The
Week Ahead
It's a busy political week with 11 legislative meetings scheduled.
(See calendar.)
Of special note is the Utah
Technology Commission meeting Tuesday at 9 a.m. Utah's new CIO, Steve
Fletcher, will report on consolidation of the state's IT operations.
On Wednesday, the Tax Reform Task Force and its various subcommittees
will meet. On Friday, the filing period for this year's municipal
elections begins. Saturday, Howard Dean, national Democratic chair,
visits (see Blog Watch, below).
Blog Watch
Carrie Ulrich at Democracy
for Utah reports that Demo national chair Howard Dean
will be in Utah this Saturday, July 16, for a few hours. . . .
For the folks at the top of Utah, TL Feeny, aka
"rudizink" publishes a blog called the Weber
County Forum on issues and topics related to the Ogden area
. . .
Some nice commentary by Rep. John
Dougall on the British not being cowed by terrorists.
. . .
Rep. Steve
Urquhart writes about taking tough political stands
and also about appearing on KCPW radio to talk about blogging. .
. .
Charley Foster's State
of the Beehive has good info about the Surpreme Court nomination
issue, particularly a lot of background on Michael McConnell,
a former U. of U. law professor. . . .
Ethan Millardat SLCSPIN
wants his mayor to focus on being a mayor. . . .
The
Daily Herald writes about Utah's legislative bloggers.
Media Watch
More About NAC Rejecting UPD Ad
Tribune business reporter Glen Warchol writes
about NAC's refusal to accept advertising from that subversive
publication, Utah Policy Daily.
Washington
Watch
Leavitt Announces
Commission
Reuters
reported Friday that HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt
has completed the organization of a 28-member Medicaid advisory
commission. In an eight-week period the commission will suggest
ways to trim $10 billion from Medicaid over the next five years.
See
the list of commission members.
Face Time for Hatch
Sen. Orrin Hatch is getting a lot of face time
on TV these days. Yesterday he appeared on Meet the Press,
discussing terrorism and the Supreme Court with Tim Russert.
Here’s
the transcript. Last week Hatch appeared on Face the Nation.
Speaking of the Supreme Court, Hatch says the Senate can hold dual
confirmation hearings for Supreme Court justices, according to an
AP
story in Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle, which speculates
on the possibility of Justice William H. Rehnquist also retiring.
“Frankly, it can be done," Hatch says.
Now
You Know
1,278,429: Number of registered voters in Utah
Top five counties: Salt Lake (480,807), Utah (188,937),
Davis (139,554), Weber (110,647) Washington (58,303). (Source: State
Elections Office)
Stick
to Acting?
Utah's Robert Redford is criticized by The
Federalist Patriot: "Golden boy of the silver screen Robert
Redford is calling for the press to investigate the many cover-ups
of the Bush administration. Inspired by the recent confession of
'courageous' former FBI agent Mark Felt as Deep
Throat of Watergate fame, Redford implied that the news media has
lost its nerve to take down a president by exposing his secret conspiracies.
(Redford played reporter Bob Woodward in All
the President's Men and so is entitled to speak for reporters
everywhere.) Regarding the two presidents he said, 'There are deep
similarities going on, but where is the press?' Where indeed? Where
was the press to warn us of the impending 'quagmire' when our nation
invaded Afghanistan? Or to report on the 'scandalous torture' at
Abu Ghraib and Gitmo? Or the 'connections' between President Bush
and Halliburton? Where indeed? The Patriot would prefer
to see Mr. Redford stick to film festivals and play-acting. His
uninformed 'contributions' to the national dialogue aren't worth
the fevered reporting they receive."
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