New Romney Community
Wade Eyerly e-mailed Utah Policy Daily to announce a new “e-community forming around Governor Mitt Romney and his potential candidacy.” Check it out at www.mittspaces.com.
Eyerly said the site is a “new ‘spin’ on the myspace experience.” It features a lot of images and video, and supporters can sign up as “mittsters,” join discussion groups, etc. “This site is specifically built to help put Romney fans, or observers, in touch with other Romney fans,” Eyerly said.
High Oil Prices Not All Bad
Utah economist Jeff Thredgold’s Tea Leaf economic update newsletter this week focuses on energy issues. Thredgold predicts that oil prices will stay within a range of $50 to $65 a barrel. The Saudis do not want the price to go higher because it results in greater U.S. efforts at energy independence, which could hurt the Saudis and other major oil-producing nations in the long run. High oil prices aren’t all bad, Thredgold writes: “Prices north of $70.00 per barrel enhance the call for more urgent moves towards hybrid and electric cars, more rapid use of new clean-burning diesel powered cars, more rapid development of hydrogen cars, and greater utilization of wind, solar, and geothermal sources of energy. High oil prices boost investment and government subsidies for ethanol development in the Midwest, with more urgent planning to utilize corn, grasses, weeds, and methane to generate energy.”
Washington Watch
Hatch: New Ideas Needed on Iraq
Sen. Orrin Hatch says of the recently released report prepared by the Iraq Study Group: "We clearly needed a fresh look at a very difficult situation, and I'm looking forward to reading the report in detail. This is the first of several reports -- including proposals being developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Security Council -- that will give the Administration new ideas on how we can obtain our goals in Iraq" (see press release).
Bennett: Next Year for Lands Bill?
Sen. Bob Bennett announces that the Washington Co. lands bill he co-sponsored with Rep. Jim Matheson has stalled in the 109th Congress and that he will look to next year for passage. Says Bennett: "I believe we had enough support in the Senate to pass this bill, but given the post-election environment in the House, it became clear they would not act on it, or many other pending bills, before they adjourn. Washington County will continue to experience unprecedented growth, and it is unfortunate that efforts to help address this will be delayed. I want to thank Congressman Matheson for his partnership in this initiative, and look forward to continuing this work in the new Congress" (see press release).
National Politics
Hillary Campaign Humming
Washington Post story says Sen. Hillary Clinton is ramping up her presidential campaign machine.
Wise Words
“If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”
-- P.J. O’Rourke, civil libertarian
SUWA: White River Plan Draws Opposition
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance announces that the BLM's Vernal field office "has received more that 30,000 public comments in opposition to a plan to drill more than 50 natural gas wells on federal and state lands just south of Utah's White River." Says SUWA attorney Stephen Bloch: "BLM needs to consider the impacts that this project -- along with several others under consideration or recently approved by the agency -- will have to the White River in a comprehensive environmental impact statement. As currently planned, this project and others will change the face of the White River for generations and leave a legacy of blighted lands, dirtied skies, and polluted waters" (see press release).
Blog Watch
Rep. Steve Urquhart says: "I tire of reading editorials that Democrats are not 'allowed' to participate in legislative decisions. Of course, such editorials are intended to bolster the theme that Republicans are bad. But, at its core, such whining merely demeans Democrat legislators. In the House, there are 75 representatives; any 38 of them can pass out a bill. In the Senate, there are 29 senators; any 15 of them can pass out a bill. Elections and the Constitution of Utah give each legislator all the permission he/she needs to participate. To argue that a Democrat legislator is incapable of getting anything done, other than as a product of Republican magnanimity, is false. Any legislator, Democrat or Republican, simply needs to work with others and build coalitions. I don't recall Rep. Brad King ever begging for anyone's permission to participate. I see him and other effective legislators jumping in and doing what it takes to get things done. Any legislator, Democrat or Republican, who thinks success should be delivered up just because he/she is louder, purer, smarter, entitled, or sympathetic, is going to waste a lot of time pouting -- while more effective legislators will be out working to build coalitions.The whining must sell newspapers, but it is dumb and it dumbs down the dialogue, doing the public a disservice".... Paul Rolly reports: "Some Utah legislators [were] grumbling [yesterday] that it seems like more than a coincidence that congressional leaders decided not to consider Utah's fourth House seat during its lame duck special session.” (see also here and here).... Hotline On Call says: "The Fix's Chris Cillizza reports that Gov. Mitt Romney has retained the services of Matt Rhoades, the former research director of the RNC. Rhoades will be a senior communications strategist and probably serve the campaign as communications director. He'll work closely with Kevin Madden, brought on to be the national spokesman. Rhoades was the research director for Bush-Cheney '04. He kept the Kerry portfolio. Whatever Kerry said, Rhoades knew the ten things he'd say next. With Steve Schmidt, he ran the campaign's famous rapid-response warroom. Campaign officials credit him with doing more than just about any other staffer to define John Kerry as weak, wimpy, French and flip-floppy -- an unacceptable Commander in Chief. And now, he'll handle a larger portfolio, designing a communications strategy and overseeing research against opponents Republican and Democrat. You won't see Rhoades quoted by name, and he rarely talks to the press. But Republican insiders say he has a preternatural understanding of news cycles and the folkways of the establishment (and non-establishment) media. And as Cillizza reports, he has a direct line to Matt Drudge, who can still (despite some slippage) drive network news coverage. Finally, he's one of the best opposition researchers in the business" (see also here, here, and here).
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