Labrador considered contender in ‘Young Guns’

BOISE – GOP congressional hopeful Raul Labrador has been named to “Contender” status in the National Republican Congressional Committee’s “Young Guns” program, the second tier of the three-tier program.

“By achieving ‘Contender’ status, Labrador has already demonstrated his ability to build a successful campaign structure and achieve vital fundraising goals,” the NRCC said in an announcement. NRCC Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Tex., said, “Raul Labrador has met a series of rigorous fundraising and campaign goals that will go a long way in helping to put this seat in the Republican column.”

Asked what those goals were, NRCC spokesman Greg Blair said, “That’s something that’s just between us and the campaign. Those goals are different for every campaign … we can’t comment on internal strategy like that. I will say that he did have to reach a bar, and he accomplished that.”

Labrador has lagged badly in fundraising, with incumbent Congressman Walt Minnick reporting a million-dollar cash-on-hand edge as of the last campaign finance report, though that was early in the summer. Labrador initially said he’d decided to “opt out” of the Young Guns program, after it touted his GOP primary opponent, Vaughn Ward, and boosted him to its top rank well before the primary. Labrador changed his mind a month and a half ago.

Asked how reaching ‘Contender’ status will benefit Labrador’s campaign, Blair said, “Basically they keep us in the loop on what they’re doing and we provide guidance where we can on building their campaign infrastructure, building their media plan, building their campaign plan, helping them build a path to victory. … That’s where they’ll see the benefit now.” The designation carries no financial benefit. “Raul’s put in a lot of hard work, and we’re looking forward to working with him for the rest of the campaign,” Blair said.

State revenue up

Idaho’s state tax revenues surged another $5.7 million over the state’s projections in the month of August. When combined with the $4.5 million that state taxes beat projections in July, that puts the state $10.2 million ahead so far for the fiscal year that began July 1, according to the state’s Division of Financial Management. Individual income tax was the largest source of revenue strength in August.

Mike Ferguson, Gov. Butch Otter’s chief economist, reports the latest numbers in DFM’s monthly “Idaho Outlook” report, which also includes a look at what would happen in Idaho if the nation descends into a “double-dip” recession. However, national models now put the chances of that at 25 percent, and Ferguson notes that a double-dip is “not expected” because factors that have pushed the nation into the two previous double-dip recessions, in the late 1950s and the early 1980s, are lacking now.

Idaho could gain

Idaho is one of nine states that would gain state tax revenue if some or all of the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, according to a new report from Stateline.org. The reason: The nine states collect state taxes based on federal taxable income, not adjusted gross income. So if increased deductions go away, federal taxable incomes rise, and people would pay more in state income taxes.

Stateline reported that in these states, a legislative decision on whether to match federal tax changes “would allow them to raise revenues without legislators having to vote on a tax increase.”

Idaho almost always matches its tax code to federal changes, in a process dubbed “conformity” that usually sees little opposition in the Idaho Legislature – even when it costs the state millions – because matching the federal tax code is so much easier on Idaho filers, who otherwise would have to essentially keep two sets of books for state and federal taxes.

Cutback on hold

One of Idaho’s planned cutbacks in Health and Welfare programs has run into a snag – a federal judge has temporarily barred the state from cutting a cash assistance program for more than 1,200 developmentally disabled adults. The recipients, who all function at the level of an 8-year-old or below, are part of a proposed class-action lawsuit charging that cutting their monthly payments could force them to become institutionalized, actually costing the state more than paying to keep them in certified family care homes.

Harsh words for ad

The Daily Kos, a national Democratic liberal/progressive blog, slammed Idaho Democratic Congressman Walt Minnick for his latest campaign commercial, which targets GOP challenger Raul Labrador over immigration. “Minnick is up 20 in the polls, while his opponent is broke and has zero institutional support (he’s a teabagger who beat the establishment’s choice),” Kos writes. “It’s a done race, yet Minnick decides to be a bigot anyway by attacking his opponent’s work as an immigration lawyer. Not only is this gratuitous, but it hurts his state’s small but growing Democratic Party.”

Kos concludes his post with an epithet, after writing, “Minnick has decided, for no obvious reason, to run a hateful campaign.”

Meanwhile, Labrador told the Idaho Statesman editorial board that he wasn’t trying to offend Minnick’s adopted child in a statement he issued criticizing the ad. In the statement, Labrador said, “I would like to take this moment to ask if Walt Minnick remembers the young adoption and immigration attorney in the mid-1990s that worked at the same law firm that helped finalize the international adoption of his foreign-born child. That would be me. Walt Minnick should be ashamed of himself.”

Labrador told the newspaper that the phrase “foreign-born child” is a legal term and was not meant as a slight.

Another rabid bat

Another rabid bat has been found in Idaho, this time in Canyon County, where it flew into a home and was being played with by a cat. The bat tested positive for rabies, and the cat hadn’t been vaccinated. “That’s why it’s so important to have your pets vaccinated, because if they aren’t vaccinated, the family has to make the unfortunate choice of either euthanizing the pet or … keeping them in isolation for six months,” said Laurie Boston, public information officer for Southwest District Health.

So far this year, rabid bats have been reported in Blaine, Boise and Shoshone counties; eight were found last year. Health and Welfare officials advise people to stay away from bats, and contact their health care provider if they’ve been bitten or scratched.