The Week Ahead
It’s the week leading up to the Pioneer Day holiday weekend, and the Capitol will be hopping with a full slate of legislative action. The regular Interim Day committees are on Wednesday, with the usual leadership committees like Executive Appropriations and Legislative Management earlier in the week. Some of the major task forces meet on Thursday, including Tax Reform and its various subcommittees, and the Health Care Task Force. For information on all the meetings, go to the Legislative Calendar and click on a committee for notices and agendas. Some legislative fundraisers are also scheduled this week. See calendar at the right.
UPD on KCPW
Utah Policy Daily is now doing a little cross-promotion with KCPW Radio. The public radio station is sponsoring our calendar and will highlight items from it during the Midday show. We, in turn, link to KCPW’s Web site and will note KCPW’s news features of interest to our readers.
Update on Jason Chaffetz
The governor’s chief of staff says his main priority in life right now is to keep his ankle higher than his waist. That’s what happens when you shatter the bones in your heel. His heel is being held together with a metal plate and 14 screws, and is now starting to heal after extensive surgery.
I talked to Chaffetz on Friday and he was in relatively good spirits, sitting on his couch with his foot elevated, typing on his laptop. Nearly three weeks ago he was up on a ladder changing a fluorescent light in his garage and was somehow hit with a powerful electrical shock. It knocked him off the ladder and his foot hit the last rung, shattering his heel.
It actually could have been a lot worse. He could have been electrocuted or landed head first on the concrete floor. After waiting a week to allow the swelling to go down, Chaffetz underwent a lengthy surgery on July 7. “The absolute worst thing was just not being able to do anything for a few days,” Chaffetz said. “It was driving me crazy.”
Now he is able to work from home via e-mail and phone, and is getting back into the swing of things. He missed going to Mexico with the governor and has also missed Republican Governors and National Governors meetings. He appreciates the little things in life a lot more – like being able to walk across a room and, most of all, being able to get up in the morning and go to work.
Question is, with all that hardware in his heel, will he ever again be able to get past airport security?
Update on Tax Reform
Morning News political editor Bob Bernick wrote an excellent news analysis published Saturday on the themes that are emerging in the tax reform process. Bernick shows what leaders are thinking and what reforms are gaining support. Broadening the sale tax base to include services seems to be going nowhere. It’s far from certain that the recommendations of the Tax Reform Task Force will be adopted by the full Legislature, of course, but significant progress is being made.
Washington Watch
Bishop Hangs Out in Ohio
Rep. Rob Bishop, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, toured Wright-Patterson AFB with Rep. Mike Turner (R-Oh) Saturday and was on hand for the Vectren Dayton Air Show, says the Dayton Daily News.
Leavitt: Sept. 1 is Pill Decision Deadline
HHS Sec. Mike Leavitt sent a letter to Sen. Mike Enzi (R., Wyo.), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, disclosing Sept. 1 as the deadline by which the FDA will decide whether the morning-after contraceptive pill may be sold without a prescription, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer
and Washington Post.
Utah Gets $10 Million For Security
Utah is set to receive more than $10 million as part of the Senate’s Homeland Security Appropriations bill, according to a press release from Sen. Orrin Hatch. The money will be used to strengthen the ability of police and firefighters to respond to emergencies.
Hatch A Political Titan?
Former NY Mayor Ed Koch, who laments the dearth of “political candidates who are titans” in a New York Daily News op-ed column, says Sen. Orrin Hatch is on his “A-list”.
How to Help Africa
Helping Africa is the chic thing to do these days, but did LIVE 8 really accomplish anything worthwhile? Everyone who values freedom and real solutions to problems ought to read a terrific N.Y. Times op-ed piece on LIVE 8, written by an African columnist really knows what he’s talking about.
Campaign Tip
The Importance of Framing in Politics
In political communications we talk a lot about “framing.” We always want to frame an issue on our terms before our opponents or the news media frame it contrary to our interests. At the Exoro Group we use a sophisticated communications methodology that forces us and our clients to think about the words, anecdotes, symbols and messaging that best frames our position.
The N. Y. Times Magazine published a lengthy and fascinating article on Sunday by Matt Bai on framing, particularly how the Democrats are becoming more sophisticated in framing political issues. Anyone involved in politics ought to read it. The article is very long, but you should read the whole thing to understand both the power and limits of political framing.
Here’s one quote by Sen. Bryon Dorgan, D-North Dakota: “I can describe, and I've always been able to describe, what Republicans stand for in eight words, and the eight words are lower taxes, less government, strong defense and family values. We Democrats, if you ask us about one piece of that, we can meander for 5 or 10 minutes in order to describe who we are and what we stand for. And frankly, it just doesn't compete very well. I'm not talking about the policies. I'm talking about the language.''
Ronald Reagan was a master at framing political issues. Bill Clinton also did very well. Mike Leavitt did it as well as anyone has done it in Utah, using stories and symbols to communicate his messages.
Behind the framing, however, there must be substance, good ideas, and good policy. And while national Democrats are using sophisticated framing to defeat Pres. Bush’s initiatives, they have few real ideas and programs of their own.
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