On this Christmas Eve, everyone knows that Santa is looking around to see who's been naughty or nice.
Here are some people that Santa should consider for appropriate gifts.
Naughty: Property owners in the valley who let snow clog sidewalks, impeding pedestrians and hurting business.
Nice: City of Ketchum for cracking down on scofflaw property owners who had refused to clear snow from sidewalks and making the town an easier place to walk around. Now, about the missing sand. ...
Naughty: Shortsighted elected officials who are balancing state and federal budgets and paying for the sins of Wall Street by cutting funding for education and increasing tuition for families that can ill afford it, instead of finding ways to invest in the nation's future well-being.
Nice: Chastened Republicans who relented and voted Wednesday to approve the 9/11 Health Bill for first responders suffering from illnesses related to the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York—even though they cut in half the benefits offered and the time they will be available.
Naughty: The Idaho Tax Commission whose political appointees failed to adopt policies that would have kept its reputation from being tarnished by allegations of special treatment for the politically connected who failed to pay taxes.
Nice: The U.S. Senate for reviving and approving funding to increase food inspections and gave the Food and Drug Administration the power to order recalls of tainted food.
Naughty: Senators and Congressmen who failed to draft and implement a national energy policy to move the country away from reliance on imported oil from politically unstable nations.
Nice: Sun Valley Community School students who are pressuring the Ketchum City Council to enact a proposal similar to an ordinance in New York City to improve the area's eating habits by banning the use of unhealthy trans fats in local restaurants.
Naughty: Local elected officials who've never managed a seasonal resort business or organized a large public event but who continue to bash and blame a nearly moribund Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau and by inference, local businesses, for the poor economy.
Nice: A newly proposed rule under the new federal health care law that would require insurance companies to justify rate increases of more than 10 percent a year to state regulators. Even if the rule doesn't drive down burdensome increases, it will help businesses and individuals understand what's driving them.
Nice: The people who bring smiles and hearty holiday "hellos" to the streets of our mountain towns.
