Round-Up of Idaho

Over the Christmas Holiday and the days leading up to it, I missed quite a few interesting stories and this post will be a bit of a catch-up.

Joe Vandal, apparently based on Jesse Ventura’s book, argues for a unicarmel (one house) legislature. The lead argument is that it would lead to a smaller government. Initially, perhaps. But one of the greatest advantages of bicarmelism is that it makes it hard to get things done. Getting things done can lead to a loss of rights for the people or an increase in government. So, in the short-run, you save money on not having to pay 70 legislators and the necessary staff required to keep them in office. In the long-run, you lose money through bigger government going through. As little as the legislature costs compared to the whole Idaho State government, it wouldn’t take a lot until increased programs that would have had trouble making it through a bicarmel session outweigh any savings caused by only having one House.

It’s nice to see Dan Popkey trying to talk up Larry LaRocco. LaRocco is called “irrepresible” after losing to likely Republican nominee Lt. Governor Jim Risch (R-ID) by a 58-39% margin in 2006. Perhaps, Mr. Popkey should study carefully the difference between “irrepresible” and “can’t take a hint.” The comparison to Rocky Balboa is kind of wild, given that while Rocky Balboa was a “never-was” in the first Rocky movie (who actually lost by split decision in the first film.) while Larry LaRocco far much more of a “has-been” after serving two terms in Congress and being given the boot.

So, the Statesman’s bringing on a new liberal columnist. Even better says Kevin Richert, ” Sirota is no stranger to many of our readers: He spoke at an Ada County Democratic banquet in November, and I heard from several readers — both before and after his speech — asking us to add his column.” I guess we should be watching the next GOP Lincoln Dinner to find the next Statesman columnist. However, I have a feeling that getting party dinner speakers named columnists is not a privilege that would be extended to Republicans.

David Ripley exposes the greed of Planned Parenthood.

Betsy Russell has an interesting story on unclaimed tax refunds. Apparently 2,400 people have uncashed income tax return checks, one check being for around $100,000. According to the Idaho Tax Commission, people move around quite a bit, so it can be hard to get their check to them. Russell’s story notes:

If you think you might be one of those with a missing refund, you can call the Tax Commission’s taxpayer services number at (800) 972-7660.

So, if you worked in Idaho in 2006, and didn’t get your state income tax refund check, call that number. If you’ve worked in Idaho at all in recent years but moved out, please check with Idaho Unclaimed Property to see if you have any unclaimed return.