| Letters
to the editor from this week's Chronicle:
To the Editor
It’s nice to see the students at Prairie keep bringing home hardware.
Congratulations to Jace Perrin for winning third place at state in wrestling,
and for the boys basketball team for taking second at state. I know
that Jace and the boys basketball team represented our school and community
in a positive manner. Our school and community are fortunate to have the
dedicated coaches and mentors that are working with our young people.
Besides the skills taught for extracurricular activities, these individuals
are teaching life skills that will help our young people later in life.
Thanks for writing about the kids events Greg,
Jerry and Janet Richardson
Dear Sir:
I am trying to find a Keuterville Centennial Booklet 1886-1986 to purchase.
It was created by the local residents to commemorate the life of the families
in that area in August 1986.
My Grandmother Cecelia Bruegeman Ruef Ditter lived with her family
in that area until they moved into Cottonwood, Idaho. My Great Grandfather
was Henry Anton Bruegeman and my Great Grandmother was Anna Marie Borger.
One of her sisters , Elizabeth Borger married Herman J. Uhlenkott
of the John Joseph Uhlenkott family.
If there is a chance that someone has one and would not mind selling
and sending it to me, I would greatly appreciate it.
Some one has the booklet on line, but the pictures are very poor.
Thanks,
Betty Ruef Jensen
ebjensen@wavecable.com
Redneck Review
No. 99 - 3/13/2017
Hey! Isn't it great to live in America? A nation founded on the basic
tenets of Christianity, the Ten Commandments, and the advice of Christ
during His lifetime some 2000 years ago, that one should, in words like
these: "Love God with your whole heart and mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
Add to that each individual is unique and valuable, and is destined
for an eternity based on his or her responsibility and conduct during life,
and you have the underlying philosophy which in my mind makes life really
worth living here!
So I applaud Greg Wherry and his comment in the Cottonwood Chronicle
last week after the printing there of RNR #98, and with my reference to
"30,000 scientists who signed the (Kyoto) petition" opposing the notion
of man-caused global warming. Mr Wherry added:"As one of your email list
subscribers rightly points out to you Jake, you're veering into fake news
territory here."
So you see, this simply verifies what I believe and what I have found
to be very true over my several decades living in this area: based on the
core beliefs around here mentioned above: that is, "when any two people
discuss any topic, you will usually find a difference of opinion!" And
that is the way it should be in my mind, and the way it will always be
when people hold to the values above! So I applaud Mr. Wherry including
the comment!
Which reminds me! I had the privilege of coaching debate at the high
school level here in Cottonwood for 35 or so years, from 1965 until I retired
from Prairie in 2000. Our students won a championship now and then, finished
runnerup several times, and learned that there are usually good points
on either side of any matter of importance discussed! And unlike what often
happens today, each side learned to respect the other, and held no animosity
towards the opposing point of view during the discussion! Contrast that
with the venom which spews today from mouths of people who have no regard
for differences of opinion!
Back to the "fake news" mentioned above. I cannot claim that the opponents
to the current climate change theory are correct, and myself, claim no
expertise on the matter! But with reference to the "30,000 opponents" I
would encourage you to type "petitionproject.org" into a Google search,
and there you will find a list of 31,487 American scientists, including
9,029 PhDs, listed by name under their state, who have signed this petition:
"We urge the United States to reject the global warming agreement...in
Kyoto, Japan... and any other similar proposals... There is no convincing
scientific evidence that human release of... Greenhouse gases cause catastrophic
heating of the Earth's atmosphere..." When I first accessed this site,
I actually called one of the men listed under Idaho and got a positive
response to his signing and his convictions on the matter. And I have heard
of no "debunked" list of these scientists, though of course the internet
is jammed with opposing opinions! No problem!
And what about long range temperature changes? Tons of sites, but one
good one, search "global temperature changes since 2500 B.C." to see periods
as warm or warmer than our own, and a possible cooler period coming up!
Especially the 1100 B.C. one! Another good site is "historical temperatures
- charts and graphs" Also many more long range sites!
The point here is that there is another credible side to the "climate
change" controversy! So a few more relevant comments and claims will be
made here next week
Jake Wren
Despotism in Idaho?
As a new legislator, I anticipated the onslaught of new information during
my first term. I was definitely NOT expecting the lack of professionalism
or to be patronized, bullied, strong-armed, verbally threatened or called
a “liar” and “crazy.” Apparently, the viciousness of the national
political scene has worked its way into Idaho, and so too has the need
to “Drain the Swamp” in Boise. So each day, I have found it
critical and necessary to stand on principles of integrity, courage, and
character to make tough decisions about the environment where I now work.
Three months later, I find myself dismayed by the arrogant hyperbole that
is substituted for integrity, transparency, and accountability. Maybe
my words seem harsh, but are absolutely true. We all have our work
cut out for us!
This past week as I witnessed what I consider the abuse of power inside
the legislature, I took a stand.
Art III, Section 15 of the Idaho Constitution says, “On the final passage
of all bills, they shall be read at length, section by section.” Speaker
Bedke fails to enforce this law daily for convenience’s sake. I used
a common practice and asked for the Constitution to be adhered to by having
HB209 read. This particular bill is unique because it was the first
bill presented this year by the Uniform Law Commission. The ULC is
a certified United Nations NGO that consists of lawyers from all over the
country. ULC laws are written for national and international compliance
and once passed cannot be amended like other laws in Idaho. During
the committee hearing on the bill, the Deputy Attorney General said he
did not know if litigation regarding this bill would be conducted in the
US or a UN court. Even though he was asked to provide that information
to legislators before the final committee vote, he failed to do so.
I guess we had to pass the bill before we would know what would be in it.
Speaker Bedke and the Majority Leader, Mike Moyle instead used my simple
request of reading the bill to step-up their hazing of a freshman legislator.
They conducted a “call of the house” which consists of a complete lock
down of the chambers, something that has not been done in more than 11
years and is only supposed to be used to get legislators to return to their
desks (all but 2 were already present). Representative Kelley
Packer, who will be running for the Lt Governor in 2018, rose to ask me
to read the bill instead of the clerk, something that has never been done
in the history of Idaho. Although I was not required to comply, I
gladly agreed to read the bill to alert legislators who probably hadn’t
read it and for fellow Idahoans, who need to know that laws are being passed
here in Idaho that are turning over Idaho jurisdiction to international
agencies. If we let the ULC write all of our laws, for the sake of
convenience and consistency, we won’t need legislators anymore. This
revealed how easily one man, Speaker Bedke, is willing to bypass the laws
of the Constitution, intimidate legislators and assert his power as a despot.
If the ULC is writing our Idaho laws, who else is involved in writing
our laws? Based on my observations, about 90% of the 1500 pieces
of draft legislation are written by executive agencies and the associated
lobbyists with varying motivations. There are approximately 400 lobbyists
in Idaho – that is a 4 to 1 ratio to legislators. The remaining 10% of
bills are legislator’s ideas representing their constituents. Is
that because legislators don’t have more bills, or because Speaker Bedke
chooses which ideas get to become bills?
Last week, March 8, the legislature had a fascinating debate on the
House floor addressing this question. The issue was about the current
practice of committee chairmen selectively picking some bills for hearings
while holding others in their “shredder” drawer likely based on Speaker
Bedke’s wishes. I have received hundreds of emails from frustrated
citizens who watch bills they care about get stalled and sent to the “shredder”
without a word of debate or explanation. Gun rights are held, disabled
veterans property tax relief is held, grocery tax exemption is held, a
short-term rental policy is held, alcohol license reform is held, and the
list goes on and on. None of these proposals have ever been presented to
a committee for legislators to voice their opinions. There is a House
procedural rule, #45, that allows legislators to request that a bill in
the “shredder” be pulled onto the house floor for a vote, and on Wednesday
someone did just that, and the debate that ensued was earth shattering.
The debate was essentially about whether legislation should be a top down
process controlled by the House leadership, or bottom up process where
the people get to have their voices heard. Only 13 representatives
out of the 70 voted to support the people in a bottom up legislative process.
Those who voted for top down control, used arguments such as “this protects
the members” and we should “follow the process” and that this would cause
“sheep to jump off a cliff” and cause “anarchy” in the House of Representatives.
Sadly, despotism won the battle 57-13.
I will continue to stand for principles of integrity, transparency,
and accountability, but your help is needed because within the legislature
these principles are not a high priority. Idaho needs to establish
standards adhering to the State Constitution and providing a fair method
for legislation to move forward before we can come together as a state
to fix big problems such as education and Medicaid reform.
One thing I have learned so far during this session is that when the voters
actively speak, legislators are afraid not to listen.
If you want more information or to sign up for my weekly newsletter,
please contact me at 208-332-1033 or pgiddings@house.idaho.gov
Priscilla Giddings
State Representative, District 7 |
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