Rep. Erpelding Hike Idaho Centennial Trail

Idaho State Rep. Mat Erpelding will raise money for the Idaho Redside Foundation this August. He will attend to hike the nearly 1,000 mile Idaho Centennial Trail in 40 days. He hopes to raise money for a nonprofit cause. He is also attention to Idaho’s rural economies and the value of our public lands.

Visit the Redside Foundation to pitch in for a great cause!

Did you know that in 2012 the Idaho Outdoor Recreation Industry reported $6.3 billion in sales? That compares to $7.7 billion in sales for Idaho’s crops and livestock. Everyone knows how important agriculture is to Idaho’s rural communities. Few understand that Idaho’s Outdoor Recreation Industry, which is heavily reliant on public lands, has similar impact.

Donate to this worthy cause.

The Idaho’s Redside Foundation is a new organization that supports Idaho’s guiding and outfitting workers. These workers are often Idaho’s only ambassadors to visitors from out of state. Yet, this working population struggles with the ups and downs of seasonal work. Redside offers health care assistance, financial counseling, and much more to these adventurous, brave, and hearty workers.

Read more about this project and how to help the cause below:

This August, Mat Erpelding, an Idaho state representative from District 19, will hike the 950-mile Idaho Centennial Trail. Mat will attempt to shatter the current speed record for this hike as well as raise money and awareness for The Redside Foundation.

Mat believes that Idaho’s rural communities benefit economically and socially from the commercial outdoor recreation industry, and that guiding and outfitting are integral to long-term economic wellbeing in Idaho. Therefore, Mat strongly believes in Redside’s mission to preserve the health and vitality of Idaho’s commercial guiding community.

Donate now to support Mat’s ambitious goal and spread awareness of The Redside Foundation:

A little more about Mat…

Mat Erpelding is a high-altitude climbing guide, an educator, a business owner, and a member of the Idaho House of Representatives. In 1993, Mat moved to Idaho to attend Idaho State University, and now lives in Boise. A vibrant and healthy community with exceptional access to wildlands drew Mat to Boise, and it is why he loves Idaho.

Mat is a co-owner of Experiential Adventures, which he founded in 2004. Experiential Adventures LLC specializes in leadership development, group facilitation, and teaching collaboration using experiential education as its foundation. EA has grown over the years to include clients such as the military, higher education institutions, and corporations seeking to improve their organizational culture.

Until December 2012, Mat was an instructor at the College of Western Idaho Dept. of Physical Education, specializing in training teachers to use experiential education in the classroom. Mat is an adjunct faculty member in the Leadership Studies Minor at Boise State University. Mat has also worked in the Division of Student Affairs at different colleges and universities including Boise State University, California State University, Chico, Evergreen State College, and Texas Tech University. Mat recently co-edited a textbook for outdoor leadership programs called Outdoor Program Administration.

He is the Past President of the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education (AORE), and in 2006 was awarded the Jim Rennie Leadership Award for outstanding service and dedication to the Association. In 2010, Mat was awarded the Wilderness Education Association’s Instructor of the year for bringing innovative and substantial curriculum improvements to the organization. He ranks among the Idaho Business Review’s “40 Most Accomplished Under 40.”

As a high-altitude mountain guide, Mat has reached the 20,320 ft summit of Denali (Mt. McKinley) in four out of five attempts while helping more than twenty clients reach the top as well. Mat approaches mountaineering much as Willi Unsoeld did as a member of the first American Everest expedition in 1963. Willi said, “The final test for me of the legitimacy of the [mountaineering] experience is ‘How well does your experience of the sacred in nature enable you to cope more effectively with the problems of mankind when you come back to the city?’” Mat’s passion for wilderness has shaped his belief that civic engagement is essential to living in our community.

In addition to being elected to the Idaho House of Representatives in 2012, Mat has served as the Vice Chair of the Ada County Democrats, and was named “Activist of the Year” by the Idaho Democratic Party at the 2012 Frank Church Banquet. Mat understands the challenges faced by Idaho legislators. He worked hard to support the members of both the house and senate by organizing and preparing the 2012 Idaho Jobs and Opportunity Blueprint during the legislative session. He has pledged to devote much of his career to public service to help build sustainable urban and rural communities in Idaho.

Pundits: GOP must move to the center. Krugman Obama shouldn't budge

Tom Cohen at CNN:

Listening to Republicans try to explain what went wrong in their worse-than-expected election thumping reveals a party struggling to define itself amid continuing change in the nation it seeks to lead.

"We have to allow for a period when it's going to be messy and in which there's going to be an attempt for the Republican Party to find it's soul," noted Isabel Sawhill, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. "It's a divided party, it seems to me right now." The well-known division pits a loud and powerful conservative base, fueled in the past three years by the tea party movement, against a once-prevalent moderate faction now relegated to wing status.

The Bloomberg editorial board:

Republicans have two options. They can join the White House in shaping immigration reform, all the while knowing that the president will get the lion’s share of credit. This is politically unappealing in the short term, which is certainly one reason Republicans have resisted it. However, the alternative promises even more dispiriting political consequences. If Republicans again oppose immigration reform, they risk cementing their reputation as obstructionists and, in the process, tightening the Democrats’ hold on a large and rapidly growing constituency. This is tantamount to political surrender, if not suicide. It would be a terrible outcome for the country and a self-inflicted wound that could hobble national Republican campaigns for years to come.

Michael Gerson at The Washington Post:

The 2012 election was a substantial victory not only for President Obama but also for liberalism. Obama built his campaign on abortion rights and higher taxes for the wealthy. He was rewarded by an electorate that was younger, more pro-choice and more racially diverse than in 2008. The Obama coalition is not a fluke; it is a force. Some conservatives have reacted in the tradition of Cicero: “Oh, the times! Oh, the customs!”Rush Limbaugh concluded, “We’ve lost the country,” which he described as a “country of children.” “There is no hope,” Ann Coulter said. And Bill O’Reilly: “It’s not a traditional America anymore.”
As a matter of strategy, it is generally not a good idea to express disdain for an electorate one hopes to eventually influence.

Amanda Marcotte at USA Today:

After Tuesday's election, if Republicans are smart, they will realize that the culture war just isn't working out for them any longer. Republicans leaned as heavily as ever on social issues and paid the price at the polls. After decades of rewarding Republicans with votes for their scare-mongering over abortion and homosexuality, voters finally turned to social conservatives and said, "Enough." [...] Republicans used to rely on the culture wars to win elections, but this year shows they can't anymore. Voters, female voters especially, are sick of attacks on gay rights and reproductive rights. Republicans would do well to heed the lessons of this election, and give up on fighting the culture war.

Melinda Henneberger at The Washington Post:

In the final hours of the campaign, Romney either developed never-before-seen acting skills or truly believed he was on the glide path to victory; inside the Fox News bubble, no other outcome seemed possible. But far more important than any of this, as we look to the future, is that since Romney’s loss, we’ve continued to hear conservatives who do know they are on camera or writing for publications carry right on cementing the impression that they think Obama won only because he was the choice of Moocher Nation: Not only had they failed to “take back America” from the guy Newt Gingrich delighted in calling “the food-stamp president,” but non-white America, they inferred, is not really America at all.
All of which explains how, in a tepid economy, Romney managed to lose the election more than Obama won it. And yet, they’re still at it, with Ole Miss students contributing some standout visuals to the narrative that the GOP is not minority-friendly.

Kevin Drum at Mother Jones:

The tea party has done its job, and for all practical purposes its hard-nosed, no-compromise ideology now controls the Republican Party in a way that neither the Birchers nor the Clinton conspiracy theorists ever did. It's no longer a wing of the Republican Party, it is the Republican Party. So what's next? Having now lost two presidential elections in a row, conventional wisdom says Republicans have two choices. The first is to admit that tea partyism has failed. 2012 was its best chance for victory, and evolving demographics will only make hardcore conservatism less and less popular. As South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has put it, "We're not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term." So the party will need to moderate or die.

Meanwhile, Paul Krugman:

President Obama has to make a decision, almost immediately, about how to deal with continuing Republican obstruction. How far should he go in accommodating the G.O.P.’s demands? My answer is, not far at all. Mr. Obama should hang tough, declaring himself willing, if necessary, to hold his ground even at the cost of letting his opponents inflict damage on a still-shaky economy. And this is definitely no time to negotiate a “grand bargain” on the budget that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

Are 'union bosses' really forcing teachers to oppose the Luna laws?

 by Clayton Trehal

As I take a moment from the campaign trail to write this letter, I have before me the latest Melaleuca ad, Mr. Hoffman's recent article, and like everyone else, each morning I hear the “vote yes” commercials on the radio on the way to work. If you take what the vote yes side says literally, you get a picture of powerful union bosses running the education system throughout the state, paralyzing any efforts for reform and forcing rank-and-file teachers to support a union agenda whether they want to or not. As someone who participated in the Recall Luna campaign and who got thousands of signatures for the referendum, and who now has knocked over 2,000 doors trying to convince people to vote no on the Luna laws, I find this laughable because I am not a union-member and the IEA is not endorsing me in my run for the Legislature.

So if the IEA is not forcing me to be against the Luna laws as Mr. Vandersloot and Mr. Hoffman say it is, why would I oppose them in the first place? When these laws were passed (over intense opposition) in 2011, the online school I work for was just beginning to divorce ourselves from the for-profit educational management organization (EMO) that shared management of our school. Both the teachers and the leadership at my school felt that our students would be better served if full control of my school was local, not shared with an out-of-state management company as is the typical arrangement for online schools. When the laws were being debated, I felt they would greatly expand the role of for-profit education in our state. I knew based on experience as an on-line teacher how for-profit management companies ran schools, so I wrote several letters to every legislator in the state. Like so many other stakeholders who wrote in, I was virtually ignored. Few responded, and not one Nampa legislator would write me back. This is when I knew that these laws would be passed whether we wanted them or not.

Once I realized that the Luna laws would be passed regardless of what stakeholders thought of them, I heard of the campaign to recall Luna and I called a number to join. For two months I painted signs, sat at tables, and collected signatures for the referendum. I later helped my friend Travis Manning form a group called the Common Sense DemocracyFoundation, and we followed the SCF technology meetings and researched this issue. The more I learned, the more alarmed I became: Luna's style of reform is being seen all across the nation because there is huge money is public education, and politicians who support this “reform” can earn large campaign contributions from for-profit education; it's common knowledge that Luna has. I decided to run for the legislature not because I felt I had much of a chance of winning (I'm a Democrat in Nampa!), but because I knew that my run would afford me an opportunity to discuss education with large numbers of people.

I oppose the misnamed “Students Come First” laws for several reasons: 1.) Most of our school districts don't have textbooks that go home with students, which I consider to be the central problem in many schools because this hobbles a teacher's ability to assign homework. This has been the case for nearly 15 years in many districts. Once we buy laptops for all the students, I fear we'll never get textbooks back because of the cost of the laptops and new issues they create. 2.) I know what for-profit education looks like and I'm not impressed. When an EMO ran my school, I “taught” 380 students; now (that we kicked our EMO out) I teach less than 150. I strongly believe that schools should be local and non-profit. 3.) I believe that on-line education should be a choice, not a mandate. For some students and districts, lots of online classes make sense, for others they don't. There are both pros and cons to online education and I believe that students/parents/local school boards should make these choices, not the State Board of Education and Mr. Luna.

Back to the union bosses: where was the union in all this and how has the union helped me? The people who volunteered their time and effort to the referendum were a mixed bag: some were parents, some were political activists, and some were teachers. Union bosses? I never saw them, and I also know that the IEA didn't even send me a candidate questionnaire so they never even considered endorsing me. If the teachers' union in Idaho is so strong, why don't we have more pro-education, union-backed legislators? Remember that Luna's union-busting legislation sailed through the statehouse easily, despite "union-boss" protest. Here's what else I know from experience: the minute an Idaho educator leaves our state to teach in another, they get a pay-raise of at least $10,000/year no matter what state they move to. Back east or maybe in Chicago teacher's unions might have the power many here fear, but that's certainly not the case in ID. If our teachers' union was half as strong as Hoffman and others say it is, the Luna laws would have never passed in the first place.

I suspect that we will all hear a lot about Propositions 1,2,&3 in October, and every voter has to make up their minds about what they feel and how they will vote. I tell my story here to help people make that choice and to dispel some of the hype one hears from the vote yes folks. If you are reading this and you are a teacher, please tell your story. If you know a teacher, ask them where they stand and try to listen to their story.

Idaho Dems Weekly Update: Sept. 19

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TABLE OF CONTENTS • Women Will Decide • Thanks for Nothing: GOP Offers Savings Advice • GOP Priority: Making Education Last • Women and Axes • Personal Property Tax Issue on the Horizon • Idaho's Absentee Congressmen • Volunteers Needed!!!!!!! IN OTHER NEWS Minicassia Democrats Organizing! Join the Minicassia Democrats for their first meeting. 7 p.m., Oct. 4 at Paul City Hall Women Will Decide The women above joined about 100 other loud, sign-carrying women who spent Saturday morning in Boise a few weeks ago to make a point: they value their rights. Idaho women are paying attention and it is up to candidates and activists to make sure women know that Idaho Democrats are on their side. They need to know that Idaho's GOP is waging war on their freedom and challenging their sovereignty over medical decisions. They need to know Idaho's GOP puts families last and threatens our economic futures. Our neighbor to the east is looking at women to swing tight elections into the Democratic collumn. Montana has a full slate of close federal and state races, and women may decide those elections.There as in Idaho, women worry about the economy. They are unhappy with the GOP threatening their rights. Ellie Hill, a state representative from Missoula: “To me, it’s turning back the clock and that’s not what Montana is looking for. Montana voters are focused on jobs and the economy,” she said. Denise Juneau, Montana Supt. of Public Schools: “Women will decide this election, who turns out women voters, who appeals to their values and beliefs ... We have generations of women who think these fights were over, so to see them emerge again is disappointing. But I think it’s also going to empower women voters.” Read more. Thanks for Nothing: GOP Offers Savings Advice State Treasurer Ron Crane offered advice to parents about how to save for college. His brand of saving money: charge the state for limousine rides in NYC, get a state cash card for personal use, and donate $10,000 in taxpayer funds to a pet cause, every year. GOP policies have made it hard for middle class Idaho families to save for college. In the recession, the 35 - 44 year-old group lost 52 percent of household wealth. GOP policies make Idaho lag the nation in student financial aid as well. For the GOP to offer a paltry lecture on financial responsibility is farcical. Read more. GOP Priority: Making Education Last The point simply cannot be overstated, the facts are in, the Idaho GOP has cut, is cutting, and will cut education. They clearly believe that public education has little value. The weight of their actions--years of actions--stacked against election-year protestations to the contrary. The fact is simple: The Idaho GOP has hurt education, repeatedly, intentionally, and chose to do so despite having other options. As the Idaho Statesman opined: "With sufficient repetition, the Statehouse mantra has graduated to governing principle. Spending money does not ensure quality of education. But spending money on schools — or cutting K-12 budgets — brings a state’s priorities into sharp focus. ..." Read more. Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/09/11/2266815/numbers-put-idahos-priorities.html?fb_action_ids=10152083451525397%2C10152083186575397&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210152083451525397%22%3A463760373644161%2C%2210152083186575397%22%3A496596210368637%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210152083451525397%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%2C%2210152083186575397%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map#storylink=cpy Women and Axes Women lumberjacks: Yet another reason Idaho women are not to be trifled with. Read more. Personal Property Tax Issue on the Horizon Reforming personal property taxes. Counties stand to lose a substantial portion of their tax bases--and recent history teaches us that the GOP controlled Legislature will not replace those dollars that are so crucial to local roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. But businesses resent the tax because it is tough to comply with. Surely, reasonable lawmakers can find a reasonable solution. But remember, we must first elect reasonable lawmakers. Republican Rep. Vito Barbieri told us all how to find reasonable lawmakers, saying, "If I wanted a reasonable Republican, I'd vote for a Democrat." Read more. Idaho's Absentee Congressmen Idaho's 1st Congressional District Congressman has been skipping work--a lot. He is getting called out on it in the press. Read more. Volunteers Needed!!!!!!! Just contact the Idaho Democratic Party. We can put anyone in the state to work from anywhere to help Idaho Democrats win. It's not just a question of pitching in to feel good about yourself--though you will definitely feel good about yourself--you really can be the one volunteer who made the difference in any of a number of close races this year. We need you. And, if you value a more balanced and thoughtful government, quite frankly, you need you. Lots of campaigns and lots to be done. In the election world, tomorrow already happened and we're smack in the middle of next week running behind on many many jobs that need to be done! Call Us Now! 208-336-1815. We'll be glad you did--and so will you.

Idaho Democratic Party 943 W. Overland Rd. Meridian, Idaho 83642

Idaho GOP Rep. Labrador missing too many votes

Dear Constituent,


Today marks a very significant moment in this campaign. Congressman Labrador decided for the first time that it was necessary to respond to questions regarding his record. Last Friday our campaign put out a press release calling out Raul Labrador on his poor attendance record in Congress. Labrador has missed nearly double the amount of votes as the average representative, and over double the amount of votes of all three of his most recent predecessors. Today, in an article on the front page of the Idaho Statesman newspaper, Congressman Labrador's free pass to re-election came to an end. Dan Popkey, reporter for the Statesman, started the article off by saying "Freshman GOP Rep. Raul Labrador is absent from voting at triple the rate of his three predecessors, and his Democratic challenger is calling him on it." Popkey then went on to report...

"Labrador has missed 72 of 1,531 recorded votes, according to GovTrack.us, which follows Congress. That’s 4.7 percent, almost twice the House median of 2.5 percent."
"Labrador looks still worse compared to his three immediate predecessors: Walt Minnick (1.9 percent missed), Bill Sali (1.2 percent) and Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (1.7 percent). Together, Minnick, Sali and Otter missed 113 of 6,962 votes, or 1.6 percent."

This also marks the first time in the campaign that Labrador has responded to one of Jimmy's claims, saying, "Farris has a legitimate point."

Congressman Labrador also said in the article that he may end up missing more votes this Wednesday to campaign with Mitt Romney in the state of Florida. Jimmy then fired back, saying, “I think Congressman Labrador needs to decide if he is running to be a part of a potential Romney administration or to represent Idaho in Congress.”

This story has since been picked up by the Associated Press, and is showing up in news sources across the country. Raul Labrador is vulnerable, and is part of a Congress that has the worst approval rating in our nation's history. We CAN win this race, and replace Labrador with a hard working, problem solving, common sense leader – Jimmy Farris. We just need to raise enough money to get our message up on TV. We cannot allow Raul Labrador to coast to re-election without the voters knowing the truth about his record. Please make a financial contribution to our campaign today, and we will take the ball across the end zone this November!

Thank you so much for all of your support!

Dave Scheppler
Campaign Manager
Farris for Congress

A Future Leader, Now. Jimmy Farris For Congress

Jimmy Farris has a reputation for setting challenging goals and achieving those goals through hard work, determination, and persistence. As a child in Lewiston, Idaho, Jimmy set a tough first goal: to play professional football. His parents, Bob and Sharon, taught Jimmy and his four siblings that he could do anything he set his mind to through hard work and determination. Bob, a teacher and principal, and Sharon who spent a lifetime working in the healthcare industry, showed Jimmy the value of being a community leader and instilled a deep respect for being involved in his neighborhood and church. A graduate of Lewiston High School, Jimmy attended the University of Montana, earning a degree in Marketing and Management while having a standout football career with the Grizzlies. Graduating in 2000, Jimmy took the next step in chasing his dream and entered the NFL Draft. Despite his exceptional performance as a wide receiver, he went undrafted.

Undaunted, Jimmy continued to pursue his dream to play in the NFL. He was invited to attend the San Francisco 49er's pre-season camp for the longest of shots of making the roster of an NFL team. Through that same hard work, dedication, and persistence, he learned growing up in Idaho, Jimmy (almost through the sheer force of his will) made the team and began his NFL career. Jimmy spent the next six seasons in the NFL as a wide receiver with the 49er's, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons, and the Washington Redskins. As a player, it is no surprise that Jimmy was known as a hard-working dedicated team player. As a member of the 2001 Patriots Super Bowl Championship team, Jimmy was the team's overachiever. After a successful career in the NFL Jimmy transitioned into sports broadcasting, giving him time to turn his attention to becoming the kind of community leader his family had instilled in him. In addition to volunteering his time at local food banks and homeless shelters Jimmy achieved another goal by opening The Jimmy Farris Future Leaders Foundation. The foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to equipping and developing young leaders with the skills necessary to excel academically, spiritually, socially and athletically. Jimmy was able to help underprivileged kids by providing them support and a set of values that would ensure success in whatever they chose. Recently, Jimmy returned to his home in Idaho, to be closer to his family and continue to give back to the community that has given him so much in life. After achieving his dream and living his passion in the NFL, Jimmy knew it was time to give back to the state and nation that made it possible for him to pursue his dreams. Jimmy is running for Congress because he believes this is a critical moment when we need leaders in Washington that will pull together the diverse group of Representatives in the U.S. House, and get to the work the American people sent them to do. Using that same spirit of hard work, dedication, and persistence, Jimmy will get things done for the people of Idaho and the nation and work to keep America the best place for anyone to pursue and achieve their dreams.

Farris responds to Labrador’s government shutdown threat

1^st Congressional District candidate Jimmy Farris responded today to the news that Congressman Raul Labrador signed a letter last week urging House leaders to block funding for health care, threatening a government shutdown.

In a letter dated July 18, Labrador and other House Republicans asked House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor not to allow “any legislation…that provides or allows funds” for the Affordable Care Act. Since funding must be renewed by Oct. 1, the Republicans’ demand could lead to a government shutdown just weeks before Election Day.

House Republicans have spent $50 million so far trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Eliminating the act would add another $109 billion to the nation’s deficit.

115 House Republicans including Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson did not sign the letter.
Boehner suggested that he would be unwilling to give in to the demand, saying “our goal would be to make sure the government is funded and any political talk of a government shutdown is put to rest.”
“Labrador continues to prioritize political grandstanding over doing what’s right for our country,” Farris said. “He makes $174,000 a year to facilitate government gridlock. He enjoys Cadillac health benefits while throwing away taxpayer money trying to take health care coverage away from millions of Americans.”

“I’ve already asked him to reveal an alternative health care plan, with no response,” Farris continued. “He obviously is interested only in obstructing progress, not providing solutions. Even Labrador’s Republican colleagues Speaker Boehner and Congressman Mike Simpson understand how irresponsible a government shutdown would be. When will he realize that Congress works best when people work together?”

A copy of the letter can be viewed here:
http://rsc.jordan.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Defund_ObamaCare_Letter_July_18.pdf

####

Jimmy Farris is an Idaho native from Lewiston who attended the University of Montana where he earned a degree in Marketing and Management while having a standout football career with the Grizzlies. In spite of going undrafted by the NFL, he was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2001, and remained with the NFL until retirement in 2009. Former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs described Farris as “A little ol’ guy who fights his guts out.” Jimmy then moved into sports broadcasting, started the Jimmy Farris Future Leaders Foundation, then decided to return to Idaho and run for Congress because he believes his home state needs leaders who serve Idahoans and not special interests.

For more information, please visit www.jimmyfarris.us