Free Republic

Former U.S. Rep. Richard Stallings will once again seek Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District seat. Stallings held the post for four terms as a Democrat from 1984 to 1992. Following that, he ran for U.S. Senate but lost against Republican Dirk Kempthorne, a two-term mayor from Boise. Stallings is the only Democrat to file for the second congressional race. He will face either GOP incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson or first-time runner Bryan Smith in the November general election, depending on the outcome of May’s GOP primary. Stallings said his experience working on both sides of the aisle will be appeal...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced that he is accepting the recommendation of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The listing is based on the best available science, which shows that loss of sea ice threatens and will likely continue to threaten polar bear habitat.  This loss of habitat puts polar bears at risk of becoming endangered in the foreseeable future, the standard established by the ESA for designating a threatened species. In making the announcement, Kempthorne said,...

Today the President had a meeting with members of Congress on the Line Item Veto in the Cabinet Room of the White House. He also attended the annual St. Patrick's Day Luncheon on Capitol Hill. Later on he met with recipients of the Public Safety Officer Medals of Valor in the Oval Office The President also signed H.R. 32, the Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The President also nominated Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne as the new Secretary of the Interior. Laura Bush and Education Secretary Margret Spellings visited Avon Avenue School in Newark,...

<p>Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne (R), whose views on the environment have drawn fire from advocacy groups, is the leading candidate to become the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, senior Republican officials said yesterday.</p> <p>Kempthorne spokesman Mark Snider confirmed that the second-term governor and former U.S. senator met with White House officials June 11 and discussed "his perspective on the EPA as a governor and former senator," among other issues.</p>

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 — President Bush tried to inject some optimism today into the collective gloom of the country's financially strapped governors. But he offered virtually no hope of any new injections of federal money. "We face common challenges," Mr. Bush said. "I look forward to working with you all to meet those challenges." Mr. Bush told the state leaders that his economic-stimulus plan would rejuvenate the economy, putting more money into the taxpayers' pockets and therefore more tax money into state coffers, which are being strained to the limits. "So this is the plan that I'm asking Congress to...