By Andi Elliott, Tea Party Organizer

The Great American Tea Party was held in Idaho Falls on the banks of the Snake River on the evening of April 15th. And, it was indeed “great”! In spite of wind and rain and with temperatures hovering just above freezing, nearly 1200 people gathered to support a common cause…to protest the massive spending and taxation forced upon us by our very own government.

Peaceful protesters lined Memorial Drive with their homemade signs… “ We the People”, “Stop Pending my Future”, “Give Me Liberty-not Debt”, and “It’s the Constitution, Stupid”! These messages were not indicative of political parties or groups. They were a plea to an out-of-control government from their bosses…the people. People who, much as the early colonists did back in 1773, were trying to send a stern warning to those in control. The “people” are fed up with the burgeoning debt load which spells economic disaster for the greatest country in the history of the world.

Some of the participants had attended Tea Parties in Rexburg, Pocatello, and even in Boise, held earlier in the day. Parents brought their children of all ages as they wanted them to be a part of “living history”. Young and old alike were present, all with the same goal of preserving the freedoms and economic stability of America.

Former Idaho State Senator, Mel Richardson, was the keynote speaker. He spoke directly to the hearts of the people. The crowd cheered when he told them that we must remain united and demand that our voices be heard.

In my opening remarks as organizer of the event, I told the swelling crowd that as a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution never did I ever think that I would now be taking part in a second American Revolution. Only this time, the revolution was to protest the oppressive forces from within our country.

As a final gesture reminiscent of the Boston Tea Party of 1773, a giant tea bag was thrown into the river. Over 1000 signatures of modern Patriots adorned the 3 enlarged copies of the Declaration of Independence which will be given to Senator Crapo for delivery to the President. We hope and pray that perhaps then Washington will hear the message…We the People have spoken…STOP THE SPENDING!

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From David Ripley, Idaho Chooses Life

Sen. Orin Hatch went to battle again yesterday morning on behalf of preborn children. This second battle of the week involved a heroic effort to save President Bush’s policy of allowing preborn children to qualify for benefits under the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

That provision was created by an Executive Order in 2002, and is expected to be scrapped by President Obama. Over the past six years, 14 states have taken advantage of the opportunity to provide greater help to women faced with crisis pregnancies.

Unfortunately, Idaho is not one of them. We narrowly lost a fierce battle in the 2003 legislative session to expand protections of preborn children. With yesterday’s defeat of the Hatch Amendment, Idaho has lost the opportunity for the foreseeable future.

Sen. Hatch was supported by both of Idaho’s senators, Crapo and Risch, in trying to codify the preborn provision in federal statute. The amendment was defeated 39 – 59.

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From David Ripley, Idaho Chooses Life

An honorable battle was waged yesterday morning on the floor of the United States Senate by pro-Life legislators hoping to save this nation from the ignominy of exporting abortion to foreign countries.

Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) offered an amendment to protect the Mexico City policy inaugurated by President Reagan but recently overturned by President Obama through an Executive Order. The Mexico City Policy prohibits the use of U.S. tax dollars from being used overseas to fund or promote abortions.

The Martinez Amendment was defeated on a 37-60 vote. Idaho’s pro-Life champions, Sens. Crapo and Risch, supported Sen. Martinez’ effort to protect America’s honor.

“Taxpayers should never be forced to pay for the destruction of human life, here at home or overseas,” said Sen. Jim DeMint. “President Obama campaigned on a platform of reducing abortions, yet one of his first official acts was to force millions of American taxpayers who find this practice immoral to pay for more abortions overseas.”

DeMint went on to observe that the new Obama policy may force countries with strong pro-Life laws to reduce their protection of preborn children in order to receive U.S. foreign aid.

We commend these senators for their willingness to resist the new order of moral tyranny.

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From Bryan Fischer, Idaho Values Alliance

Timothy Geithner, a tax-dodger who pocketed money he was paid to take care of his self-employment tax, was confirmed yesterday on a 64-30 vote in the U.S. Senate. We now have a certified and self-confessed “tax cheat” – to use liberal Republican Susan Collins’s words – in charge of the IRS.

While Sen. Crapo voted with the majority to confirm Geithner, freshman senator Jim Risch exercised a bit of independence and voted against confirmation. The minimum we should expect from the overseer of the IRS is a guy who pays his own taxes without being forced to cough them up as a result of background checks.

Speaking of independence, freshman representative Walt Minnick has some conservative fiscal instincts – he voted against the boondoggle stimulus package – and may actually and remarkably pull Rep. Mike Simpson in a more conservative direction on economic policy.

At one point, Simpson got a rating of just 4% for fiscal restraint during the last session of Congress from the Club for Growth, at a time when the average Democrat graded out at 20%. (Former Rep. Bill Sali, a true friend of the taxpayer, graded out at 94%.)

I predict that the Democrats will let Minnick go off reservation on any number of fiscal votes because they know he needs to paint himself as a fiscal conservative to hold his seat in 2010, and because with the huge majority they have in the House they won’t actually need his vote very often.

Simpson can hardly afford to let himself be painted as more liberal on tax-and-spend policies than his Democrat counterpart, and so it’s likely that he will be paying a lot of attention to Minnick’s voting record over the next two years. In fact, his vote on fiscal issues may be influenced more by what Minnick does than anything else.

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By Bryan Fischer, Idaho Values Alliance

The bona fides of the Idaho Human Rights Commission, which claims to be all about equal treatment for everyone, are abut to be put to the test.

The IHRC brought a bill this past session, sponsored by Republican Sen. Tim Corder, which would have threatened severe punishment to any employer who would make non-normative sexual behavior or cross-dressing in issue in employment decisions.

What the HRC has yet to address, to my knowledge, is how it will handle a complaint issued against a lesbian who is being charged with sexual harassment on the job.

We are about to find out.

Janet Crapo, a former city employee in Hauser, a 670-person lakeside town in northern Idaho, has filed a formal complaint with the IHRC, accusing a member of the City Council, Carmen Miller, of recruiting her for a city job and then retaliating against her when she declined Miller’s lesbian advances.

The two met at a fitness class, and Crapo was soon offered a job by Miller, who said the job would be terrific as long Crapo would “play the game,” a phrase which Miller refused to clarify.

Shortly after Crapo took the job, Miller began visiting her at work, bringing lunch to her or offering to take her out. She began showing Crapo pictures of herself in a bikini during a body-building competition in Hawaii.

The harassment, according to the complaint, included home phone calls, questions about sexual orientation and other sexually inappropriate comments.

Said Crapo, “I was so uncomfortable being around Ms. Miller, I would come home from work and cry or tell my husband that I did not want to go back because I was so uncomfortable.”

She complained to the then-mayor and the city council president, apparently to no effect.

The employee, a married mother of two, finally quit her job after 15 months of such treatment, writing in her letter of resignation that she could not “handle the stress any longer due to the harassment.”

The HRC, which gets almost $1 million a year of your tax money to push the homosexual agenda in Idaho, claims on its website that, “Our commission works toward ensuring that all people within the state are treated with dignity and respect in their places of employment.”

Janet Crapo is about to discover whether “all people” includes heterosexuals who are sexually harassed by homosexuals.

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From Bryan Fischer, Idaho Values Alliance

The Club for Growth each year conducts a comprehensive examination of every lawmaker’s voting record on economic matters and pro-growth policies.

In Idaho’s congressional delegation, Rep. Bill Sali received the “Defender of Economic Freedom” award from CFG for a voting record of 98 out of 100, and ranked 9th in the House of Representatives overall.

Said Club for Growth president Pat Toomey, of the six Senators and 49 Representatives who received the award for a score of 90 or more, “These top-scoring members of Congress are staunch defenders of American taxpayers. Their votes are critical to lowering taxes, cutting wasteful spending, and promoting economic growth for all Americans.

Sen. Larry Craig and Sen. Mike Crapo graded out in the 70s, with Craig’s 76 ranking him 22nd among all senators and Crapo’s score of 70 putting him in 26th place.

Rep. Mike Simpson brought up the rear, with a grade of just 47, placing him in 162nd place among members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The ratings are based on congressional votes on key economic issues, such as making the Bush tax cuts permanent, repealing the death tax, cutting government spending, entitlement reform, free trade, tort reform, replacing the current tax code, school choice and reforming government regulation.

The Club For Growth – Congressional Scorecard

The Club For Growth – Senate Scorecard

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From David Ripley, Idaho Chooses Life

Well over two hundred people turned out last night to join in the struggle to enact an anti-coercion law in Idaho. The revised legislation (HB654) now awaits action by the full House of Representatives.

If enacted, the law would be the first in the nation to make the coercion of an abortion a crime.
Last night’s Legislative Reception also featured the presentation of the Friend for Life Award to two distinguished public servants.

Sen. Mike Crapo was honored for his long and untarnished defense of preborn children, going back to his days in the Idaho State Senate, where he led efforts to enact HB625. For the current legislative session, Sen. Crapo has received a 100% rating from the Family Research Council for his votes on such crucial policy questions as taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, Embryonic Stem Cell Research and allowing foreign aid monies to be used to pay for abortions in other nations.

The award was presented to Crapo by Idaho Speaker of the House Lawerence Denney, who received the honor in 2001.

In accepting the award, the organization’s highest, Sen. Crapo pointed to the crucial November elections and the necessity of electing a president who would appoint persons to the federal bench with a strict constructionist approach to the Constitution.

Idaho Chooses Life also honored state Senator Russ Fulcher for his long defense of preborn children and his leadership in securing a Parental Consent Law for Idaho families.

“It is a great blessing to have a person like Russ Fulcher in the Senate,” said David Ripley in presenting the award. “Russ brings tremendous integrity and skill to the battle for preborn children.”

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From David Ripley, Idaho Chooses Life

Senator Mike Crapo and Congressman Bill Sali both received 100% scores for 2007 from the Family Research Council. Sali’s score was based upon 16 key pro-family votes during the 1st Session of the 110th Congress.

Congressman Mike Simpson received an 81% from FRC because he only voted with the organization thirteen-of-sixteen times. They report that he missed three key votes, 2 of which involved attempts to undermine President Reagan’s “Mexico City Policy”. (This principle, first enacted by Reagan, prohibits the use of federal dollars from going to organizations that perform abortions in foreign countries; e.g., Planned Parenthood International.) Simpson also missed a vote on legislation which would guarantee that Christian organizations could access Head Start dollars.

The FRC Guide may also be misreporting Simpson’s opposition to the expansion of CHIP – the Children’s Health Insurance Program. They show both Sali and Simpson opposing this measure, which would use federal dollars to pay for abortions in some 17 states; our understanding is that Sali and Simpson have strong disagreements about this expansion and the impact on families and the nation’s moral health. if we’re correct, Simpson’s score should actually be 75%.

Senator Larry Craig received the lowest score in the delegation, 71%. He was dinged for missing two key votes on international funding of abortions.

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An opinion piece by Idaho State University Professor David Adler ran in the Sunday edition of the Idaho Falls newspaper with an excellent suggestion for disgraced and embattled Senator Craig.

Prof. Adler is considered left-leaning by most standards, but is extremely well-versed in the Constitution. To some, that may seem a contradiction in terms. But interestingly, Prof. Adler often agrees with libertarians and conservatives on such issues as opposing the Patriot Act.

But back to the Sunday paper. Professor Adler observes that the tenuous position Craig insists on retaining in the Senate is not helping Idaho. However, there is one thing Craig could do to assure the state does not lose out in the long run: strategize to place Idaho’s junior senator, Mike Crapo, into the seat he (Craig) is vacating on the Appropriations Committee.

Adler continues that even if he remains in his seat on that important committee, Craig is unlikely to have the good will of his fellow senators, which is so necessary for securing the money Idaho needs.

If he’s really trying to do what’s best for Idaho, Craig should offer to resign from the Senate and close the door on an uncomfortable scandal if and only if Crapo is allowed to take his place on the Appropriations Committee.

Adler points out that if this were done, GOP leadership in the Senate would be appeased, Idaho would be spared further embarrassment and an influential committee assignment would be secured for Senator Crapo.

Plus, as Professor Adler observes:

Craig’s request would represent a high act of personal sacrifice, but he would be remembered for placing the state’s interests ahead of his own. Crapo, moreover, would be viewed as soldier volunteering for duty on the front lines.

It’s a win-win proposal.

Contact both Senator Craig and Senator Crapo today and urge them to press forward with Professor Adler’s excellent proposal.

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From David Ripley, Idaho Chooses Life

Idaho’s Lt. Governor, James Risch, announced his candidacy for the United States Senate on Tuesday. He will run for the seat now held by Sen. Larry Craig.

Governor Risch was introduced Tuesday morning by Sen. Mike Crapo – who will also serve as a co-Chairman of the Risch Campaign.

During his long public career, Risch has amassed a sterling pro-Life record. He was recognized earlier this year by Idaho Chooses Life for his long service to Idaho’s preborn citizens, and given our “Friend for Life” Award. Past recipients include Congressmen Helen Chenoweth-Hage and Bill Sali.

Many prominent Republicans, including Governor Butch Otter, attended the press conference. This strongly suggests that Risch will not face a serious challenge for the Republican nomination next May.

Risch will, however, face Democrat Larry LaRocco in the 2008 General Election.

LaRocco has long been committed to defending the “right” to an abortion. We anticipate, therefore, that abortion will be a defining issue in this crucial contest.

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