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<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Rose, et al,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>There is the libertarian "right" which
stands for individual rights and non-interference of the government things of
taste, sex, religion, etc. This group supports gay marriage and removing
tax exemptions for religion among other things.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Unfortunately, there is fascist "right"
which seeks to do just the opposite.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Guess which "right" dominates Idaho
politics?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>W.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=DonaldH675@aol.com
href="mailto:DonaldH675@aol.com">DonaldH675@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, December 09, 2004 3:49
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Pocatello Journal
editoral on Republican politics inIdaho</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=detailheadline></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=detailheadline>How far right do Visionaries think
the Republican Party will steer this legislative sessions - and more to
the point, what can be done about it?</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=detailheadline>Rose Huskey </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=detailheadline></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=detailheadline>From the Pocatello Journal
editorial page</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=detailheadline></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
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class=detailstory><B>Majority party shows rightward drift, ideological
bent</B><BR><BR>Last week's upheaval by Republicans of ldaho Senate committee
chairmanships has the likely effect of steering future legislative efforts
further to the right, if that is possible.</SPAN>
<P class=detailstory align=left>
<P align=left><SPAN class=detailstory>Replacing Sen. Gary Schroeder, of
Moscow, with Sen. John Goedde, of Coeur d'Alene, as chairman of the Education
Committee sends a clear message to critics of the present charter school
system that amplification of current problems is likely under the new
chairman.<BR><BR>Schroeder's tenure as chairman had been marked by legislative
decisions sometimes at odds with his committee. Apparently Goedde's
philosophical bent is more palatable to the Republican caucus.</SPAN>
<P align=left><SPAN class=detailstory>With Sen. Don Burtenshaw, of Terreton,
replacing retired Sen. Sheila Sorensen, of Boise, as the chairman of the State
Affairs Committee, we will likely see the constitutional amendment banning
homosexual marriages resurface with a vengeance. Sorensen, aware that Idaho
already has a law stating marriage must be between a man and a woman, used her
seniority status last session to help block the constitutional amendment from
reaching the Senate floor.<BR><BR>There are a handful of difficult,
time-consuming issues to resolve in the upcoming legislative session: Sunset
of the sales tax, water rights, charter schools, funding for institutions of
higher learning, prison overcrowding and a constitutional amendment banning
homosexual marriages. Five valid issues and one red herring confront the
upcoming Legislature. </SPAN>
<P align=left><SPAN class=detailstory>When the Republican caucus replaces
moderate chairmen and women with more conservative lawmakers, it doesn't take
a palm reader to divine what direction the majority party will take and what
issues they will spend precious time debating. There are truly relevant issues
facing Idaho that demand the undivided attention of our legislators. Banning
homosexual marriages is not on that list.<BR><BR>Legislators demean
themselves, the Statehouse, state government and the people they represent by
spending an iota of their time revisiting an issue that is of little, if any,
import to the governance of our state. </SPAN>
<P align=left><SPAN class=detailstory>Perhaps it is expecting too much from
our lawmakers, once they begin breathing the rarefied air inside the Capitol,
that they approach the upcoming season with a degree of common sense by
tackling the more formidable issues before wasting taxpayers' money on
ephemera. But common sense is an uncommon commodity in the reactionary
wing.<BR><BR>Time spent on this ideological, chest-thumping issue will be time
lost to real concerns. Let's hope the consequence is not another mad,
slapdash, Stooges-like run to the finish line, well after the nominal 60-day
limit for the session has passed. </SPAN>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Verdana size=2 PTSIZE="10" FAMILY="SANSSERIF">"One
cannot level one's moral lance at every evil in the universe. There are just
too many of them. But you can do something, and the difference between doing
something and doing nothing is everything." Daniel Berrigan<BR></FONT><FONT
lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 PTSIZE="10"
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR></FONT></DIV>
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