IFederal Law Would Protect Muni Broadband
Municipal broadband suppliers, like UTOPIA and iProvo, may
get some protection under legislation to be introduced today by
Sens. John McCain, Arizona, and Frank Lautenberg,
New Jersey, permitting municipalities to offer broadband services.
CongressDaily
reports that the large telecommunications companies will oppose
the legislation.
The measure, called the “Community Broadband Act of 2005,” will
compete with a bill introduced in late May by Texas Rep. Pete
Sessions that would bar municipal networks in areas where private
companies offer high-speed Internet access.
One difference between the two Utah municipal networks and some
others around the country is that UTOPIA and iProvo, in accordance
with Utah law, are providing only the network infrastructure and
not any of the retail services. Using an open infrastructure model,
many competing private telecom firms will use the community networks
to offer a variety of services, including telephony, cable television,
Internet access, etc.
Is Rail Transit a Winner or Loser?
My favorite Libertarian college professor, Dr. Randy Simmons
at Utah State University, didn’t like what he read about Sen. Bob
Bennett supporting rail transit. Simmons sent along information
about a report
from an anti-“smart growth” group called the American
Dream Coalition that claims rail transit is a disaster and transit
money should instead be put into buses.
My own fairly uneducated opinion is that light rail is a smashing
success in Salt Lake County and commuter rail from Ogden to SLC
will be a winner as well. Every community now wants a light rail
spur, and once commuter rail gets going, it will also be in high
demand.
While rail transit has it detractors, the marketplace wants it.
Major business developments are being planning in Utah around light
rail and commuter rail stations, including in Farmington, Layton,
West Valley City, and Daybreak (the big Kennecott development).
Rail transit is strongly supported by all the chambers of commerce,
by the colleges and universities, by local government leaders and,
polls show, by citizens.
Downtown SLC wants more transit. The LDS Church, for example, is
counting on transit, particularly rail transit, to bring people
in to work, to attend meetings like General Conference, to shop
in the new downtown mall, and to attend college downtown. A trolley
loop downtown may be needed in the future to shuttle people from
the transit stops to where they need to go.
Surely, rail transit and bus transit don’t work for everyone. But
transit works for enough people to make it highly successful.
Washington Watch
(Edited by Gaylen Webb)
Prescription Drugs for All
The Boca
Raton News reports that HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt
was in the Sunshine State earlier this week, promoting Medicare’s
new prescription drug benefit. Said Leavitt: “We are absolutely
resolved that no one will have a gap in coverage.”
Hatch Calls for 2/3 of Senate to Pass Amendment
Now that the House has passed the constitutional amendment (H.J.
Res. 10) to protect the U.S. flag, Sen. Orrin Hatch is calling
on the Senate to do the same, thus sending it to the states, where
he says polls show 75% of Americans support the amendment.
Rep. Chris Cannon, who voted for the resolution, points
out that “ratification of the constitutional amendment, by itself,
would not prohibit flag desecration, but only gives Congress the
legislative authority to prohibit flag desecration.” A Cannon press
release says since 1990, 49 states have passed resolutions calling
on Congress to pass the amendment and send it to the states for
ratification.
Dems Call Bennett Plan ‘Bait and Switch’
Now that Pres. Bush has blessed Sen. Robert Bennett’s
plan to introduce Social Security reform sans private accounts,
Reuters
reports that Democrats are calling the plan “bait and switch”.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called it a “transparent
political gimmick that would weaken Social Security.” But do the
Dems have an official Social Security reform alternative?
No More Free Rides in MA
Opinionjournal.com’s Political Diary (subscription required)
reports on a recent speech by Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, at
the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, where he told reporters of
his plan to impose an “individual mandate” for health care—no more
freebie health care for those who can afford health insurance but
don’t have it. The State of Massachusetts spends $1 billion a year
on medical care for its uninsured population (7%). Writer John
Fund calls it a “command-and-control approach to a problem that
would be better handled by chopping away at the thicket of regulations
and cross-subsidies blocking Americans from affordable health care.”
Reader Response
More Support for Public Financing
Clarity Sanderson: In his response to Mr. Axford and
Ms. Bonham's comments regarding the need for some form of
public campaign financing, Scott Hinrichs falls back on the
tired mantra of the "free market." Political campaigns, like business,
work best when the government butts out.
Of course, there is no such thing as a pure free market, and never
has been. This concept has gone from an economic principle to an
ideology clung to almost as fiercely as Leninism was in the old
Soviet Union. But one need look no further than endless government
guaranteed loans for big business, pension costs being picked up
by the taxpayer, and the US tax code to see the free market does
not truly exist in the business world, let alone the political one.
(Read
More)
Words to Live By
"Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden
rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain." --Mark
Twain
Leadership Tip
25 Common Mistakes Made By New Leaders
(From “Common Sense Supervision” by Roger B.
Fulton)
- Made changes for the sake of change
- Immediately made drastic changes in discipline or procedures
- Was unable to effectively deal with people
- Failed to take charge of the department
- Made serious administrative errors
- Tried to be “one of the guys”
- Did subordinates’ work for them
- Failed to delegate
- Gave no positive reinforcement to subordinates
- Had an inconsistent approach to problems
- Failed to listen to subordinates
- Failed to solicit input from subordinates
- Showed favoritism among subordinates
- Failed to motivate subordinates
- Didn’t address problems of subordinates
- Failed to make timely decisions
- Failed to effectively utilize time
- Lacked communication skills
- Didn’t know contents of required paperwork
- Failed to foster positive interdepartmental relations
- Failed to document positive and negative activities of subordinates
- Gave only negative criticism
- Failed to deal with problems immediately
- Didn’t know when to seek advice from or to advise supervisors
of problems
- Lacked knowledge of labor laws, contracts or procedures
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