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National Politics
McCain, Huntsman Seek Mormon Support
Article: "Sen. John McCain pitched his expected presidential effort to much of Mesa's business and political elite Monday in a bid to shore up his standing with social conservatives against likely rival Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. The crowd was heavily skewed with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, of which Romney is a member. ... McCain, R-Ariz., acknowledged strengthening support among influential members of the church in light of Romney's candidacy was one purpose of the meeting in downtown Mesa. He boosted that effort by bringing Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., a Republican, a Mormon and one of McCain's early supporters in his expected attempt to win the presidency" (East Valley Tribune).
PCE Event Features John Fund
The Parents for Choice in Education annual Educational Freedom Conference on Thursday features John Fund, editorial page editor and columnist at the Wall Street Journal. The event begins at 7 p.m. in the Little America Hotel Grand Ballroom. Cost is $25 per person and includes dinner. The PCE PAC will be making a big push during the legislative session in support of education choice. For reservations or more information, call Lincoln Fillmore at 801-548-0144.
Taxpayers Conference is Thursday
The Utah Taxpayers Association’s pre-legislative conference on Thursday will feature top legislative leaders and a representative of the governor’s office discussing their priorities, in addition to presentations on transportation and education “reform,” welfare expenditures, truth-in-bonding, and the severance tax trust fund. A representative of the Taxpayers Association will also discuss the organization’s 2007 agenda. The conference runs from 9 a.m. to noon in room W135 at the Capitol. RSVP to brina@utahtaxpayers.org or call 972-8814. Admission is free.
Among scheduled speakers are House Speaker Greg Curtis, Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble (assuming he recovers from illness), Sen. Sheldon Killpack, Robert Spendlove of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, Rep. John Dougall, Rep. Becky Lockhart, Rep. Wayne Harper, Rep. Mike Morley, Rep. Greg Hughes, and tax attorney Mark Buchi.
Local Government Watch
Saxton Announces Mayoral Bid
Council member Nancy Saxton formally announces her candidacy for Salt Lake City mayor this morning at 10:30 a.m. at Utah Artist Hands located at 61 W. 100 S. in downtown Salt Lake City. Her press release says, “I am inviting you as a friend and supporter to attend this exciting kickoff of my campaign for Mayor.”
UAC Broadcasts Meetings
The Utah Association of Counties will be broadcasting its Legislative Committee meetings during the '07 Legislative Session. For more info and a list of broadcast locations throughout the state, click here.
Washington Watch
Hatch Pushes Stem Cell Research
Sen. Orrin Hatch speaks "at a bipartisan press conference touting the promises of stem cell research, which he and other Congressional stem cell advocates hope to enhance with National Institutes of Health funding via H.R. 3, scheduled for a House vote this week, after which time it will come to the Senate. Also speaking at the event were Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.), Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)" (see press release).
Sierra Club Bill Tracker
The Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club has posted a guide to the upcoming 2007 Utah Legislature that includes a legislative session bill tracker.
Blog Watch
Utah Taxpayer argues that"general sales tax increases for roads [are] a bad idea".... Utah Conservative says: "[I]t has come to my attention, and I believe I am the first to report, that Senator Curt Bramble, R-Zion, is in the hospital with blood clots. As the session will start on Monday I would like to wish him a speedy recovery, and recommend that instead of eating the Aggie Ice Cream in the Senate freezer, he switch to ice cream from the BYU creamery. It always makes me feel better when I am sick!!".... Dave Fletcher notes: "Using [a service that measures the reach of websites], I did a quick comparison of how Utah.gov compares with surrounding states. It turns out the Utah's website surpasses most states, even many with much larger populations, except a few like California and Texas, although it still does significantly if the comparison is done on a per capita basis".... Paul Rolly reports: "Who said municipal mayoral races are non-partisan? ... Take the recent invitation sent out by the Salt Lake County Hispanic Democratic Caucus. The invitation is for the 2007 Salt Lake City forum, Wednesday at 6 p.m. in room 315 of the City and County Building. It's a meet the candidates night. But you don't get to meet all the candidates. The invitation says the candidates who will be there are Ralph Becker, Robert Comstock, Meghan Holbrook, John Renteria, Nancy Saxton and Jenny Wilson. The candidates, you will notice, are even listed in alphabetical order to avoid the appearance of favoring one over another. But what do all these candidates listed on the invitation have in common? If you answered that they are all Democrats, you can go to the head of the class. ... And did you notice that some candidates are not on the list? That would include David Buhler, Keith Christensen and J.P. Hughes. And what do they all have in common? Well, they're Republicans. It begs the question: Are Democrats inherently better at cleaning out gutters and replacing sewer pipes than Republicans?".... Political Spyglass says 2007 is the Year of the Voucher for education…. DownWithTyranny says Virginia Rep. Tom Davis' proposed legislation that would give D.C. a congressional seat has "a catch, a bad one. It's bad enough that Davis and the neo-Nazi racist party he's in are demanding that in return for a seat for Washington there also be a new seat created for the most right wing Republican stronghold in the country, Utah -- their 4th. ... What makes it even worse is that this would give the Republican state legislature an opportunity to gerrymander the whole state and eliminate Utah's one quasi-Democratic seat, the one currently occupied by Jim Matheson. ... [W]hen it comes to substantive issues, Matheson votes like a Republican most of the time anyway. I should be happy to see him gerrymandered out of his seat by the vicious reactionaries he's been trying to placate. But now that the Democrats have majorities in both houses of Congress, I'd like to see them just do the right thing and get DC it's congressmember AND 2 senators. Utah shouldn't even be entitled to statehood since they came into the Union promising to end polygamy, which -- just ask Anderson Cooper -- they haven't done".... At National Review’s The Corner, Byron York says: "Jim DeMint, senator from South Carolina and Corner reader, called to talk about his decision to endorse Mitt Romney for president. He told me he took a careful look at all the candidates running and decided that, even though it's just January 2007, he needed to make a public commitment. 'If I'm going to get in, the time to make a difference is now,' DeMint says. 'My good friends Lindsey [Graham] and John McCain have made a whole lot of calls, and people have wondered, is McCain the only alternative? I've talked to a lot of candidates, and frankly it's been a long time since I've seen anybody light up a room like Mitt Romney does.' ... I asked DeMint about the Mormon factor. DeMint, who has a lot of support among primary-voting evangelical conservative Republicans in South Carolina, described it not as a negative but as a plus. 'Romney's in a good position to unite the faith community around some key values, morals, things that he has demonstrated in his life that don't necessarily go back to any particular doctrine,' DeMint says. 'His doctrine is not the same as mine, but when he translates that into what he is doing as an elected official, he's talking about the values, the morals, the integrity that need to be brought back to the public debate'" (see also here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).
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