Jill Skeem

Finally, the House has approved a plan to collect uncollected taxes! "A plan to boost staffing at the State Tax Commission to generate more than $19 million in additional revenue has cleared the Idaho House." Republican Rep. Darrell Bolz, of Caldwell, says the state could yield a 4-to-1 return on its investment in the tax commission budget...

The Times-News Editorial thinks CSI should be able to build student housing near its campus... What do you think? READ MORE...

I think we should use the $30 billion we have seized to pay for this no-fly-zone. The no-fly zone over Libya could end up costing the Western coalition more than $1 billion if the operation drags on more than a couple of months, defense analysts say...

What will the long-term solution be here?? How will they keep these reactors from a total meltdown? "The dumping was intended both to help cool the reactor and to replenish water in a pool holding spent fuel rods, Toyama said. The plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co...

Seeing the devastation in Japan, this makes me wonder how safe the US nuclear power plants would be in an earthquake or tsunami? Would we be ready if this happened here?

Jill Says: This had nothing to do with the budget, this was strictly about busting the Union.  "Justin Sargent, a staffer to Senator Chris Larson (D-Wis.) called the maneuver completely unexpected. It showed, he added, that this “obviously wasn’t about any kind of financing, it was an attack on working families...

Jill says:  This bill says that students can carry guns into classrooms but not into dorms. Where do they keep their guns? Why do they need guns in a classroom? Should CSI change its No Gun policy?? “We expect to oppose this,” Beck said...

Repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", opens the door again to recruiting. I am glad this policy has been finally overturned. Harvard University is welcoming the Reserve Officer Training Corps program back to campus this week, 41 years after banishing it amid dissent over the Vietnam War...

Reid said Senate Democrats were prepared to pass the two-week bill, which would cut about $4 billion from current spending levels. The move virtually ensures the government will avoid shutdown at the end of the week, when the current funding bill expires...

I guess all the hearings were for not. “We’re disappointed they passed, but thankful for the 15 senators who listened to their constituents,” said Mike Wilkinson, president of the Twin Falls Education Association. http://www.magicvalley...

Jill says: Finally, people will be able to marry the one they love and receive the same benefits heterosexuals receive. "Much of the legal landscape has changed in the 15 years since Congress passed" the Defense of Marriage Act, Holder said in a statement...

This will eventually be decided by the Supreme Court. But until then, another lawsuit has been dismissed. The lawsuit argued that Congress does not have the power under the Constitution to require health care purchases and that the mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993...

This could be the end of  Gadhafi's 42 year-long regime. It seems like it is just a matter of time.

Patti Anne Lodge, Chair of the Senate Heath and Welfare Committee discussing people who feel "wrongfully entitled" to services with disabilities    speaking in fur coat. Pretty distasteful  don't you think, Patti? (Credit: Nicole LeFavour...

So we need to spend money on weapon systems we don't need?

This is the second year in a row Ron Paul has won CPAC's straw poll, but will he be the Republican Candidate in 2012? "I think this poll is really a popularity poll and it probably isn't directly a good measure of fitness for the presidency," Steven Smith, a political science professor at Washington University in St...

Jill says: There have been many good revenue-generating ideas that have been tabled or voted down by the Legislature, but now they are considering taking the sales tax that goes to cities and counties?  How will they pay for their services...

When I first read this article, I had to shake my head.... a few times! This does not make any sense at all! "Tens of thousands of the nation's war widows find it perplexing and downright disrespectful to their late military husbands: In order to fully collect on insurance their husbands bought for them when alive, they must marry another man."

Jill says:  I was very disappointed the Patriot Act was enacted in the first place and I am glad this has been defeated... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/08/house-rejects-extensions-patriot-act_n_820554.html

Jill says...this is an interesting study. Could it be there is less time to make homecooked meals?? Or is it due to lack of supervision when kids get home from school and eat whatever? Unfortunately, many families need two incomes to survive...