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The Week Ahead
Two Democratic presidential candidates are getting organized in Utah. On Tuesday, Utahns supporting New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will meet at 7 p.m. in the SLC Library, Conference Room 1, 210 East 400 South. Everyone is invited. RSVP to Aaron Thompson, dipl0mac03@yahoo.com. On Saturday, Utahns supporting Barack Obama will gather, also in the SLC Library, at 2 p.m., Conference Room C, Level 1. To RSVP, or for more info, contact Misty Fowler, admin@UtahForObama.org. For other political events this week, see the Utah Policy.com calendar.
Happy Birthday, Utah Policy Daily
On May 7, 2004, the first edition of UPD was published. We have published every working day since, without a miss, although we’ve had a few close calls due to Internet failure or server problems, and we’ve been late a few times.
 UPD is published at no cost to subscribers, mostly for promote the services of the Exoro Group, which specializes in political consulting, communications, public relations and related services. We also use UPD to deliver client messages to the Utah political community. The messages are appropriately noted and are usually delineated from other content by being placed in the Message Center.
Our goals for UPD are modest. We’re not trying to be journalists and cover every aspect of politics. We’re simply aggregating the political and government news of the day and delivering it in a quick-read format. We have some 9,000 readers, but our target audience is Utah’s elected and appointed political leaders and other political professionals. Anyone interested in politics is welcome to read along.
It costs several thousand dollars a month to produce UPD, and at some point a paid subscription premium edition may be produced. We appreciate and welcome suggestions and comments. It helps us to hear from readers, to learn if UPD is worthwhile for you and what improvements we can make. E-mail us at info@utahpolicy.com.
Venture Capital Still Strong
The Economic Development Corporation of Utah's latest newsletter says although first quarter venture capital investments in Utah companies were below last year numbers, the sector is still strong, with more venture capital under management in Utah than ever before.
International Trade Tips
The May issues of the Zions Bank Business Resource Center newsletter, "Taking Care of Business," are focusing on international trade and exporting by small Utah businesses. This week's newsletter features an interview with Lew Cramer, president and CEO of World Trade Center Utah. Cramer says WTC Utah will serve as a catalyst to educate, motivate, and facilitate international trade for Utah businesses.
In Case You Missed It
The SLC Mayor's Office has posted a streaming audio feed of last week's debate between Rocky Anderson and Sean Hannity.
Bludworth Seeks GOP Chair
Aaron Bludworth has issued a press release saying he wants to become chair of the Utah Republican Party. He said he will focus on “fiscal needs of party, grassroots participant inclusion, as well as promoting respect and fairness in administering duties of chairman position.”
He said he is “committed to ensuring the party is fiscally responsible and effective and will work with others to reach significant financial goals. I am committed to the process and intend to respond to all party participants in a fair and respectful manner. Additionally, I have great respect for our elected officials and will support them and include them in our efforts ….”
Bludworth is a senior executive at Salt Lake City-based Modern Display. He and his wife, Holly, live in Holladay and have four children. He has been involved in numerous community and business organizations. For more information, him at aaronbludworth@comcast.net or (801) 231-2225.
Regional Politics
Western governors outline the possible impacts of global warming on the West and ask Washington leaders for a change in focus regarding climate change. Click here.
Washington Watch
Matheson Condemns VA Bonuses
Rep. Jim Matheson expresses outrage that senior Veterans Affairs officials are receiving performance bonuses despite a backlog of more than 400,000 disabled veterans' claims: "It's unconscionable that the financially-strapped VA would pay bonuses to senior career officials while the community they serve-disabled veterans-wait for months for help. Something is badly out of whack" (see press release).
Today in Political History
May 7, 1945: Germany signs an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, ending the European conflict of World War II.
May 7, 1992: The 27th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified by the states, 203 years after it was first proposed. It bars Congress from giving itself midterm pay raises. (Source: perspicuity)
Wise Words
“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”
–Eleanor Roosevelt (Source: Brainy Quote)
Leadership Tip
Experts: How to Resolve Conflicts
Lester R. Bittel: Be proactive instead of reactive. Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true.
Chinese Proverb: Be slow to anger -- especially over petty issues. Anger is always more harmful than the insult that caused it.
Samuel Butler: Instead of telling people they are wrong, point out mistakes indirectly. A person convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.
Ludwig Erhard: Look for some type of common ground as soon as possible. A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece.
Dan Heist: If you find that you are in the wrong, admit it. It's easier to eat crow while it is still warm.
Alexander Pope, from Miscellanies by Jonathan Swift: Admit one of your own poor decisions before pointing out a similar error by others. A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying... that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.
E.H. Chapin: Mend fences whenever possible. Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it forgoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury. (Source: Leaders Institute)
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- New York Times: "Over the last four months, the Iraq deliberations in Congress have lurched from a purely symbolic resolution rebuking the president's strategy to timetables for the withdrawal of American troops. Behind the scenes, an elaborate political operation, organized by a coalition of antiwar groups and fine-tuned to wrestle members of Congress into place one by one, has helped nudge the debate forward. But there are tensions in the relationship between the groups ... and the Democratic leadership. The fissures could be magnified in coming weeks as [Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid] struggle to cobble together a strategy after President Bush's veto of the $124 billion Iraq spending bill that tied the money to a timetable for withdrawal."
-- Boston Globe: Columnist Joan Vennochi: "President Bush doesn't know how to win the ground war in Iraq. But he does know how to win the political war at home over Iraq. All it takes is a simple message: A withdrawal date is a surrender date. If you tie war funding to a timetable for withdrawal, you betray the men and women who are fighting terrorism. In Congress, it works like an evil charm."
-- Newsweek: "They all want to be Harry Truman. Hillary Clinton invokes his iconic sign (THE BUCK STOPS HERE) to call for better treatment of wounded veterans. Barack Obama reminds us that Truman was the first politician bold enough to call for universal health care. Rudy Giuliani notes that Truman was unpopular in his day, but if he hadn't stood up to the Soviets in the late 1940s, asks Giuliani, 'Who knows how much longer the cold war would have gone on?' .... Buffeted by war, unhappy with President Bush, many Americans -- Democratic, Republican, independent -- seem hungry for a Trumanesque figure, a truth-telling, bare-knuckled president who will give it to us straight. The question now is whether anybody in the 2008 field can measure up."
-- Indianapolis Star: Columnist Ruben Navarrette: "Last week's immigration marches in several of the country's largest cities were actually helpful. They showed that -- despite the nativist sound bites on the far right -- the answer to our immigration woes is no more likely to come from the radical left."
Blog Watch
-- The Senate Site links to testimony delivered by Utah Senate Majority Leader Curtis Bramble before the U.S. House Nature Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. Bramble describes Utah’s approach to energy and economic development and outlines the potential for oil shale development in Utah and surrounding states.
-- SLCSpin liveblogged last week's Rocky Anderson/Sean Hannity debate.
-- Rep. Craig Frank reports on the 2007 Utah Taxpayers Association conference (see also related Out of Context post).
-- Phil Windley says: "Utopia is Utah's large-scale municipal-broadband project. My city, Lindon, was one of the first supporters of the project and all winter I've watched in anticipation as crews dug up the lawns in my neighborhood laying fiber. I first heard about Utopia when I was Utah's CIO and Utopia was just a dream Paul Morris had. I've supported it, written about it, testified about it to city councils, and, mostly, waited for it. Yesterday was the day that I had service installed in my house."
-- Rep. Steve Urquhart responds to this Politico article about e-government and discusses his experience running Politicopia.
-- At Utah Senate Democrats, Sen. Scott McCoy says Utah needs to "wake up" to its STD problem.
-- Paul Rolly reports: "While several names have been tossed around as possible candidates for Republican State Chair, to be decided at the GOP convention next month, the first to actually file for the job is former Salt Lake County Councilman Steve Harmsen."
-- The Telegraph's Toby Harnden says: "In the Spin Room here at the Ronald Reagan library, every campaign flack was claiming his guy won [last week's GOP presidential debate]. But only the Mitt Romney aides were convincing. And they had good reason to be -- the former Massachusetts governor put in a near flawless performance" (see also related Chris Cillizza, Reach Upward, UNCoRRELATED, and Hugh Hewitt posts). |
