Tag Archives: idaho

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? S & P’s downgrades Nevada & New Jersey, Idaho gets upgrade, more to come in November

“In our opinion, the longer-term deficit reduction framework adopted as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) could undermine the already fragile economic recovery and complicate aspects of state and local government fiscal management.”-Gabriel Petek, S&P’s

Standard & Poor’s has already downgraded the credit rating of Nevada, New Jersey and several U.S. counties, for 2011.

Many counties and cities got super downgrades, meaning credit rankings of triple B, or less.  S&P’s says many local governments are in very bad shape fiscally.

Six states were actually upgraded. They are Idaho, Nebraska, Wyoming, Oregon, South Dakota and Louisiana.  But only Wyoming and Nebraska made the triple A rating.

In a statement issued by S&P’s on August 18, they indicate more downgrades for state and local governments are coming.  It’s all based on state budget plans, and what happens with the Federal Debt Limit Deal (Budget Control Act of 2011).

S&P’s will make more credit rating decisions in November.

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Idaho man discovers you can hack into medical implants

“There’s no security around the devices which are a very active part of keeping me alive.”-Jay Radcliffe

Idahoan, Jay Radcliffe, discovered you can hack into and remotely control a person’s medical implants.

He recently demonstrated to government officials by hacking into his own implanted insulin pump.

The problem is that wireless implants are supposed to be regulated to prevent such a thing.  The U.S. Food and Drug administration recently warned implant makers of a similar problem.

Federal lawmakers asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the Federal Communications Commission.  The FCC is responsible for making sure all radio communication devices are in compliance with regulations.

 

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, Opinion, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho Poverty rates highest in the U.S., new report also insults single parents

“We need to really be concerned about the growing number of children in poverty. Our poverty rates are growing faster than the rest of the nation and that has long-term consequences.”-Lauren Necochea, Idaho Kids Count

The latest Kids Count survey found Idaho leading the country in poverty rates for children.  The national average is 18%, from 2000 to 2009.  During the same time period, Idaho’s poverty rate hit 29%!

To make things worse Idaho politicians are slashing and burning federally funded social programs.

Other bad news from the survey: Idaho teens who drop out of school, and are unemployed, are increasing year after year, 8% in 2008, 9% in 2009.

The Kids Count report also says teen deaths are on the increase.
Strangely the report considers single parent families to be a bad thing! It says single parent families are on the increase, but my own experience shows that is not a bad thing!  I’m a single parent and raised three children who were A/B students in grade school, now they’re all working adults, with two of them also taking part time college courses.  They have their own newer model cars, one is a homeowner, another is a landlord (on top of her job and going to college).  Tell me how being a single parent hurt my kids!

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? U.S. home construction down again, no recovery in sight

“This range leaves us at the lowest levels since the series began in 1959. While monthly volatility is likely to continue, no real recovery looks to be on the horizon.”-Jill Brown, Credit Suisse

August 16, the United States Census Bureau reports housing starts fell 1.5% in July, and permits to build new homes fell by 3.2%.

The biggest drop came in what’s called “groundbreakings” of single family homes, down by 4.9%.

The Census Bureau blames the declines on too many existing homes on the market, no thanks to the big banks foreclosing on so many home buyers.

Just last week, Idaho officials downgraded their economic forecast, with one factor being a decline in construction jobs.

Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho economic forecast good on one hand, bad on the other, and completely dependent on a U.S. economic recovery

The Idaho Division of Financial Management revised its projected economic outlook, no thanks to the recent U.S. debt limit debacle.

Officials still project increased tax revenues, but now think employment will be down.

Some reasons they hope tax revenues are up; previous tax collections were higher than predicted, and they expect personal income to increase (somehow).

The drop in employment is expected in the construction industry.

These latest revisions are assuming the U.S. economy actually grows for the rest of the year!  If the U.S. economy continues to go south, forget it.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Idaho punishes California’s Molina for screwing up Medicaid payments, some health care providers went out of business

Idaho is still trying to get back $10 million in overpayments, that Molina screwed up when they took over Idaho’s Medicaid payment system in 2010.

Idaho officials say they turned over the payment system to California based Molina Medicaid Solutions, to comply with Federal regulations.

The move cost taxpayers big time, and it shut down a few health care providers.

What happened was that at the beginning of Molina’s take over providers weren’t getting paid, for as long as two months!  Many providers came close to bankruptcy, and a few went out of business.

The state made emergency payments, then Molina went and finally responded by paying the original claims.  The result was double payments!

The state of Idaho is punishing Molina by reducing the amount of money they were originally to be paid.  Also, Idaho is trying to recoup the money from the double payments.

Molina has made improvements to their customer service, but as of this year they still have 10,000 claims pending, with just under 5% being more than a month old.  One northern Idaho mental health provider says her payment claims still get delayed for no reason.

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Idaho could become gun maker mecca, the competition is on, support your team!

Several pro-gun states, like Idaho, are hoping U.S. gun makers will settle in their state.

Idaho has even passed a law that exempts guns made in Idaho from Federal gun control laws (Idaho Firearms Freedom Act, aka; made in Idaho gun law).

Now the race is on, between other states that have passed similar laws (like Montana, Utah, Arizona, etc), to see who can woo the most gun makers.  Many of the U.S. gun makers are located in states that have passed strict anti-gun laws.

Humorously Idaho Department of Commerce’s Bibiana Nertney calls guns “recreational technology”.

Unfortunately Idaho officials are trying to claim the state has low or no taxes, uh, I live in Idaho and that’s a lie!  Unless they mean low or no taxes for big companies.  Officials are also pushing the fact that they’ve destroyed unions, which has been proven to be the cause of the drop in overall income in Idaho, which means a lot of people can’t really afford to buy those nice new guns.  That aside, I do agree with another lure officials are using to get gun makers to move here; the right to keep and bear arms!

Idahoans, do your research, help the local economy, contact those gun manufactures on the other side of the country and get them to move to Idaho!

 

Idaho, U.S.

Idaho leads United States in Disapproval of President Obama, more proof that Washington DC is out of touch

In the latest Gallup Poll, Idaho takes number one position, in the disapproval of President Obama.

Only 27% of Idahoans approve of what Obama is doing.  Idaho beat out Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Arkansas.  Those states tied for the number two and three spots.

And, as no surprise, residents of Washington DC show the most support for Obama, with 83% approving of what he’s doing.  It’s also shows how out of touch DC has gotten with the rest of the country.

The latest Gallup Poll surveyed only 16 states, and the District of Columbia (DC).  The Gallup results say there has been little change in the county’s support of President Obama, since last year.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Debt Limit deal screws college students, what happened to Obama’s promise?

Some government loans for college graduate students covered, or forgave, the interest payments while the student was still in school.  Not anymore: “They will be responsible for the interest while they’re going to school, beginning in the 2012/2013 academic year.”- James Martin, Idaho State University Associate Director of Financial Aid

You can thank the Debt Limit deal just signed into law by President Obama.

For some students who have to take the maximum loans, it could mean paying $207.00 per month in interest, while they’re in school.  That would mean they would have much less of their loans to live on.

Many graduate students at Idaho State said they might not be able to continue their higher education: “So I think taking away the subsidized, which most of my loans are, I don’t think I would have attended this program if they had done that.”-Chris Thurston

“You know, I know they have to make cuts somewhere, but unfortunately it’s the one that will affect me. But you just gotta do what you gotta do.”-Zach Migel

“If we don’t have the ability to pay for it, we’ll go for not the top notch schools, we’ll go for cheaper schools, cheaper programs.”-Sheila Mitchell

On top of the ending of the interest subsidies, the Debt Limit deal also ends a credit for students who make 12 on time loan payments.

Business/Economics, Idaho, Technology, U.S.

It’s official: Idaho’s internet services suck!

After decades spending millions of dollars to get Idahoan’s connected to the World Wide Web, Idaho has the slowest connection speed in the U.S.

Pando Networks surveyed 4 million internet customers across the country, and found Idaho’s average connection speed to be 318 kilobytes per second, with 83% completion rate.

Idaho’s northern neighbor, Montana, and eastern neighbor Wyoming, also made the slow connection list.  Wyoming actually has a slightly faster connection rate, than Idaho.

Two of Idaho’s other neighbors, Washington and Oregon, made the top 15 fastest rates.

So who’s number one in the United States for internet connection speed?  Tiny old Rhode Island: 894 KPbs!