Posted on 06/06/2008 12:00:08 AM PDT by GOP_Raider
Item: Minnick condemns Sali for voting against bill crucial to rural Idaho
More Info: The House on Thursday rejected a bill that would have continued for four years payments to rural counties hurt by federal cutbacks in logging. A majority of lawmakers voted for the bill, but under special House rules, the bill was defeated. Supporters brought up the measure under rules that did not allow any amendments. The 218-193 vote in favor — largely along party lines — was well short of the two-thirds needed. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., denounced Republicans who voted against the bill, saying the vote dealt a huge blow to rural counties in Oregon and other Western states
From GOP_Raider: "This author better have a good explanation as to why he's shilling for Walt Minnick."
*ahem*
I believe we need some insight on this ostensible moonbat from your fellow Oregonians. Please. :)
I live in Josephine County, where our sheriff’s patrols and other programs have been slashed to the bone, to the point that we haven’t had a library for over a year, and tax-n-spend pols are clamoring for a sales tax, and I support the veto of this bill.
I consider it welfare for the county. How many other counties in the US get payments of tens of millions of dollars from the federal government?
True, we collected monies from the O & C railroad, but that was decades ago...isn’t it time we learned to live on our own funds, instead of sucking on the teat of Mother Government?
Ed
This is good news. Repubs are finally pushing back on government welfare programmes.
It’s a shame the Farm bill recently passed, but gotta be grateful for the small things when they come along.
The 2006 energy bill, directed more money from OCS royalties into the Land and Water Conservation to replace the County Payments.
The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. This is an absurd boondoggle. Rural counties need to figure out how to live within their means. Oregon is a welfare state an has plenty of money to fund rural libraries if it wants, it just would rather have all sorts of bizzaro social programs and lots of toy trains in Portland.
It is PLT(Payment in Lieu of Taxes). As FedGov buys more and more land, more and more land is taken off the local property tax rolls. As FedGov implements policies that reduce economic activity on federal lands, local govts lose the tax revenue off that economic activity.
Being one of those that live and vote in Sali’s district, this is something I have heard discussed and participated in discussions about. No one in our county (Idaho County) has figured we would ever see timber payments again. Those payments were a stopgap when environmentalists shutdown logging years ago.
Idaho County is still predominantly timber based economy, major employers are the US Forest Service and the lumber mill. They are slowing down now because the construction industry is slowed. For the most part the county has replaced the federal payments with other sources of revenue.
Bill Sali, bless his heart, drives the local liberals absolutely nuts. They go ballistic with letter to the editor and newspaper spankings all the time. Sali ran as a small government conservative and he has the best voting record in Washington in that respect.
I don’t know the guy, but I appreciate some of the hard choices he has made. I will know him. One way or the other I want to know more about someone who says what he is going to do and then went to Washington and did just that. I will make a point to meet him next time he is in town.
Rick
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