The Week Ahead
It’s a rather slow political week. The Legislature’s Health Care
Task Force meets Wednesday at 9 a.m. Several organizations that
compile health data and information will give reports. (See agenda).
Blog Watch
Legislative bloggers are busy. Rep. Steve
Urquhart posts on toll roads and eliminating the
U.S. Department of Education . . . Rep. John
Dougall says boycotting XMission would be stupid. He also
writes about blogging, a nationwide tax revolt, and more.
Utah Think Tanks
(Compiled by Golden Webb)
A healthy public policy environment always has at its foundation
a number of “think tanks” and research organizations charged with
developing creative, insightful and even counter-intuitive solutions
to matters of public importance. Think tanks occupy a space somewhere
between government and academia. They’re idea brokers—assessing
the validity and utility of the ideas that form the basis for public
policy, and developing new ideas upon which the policies of the
future might be based. In Utah, we have several such organizations,
both academic and non-academic, that provide a research-based framework
to public policy issues.
Among them are:
The
Sutherland Institute: Focuses primarily on education, poverty,
and family. Seeks to influence public policy in Utah according to
“the principles of self-reliance, private initiative, and recognition
of family as the fundamental unit of society.” President: Paul
T. Mero.
The Center
for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA): A component
of the University of Utah within the College of Social and Behavioral
Science, the CPPA seeks “to provide research, education, and services
to public and nonprofit organizations that will strengthen administration,
leadership and public policy making.” Director: W. David Patton,
Ph.D.
The
Utah Foundation: Primarily a research organization, the
Utah Foundation doesn’t engage in lobbying or advocacy, but instead
focuses on providing objective research and data on the issues.
Seeks to “encourage informed public policy making and to serve as
Utah's trusted source for independent, objective research on crucial
public policy issues.” Executive Director: Stephen J. Kroes.
The
Utah Taxpayers Association: Lobbying and advocacy group
that seeks to “represent taxpayers and to promote efficient, economical
government and fair & equitable taxation.” Analyzes legislation
and government expenditures and seeks to influence public policy
and laws on behalf of the Utah business community and public and
private taxpayers. President: Sen. Howard Stephenson.
Center
for the Study of Elections and Democracy (CSED): Non-partisan
academic research organization associated with the Department of
Political Science at BYU that "aims to document the largely undocumented
aspects of candidate and noncandidate campaigns," especially campaign
finance rules, laws and issues. Director: Kelly Patterson.
Redford on the Bush Administration
One story link we missed last Friday was a Tribune
interview with Robert Redford, who commented on Deep
Throat and Watergate and claimed that things going on in the Bush
administration are just as bad today. Another case of an actor somehow
becoming an expert by playing a movie role. (Redford played Bob
Woodward in “All the President’s Men.”)
The “Hemi” Returns
The Wall Street Journal had a fun front page story Friday on Chrysler’s
success bringing back the “hemi” engine from the muscle cars of
the ‘60s -- the Dodge Charger and Plymouth Barracuda. When I grew
up in the ‘60s in the farming area of west Orem one of my youth
leaders bought a brand new Charger. We would pop the hood and gaze
at that chromed-up hemi engine for hours, it seemed, marveling at
its two four-barrel carburetors (or was it three two-barrels?) Our
leader, who shall remain nameless, was a young guy in his 20s and
we would sometimes all pile in the Charger for a ride. We’d go out
on the deserted highway West of Saratoga and he’d get it up well
over 100 mph. We didn’t tell our mothers.
On the Space Front
(Nothing to do with politics, but it’s very
interesting.)
Former Sen. Jake Garn says it’s a funding problem that is
keeping man from walking on Mars, RedNova
reports. "It is not the technology to go to Mars or other planets
or back to the moon," says Garn, who is preparing with other astronauts
for the Association of Space Explorers' annual Planetary Congress,
to be held in SLC in October. “I am convinced we could be on Mars
now . . . if the funding had been approved by Congress.”
Meanwhile, Cosmos 1, the world’s first solar sail spacecraft, will
be launched from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea. (See National
Geographic article). One consultant for the project is Jim
Cantrell, from Hyde Park, Utah, who runs the firm Strategic
Space Development. Solar sail spacecraft may eventually be used
for interplanetary travel.
Words To Live By
“Always wear a tie clip to an autopsy.” -- Edward Conlon,
a New York City police officer, writing in the New
York Times about advice from his father.
Reader Response
It’s Warmer, But Who Knows Cause?
Wilf Sommerkorn: Your comments about global warming in Utah
Policy Daily struck an almost identical chord with me. I have long
had an interest in weather and climate. As a young guy, I used to
have my own backyard weather station. I took several climatology
and meteorology courses in college, and I have a minor in geology.
I am a closet storm chaser, trying to work out a good time to go
visit my sister-in-law who lives on the Texas-Oklahoma border so
I can chase some big supercells some day.
So given all that, I have had an intense interest in the whole
topic of global warming and climate change for some time, reading
what I can find on the topic that I think is objective and credible.
And let me tell you, as of late, there is very little of what I
consider to be objective on the topic out there.
(Read
More)
Long Response on Variety of Topics
Andy Wilson: First of all, let me say how much I love your
newsletter. Despite what CNN may say about their Inside
Politics show, this is the best political briefing in the country
(although you did miss two really great articles about Tom Griffith
in the Daily Herald earlier this week-- we can't all be 100%
all the time!)
But today I was amazed at several of the sidebars included with
the daily policy briefing on Thursday, June 16th. First of all that
one of our elected officials, Rep. Dayton, felt that Limbaugh (at
least 85% of the time?), Hannity and Reagan were useful to the public
discourse shows me just how far down into the gutter our public
discourse has gone. Where vitriol replaces reason and blind ideology
trumps fact, we have a serious problem epistemologically within
our society. Let me say and emphasize that I am not impugning our
elected officials: merely that "even the elect [or elected in this
case] will be deceived."
(Read
More)
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