DJEERS ... to Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, as well as Congressman Russ Fulcher, all R-Idaho.
Wednesday, they voted to shut down the federal government.
Why?
Because they had the luxury of casting a protest vote.
Fulcher could rely on 132 responsible Republicans — including, notably, Reps. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. — to join 209 House Democrats to keep the government running until Dec. 20.
Likewise, Crapo and Risch had the freedom to “vote no and take the dough” because 78 of their colleagues voted yes.
And what kind of company are these naysayers keeping?
In the House, Fulcher was joined by Republicans Lauren Boebert, of Colorado, Matt Gaetz, of Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, Jim Jordan, of Ohio and Scott Perry, of Pennsylvania.
Joining Crapo and Risch in the Senate were Josh Hawley, of Missouri, Rand Paul, of Kentucky and Tommy Tuberville, of Alabama.
And what if they had prevailed?
With federal workers furloughed, applicants for Social Security and Medicare would be placed on hold.
Businesses dependant upon inspections from the Environmental Protection Agency or the Food and Drug Administration would be told to wait.
The national parks would be closed.
While air traffic controllers would continue to work — albeit without pay — some of them would fail to show up, creating flight delays.
Not that these federal employees would go uncompensated. Once the government reopened, they would collect back pay. Says the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: The 2013 government shutdown resulted in $2.5 billion in pay and benefits going to employees for hours not worked.
All of which bleeds over to the economy. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the 2018-19 shutdown cut $11 billion from the gross domestic product. Of that, $3 billion was permanently lost.
If Fulcher, Crapo and Risch wouldn’t put country first, what about their party? Former President Donald Trump’s preference notwithstanding, shutting down the federal government five weeks before the election would not help the GOP’s prospects.
All of which makes you wonder: On whose behalf are they working?
CCHEERS ... to Lewiston City Councilor Hannah Liedkie and Council President Jim Kleeburg.
Back in May, they were part of a split vote to subsidize United Airlines’ flights between Lewiston and Denver — a cost that was pegged at no more than $4 million annually but more likely $1 million. That was on top of the $4 million Nez Perce County allocated from federal sources toward United during a three-year period.
With the pricetag of that subsidy now approaching $5 million a year, both have backed away.
Liedkie floated the idea of raising money from cruise boat passengers — or from state and federal sources
“I cannot go after the taxpayer any more than what we are,” she said.
Kleeburg said he has “no problem sitting down having a meeting with everybody but I’m not sure what we’re going to get accomplished because I don’t think we’re going to be stepping up to the plate with a big fat check.”
It’s one thing to test the market for a few months. An open-ended commitment is something else — particularly when Delta Air Lines provides east- and west-bound flights from the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport without a subsidy.
So give Liedkie and Kleeburg credit for evolving. They are looking at the hard numbers. And rather than simply taking anyone’s word for it, they’re drawing their own conclusions about what’s best for Lewiston in the long run.
CCHEERS ... to Nez Perce County Auditor/Recorder Patty O. Weeks.
After Idaho House State Affairs Committee Chairperson Brent Crane, R-Nampa, unilaterally blocked Secretary of State Phil McGrane’s attempt to create a statewide voter’s guide, Weeks has filled the void on a local level.
Her office has prepared and distributed a pamphlet that, among other things, informs Nez Perce County voters:
How to register to vote.
What forms of identification are accepted at the polls.
Whether they live in Legislative Districts 6 or 7.
How to vote early or how to secure an absentee ballot.
Background information — provided by the candidates — in all six legislative contests as well as races for two Nez Perce County commissioner seats, county prosecutor and county sheriff.
DJEERS ... — again — to Crapo and Risch.
For the second time this year, they joined with 42 of their GOP colleagues in refusing to guarantee access to in vitro fertilization. Only Republicans Susan Collins, of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, joined Democrats in supporting the effort. The issue stems from an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that extended personhood to embryos, thereby stopping the practice in some parts of that state temporarily.
Since that first vote in June, former President Donald Trump has gone so far as to not only advocate protection for IVF, but having the government or private insurance companies pay the cost for women who need it.
This comes on top of the Idaho Republicans voting in June not to enact a federal right to contraception — at a time when the Kaiser Family Foundation’s poll found 21% believe the right to contraception is threatened and likely to be overturned while another 34% are “not sure.”
Why would Idaho’s senators routinely interfere with the ability of Idaho couples to have children — and undermine the health care of Idaho women?
It’s a cynical vote. Because their position is popular with the base of their party, Crapo and Risch will suffer no consequences.
The same cannot be said for their constituents. — M.T.
