an unapologetic conservative. But rather than have the guts to come clean and accept the consequences of their unpopular views, they hide behind rhetoric designed to mislead people into thinking that the democratic process has somehow been repealed by Speaker Denney. Instead of humbly accepting the simple fact they are grossly outgunned by conservatives in the Idaho Legislature, they would rather blame and malign the Speaker for their failings.

They also make the point that Speaker Newcombe wasn’t exactly Miss Congeniality as Speaker:

We have just survived the tenure of one of the most heavy-handed speakers in Idaho history. Bruce Newcomb was famous for his temper tantrums and threats against lobbyists, members of the public and other legislators. I witnessed many of these outrages first-hand, and suffered a few personally. The contrast between the Denney and Newcomb temperaments could hardly be greater.

But, of course, the central difference is the ideological complexion of the two speakers. Batt and the Statesman were undisturbed when former legislator David Callister endured years of abuse at Newcomb’s hands – because Callister was a conservative. And no outrage was expressed when Newcomb abused his authority by stripping Bill Sali of his chairmanship because Sali would not kow-tow to Newcomb’s liberal agenda. I don’t remember any Batt speeches from on high when Newcomb punished Rep. Tom Loertscher for years because he had the audacity to challenge Newcomb.

Indeed, I remember that when Sali was stripped of his chairmanship, it was all Sali’s fault, now if a liberal Republican is denied a chairmanship, it’s all the Speaker’s fault. Got that logic? Good, conservatives are always to blame.

So far, as I understand it, Lawrence Denney hasn’t threatened to throw a moderate out a third story window (like one of his predecessors did with Bill Sali) It seemed that the power antics of Speakers Simpson and Newcombe against conservatives were good for a few chuckles. However, now that Lawrence Denney’s in the chair and he’s using that same speaker’s office (the power of which was created by Simpson and Newcombe), it’s a threat to our Republic.

That’s absurd and hypocritical. That is the great point behind what Idaho Chooses Life wrote, and I hope liberals as well as conservativism-impaired Republicans get the point.

Podcast #215: The Danger of Unknown Elections

A May 15 election in a Idaho School district is emblematic of a greater problem in Idaho and America.

Click here to download.

Related:

School Board Election is May 15

It’s Another Weekend Open Trackbacks Friday

Wow, it’s Friday, which means it is time for Open Trackbacks. This is a themeless Open Trackbacks Friday, so just relax and join the Party.

First, the rules:

1) Post about anything that’s in good taste. No porn, no spam, no profanity.

2) Send me a trackback of any tasteful post you want and as soon as I check my blog, I’ll update this post with your link provided you link back to this thread. If your software won’t allow you to send trackbacks, just use the Wizbang Standalone Pinger.
3) Deadline is Sunday at 11:00 PM MT. Further trackbacks won’t be posted after that time.

For your convenience here’s today’s link. If you’re a registered user, the, trackback should appear below. If not, here’s the process:

Enter the characters as shown in the box and something like this should appear

This is a Trackback URL that’s good one time only so that we can seperate humans from spammer bots.

Linking In:

Freedom Folks:

Communists assist Islamists in resolution against
We learn this week that in the latest scummy act at the United Nations, Islamic countries have pushed through a resolution “urging” global prohibition of “defamation” of religion with the help of the commies:

The World According to Carl:

West Virginia Defeats Clemson In NIT Finals — Then Have An “Oops” Moment
What’s Wrong With THIS Picture

West Virginia won the NIT title with a 78-73 victory over Clemson on Thursday night but then had a team-wide “oops” moment after donning championship t-shirts. However if you look closely, you’ll notice that Virginia i…

Planck’s Constant:

The US should Attack Mexico
Next to our failed educational system that pops out liberal idiots like terrorists from a Muslim womb, the border problem is the gravest threat to our national security. Here’s the plan.

The World According to Carl:

The Adventures Of Cpl Kermit — Iraq 2007

I didn’t realize that Kermit the Frog signed up and is now serving his country in Iraq. But this video proves it. Amazing. Set to Guns ‘n Roses’ “Welcome To The Jungle.”

A froggy green welcome to readers from Perri Nelson’s Website, The Crazy Ra…

Conservative Cat:

An Important Difference Between Pet Food and the Police Force
A little over a month ago, an off-duty Chicago policeman beat up a girl in a bar. He was subsequently arrested on a misdemeanor charge, but is now facing a felony count of aggravated battery. If convicted, he faces up…

Ask Andrea

Enemy Strongholds and Nightmares
Most nightmares come from us working out the bad stuff in life that we don’t want to deal with while awake, but not all. If a nightmare clearly doesn’t relate to anything you’ve gone or are going through, that leaves two possible sour…

Other Parties:

Linkfest Haven
Right Nation
Stuck on Stupid

Open Trackbacks

Kill It, Don’t Mend It

The calls for altering the Equal Rights Amendment to make it “abortion-neutral” are short-sighted at best.

At this point in our society, with the opportunities that have been opened to women and the laws already in place, the Equal Right Amendments is mischevious and pernicious, and the less palatable it is, the better. I can see this bill being used to force legalization of same sex marriage, same sex adoption, and all sorts of things. Please, just kill the thing. It can’t get the 2/3 vote it needs as is, so let’s keep it that way.

On a Secret Ballot

Mountain Goat’s latest attack on the effort for party registration bears some response:

The Idaho Constitution guarantees “an absolutely secret ballot.”

ARTICLE VI SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS

SECTION 1. SECRET BALLOT GUARANTEED. All elections by the people must be by ballot. An absolutely secret ballot is hereby guaranteed, and it shall be the duty of the legislature to enact such laws as shall carry this section into effect.

How would a court interpret that in light of the attempts to require party registration and public declaration of ballot selection for primary elections?

While Wikipedia is not a great legal source generally, they provide a good definition of “secret ballot“:

The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter’s choices are confidential. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery.

In essence, on a secret ballot, no one knows how I voted. Closed primaries don’t violate that principle. How you vote remains confidential, all we learn is what choices you’re given. If knowing that someone had a choice of 6 Republican Candidates for Congress violates “the secret ballot” than we have a very serious problem in the general election, because we know all the choices that people are presented.

In addition, the claims of the Idaho Republican Party would be based on the Constitution of the US which would supersede Idaho’s should it come to that.

Will Falling Deficits Save Tax Cuts?

US News asks the question. Answer: If Democrats are in charge, no. They want to grow government and so they’ll attempt to kill the goose (the American Economy) that laid the golden egg, regardless.

Sali on the Iraq Supplemental

Congressman Sali reads the riot act to the Democratic Majority (via Right Mind):

How disheartening that Speaker Pelosi and her House lieutenants included in the bill the worst, rawest form of political bribery – spending on the parochial pet projects of wavering Members of Congress. By including everything from funding for Gulf Coast levees and shrimp subsidies to peanut storage money and a spinach program, Speaker Pelosi bought the votes of reluctant Congressmen – some who want an immediate pullout and some who don’t really support a timeline at all.

Mrs. Pelosi’s bill even included badly needed money for rural Northwestern schools, counties and highway districts. For Idaho alone, the bill provided more than $23 million for schools and counties – an extension of the “Craig-Wyden” funds. This item was included specifically so my Pacific Northwest colleagues and I would have to choose between a vote for the Democrat troop pull-out plan or a difficult vote against schools and roads.

If House Democrat leadership truly agrees with me that relief is needed for our rural schools and counties, they should be willing to permit a straight up-or-down vote. I have introduced legislation in the House to accomplish this, and Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo have introduced identical legislation on the Senate.

It shocks and infuriates me to see Mrs. Pelosi and the Democrat majority in Congress use Idaho’s schoolchildren and economic infrastructure as pawns in the War against America’s enemies.

It is wrong for Democrats to use political bribery to enact their military micromanagement, especially so wrong-headed a strategy as the one that passed the House. How ironic that Mrs. Pelosi was unwilling to impose a deadline on herself and her operatives in the arm-twisting battle for sufficient votes to pass her bill, but she is more than willing to impose a deadline on American military personnel fighting a real war in Iraq.

Last week in Iraq, terrorists used children as decoys to drive a car through a security checkpoint. After making it through the checkpoint, the terrorists detonated the car with the children in the back seat. This is the kind of enemy America faces in Iraq. They are not rational. They are not patriots. They care nothing for human life or dignity. They are murderers, and they must be stopped – on their soil, not ours.

Tying the war against America’s enemies in Iraq with issues here at home is politics as its worst.

Bill Sali

Funny Stuff from MC Rove

Improv Comedy at the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association dinner. Hey, that’s new. It’s the type of thing you’re supposed to see at these events, not partisan politics.

Podcast #224: A Lesson in Tyranny

Everything that happens in college has a lesson behind it. BSU President Bob Kustra wants to teach college Republicans to not stand up for what they believe.
Click here to download.

Related Link:

Clayton Cramer:

How You Can Tell That A Liberal is the President of Your University

Truth and Hope Report: Interview with Susan Kirkland

Tonight, we talk with Susan Kirkland, whose story “Fair Balance” appears in “Light at the Edge of Darkness” along with Andrea’s and mine. Andrea co-hosts and the three of us have a friendly conversation, but it all comes back to what the shows about: hope for our nation. Tonight’s focus shifts from politics to the arts, but I think you’ll like the results:

Click here to download.

Somebody’s Lying

That’s what it comes down to in a twisted tale of intrigue surrounding John McCain’s alleged near decision to leave the GOP:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions.

In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist.

Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) in the early months of 2001 about switching parties, but in McCain’s case, they said, it was McCain’s top strategist who came to them…

Daschle noted that McCain at that time was frustrated with the Bush administration as a result of his loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 Republican primary.

Daschle said that throughout April and May of 2001, he and McCain “had meetings and conversations on the floor and in his office, I think in mine as well, about how we would do it, what the conditions would be. We talked about committees and his seniority … [A lot of issues] were on the table.”

And to top it off, it was a very concerted effort with lots of Senators involved:

Other senators who played major roles in the intense recruiting effort, according to Democrats, were then-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) as well as Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

“John [Edwards] at that time was working with McCain on a couple things and there was a sense that because of his relationship that he might be a good person to talk to him,” Daschle said. “He was clearly one of those that we thought could be helpful.”

A source close to Edwards said Daschle’s comments are accurate.

Daschle also said, “Both Sen. Reid and I talked to [McCain] both individually and together.”

Several former McCain aides who worked for the senator in 2001 and are now in the private sector did not return phone calls seeking comment.

For McCain’s part (and that of a senior aide), they deny the whole thing:

Absolutely not so, according to McCain. In a statement released by his campaign, McCain said, “As I said in 2001, I never considered leaving the Republican Party, period…”

He [Weaver, a former McCain staffer] said McCain was invited to a meeting in Kennedy’s office with several other Democratic senators but “didn’t know what the meeting was for” and left soon thereafter. Weaver added that Edwards approached McCain on the Senate floor to discuss the matter.

Now Daschle insists it went much deeper, and the idea of a three term Senator wandering around confused as to why he was meeting with a cadre of Democratic Senators seems not only unbelievable but doesn’t necessarily give much confidence in a McCain presidency.

Captain Ed is pretty clear on what this means if it’s true:

If true, this would effectively end McCain’s presidential bid.

Morrisey sees some serious problems that are worth addressing:

McCain had his opportunity later as well. Recall the flirtation from John Kerry and the Democrats in 2004 about McCain serving as his running mate? If he had that kind of inclination in 2001, he would have found that sotto voce offer too tempting to refuse. Instead, McCain scotched the rumors and campaigned for George Bush and many other Republican candidates in the 2004 election.

Key difference. We’re talking March, 2001 and post-9/11. I think that really changed everything. Knowing Kerry’s record and the importance of prosecuting the war, throwing a tift at the administration would be out as an option. America’s at war and you support the commander-in-chief. This would be my bet is that McCain thought about switching but wouldn’t dream of it due to the war after 9/11.

Another blogger raised a good point to which Morrisey responded:

Allahpundit puts more credence in it than I do, making the good point that if it were just a smear, they would have waited until the general election to use it. However, the same would be true if the story is on the level. Why talk about this now in either case? It almost seems like someone couldn’t wait to spill the beans — and that does give some weight to the story

I think the crucial point being missed here is that the story’s been out there and available for anyone who’d like to read it since November, 2003 when Daschle’s book came out. This has been no secret. McCain’s campaign has been in a fading funk. He’s faded so much that his friend, former Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) is about to jump in. Some might want to save the story, but if the paper sits on it, pretty soon there may not be a story.

Someone is not being honest and I can’t say who for sure, but we’ve got two candidates: a fading Republican Presidential Candidate who would implode if activists accepted this story in wide-range, or two Democratic leaders whose main motivation would be to put a struggling campaign out of its misery. Take your pick.

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, The Virtuous Republic, A Blog For All, The Random Yak, Stuck On Stupid, Cao’s Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Amboy Times, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, third world county, stikNstein… has no mercy, Overtaken by Events, Right Voices, and makimaki page, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Legislative Update

This won’t fly. Trying to change primary reform legislation at the last minute to protect the privacy rights of Independents who choose to vote in a political party’s primary is somewhat absurd. The development most likely means the legislature will adjourn without a solution and the words, “See you in Court.” from the Idaho Republican Party will hopefully be forthcoming. The first Amendment right to free association ought to be defended.

Meanwhile, as the legislature prepares to get out of town in a hurry, I’m going to give you the lowdown. I’ve picked 7 Senate Votes and 9 House Votes to create a Conservative meter, a scale on which to judge the legislature. Included in the 9 House votes will be today’s override vote on Governor Otter’s veto of the sales tax as well as the votes on smoking in bowling alleys. I went through the legislature’s site, and found most of the bills and then double-checked Idaho Conservative Blogs and the Idaho Values Alliance for good measure. So I’ve made my list and I’ll be checking it twice and you’ll find out who’s been naughty and nice. I doubt my legislators will fare too well. I expect Durst to come out with about a 33% total and King to hit at about a 0%. This will be an imprecise process at best, but someone has to start tracking these people’s records.

The Senate Wimps Out

The Idaho Senate decided not to attempt an override of the bill:

HB 81a, the vetoed grocery tax bill, is dead for the session, according to Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls. “I don’t believe that you’ll see that issue again this year,” Davis said. “The purpose of sending HB 81 to the germane committee is not for further hearings – that is the death knell to that issue this year.”

Davis said, “We took the governor at his word – he would like to have another year” to work with the Legislature on a compromise plan, he said. “That is my understanding of his invitation. The Senate accepted that invitation.”

Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, said Senate Democrats agreed to raise no objection to sending the bill back to committee. “The governor has indicated that he will work with us to get a better bill next year,” Stennett said. “We want to get a bill that takes the tax off of food. That’s still in play as long as we don’t pass this bill.”

The net result here is that Idahoans have higher taxes for another year. Nothing would stop the Senate from raising the credit this year and coming back with a bill to get rid of the tax next year. 35-0, yeah the vote of the Senate don’t count for much.

Meanwhile, the Senate had no problem overriding a bill to rob Bowling Alley owners of Private Property rights by banning smoking.