Blog Watch
Tribune Enters Blogging
World
We’ve mentioned before the new Tribune
blogs, but Kim McDaniel, of the Tribune Web edition,
sent along this note: “Just thought you’d like to know that Salt
Lake Tribune political writer and columnist Paul Rolly
launched his blog last week (we also have several others at
http://blogs.sltrib.com). He’s on vacation until next Monday, but
if you’d like to link or aggregate, his blog (called GenRolly
Speaking) is at
http://blogs.sltrib.com/politics and the XML feed is available at
http://blogs.sltrib.com/rss/politics.xml.
Democrat Volunteers Needed
Davis
County Democrats are asking for volunteers to help with the party
booth at the Davis County Fair, Wednesday, Aug 17th through Saturday,
Aug 20th. Please Contact Peggy Howe at (801) 721-4002 or Pat
Herrera at (801) 589-1372
realestateismybag@msn.com.
Also, in a similar note yesterday about Davis County Republicans
needing fair volunteers Aug. 17-20, an incorrect contact phone number
was provided. Those interested can contact Justin Allen at
698-5334 or
justinyarnallen@hotmail.com.
Washington Watch
Labor Unions Target Matheson
A RedNova.com
report yesterday
(see last two paragraphs) on the House battle over CAFTA says the
labor unions think Democratic Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah,
Melissa Bean of Illinois, and Dennis Moore of Kansas, are
undecided or sweetening to the trade agreement, and threatened to
withhold financial support if they vote for CAFTA. The coalition of
unions sent a letter to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA) threatening to withhold financial support from the three
Democrats “facing tough re-election campaigns if they vote for CAFTA.”
Utah Reps.
Favor Health Fairness Act
Yesterday House Reps. Chris Cannon, Jim Matheson and
Rob Bishop all voted for the Small Business Health Fairness Act
(H.R. 525), which will allow small businesses to join together through
association health plans (AHPs) to purchase health insurance for their
workers at a lower cost (vote results here). Matheson joined 35
other Democrats who crossed party lines.
Rep. Cannon said “…the measure
would increase small businesses' bargaining power with health care
providers, provide independence from costly state-mandated benefit
packages, and lower their overhead costs by as much as 30 percent --
benefits that many large corporations already enjoy because of their
larger economies of scale.”
Utah Scores Big With Energy Bill
Senate’s comprehensive energy bill contains
several provisions sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch “…that could
make Utah a central figure in the nation’s energy strategy,” a
Hatch press release says.
“This is a big win for Utah. We’ve cleared the
way to begin tapping into Utah’s vast oil, natural gas and renewable
resources that will dramatically affect the nation’s domestic energy
production.”
Interesting Info on Roberts
UPD reader Paul Sampson,
currently an intern at Department of Justice,
sent along a link to some interesting background on U.S. Supreme Court
nominee John G. Roberts. It includes a famous exchange and some
salty language involving Sen. Orrin Hatch.
Sampson said: “The link is to the
confirmation transcript of
the Senate Judiciary Committee when Roberts was nominated to the D.C.
Court of Appeals (‘the second most important court in the land’),
April 30, 2003. This is a lot of reading (it was a 2.5-hour hearing),
but I've listed a couple of the highlights below. According to
President Bush, Roberts' confirmation was unanimous on the Senate
floor, but it wasn't in committee (16 for; Kennedy, Schumer, and
Durbin against).
”Roberts' hearing starts at the beginning and goes through page 79. .
. a couple of highlights:
1. He owns stock in 83 different companies (pg. 38-40). That's good
for business. 2. Net worth & value of owned real estate (pg. 41).
3. There are some good "original interpretation" questions from Sen.
Leahy (pg. 47). 4. Kennedy's statement is always a good one to study
(pg. 47-55). 5. Durbin's whole statement/questioning is good. He
asked about Roe v. Wade, etc (pg. 55-59). 6. Schumer's
statements/questions are also a good read (pg. 64-78). Schumer voted
nay" in committee. 7. SEN. HATCH CALLS SCHUMER A ‘DUMB A**’ FOR HIS
LINE OF QUESTIONING TOWARD ROBERTS (pg. 78), CLASSIC.”
About Politicians Dead & Alive
Need
some biographical information about a politician, current or past?
Check out
Political Graveyard, which has a terrific
compilation of links about an amazing number of politicians.
Opinion Essay
Carnage on the Highways
As a
society we are quite preoccupied with terrorism and war these days,
and properly so. But there's something far more dangerous than
terrorism that we engage in most every day. We get in a car and drive
on the highways. National Journal pointed out in a recent
article that in 2004 more than 6 million crashes occurred on U.S.
roads, resulting in 2.8 million injuries and 42,800 deaths.
Imagine if
terrorists killed only 10% of that number (4,280) every year. Imagine
if half that number of Americans (21,400) died in war each year.
Imagine if 5% of that number (2,140) died in airline crashes every
year.
We would
not stand for any of those things. There would be uproar and anger,
demonstrations and enormous headlines. There would be fingers pointed,
congressional inquiries, outrage, presidential decrees. Elections
would be lost and won, politicians called to account, billions of
dollars appropriated.
But instead of war or terrorism or airline crashes, it's 42,800 people
lost in automobile accidents. We accept it and allow the carnage to
continue. Many things could be done to improve highway safety. The
biggest problem, however, is that we haven't made it a national
priority. We've basically determined that losing 42,800 lives each
year and maiming nearly 3 million more people is acceptable. It's the
price of being mobile. Highway safety needs a lot more attention by
grassroots citizens if anything significant is to happen.
Now You Know
Spotlight: Monticello
The city of Monticello is in the southeastern corner of the state near
Canyonlands National Park. It was founded in 1887 by five families
from Bluff, called by the Mormon Church to settle on the slope of the
beautiful Blue Mountain, where a blaze-faced horse head was (and still
is) clearly visible in the vegetation. There are several legends about
the origin of the horse head and a song written in its honor is sung
at special events. First known as North Montezuma, the town was
renamed Monticello, an Italian word meaning “city of views,” after the
home of Thomas Jefferson. (Source: Local Government Directory, Utah
League of Cities & Towns)
National Politics
Criticism Isn’t Enough to Win
In his Tuesday e-mail column
(sign
up here),
Charlie Cook makes a crucial observation: Democrats can’t just
criticize and expect to be successful. Criticism alone isn’t a winning
strategy. Democrats need ideas and solutions of their own. That’s why
Hillary Clinton is rapidly moving to the center. She plans to travel
the country to receive citizen input in resolving the problems of the
day.
Says Cook: “While President Bush and the Republican Party's public
opinion problems are plain to see and easy to explain, there seems to
be a strong sense of denial on the part of Democrats for why their
poll numbers are no better. They seem to clutch to the belief that
public attitudes are like a playground teeter-totter, that if a
president or his party's numbers go down, the opposition party's
numbers go up.
“Unfortunately for Democrats, the world doesn't work that cleanly. A
July 8-11 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll of 1,009 adults (with a
4-point error margin) shows only 34 percent of Americans give the
Democratic Party a positive rating and 36 percent give it a negative
rating, compared with 38 percent positive and 42 percent negative for
the Republican Party. All of the huffing and puffing by Democrats has
fogged up the mirror preventing any real self-examination.
“Too often Democrats succumb to the temptation to oppose for the sake
of opposition. If Bush says or does something, Democrats automatically
oppose it, whether there is reason or political gain to come of it.
Often times their opposition is warranted on more substantive and
honorable grounds. But the knee-jerk opposition and the widespread
public perception that Democrats too often oppose Bush for partisan
purposes has come at a cost. American voters seem to be willing to
judge Bush, his policies and nominees in a critical, even negative
way. But, Democrats have lost whatever natural political advantages
they would have gained from a more calculated opposition.”
Cook adds that a highly partisan, negative attack on Bush’s nomination
of Judge John Roberts' nomination to the Supreme Court may backfire.
“. . . many Democrats and interest groups could not bring themselves
to wait for the president to make his choice. They had to attack
immediately, looking ridiculous to non-combatants and exposing the
bankruptcy of their strategy.”
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