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Huntsman Tax Reform Plan
The newspapers today provide good coverage of Gov. Jon Huntsman’s tax reform plan. If you want to read it yourself, go to the governor’s Web site. For details, click on the links at the bottom of the press release.
Demos Join Dogpile on Cannon
Congressman Chris Cannon is besieged from all sides. He already faces an intra-party challenge from wealthy businessman John Jacob and probably from prominent State Sen. Curt Bramble. Now he is being pounded by the Utah Democratic Party as well.
It has been a long time since Utah Democrats were this aggressive. State Chair Wayne Holland has released a scathing press release calling on Cannon to return financial contributions from Republicans now caught up in scandals in Washington, D.C., including Jack Abramoff and David Safavian, a former Cannon chief of staff. Holland claims some $55,000 should be returned. He also lists 13 lawsuits he says have been filed against Cannon.
The detailed press release required a fair amount of research. The state party is obviously making use of the three new full-time staffers paid for by the national Democratic party. The state party is apparently going to be more aggressive on all fronts. See interesting City Weekly story by Ted McDonough.
Are Protests Unpatriotic?
Oratorical fireworks ought to be lighting up the airwaves when a panel of opinionated people square off in a debate on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. on the topic of “freedom to criticize the government,” the seventh in a series of Freedom Forum events. The debate will be hosted by Mayor Rocky Anderson and will be broadcast live on KCPW Radio. Ken Bingham, a conservative who blogs at Obligatory Anecdotes was very excited to be invited to participate. He called UPD to tell us about the event. His invitation shows that a citizen blogger can have an impact.
Besides the mayor and Bingham, other participants will include U. law professor Ed Firmage, retired Colonel Gil Iker, Hinckley Institute of Politics Director Kirk Jowers, Sutherland Institute Director Paul Mero, Utah VFW Commander Dennis Parezik, and KSL talk show host Doug Wright. The debate will be held at the downtown SLC library auditorium, 200 East 400 South.
Washington Watch
Hatch Names New Press Secretary
Sen. Orrin Hatch announced he is promoting Peter Carr as press secretary, replacing Adam Elggren, who recently departed for a position with the United States Attorney’s office in Utah.
GOP Getting Cold Feet Over Tax Cuts?
Some Senate Republicans are talking about delaying tax cuts to temper the effects of hurricane relief on the federal budget, reports The Hill. However, Sen. Bob Bennett calls it a public relations ploy and the Heritage Foundation says such delays would amount to paper savings.
Hatch Race is “Snoozer”
National Journal’s Chuck Todd ranks all the U.S. Senate contests. Orrin Hatch’s race is in the “snoozer” category. Says Todd: “The makings of a Democratic advantage are brewing.” He also notes that a lot of incumbent mayors aren’t doing well in this year’s city elections, which could mean a mood for change is in the air and the ’06 could be a “throw them all out” type of election.
Good Political Reads
National Journal’s Beltway Blogroll and The Blogometer will keep you up to speed on what the prominent political bloggers are saying. . . . Two very interesting New York Times articles, one on illegal immigation and the other on creationism and evolution.
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