Alexander Prefers Utah Ed Plan
In his Web log, House Majority Leader Jeff Alexander argues that Utah’s U-PASS student assessment system is better than requirements in the federal No Child Left Behind Act. He says U-PASS was modeled after a Texas program developed by George Bush when he was governor of Texas. The Legislature will take up HB135, which gives preference to U-PASS over NCLB in the special session next week.
Tax Reform is Conference Focus
Reforming Utah’s tax structure will be the focus on the annual Utah Taxes Now conference sponsored by the Utah Taxpayers Association. Gov. Jon Huntsman will keynote the event, scheduled April 26, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., in Little American Hotel. Sen. Curt Bramble will speak on the legislative Tax Reform Task Force and a panel of experts will discuss which business tax cuts will produce the most economic growth. Speakers will address several other topics, such as the importance of transportation funding to economic development.
The agenda and registration form can be found here. Cost is $80 for association members and $100 for others.
Blog Watch
Internet entrepreneur Paul Allen writes about UTOPIA and iProvo in his Web log. He says it’s great to live in such a pioneering state.
National Security
Thomas Friedman explains in his New York Times column why he thinks a new round of terrorist attacks in the United States may be more likely in the near future. Peter Drucker on Leadership
“Leadership is not magnetic personality—that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people"—that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.”
Campaign Tip
Identify THE NUMBER
(From the book, “How to Win a Local Election,” by Judge Lawrence Grey)
The last event in an election is when they count the votes. Oddly enough, counting the votes is one of the first steps in your campaign. To win, you have to ask yourself: “How many votes do I need?” and, “Where will I get them?” You have to begin by picking THE NUMBER. You have to decide how many votes it will take, probably, to give you a victory. That number is likely to be a lot smaller than you might think at first. In analyzing election statistics there are two cardinal principles. One is that Americans don’t vote. The other is that you don’t need all the votes, or even most of the votes. The cardinal rule is that you only need 50 percent of the votes, plus one. With these two principles in mind, you have to get the election results in your race for at least the last four elections, and decide how many votes it takes to win your race.
The first thing to do is take care of that “plus one vote.” Ask your mother if she will vote for you. We do not suggest you ask your spouse. In one famous case, a candidate got only one vote—his own. His wife was quoted in the newspaper as saying she didn’t think he had a chance so she didn’t vote for him. The newspaper gleefully reported this under a headline that read, “One man, one vote!” Politics is a tough business. When you get your mother’s assurance that she will vote for you, then start thinking about THE NUMBER, the other 50 percent. This number is the focus of your campaign. You determine that number by looking at the results in past elections and by analyzing board of election statistics.
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