Fair and balanced June 11th, 2010 (5) comments Marty Trillhaase ... SlideshowThis article has a slideshow. Click to view. Image #2 JEERS ... to Idaho Freedom Foundation Executive Director Wayne Hoffman. He is responsible for the IdahoReporter.com, which is self-described as "a free news service that provides comprehensive, factual, non-opinionated and non-ideological coverage of state government." Well, not quite. This week IdahoReporter.com's Dustin Hurst put out the word that U.S. Congressman Walt Minnick, D- Idaho, was spending a lot of taxpayer money promoting himself to his constituents through the congressional "franking" privilege. In essence, it's direct mail advertising for incumbents. Minnick, a Democrat in a Republican congressional district, spent more than $150,000 during his first year in office. In contrast, U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, spent $18,000. Then IdahoReporter.com dug back 14 years and located a quote from Minnick - when he challenged U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho - bashing the franking practice. "It is a perfect example of how professional politicians use a system of perks to stay in office and rip off the taxpayer at the same time, ... " Minnick said. IdahoReporter.com says Craig "averaged about $44,500 a year during his first four years in the Senate, while Minnick averaged roughly $30,000 a quarter in his first 15 months in office." Not only is Minnick supposedly a profligate, he's accused of hypocrisy too. Except for one thing: What this "a free news service that provides comprehensive, factual, non-opinionated and non-ideological coverage of state government" failed to mention was that Minnick hasn't come close to spending the wads of cash his Republican predecessor, Bill Sali, burned through by sending out his junk mail to voters. Sali, the one-termer Minnick defeated in 2008, spent $214,249 - 15 percent of his office budget - in 2008 and $112,424 in 2007. The Idaho Statesman's Erika Bolstad reported the number just a year ago. In fact, she talked to Hoffman about it before writing the story. Even though he doesn't maintain day-to-day control over editorial content, you'd think Hoffman would have said something. After all, he was Sali's press secretary. JEERS ... to U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, R-Wash., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. Last month, the House voted to repeal the anachronistic "don't ask, don't tell" law that forces gays in the military to choose between the closet and leaving the service. Joining in the 234-194 majority was Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Idaho. But McMorris-Rodgers and Simpson locked arms with all but five of their GOP colleagues to oppose the move. What reason could they have? Not military preparedness. Since "don't ask, don't tell" became law 17 years ago, more than 13,500 gays have been drummed out of the service, some with rare skills vital to waging two wars. Not unit cohesion or morale. Gays serve openly in the armed forces of Australia, Israel, Great Britain and Canada. No disruption there. Not public opinion. Sweeping gays from the military no longer has support among members of the military, the general public or even conservative church members. Among younger people, being gay may be no more significant than being left-handed. The GOP has decided to placate its political base rather than do what's best for the military and the country. CHEERS ... to Don McQuary and Jack Seeh, both of Clarkston. Memorial Day saw recovery taking shape at Clarkston's Vineland Cemetery, and for that you can credit McQuary and Seeh. Just a year ago, Vineland was plagued with a dried-out lawn and weed infestations. Its sprinkler system was dysfunctional. The operation suspended irrigation late in the summer because it couldn't pay the water bill. So McQuary and Seeh went to work rebuilding the cemetery's finances. Creating a taxing district would provide steady income and access to the cemetery's endowment funds. Last fall McQuary and Seeh persuaded more than two-thirds of the voters to agree. The move means the cemetery can draw upon about $150,000 a year in tax revenues. Able to obtain financing, Vineland has paved some roads. Its irrigation system renovation is complete. Plans are underway to repair the lawns. JEERS ... to Idaho Gov. C. L. (Butch) Otter. A decade-long effort to protect Idaho's Boulder-White Cloud range comes to a pivotal point next week. And from Otter, you hear ... silence. Congressman Mike Simpson's package - which includes 332,775 acres of federally designated wilderness, the release of another 131,606 acres of land into multiple use and concessions to motorized and ranching interests - goes to a hearing Wednesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Simpson is "all in" on this. He has the backing of Idaho's entire congressional delegation, the public, former Gov. Cecil Andrus and former Sen. Jim McClure, Senate committee staff and Democrats. But after 10 years, he's down to this one chance. Openly hostile to past Boulder-White Clouds bills - as a congressman, he said he would have voted against it in 2006 - Otter now says he first must talk to his key natural resource administrators before weighing in. What more does Otter need to know? CHEERS ... to the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho and the Idaho Department of Correction. They've agreed to focus on Corrections Corporation of America, the real culprit behind violence at the Idaho Correctional Center near Boise. In a lawsuit that labeled the CCA-operated Idaho prison a "gladiator school," the ACLU alleged the corporation makes its profit by skimping on enough guards, using untrained staff, neglecting inmate violence and withholding medical treatment. ACLU is seeking $155 million in damages. Last week, it agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against the state, which has already fined CCA more than $40,000 for failing to provide drug and alcohol treatment as well as medical care. The state agreed to quickly implement any orders the court imposes against the prison contractor. - M.T. .