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The Week Ahead
A discussion on toll roads and a legislative update will be featured at the Salt Lake Chamber’s Transportation Committee meeting at noon today. . . . Lieutenant Gov. Gary Herbert continues his tour around the state this week to discuss transportation and elections issues with local officials. . . . A full slate of important Tax Reform Task Force meetings are scheduled on Wednesday. Other legislative meetings this week include the Utah Technology Commission on Wednesday, the Water Issues Task Force on Thursday and the Tax Review Commission on Friday. See the legislative calendar for agendas and notices. . . . I’m hearing that HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt will make appearances in Utah on Friday in St. George and on the 16th in Salt Lake City, on HHS business.
Dolan Makes it Official
Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan announces his re-election bid on Wednesday, 10 a.m., at Lone Peak Park, 10140 South, 700 East. Everyone is invited.
That Nip in the Air . . .
It’s been awfully hot outside. But enjoy the warmth. Sometime in the next few weeks, after a hot day with the sun beating from a perfect blue sky, we will walk outside and the evening will have cooled a little more quickly than we’re used to. A certain nip will be in the air, sending a shiver up the spine, different than we’ve experienced for several months. It won’t be a cold front coming through. It will be sure evidence that the season is cycling, the rhythm of nature moving on to its next chapter. We’ll have plenty more hot days, but nights will cool, and small explosions of reds, yellows and oranges will begin to appear on the mountainside, signaling what will hopefully be a long and exhilarating autumn season -- my favorite time of the year.
Washington Watch
Hatch Lobbyist Donation Questioned
The Center for Public Integrity says Sen. Orrin Hatch is one of five lawmakers who accepted lobbyist donations to their legal defense funds despite rules prohibiting such contributions. Hatch received a lobbyist's contribution of $3,000 in 1996, according to the report. "Hatch spokesman Adam Elggren said the senator's office is trying to determine whether the contribution came from the lobbyist or the lobbyist's company." Story also published by the Associated Press.
Media Watch
Broadcasters Embracing New Media
Thanks to Bart Barker for sending along a link to Lynn Arave’s radio column in the Morning News noting blogging and podcasting developments at KSL and other Utah radio stations. He also mentions the InsideUtah.compodcast we frequently feature on UPD. A letter to editor writer doesn’t like KSL’s switch to ABC Radio News.
Utah’s Energy Resources
KSL TV’s John Hollenhorst aired a very interesting story Sunday night that highlights the enormous potential of Utah’s oil shale and tar sands.
Reader Response Question
Last Chance to Nominate
OK, this is your last chance to nominate Utah’s biggest political junkie (or two or three of them). Who is obsessed? Who stays up all night to watch the election returns? Who stays until the very end of boring county conventions? Who is always talking politics? Who always knows the latest gossip? Who eats, drinks and sleeps this stuff? Send your nominations to daily@utahpolicy.com (and it’s OK to nominate yourself).
Confessions of a Political Junkie
Meanwhile, Lisa Allcott, who is a consultant for strategy and planning for the Pete Ashdown for U.S. Senate campaign, got into the spirit of our little search for political junkies. She sent this dispatch:
I was driving to lunch yesterday thinking about what makes a political junkie. Here are the things that I've done that my friends (Maura Carabello, Donald Dunn or Nichole Adams) would say are 'political junkie-like':
1. I watch all of the Sunday morning political shows. I was so incensed by Rick Santorum last Sunday on Meet the Press that I got on amazon.com and bought Hillary Clinton's book - "It Takes a Village". I also get the chills - literally - every Sunday during the "In Memorium" section of George Stephanopulos' show.
2. The 1st thing I do in the morning is read the following on-line:
-Utah Policy - of course
-Des News - Utah section only
-SL Trib - Utah section only
-Roll Call
-The Hill
3. Most all of my friends are political activists - I have hardly any who are not.
4. I get bored with conversations that aren't about politics. This drives my family crazy.
5. I have a Hillary 2008 bumper sticker on my car. Luckily I live in the Avenues, but when I went to visit my cousins in Emery County – I got some really mean gestures/stares!
6. I subscribe to Campaigns and Elections magazine and read it immediately when I get it.
7. I subscribe to the National Journal and read it immediately when I get it.
8. I left a perfectly fine career at IBM in 2000 to run a field operation for the Gore/Lieberman campaign. My family had fits over this one!
There's plenty more - but you get the picture!
There’s Hope, After All
So, the world is going to hell in a hand basket, right? Things were so much better in the “good old days.” Today’s kids are irresponsible, don’t know how to work, and are continually in trouble, right?
Well, wrong on all counts.
Check out the terrific column in the New York Times by David Brooks on the rebirth of virtue in the country. It’s worth reading, even if you have to sign up for a free subscription. Brooks makes a persuasive case that things really are better today and we are improving as a society, not declining.
On a related note, Time magazine produced an interesting package of stories on what it’s like to be a 13-year-old today, noting, “Today’s 13-year-olds are less likely to smoke, drinks, do drugs, get pregnant, commit a crime or drop out of school than those of their parents’ generation in the 1970s.”
There are plenty of problems in society, but today’s kids are clearly a whole lot better than my generation was in the ‘60s. It’s interesting that the resurgence of virtue coincides with the revival of conservative political values in this country. That’s why the Democrats won’t win the presidency if the party is controlled by Howard Dean, Move-on.org and Michael Moore. They need a centrist candidate.
Now You Know
Utah’s most popular tourist attractions, based on 2004 visitations:
1. Temple Square
2. Zion National Park
3. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Lake Powell
4. Lagoon Amusement Park
5. Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area
6. Thanksgiving Point entertainment complex
7. Bryce Canyon National Park
8. Wasatch Mountain State Park
9. Arches National Park
10. Hogle Zoo
(Source: Utah Travel Council)
Wise Words
"There's nothing so absurd that if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it." -- William James
"I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes." --Gene Fowler
(Source: The Federalist Patriot) |
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