JEERS ... to U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, both R-Idaho.
They’ve turned a blind eye to the chronic ailments suffered by people they sent to war.
American personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq got exposed to toxic fumes at what the Military Times described as “massive” burn pits, used to dispose of trash, munitions, hazardous wastes and chemicals.
Between 2007 and 2020, 12,582 veterans sought help from the Department of Veterans Affairs because they got sick breathing those fumes. So far, only 1 in 5 got help.
Now before the Senate is a bill that would expand veteran services and grant victims of 23 chronic conditions — such as cancer, asthma, high blood pressure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — eligibility for VA benefits.
The measure seemed headed to President Joe Biden’s desk Wednesday. However, enough of their GOP colleagues joined Crapo and Risch — who also voted no a month ago — to deprive it of the 60 votes needed to clear a filibuster.
In the past, Crapo and Risch have called this package too expensive. Nobody makes that argument when the wars start.
Only after warriors return home do politicians get stingy.
JEERS ... to Crapo and Risch, as well as Congressmen Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson, all R-Idaho.
Wednesday, Crapo and Risch voted against building more computer chips in the United States.
Thursday, Fulcher and Simpson did the same thing.
At issue is a bipartisan plan to infuse domestic chip manufacturing with $52 billion in subsidies.
Because manufacturing costs are 35% to 45% higher in the U.S., this country’s share of international chip manufacturing capacity has dwindled from about 37% three decades ago to less than a third of that today. You can see the results in the post-COVID-19 supply chain disruptions and inflation. What might keep you up at night, however, is the implication of the U.S. military relying on foreign chip suppliers.
Writing in the Idaho Statesman last week, Boise-based Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said failure to level the playing field will only lead to more offshoring.
Conversely, as BoiseDev editor Don Day reported this week, passage of this measure may encourage Micron’s potential expansion in Boise.
So how does Micron’s congressional delegation justify voting against Idaho jobs and prosperity?
Congress is spending too much money, they say.
Of course, budget deficits didn’t concern too many Republicans when they passed former President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and added as much as $2.2 trillion to the national debt.
Because the must-pass measure cleared the Senate by a 64-33 margin and the House by 243-187, Idaho’s delegation had the luxury of a protest vote. But if these four are willing to turn their backs on one of Idaho’s critical high-tech employers to save money, what’s next?
Shutting down the Idaho National Laboratory?
CHEERS ... to Boise attorney Tom Arkoosh.
Tuesday, Arkoosh gave Idahoans what they sorely need and frankly deserve — a Democratic alternative to former Congressman Raul Labrador’s candidacy for attorney general.
Nobody deserves a free ride to this vital office — especially someone who by all indications intends to put politics ahead of the law. But after defeating Lawrence Wasden in the May 17 GOP primary, Labrador faced virtually no opposition. Former state Rep. Steve Scanlin was on the ballot as a mere Democratic placeholder — waiting for his party to recruit a genuine candidate.
Not only does Arkoosh possess a legitimate legal pedigree — 44 years of practice in water law, criminal prosecution and defense — but he sounds serious about taking the battle to Labrador.
“I’m running for attorney general to be the people’s lawyer,” Arkoosh said. “By contrast, the other candidate in this race is a shameless political opportunist, the kind of political conflict creator that illustrates so much of what is wrong with our politics. He will make decisions on the basis of what he thinks will advance his career, and not what the law requires or what is best for the state of Idaho.”
JEERS ... to Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., as well as Fulcher and Simpson.
Last week, they opposed safeguarding women’s access to contraception.
McMorris Rodgers called the Right to Contraception Act “a Trojan horse for more abortions.”
Say again?
If you think contraception isn’t at risk in this country, you’re not paying attention.
You can’t trust the U.S. Supreme Court. If the radical majority on that court rejected the right to privacy that upheld Roe v. Wade and abortion rights in this country for 50 years, they could do the same thing to the Griswold v. Connecticut decision that has protected access to contraception since 1965.
Justice Clarence Thomas has promised as much.
You can’t trust the anti-abortion rights activists. If they view a fertilized egg as a “person,” then any contraception that prevents implantation in the womb is, to their way of thinking, an abortifacient.
You certainly can’t trust state legislators, whose lack of knowledge about women’s health issues is rivaled only by their indifference.
JEERS ... to north central Idaho’s legislative delegation.
From Sen. David Nelson, D-Moscow, on the left, to Rep. Mike Kinglsey, R-Lewiston, on the right, they joined in a near unanimous vote last year to strip Idaho consumers of protection from gasoline price gouging.
Before passage of that law, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden was able to secure $1.5 million in compensation when he documented three retailers — Jacksons, Maverick and Stinker Stores — had charged “exorbitant or excessive” prices during the COVID-19 emergency Gov. Brad Little had declared.
The emergency order expired earlier this year — but the “exorbitant” prices have not. As their wholesale prices have dropped again this summer, retailers have not passed along the savings to their customers. Last week, they were maintaining an average profit margin of 70 cents per gallon — several times more than normal.
Makes you wonder what might happen in the next emergency, doesn’t it? — M.T.
