News Highlights
Hate crimes bill voted down for 10th straight time (Deseret
Morning News, Daily
Herald and Salt
Lake Tribune).
Democrats back Gov. Jon Huntsman on lower level
of transportation funding (Morning
News): Transportation is still a sticking point in House/Senate
agreement on budget (Tribune).
Utah County abruptly leaves the Mountainland Association
of Governments (Tribune,
Daily Herald and Morning
News).
Rep. Jim Ferrin scales back tuition tax bill
to reduce budget impact (Tribune
and Morning
News).
Quote of the Day
“Ironically, the only reform bill that has a chance is the one Gov.
Jon Huntsman Jr. is pushing, which would reform practices in the
executive branch only, as well as enact term limits on governors.”
-- Morning News editorial
on ethics reform.
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Wednesday Buzz
Compiled and
Written by LaVarr Webb |
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Tribune Highlights Blogging
Utah’s mainstream news media are finally paying attention to the
phenomenon of local political blogging. Thomas Burr, a Tribune reporter
did a nice story
today on Rep. Steve Urquhart’s foray
into blogging, and notes that more Republican political blogs
are coming. Urquhart is quoted as saying: "Because the session gets
so busy, the blog is a wonderful way to communicate with constituents."
Media Watch: The Convergence Project
The Deseret Morning News/KSL TV-Radio convergence experiment seems
to be moving ahead, slowly but surely. We’re seeing newspaper reporters
appear more frequently on television and radio, and broadcast reporters
write for the newspaper. KSL Radio’s Russ Hill, for example, wrote
an in-depth piece for the newspaper on his trip to Banda Aceh with
a tsunami relief group.
With a common owner in the LDS Church, it makes sense for KSL
TV-Radio and the Morning News to collaborate. More reporting
and editing resources can be brought to bear on breaking news and
in-depth coverage. Mass communications has all gone digital, so
the idea is to use the reporting, editing, still and video photography
capabilities of all three entities and deliver news and information
in whatever format is desired by readers, viewers and listeners,
whether print, video, audio or on-line.
Interestingly, while it would seem that collaboration on their
Web sites would be the most natural and easiest place to start,
we have yet to see much Web convergence. The Morning News
site has a link to KSL, but I couldn’t even find a link to
the newspaper on the KSL home page. It would really make
sense to simply combine the newspaper and broadcast Web sites. Think
how cool it would be to go to KSLMorningNews.com and be able
to read an in-depth story, and click on audio and video coverage
of the same event.
Most likely, it’s the advertising side of the business that prevents
Web collaboration. The Newspaper Agency Corporation sells and places
Web advertising for both the Morning News and Tribune, while KSL
has its own advertising operation. So trying to make a combined
Morning News/KSL site accommodate advertising sold for both newspapers
would get awkward. At any rate, the convergence of print and broadcast
is an interesting and worthwhile endeavor.
Communications Tip:
Key Audiences for Politicians
Let’s say you’re a Utah House member and you want to win re-election
in 2006. Who should you be communicating with to ensure a successful
race? Here are three key audiences:
- Opinion leaders in your district. These are the most
influential people in your district, the mayors, city council
members, business leaders, and key ecclesiastical leaders. You
should communicate with them frequently by visits, phone calls,
and letters. You should maintain an updated list of them and make
sure you stay in touch. These are the people who will be highly
influential in your next election.
- Political activists. These are state and county party
delegates, people who attend party caucuses, and grassroots party
people. This is also a crucially important audience. You should
be communicating with these people through letters, print or e-mail
newsletters, town meetings, and reports to constituents.
- Active voters. Don’t waste time with people who don’t
vote. Focus on active voters. If you don’t have lists of the most
active voters in your district, contact Xi Corporation at www.exoroinfo.com.
While communication with active voters doesn’t need to be as frequent
as with the first two audiences, you ought to be touching them
at least a couple of times a year, preferably quarterly. Use newsletters
or a report to constituents letter to get to them.
Many politicians win an election and then forget about communicating
with constituents until the next election. That’s a big mistake.
Some politicians think they will be bothering constituents if they
communicate too much. That’s also a big mistake. I guarantee your
constituents won’t feel like you’re bugging them. In fact, they
will feel special because you are communicating with them. In today’s
oversaturated communications world where they are seeing the same
TV commercial dozens of times, a quarterly communication from you
won’t seem like much at all.
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Sponsored
Article
Mega-credit unions show true colors on taxation |
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By LaVarr Webb
Utah’s billion dollar credit unions
apparently share the anti-tax, anti-government, and anti-public
education philosophy of right-wing activist Grover Norquist.
Their philosophy
was perfectly displayed in an e-mail newsletter disseminated Tuesday
by the Utah League of Credit Unions. The big credit unions trotted
out Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, to say this:
"Taxes are unfortunate. They feed the beast of inefficient government,
and they place ever higher burdens on families and businesses. They
make society less wealthy, and people less free.”
What a simplistic
approach to taxation Norquist and these billion-dollar credit unions
take: Taxes are “unfortunate.” Therefore, mega-credit unions shouldn't
have to pay them.
It might
come as a surprise to Utah’s education and local government leaders
to learn that Utah’s big credit unions believe they are beasts of
inefficiency that reduce people’s freedom. Thanks to this e-mail
newsletter, Utah’s school and local government leaders now understand
the attitude of the big credit unions toward them and the taxes
that support their missions. The selection of Norquist as credit
union spokesperson shows their true colors.
It’s interesting
how Utah’s mega-credit unions rely on a workforce educated in our
public schools. But they don’t want to help pay for those schools.
They use our streets and water and police and fire services. But
they are proud that they don’t pay sales taxes that help fund these
services. They don’t want to pay what they consider “unfortunate”
taxes that “feed the beast of inefficient government.”
It’s also
interesting to contrast the attitude of Norquist and the big credit
unions with the philosophy of the Utah Taxpayers Association, which
is the real representative of business and individual taxpayers
in Utah. The Taxpayers Association advocates low taxes and limited
government, but also fights for fair, equitable, balanced taxation.
The Association strongly advocates that the big credit unions pay
their fair share of income and sales taxes to support public needs
like education and local government. (Read the Association’s report
on credit union taxation by going to www.utahtaxpayers.org,
clicking on Special Reports, and scrolling down to the report.)
That’s why
this fight is not longer just between the big credit unions and
the banks. Small business owners and organizations like the Taxpayers
Association want low tax rates spread across all large and profitable
businesses that cannot justify a tax exemption. Education leaders
and local government officials are concerned about the tax base
erosion caused by the billion dollar credit unions as they grow
aggressively, retain millions of dollars in profits not distributed
to members, and take more and more economic activity off the tax
rolls.
In contrast
to the big credit unions, Utah’s banks, according to the legislative
fiscal analyst, will pay $50 million in “unfortunate” income taxes
to support Utah’s schools over two years, more millions in “unfortunate”
sales taxes, and hundreds of millions more in “unfortunate” federal
taxes to support our military, homeland security, to protect the
environment, and all the other things government does.
In the credit
union newsletter, Norquist said Utah's passage of HJR1 might serve
as a "potential model for other states.” He is absolutely right,
which is all the more reason to pass the resolution. What Utah is
doing could spread. That’s the great value of HJR1. It has no force
of law. It doesn’t raise anyone’s taxes. But symbolically it is
incredibly powerful. It means one state is standing up to the political
pressure and the misleading million-dollar advertising blitz of
the wealthy credit unions, and is saying, “This isn’t right. Congress
needs to act.”
The message
to Congress is pretty simple: Let the small, traditional credit
unions retain their tax exemption. But do something about the billion-dollar
credit unions that want to expand aggressively, make large commercial
loans, and do everything tax-paying institutions can do, without
contributing their fair share to schools and local governments.
(Sponsored
by the Exoro Group)
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Wednesday
February 9, 2005
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Please submit calendar items to Daily@UtahPolicy.com
- Feb 12: Morgan County
Lincoln Day Dinner.
- Feb 12: Utah County Lincoln Day Dinner.
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Feb 12: Davis County Democrats “No Host”
breakfast/monthly food drive, 8:30 am, Grannie Annie’s restaurant,
286 N 400 W, Kaysville. The public is invited and everyone
is asked to bring a non-perishable food item to benefit the food
banks in Davis County.
- Feb 16: Voice for Moderation meeting, 6
pm to 7:30 pm, Anderson/Foothill Library. Guest speakers Jay
Blain, a Granite School Administrator, and Dave Gessel, VP Utah
Hospital Association, will discuss educational and medical issues
being debated by the legislature.
- Feb 18: Last day for legislators to prioritize
bills and other programs with fiscal impact.
- Feb 23: Final meeting for the Executive
Appropriations Committee on all budget matters.
- Feb 25: Massachusetts Gov. and 2008 presidential hopeful
Mitt Romney speaks at Salt Lake County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner,
7 pm, Little America Hotel. For ticket information see: www.lincolnclub.net.
- Feb 25: Salt Lake County Lincoln Day Dinner.
- Feb 25: Bonding bill available to legislators
by noon and final action taken on it by calendared closing time.
- Feb 25: Last day to pass bills with fiscal note
of $10,000 or more.
- Feb 27: Last day to consider bills from
own house.
- Feb 27: Last day for a motion to reconsider.
- Feb 28: General appropriations bill, supplemental
appropriations bill, and school finance bill available to legislators
by calendared floor time and final action taken on each bill by
calendared closing time.
- Mar 2: Second supplemental appropriations bill
available to legislators by calendared floor time and final action
taken by noon.
- Mar 2: 2005 legislative session ends.
-
Mar 12: Davis County Democrats “No
Host” breakfast/monthly food drive, 8:30 am, Grannie Annie’s
restaurant, 286 N 400 W, Kaysville. The public is invited
and everyone is asked to bring a non-perishable food item to benefit
the food banks in Davis County.
- Mar 22: Last day governor may sign or veto
bills.
- Mar 26: Republican Women Federation Fundraiser
and Auction, "Heroes of the Heart," 5:30 pm, McKay Events
Center, UVSC, Provo. Speakers: First Lady Mary Kaye Huntsman
and Sen. Orrin Hatch. For more information, please contact
Suzanne Merrill - 801-796-0831.
- Apr 9: Davis County Democratic Party Organizing
Convention, 11 am, Farmington
Jr. High
School,150 S. 200 West, Farmington.
- Apr 30: Utah County Republican Party Organizing Convention,
7 pm, Canyon View Junior High, 950 N 700 E, Orem.
- May 1: Last day a veto-override session may begin.
- May 2: Normal effective date for bills.
- May 2: First day to file bills for the 2006
General Session.
-
May 14: Davis County Democrats “No
Host” breakfast/monthly food drive, 8:30 am, Grannie Annie’s
restaurant, 286 N 400 W, Kaysville. The public is invited
and everyone is asked to bring a non-perishable food item to benefit
the food banks in Davis County.
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