| 
UFIRE Hammers Cannon
Utahns for Immigration Reform and Enforcement (UFIRE) is keeping the heat on Rep. Chris Cannon on issues related to illegal immigration. The group sent out an e-mail blast Monday night urging supporters to contact Cannon’s office to encourage him to debate Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo during Tancredo’s visit next week to Utah. UFIRE says the CSPAN Cable Network is interested in covering the debate and broadcasting it nationwide. Cannon’s spokesperson has joked that Cannon will be home working on his irrigation system and is too busy to debate Tancredo. For more information, see UFIRE’s web site, which includes links to a number of news stories on Cannon and Tancredo.
Are All Politicians Crooks?
Some people disparage all politicians. It seems you’re OK as a typical citizen. But as soon as you’re elected to any office, you’re suddenly an idiot, a liar and probably a crook. One Utahn with such an attitude regularly writes to Frank Pignanelli and me whenever we say anything nice about a politician in our Sunday Morning News column.
Frank recently sent a response to this fellow that I think is worth publishing. It’s about as good a rejoinder as I’ve seen to those who believe all politicians are worthless:
“You have written to us in the past regarding your concern that elected officials are not public servants. While there are some elected officials who have character problems, an overwhelming majority of these people are honest, hard-working and dedicated. Your prior e-mail claimed that all elected officials seek public office for proprietary gain or some other selfish reason. Over the years, other individuals have made similar accusations that anyone who exercises their constitutional right to pursue elective office is suspect. You and the others in this category hold contempt for anyone who is a candidate in a democratic election. Therefore, I must conclude that your problem is not only with candidates, but with the democratic process as a whole. It seems that you will only find happiness in a country that does not have elective officeholders; there are plenty of those on this planet (i.e. North Korea, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, etc.).
“You certainly have the constitutional right to disagree with all the decisions your elected officials have made. Unfortunately, your continued implication that all officials are crooked demonstrates a lack of appreciation for democracy. It’s easy to generally cast aspersions at everyone; it is more difficult to become educated and make your objections on a selective basis. I hope you will rethink your displeasure with participatory democracy. Thank you for your interest in our column.”
People You Ought to Know
Scott Groene, SUWA’s Executive Director
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance isn’t very popular among many Utahns, especially conservative Republicans. Nonetheless, SUWA is one of the more effective political action organizations in the state. It is particularly adept at playing the public relations game and working the news media. Here is a look at SUWA Executive Director Scott Groene.
Education: JD, University of Colorado
Position: Executive Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
Hometown/growing up: I grew up in Kansas and moved to Utah in 1986.
Family: One daughter, Marguerite Fig Groene, Spouse Christy Calvin/Landscape architect.
How became involved in politics: In the late 1980s I served as a Legal Services attorney in San Juan County, Utah, representing people under the poverty line. During this time I watched the loss of wild country in SE Utah, and realized that protecting this spectacular piece of creation wouldn't harm the economic interests of my clients. Rather, that the opposition by local politicians to wilderness protection was ideologically based without factual support, and this opposition distracted from the real issues facing southern Utah residents such as health care and education. Then a strip mine was proposed near my home in Bluff and I sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the BLM. Included in their response was a letter from a group previously unknown to me, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. I contacted the group, liked the folks involved, and joined the effort to conserve the Redrock.
Hobbies: Wandering Utah's wilderness with my family and patching up a 110-year-old house (the latter assumes hobbies can be involuntary).
Motivations/ambitions/goals: Leaving our kids the same opportunities to explore wild country that I had.
Hottest issues on your watch: Off-road vehicle damage.
Proudest moment: With countless other citizens, stopping the Utah congressional delegation’s first congressional assault on wilderness in 1995-1996, after some very savvy advisors told us that this was politically impossible.
Most embarrassing moment: Like I’m willing to re-live it in public, again?
Favorite book: Harold and His Purple Crayon (I do have a 4 month old daughter).
Mentor: Brant Calkin, former SUWA Executive Director.
Blog Watch
Bloggers Don’t Like Hatch
Rep. Steve Urquhart has an obviously uphill battle in his campaign against Sen. Orrin Hatch, but he can take some comfort in winning the battle of the Utah bloggers. A range of bloggers, including Phil Windley, Rep. John Dougall, Ethan Millard, and Charley Foster, among others, like to take shots at Hatch. I haven’t yet discovered a blogger who is squarely in the Hatch camp.
Recent Postings:
Rep. John Dougall is back in the blogging saddle after a few weeks out of town. He weighs in on Legacy Parkway, gets in a few digs at Sen. Orrin Hatch, and supports a flat income tax.
Democracy for Utah continues its Bash Bush Fest, including a note about a meeting to plan protests for the Bush visit on Aug. 22. The problem with the Bush haters is they love to criticize, but they have no ideas or plans of their own. Bad-mouthing Bush is not a winning campaign theme. Despite Bush’s low poll numbers, Americans will always vote for the candidate or party that is resolute, provides real leadership and has a plan, rather than the hecklers and naysayers lobbing belittling comments from the sidelines.
Rep. Steve Urquhart discusses the rule of law and political courage.
KSLBlog reporter Jon Dunn tells what happens when a news reporter gets pulled over by a police officer.
Stay up to speed with technology in state government with Dave Fletcher.
Wilf Sommerkorn comments on a fascinating story in the Washington Post about population densities in the West being much higher than eastern cities. Salt Lake City is more tightly packed than Philadelphia.
Ethan Millard at SLCSPIN says an anti-commuter rail op-ed piece in the Morning News was not only wrong, it was boring – the ultimate insult.
Weber County Forum lists 19 candidates seeking Ogden council posts. It’s going to be a frisky election.
Jim Knowlton’s Beehive Donkey tells what’s wrong with modern liberalism
National Politics
Bush’s 2nd Term Grade
National Journal does a weekly Insider’s Poll (something we’d like to blatantly copy at Utah Policy Daily on a Utah basis). A selected number of Republican and Democratic Washington insiders are asked the same question and the results are tallied. The question this week was:
What grade would you give President Bush so far in his second term?
GOP (58 responses)
A: 9 votes
B: 29
C: 13
D: 2
F: 0
Average: B-
Democrats (53 responses)
A: 0 votes
B: 3
C: 18
D: 23
F: 8
Average: D+
Washington Watch
Cannon is Celeb Blogger
Rep. Chris Cannon is listed as a celebrity participant in Yahoo! Health’s “Blog of Hope”, says Businesswire.com. "Blog for Hope” is a month-long program featuring health-related blog postings by celebrities, athletes, politicians and other personalities. The Blog began Monday and continues through Sept. 15.
HHS Sponsorship Draws Fire
HHS’s sponsorship of the First National Conference on Methamphetamine, HIV and Hepatitis (see Web site), to be held this Friday and Saturday in SLC has drawn the ire of Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN). Last Friday, Souder sent a letter to HHS Sec. Mike Leavitt, saying the conference's approach to end the nation's "war on drugs" in favor of programs that try to limit drugs' harmful effects undercuts federal policy, reports the Washington Times. According to the Times, the conference was praised in March by Sen. Orrin Hatch, and in May by Rep. Jim Matheson, but “Souder and others see ‘harm reduction’ as a cover for those who want to legalize drugs.”
Now You Know
Utah Community Names
The town of Loa is in the Fremont Valley two miles west of Lyman, Wayne County. Franklin W. Young, after serving a mission in Hawaii, suggested the town be named for the Mauna Loa volcano because of the physical similarities in the Hawaiian volcano and the mountain adjacent to the settlement.
(Source: Local Government Directory, Utah League of Cities & Towns) |
Utah
Policy Daily is a service