The World, According To Me

Regerrymandering Part VII: What do Bear Lake, Jeremy Ranch, and Flaming George have in Common?

2011-10-02T20:53:00.000-06:00

What do Bear Lake, Jeremy Ranch, and Flaming George have in Common?

A member of the State Legislature, that's what.

Regerrymandering Part VI: What do Grantsville, Tremonton, and Southern Cache Valley have in common?

2011-10-02T20:36:00.000-06:00

What do Grantsville, Tremonton, and Hyrum up in Cache County all have in common?

I'm stumped to find an answer.

Well, other than sharing the same State Senator for the next 10 years, that is.

There's a lot of commonality there, my friends. I'm just waiting for the GOP spin to find it.

Regerrymandering Part V: Senate District 12 -- Straddling the Oquirrhs

2011-10-02T19:59:00.000-06:00

Senate District 12 is an interesting shape. In addition to having an interesting shape, it is naturally separated by the Oquirrh Mountains.

Yep, the Senator representing this district will have to drive outside his district to visit his constituents on the other side.

Another winning map brought to you by the Utah Legislature.

Regerrymandering Part IV: Equal Population at what cost? Oquirrh Edition

2011-10-02T16:39:00.000-06:00

If you live in the Salt Lake Valley, and you are West of I-15 and South of about 4300 South, you live in the Purple district.

Well, unless you live in the Oquirrh neighborhood of West Jordan. Then you might be in the Yellow district.

Yep, if you live in this part of the subdivision, your congressman won't live in areas that share similar characteristics to yours. Your Congressman will live in Downtown Salt Lake. Or Bountiful. Or Tooele. Or St George. Or Blanding.

One thing's for sure: you probably won't ever see him campaigning in Oquirrh. Because you are separated from the rest of his district.

And that just isn't right. Surely, the Legislature could have found a neighborhood elsewhere along the border to draw into the neighborhood. I wonder who lives there that just got drawn into a different district.

Regerrymandering Part III: Equal Population at what cost? Holladay Edition

2011-10-02T12:13:00.000-06:00

So, you think the Congressional Lines drawn by the Utah Legislature took some interesting turns around the Columbus Library, take a look at Highland Downs Ln in Holladay:

The dividing line between the purple and green districts from 4800 South to I-215 is Highland Drive.

Well, except for Highland Down Lane. Highland Downs Lane is a Private Lane that curves east from Highland Drive south to 5165 South. Compacted in the small space of this complex are 7 nearly identical duplexes. This small private lane (skinny enough that on-street parking is not allowed) is a dividing line between Congressional Districts. 3 duplexes are in the purple districts, and the other 4 are in the green.

Does this make sense to anyone?

Regerrymandering Part II: Equal Population at what cost?: Columbus Library Edition

2011-10-02T10:37:00.000-06:00

There are some really interesting lines drawn in the Utah Legislature's 2011 Regerrymandering maps. They've got equal population in their Congressional districts, but at what cost?

Take, for example, the lines drawn around Salt Lake City's Columbus Library:

This is an area between roughly i-80 and 3000 South and 300 and 900 East. There are a few interesting lines here (like the fact that putting the golf course in the purple district make the lines look less puzzle like). Let's zoom in on the really interesting line:

The boundary here runs down 500 East. If you live on the east side of 500 East along here, you are in the yellow district and your Congressman will live somewhere between Bountiful and Blanding. If you live on the west side of the street, it gets a little more complex.

The first 5 houses south of the freeway are in the yellow district. Then we have 3 houses, the library, and two more houses in the purple district. Then there are six houses in the yellow district, and then purple again the rest of the way to 2700 South.

Why did they do this? It's simple: Even though there is some wiggle room (the districts don't have to be exactly the same), they wanted to make the districts exactly the same. They did this so that when the citizens of Utah pointed out that their maps were crazy puzzle pieces, they could say "well, they are equal."

Regerrymadering Part I -- Holladay City: 1 City, 3 Congressional Districts

2011-09-27T17:47:00.000-06:00

Back in May, I tried my hand at redrawing Utah's Congressional map. I managed to do it without splitting any county into more than 2 (and only 3 Counties got split). In fact, I did it without splitting a city into more than 2 (and only 3 cities got split, and 3 of the 5 were split along an Interstate).

So, it can be done.

Because it can be done doesn't mean it will be done.

Take the latest version of the Congressional map that came out of the Utah Redistricting Committee today. There was point of interest to me. 3 districts join at an intersection that, while it has undergone significant changes over the past five years, is very familiar to me.

The intersection of Highland Drive and Murray-Holladay Road is the only Urban spot where 3 Congressional Districts come together. Let's take a look at the districts:

The north side of this intersection falls in the "yellow" district. Other locations in the district include Salt Lake City, Woods Cross, East Bountiful, Magna, Tooele, St George, Nephi, Green River, Blanding.

The Southeast corner of the intersection (former home of the Cottonwood Mall -- Now largely a weed pile surrounding a Macy's) is located in the "Green" district. Other locations in this district are Cottonwood Heights, Sandy, Draper, Eastern Utah County, Vernal, Price, Moab.

The Southwest corner of the intersection is in the "Purple" district. Other locations in the district include Murray, Midvale, Salt Lake County west of I-15, Utah County west of Utah Lake, and areas around the southern end of Utah Lake.

I realize that these districts have to come together somewhere. However, as I will post later, this is the most normal division of Holladay's 3 Congressional districts.

Release: Utah Democratic Party Announces LDS Dems

2011-09-26T14:44:00.000-06:00

I got this in the email today. I was asking for this in early 2008. I'm glad to see a State Party Chair the recognizes that we shouldn't hide our light under a bushel.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Newly elected USDC chair Jim Dabakis has repeatedly stated that he wants more Latter-day Saints to feel welcome in the Utah State Democratic Party. Party organizers today announced the formation of LDS Dems which will soon be an official caucus of the Utah State Democratic Party.

“For far too long, too many of my fellow Latter-day Saints say that you must be a Republican in order to be a good Mormon. That’s just not true!” states Senator Ben McAdams, interim chair of LDS Dems. “We’re here as LDS Dems to show you that can be a good democrat and a good Latter-day Saint.”

Steve Olsen, chair of the Weber County Democratic Party and an LDS Dems member, agrees: “No official statement from the First Presidency is more ignored by Latter-day Saints in Utah than the counsel: ‘All major American political parties have values consistent with gospel.’ Our main purpose is to help our fellow Latter-day Saints wholeheartedly accept this counsel from the Brethren.”

The caucus’s first event will be a pre-General Conference Breakfast. The breakfast will be from 8:00 - 9:30 am on Saturday, October 1st at Pavilion #3 in Murray Park. Former Representative Trisha Beck is chairing the breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, and fruit from the local Murray Farmers Market will be prepared by currently elected democrat officials who are also LDS.

“I am truly excited for LDS Dems. I'm a democrat because I feel that democrats best reflect the values of charitable love, family, and community that are the basis of my faith,” states Utah Common Values Executive Director and LDS Dems member Craig Janis.

“Whether you’re a conservative, moderate, or progressive Democrat -- or you’re a moderate and belong to no party -- you’re welcome and invited to join LDS Dems!” says LDS Dems member Diane Stewart.

LDS Dems will host activities that allow its members to get to know each other and provide a means to introduce moderates to democratic ideas in a comfortable, LDS-based setting. It will also conduct a comprehensive outreach effort.

“As I prayerfully and seriously consider the issues facing our State and Country today, I'm convinced that as a ‘good Mormon’, I must be a Democrat. The values that I hold dear as a Latter-day Saint -- agency and accountability, charity, defending this promised land of America while respecting our role in the world, and respecting everyone's God-given rights -- are all more at home in the democratic platform than any other political party,” states Doug Hawks, chair of the Iron County Democratic Party and an LDS Dems member.

Concludes Erika Munson, also a member of LDS Dems, “My commitment to the Democratic Party answers the question ‘Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?’ One of the great blessings of democracy is that citizens can do more good for more people by working and sacrificing together than they can alone.”

To become a member of LDS Dems, go to ldsdems.org/join. The complete website will be launched on October 1.

______________________________________________________________________

LDS DEMS’ STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES:
Utah has a rich heritage and a bright future. Our families are the basic units of society, and their success determines the success of our communities. For this reason, our mission is to reduce economic stress, create safe neighborhoods, and provide quality educational and community resources. We take our stewardship over the natural world seriously. We strive to make our communities welcoming and safe for all of Utah's people without regard for when they first came to our great state. We recognize the hand of Divinity in the US Constitution, and we seek to ensure that the rights and freedoms it provides are available to everyone.

10 Year Bloggiversary!

2011-09-08T18:13:00.000-06:00

Back in 2001, I was active on several LDS-themed forums. On one of them, I was known for rambling on about my views on various topics, including politics. It became somewhat of an irregular internet version of a "newspaper column" if you will. I had several complaints from people that those forums were not the appropriate place to pitch my thoughts.

I had a friend (one of the first people I knew to own his own domain) who had as part of his web site an area he called "Written Diarrhea" that was essential his ramblings on random topics. Using this as my inspiration, I decided to start my own version of "Written Diarrhea." I needed a name.

It took me a few days to come up with a name. Someone on the forum had been calling my posts "Bob's world" because they thought I was a little detached from the real world. Other people said things were "according to Bob."

Hence "The World, According to Me" was born on September 8, 2001. Unfortunately, that first version of "The World, According to Me" has been lost to time. (It was housed on GeoCities. Go ask your mom.)

The third post on this online journal (nobody would know what a "blog" was for another 2 years) was written on the evening of September 11. Writing it was more therapy than anything. Likewise for other posts that week, and over the last 10 years.

But, more on that in another post.

I wrote on that site through late 2003. In 2003, I was writing the Mormons for Dean blog, and had fallen in love with Blogger. So I moved "The World, According to Me" to Blogger and started fresh. Unfortunately, I deleted many of those old posts.

Over the 10 years, this blog has been my inroads to many friends and opportunities. Tops on both those lists was the trip to Denver for the 2008 Democratic National Convention with Rob, JM Bell, Misty, Jason, Craig and Aaron to write for Utah Amicus.

I've tried quitting several times. I've taken leaves for work. I even got a job once because of this blog. I've learned a lot that I probably would not have otherwise.

Thanks to my readers over the years for, well, reading. And thanks for the comments as well. I write this partly for my own benefit, so it's always amazing to me when people actually read.

So,it's upwards and onwards to many, many more years of this blog.

-Bob

P.S. - I'll post some personal highlights sometime soon. I started a new job this week, and it's been tougher on me than I thought it would be.

Paul Mero Whines about What's In The Scriptures

2011-09-02T16:18:00.000-06:00

So, Sutherland Institute President Paul Mero wrote a post titled "Confused Mormons whine about ‘Zion curtain’" and this is an attempt to answer his post.

The basis for Mero's whining is a Facebook group called "Utah Mormons Against The Zion Curtain". I know the person who started the group. He started the group under a fake Facebook account, because his employer does not like him getting involved with politics.

From the post:

The “Zion curtain” is what Utah’s pro-liquor lobby – and now, it seems, confused Latter-day Saints – calls the physical partition in some eating establishments between the mixing of alcoholic drinks and the serving of them. Not quite a cause worthy of the ominous “iron curtain” metaphor, but a serious subject for some people.

Actually, since the sponsor of the bill used the term in his interview on X96, and lacking a better term for it, this is now what it is called. I agree that it is a little strong of a metaphor. However, "The wall to hide alcohol like it's pornography" doesn't exactly roll of the tongue.

And, I wish to know why he calls Latter-Day Saints who use the term "confused."

Rather than arguing alcohol-sales policies – which it looks like Sutherland will be forced to do if state legislators move to “privatize” liquor stores during the 2012 legislative session – I think it’s worth discussing right now why this libertarian claptrap is, much like a drunken driver’s judgment, the result of clouded thinking.

I can't wait to see Sutherland argue with themselves on alcohol next year. After all, it says right on their web site "every Utahn should support public policies that keep our markets free from unnecessary government regulation, prevent governments from competing with the private sector, encourage private-sector solutions to community problems, create incentives to work, and protect against fraud and unfair practices." Let's keep that in mind as we continue here.

Mero then quotes from the information page of the Facebook group:

“We do not believe it just to amingle [sic] religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied.” (D&C 134:9)

We feel like the new requirement that Utah Restaurants hide all of their alcohol is against free-market principles that Utah supposedly espouses. We feel that if Utah residents don’t want their children seeing alcohol being served, then those residents shouldn’t patronize those businesses.

We also recognize that the Zion Curtain harms the image of our state and our religion.

Then quotes a "friendly posting" that was written by me:

From Utah Constitution, Article I Section 4: “There shall be no union of Church and State, nor shall any church dominate the State or interfere with its functions”

And now, Mero makes the giant leap of interpretation:

Doctrinally, based on their interpretation of Latter-day Saint scripture, it seems this group is under the presumption that religious-minded people shouldn’t be involved in politics. Or at least Mormons shouldn’t be involved in Utah politics – probably the most immature, least realistic, least constitutional, least democratic-oriented thought in this Facebook group.

Actually, that is so far from the truth that it borders on being a lie. However, what the scripture that is being quoted here is saying is that if you are passing laws solely to benefit one religion, you are setting a dangerous precedent. What's to stop a state from banning dancing? Or Ice Cream? R-rated movies?

"We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others;" -D&C 134:4

Mero then goes on to whine about libertarians, like they have anything to do with it. Most of the people in that group that I know are far from libertarians. However, they do understand a very important doctrinal point:

God "has given us this experience on the earth so we can learn and grow. We can show our love for Him through our choices and our obedience to His commandments." (Preach My Gospel p. 31) "When we obey God, we follow the influence of the Spirit and choose to conform to His will. Obedience to the commandments brings us peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come" (Ibid. 72) "Part of the experience of this life is to learn to overcome temptation and to choose right over wrong." (lds.org Study by Topic -- temptation)

If you hide the sin from view, you hide the temptation. You hide the temptation, you hide the opportunity for people to grow by avoiding the Temptation.

Again, Sutherland claims that "every Utahn should support public policies that keep our markets free from unnecessary government regulation." If Paul Mero truly believed that, then he would join our group. After all, the Free Market should decide if alcohol should be mixed/poured in front of children (and adults who might be tempted). If Mormons don't want to see it, they shouldn't go there. I don't like breathing cigarette smoke while I shop. Rather than trying to get my Representatives to ban smoking at Gateway, I choose not to shop at Gateway. Nobody has become a better person by watching reality TV. Rather than wanting the Legislature to outlaw Reality TV, I choose not to watch it (except for The Amazing Race -- I'm not perfect). I wouldn't want my children to see the scantily-clad women at Hooters. I'm not going to ask the Legislature to require servers in restaurants to cover cleavage and wear knee-length shorts. I'm going to not take my business there. That's how the free market works.

In fact, I understand from people who have been to Hooters in multiple states that Utah's Hooters girls wear more clothes than they do in other states. Because that's what the market dictates.

If businesses are apt not to locate here because of anti-free-market principles, that is wrong. If local people who want to open restaurants fear that they are going to have to follow nonsensical regulations, that is bad for Utah.

And, by imposing regulations that favors one religion over the activities of those not in the religion, that makes Utah look like a Theocracy. Which is bad for Utah, and paints the LDS Church in a bad light. The church has recognized this in their not-to-subtle push to loosen liquor controls during the Huntsman administration. Hopefully, they don't need to get involved again.

-Bob

Rednecks for Obama

2011-09-02T14:00:00.001-06:00

On my way into Day 1 of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, I saw something that I thought was funny:

Then, on Day 3, we saw them again, and Aaron Thompson, JM Bell and I all got our picture with them:

Well, it appears President Obama has run into them. From Very Demotivational:

Senator Valentine needs a Zion Curtain for his mouth

2011-08-31T12:28:00.000-06:00

So, it turns out that the "Zion Curtain" not only restricts your from seeing a mixed drink prepared, but it will protect your kids from seeing someone pouring a beer.

Because, really, we all know that every kid who drinks does it because he saw a drink being prepared at Applebees.

Now, what's interesting is to see the arguments the Legislature is spitting out on this one.

First, from the Tribune:

Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, who supported backrooms to hide bartenders at restaurants serving wine and mixed drinks, said he did not push for partitions at beer-only restaurants — and he doesn’t know who did.

Waddoups suggested that Mothers Against Drunk Driving might have wanted the partitions, but MADD Utah chapter President Art Brown said he is unfamiliar with the requirement.

Does Waddoups think we're stupid? The provision got put in because someone wrote it in there. And last time I checked, Art Brown is not a member of the Legislature or a part of the Legislature's legal teams.

From the same article:

Despite the confusion over who spearheaded the change, Zion curtains are harming business, said Eric Slaymaker, president and founder of Wingers, which has 23 locations in Utah and 14 restaurants in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Nevada and Tennessee.

“The Legislature says it is business-friendly, but I have a hard time believing that,” he said. “Utah had made some great strides in becoming part of the real world, but now we’re making strides to let the world know they aren’t welcome here again.”

Really,if you don't want your kids to see liquor being poured, DON'T GO TO APPLEBEES! I thought that's what the Free Market was all about.

Then this morning, X96's Radio From Hell interviewed Sen John Valentine, who sponsored the bills. You can listen to the interview here. The part about the Zion Curtain starts about 4:30 in.

In the interview, Sen Valentine said that if you didn't hide the alcohol, then you'd have to ID everyone who comes into the restaurant. Which is stupid. You didn't have to before this law. But wait -- it gets better!

When asked about why the law was necessary, Valentine said it was to draw "a bright line between a restaurant and a bar."

I'm not a drinker, but I can tell when I'm in a restaurant and when I'm in a bar. Restaurants usually have better lighting for one. Bars often have someone at the door checking ID's. Kids are absent in bars. You have to order food in a restaurant, but you don't have to order either in a bar if you don't want to.

When asked about the anti-business image it shows to people outside of Utah, Valentine said ""If you want a true dry area, go to one of the places in the South."

When Valentine said that Utah's Liquor laws work (which makes me wonder why we need this change) because Utah has the lowest DUI rate, the hosts asked him if that wasn't because of the high number of religious non-drinkers here. The reply?

"If religious people are in the majority, shouldn't you reflect that religious value?"

Um, no. If people are really opposed to businesses preparing alcohol in front of their children, they should not take their children to businesses that prepare alcohol in front of children. Let the free market decide.

Besides, Mormon scripture is opposed to Valentine's reasoning:

"We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied." (Doctrine & Covenants 134:9)

Laws like this make Utah and Mormons look bad.

How Much House Does Mitt Romney Need?

2011-08-30T21:45:00.000-06:00

How much house does one man need?

Well, if you are Mitt Romney, you need a lot of house. Because he's personally raising all 16 of his grandchildren.

Oh, he's not? OK, whatever. It's not like his kids can afford hotels when they come to visit mom and dad.

Oh yeah, they're Romneys. They can probably at least afford a Motel 6.

After all, Mitt owns a townhouse near Boston and a vacation home on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.

But, this isn't about those homes.

It's about his west coast home. Because Regular Americans have two east coast homes and a west coast home.

His west coast home is located in La Jolla, California. Hanging in at 3,000 square feet, it has 3 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms (because regular Americans have more bathrooms than bedrooms). Oh, and it's valued at $12 Million.

However, the Romney family home is "inadequate for their needs" according to a Romney campaign official quoted in The Salt Lake Tribune.

So, because the home is inadequate, they are going to tear it down and build a new one. The new house will come in at 11,062 square feet. For comparison, that's larger than 34% of Mormon Temples. That's not a Regular American house.

That's a La Jolla elite house.

-Bob

Republicans Scared of New Sheriff in Town

2011-08-24T08:06:00.038-06:00

Last Week, I was talking to a new friend. He had run for office as an independent candidate. While he doesn't like the two-party system (which is something he &I agree on), he also recognizes that it's hard to fight the system from within.

That being said, he was asked at a Meet the Candidates Night why he was running as an Independent. His reply boiled down to the fact that the Utah Democratic Party wasn't so much an opposition party as it was a bunch of wimps.

I told him to give the Democrats another chance, because there's a new sheriff in town.

New Democratic Party chairman Jim Dabakis, fresh off a Democratic Party Bus tour down to the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, has embarked on a 1,147 mile tour of Southern Utah to talk about redistricting, among other things.

And this has the Utah Republican Party all up in arms.

Utah Senate President Michael Waddoups said he has no problem with Dabakis crossing the state to talk about redistricting — as long as that’s the only subject on the agenda.

“I hope he is going after it as a redistricting meeting,” the Taylorsville Republican said, “rather than Republicans versus Democrats.”

After all, you can talk about anything you want to, as long as you only talk about one thing, because heaven forbid any other issue comes up.

And, I really hate to point this out, but the Utah Legislature has 80 Republicans to 24 Democrats. It's hard for a Democrat to talk about the Legislature without it being a Republic vs Democrat thing.

Besides, it's been Republicans vs the People of Utah for a long time. It's nice to see the Democrats standing up to the Republican bully.

And, in a separate article, we learn that the Republicans have hired someone to follow Dabakis on his tour of Southern Utah with a video camera.

GOP Chairman Thomas Wright accused Dabakis of being “on the offensive playing ‘gotcha’ politics and taking personal comments out of context.” How dare Democrats play Offense! Don't they know that the best offense is a good defense? It's worked so well for the over the past decade! (OK, what the Democrats have been playing is more like special teams, but I digress.)

Wright also accuses Dabakis of trying to split the GOP in two. In reality, the GOP has been splitting itself in two for a long time. One only needs read the Utah Republican Party - Official Group on Facebook for proof.

Dabakis is simply pointing out that the "fringe elements" of the party are now part of Elected Leadership.

But, of course, Wright isn't trying to catch Dabakis saying something stupid. "We are just trying to hear what he is saying. We refuse to give him a pass, or simply accept what the media reports or what is posted on Twitter or Facebook."

I hope they are nice enough to post it on YouTube for other Republicans to see. And, well everyone else.

Now, Dabakis is more than willing to allow the camera, because he is not afraid of what he is saying, unlike Mike Lee last year.

“He’s a very genial and nice chap, and he has been at every public appearance,” Dabakis said. “I couldn’t be more thrilled that Republicans think that it’s worth videotaping everything I say.”

Awesome.

Science & Mormons, Jon Huntsman & Mitt Romney

2011-08-23T11:46:00.000-06:00

“To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy."

That tweet from former Utah Governor and US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman sure lit a firestorm of controversy.

After, all you can't be a Republican and believe in science, right?

Apparently. After all, as The Daily Beast points out, the only other Republican candidate to accept climate change and evolution is former Governor Mitt Romney.

Yep, the two Mormons in the race are the two science believers.

Well, until Mitt flip flops on this issue, but for the time being, he believes!

The Daily Beast points out that a 2008 Pew poll found that only 22 percent of Mormons believed in Evolution. I'm sure the percentage of Utah Mormon politicians that believe in Evolution is about the same, but those 22% are Democrats.

Similarly, the Utah Legislature doesn't believe in Climate Change. They even passed a resolution saying so. And several science professors from that liberal school in Provo called BYU sent them a letter of disapproval.

My favorite quote from the article:

In general, says John Bell, a professor of physiology and developmental biology at BYU, he and his colleagues teach students that evolution is not a take-it-or-leave-it theory, but rather a fact that can fit comfortably into an orthodox Mormon world view.

Bell puts it this way: “Religion doesn’t make an attempt to explain the mechanisms of how the world works; it tries to give meaning to it. Whereas, with science it’s the opposite; we’re trying to figure out how the world works. You don’t’ have to feel insecure about your faith just because you’re trying to engage in good science.”

How not to run a county fair political booth

2011-08-12T22:27:00.000-06:00

Let's count the mistakes made in this post from Facebook:

Okay, just got back from the county fair. :|
I went to the democrat's booth, trying to start a conversation. I asked Basically how since I am unaffiliated how I would join the party. The girl there first told me where the Republican booth was. When I made it clear that wasn't the party I wanted to join she told me to go to the county court house. Fine that's the info. But it was a very surreal exchange in my mind. Do I not look good enough to be a democrat? And they weren't busy. I told the guy next to her I almost wore my Obama shirt but was afraid of getting beat up. (Besides the fact it's too small.) I did how ever use their paper fan the whole time I was there. I'm still unsure what to think....

Note: this is in Utah, where Democrats are hard to find. So, let's count the mistakes made by this volunteer:

1) Oh, you want to join our part? Go visit the Republicans. WHAT?
2) Oh, you want to join OUR party? well, go to the county courthouse.... I assume to change voter registration. Which is a good way to become a democrat on paper, not a good way to get involved, which is usually what people who want to "join the party" are looking to do.

I don't know what this volunteer was thinking, but I know I've been thrown into situations as a volunteer with no training. Maybe a "this is what we're doing here today" training is in order....

Oh, and I am setting this individual up with information on how to get involved.

Mitt Romney: Corporate America's Best Candidate

2011-08-12T07:50:00.000-06:00

If you thought President Obama was in bed with Corporate America, wait until you meet President Romney. Mitt Romney IS Corporate America.

I don't know if you saw his comment yesterday while he was talking ~~with~~ to voters at the Iowa State Fair. He said that corporations are people, because all the money a corporation makes goes into the pockets of people.

What he meant to say is that most of that money goes into the pockets of people like Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney is the people Mitt Romney was talking about. Mitt Romney is corporate America.

Mitt Romney has made no secret of the fact that he has been "unemployed" since January 2007. How many unemployed people, let alone people who recently retired from being Governor, do you know that can sink $45Million into a presidential campaign?

Well, that's what being Corporate America can get you.

Mitt Romney: Putting "People" First, and Workers Last.

RNC Chair Blames Obama for Republicans' Bad Poll Numbers

2011-08-11T17:38:00.000-06:00

I remember reading a political training manual that had a section that talked about sticking to your talking points no matter what the question. The example was that if your talking points were about reducing government waste and someone asks you about animal control, you say "That's why government needs to stop wasting money on ridiculous things, so that we have more money to spend on important things like animal control."

Well, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee just gave a prime example of sticking to your talking points. His talking points are "Barack Obama is a bad leader." The question? "Why are your poll numbers down so much?"

Watch the hilarity ensue:

VIDEO: Sunlight Foundation Open Letter campaign in Utah

2011-07-22T08:55:00.002-06:00

You may see someone you recognize in this video.......

-Bob

Blog Relaunch Coming Soon!

2011-07-16T07:55:00.002-06:00

Governor Herbert's Failing on Facebook

2011-05-25T19:22:00.000-06:00

OK, this is just funny:

And then a few hours later:

What's so funny about that? Well, when you Google Utah Bees you get this:

You would think that the Governor (or whatever staffer is running his Facebook page) would know the name of the professional baseball team playing a couple miles down the street from the Capitol. Basketball and Hockey? Winter Sports, Utah names. Baseball and Soccer? Summer Sports, Salt Lake Names. At least he didn't call them the Buzz......

But, what do you expect from someone who pals around with the dark side?

The Governor's Caption?

"Met with another potential candidate for Utah's 4th Congressional seat. This guy's got potential."

At least someone has a sense of humor.

As for me, I'm going to go watch the Texas Mavericks play the Oklahoma Thunder and morn the state of my Salt Lake Jazz....

My Redistricting Attempts, Part 1 -- Congressional Districts

2011-05-25T17:03:00.000-06:00

The Utah Legislature's planned online redistricting program isn't up and running yet, so I used a tool I found last year called Dave's Redistricting Tool to create a congressional map. This is a first draft, and there are some limitations with the program (mainly, you have to use existing precinct lines).

So, here are the districts:

District A (blue):

Box Elder, Cache, Rich, Weber, Morgan Counties, plus Davis County except North Salt Lake City and Woods Cross west of 800 West and South of 1500 South.
Population: 690,868 (-102); 466,695 adults; 83.6% White, 11.3% Hispanic.

District B (red):

All of Tooele County; in Davis County: North Salt Lake City, Woods Cross west of 800 West and South of 1500 South.; in Salt Lake County: Magna, Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, Millcreek Township, Holladay, Cottonwood Heights; plus the areas east of I-15 in Sandy, Midvale, and Murray (The area west of I15 and north of 4800 South in Murray is also in District B).
Population: 691,013 (+43); 505,242 adults; 73.6& White, 17.2% Hispanic.

District C (Orange):

Salt Lake County not in District B; Utah County: Cedar Fort, Eagle Mountain, Lehi, Saratoga Springs, Alpine, Highland, Cedar Hills, American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Lindon, Orem north of University Parkway.
Population: 690,879 (-91); 441,822 adults; 80.3% White, 13.2% Hispanic

District D (Green):

All areas not included in the other districts.
Population: 691,118 (+148); 479,096 Adults; 84.0% White, 10.2% Hispanic

Under my proposal, 3 counties (Salt Lake, Utah, Davis) are divided into more than one district (and it's impossible to not split Salt Lake County into more than one district).

In addition, only 5 cities (Woods Cross, Sandy, Midvale, Murray, and Orem) are split into two districts. The dividing line in Sandy, Midvale and part of Murray in the Interstate. The dividing line in Orem is a major thoroughfare.

So,what do you think?

Jon Huntsman, and Defining My Own Mormonsism

2011-05-20T10:26:00.001-06:00

Much has been made about Jon Huntsman's statement in a Time Magazine article about his relationship to the LDS Church. Namely, his statement that his membership in the Church is "tough to define."

Now, the simple answer is that Mormonism is harder to define than other religions. You can be a "Christian" without having a home church (George W Bush). I have a friend who self-identifies as Baptist despite the fact that he's a Presbyterian Youth Minister. There's a running joke that you are a good Catholic is you attend Mass on Christmas and Easter.

However, in Mormonism, you either are or you aren't in the minds of most Mormons. In fact, there is a growing trend to try to break Mormons into one of two categories. Columnist Robert Kirby tried years ago to break us into 5 kinds of Mormons. However, the reality is, there are varying degrees of Mormonism.

I created several Mormon "character", and then asked 7 friends of various backgrounds to try to define that character's Mormonism. I based each "character" on a real person. For each friend, I got 7 different answers.

Well, except for the one I based on Mitt Romney: the person who is well-known as a Mormon but has said publicly that "I don't know that he has spoken to anyone since Moses and the bush or perhaps some others." That one was pretty universal.

However, it was shocking how different the answers were. I think I might widen the survey a little more and put the questionaire out there for everyone to take, getting a broader range of answers.

My favorite was the definitions of the following character "32 single male, raised in the Church. Comes from two-parent family where Mom was the primary breadwinner. Democrat who votes for Republicans sometimes. Believes Government should not be defining marriage. Attends Temple once every 3 weeks, attends church weekly, but sometimes skips Sunday School."

That one was me. I got 9 definitions from those 7 people.

I don't know what type of Mormon Jon Huntsman is, nor do I really care. All I care is that he's a good person.

Because, after all, that's all that really matters.

John McCain Speaks the Truth on Torture and Bin Laden

2011-05-13T15:42:00.000-06:00

I can't think of anyone in government more qualified to speak on torture than Senator McCain.

Orrin Hatch wants to raise taxes on the middle class

2011-05-08T22:14:00.000-06:00

"the place where you’ve got to get revenues has to come from the middle class. That’s the huge number of people that are there. So the system does need to be revamped."

Bin Laden is dead -- my reaction

2011-05-01T22:06:00.000-06:00

I will always remember where I was on September 11, 2001.

I also remember where I was eight years ago May 1, 2003 when President Bush gave his "mission accomplished" speech. That was the day that started me on the path to becoming a Democrat.

And, May 1, 2011 is a day that makes me proud to be an American.

I wish it hadn't taken us nearly 10 years since 9/11.

In fact, I wish we had gotten him during the Clinton administration. Then none of the above dates would have mattered.

But, they do matter. And they will always matter.

Unfortunately, terrorism is never going away. Terror will be an effective tool both from foreign and domestic terrorists.

However, we must let the world know that if you commit acts of terrorism, we will find you, and you will be met with Justice.

And hopefully we will find you quickly.

May God continue to bless America.

Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar’s.....

2011-04-18T13:38:00.000-06:00

Luke 20:21-25 (KJV)

21And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly:

22Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Cæsar, or no?

23But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?

24Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Cæsar’s.

25And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.

Just sayin......

Some reality about the Budget Deficits

2011-04-16T11:01:00.002-06:00

From MoveOn:

Redistricting Committee Announced

2011-04-06T12:38:00.000-06:00

Less than an hour ago, the Senate Site announced the members of the 2011 Redistricting Committee.

Well,it could have been worse, a lot worse.

I really expected the group to have a different makeup. The House and Senate leadership did a decent job selecting members, I my opinion.

The members:

* House Chairman Rep. Ken Sumsion, R-American Fork
* Rep. Curt Webb, R-Logan
* Rep. Gage Froerer, R-Huntsville
* Rep. Roger Barrus, R-Centerville
* Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City
* Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake City
* Rep. Todd Kiser, R-Sandy
* Rep. Merlynn Newbold, R-South Jordan
* Rep. Mel Brown, R-Coalville
* Speaker Becky Lockhart, R-Provo
* Rep. Francis Gibson, R-Spanish Fork
* Rep. Christine Watkins, D-Price
* Rep. Don Ipson, R-St. George

* Senate Chairman Senator Ralph Okerlund, R-Monroe
* Senator Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City
* Senator Ben McAdams, D-Salt Lake City
* Senator Stuart Reid, R-Ogden
* Senator Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal
* President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville

Now, we'll just have to look at how badly the mess this one up.

-Bob

Legislative Spelling FAIL

2011-03-25T12:30:00.001-06:00

Live, from the gallery of the Utah Senate....

...The First "secial" Session of the Fifty-Ninth Legislature

My speech for today's HB477 rally, as prepared.

2011-03-25T11:00:00.001-06:00

From the Government Records and Management Act:

(1) In enacting this act, the Legislature recognizes two constitutional rights:
(a) the public's right of access to information concerning the conduct of the public's business; and
(b) the right of privacy in relation to personal data gathered by governmental entities.
(2) The Legislature also recognizes a public policy interest in allowing a government to restrict access to certain records, as specified in this chapter, for the public good.

To listen to the Legislative leaders and the Governor, this is what they want from revising GRAMA.

Ironically, this is language found in the Act passed 20 years ago that the Legislature stripped with HB477.

I’m not surprised that they are saying one thing and doing another. After all, that’s all they’ve done this month.

They say that HB477 was rushed through the process so that it could be discussed. In reality, discussion works better if you take the time to deliberate.

HB477 was released to the pubilc on the afternoon of March 1. Supporters of the bill had known it was coming for a minimum of a couple of weeks. Yet at the first public hearing on March 2, they could not find a single non-legislator to speak in favor of the bill. But many people spoke in opposition to the bill. The full house voted on March 3 to pass the bill. March 4 brought us another public hearing, this time in the Senate. Again, no supporters came from the general public. Opponents, however, did speak. It passed the Senate later that day, and they adjourned for the weekend.

And,that’s when the public pressure started. That brought about the “comprimise” that I like to call “Cut first, measure second.”

And the public pressure has continued.

Which is what brought all of us here today.

When asked if today’s Special Session to repeal HB477 was a sign that the Legislature was in the wrong, Becky Lockhart said “we didn’t break any rules.”

Madam Speaker, you didn’t need to break any rules, because the rules are broken.

I’m nominating Speaker Lockhart for every Open Government award I can find. I’m doing this because she has raised public awareness of just how closed Utah’s Legislature really is.

After all, this is the body that earlier this week held a closed-door meeting to discuss open government.

The Senate doesn’t want to repeal the bill until they have something to replace it with.

However, they have yet to make a legitimate claim that GRAMA needs to be fixed.

They say GRAMA is costing taxpayers. They have yet to give us a dollar amount that GRAMA costs, however. They also ignore the fact that section 203 of GRAMA allows the charging of fees to recover a good amount of the costs. Let me re-phrase that. It doesn’t just allow for the charging, it makes charging fees the default position for the Government.

They say that HB477 was needed to prevent fishing expeditions from the media. However, the fishing expeditions they cite came from the public, not the media.

Plus, if they would stop restocking the pond, we’d stop fishing.

They claim that HB477 was needed to protect their privacy. Well, you’re the one who chose Public Office. You registered as a candidate. YOU went through the physical, emotional, and financial costs of running a campaign.
When you ran for the Utah Senate, you accepted the laws surrounding civil service.

If there are no skeletons in your hot tub, state legislator is not a job title you should hold.

That being said, there is an easy way to keep Private matters Private: Do the public’s business with you public cell phones and public email. Do your private business with your private cell phone and private email!

=======

Last night, a friend asked me why we needed GRAMA in the first place. The best answer I have comes from LDS Scripture where it says:

“We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, ... they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.” (D&C 121:39)

We need the ability to see what the government is doing to prevent them from running us over. Both elected officials and government employees. They are our employees. We are their bosses. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small government like the one that runs the town of Scipio or big government like the Utah Legislature. It doesn’t matter if it’s a liberal government like Salt Lake City, or a conservative one like Provo.

A Republic only works if the citizens can trust their government. Citizens can only have the trust of their Government if that government runs as open as possible.

Having ⅔ of the Legislature regularly meet behind cosed doors is not having an open government. Rushing bills from public release to ready for signing is not open government.

Hiding your text messages is not open government. The people should know what you are doing. We, The people are your employers. If you don’t like that fact, get another job.

The Legislature thinks that repealing HB477 will get the public off their backs. And, admittedly, we will back off a little. However we’re not going away. We’re going to pay attention to the working group. We’re going to pay attention to whatever new bill surfaces.

And, come election season, we’ll remember your actions in March of 2011. We’ll remind our neighbors. And we’ll help solve your privacy concerns by returning you to the private sector.

Does GRAMA need changing?

2011-03-24T08:52:00.000-06:00

This is a question that needs asking. GRAMA Task Force Member Jason Williams says it best:

I found it odd to be discussing making changes to the existing open government law as if we've all agreed a case has been made for doing so. Legislators have not made a compelling argument for minor updates, let alone sweeping changes likely to stand for the next two decades. Reasons given amount to playing the victim (more on that below), and citing "fishing expeditions" without supplying evidence of any abuse that outweighs the importance of public confidence in an open, transparent process, and implications that the courts have over reached in interpreting GRAMA for the public good. I would like to see more of a concrete argument (and evidence) for making any changes to GRAMA than those offered so far.

"GRAMA costs us taxpayers a lot of money!" How much money? "We don't know! a lot!"

"My email should be private!" Even though in the private sector, your bosses can read your emails and text messages. Even your "private" ones on company computers.

And, if there is anything embarrassing in those texts/emails, then you probably should not be an elected official. I want the most honorable people working for me, whether it some flukey in the Health Department or a member of the Legislature.

If you have skeletons in your hot tub, state legislator is not a job title you should hold.

-Bob

Governor Herbert's "New GRAMA" Requirements Already Met By At Least One State.....

2011-03-21T17:25:00.000-06:00

I've scoured the internet, and I have found a solution to Governor Herbert's problem.

In his press release this morning, Governor Herbert said:

Any modifications to GRAMA must meet three principles. First, they must protect the public's right to know, as transparent and accountable government is essential. Second, they must protect every individual's legitimate right to privacy. Third, they must protect taxpayers against the cost of overreaching "fishing expeditions."

Given that two members of the HB477 Working Group read my blog, I want to share what I found.

There is a state that has a great Open Records law on the books. I think it will meet all of Gary Herbert's requirements:

1 "[T}hey must protect the public's right to know, as transparent and accountable government is essential."

From the law:

(1) In enacting this act, the Legislature recognizes two constitutional rights:
(a) the public's right of access to information concerning the conduct of the public's business; and
(b) the right of privacy in relation to personal data gathered by governmental entities.
(2) The Legislature also recognizes a public policy interest in allowing a government to restrict access to certain records, as specified in this chapter, for the public good.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature to:
(a) promote the public's right of easy and reasonable access to unrestricted public records;
(b) specify those conditions under which the public interest in allowing restrictions on access to records may outweigh the public's interest in access;
(c) prevent abuse of confidentiality by governmental entities by permitting confidential treatment of records only as provided in this chapter;
(d) provide guidelines for both disclosure and restrictions on access to government records, which are based on the equitable weighing of the pertinent interests and which are consistent with nationwide standards of information practices;
(e) favor public access when, in the application of this act, countervailing interests are of equal weight; and
(f) establish fair and reasonable records management practices.

2. "[T]hey must protect every individual's legitimate right to privacy."

This bill contains four sections pertaining to privacy. It has one section pertaining to what is a record that must be disclosed (which also in itself contains an exemption).

3. "[T]hey must protect taxpayers against the cost of overreaching "fishing expeditions."

(1) A governmental entity may charge a reasonable fee to cover the governmental entity's actual cost of providing a record. This fee shall be approved by the governmental entity's executive officer.
(2) (a) When a governmental entity compiles a record in a form other than that normally maintained by the governmental entity, the actual costs under this section may include the following:
(i) the cost of staff time for compiling, formatting, manipulating, packaging, summarizing, or tailoring the record either into an organization or media to meet the person's request;
(ii) the cost of staff time for search, retrieval, and other direct administrative costs for complying with a request; and
(iii) in the case of fees for a record that is the result of computer output other than word processing, the actual incremental cost of providing the electronic services and products together with a reasonable portion of the costs associated with formatting or interfacing the information for particular users, and the administrative costs as set forth in Subsections (2)(a)(i) and (ii).
(b) An hourly charge under Subsection (2)(a) may not exceed the salary of the lowest paid employee who, in the discretion of the custodian of records, has the necessary skill and training to perform the request.

And that's just part of the section on fees.

And, the law that we should model our new law on has a great name: "Government Records Access and Management Act."

Sounds good, doesn't it?

And the state where this law is in effect?

Utah.

Read the bill here.

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

2011-03-21T12:57:00.000-06:00

Now Governor Herbert and the Utah Legislature want to repeal and replace HB477.

Replace it with what you might ask?

Well, that part is a mystery. They are discussing that in a caucus meeting at the Capitol this morning.

A closed-door caucus meeting. You know, to prove that they are all about open Government and stuff.

But, did GRAMA need fixing?

The Governor and Legislators say that HB477 protects citizen's privacy. However, that privacy was already ensured by GRAMA as it was written 20 years ago.

The Governor and Legislators claim that HB477 was needed to protect taxpayer dollars, even though I haven't heard a single dollar amount the state/county/city spends filling GRAMA requests. The fact is, GRAMA already allows government entities to charge for GRAMA requests. It allows them to waive the fees if the information is in the public interest. HB477 would allow the Government to turn a profit.

The Governor and Legislators claim that GRAMA needs updating to bring it up to date with modern technology. However, GRAMA already provides for the digital age. It defines a record as “a book, letter, document, paper, map, plan, photograph, film, card, tape, recording, electronic data, or other documentary material regardless of physical form or characteristics” (italics added for emphasis). — Utah Code 63G-2-103 (22)

The Governor and Legislators claim that HB477 prevents the media from going on fishing expeditions. First, given the media keep catching fish, it's a good thing that they are fishing. The Government needs to quit stocking the pond. Secondly, fishing is a slow and expensiveproposition. GRAMA also prhibitsoverly broad searched. They aren't so much fishing expeditions as they are looking for a fire when you see smoke.

I trust Governor Herbert about as much as he can throw me. I trust most of our Legislators even less. They need to repeal HB477 immediately. And then have an honest, open discussion on the facts of GRAMA. If they can find places that they can fix the law without making Government more secretive, then do it. But don't rush to the finish line without putting your running shoes on.

The people are paying attention. We won't be fooled again.

-Bob

To learn where you can sign a petition to get HB477 on the ballot, visit the Facebook Page here.

PRESS RELEASE: Citizens Petition Drive to recall HB477 filed

2011-03-10T23:08:00.000-07:00

Petition for referendum to repeal HB477 filed
Keep Utah Open formed

March 10 – Today at 10:41 a.m., five ordinary Utahns filed an application for a referendum to kill HB477 once and for all with the lieutenant governor’s office. Simultaneously the group filed an initiative petition, the E-signature Initiative, to challenge SB165.
Nancy and Alan Lord, Janalee and Steve Tobias and Steve Maxfield have been joined in their effort by Utahns for Ethical Government, the Utah chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Foundation for Open Government and the League of Women Voters.
The coalition is a group of like-minded individuals who came together in their opposition to the bill, described by national Freedom of Information expert David Cuillier as “the most horrific anti-FOI legislation I have ever seen.”
“This is as organic as it gets. It is in response to the complete overreach of the legislature,” Nancy Lord said.
Today the coalition of citizens organized as Keep Utah Open.
The group has just 40 days to collect close to 65,000 signatures in 15 counties to bring HB477 to the ballot in November.
“With the passage of HB477 and SB165, we have seen an assault on the fundamental principles of democracy, which are access to government records and the right to petition your government,” political issues committee co-chair Justin Miller said.
Keep Utah Open launched its website keeputahopen.org this evening along with a Facebook page.
Although the coalition will have to wait on the lieutenant governor’s office for issuance of the signature packets, it hit the ground running, signing up volunteers at tonight’s Shine the Light on Capitol Hill rally.
Utahns interested in volunteering or donating to the cause may go to the website for more information.Petition for referendum to repeal HB477 filed
Keep Utah Open formed

March 10 – Today at 10:41 a.m., five ordinary Utahns filed an application for a referendum to kill HB477 once and for all with the lieutenant governor’s office. Simultaneously the group filed an initiative petition, the E-signature Initiative, to challenge SB165.
Nancy and Alan Lord, Janalee and Steve Tobias and Steve Maxfield have been joined in their effort by Utahns for Ethical Government, the Utah chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Foundation for Open Government and the League of Women Voters.
The coalition is a group of like-minded individuals who came together in their opposition to the bill, described by national Freedom of Information expert David Cuillier as “the most horrific anti-FOI legislation I have ever seen.”
“This is as organic as it gets. It is in response to the complete overreach of the legislature,” Nancy Lord said.
Today the coalition of citizens organized as Keep Utah Open.
The group has just 40 days to collect close to 65,000 signatures in 15 counties to bring HB477 to the ballot in November.
“With the passage of HB477 and SB165, we have seen an assault on the fundamental principles of democracy, which are access to government records and the right to petition your government,” political issues committee co-chair Justin Miller said.
Keep Utah Open launched its website keeputahopen.com this evening along with a Facebook page.
Although the coalition will have to wait on the lieutenant governor’s office for issuance of the signature packets, it hit the ground running, signing up volunteers at tonight’s Shine the Light on Capitol Hill rally.
Utahns interested in volunteering or donating to the cause may go to the website for more information.

3 reasons Governor Herbert Signed HB477 tonight.

2011-03-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

One political saying I've heard is "always release bad news on Friday afternoon." The theory being that nobody watches the news on Friday evening and never on Saturday, and by Sunday it's old news.

I'm sure that Gary Herbert planned on signing HB477 on a Friday. Maybe not this Friday, but the next.

Another political saying goes "Release bad news in either a busy news cycle or when there are worse stories to cover up."

Which is the perfect storm fr the Governor to make HB477 the 19th bill he signed in 2011, on Tuesday Night.

What big stories do we have?

1. Two missing snowmobilers were found safe this evening. The local news just gushes over this type of story. Top story of the day.
2. A rally against HB477 and the Governor was held outside his office today. By making the story the bill signing instead of the rally, the news won't report on the views of the people, or so the thinking goes (disclaimer: I was the organizer of the rally. More on that story tomorrow.)
3. A member of Herbert's staff was arrested today. At his office. For sexual abuse of a minor.

So many stories, not enough newsprint.

Gary Herbert's HB477 Logic is Bass-Ackwards

2011-03-08T21:28:00.002-07:00

I'm not much of a handy person, but I do know one thing: When you are building something with wood, you measure the wood you want to cut, then you cut it.

Unless you live in Gary Herbert land. In Gary Herbert land, you cut the wood, then measure it.

Gary Herbert's statement on signing HB477, from Society of Professional Journalists:

“With HB477 now amended, the delayed implementation date allows us to have an open public process with robust, deliberate engagement by the public, the media and lawmakers,” said Governor Herbert. “Our goal is open and transparent government. This bill provides a way to find the right balance between the public’s right to know and the personal privacy of both constituents and policymakers, while protecting taxpayer dollars.”

Passing a bill THEN having public input is so backwards it's scary. It's like holding an election and THEN campaigning.

It's just plain wrong, and the citizens know it!

If Governor Herbert truly valued open government, he would have urged the Legislature to table the bill and promise them he'd hold a special session after everyone had put their input in.

But, he didn't do it. He signed the bill, one of only 19 bills he's signed this year.

From talking to people of all political stripes today (Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Conservatives, Moderates, Democrats, TeaPartiers, Progressives) who all said that they would actively work against the reelection of anyone who supported HB477, including Gary Herbert.

Gary Herbert may have signed his retirement papers tonight.

President Waddoups Admits HB 477 Process Was Bad News

2011-03-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

From KSL:

“It will complicate matters if it has a weekend to fester,” he said, adding that he did not want senators subjected to pressure from the bill’s opponents over the next two days.

“We really don’t need to have a committee hearing. But we think this is one of those that has a high enough priority,” the Senate leader said. “We think we understand it very well.”

And,of course, it had to pass in 2011:

“Nobody likes to do this in an election year,” Waddoups said. “So now is the time.”

I still say there is some major scandal that is being covered up......

Utah Legislators' Biggest Lie About HB477

2011-03-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

From City Weekly.net:

Many lawmakers have argued that HB 477 is needed because the public expects that their e-mails to lawmakers are private and thus Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act, or GRAMA, must be changed. This false talking point begins by stating that members of the public may not realize that Legislators' e-mails are normally public record and would be released to anybody who requests them. Those members of the public may regrettably share with their lawmaker a mental health diagnosis or a recent bankruptcy, for example, and we wouldn't want that potentially embarrassing information to be released to the general public, the false talking point concludes. HB 477 allegedly alleviates this problem, but the problem doesn't exist. Private communications—or even just portions of e-mails or letters that may contain private information--are not subject to GRAMA, just ask The Salt Lake Tribune's Robert Gehrke.

When Gehrke used GRAMA last year to request text messages that a UDOT employee sent and received on her state-issued cell phone from a representative of a state contractor, Gehrke received only one text message from UDOT along with a note that there were other text messages between the UDOT employee and the contractor but that UDOT would not release them on the grounds that all the other messages were private messages unrelated to the UDOT employee's official duties. Gehrke appealed, but the State Records Committee privately reviewed the text messages and upheld UDOT's decision citing 63G-2-103(22)(b)(i), which makes private communications not subject to GRAMA. If anyone shares personal information in one paragraph of an e-mail to a government employee or legislator and later in the same e-mail asks for an official action or favor, like sponsoring legislation, then under current law the private paragraph should be covered in black marker and the paragraph related to official duties should be released to the person who requested it.

Said text message exchange involved an extra-marital affair between the UDOT employee and the state contractor's representative. While the state contractor was bidding on a UDOT project. And said state contractor just happened to be the winning bidder. In a bid process so flawed that UDOT paid the losing bidder $13,000,000 of hush money to keep them from suing us for more money or turning to the media.

And, we only found out about it because of GRAMA. And we won't find these things out any more.

HB477 Doesn't Pass the Smell Test

2011-03-06T16:32:00.000-07:00

House Bill 477, the "Government Records Amendment" Bill, was passed by both the House and the Senate less than 72 hours after it was released to the public, and it will become law the second the Governor signs it.

The process alone should raise alarm bells in EVERY citizen.

Even more troubling is the spin certain Legislators are trying to put on it.

All of the following quotes are from The Senate Site post on HB477.

1. GRAMA has been used as a tool for fishing expeditions. Some entities (media outlets and law firms) asked for massive amounts of records over long periods of time in order to troll for information that may or may not be there. This has diverted staff time and tax dollars to an unreasonable degree.

That's the media's job -- to report. How are they going to know there are fish in the pond? They aren't my mother -- they can't read minds.

2. There are too many disputes between the media and the Legislature about the interpretation of certain words, concepts, and provisions in GRAMA. We wanted to clarify.

Using HB477 to clarify these disputes is like using a Browning 1911 to get a sliver out of your finger. Problem solved, right?

3. GRAMA was written into Utah Code twenty years ago - long before email, instant messaging, text messaging and video chat were in common use. GRAMA anticipated that written records would be public but private conversations could stay private. Current GRAMA code defines casual text, video chat and instant message conversations, etc. as “records” rather than “conversations.”

The Legislature are employed by the citizens of Utah. If my employer supplies me with an email account and cell phone to do my work, he can look at these records. These conversations are records and should stay records.

4. One city had a request for the entire parking enforcement data base since 2000 – more than a million lines of data – looking for information on one vehicle.

If that database is not electronic, it should be. It's not that hard. And it makes it easier to research. Or, as the case is, turn over the information so that the information could be researched.

5. GRAMA requests can be time-consuming. Legislative staffers spent over 400 hours last year fulfilling these requests, sorting through tens of thousands of records. This keeps them from performing other important duties, like drafting bills. So far this legislative session (not counting today), 10 GRAMA requests have been made, which, when coupled with a near-record number of bill requests, has created a major log jam.

Let's say that you had one full-time staffer to do nothing but research GRAMA requests. If you gave that staffer 4 weeks vacation, they'd have 38 full weeks to sit around picking their nose. Or play Angry Birds. Or whatever employed people do when they aren't working.

6. As GRAMA requests increase in scope they get more expensive. Who should pay for all the staff hours and printing cost? Right now, the default assumption is that the taxpayers foot the bill.

I have yet to see a dollar amount of how much this is costing. Not even a wild guess. And yes, the Government should foot the bill.

7. GRAMA does not protect the privacy of constituents. People write their legislator and often disclose personal information in confidence, not knowing that GRAMA allows anyone to access that information.

I know of no instance where something told a legislator in confidence was ever made widely known to the general public due to a GRAMA request.

8. Necessary GRAMA changes have been suggested for many years. Based on experience, some lawmakers lack faith that the media bosses could negotiate in good faith re: GRAMA and arrive at reasonable solutions.

So, you PROVE that you have zero ability to negotiate AT ALL by ramming this bill through in 72 hours?

9. West Valley City had to deal with a request for all land-use decisions over the past 30 years; it took 1 full time person 3 months, including multiple reviews by other staff, to fill the request. Costs approached $30,000.

Computers are a wonderful thing. Digitize everything.

10. The governor’s office filled 30 GRAMA requests last year, releasing 1,900 documents after poring over tens of thousands of them. The staff member tasked with handling records requests spent more than 100 hours doing so, and as with all government agencies, that doesn’t include the participation required from other staff.

And because of this, we know $13 Million of hush money was paid to the losing bidders on the I-15 project. If the media and the public can't keep Government accountable, who will?

11. GRAMA contains broad legislative intent language that has been used by the Utah Supreme Court to circumvent the actual language of the law. Eliminating this will ensure that government entities, the state, records committee and courts rely on the plain language of the statute. See Deseret News v. Salt Lake County, 3/28/08, Footnote 3. We shouldn’t have to legislate this but here we are.

Again, taking a sliver out with a Browning 1911.

12. The town of Alta spent six (6) years fulfilling one request for every public document – 250,000 of them — at a cost of $37,000.

Someone needs a faster copy machine.

13. GRAMA does not protect notes and other informal documents prepared by or for a legislator’s own use or reference.

If they are about the People's Work, than they should be public records.

14. GRAMA does not protect personal email addresses or other online identifiers a person may want to keep private.

Has someone been spammed because of a GRAMA request?

15. The idea of bringing our GRAMA laws up to date is not a new one. When ideas have been brought up in the past, the media bosses took it upon themselves to pick off legislative support one legislator at a time.

That's how are Government works, or is supposed to work. A Legislator proposes a bill. The public and organizations who have an interest in the bill then talk to the Legislators about it.

But, with the precedent HB477 sets, the Legislature rams a bill through with no time for the discussion. Because Legislators might decide what their bosses told them was wrong.

16. Most legislators feel that private communications with family, personal friends or business clients should go beyond a theoretical protection. If challenged, the court is predisposed to release the records.

Guess what: DON'T HAVE PERSONAL COMMUNICATION WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY ON YOUR WORK (READ: STATE) EMAIL/BLACKBERRY! And, it should be illegal to conduct business on state equipment. You all should have private email and cell phone access for those purposes. If not, they come fairly cheap. Most workplaces don't allow you to make personal phone calls on company equipment.

22. This isn’t the final word. No legislation ever is. We’ll work on this through the interim.

Measure First, Cut Second. Unless you're the Utah Legislature. Then it's Cut First, Measure when we get around to it. Remind me not to ask the Legislators for help building my shed this summer.

Lastly, Republics need to be open and accountable. HB477 slams the door shut on that openness and accountability. Secretive Republics are full of fraud and dishonesty. After all, as it says in LDS Scripture: "We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion." If there is zero chance of getting caught......

Which makes me wonder what big scandal is being covered up......

2010 in review: a B.F.D. all the way! (what does it mean?)

2010-12-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

It's time again for my annual (i think) year in review post, where I look at what mattered (or didn't matter) in Utah Politics 2010.

It was same old,same old for the Utah Legislature, except for the fact that it started and ended with fireworks. The opening fireworks involved the Senate Majority Leader getting arrested for DUI just before the session started (and resigning just afterward). The closing fireworks came in the form of a standing ovation for a Republican Lawmaker who admitted that 25 years ago her hung out in a hot tub with an underage girl, both of them naked. And that he had payed her $150,000 and she wanted more. However, unlike the TSA, no junk touching happened, and that was his story. He resigned after saying he wouldn't resign.

2010 also saw the Utah Republicans and Utah Democrats holding their conventions on the same day at opposite ends of the Salt Palace. As they are prone to do, Republicans blamed the Democrats. Democrats didn't point out that they've held their convention at the south end of the Slat Palace every even-numbered year (and one odd-numbered year) since at least 2004, because facts have a liberal bias, and the Utah Democratic Party doesn't want to be accused of a liberal bias.

The Demopublican (or was it the Republocratic) Convention had it's share of fireworks as well. On the Northwest corner of the building, Bob Bennett was ousted for looking like Montgomery Burns. Not even Mitt Romney could save Bennett. Instead, they delegates sent political bridesmaid Tim Bridgewater and Mike "I'm not crazy" Lee in a primary. On the south side of the building, delegates forced Jim Matheson into admitting he has a D behind his name. Lee and Matheson won their primaries.

Nationally, the Tea Party stormed onto the scene, with quality candidates like the wife of the
head of WWE and someone who had declare that she wasn't really a witch. Meanwhile, Utahns wondered what the big deal about Tea Partiers was. After all, we've been calling them "Utah Republicans" for years.

The LDS Church declared that it's not right to deny housing to someone just because they are homosexual, and did not oppose legislation outlawing such discrimination. Salt Lake City and nine other cities passed that legislation. The Utah Legislature, thinking they know more than the Bretheren, oppose the legislation.

In January, it was confirmed that is politics was college football, The Governor's race debates would be called the Ambien Bowl. However, Peter Corroon came out swinging, and landing, punches on the accidental Governor. Unfortunately, Corroon went from swinging some good jabs to swinging the same uppercut 13,000,000 times. And in the end, what was expected to be a close-for-Utah race was not even the closest statewide race.

The closest statewide race came for US Senate. Businessman Sam Granato rode his platform of small-business tax reform, Mr Mac suits, and calling his opponent crazy to a 29-point defeat.

Well, that's all that I want to remember about 2010. I'm opening the escape hatch and going down the slide into 2011. Have fun!

-Bob

Jon Stewart, Rally to Restore Sanity

2010-11-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Jon, as always, hits the nail on the head:

I actually got teary-eyed watching this.....

Post-Mortem Part I: The Good, The Bad, and Previewing the Ugly

2010-11-04T14:09:00.001-06:00

This is the first of three posts looking at the election. Part one will look at the good and bad of the 2010 election. Part two will look at the ugliest race of the 2010 election. And Part Three will be a preview of what's next. So,on to part one:

The Good

*Sam Granato

Yes, I have Granato on my good list. Why? Well, despite running a "name on the ballot" race formost of the last 18 months, he started actually campaigning at the end. And the result was the Most successful Democratic Senate race since 1992. Maybe it's the power of incumbency, but 1992 was the last time we had a new US Senator, with Bennett winning by 16 points.

*Philpot Phailure

For the fifth straight election, Republicans ran on a Matheson=Pelosi platform. And for the fifth straight time, Matheson was re-elected.

*Sim Gill

A Democrat back in the DA office. Now's the time for Sim to rock.

*Patrice Arent

OK, this is personal, as Arent is my Representative-Elect. However, any candidate who asks for volunteers to help take down yard signs via Facebook is one to respect.

The Bad:

*Losing 20% of our Legislative Democrats

Yes, we only lost 6 seats (5 in the house, 1 in the Senate). However, we only had 30 seats to begin with. A 20% cut hurts. bad.

*Losing control of Salt Lake County Council

I suppose it was inevitable, with the Pubic Safety ~~Tax~~ Fee and everything.

The Ugly:

Well, it needs it's own post. I'll post that a little later. It's a post on a race hat's missing from this list. And it uses boxing metaphors. It's good stuff, except it's going to piss a few people off.

Election News: Jack Morman Wins!

2010-11-03T09:58:00.000-06:00

No, I didn't misspell that. Check it out, from The Pasadena (TX) Citizen:

Jack Morman did what few have tried and those who did failed: unseat Sylvia Garcia.

Morman, a Republican who calls Deer Park home, defeated the two-time Harris County Precinct 2 commissioner in a battle where nearly every vote counted.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Morman had 66,057 votes (50.89 percent) to Garcia’s 63,747 (49.11 percent). Where Morman won was in early and absentee voting, where he got 40,095 of 72,611 ballots cast, more than 55.2 percent.

On his Facebook page, Morman said, “I'd like to thank everybody for all their hard work and support over the past year. Tonight is a credit to all of my family, friends and supporters who made this possible. Now it is time to get to work for the people of Precinct 2!”

Meanwhile, Garcia conceded victory to Morman.

He's got to be the winner of the best name ever. I'm thinking that we need to have a candidate legally change their name to Ingrid M. Mormon and be listed on the ballot simply as I. M. Mormon. We'll win for sure.

-Bob

Beau Babka Campaign Breaking the Law

2010-11-02T09:19:00.000-06:00

I go to vote this morning, and what do I see parked in front of my polling place?

Tacky? Yes.

Illegal? Yes.

From the Salt Lake County Poll Worker Manual, page 48:

Campaigning or other activities that interfere with voting or influence voters is prohibited. Ask the offenders politely to stop or refrain from their activities. If the activity does not cease, call the Elections Division. Any threatening or dangerous behavior should be immediately reported to local law enforcement first, then to the Elections Division. Electioneering includes oral or written attempts to persuade voters to refrain from voting or to vote for or against a candidate or issue. No electioneering or campaigning is allowed within 150 feet of the polling place.

And that truck is definitely less than 150 feet from the polling place(the building right behind the truck).

To be fair, the truck was removed by the time we left our polling place.

Special Interests, or Why Philpot = Vouchers

2010-10-29T12:27:00.000-06:00

Much has been made about how much of Jim Matheson's campaign funding has come from PACs.

However, Morgan Philpot's campaign has gotten help from PACs. But, they did it in a way that is nearly impossible to track just how much PAC help they are getting.

First, there was the ad run by "B Alice Baker" who usually goes by Barbra Baker. She spent $50,000 of her own money to run the radio ads.

She says that "Both parties have been at fault with ignoring how to maintain freedom, and getting bigger and taxing more and spending more." However, the only talking point she has in her ad is that Jim Matheson votes with the Democratic Leadership 90% of the time. In other words, according to her radio ad, she's voting for Morgan Philpot because he's a Republican.

Which kinda makes her statement to KSL seem fishy.

So, who is Barbra Alice Baker? She's the owner of Challenger Schools, and was a big proponent of vouchers. Remember vouchers? That initiative that Utah voters defeated by more than a 3 to 2 margin. In fact, it was defeated in every single county.

However, the biggest special interest running Philpot's campaign for him is FreedomWorks. FreedomWorks is a big backer of....

Vouchers.

Another big proponent of vouchers is FreedomWorks. FreedomWorks is behind those often illegally-placed Matheson=Pelosi signs you see around town, and most of the Philpot signs you see as well.

What is Morgan Philpot's position on vouchers? Well, the guy who invented the Utah Republicans' Web Communications Committee can't seem to give any communication on his web site about his view on education. Which can only lead us to assume one thing:

Philpot = Vouchers.

-Bob

VIDEO: Peter Corroon on Education

2010-10-28T10:57:00.000-06:00

Read Peter Corroon's plan for Education.

Or, you can read Herbert's "Plan."

The choice is clear who has a better plan. Corroon tells you what he'll do. Herbert says he'll do something.

My vote goes to Peter Corroon.

Did Morgan Philpot Violate Federal Election Law?

2010-10-28T09:28:00.000-06:00

No, I'm not talking about the radio ad, even though that set off some BS detectors at my house.

No, I'm talking billboards.

Press Release from Utah Democratic Party (h/t Amicus)

Salt Lake City, UT—Utah Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland said today he is asking election attorneys to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) regarding questions about a discrepancy on 2nd Congressional District candidate Morgan Philpot’s campaign filing regarding billboard rentals.

Holland said that Philpot’s FEC report shows a payment of $2,854 on October 1 for billboard rentals. Based on what other campaigns are paying for billboards and the number of signs Philpot has displayed, Holland says the campaign disclosure is off by a significant amount.

“Federal campaign law is clear. In-kind donations from companies are not allowed. Mr. Philpot is on leave from his job with an outdoor advertising company. He must pay the going rate and whether he has done so is the focus of our complaint,” said Holland.

Holland said the Philpot campaign has several freeway “bulletin” signs, which rent for roughly $1,000 a month each, plus at least nine “30 sheets” around the 2nd Congressional District. Similar billboard rentals by Utah Democratic candidates in state and local races have totaled between $28,000 and $30,000.

Holland said the complaint will be filed with the FEC, triggering a formal investigation by that agency.

“As someone seeking to hold the public trust of elected office, Philpot needs to be held accountable to the law,” said Holland.

My Election Predictions 2010

2010-10-26T20:08:00.001-06:00

Any idiot can make election predictions on election night and be wrong. A real idiot does it a week earlier.

So, with polls closing in 168 hours, here are some election predictions:

Republicans take the House, but by a narrow margin. Say, 225 GOP members.

Likewise, the Democrats keep the Senate, but only as long as Joe Lieberman can be kept handy, as he is the GOP's 50th member.

Here in Utah, Gary Herbert takes 55% of the vote. That's close for Utah.

Sam Granato loses by less than 20.

Incumbent parties win all of the Legislative races.

Salt Lake County Council remains 5-4 Dems.

BREAKING: Corroon Raises More Than Herbert

2010-10-26T18:06:00.000-06:00

In the latest campaign finance reports filed today,covering the time from August 27 through October 21, Peter Corroon raised more money than Gary Herbert.

That's right. Corroon raised $765,556.03 compared to Herbert's $748337.30.

Moreover, Corroon reported 2440 individual contributions compared to 425 for Herbert.

That means Corroon's average contribution was $313.75 while Herbert's were $1760.79.

Don't let Gary Herbert's big money donors take this election from you! Vote Peter Corroon for Utah Governor.

-Bob

Obama is the very model of a modern U.S. president!

2010-10-26T14:15:00.000-06:00

(h/t: Roger Ebert)

Best Campaign ad of 2010

2010-10-26T12:38:00.000-06:00

This ad comes from the race for California Governor. It's like they hired the same consultants or something.

(h/t JMBell)

Sheryl Allen on Education

2010-10-25T19:00:00.000-06:00

Utah Representative Sheryl Allen (R-Bountiful) is the current Democratic nominee for Lt Governor. She is a lifelong educator. Here she is talking about education:

Gary Herbert Hates Panguitch, Bryce Country, Tourism

2010-10-25T14:20:00.002-06:00

Utah is a Pretty, Amazing State. One of my favorite places in the state is Bryce Canyon National Park. Not only is it beautiful, but the air both there and in surrounding communities is clean and wonderful.

And, that is why I am troubled by the decision to build a strip coal mine (Utah's First) just 10 miles from the park.

And, Acting Governor Herbert greased the wheels for it to happen.

300-400 large coal trucks per day will travel
this road thanks to Gary Herbert
(Photo credit: Tricia Simpson)

Yes, up to 150 jobs will be created. But, how many jobs will be lost in the tourism industry as people stop coming? After all, the strip mine comes with 3-400 truck trips per day. And those truck trips come with noise pollution and increased air pollution from their emissions. Not to mention the emissions and dust from the strip mining operations to begin with.

Not only will the state and county and city all lose tax revenues from the loss of tourism dollars, but there will be increased costs to all for repairs that will need to be made to US89 in the area.

After all, heavy trucks cause more damage to roadways than smaller cars and trucks.

There was an excellent Opinion piece published over the weekend by the Tribune regarding this issue. It was written by Bobbi Bryant, a business owner in Panguitch.

An excellent read is a column by the Tribune's Peg McEntee back in June.

Just another in a series of reckless decisions by Gary Herbert in his 14 months in a leadership position.

Peter Corroon on the issues: Natural Gas

2010-10-24T12:15:00.000-06:00

Some benefits of Clean Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles vs those that burn gasoline, via the US Department of Energy:

Reduces carbon monoxide emissions 90%-97%
Reduces carbon dioxide emissions 25%
Reduces nitrogen oxide emissions 35%-60%
Potentially reduces non-methane hydrocarbon emissions 50%-75%
Emits fewer toxic and carcinogenic pollutants
Emits little or no particulate matter
Eliminates evaporative emissions

Also, from the DoE, some CNG vs Diesel info:

In a study of CNG and diesel United Parcel Service (UPS) delivery trucks, CNG trucks produced 75% lower carbon monoxide emissions, 49% lower nitrogen oxides emissions, and 95% lower particulate matter emissions than diesel trucks of similar age.

CNG is awesome. That is why I'm glad that Peter Corroon has included CNG into his Energy Plan:

Positioning Utah on the cutting edge of new automobile technologies by pushing for further expansion of the availability of CN G-fueled vehicles in Utah.
Protecting Utahns operating under Utah’s new CNG conversion law from federal EPA interference.
Converting more of the state passenger fleet to CNG vehicles, reducing particulate and greenhouse gas emissions by 95 percent and significantly lowering the fuel costs borne by the taxpayers.
Aggressively pursuing incentives to continue expanding CNG fueling stations and infrastructure, while including the support of a temporary state-tax moratorium on all CNG fuel purchases.
Encouraging development of more efficient natural gas combined cycle power plants.

Providing incentives through utility rebates to encourage the sale of higher-efficiency furnaces.

Reducing emissions make the air we breathe cleaner, and therefore making Utahns healthier.

Also, increasing demand in Natural Gas will create more production jobs. That will have a significant impact in places like Uintah County, Utah's largest Natural Gas producer, where unemployment nearly tripled in 2009 compared to 2008.

Improving the lives of Utahns both financially and physically sounds pretty good to me. That is why I'm excited to vote for Peter Corroon for Utah's Governor.

-Bob

New Corroon Ad: It's Like They Read My Mind

2010-10-20T11:54:00.002-06:00

I've been ranting and raving to people for weeks about how this ad needed to be made. 90% of what I said is in this ad.

Mitt Romney, Peter Corroon, and Utah's lack of civic participation

2010-10-20T09:10:00.000-06:00

At Last Night's Town Hall debate, KSL's Bruce Lindsay pointed out in a question that Utah ranks 48th out of the 50 states in voter turnout (based on percent of citizens over 18 who turn out to vote). Acting Governor Herbert said that the solution to the problem was ethics reform. I missed Mayor Corroon's answer.

However, I think that Mitt Romney hit the nail on the head. From a post on this blog in 2007:

"I just came back from living in a state that was overwhelmingly Republican," Romney told the [Commonwealth] magazine [in July 2002]. "And a single-party system generates problems, in my view. In that state, the more extreme wing of the dominant party begins to have more and more political sway, and that de-energizes the great mainstream of citizens. They get turned off by politics and offended by the politicians and become less engaged in the political process."

Of course, in 2002, Romney was running to be the Republican Governor of an overwhelmingly Democratic state.

Hmmm, sounds familiar.

-Bob

Alton Coal and Gary Herbert

2010-10-20T08:40:00.000-06:00

In last night's town hall debate, Acting Governor Gary Herbert said that Mayor Peter Corroon's claims that Herbert got a donation from Alton Coal the same day that officials from Alton Coal met with him and got their permit fast-tracked were false.

Well, it appears, according to the AP (via FOX13) that there is some truth to the matter:

Utah gov. given $10K by coal co. seeking permit
By PAUL FOYAssociated Press Writer
5:25 PM MST, February 3, 2010

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - On the same day Gov. Gary Herbert sat down with a coal company that complained regulators were taking too long to issue a strip-mining permit, his campaign aides were cashing a $10,000 check from the company. The donation from Alton Coal Development LLC was revealed in a Jan. 11 filing by Herbert's political-action committee.

Alton's pleas did not go unanswered. At the September meeting, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press, state regulators agreed to fast-track a decision for Alton to operate the mine near Panguitch, despite opposition from residents.

Herbert's office said Wednesday he never ordered regulators to give their approval and didn't know about the company's donation.

A Panguitch shop owner characterized the payment as a blatant effort by the coal developer to influence a decision by the Herbert administration.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out," said Bobbi Bryant, owner of the gift and coffee shop Bronco Bobbi's, who said she was opposed to the strip mine because the operation would send coal trucks as often as 300 times a day through the small tourist town about 200 miles south of Salt Lake City.

"There's a lot more people down here against it than officials want you to know," she said.

A Utah regulator who was in the meeting with Alton and Herbert has said the governor never instructed him to make any particular decision and instead inquired, 'When do you think you will get it out?'

John Baza, director of the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, said he then decided to hurry things up.

Regulators from the division showed up in Panguitch days later "saying they felt pressure to get some reports or inspections done for the approval," according to Bryant.

Environmental groups are seeking to block the mining, saying the strip mine would raise dust and foul air quality 10 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park, which is known for its magnificent views, pristine air and sparkling night skies. Bryce Canyon's superintendent also has objected.

The decision by regulators is under review by a state board.

"This mine will damage the pristine air and water quality and wildlife of the area, increase dangerous truck traffic and have negative impacts on tourism and the visitor experience at Bryce Canyon National Park," said Clair Jones of the Utah Sierra Club.

A 33-page agency memo said the result of Alton's meeting with the Republican governor was to fast-track a decision by regulators. The memo was written by Priscilla Burton, a chief environmental scientist for the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, who noted regulators had a full year to make a decision.

"However, the applicant had an audience with the Governor on Sept. 17, 2009, with the result that the permitting process will end on October 15, 2009," Burton wrote. The mining approval was issued four days later.

While campaign records indicate Alton made its $10,00 donation on the same day it met with Herbert, the check actually arrived four days earlier and was deposited in a bank on the day of the meeting, Herbert spokeswoman Angie Welling clarified Wednesday.

Welling reiterated that Herbert "did not direct" anyone in the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining to "take any particular action with regard to Alton Coal Development's project." Nor was Herbert aware of the donation, and he did not accept the check at the meeting, Welling said.

Herbert "is a longtime supporter of energy development in the state of Utah, particularly coal development and clean coal technology," Welling told the AP in one of a series of e-mails Wednesday. "As such, it should not be surprising that a company such as Alton Coal would choose to support Governor Herbert."

Welling also sought to clarify that neither Herbert nor anybody in the governor's office was aware of a check Alton sent to a campaign office across town.

"Fundraising is entirely a function of the campaign. Those of us who staff and schedule meetings are unaware of who is contributing or how much they've contributed," she said.

James J. Wayland of Naples, Fla., a 50-percent owner of Alton Coal Development LLC, didn't immediately return a phone message Wednesday.

Methinks the Acting Governor doth protest too much......

Rob Miller's Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia

2010-10-19T21:04:00.000-06:00

I just wrote a really angry, horrible post that simply reinforces some people's opinion of me.

I'm not going to post it right now. I may send some of you an email about it, but that is about it.

Well, until the election is over. With a few Diet Cokes and the sting of defeat coursing through me, I may just hit the post button.

But, on with this post. You see, Rob Miller over at the Amicus posted one of the funniest things I've read this campaign season:

No, I don't think Mike Lee is the Antichrist, but maybe four of his contributors do. While I was browsing through Mike Lee's FEC report I noticed that Dennis Albers, a self employed investor from Piedmont, CA contributed $666 to Mike Lee's campaign. I giggled at the thought but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have written a blog post on the contribution if I had not noticed that Amy Friedkin, a self employed activist from San Fransisco, CA, Russ Holdstein, a self employed investor from Kentfield, CA and Amnon Rodan, CEO of Rodan and Fields from Oakland, CA had made the same $666 donation.

SATAN! NOOOO!!!!

Of course, we all know Satan lives in California, and he has 4 personalities. Now that Mike Lee knows who these personalities are, he can ride his white horse to California and kill the Devil on his way to Washington to save the Constitution (except the 14th and 17th Amendments).

-Bob

P.S. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia is the fear of the number 666. You're welcome.

Dear Newspapers: Don't Fire Spellcheckers

2010-10-17T10:11:00.000-06:00

Hey, Newspapers! If you want to be taken seriously, learn how to spell people's names. Especially in headlines:

I'm done

2010-10-13T14:49:00.000-06:00

Two years ago today, I wrote a blog post with this same title.

I was taking a step away from things, especially politics. My life depended on it. It ended up not being a long break, but it was necessary.

The reasons for the break were not discussed two years ago. I won't discuss most of those issues today.

However, I will discuss the breaking point.

You see, many f my friends break down into to categories: Gay and Mormon.

And, two years ago, these two groups were fighting it out with one another over gay marriage. Both side were responding to each other with hate and intolerance. And it was bothering me to the point of depression. Suicide was on the table.

So I stepped back, looked at my life, and found a way to move forward.

Now, there is once again much hate and intolerance being expressed. However, one side is reaching out in love. The other side is reaching out in hatred and intolerance.

If you can accept me for who I am, fine. However, I can't change my religious beliefs any more than I can change who I love and am attracted to.

I've long stood up and defended your rights. However, if you keep saying mean and ignorant things about me and my people, I am done with you.

I am done standing up to defend non-discrimination ordinances.

I'm done defending your rights to civil unions.

I'm done.

Tolerance is a two-way street. Since you want it to be one-way only, I'm not going to even give you that.

-Bob

P.S. To hear one side speak, 30 seconds of General Conference was the entire weekend's message. I encourage everybody to back and listen to/watch/read the whole 10 hours, and see what Mormons really believe.

Back to the Future, 1990 Edition

2010-10-12T14:00:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake County Ballot, circa 1990

Let's jump in the time machine and go back a few years. 1990 to be exact.

BYU was getting ready to debut their new 7'5" Freshman center Shawn Bradley. The Utah Jazz opened their first full season under Jerry Sloan against Jeff Hornacek's Phoenix Suns in Tokyo Japan. The Jazz were also celebrating their last season playing in the Salt Palace before moving into what was then called "Larry Miller's new arena" in newspaper articles.

In politics, there was an unpopular President facing midterm elections. In the final week before the election, Vice President Dan Quayle and First Lady Barbra Bush came to Utah on back to back days to campaign for Republican Congressional candidates. Democrats Wayne Owens and Bill Orton won those two seats. Randy Horiuchi won his first election to the Salt Lake County Commission. Gary Herbert won his first election to the Utah County Commission (he had been appointed to the job the year before).

And that leads us to the article found on page B2 of the Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday, November 1, 1990, written by Dan Harrie:

Utah Democrats don't like playing second fiddle to Republicans on election ballots in Salt Lake County, party officials said Wednesday, and they'll fight for a share of the top spot in court.

But, not this year.

Peter Billings, state Democratic Party chairman, called a news conference to denounce County Clerk Dixon Hundley's practice of listing GOP candidates first on the ballot in all races.

"Mr Hindley's systematic and widespread exclusionary practice of denying any candidate not affiliated with the Republican Party the top spot on the ballot is clearly a violation of the equal protection clause" of the the Constitution, Mr Billings charged.

Democrats cited appeals court rulings in two other states rejecting such preferential treatment as unconstitutional.

Mr Billings said it's too late to do anything about the Nov 6 election ballots, which already have been printed. But, "we're putting them on notice if they do that again next time, we are going to bring suit."

Copies of Salt Lake County ballots dating back to 1982 show Republicans always have been given top billing.

Mr Hindley was not available for comment Wednesday.

Mr Billings says Mr Hindley has been one of the biggest abusers of placing candidates of his own party first. The practice, however, appears to be a long and widespread tradition in Utah.

Tooele County Attorney Dennis Ewing said in a telephone interview, "In Tooele County, we list Democrats first."

Mr Ewing, a Democrat, said that practice has been in effect throughout his 17 years in office and "probably before my time," because of Democratic dominance in that county.

Mr Billings said Democratic county clerks should be held to the same standard he's demanding for Mr Hindley. And he promised the party will "work to cure any misuses in other counties."

In the Illinois and North Dakota cases cited as legal precedents, courts relied on studies saying top ballot placement translated to 3 percent to 5 percent more votes.

What the article did not say is that the state Democratic Party's director of administration was Sherrie Swensen, who also happened to be the party's candidate for the position of county clerk.

So, let's move ahead 20 years to 2010. Shawn Bradley had a very successful Freshman year at BYU, left on an LDS mission, then had a great NBA career. He's now running for Utah House of Representatives. Jeff Hornacek now has a jersey hanging next to one for Larry Miller in the rafters of what is now known as EnergySolutions Arena.

Randy Horiuchi is still on what is now the Salt Lake County Council.

And, ballots in Salt Lake County still have one party at the top of every race.

The difference is that Sherrie Swensen won that election in 1990. Which means Democrats have been at the top of the ballot ever since.

Ms Swensen doesn't see a problem with this. However, her Republican challenger, Jeremy Votaw, does.

And, so do I. If it was wrong when a Republican was in charge, then it's still wrong when a Democrat is in charge.

Now, my methods of changing this rule are different than Mr Votaw's. However, Mr Votaw's position on this is solid -- he wants to make elections more fair for everyone. And elections should be fair, shouldn't they?

That is why I am proud to endorse Jeremy Votaw for Salt Lake County Clerk.

-Bob

You'd think the Dnews would know better, and that Herbert would be happier....

2010-10-06T17:44:00.000-06:00

It was the biggest no-duh moment of the campaign so far: Mitt Romney says he supports Gary Herbert. It was as obvious as saying the Capitol is made of granite. But still,you'd think the Governor would be happier about it:

And, he's been the Executive of Utah's largest government (other than the state itself) for six years, and was a candidate for that office for nearly a year before that. And now he's a major party candidate for Governor. So you think that,more than 24 hours after the story was first published, someone at the Deseret News would have noticed that they misspelled Peter Corroon's name. (See-Oh-Double Arr-Double Oh-En is how I was taught back in 2004)

UTA Boss Makes more than Herbert, Corroon combined

2010-10-06T09:59:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon makes $138,806.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert makes $140,084.

Combined, that's $278,890 that taxpayers pay the executives of the two largest governments in Utah.

And, combined, they make $70,000 less than the boss over at UTA.

From MSNBC (via Out of Context):

Utah is among the most forward-thinking mass transit states in the United States, as Salt Lake boasts a modern and rapidly expanding light rail system that is the envy of many cities. Still, General Manager John Inglish’s salary of $350,000 last year -- exceeded the pay of top transportation bosses in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver and Phoenix. Inglish even makes more than the head of the highly scrutinized Washington, D.C., Metro system chief John Catoe, who was paid $315,000 annually before stepping down earlier this year. And it’s roughly equal to New York City transportation chief Jay Walder’s, who is currently facing calls to accept a salary cut amid fare hikes and service cuts.

I don't know how "forward thinking" UTA is, though. Yes, we have an expanding light rail system, but we also have a shrinking bus system.

-Bob

Headline of the Week: "Shurtleff: Beer group drafted my testimony"

2010-10-01T10:07:00.000-06:00

From the Trib:

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday in support of a measure that would cede control of liquor sales to states, a move that comes as some groups are using federal courts to strike down state laws regulating alcohol.

After the hearing, Shurtleff acknowledged that the general counsel for the National Beer Wholesalers Association, Paul Pisano, drafted his testimony — with Shurtleff’s input.

“He gave me some information,” Shurtleff said in a telephone interview as he was boarding a plane Wednesday evening. “I was communicating with him, and he drafted it for me because I was coming straight here [to Washington, D.C.]”

Shurtleff later explained that Pisano arranged for his trip to the nation’s capital and he knew Pisano could print it out for him. An electronic copy of Shurtleff’s testimony submitted to the Judiciary Committee indicates that the author of the Word document was “ppisano.”

Pisano didn’t return a late call seeking comment.

Why write your own speech when a lobbyist can do it for you?

By Their Fruits you shall know them......

2010-09-30T19:01:00.001-06:00

Acting Governor Gary Herbert used the line "by their fruits you shall know them" twice during tonight's debate.

Well, it reminded me of this little video I saw earlier today over on JMBell's blog:

That is the problem, Mr Governor. We know you by your fruits.

I also enjoyed his "The cigarette tax wasn't mine" even though his signature is on the bill. And his lecturing Corroon about having to work with the Legislative Branch, despite Corroon having five times the Executive experience.

Really, Democrats? Colbert? It's as if we Like to Lose

2010-09-24T09:32:00.000-06:00

Immigration is a serious problem. It's broken. Republicans have a plan to fix it. It's a horrible plan.

And Democrats, we have ~~a plan~~ Stephen Colbert.

What better way to show we're serious about immigration than to have comedian come testify?

It's like having a politician vouch for you integrity.

And (I hate saying this phrase) I agree with Jason Chaffetz on this one:

Dear GOP: Spellcheck wins elections.

2010-09-23T23:14:00.000-06:00

My College Prep English teacher at Olympus High School (Carol von Schmidt) always taught me that whenever we had a big paper, we had to make sure someone proof read it for us. The bigger the paper, the more eyes we should put on it.

Now, I realize that my blog is far from perfect when it comes to typos and grammatical errors. But, there is a big difference between my little blog and the Republicans' "Pledge for America." And, you'd think that the most important work to get right in the "Pledge for America" would be the word "America."

But, in Republicanland,there is no "I" in ~~team~~ Amerca:

Spending too much time down in Utah County, and trying to spell it phonetically?

Hmmm.....

-Bob

If Republicans' Small Business are Small, then I'm petite

2010-09-23T15:20:00.000-06:00

I'm not a small man. I'm smaller than I was a few months ago, but I'm by no means a small man.

When Republicans complain about letting the Bush Tax Cuts expire for people making over $250,000 are going to hurt small businesses, they really mean big businesses disguised as small businesses.

It's like me pretending that I'm petite. I can say it all I want. It doesn't make me any smaller.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Something I found interesting was Mr Bohner admitting that the tax increase only affects 3% of "Small Businesses." The biggest 3% of small businesses.

I work for one of those "Small businesses." It's a "small business" that owns 39 car dealerships (in 7 states), 54 sports apparel stores (in 9 states), 4 movie theaters, one race track (that sits on more acres than Disneyland), one sports & entertainment arena, one NBA tem, and a minor league baseball team.

That's not very small. Not at all.

-Bob

Corroon's Business Plan "For All Businesses, Not Just The Well-Connected"

2010-09-22T11:34:00.003-06:00

I recently came across this video that was posted back in June. It features the Sargetakis Family which owns Silver State Textile, and their endorsement of Mayor Peter Corroon's plan for businesses.

Given the recent examples of well-connected businesses getting all the advantages, I think this video is timely:

And, read Corroon's Plan for Businesses here.

I Wish I Lived In Republicanland

2010-09-20T20:31:00.002-06:00

Republicanland must be a great place to live. I want to visit some day.

You see, in Republicanland, saying you opponent is trying to take away Seminary from the religious majority by adding 2 more required high school classes (in a 4-year span) is having a good, clean, issue-based discussion. Yet pointing out that there might be something wrong in accepting cash from and meeting privately with people who are seeking government contracts is wrong is hitting "below the belt."

In Republicanland, having the CEO say he doesn't know what's going on in his company means he can get a huge bonus on his way out the door. If the CEO is a Republican Governor, he's a great leader who deserves to keep his job. Who needs to know who's really running the state? In Republicanland, it doesn't matter.

In Republicanland, when you are running up large deficits, it's OK to sue and get sued by the feds. It's also a great time to give tax breaks to rich people. It's also a great idea to give tax breaks to rich people in times of plenty, too. Even if that puts you in deficits. Any other reason (except for war) for going into deficit spending is a bad idea. Even if it puts people to work or helps them buy food.

In Repulicanland, saying your Democratic incumbent opponent is nothing but an empty seat is great campaigning. When it's pointed out that you got the facts wrong, it means that your opponent is slinging mud. (see here)

In Republicanland, a group that endorses both candidates obviously meant it to be the Republican candidate.

In Republicanland, you didn't raise taxes if the only taxes you raised was on cigarettes.

In Republicanland, other politicians are good people to have vouch for your integrity.

In Republicanland, parents should have the option of sending their kids to private school. Unless said parent ever wants to run as a Democrat. Because the only way to know that public schools are failing/succeeding (because in Republicanland, public schools are doing both of them, at the same time) is if your kids are in public schools. But you can know what's best for higher education if you never finished college, and went to a private college at that.

In Republicanland, you can love the constitution, even if you want to add two amendments and repeal three others.

In Republicanland, saying you trust the Utah Legislature more than Utah voters is a great way to get elected.

Republicanland is a big place. It encompasses cities such as Herbertville, Philpot Pharms, and Leeton. Am I missing any more wonderful parts of Republicanland?

-Bob

Ethics Watermelons and Cantaloupes

2010-09-20T15:18:00.004-06:00

I was going to use apples and oranges in this post, but they aren't similar enough. Watermelon and Cantaloupe are both melons, but they are still different.

And Holly on the Hill's assertion that Mayor Peter Corroon's one large donation from a company with a County contract is the same as Governor Gary Herbert's three large donations from companies seeking state contracts is as absurd as trying to say that Watermelons and Cantaloupes are the same. Let's review the facts in the case:

On three different occasions, donors who had contributed $50,000 or more got private, sit-down meetings in the Governor's Office with the Governor. In all three of these cases, said donors were seeking to do business with the state, and all three got their wishes. In one of those cases, the bid process was skewed by UDOT to favor the donor, which resulted in a potential lawsuit from a losing bidder. The lawsuit was avoided by the state settling on paying the company $13 Million.

Now, let's goto the accusation from Holly:

Corroon is vocal in his support for ethics UEG style, yet he abuses his office as county mayor, says the governor’s mansion is for sale and that contributions of $50,000 should raise red flags, he himself is – wait for it – taking contributions of $50K from a company doing business with the county.

Kem Gardner’s company – Gateway Associates – developed & owns the Gateway as well as residential, commercial and retail in Salt Lake County. Salt Lake County owns property at the gateway including Clark Planetarium. The county pays Gateway Associates, Kern Gardner pays Corroon’s campaign. Nice.

Well,let's look at some of the facts in the Kem Gardiner case:

Clark Planetarium was opened in April 2003, a full 19 months BEFORE Corroon was elected as Mayor. And, of course, the government contract was signed well before then.

So, you have one case of ONE large-money donor with a County Government contract which was signed more than six years before Peter Corroon probably conceived of even running for Governor versus THREE large-money donors that have gotten government deals in the 13 months Gary Herbert has been Governor.

Hmmm.... I think I'll take the one old deal vs the three brand-new deals, thank you very much.

Culture of Corruption

2010-09-17T08:18:00.001-06:00

From my Facebook status update (because it's my blog,and I can do what I want):

While I think it's obscene for politicians to be able to accept $50,000 donations, I have no real problems with it. However, when said donors have contacts or are seeking contracts with the state, that becomes a problem. When said large-money donors seeking government contracts get sit-down meetings in the Governor's Office, there is something wrong. When it happens three times, there's a pattern of corruption...

..when it happens three times, and you've only been in office for 13 months, that's an even bigger problem.

When the state agency giving the contract changes the rules while reviewing the bids, and changes it in favor of the donor, that's dishonorable. When said agency has to pay the losing company $13Million to avoid a lawsuit, that is bad for Utah.

When the best comeback you have when these facts come out is that you opponent is playing dirty, you have a problem. Especially when you threw the first mud. (Look up Herbert's responses to Corroon's education plan.)

Fact-Checking Governor Herbert -- Dew Tour Edition

2010-09-16T20:54:00.003-06:00

This is probably the most petty post I'll write this week. But, facts matter. And, when you get them wrong, sometimes it's funny.

Take This quote from the Deseret News article about Governor Herbert welcoming the Dew Tour back to Utah:

Herbert said he was impressed with how sports in the state have evolved over the years.

"It's much more diverse," he said, then listing some interesting facts about the tour's appearance in Utah. Such as:

In 2009 Salt Lake City had the highest attendance of any stop on the Dew Tour with 57,329 fans.

It was broadcast in 50 countries and 180 million homes. On tape delay, it was broadcast into another 180 countries. "It's 58 hours of live television coverage," Herbert said.

Now, I am willing to say that the Deseret News misquoted the Governor. Especially in light of an article posted online a few days ago that said that Jimmy Carter was in the White House AFTER Ronald Reagan.

But, let's assume the DNews got it right. It means the Governor got it wrong.

He said that it is broadcast in 230 countries ("50 countries" + another 180 countries "on tape delay"). However, the US State Department only recognizes 194 countries. And, if he meant 180 countries including those via tape delay, that means that only 14 countries don'tget to see it. I wonder which ones those are.

And, he said it's 58 hours of LIVE television coverage. According to this schedule from the Dew Tour, there are only 33.5 hours that gates are open in total. Competition doesn't encompass that whole time, and there's only 1.5 hours that there is more than one competition going on at the same time. Not to mention that comparing that schedule with TV Listings shows that not all of it is broadcast anyway.

So, there's an extra 24 hours of live broadcast left to fill this weekend. Maybe Governor Herbert can use that time to figure out who is running this state.

-Bob

DISCLAIMER: This post reflects only my opinions, and not the opinions of my employers, nor those of their clients, promoters, or sponsors.

Jim Matheson and the Carlos Boozer Tax Cut

2010-09-15T17:52:00.003-06:00

Jim Matheson favors extending this guy's tax cut:

And is willing to have your taxes go up if he doesn't get it.

Yes, Jim, that's exactly what Utahns want.

Really, what the crap? Are you really that scared of Morgan Philpot?

Keep it up, Congressman, and nobody will vote for you.

Governor Herbert is Inept

2010-09-15T09:43:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, Curtis over at Blue in Red Zion asked "Is Governor Herbert Inept or Corrupt?"

I'm going to side with inept.

There were the voting machines he selected when he was Lt Governor and in charge of elections. You know, the ones that the state has to pay Diebold $1.3 Million+ for reprogramming/tech support every time we pull them out of the closet for an election, not to mention the extra training for poll workers. And the extra poll workers.. The ones that a Central Utah County Clerk lost his job over for showing just how easy it is to hack the computer?

And then there was the extended family members (who had previously registered in other parts of the state) of a candidate for County Sheriff in Dagget County that all registered to vote at the same residence. And that residence was a gas station. And the Dagget County Attorney forwarded the complaint to then-LG Herbert's office for further investigation, where it died. Because a dozen people can live in a gas station.

And then there was the "new" web site for looking at financial reporting documents. The one that was twice as complicated as the old one, and didn't work with most web browsers. It was easier to take a UTA Bus with two transfers from my house to the State Capitol Building to get the info than it was to get it online. A system that was easy to fix for LG Bell.

Then, we have Herbert's reaction to Corroon's Education plan. His first reaction was to point out that Peter and Amy Corroon chose to send their kids to private school, totally missing the fact that Gary Herbert supports giving people like the Corroons taxpayer money to send their kids to private school. After this was pointed out (and was accused of playing the religion card), Herbert actually played the religion card by saying that Corroon wanted to take away LDS Seminary. No constructive comments on the merits of the actual plan have come from the Herbert campaign yet. And yet he's making "focusing on the issues" part of his campaign platform.

Then, there is the fact that on three different occasions major campaign donors, right around the time they made their large campaign donations, had private meetings in the Governor's office. And all three times said donors had major business coming before the state. Even though it may not be illegal, it doesn't mean it's right (legally, I can run down State Street in a Speedo, but it definitely isn't right).

But, his reaction to this issue smacks of ineptness. In the press conference, Herbert admitted to not knowing any of these major deals were going on. Including the biggest road project in the history of the state.

So, if Governor Herbert is that out of touch with what's going on in the state, who is running the show?

from Curtis's post:

By being utterly unaware of how his state is handling the largest public works project in history, it shows that Herbert is asleep at the wheel, with no concept of how important the project is to the people of the state of Utah.

Furthermore, if he can’t see how such large donations might look bad around election time, he is showing an astounding amount of stupidity. Finally, if he can’t communicate these facts to his own campaign staff of perhaps 30 or 40, why would we want him running our state?

-Bob

Granato: Mike Lee Doesn't Understand Earmarks

2010-09-14T13:46:00.001-06:00

From the email box:

As a small businessman for more than 40 years, I know what it means to be fiscally responsible. I’ve run a business on a budget and I’ve made all the tough calls that come with it.
I know the difference between solutions that actually work and a bunch of empty rhetoric — and I can tell you that Mike Lee is offering nothing but a bunch of hot air when it comes to federal funding for Utah.
Mike Lee insists that all earmarks are completely unacceptable, and that he will neither seek nor accept any federal funding for the state of Utah. He claims this is fiscally responsible, despite the fact that it won’t save so much as a penny of the federal budget.
I don’t think Mike Lee understands how the budget process works.
You see, an earmark doesn’t determine if the money will be spent — that decision has already been made long beforehand. Earmarks only determine where the money will be spent — and if Mike Lee refuses to accept the money in Utah, it would simply be spent in California or New York or someplace else instead.
Mike Lee may think he’s taking a noble stand with this charade, but the reality is simple — he’s hurting Utahns. The citizens of Utah pay a tremendous amount in federal income taxes, and our senators should be working to make sure as much of that money comes back to the state as possible.  
Quite frankly, Mike Lee’s stand on this issue is an empty gesture that would solve nothing and cost Utah billions of dollars. We can’t afford to let him put his extreme ideological agenda ahead of Utah’s best interests.
It is true that the earmarking process needs reform, and I would demand complete transparency and accountability in that process. However, at the same time, I would not cut off funding for vital programs in Utah that rely on federal dollars — programs like public schools, TRAX and other transportation projects, funding for research and buildings at Utah’s universities, and many others. These projects create good jobs here for Utahns, and that’s something we simply cannot take for granted in these tough economic times.
Mike Lee seems to be the only one who doesn’t understand how important this issue is for Utah.
When I’m elected, I won’t play partisan games with important projects. I will fight for Utah and ensure we receive our fair share of federal funding to improve our state and create jobs here at home.
My allegiance will always be to the people of Utah, not an extreme agenda. Utah families come first.
Sincerely,

Sam Granato

New and Improved Deseret News Altering History

2010-09-14T01:19:00.003-06:00

The Deseret News must have laid off all their fact checkers. And editors. And anyone born in the past 30 years. Because this is more than a little mistake:

As Relief Society President during a time of fierce conflict over women's issues and the then proposed Equal Rights Amendment, she was invited to a state dinner with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, and later invited to the White House by U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Last time I checked, President Reagan served AFTER President Carter. But I could be wrong. After all, The Deseret News is the Only True and Living Newspaper(TM). They can't be wrong.

Chicago-style Pay-to-play: Does Greg Bell know what he's talking about?

2010-09-13T16:23:00.003-06:00

Does Greg Bell even know what he's talking about? Take this quote from KSL:

Lt. Gov. Greg Bell labeled the concerns raised about Herbert as "entirely a smear campaign based on innuendo" and said voters should reject the negative turn the gubernatorial campaign has taken. "In Chicago politics, they call it ‘pay for play.' But we're not in Chicago and these kinds of tactics ought not to be tolerated by Utah votes."

yes, LG Bell, Pay to Play should not be tolerated here in Utah. However, a "smear" campaign is not the definition of pay to play. In fact, it's far, far from it.

In politics, pay to play refers to a system, akin to payola in the music industry, by which one pays (or must pay) money to become a player.
Typically, the payer (an individual, business, or organization) makes campaign contributions to public officials, party officials, or parties themselves, and receives political or pecuniary benefit such as no-bid government contracts, influence over legislation, political appointments or nominations, special access[6] or other favors. The contributions, less frequently, may be to nonprofit or institutional entities, or may take the form of some benefit to a third party, such as a family member of a governmental official. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_to_Play)

Oops, sounds like exactly what is happening. Companies are donating money to Gov Herbert, and getting Government contracts.

Stop whining that Peter Corroon is saying you are bad at your job. Start trying to show us where he is wrong.

Hey, LG Bell: Who's making the personal attacks?

2010-09-13T16:05:00.002-06:00

Dear Lt Governor Bell:

I just saw the ad you made on behalf of your campaign. In it, you mention that Utahns want a discussion on issues, not personal attacks.

Saying someone is doing a bad job is not a personal attack.

And, for that matter, when someone comes out with an education proposal, and you say "What does he know about public schools? He sends his kids to private schools." That is a personal attack. An attack for making a choice that Gov Herbert used to support.

And then trying to say that you opponent is trying to take away Seminary? Another attack, not a substantive debate on the issues.

So, stop lying, and let's have a real debate.

-Bob

Nine Thoughts on Nine Years

2010-09-11T08:17:00.002-06:00

1. It's still hard to reflect on what happened that day. May it always be hard to remember those thoughts and emotions.

2. The first incarnation of "The World, According to Me" was started September 3, 2001. It was a place I could go and vent about life. Writing posts about my emotions and feelings was what got me through those first few days. Maybe more venting here will help.

3. ‎"We value our Muslim neighbors across the world and hope that those who live by the tenets of their faith will not suffer. I ask particularly that our own people do not become a party in any way to the persecution of the innocent. Rather, let us be friendly and helpful, protective and supportive. It is the terrorist organizations that must be ferreted out and brought down." -Then-LDS Church President Gordon B Hinckley October 7, 2001 (the day the Afghan War started)

4. Even though the Distraction in Iraq is "over," there are still 50,000 of our brave men and women over there. Let's still remember them.

5. Speaking of "over there," the forgotten war is still going in Afghanistan.

6. It's a shame that the only time we seem to think about our brave men and women on the front lines, the firefighters and police officers, is on 9/11.

7. There was a letter to the editor in a recent City Weekly blasting them for sponsoring beer festival today. There was also a tweet from someone I follow blasting the Avenues Street Fair for being held today. However, I can think of no better was of honoring those who died than spending time with our neighbors in our communities.

8.

9. I wonder if the terrorists have won. The purpose of terrorism is to make people afraid, and the people are afraid. And our politicians are all to willing to play on our fear. From "suitcase nukes" to "too big to fail." From "fighting them there instead of fighting them here" to "beheadings in the desert." From "Ground Zero Mosques" to "taking away Seminary."

CNN: Mike Lee Loves The Constitution (except Amendments 14, 17, 28, 29)

2010-09-07T19:46:00.002-06:00

I've been saying this for a while, but now CNN is catching up to it: Mike Lee really loves the constitution. Except the parts he doesn't like.

(Amendments 28 and 29 would be the two he wants to propose. He hates them because they don't exist yet.)

Republicans Guilty of Class B Misdemeanor, Lt Gov Bell Negligent in duties

2010-09-03T10:14:00.004-06:00

According to this article in today's Salt Lake Tribune, the Salt Lake County Republican Party forgot to file their campaign disclosure on January 10 of this year.

However, since there is no penalty in state code for this, we'll let it slide. In fact, I should blame Democrats for not pointing this out all this time. I mean, if you can't do something as simple as fill out campaign disclosure reports, what makes you think you can lead? And if you can't bother even looking to see if the opposition has done their duty, are you any more competent?

But, that's another subject for another day.

You see, the Salt Lake County Republican Party also forgot to file their financial disclosure report that was due August 31 (this past Tuesday).

Big deal?

According to state law, it kinda is:

20A-11-508 (Superseded 01/01/11). Political party reporting requirements -- Criminal penalties.
(1) (a) Each registered political party that fails to file the interim reports due on August 31 or before the regular general election is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

According to the Utah Sentencing Commission, "lass B misdemeanors are punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000."

But, the Salt Lake County Republicans aren't the only ones who have violated this provision:

20A-11-508 (Superseded 01/01/11). Political party reporting requirements -- Criminal penalties.
(1) (a) Each registered political party that fails to file the interim reports due on August 31 or before the regular general election is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
(b) The lieutenant governor shall report all violations of Subsection (1)(a) to the attorney general.

However, the statement of the Lt Governor's office? (from the Trib article)

But there appears to be some question about whether county political parties are required to file financial disclosures at all. Mark Thomas, director of elections for the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, said the law is so ambiguous that county parties could make a compelling case about why disclosure deadlines don’t apply to them.

“It is not explicit in the code that they need to file,” he said

However, as we saw before, the Lt Governor's office job is to forward the complaint to the Attorney General's office, not to wave it off as a simple mistake. If the AG wants to make the ruling that the law is vague, let him. That's his job, not yours.

I want a Lt Governor who will do their job, and properly enforce election law. That's why I'm voting for Sheryl Allen for Lt Governor.

-Bob

Town Hall Meeting With Karen Hyer, Democrat for 3rd Congressional District

2010-08-24T11:17:00.002-06:00

Come to a Townhall Meeting with KAREN HYER
Democratic Candidate for Utah’s 3RD District
Thursday, August 26th, 7 p.m., Orem City Council Chambers, 56 N. State
Ethics in Government: Breaking the Cycle of Professional Politicians, Interest Money and Corruption
You can trace almost every problem in Washington to incompetence or “corruption.” Instead of looking at everything through partisan or ideological lenses, we need to start looking at things through ethical lenses. Special interests and/or poor decisions take over when fame, fortune, power, or ambition are more important than honestly serving the people. If we really want to see change for the better in Washington, we need to quit electing professional politicians (in either party) and go back to the idea of a citizen legislature in the spirit of Cincinnatus.

Karen isn’t a professional politician worried about her next election; she’s an American first with real-life experience! Her core values are conservative, but ethics, competence and intellectual honesty are more important to her than party. She’ll think outside the box, work with others, and find solutions to our most critical problems!

Some of Karen’s Experience

· Operated her own businesses; consulted nationally for the SBA & Chambers of Commerce
· Taught Ethics at BYU. Has taught school at all levels, elementary - post-graduate
· Owned & Managed a hunting and cattle ranching operation, where they also produced cotton, feed and crops
· Spent years as a top researcher at a pre-eminent medical center; has taught and advised on health policy
· Got a law degree & led the cause for small farmers & the environment, against the feds & special interests
· Has helped empower millions of the disadvantaged through educational programs both home and abroad
KAREN WILL . . .
* HELP GROW OUR ECONOMY
* ENSURE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
* BRING ETHICS TO GOVERNMENT

Mitt Romney's Religious Tolerance flip-flop

2010-08-23T09:37:00.002-06:00

Mitt Romney, 2007:

“Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree.”

Mitt Romney, 2010:

“Governor Romney opposes the construction of the mosque at Ground Zero. The wishes of the families of the deceased and the potential for extremists to use the mosque for global recruiting and propaganda compel rejection of this site."

More on the Lower Manhattan Islamic Center

2010-08-17T14:33:00.002-06:00

First, from Keith Olbermann:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

It is a Muslim house of worship. Masjid-Manhattan. It lost its lease in a larger building down the street, two years ago. The new facility is so small that only about 20 percent of worshipers can use it, at a time. But "Masjid-Manhattan" opened in early 1970. Four blocks away, the World Trade Center opened, in December 1970.
The actual place that is the real-life equivalent of the paranoid dream contained in the phrase "Ground Zero Mosque," has been up and running, since before there was a World Trade Center, and for nine years since there has been a World Trade Center.
Running, without controversy, without incident, without terrorism, without protest. Because this is America, dammit.
And in America, when somebody comes for your neighbor, or his bible, or his torah, or his Atheists' Manifesto, or his Koran, you and I do what our fathers did, and our grandmothers did, and our founders did you and speak up.

And, just in case you missed it, my last post was quoted on the City Weekly's blog.

-Bob

Islamic Community Center and Harry Reid's Mormonism

2010-08-17T10:44:00.003-06:00

So, I found it interesting that Harry Reid came out against the Islamic Cultural Center in lower Manhattan.

Not surprising that he bowed down to his Republican challenger. He seems to run whenever an elephant says boo, but that's a different story, for a different time.

What's at issue here is the First Amendment. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." I love how we let politicians say "I respect the constitution, except when I disagree with letting others have the same rights as I do."

The Mormon Church (which our membership in is about the only thing it seems Sen Reid and I have in common) has had trouble for years building temples. Sometimes it's simply over things like building height. However, many times it's because people don't want The Mormons to be building a Temple there.

In 1842, Joseph Smith Jr, founder of the Church, wrote a letter to John Wentworth,which contained 13 fundamental doctrines of Mormonism. These were later cannonized as the "Articles of Faith." The 11th one reads (emphasis mine):

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

So, as an American who loves the Constitution and as a Mormon, I believe that the Islamic Community Center should be allowedto be built, evenif it is two blocks away from Ground Zero.

We Need More of This In Politicians

2010-07-30T14:40:00.002-06:00

Why is it that when a Democrat goes off like this, he's just and "angry Democrat" that needs to be avoided, but when a Republican does it, he's a patriot?

I give him bonus points for not cussing. I'm sure I would have....

Dear City Weekly: Trespassing is Trespassing

2010-07-08T17:42:00.002-06:00

Yet another blog post from City Weekly confusing trespassing with something else.

This time, it's not shaving at BYU. The story goes that an unshaven student was asked to leave the library, and he refused. He was then escorted out of the library by campus police.

Much like the infamous Main Street Plaza kiss case last year, it was the actions of the people involved that caused them to be asked to leave. It was their refusal to leave that got the cops involved.

Refusing to leave private property when asked constitutes trespassing.

I'd be willing to bet my next paycheck that if I were to walk into City Weekly's offices and st down to read IN Utah This Week, I'd eventually be asked to leave. Should I refuse, I'd be willing to bet another paycheck that SLPD would show up.

Would City Weekly blog about me being arrested for reading IN Utah This Week?

Probably not.

-Bob

P.S. I would never choose IUTW over CW. I'd rather root for the Yankees.

Hey, Sarah Palin: Will America Also See Blue Mice

2010-07-08T17:29:00.003-06:00

Watch the whole video:

"Seeing pink elephants" is a euphemism for drunken hallucination, caused by alcoholic hallucinosis or delirium tremens. The first recorded use of the term is by Jack London in 1913, who describes one sort of alcoholic in the autobiographical John Barleycorn as "the man whom we all know, stupid, unimaginative, whose brain is bitten numbly by numb maggots; who walks generously with wide-spread, tentative legs, falls frequently in the gutter, and who sees, in the extremity of his ecstasy, blue mice and pink elephants. He is the type that gives rise to the jokes in the funny papers."[1] London may have derived his metaphor from the 1890s saying "being followed by pink giraffes".[2] (Wikipedia)

"Football" vs "Soccer"

2010-07-02T16:19:00.002-06:00

Stolen from JM Bell

If You're The GOP Chairman, Re-write History

2010-07-02T15:50:00.002-06:00

The GOP meme of Barack Obama being a miracle worker is continuing. Chairman Steele, take it away:

This was a war of Obama's choosing. This was not something that the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.

What war is he talking about?

Afghanistan, silly.

Because, really, Obama was the Commander-in-Chief when the war started in October 2001.

And we all know that it was Iraq that attacked us the month before, also on Obama's watch.

See the video for yourself:

-Bob

Dear Governor Herbert

2010-07-01T17:56:00.003-06:00

Governor Herbert-

You recently said on TV that you are tired of hearing about the gloom and doom of the economy recently.

However, when I talk to my friends, many of whom are Republicans that would probably vote for you, all I hear is gloom and doom.

Tell the teacher of 5 years who recently was laid off by her school district, and can't find a teaching job for next fall that we have turned the corner.

Tell the previously self-employed wedding photographer who had to take a job at Wal*Mart because nobody's getting pictures taken that we're right on target.

Tell my friend who has an increased workload because his employer is not hiring people for his department because of the economy that things are getting better. (His employer is the LDS Church, BTW.)

Tell my neighbor the dentist, or the employees that he has had to let go because business is down 75% the past 18 months, that you are tired of the gloom and doom.

I'm glad that you are showing how out of touch you are with common Utahns. It will help them vote for Corroon in November.

-Bob

Email From Granato Campaign

2010-07-01T17:49:00.001-06:00

From the email box:

Dear Bob,
It's been 40 years since Utah last elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate — but I’m working hard to change that and I need your help!
Some people have tried to tell me that the race is over, that Utah only elects Republicans, and that the people don’t even need to vote. They tell me I should just give up and stop wasting my time, that Utahns will wander into the voting booth on Election Day and check the same box they’ve checked for the last four decades.
You know what I tell them? I tell them they’re wrong.
I don’t believe Utahns are detached or disinterested. I give us more credit than that.
I believe most Utahns want a Senator who will take common sense and mainstream Utah values back to Washington, not more ideological extremism and partisan gridlock.
I believe they want a Senator who will work across the aisle to find solutions that benefit working families, not just give fancy speeches and pound the pulpit.
Most of all, I believe the people of Utah are looking for something different this year — and that their voices will be heard loud and clear at the ballot box on November 2nd.
We can win this election -- but I need your help.
In 1970, Frank E. Moss became the last Democrat to win election to the U.S. Senate from Utah, showing that ours is not a one-party state and that Utah voters are fair-minded folks who want real representation. I believe this remains as true today in 2010 as it was in 1970. We can do this together.
That’s why I’m asking everyone to make a contribution of $19.70 to our campaign — to help us simultaneously remember our past successes even as we prepare for our future victories. Even the smallest contributions will be of great importance as we reach out to voters and spread our message around the state. With your help, we can win this election and begin a new era of leadership in our government.
This fight won’t be easy; we will be fighting against the status quo and special interest dollars the whole way. But, like Senator Moss showed, it can be done. We can do it together.
As always, I look forward to working alongside you as we make history and bring common sense back to Washington.
Sincerely,

Sam Granato
Candidate, U.S. Senate

Tell Us Your "Sam" Story!
As we’ve traveled around the state over the past year, we’ve met with countless voters in each of Utah’s 29 counties — and the stories are almost always the same. Whether we’re speaking with a registered nurse in Salt Lake City or a retired coal miner in Price, they each seem to have a story about Sam, how he has impacted their lives in the past, and why they believe in him now as a candidate.
Now we want to hear from you. We want to hear your stories and experiences with Sam, whether it be a light-hearted lunchtime conversation at one of his delis or a substantive discussion somewhere along the campaign trail. Share your “Sam” story with us by clicking here!
Thousands of Utahns support Sam and his candidacy, because they know who he is and what he stands for. They share their stories with us every day. We look forward to hearing yours!

Come Celebrate the Grand Opening of Our New Office!
Thanks to the help of many friends and supporters, we recently moved into a brand new office in Salt Lake City — and we want you to come help us celebrate!
We will be holding an open house event at the office (located at 1073 E 300 S) for the general public on Tuesday, July 13th from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and we want you to join us! Feel free to swing by, say hello, and mingle with supporters and campaign staff.
Mark your calendars! We hope to see you there!

[Videos] Happy Canada Day, Eh?

2010-07-01T11:32:00.002-06:00

Weird Al:

Rap:

And, the most beautiful anthem in the world (sorry, America):

Mike Lee Wants You Taxpayers To Pay For The Oil Spill

2010-06-30T15:58:00.001-06:00

No wonder Mike Lee doesn't want to be filmed.....

(Hat Tip: Green Jello)

Mike Lee loves big oil.

-Bob

Corroon: Herbert's Budget is Fuzzy Math

2010-06-30T12:28:00.003-06:00

From the email:

Dear Bob:

The State of Utah at one time received an "A" from Governing Magazine. Now, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, our state has dropped to twelfth worst in the nation for budget gaps. And the incumbent governor recently discovered an additional $150 million dollar deficit in our state budget that he explains as "right on target" and "normal." How did this happen? Simply put, this situation is a result of poor leadership. For this reason and many more, I have developed a plan to get Back to Basics and increase government efficiency in the State of Utah.

Government efficiency is one of the best ways we can enhance government and private sector programs. In my plan, I have pointed out several areas where we can dig deep, cut fat, save money and still improve our quality of life.

As governor, I will:
Reform the budget process by ending gimmicks
Demand results
Cut waste
Require department directors and other top-level employees to sign performance agreements
Conduct a top-to-bottom review of ALL state programs

It's pretty clear we need to take steps RIGHT NOW to make state government better for the 21st Century.

Read my Government Efficiency Plan here

As mayor, I cut Salt Lake County's government by nearly 20% last year and I made our government more honest and transparent. I can do the same for the State of Utah. I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work. As the next Governor of Utah, I plan to provide true fiscal discipline to our state government.

Please help bring fiscal management to Utah by supporting our campaign at www.votecorroon.com.

Sincerely,

Peter Corroon

Maybe I should quit.....

2010-06-30T12:11:00.002-06:00

I realize that this is the umpteenth time you've read a "goodbye cruel world" post from me over the years, but I need to get it off my chest.

I don't know what has happened lately. I don't have the drive I once had. There's a post that I've wanted to write for about three weeks.

But I've been scared to write it.

I've been scared because it is a post that would anger many of my readers. Many would accuse me of being bought or switching allegiance.

It was a fear grounded in reality, as I saw the same thing happen to others.

I felt it important enough that I had trouble making many other posts until I got that one done. But I couldn't bring myself to take care of it.

So, I suffered. The blog suffered.

It's about 8 days too late to make said post. I've been meaning to fire this thing back up, but a trip to Idaho and other events of the past few days (see previous post) have conspired against me.

And, I'm already starting to feel campaign fatigue. In June.

So, if I disappear, you know why. If I suddenly get back to my 10 posts/week, you'll know why as well.

-Bob

My Friends Kim Evans and Joe Clark

2010-06-28T17:52:00.003-06:00

Allow me to get a little personal for a moment......

Joe Clark is one of those guys that you would want your little sister to date. In fact,I've tried to get Joe to date my little sister a few times.

Kim Evans was one of those girls that was as warm and bright as the yellow shirts she was fond of wearing.

The same yellow that members of my ward were wearing yesterday in her honor.

In case you've missed the news the past couple of days, Joe and Kim were on a first date Saturday up Bell's Canyon. They tried crossing the creek above the falls, and Kim fell in. Joe went in after her, and both fell over the falls. Bystanders, complete strangers, pulled Joe from the river and provided first aid until rescuers arrived.

Unfortunately, that was the last time anyone saw Kim.

So, we hug our friends a little closer. We thank God for the miracle of Joe's survival. We also pray that the waters may recede so that Kim's body may be recovered, so that her family can find closure.

And we try to get to know each other just a little better. Because you never know.....

-Bob

Defining Mike Lee

2010-06-23T06:52:00.003-06:00

With 6.6% of registered voters voting for him, Mike Lee won the Republican Primary and advances to face Democrat Sam Granato in November.

Mr Lee has spent the past few months defining himself as a "constitutional expert." It's time that we Democrats stand up and define him.

*Mike Lee is a (DC Based) Lawyer who doesn't want Utah to have a say in whether or not they allow nuclear waste. (States rights my butt.)

*Mike Lee wants to declare that children born to illegal immigrants within the borders of the United States are no longer subject to the jurisdiction of the Unites States government. That would make them not citizens, so the Unites States (which, by the way, now has no jurisdiction over these people) can deport them. Let that sink in for a minute. (Please tell me someone out there has that exchange from the KUTV debate last Sunday)

*Mike Lee is in favor of underground nuclear testing. Except he is in favor of ratifying a treaty that bans testing of nuclear weapons. Unless a country decides they need to test to preserve their national security. (If a Democrat took that many positions, he'd be called a flip-flopper.)

*Mike Lee trusts the Utah Legislature more than he trusts Utah Voters. (See revoking the 17th amendment.)

*Mike Lee isn't just a lobbyist. Mike Lee is an illegal Lobbyist.

*Mike Lee wants to raise taxes on the poor and middle-class.

*Mike Lee wants to reduce government regulations. Lax government oversight caused the Gulf Oil Spill and the mine collapse in central Utah a few years ago.

*Mike Lee seems to forget that Article 3 of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court the authority to declare whether laws are constitutional or not.

*Mike Lee loves the constitution, with the exception of Article 3 and Amendments 14, 16, 17, and 10 (only when it is contrary to the desires of his clients).