The first is Bryan Fischer, former director of the Idaho Values Alliance, and now director of Issue Analysis for Government and Public Policy at American Family Association. He discusses nationalized health care and its dangers, potential conservative presidential candidates, and Idaho issues.

Representative Erik Simpson, R-Idaho Falls, gives an excellent summary of the 2010 Idaho Legislature and offers predictions for the state’s revenues and future.

Both interviews are must-hear radio! Listen on demand with the player on this page, or at BlogTalkRadio.com/IdahoTalk.

Don’t forget to tune in live from 8-9am MDT, Monday through Friday.

I hope you’ll tune in and join the conversation at BlogTalkRadio.com/IdahoTalk. Then call in at (917) 889-3946, or participate via the chat room!

Be sure to check out past episodes on demand at the above website, or with the player on this website. You can listen to Ilo Jones, executive director of the Fully Informed Jury Association, and Rep. Janice McGeachin and Rep. Marv Hagedorn, as well as many other great guests.

And have a wonderful Easter!

Just wondering… what does it take to get animal cruelty charges filed in Jefferson County?

I can tell you what it doesn’t take. It doesn’t take allowing your dog with multiple broken legs and laying in your yard for almost 5 days without medical care. It doesn’t take half starving your horses winter after winter until the horses are stunted. And for sure, it doesn’t take throwing a Chihuahua puppy against the wall and breaking its shoulder.

The 7 hounds in Menan will tell you that though they were starved to mere skeletons… it wasn’t enough for animal cruelty charges to be filed until public pressure forced authorities to act. Ask the old horse who made it through one more winter and come spring, looked like “hide stretched over bones”. That wasn’t enough. When she could no longer stand…that wasn’t enough either.

According to Idaho Codes Chapter 25-3511…it takes “allowing animals to needlessly suffer”. It takes a veterinarian’s statement of condition. But also, it takes a sheriff who will enforce the law. It takes county commissioners who refuse to look the other way. Sometimes it takes an irate public.

I have learned that you can have “the law”, and a vet’s statement”, and you can have incomprehensible cruelty but what it really takes is a sheriff with compassion. One who is willing to utilize the resources offered for help. But above all, it takes a sheriff who realizes that he may be the only hope to end an animal’s suffering.

Andi Elliott
Hamer, ID
For the Love of Pets Foundation
President
Petango.com/FTLOP

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Janet, candidate for Bonneville County Treasurer, has agreed to another interview on Monday’s Halli & Friends show. She is a principle-based conservative, and you will want to hear her views on county government.

Tune in Monday, 1-2pm MST, on BlogTalkRadio.com/Idaho Talk. Call in at (917) 889-3946 with question and comments for Janet.

Constitutional expert Bob Webster will also be a guest on Monday’s show.

I also hope to reschedule Dr. Schanz in the near future.

Thanks for your patience as I try out this new medium!

Idaho Representative Marv Hagedorn will be explaining his proposal to drastically reduce Idaho personal and corporate income tax rates, as well as giving us his predictions for the newly begun 2010 Idaho Legislature.

Then Captain Steve Lucks, a member of ACT for America, will explain the threat of Islamic extremists in America, including Idaho. You will be surprised to learn of incursions in your own backyard.

Thanks for listening to Halli & Friends, and for your patience as we work through a few technical issues in the quest to have the best radio show out there!

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In this current election cycle – city elections for mayor and 3 council positions – we should all consider a few things:

• Much has been made by Democrats, self-proclaimed RINO’s (Republicans in Name Only) and the Post Register about the Republican Party endorsing candidates for City elections, saying the races are non-partisan. All people, individuals and parties (private organizations), have the right to publicly support who they will. Some Democrat candidates in general partisan races go to great lengths to not mention they are Democrats – what does that tell you? During the runoff election debate, Ida Hardcastle voted against it because of the cost. The City of Idaho Falls, by consolidating it’s election of only 3 or 4 races with the general elections, could save at least $15,000 to $20,000 per election. Why not?

• The City Council candidates are total opposites in philosophy. Ehardt and Creek come from the private business sector, while the incumbents, Cornwell and Hardcastle, believe and act as total bureaucrats. Any real life business experience they had must have been forgotten, but what the incumbents have learned is to denigrate any opponent personally that disagrees with them, rather than debate their views and positions shared by a minority of the City. Creek and Ehardt will vote for less government, lower taxes and real cooperation with neighboring communities – Hardcastle and Cornwell lead the charge against all these, using the City’s checkbook for their favorite projects. We should ask these questions:

1. If the City can purchase property after property and fund project after project – off budget – how much money is there in all City slush funds? Many feel that with surpluses the City must have, taxes are too high. But year after year there is little or no relief. The incumbents feel they can’t go without every thin dime. Hardcastle claims taxes are lower than 15 years ago – but forgets to tell the swimming pool bond was paid off which lowered it substantially years ago, but she has done her best to get it back up. At the Republican Women’s candidate forum Oct. 22nd, Hardcastle seemed to brag that IF isn’t the highest taxed City. It is 16th highest of 191. IF’s levy (rate the city taxes all property) is .0089. Twin Falls – .0066, Boise – .0050, Post Falls – .0038, Meridian – .0026, Sun Valley – .0010, and Eagle – .0007. Eagle operates on 1/12th and Meridian on 1/4th of IF’s income. Both Meridian and Eagle have comparable assessed valuation to IF. Can someone in City government explain these differences? The two incumbents will tell all willing to listen how all zoos, flowers and entertainment will disappear if anyone other than them is elected – that is just not true! We all love the City of Idaho Falls, it’s beauty, cleanliness and services. To question boldly some policies that could be better is an attempt to make our city better, with or without those who defend the status quo. Many surveys have shown that conservatives give more freely of their own money by 2 or 3 times than liberals to the very causes we are told they would destroy, while liberals are very generous with the public’s money.

2. Why not, prior to serious discussions to eliminate the parking on Memorial Drive, solve the problem of where the patrons and employees of the Court House will park when the 200+ spaces are eliminated? Many have heard Ida Hardcastle say “The City doesn’t need to furnish parking for the County employees”. This is the same Ida that tried to ram through the Rec Center bond and other grandiose schemes that would have cost us millions. After the people voted down the Rec Center overwhelmingly, she was reported as saying “We’ll be back”. I think her 16 years on the council are all we can afford.

Why not have a change of view and ideas instead of the same old tired ones?

VOTE FOR CREEK AND EHARDT

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With all the attention “Non- Partisan” politics has gotten in Idaho Falls since the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee voted 23 to 3 for the option to endorse candidates in city races, I did some research. What I found was very enlightening.

I did some research on the history of “non-partisan” politics in Idaho. The following information came from searching the term Non-Partisan on the Idaho State web site.

“The Idaho Nonpartisan League was organized in 1917 by Ray McKaig,…”. It’s purpose was to infiltrate existing political party’s by “nominating League candidates on existing major party tickets…”.

“In Idaho the Nonpartisan League took over the Democratic Party in the 1918 primary, nominating a wealthy but sympathetic Republican…for governor. The Democratic state chairman thus was forced to campaign against the Democratic state ticket that year…”,

The history of non-partisan politics in Idaho is the history of a “shadow party” called the Non-Partisan League infiltrating the two major parties and running Republicans as Democrats and visa versa.

“To combat the Nonpartisan League the [Idaho] Legislature repealed the Idaho direct primary in 1919.” After that “…the League finally had to become an independent political party after all…” It morphed into the Idaho Progressive Party, which dissolved in 1928.

The label of “non-partisan” was created as nothing more that a political disguise.
Many states and cities throughout the US reject non-partisan elections as bad public policy. One example is New York City.

Here is an excerpt from the testimony of then Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. before the City Council Committee on Governmental Operations

Select Committee on Charter Revision, Thursday, October 23, 2003.

“…I am pleased to be with you this morning to address this important issue.
As I have said repeatedly since the formation of the Mayor’s Charter Revision Commission, I am opposed to the elimination of party primaries and the imposition of a non-partisan election system in the City of New York. It is poor public policy, and an idea more likely to weaken our democratic system than to strengthen it.”

“… any contemplated changes to our electoral system must be demonstrably superior to what is currently in place. Nonpartisan elections do not meet that standard. “

“Some of the arguments advanced by … supporters [of non-partisan elections] are based on misleading claims, and others are simply unconvincing.

First, advocates argue that party politics control the outcome of elections in New York City. In reality, New Yorkers are among the most independent-minded voters in the country, and they routinely cross party lines to support candidates. In New York City, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 5 to 1, it is striking that a Republican has been chosen to serve as Mayor in each of the last three elections.

Second, despite the claims of its proponents, there is no convincing evidence that eliminating primaries would increase voter turnout in New York City. New York’s experience to date with non-partisan elections – special elections to fill vacancies and Community School Board elections, which both, unfortunately, draw extremely low numbers of voters – does not suggest that it is the right system for New York City.

Indeed, the experience of Jacksonville, Florida, which is often cited by proponents of nonpartisan elections, is decidedly mixed. In the first election following the elimination of party primaries, voter turnout increased somewhat. In the next election, voter turnout dropped substantially below what it had been in the last election to include party primaries.

In the most recent election, voter turnout returned to the levels that it had reached when party primaries were still in effect. In other words, the experience of Jacksonville, Florida, does not exactly serve as a ringing endorsement of nonpartisan elections.

Third, eliminating party primaries would be bad for minority groups. These groups have spent years building up electoral strength in a variety of ways, especially through membership in political parties. By concentrating their political strength through party membership, minorities have elected candidates that reflect their concerns. Dismantling this system at a moment when members of these groups hold more City and Borough-wide offices than at any time in our history would undermine that progress.”

Not only do cities in New York State have party primaries to select candidates for city office but they also have a process that allows more than one party to endorse a candidate.

One piece of campaign literature has a candidate endorsed by the “Republican”, “Conservative”, and “Independent” Party’s. Another had a candidate endorsed by the “Democratic”, “Independent”, and “Working Families” Party.

Now I know that New York has it’s share of problems, but the way they run city elections does not seem to be one of them. People in New York State are more excited, informed, and engaged in the political process at the local level than I have ever seen in Idaho Falls.

Incumbents get free passes to re-election in Idaho Falls and Ammon. The Idaho Falls Mayors race has been described more as a “coronation” than a legitimate political contest. Voter apathy seems to be at an all time high.

Thankfully this may be changing. Not because of the Republicans, but because of the Democrats.

Democrats have shed the phony disguise of non-partisanship. The Democrats are openly engaged in partisan politics in Boise.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpK_xc0bxis “>TJ Thomson, an ardent Democrat who voted to nominate Barak Obama at the Democratic National Convention is running for Boise City Council.

The Idaho Statesman has written about this race, saying that it is non-partisan “in name only”.
The Democrats are engaged in a full court press to get TJ Thomson elected. His endorsement list is a Who’s Who of Idaho Democrats; including former Governor Cecil Andrus, former Democratic Congressman Richard Stallings and two time Democratic candidate for Governor Jerry Brady.

TJ Thomson has also been endorsed by the Democratic” title=”http://www.democracyforamerica.com/current-endorsements\”>Democratic” target=”_blank”>www.democracyforamerica.com/current-endorsements”>Democratic Party Community Organizing group, Democracy for America.

There is nothing wrong with the Democrats being openly involved in City politics. Political Party’s should be involved. That is why they exist.

People who crow about how wonderful non-partisan politics are usually those who support incumbents in city races. In reality “non-partisan” politics are nothing more than an incumbent protection program. By creating a political climate that discourages political Party’s from engaging in the political process, the very thing they were created to do; it virtually eliminates any organized opposition to those already in power.

This is a recipe for political careerism, which can only lead to waste, cronyism, and corruption, regardless of who is in power.

The campaign to elect Democrat TJ Thomson to the Boise City Council is good news for City Politics in Idaho. The Democrats have asserted their freedom of speech and association and gotten fully behind a candidate who shares their values and their priorities.

Now that the Democrats have rejected non-partisan politics in city races hopefully other political parties will follow their lead.

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18 September 2009

Dear Mr. Plothow:

Thank you for printing the story about me on 9/10. I was very surprised and delighted. I was, however, puzzled by a couple of the comments made by Steve Zeman and yourself.

Please find enclosed copies of some of my editorials… political in nature. I have not enclosed my “animal editorials” as I assume the Post Register has had no problem with those.

It would be appreciated if you would highlight any “ugly language” contained in them to illustrate your comment in the 9/10 article.

Also, I am wondering if my “animal” editorials are still acceptable to the PR. As always, I try and spread the word about humane treatment of those who cannot speak for themselves and your newspaper has always been supportive of those efforts.

Thank you for your time.

Andi Elliott

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Guest Post by Silence Dogwood, reporting for the Idaho Falls Alternative News

July 17, 2009

In a landslide vote last night, the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee (BCRCC) voted to begin endorsements of issues as well as non-partisan races. The endorsement policy includes a clause allowing the BCRCC to lend financial support (to the tune of 25% of annual expenditures) to such causes.

Those who were anticipating the vote on the endorsement issue worried early-on as Senator Bart Davis (RINO-Bonneville County) embarked on a stall campaign, picking apart Jonathan Haines’ revisions to the by-laws. This, despite knowledge that numerous other counties in the state of Idaho had expressed interest in duplicating what they anticipated would pass in the BCRCC’s by-laws. One representative from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was even attendance to see the historical changes put into place. At Davis’ 15-minute mark of “clarifications,” he was interrupted by Dr. Don Schanz (PCO) asking that the revisions be put to vote. The motion was seconded, and the votes were tallied. The revisions were passed with exactly the two-thirds vote required.

It was now ten minutes to the proposed closing of the meeting, nine o’clock, and Schanz moved that the committee skip ahead to what most in attendance saw as the most important issue of the evening, a vote on the endorsement issue. The motion carried. The opposition to the endorsement issue immediately began plan of attack number two, a call to adjourn. The motion failed, as those in attendance apparently did not want to leave without finalizing what had been on the BCRCC’s agenda for three months.

BCRCC Chairman Damond Watkins set the stage for how the remainder of the evening would continue. Those in favor and those in opposition to the endorsement issue would each present three people to speak for three minutes each. A coin was tossed, and those in favor spoke first. Larry Lyon (PCO and former Idaho Falls City Council Member) spoke first. He felt so strongly about the importance of the issue that he had flown in from Texas to be able to speak and vote on the issue. Others speaking in favor of the endorsement were Jon Burrup and Schanz.

Davis was the first speaker in opposition. He stated that he felt passing such a measure would strain the brand of the Republican Party. One couldn’t help but wonder how votes such as those of Representative Mike Simpson’s, supporting then President Bush’s bail-out of private institutions strained the brand, since the national Republican Party Platform specifically prohibits the bail-out of private institutions.

State Senator Dean Mortimer was next in line to speak in opposition, followed by the final speaker in opposition . . . oh, wait, nobody else currently elected is in opposition to this measure. Well, then, I guess the opposition only had two speakers . . . no, wait, Kathy Stanger asked if she could step up to the plate with permission of Watkins. Stanger was later found stating, “Would somebody please hit me over the head if I ever go to another political meeting in Bonneville County?”, to which Rebecca Casper (PCO) replied, “I hear you sister!” We are compelled to ask, “If the two of you would rather be beaten over the head than attend a BCRCC meeting, maybe it’s time to consider the other party!”

Schanz moving closing remarks included the point that the Idaho Republican party Chairman Norm Semanko had stated that it was only the BCRCC themselves who were restricting endorsements in non-partisan elections. Schanz stated that the BCRCC had shackled and handcuffed themselves and that a vote in favor of the proposed amendment would take off the shackles and allow the BCRCC to endorse any candidate, if they so chose.

The ballots were cast, the votes were tallied, the measure passed 23-3.

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This is a continuation of the tea party rally and to honor our veterans. Walk the freedom mile and/or attend the program.

WHO: All patriots who want to honor our veterans and become more involved in restoring our liberties.

WHEN: Monday May 25th

TIME: Assemble at the Veteran’s Memorial on Memorial Drive in Idaho Falls at 5:15 PM.

WHERE: Walk from the Veteran’s Memorial in Idaho Falls on Memorial drive at 5:30 PM. Bring posters, banners, signs, flags. A one mile walk from this location; turning west on Broadway; then turning south on Utah till we reach the rotary at Taylor’s Crossing; then turning east to the smaller rotary at Bridgeport and Riverwalk Drive ending at the grassy amphitheater.

PROGRAM: A 1 hr. Program starting at 6:15 pm. at Bridgeport and Riverwalk Drive, at Taylor’s Crossing will include veterans’ stories of inspiration, a presentation on the Christian/Biblical origins of the Constitution, what you can do to help save your freedom. Brings lawnchairs or blankets to sit on. There will be hot dogs, music and much, much more.

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