[Vision2020] Any last requests?

[Joan Opyr]

I've compiled the Jerry Brady questions that have been posted to the list, 
modified and combined a few, and am ready to ask him whatever you like.  
Any final requests?  I'll check my email again at about noon, so it's do 
or die!  This is a great opportunity to speak up and speak out.  We had a 
Democratic governor 12 years ago, a great fellow by the name of Cecil 
Andrus.  It is not outside the realm of possibility that Jerry Brady may 
pull this one off.  A Republican down in Southern Idaho has just switched 
to the Democratic party and will be running against a sitting GOP State 
Senator.  (The full story is on New West -- www.newwest.net.  Check out 
the Boise page.)  The pendulum swings, and this will not always be a one-
party state.  Don't believe me?  Look east to Montana.  Conrad Burns is 
going down.

Last call for Brady questions!  And thanks to all of you who have posted.  
I'll be combining Tom's straightforward questions with Matt's and Paul's 
equally important observations about the minimum wage.  Just for the 
record, I think the idea of a differential minimum wage based on the size 
of the company might be workable.  Chicago has just passed an ordinance 
requiring big box retailers to pay a living Chicago wage, $10 per hour.  
Wal-Mart and Target can afford this; small mom-and-pop businesses can't, 
and so they're exempted.  

Appropos of nothing, this is how I feel about gun control as well.  Laws 
appropriate for Los Angeles or New York City are not necessarily right for 
Montana or Idaho.  We hunt out here with high-powered rifles, and we don't 
have the same problems with rampant violent crime.  Perhaps we don't need 
to address this on the federal level but instead on a state by state (or 
municipality by municipality) basis.  Some things are better left to local 
government.  I think we can be trusted to know what we need, and it's 
generally a good thing to move democracy closer to the people affected by 
the decisions made.

That said, here's wishing we had some local control over road work.  I'm 
just waiting for the first drunk and/or inattentive driver to plunge into 
the enormous holes on Washington Street.  A disaster waiting to happen.

Joan
  
Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com

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