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We're probably safe
Posted Wednesday, February 1, at 8:44 AM The Pentagon last week announced a series of proposed cuts for the military that could lead to another round of Base Realignment and Closure Commissions. Details are still sketchy, but overall, the Air Force will lose 10,000 airmen in the next fiscal year, and over the next five years will eliminate six tactical air squadrons, probably most from the F-16 fleet. The F-35 procurement program also will be slowed down considerably...
Does GOP need *every* seat? It is unfortunate that the state Supreme Court rejected the state's redistricting commission plan. We're not criticizing the decision itself -- since the court is the final arbiter of the law -- but rather the timing. There's only about five weeks until the filing deadline for the May primaries, and since, in Idaho, whoever wins the Republican primary is usually the person who wins in November, there's a very narrow window for the commission to come up with a new map that doesn't split as many counties as the current version does.. ...
More funds for education needed With the economy starting to turn around, the state will have more money available to restore programs that took massive cuts in recent years -- especially for education. It's not going to be a windfall, but we strongly urge the legislature to put as much of the extra money available as is possible into the public school education fund...
Beware of 'victory disease' With the United States no longer involved in Iraq, and with a clear timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan (by 2014), we're looking at the end of the road of a series of military commitments that have cost nearly 7,000 American lives, left more than 30,000 wounded and cost $1 trillion dollars directly (and another $4 trillion in future VA costs)...
Let the process begin We're pleased to see the United States and the government of Saudi Arabia finally putting their signatures on the arms deal that will include establishing a Saudi training squadron in the United States. They've trained troops in this country, on a temporary basis, for years, and exchange programs with American pilots have helped the two nations's militaries learn to work together...
Resolutions for Congress It's time for some resolutions for the coming new year. We resolve that the word "compromise" will once again be an important part of the political lexicon. We resolve that Congress will strive for the "art of the possible," rather than ideological purity and partisan power gamesmanship...
A step closer to peace on earth "Peace on earth, good will toward all men...." This is the season of peace for all Christians. And for the first time in nine years, Americans are no longer dying in combat in Iraq. The last soldier turned out the lights there Sunday and slipped into Kuwait on his way home for Christmas. All of America is thankful...
Beware of holiday spirits This is the season to be merry. Unfortunately, some people get a little too merry, their good cheer artificially created by intoxicants. Which is why law enforcement agencies across the state are stepping up patrols to nail drunken drivers. Don't spend your holiday in jail and your January paychecks on court costs and fines. You should be wearing a Santa suit on Christmas Eve, not an orange county inmate jumpsuit...
Efforts show community's holiday spirit Every year the community reaches out to help those who are in need. One of the most successful of those program, and our personal favorite down here, is the annual Shop With A Cop program. Originally put together by the police department, in more recent years its leadership has moved into the hands of Mary Morin and her staff at Pioneer Federal Credit Union...
End the madness The herds of people -- and that's the only way they can be described -- that stampede the stores on Black Friday have led to a number of incidents, some minor locally, some major, across the nation. It's gotten crazy -- and totally out of hand. The pushing, the shoving, people getting pepper-sprayed, run over, beaten up, even shot and stabbed, have reached a level of lunacy that is almost unbelievable...
Of course they failed They failed. They didn't even come close. The 12-man bipartisan "super commission" that was supposed to find a compromise and develop a plan to reduce the nation's $15 trillion debt by $1.2 trillion over the next ten years, fell victim to intransigent party ideologies and political gamesmanship...
Time to think of others As the holiday season approaches, many local families are in need of assistance. After three years, the economy has still not recovered and far too many of our neighbors remain unemployed or underemployed, through no fault of their own. Over the next few weeks, this paper will help promote local efforts to help those families, from the Giving Tree to various food drives to help stock the depleted pantries of local food banks. ...
Doomsday right around corner Doomsday is coming, and no, this isn't something to do with the Mayan calendar or some wacky preacher's interpretation of "signs" in the Bible. The Joint Congressional Committee, also known as the debt commission, is tasked with finding $1.2 trillion or more in deficit reduction funds over the next ten years, roughly 1 percent per year of the actual national debt. ...
Educators must create plan We've been highly critical of the Luna Plan, adopted by a myopic and anti-education legislation last year, which calls for cuts in educational spending this year and in each of the next four years. Originally, the intent was to replace trained teachers with computer chips and software. Somehow, this was going to improve education and save the state money...
Here's our latest 'kiss of death' The Mountain Home News editorial board found something good to say about all four of the candidates seeking the two open positions on the city council, but by slim majorities voted to urge the election of Rich Sykes and Jimmy Schipani. The voters really can't go wrong in this election. ...
New district is logical here In terms of local voters, the new proposed Legislative District 23 makes a lot of sense. It never really made much sense to lump the old legislative district of Elmore County with Boise County. The only road directly linking the two counties together, over James Creek Summitt, is usually closed for several months out of the year, and it wasn't paved in the first place. ...
Decision makers ignore us I have an increasing affinity for the "common man" populist movement of the "Occupy Wall Street" protestors. And while I've got some major issues with the policies advocated by the Tea Party, I think both groups arise out of a genuine disassociation of the decision-makers of this country with the common people...
Can the greed get worse? Can their greed get any worse? Now, some of the nation's largest banks, which issue debit cards, want to start charging a fee of up to $5 a month for anyone who uses that card. The problem is that the banks were charging businesses about 44 cents every time you swiped your card. Congress recently put a limit on that of about 21 cents -- a figure that is four times higher than the actual cost to the banks to administrate each swipe of those cards...
Keep spuds in our schools We have often railed against the dictatorship of the do-gooders, those people who are convinced all the rest of us must adopt their supposedly healthy and safe lifestyles whether we want to or not. For example, we like eating beef and potatoes, two products under heavy fire these days. ...
Good catch, good call Sometimes, the city administration of Mayor Tom Rist impresses us. Last week was a good example. When the city started getting complaints about higher-than-normal water bills, it didn't just shrug off those complaints with "well, it was a hot August, you probably used more water," then cashed the user's check and forgot about it...
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Hot topics We're probably safe(13 ~ 11:26 AM, Feb 4)
Does GOP need *every* seat?
More funds for education needed
Beware of 'victory disease'
Let the process begin
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