The MountainGoat Report

Is It Me Or Is Walt Minnick Confused?

I'm confused.  Maybe you are too.  Anyone who has spent any time reading the pending health care legislation (and come on, who hasn't?) should be confused if they've also read this statement, actually two statements, coming out of Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick's office.  Trust me, there's a lot in there to confuse a person but it's the part where he says, "the [House] bill does nothing to train more doctors" that has me confused at the moment. 

Here's the confusing part:  that statement is completely false . . . unless by, "the bill does nothing to train more doctors," Minnick means "the bill does a lot to train more doctors."

The bill currently making its way through the U.S. House has a whole section (Division C) called "Public Health and Workforce Development."  It sets up a Health Investment Fund from which money will be allocated to, among other things, train doctors and nurses through grants and loan repayment, including specifically in medically underserved areas such as rural communities where the need is greatest.  The current bill allocates $4.6 billion to the fund for fiscal year 2010, increasing by about a billion dollars per year, to $12.7 billion by 2019.

Congressman Minnick must be confused (surely he is familiar with the bill he's opposing).  I don't know how else he would propose that the government train more doctors.  That seems like a lot.  It's definitely more than nothing.

Update:  Corrected the division designator.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Why Did Walt Run?

Last month, in a bizarre episode befitting Idaho's 1st District, Congressman Walt Minnick was caught on video running from Huffington Post and FireDogLake blogger Mike Stark who was on Capitol Hill questioning congressmen about where they stood on the Birther Conspiracy.  In explaining why his boss ran from the blogger (who at one point Minnick even called "the scum of the earth"), spokesman John Foster wrote in a comment here at MGR, "When the guy jumped out with a video camera, Walt assumed he was one of the many 'tracker' types who pretend to be part of some pseudo news organization while harassing people on The Hill."

Earlier Foster attempted to difuse criticism by responding to the Idaho Statesman in part, "Walt answers to the people of Idaho, not people with cameras ambushing Congressmen on Independence Avenue."

Except two months earlier that's exactly what Walt did.

Only that time it was a "video reporter" from CNSNews.com, an arm of Brent Bozell's Media Research Center, whose mission, they say, is to expose liberal media bias and neutralize it.  (If that sounds vaguely familiar, MRC members are regulars on hate-talker Zeb Bell's "Zeb at the Ranch.")  CNSNews carries the tagline, "The Right News. Right now" in case there was any confusion about the angle from which they approach their work.

In May, Nicholas Ballasy of CNSNews was on Capitol Hill interviewing congressmen for reactions to the firestorm swirling around Speaker Nancy Pelosi's statement that she had been misled by the CIA on the extent to which torture techniques were being used on detainees.  A couple of congressmen did run but that time not Walt Minnick.  That time Walt stood and gave a clear response.

Here is the video from Ballasy's account:

Since these incidents, Walt accepted an invitation and appeared at a town hall meeting hosted by TEA Party Boise, the organizers of which espouse many fringe views, including that the country is verging on Fascism and the birther conspiracy theory.  One even landed in jail for pointing a handgun at a homeowner just days before the event.  This appearance did not produce the raucous crowds seen in other townhalls held across the country but it did prompt some to question Walt's motives for pandering to this crowd while derogatorily dismissing the most reliably Democratic neighborhood in Idaho.

It also prompted some to wonder again why Minnick was running from Mike Stark.  This new information only adds more questions.

Did Walt's aversion to "ambush journalism" develop in the two months between the two incidents?  Did the viewpoint of the two organizations—the liberal Huffington Post/FireDogLake; the conservative CNSNews—influence Walt's reaction?  Did it have something to do with the topic or, in the case of Stark, what it might presumably be?  Why did he call one "the scum of the earth" but respond politely to the other?  Is Walt really the bona fide conservative he appears to be?

Maybe Walt could provide some answers at some point, if he's not too out of breath.

Stimulating Irony

Argh!  Another pesky gov'ment program at work.

From the Messenger-Index in Emmett:

Some federal stimulus money has found its way into the bank of a local group. It will not only help jump-start a portion of Gem County’s economy — but also help victims of domestic violence by providing some a home.

City Life, Inc. received $987,400 in a neighborhood stabilization program. Another grant of $40,000 will pay for training and education of people who deal with victims of domestic violence.

Wonder how tea party protester Rep. Steven Thayn (R-Emmett) feels about his community getting all that stimulus and—oh, the cosmic irony of it—to help victims of domestic violence?  See (in case it's not completely ensconced in the memory banks), back in 2007, Thayn's own son was arrested for domestic violence while he was busily insisting domestic violence was caused by a breakdown of the traditional family.

Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
—Robert Newton Anthony

That Pesky Gov'ment

Seems state Representative Lenore Hardy Barrett (R- Challis) is fightin' to keep big gov'ment off her family property in Challis.

From The Challis Messenger:

The City of Challis’ plan to expand its area of impact generated considerable debate and concern by a couple of county residents who didn’t want their property included.

Lenore Barrett and Ted Strickler both objected to their property being included within the proposed boundaries, saying at the August 11 meeting that they didn’t want to be regulated by another layer of government. They said Custer County’s zoning ordinance is more than enough.

Barrett said she was attending as an individual and private property rights advocate, not in her role as a state legislator. She said she didn’t want the Barrett family’s commercial property near the intersection of highways 75 and 93 annexed into the city, which is a future possibility if it’s included in the area of impact.

Always a little leery of a government official who is leery of government regulation.

Minnick Trashes His Base

IdaBlue reports on Congressman Walt Minnick's TEA Party townhall last night complete with a peek into the atmosphere surrounding the event.  It also includes this bit:

In his opening remarks Walt emphasized how we must "pay for" any health care reform, drawing many approving hoots and much applause. Then he said, and this is a near quote: " I've met with lots of groups, (and he named some clubs and political groups) and North End Democrats, and I think that group is more likely to produce a Fox News moment than this group." Laughs and applause. Which kind of put me off, to be honest.

See, he's saying that he thinks N.E. Dems are crazier, or more volatile, then tea baggers. Well, Walt, I believe your wife A.K. used to live in the North End, in the apartments across from the Boise Co-op. How crazy is she? Plus, I guess North Enders are not really in your district, but do you have to diss them as crazier than tea baggers?

Interesing, also, in that those "crazy North Enders" of Boise made up the largest group of individual contributors to Minnick's 2008 campaign where he defeated Bill Sali, the one-term incumbent most Idahoan's agreed was "too extreme for Idaho."

From the Center for Responsive Politics:

The second largest contributing Zip Code was East Boise with the big-money Democrats of Blaine County coming in third.

So far, contributions for the 2010 cycle show a similar picture.

Congressman Walt Minnick can call North End Democrats crazy but they used to be his base.

Update 18:40:  A few other accounts of the townhall meeting:

• Tea Party Boise Town Hall Meeting
• Minnick in the Lion’s Den: A Tea Party Town Hall

Walt Minnick: Legitimizing The Fringe

Three days into his campaign, at a gathering of Ada County Democrats, Congressman Walt Minnick said of the one-term incumbent he would ultimately go on to defeat that November, "Bill Sali is too extreme for Idaho."

This Saturday, Minnick was invited and will speak at a gathering of TEA Party Boise at the Owyhee Plaza Hotel.  Although it is unclear what he will say to the group, it is crystal clear that this group is extreme.  Apparently not too extreme for Walt Minnick. 

TEA Party Boise isn't just about "turning back the tides of tyranny."  A powerpoint presentation on the TEA Party Boise website describing, in their words "who we are," gives an overview of what the group is "for & against" and suggests that the United States is on the verge of Fascism—"quickly approaching," they say.  Using "extreme" to describe groups like this is even evidence of this impending decline, according to one slide.

Along with linking to Dick Armey's FreedomWorks, one of the original tea party organizers now actively engaged in mobilizing citizens for these infamous townhall protests, they list meeting times for a group called Continental Congress 2009.

Continental Congress 2009 is the brainchild of Robert Schultz, notorious tax protester (some, including the U.S. Department of Justice, would say fraud and scammer) and founder of We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education.  Continental Congress 2009 was organized to convene delegates from all fifty states to "publicly debate our Government's abuses of the Constitution and to consider practical strategies which can bring about compliance with our Freedom documents" and billed as "an undertaking of historical importance."  Their listed "grievances" include the famously debunked assertion that President Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and therefore not President. See this YouTube video for more.

CC 2009 has chapters all over the country including organizers in many Idaho counties.  Among the Ada County organizers is Challis McAaffee, recently in the news for his arrest on felony charges when during an argument, he pulled a gun on a homeowner whose home he was photographing.  Along with organization information, the Idaho CC 2009 page lists delegate nominations for the national convention to be held in November.

These aren't just Idahoans who might have a disagreement about health care reform. These are people who believe that they need to "take their government back" by holding constitutional conventions, who are encouraged to quit paying taxes until "their grievances are redressed," that the President isn't President and that the U.S. is on the verge of Fascism.

There was a time when groups such as these would have been relegated to the fringes—even in Idaho—and I suppose The Crazy deserve representation as much as anyone, but do they really deserve legitimacy?  By accepting their invitation Congressman Minnick is doing exactly that—legitimizing these groups, or as The Political Game puts it, "catering to the lunatic fringe."

Idaho Senators Gone Fishing

Instead of wrangling with angry constituents over health care reform in a stuffy townhall forum, Idaho Republican Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have gone fishing—literally—for campaign contributions at joint fundraising events costing donors up to $2,500 a ticket.

While you and I and countless other Idahoans might be worrying about how we're going to pay for health care or, God forbid, struggling to pay medical bills without going bankrupt and are looking for Congress to provide some hope that relief is on the way, our senators' only concern seems to be where they might find their next handout, apparently unconcerned whether or not Idahoans actually get any relief.

As reported in the Idaho Statesman recently, the raucous health care townhalls occurring all over the country have strangely bypassed the Gem State.  "The state's congressmen haven't given folks many chances to shout about Democratic reform plans - but they all agree with the shouters anyway," the subtitle of Erika Bolstad's report reads.  She goes on to say that Senators Crapo and Risch hadn't planned any townhall forums to discuss health care during the August recess, although Crapo's staff is now scrambling to squeeze one into his schedule and Risch is contemplating hosting one by telephone.

Although acknowledging that the current health care system is unsustainable and that constituents are "clamoring" for information on reform plans, neither senator offers anything in the way of solutions, merely suggesting that current proposals are unacceptable, too expensive and potentially too intrusive.

So what important events are keeping our senators from listening to constituents' health care concerns?  That would be Crapo's "Hook 'N Bullet" and Risch's "Rocky Mountain Oyster Feed and Steak BBQ" fundraisers in the Ketchum/Sun Valley area.

From Sunlight Foundation's The Party Blog: 

Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Jim Risch (R-ID) have more in common than a love for their home state. The Idahoan Senators, who have been friends since serving in the state legislature together, both love trapshooting, flyfishing, and even sharing donors.  The longtime friends will be hosting fundraisers in Sun valley and Picabo on August 18th complete with shuttles and coordinated schedules.

Crapo’s “Hook ‘N Bullet” event kicks off at 5:30pm (pricetag: $2,500) with a reception in Ketchum where donors can sign up for horseback riding and fly fishing. Once guests have finished their orientation the party will move to the Dollar Mountain Lodge where they can partake in Risch’s second annual “Rocky Mountain Oyster Feed and Steak BBQ” (pricetag: $250-$1000).

Shuttles will be leaving Ketchum throughout the next day to whisk guests off for fly fishing on the Big Wood River, horseback riding and trap shooting at Silver Springs Ranch, and finally, the Hook ‘n Bullet Western Barbeque at 7:00pm.

According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Idaho ranks 33 out of 50 states in the physical health category and over the first six months of 2009, the number of uninsured in Idaho is up from 17.8% in 2008 to 18.8%.  That doesn't even count those who have insurance but can't afford expensive deductibles or co-pays.

You'd think our senators would be a little more concerned with that instead of wondering how they'll manage to shuttle donors between the oyster feed and the Big Wood River without getting those large checks wet.  Maybe when they've finished "shucking oysters" with the well-heeled, the senators could read these:

• Why I Support the Public Option
• Government is not a business

Walt Minnick, Bona Fide Conservative

Dan Popkey was fooled.  Congressman Walt Minnick is no moderate.  Last week when he wrote for the Idaho Statesman that he was, Popkey was expressing a common misconception, though.  Lots of Idahoans were fooled into believing that Minnick was a moderate—even perhaps (gasp) verging on liberal as the Idaho Press-Tribune stated in a non-endorsement editorial in 2008, calling his professed conservatism "disingenuous and misleading."  But the first Idaho Democrat elected to Congress in nearly two decades, is definitely not a moderate.  Walt Minnick is a bona fide conservative.  That isn't just an opinion.  That's what he says:

on his congressional Facebook page;

 

on his campaign Facebook page;

 

in a candidate questionnaire for the Idaho Press-Tribune;

 
[Former Rep. Bill Sali gave himself an 8.]

in an address to the Idaho Farm Bureau and others.

And that is what he does.

He is the most conservative member, Democrat or Republican, of the Northwest congressional delegation, voting with members of U.S. House Republican leadership on 75 percent of roll call votes while voting with his own party just 64 percent, although even that percentage is a bit misleading.  Even former Republican Congressman Bill Sali, who was openly disdainful of them, voted with congressional Democrats 41 percent of all roll call votes in the three and a half months prior to the November election.  A more telling picture comes from CQ Politics' vote study showing Minnick in a lonely place indeed at 40 percent when consensus Republicans oppose consensus Democrats.

As he did in the 2008 campaign, Minnick continues to court Republicans, partnering with and receiving staffing advice from 2nd District Congressman Mike Simpson [see the Farm Bureau address]; benefiting from a fundraising breakfast hosted by controversial former Senator Steve Symms, who (as the Idaho blogophere's resident historian reminded) knocked off Idaho Democratic icon Senator Frank Church in 1980; speckling his federal appointment committees with well-known Republicans like Bruce Newcomb, Laird Noh and Vern Bisterfeldt; noting praise from former Governor Phil Batt; and even joining Governor Butch Otter and the rest of the congressional delegation in asking for and then praising the Obama administration's decision to delist wolves.

Although originally skeptical of Minnick's professed conservatism, others are saying it now, too.  When he was the only Democrat to earn a perfect 100 percent on Club For Growth's RePork Card, ultra-conservative blogger Adam Graham (a previously vocal skeptic) was as gushing as one could imagine this blogger could ever be over someone with a D behind his name.  Along with observing that, other than his votes on two bills, Minnick is voting like a Republican, there is one line that should make Idahoans take note.

On the pork issue, that’s to the right of Former Congressman Bill Sail (R-ID) who scored a 94% which was one of the highest scores in Congress.

Minnick is to the right of Bill Sali.  That's a sound bite, isn't it?  More conservative than taxpayer hero Bill Sali?  Although don't try to figure out the logic of insisting that auto makers should be allowed to fail while lobbying for price supports for the dairy industry.  Your head will explode.

Many Idaho Democrats were also fooled, whether intentionally or not, into believing that Minnick was a moderate.  He certainly didn't emphasize his conservative philosophy when speaking to Democratic audiences and after all, as the Idaho Press-Tribune pointed out, if he truly was as conservative as he sometimes professed to be, why didn't he run as a Republican?  It's a conundrum Minnick answers by saying that despite his deep Republican roots, the Republican Party left him.

Perhaps most revealing is what he told David Broder of the Washington Post on why he became a Democrat.

In 1996, Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, then head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, recruited Minnick to run against Republican Sen. Larry Craig. "I was an independent, and I told him I wanted to run as an independent. He had no problem with that, but Cecil Andrus [the former Idaho governor and interior secretary] phoned me and said that if that was my plan, they'd run another Democrat against Craig and see that I finished third. So at that point I became a Democrat."

Minnick became a Democrat because Cecil Andrus leaned on him?  Pragmatic?  Certainly.  Misleading?  Who knows.  Certainly an interesting way to join a party.  Certainly the Idaho Democratic Party has room for a bona fide conservative.  Certainly there should be no doubt now that this is exactly what Walt Minnck is.  Isn't he?

Walt Minnick's Skin In The Game

Unfounded though they may be, it's been said by some who have deep-seated fears of a government takeover of health care, that if members of Congress had some "skin in the game," they would write a better bill.  Meaning, supposedly, that if Congress had to participate in whatever "plan" they legislate they would do it differently.  What isn't always apparent is that some members of Congress already have "skin in the game."

For Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick, part of the Blue Dog Coalition, that "skin" comes partially in the form of campaign contributions from the health sector, including $126,464 over his political career according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Even more importantly, Minnick's stake in the health care reform debate comes with investments in and close ties to health related industries.  One of those close ties, as others have pointed out, is with Primary Health, Inc.  According to his financial disclosure (via OpenSecrets), Minnick resigned from the Primary Health board of directors as of December 31, 2008, a position he held for at least the last six years, reporting income of $14,000 for 2008.

Primary Health, Inc. was founded in 1993 in Boise, and is:

a holding company for three subsidiaries: Primary Health Network, a commercial health plan covering more than 16,500 Idahoans with fully-insured group and individual health plans; Riverside Benefit Administrators, a third-party administrator for self-funded employee benefit plans with 12,600 covered lives; and Idaho Physicians Network, a statewide URAC-accredited provider network of more than 7,300 providers including 3,500 physicians.

Primary Health was acquired by Eugene, Oregon based PacificSource Health Plans this month.

Although no longer on the board, he still has close ties with the company; members of the board and top employees have contributed at least $4,200 to his campaign so far this cycle.  In February of this year, in an interview with Michael Boss of the Idaho Business Review, Minnick was quoted as saying, "I sit on the board of directors of Primary Health, so I certainly see the value of this – but is this the best way to allocate $20 billion with all the other healthcare needs out there," apparently still getting used to no longer sitting on their board.

Minnick has other "skin in the game" which comes in the form of investments in health and insurance related companies.  As of the first of this year he had assets of between $90,000 and $300,000 invested in companies such as Pfizer, Wellpoint, CVS Caremark and others.  He also had investments of between $130,000 and $350,000 in companies that include health related businesses in their portfolios or as subsidiaries, such as Highway 12 Ventures, Accenture and others.

Congressman Minnick has a little more "skin in the game" than it appears on the surface and may help explain some of the positions he's taken when it comes to health care reform, such as insisting that the health care system remain private.  This is not to suggest that a congressman can't be an effective representative while having interests in industries for which he or she might write legislation, but this is exactly why we require disclosure of such interests.

It Was Rosa Parks

Last night, I caught a little of the health care townhall meeting Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill held yesterday.  One clip included a short bit showing a disturbance in the crowd and an African-American woman being escorted out of the hall by police.  The clip didn't show it and, I imagine like most people, I couldn't help wondering what had happened.

Luckily (or not), someone in the crowd captured the entire exchange and has posted it on YouTube.  The man who filmed it described the disturbance like this:

What happened was the women walked in with signs, the crowd booed and yelled at the women. The women rolled up their posters and put them down. A photographer/reporter approached the woman on the end and wanted to see what the poster was. As the woman went to show the photographer/reporter what the poster was, a man from the bleachers stood up and snatched the poster from the woman and photographer/reporter. As the woman went to retrieve her poster the police stepped in and escorted the woman and the man from the building.

The poster was not of Obama, it was not pro health care, the poster that was taken from the woman and wrinkled up into a ball was of Rosa Parks.

And see the video here:

Those who say the anger spilling into these townhall disruptions has nothing to do with issues of race are either delusional or dishonest.

Minnick Was Right On Health Care . . . Once

Randy Stapilus writes at Ridenbaugh Press today, "Political speech on health care, quite a bit of it, doesn’t match up well with reality on the ground."  Not only does some of the current speech not match up well with reality, it also doesn't always match up well with previous speech.

Stapilus goes on to point to Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick's current position that health care reform must not include "socialized medicine" as part of this disconnect and then relates his own experience with a health care crisis as an example.  It's an interesting read and lays out the realities of facing an emergency without insurance as only someone who has, could.

In the piece, Minnick's staff defined "socialized medicine" for Stapilus and reads in part:

He is firmly opposed to a public option. ... For Walt, competition is at the heart of this part of the healthcare discussion. A public company would not have to pay taxes, it could bond without restriction, it could go into debt without being beholden to banks or shareholders and would not have to worry about losses. It could just add those losses to the national debt. Most importantly, it would not have any real incentive to drive down costs, because it would quickly become the dominant, overwhelming force in the marketplace. It would be the largest insurance company in the country, run by the federal government and subsidized by taxpayers at enormous cost. That is socialized medicine

To understand why some Idahoans are upset with Congressman Walt Minnick and his current position on health care reform, particularly his position that a public option is off the table and free-market principles and competition should guide any reform, look at the position he took while campaigning against then-incumbent Bill Sali.

From the campaign of then-candidate Walt Minnick:

March 20, 2008

Dear Editor:

Representative Bill Sali recently wrote that he believes the best way to reduce costs and make health care for children more affordable is to trust competition and existing private-insurance plans.

He’s wrong.

At age nine months, my son Dixon was diagnosed with a life-threatening congenital heart defect. He received excellent care locally followed by 13 hours of surgery in Chicago. After 6 months, he was discharged – and we had a $600,000 medical bill.

It didn’t matter. Dixon was alive.

Thankfully, my company’s excellent health insurance covered almost all of Dixon’s bills. But what if we had been among the 40% of Idahoans who don’t have insurance?

Many will never be able to afford it on their own.

Without insurance, we never could have gone to Chicago for my son’s procedure. Without insurance, the best surgeons would never have operated. And without insurance, he wouldn’t have survived to become the strong teenager he is today.

Bill Sali claims that all Idahoans should buy their own insurance. That is an insult to any family that’s had to sit scared in a hospital waiting room wondering if their child will receive the best care because they can’t pay and are uninsured.

More competition would not have made the procedures that saved my sons life affordable. Good health insurance gave my son a chance at life. Every Idaho child deserves the same.

Sincerely,
Walt Minnick
Candidate
Idaho First Congressional District

This was Minnick's position on health care for children, but if competition and private-insurance plans shouldn't be trusted for kids then, why is it perfect for everyone else now?  Obviously it's not and Minnick was right a year ago.  Too bad he's wrong now.

Do Gay To Straight Programs Work?

The American Psychological Association says there is no evidence that they do and advises mental health professionals to quit telling gay clients they can become straight.

Also:

The "Resolution on Appropriate Affirmative Responses to Sexual Orientation Distress and Change Efforts" also advises that parents, guardians, young people and their families avoid sexual orientation treatments that portray homosexuality as a mental illness or developmental disorder and instead seek psychotherapy, social support and educational services "that provide accurate information on sexual orientation and sexuality, increase family and school support and reduce rejection of sexual minority youth."

Read more here.

Minnick's Health Care Position a 'Sham'

An Idaho Mountain Express editorial minces no words in calling out Congressman Walt Minnick for his position on health care reform.

Here's a snip:

Minnick has published a blueprint of his conditions for voting for health care reform that can only be charitably described as a sham.

Among the conditions, President Obama's trillion-dollar proposal must be "fully funded" and with "no socialized medicine." Health insurance must be "private—not run by the government."

Those points alone qualify Minnick as one of the reddest Blue Dog Democrats.

They put him in company with Republican naysayers who want to sink the Obama reforms with ridiculous obstacles. They put him pandering to far right-wing voters in his heavily GOP District 1.

Read the rest here.

The Folly Of For-Profit Health Care

IdaBlue's got a great post on the health care debate.  Check it out if you haven't yet.  The money line, among many, for me is this:

Health care, like infrastructure, like peace and security, is too integral to a productive populace to allow it to be hijacked by folks bleeding it for money. That is, I don't think that health care should be a profit making endeavor, any more than police work or fire prevention is.

Walt Minnick, Democrat?

There's been lots of talk lately about Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick's voting record.  See, Walt's a Blue Dog Democrat who is making a name for himself among conservative circles and finding himself on the outside among progressive ones.  Which brings us around to the voting record blitz.

First came Minnick's staff touting the times Minnick has voted with House Democrats on key issues. Then came a deeper look from The Political Game noting the times Minnick has voted against House Democrats.  Then Randy Stapilus at Ridenbaugh Press highlighted an interesting academic review of the roll call votes taken in the U.S. House for the 111th Congress.  The review conferred on Minnick the title of most conservative  member, Democrat or Republican, of the Northwest delegation.

That's saying something.  After all Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-WA, is a member of the House Republican leadership and has been sounding a lot like a birther lately.  In January she was invited to speak at the Family Research Council's Blogs for Life.  Yes, that Family Research Council.

Walt Minnick, according to the review, is more conservative than that.

In fact, the side-by-side comparison tool at Open Congress reveals that McMorris Rodgers votes with the Republican party 96 percent of the time and the Democrat Walt Minnick votes with her 75 percent of the time, while only voting with his party 64 percent. 

How does Minnick's voting record stack up against the rest of neighboring states' Republicans?  This chart lists each Republican representative from states bordering Idaho, how often they vote with their party and how often Minnick votes with them.  [using Open Congress]

Representative	Votes With Party	Votes With Minnick
Bishop, Rob (R, UT-1)	94%	71%
Chaffetz, Jason (R, UT-3)	92%	71%
Hastings, Doc (R, WA-4)	88%	65%
Heller, Dean (R, NV-2)	92%	80%
Lummis, Cynthia (R, WY-0)	91%	72%
McMorris Rodgers, Ca (R, WA-5)	96%	75%
Rehberg, Dennis (R, MT-0)	89%	70%
Reichert, Dave (R, WA-8)	79%	69%
Simpson, Mike (R, ID-2)	85%	68%
Walden, Greg (R, OR-2)	86%	75%

In contrast, Jim Matheson of Utah is the neighboring state Democrat with the highest percentage of votes similar to Minnick at 69 percent. None of the others crack the 65 percent mark.

Minnick represents a conservative district but is it really that conservative? He was elected as a Democrat after all.  And is Minnick doing himself any favors by voting so often with Republicans and apparently more conservatively than many?  As David Neiwert wrote at Crooks and Liars yesterday:

But it also revealed, I think, the flaw in the kind of thinking employed by Blue Dogs like Minnick when confronted with tough issues like health care. Rather than represent the people who actually campaigned for them and put them into office, they kowtow to what are perceived to be the majority conservative sentiments in their district and vote the Republican line.

In other words, they're trying to solidify their positions by selling out the very people who elected them, while pursuing the votes of people who will never vote for them.

Swing State Project says Minnick is toast, that he won't return to the House in 2011.  That may be a little strong; he is a fundraising machine, raising seven times the money of his closest Republican competitor so far.

The question at this point, though, may be why would Idaho Republicans bother trying to challenge Minnick?

Big hat tip to The Political Game for pointing me to the Open Congress comparison tool.