The State of Idaho caught a couple of crooked employees embezzling funds at an obscure agency of the Agriculture Department, but there seems to be a difference of opinion among officials about the need for audits or additional safeguards. This EMBEZZLEMENT STORY ran in the Daily Paper Monday.

Despite the conviction, the GUARDIAN would like to see expanded oversight and not allow a tiny agency to run as “independent.”

At Boise City the Capitol City Development Corp. (CCDC) is set to expand its influence and control over the western portion of downtown in the area of 30th and Fairview despite the fact a long requested audit of the urban renewal agency’s finances has yet to be made public. We hear of questionable ownership and payments of parking facilities–several with significant space dedicated to private use–along with a rather high rate of expenditures for legal fees.

Also in Boise, the GUARDIAN has yet to get reasonable answers to concerns voiced by readers with regard to the practice of outfitting police cruisers at a private company in Salem, Oregon. Readers responded to a story we previously posted about a new MOTOR POOL. We have passed the concerns about purchasing procedures along to several city councilors who have also been unable to get satisfactory explanations.

It looks like the city purchasing department has violated state bid laws, but claimed it was due to a “misinterpretation of the law.” An Idaho vendor is currently working behind the scenes–obviously with vested interests in making sales–and claims there is a very urgent need for an internal audit of the purchasing department’s practices. We are not ready to claim any criminal activity, but there are certainly “irregularities” in the city agency.

Audits should be done on a timely and routine basis at all levels of government–without allegation or suspicion. Banks audit the tellers almost daily and home offices audit branches, etc. The practice is simply routine and leads to trust among depositors. Government needs to take a lesson as audits are probably well worth the investment.

Turns out it is nothing more than video slots–like video poker, blackjack. By all accounts Guv Butch Otter is in favor of the gambling scheme put forth by Capitol Racing at the Fairgrounds as long as it cannot be rigged. He talked on KBOI Radio Thursday saying the legislature will be the ultimate judge of the gambling.

The proponents claim the video game–which you can bet on–is nothing more than another race track at the same location.

They claim the virtual races will stimulate interest in live racing. We think that is about as likely as slot machines stimulating interest in cherry orchards!

Idaho’s highways are in serious need of repair and upgrade. The Transportation Department (ITD) estimates that it would cost an additional $250 million per year, just to maintain the status quo.

Many of us are skeptical. To us, the roads look fine… until a bridge falls into the river, like it did back in Minnesota.

Enter Guv C. L. “Butch” Otter.

(Remember CONGRESSMAN Butch? The libertarian-leaning advocate of the downtrodden taxpayer? Heir apparent to Steve “take a bite out of government” Symms? Well, times have changed.)

Simply put, Butch is trying to figure out some way to get 250 million more dollars out of taxpayers’ bank accounts, and into the ITD bank account.

The first idea Butch floated (during the ‘08 Legislative session) was of drastically increasing vehicle registration fees. The reception was lukewarm… about the temperature of liquid nitrogen, as I recall.

Now he’s talking about a “mileage tax.” It would be simple. Read the odometer each time the car is registered, and collect dollars based on miles-driven since last time.

He’s obviously thinking anything is better than raising the fuel tax!

Let’s take a look at the options.

(I’m just throwin’ ‘em out for people to chew on.)

REGISTRATION FEE
A revenue-enhancing registration fee sounds fair, doesn’t it?

Wait! Not so fast! Here’s a commonplace scenario:

Beavis has a 1992 Ford F-150. He drives it back and forth between his house in Kuna and his job in east Boise - puts 20,000 miles on it in a year.

Next door lives - you guessed it - Butthead. He puts 2000 miles a year on his identical ‘92 F-150, doing a couple dump-runs and a few fishing and hunting trips.

Just to make the math easy, let’s say Butch charges ‘em $200/year to register that truck.

Turns out Beavis would be paying one cent per mile, and Butthead ten cents, for the privilege of being registered.

Also, it should be noted that the “foreigners” who visit Idaho from California and other places are not sharing in the registration-fee revenue scenario.

ODOMETER
Same scenario: If Butch collects five cents per mile, Beavis pays $1000 (ouch!) and Butthead pays $100. (Beavis isn’t gonna like this!)

But… how about the guy who lives in Post Falls but does 90% of his driving in Washington? Should he pay the five cents, too?

Can of worms!

A variation that’s being tested next door in Oregon is a GPS-based scheme. A GPS receiver installed in the car keeps track of miles driven. Shades of “Big Brother,” huh? That’s why most people don’t like it - in these parts, we don’t like the government keeping such close track of us.

A mileage-based tax would encourage an underground industry that specializes in odometer tweakage, GPS file hacking, etc. I’m just sayin’. And like the registration fee, a per-mile tax would exclude the despised Californians. And the tolerated Oregonians, Utahns, etc. (Tourism is a growing and desirable industry. I don’t know what share of the roadbuilding and upkeep fees should be shared with our tourists… but it should be part of the discussion.)

FUEL TAX
Nobody (except maybe for the disciples of Pope Algore) wants to see higher gas prices. It would be a brave politician indeed, who would advocate for 20 cents more per gallon, when gas is already four bucks.

But compared with the plans that Butch has proposed so far, it seems more equitable.
- The guy in the Hummer will pay more per mile, than the guy in the Geo Metro.
- The guy who drives 20,000 miles will pay more than the guy who drives 2000 miles.
- We also include the tourists, at least the tourists who are driving (and thus putting wear and tear on our roads).

Plus, it’s easily collected.

Opponents point out that as people drive more fuel-efficient vehicles, revenues will drop.

What’s the alternative? Should gas misers be punished, or taxed at a higher rate than gas guzzlers? As a general rule, the better fuel mileage a car gets, the less wear-and-tear it’s likely to put on the road, because of lighter weight.

There is not, and never will be, a revenue-collecting method that’s fair for everybody. There are disadvantages to any of ‘em. But if we need a big influx of cash… from this observer’s viewpoint, as unpalatable as it may be, the gas tax seems like the most fair and easy way to collect from the actual roadway users. Substantially more so than either a registration tax or an odometer tax. And the Libertarians should take Butch’s membership card away for even suggesting those other ideas!

(An expanded version of this discussion can be seen at Bikeboy’s IDAHO SPUD blog.

Local discussion here in the Granite State seems to be about absentee ballots–when not talking about “leaf peepers” and the awesome progression of fall color across the state.  Today, in Boise the clerk has begun mailing 50,000 ballots requested by voters after warnings of long lines at the polls…which brings us back to New Hampshire.

Seems some folks have cast their ballots early, but now are not happy with remarks of their chosen candidate.   Local officials say, “sorry, you didn’t wait for the campaign to conclude, so now you are stuck with your choice.”  Something for open minded “undecided” voters to think about.

Speaking of  politicians, the  GUARDIAN was shooting pictures for the state 4th grade social studies text at the Statehouse in Concord and noticed a group of school kid’s coats in the hallway.  We found the tour group at the office of the governor.

After chatting up  Guv John Lynch, we rounded up the students and made nice images of him teaching some state history to the kids.  There are still a few places as small and friendly as Idaho used to be!

Segers and his CITIZENS FOR AN OPEN GREENBELT group zeroed in on Garden City after the city failed to honor an agreement from 30 years ago with the State of Idaho. Having the mayor involved in a high end housing development along the river added a major bump in the bike route when the Garden City closed it to the two wheelers. This could be a political “balancing act” for the Statewide elected officials.

Public records at the Idaho Secretary of State site show the “quasi-governmental” corporation donated $500 to the Republicans for the Lincoln Day party in February. We are told $500 will get those who pay, a table closer to the front of the venue. Wonder if the members appointed by the Guv approved the donation…we can’t find any indication of similar donations to the Democrats.

Seems the folks entrusted with selling GARVEE highway bonds, facilitating loans for low cost housing, and proposing to make Tamarack’s $670 million bailout legit to union pension funds has a tilt to the right.

Controversy and lobbying over electricity goes back to the days of Edison and Tesla as they vied for acceptance of “their” methods of generation and transmission. The laws of regulators often conflict with the laws of physics and common sense.

During these dog days of summer with plenty of sun it is easy to sit back and declare “solar power is the answer.” It can certainly play a role in energy production, but it is not the ANSWER.

When we drive around the country and see huge windmill farms–or just rows of them here in Idaho–we notice for the most part they are not spinning. That causes cries of, “What a waste of resources.”

Then there is nuke power–potentially an economic savior for the USA energy needs–safe if properly monitored and proper disposal of waste can be mastered.

In the West the old standby of course is hydropower and there are folks who want to do away with the dams.

With vast reserves of coal and natural gas, these “fossil fuels” are also popular to create heat to boil water that makes steam pressure to spin a generating turbine.

Lest we forget, our corn crops have doubled in value as political pressure has mounted to inject 10% of each gallon of gas with ethanol. The likes of ADM and a few other agribusinesses benefit, but at the expense of anyone who eats anything with corn syrup, eggs, chicken, pork, milk, beef or a host of other foods. Corn is king and when it is fermented to make alcohol we all suffer.

Finally, there are vast geothermal resources scattered around the west, but they are expensive to tap and the technology is not the best at present.

At the risk of a bad pun, the GUARDIAN will try to “shed some light” on the subject while offering a forum for all concerned. We will offer anecdotal evidence from decades of personally covering the subject for the likes of the NEW YORK TIMES, TIME, and NEWSWEEK.

Here in Idaho we are blessed with plenty of wind, sun, hot water, rushing rivers, and home to the first place on earth to harness nuke power for electricity. Problem is, most of us are hooked to power lines owned and operated by a utility monopoly–usually Idaho Power.

Politicos require the monopoly to have enough generating capacity to provide juice during “peak load” to those of us who flip switches and heat water. Those same politicos tell them to buy electricity from just about anyone who can make volts on their own.

That is like telling Ford to make enough cars for everyone in the USA, but they have to buy from Toyota and GM if they happen to have more than they can sell. It is insanity!…and not good business for the monopoly. As a result, the monopoly negotiates “maximum rates” of production they are forced to purchase from the so-called “little guys.”

It really gets complicated when the big guys get in to the business of owning a batch of “little guys” and buying and selling to themselves–regardless of the generating source.

Toss in the greenies who hate/fear nuke, those who want to breach the dams, the local politicos who ENCOURAGE growth for the sake of “jobs,” and you have a situation that is nearly insurmountable.

ALL of the energy sources have their place, but until we do away with subsidies and lobbyists, the world will be in a quandary. The problem is HUMAN, not TECHNICAL. Sadly, the only way we can see it working is to have a single power provider owning all the energy sources–like a national energy authority. Many cities and counties have co-ops or boards that run utilities.

When the profit motive is in the equation, most of us seem to come up with negative numbers.

I am the president of United Street Rods of Idaho, a lobbying organization for Idaho auto hobbyists. We were concerned about being forced to use a fuel in our prized and expensive classic and collector cars. It is well known that ethanol causes major problems in older cars.

As we continued to watchdog the corn cheerleaders and research the topic, more glaring truths about ethanol emerged.

E10 and E85 (85% ethanol) provide diminished gas mileage. Ethanol contains 66% of the BTU’s (energy) of gasoline. Therefore, a 10% solution of ethanol has 3.4% less energy than gas. An 85% blend (E85) has 25% less energy. A vehicle getting 20 mpg on gas will get 19.3 on E10 and 15 mpg on E85. So much for proper tire inflation, regular tune-ups, etc. The

AAA reports actual costs for E85 adjusted for reduced mileage: http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/
The second issue is the rapid movement to E10 by Valley retailers. In the last three weeks, Jackson Foods, Albertson’s, and Fred Meyer have joined Stinker Stations in serving only E10. Soon to join are Flying J stations.
Behind the environmental and “the government made me do it” claims lies the economic truth.

These retailers are saving 11 cents per gallon by diluting their gas with cheaper ethanol. Are they passing these savings on to customers? Not one of these retailers has reduced their prices since beginning sales of “watered down” gas.

Other incentives are driving them to E10. As taxpayers you will be happy to know that The Biofuel Fueling Infrastructure Tax Credit passed by the 2006 Idaho Legislature gives them a tax break for preparing their stores to sell us watered down fuel.

If that wasn’t enough incentive, the Idaho Department of Water Resources Energy Division has $2.3 million in grant money to assist them in preparations to gouge us at the pump.

No one seems to be looking out for the Consumer. The Attorney General isn’t interested. Where is Jim Jones when we need him?

EDITOR addendum—
The price of everything from tortillas to eggs, dairy products, and meat is tied to the price of CORN. Just because it is POSSIBLE to make fuel from corn doesn’t make it a WISE decision. Mr. Goodnight has hit on one of the most important issues facing America and perhaps the world today.

When it is driven by a renta cop trying to look just like a real cop.

A couple of readers report sighting a white Ford Crown Vic “police car” sporting a set of overhead lights, the outline of Idaho on a shiny gold shield pasted to the doors, a laptop computer on the dash, antennae just like the big boys and a slogan on the back fenders easily mistaken for the familiar “Community Policing” or STEP we see on BPD vehicles.

The License plate is a vanity number with DEI on it.

The GUARDIAN also spotted the fake police vehicle and noticed it belongs to DISHION ENTERPRISES, Inc. No one has reported any illegal or improper acts, but the rig looks like a “wannabe.”

We did some more checking on the Dishion name on line and ended up at various county commission sites. It looks like the guy is into everything. Even eBay where we got this link to POLICE PATCHES.

We made calls to the Ada Sheriff and Attorney General where there was little concern voiced about the easy access–for as little as 99 Cents to official looking police paraphinalia. Talk about a loose and lax attitude toward cop gear!

It would seem logical for local cop agencies to do some trademark/copyright work with their patches, paint schemes on cars, etc. Some places have laws prohibiting anything that “resembles or could readily be confused with” a real police agency. They prohibit the use of any names of the city, county or state or the words POLICE, SHERIFF, in their name or signs.

Our reader expressed concern about people offering information or even seeking out a real copper only to find it is a uniformed wannabe rent-a-cop with a Crown Vic.

If you want to get some respect along the greenbelt this summer, might try an expensive mountain bike, a black and white helmet, a polo shirt, dark shorts with a wide leather belt festooned with “stuff” in pouches and black shoes. Include an earpiece for a cell phone for increased effect.

Local media and the mainstreamers in Longview, Washington are all over a story about 6,700 tons of sand from Kuwait contaminated with depleted uranium and lead making a rail journey from Longview to Grandview, Idaho–a route that will cross both Canyon and Ada counties.

The 306 containers of contaminated sand will end up at the Grandview hazardous waste site owned by American Ecology. The sand became contaminated with low levels of depleted uranium following a fire at Camp Doha during the first Gulf War in 1991. The U.S. Army then discovered potentially hazardous levels of lead in the shipment.

Seems to us a better final resting site for this nasty stuff would be somewhere in Southern Iraq and NOT IN MY BACK YARD.

We can’t wait to hear from former Guvs Phil Batt and Cecil Andrus who spent a good portion of their terms keeping nuke waste out of Idaho or arranging to get it moved out. While the sand emits radiation, it is much lower than transuranic waste.

Here is what the on line WIKIPEDIA has to say that appears to be pertinent:
“Depleted uranium munitions are controversial because of numerous unanswered questions about the long-term health effects. DU is less toxic than other heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury, and is only very weakly radioactive because of its long half life. While any radiation exposure has risks, no conclusive epidemiological data have correlated DU exposure to specific human health effects such as cancer. However, the UK government has attributed birth defect claims from a 1991 Gulf War combat veteran to DU poisoning, and studies using cultured cells and laboratory rodents continue to suggest the possibility of leukemogenic, genetic, reproductive, and neurological effects from chronic exposure. Until such issues are resolved with further research, the use of DU by the military will continue to be controversial.”