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Washington Watch
Cannon Bill Endorsed
In op-ed, Linda Golodner, president and CEO of the National Consumers League, and Bill Connors, executive director and COO of the National Business Travel Association, endorse Rep. Chris Cannon's H.R. 2453, which would prohibit discriminatory car rental excise taxes (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
Reader Response
No Romney/Skousen Connection
Yesterday, UPD linked to a National Review Online article by Mark Hemingway, a Washington, D.C. writer and a self-described “former Mormon” who attempted to connect Mitt Romney to Cleon Skousen.
Paul Mero of the Sutherland Institute wrote this response to Mr. Hemingway and asked UPD to publish it:
“Mr. Hemingway, comparing Mitt Romney to Cleon Skousen is like comparing your writing to the real Hemingway. Big leap. If you couldn't tell, Mr. Romney had no clue what the radio host was talking about in referencing Mr. Skousen's book, The Making of America (which is a fine history book, by the way). Mr. Romney was being polite to a radio host, trying to settle in comfortably with him, trying to give an impression that they shared something in common. Quite a human trait. I am guessing, and reasonably sure, that Mr. Romney's exposure to Mr. Skousen was as a religion professor at BYU. I can nearly assure you with every bit of political acumen I can muster that Mr. Romney and Mr. Skousen (now deceased) have nearly nothing in common politically. To draw the comparison you do would be like me saying that subscribers of National Review all believe in legalizing drugs because the magazine's founder, Mr. Buckley, believes that. You provided very amateur thinking and writing. I like National Review, so I hope both skills improve for you.”
Today in Political History
August 8, 1898: U.S. annexes Hawaii.
August 8, 1974: Faced with further eroding support because of the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon announces in a nationally broadcast address that he would resign the following day, becoming the first president to resign from office. (Source: Perspicuity)
Wise Words
“Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.”
-- John Wooden, basketball coach (Source: Quotes Exchange)
Campaign Tip
How Reporters Investigate Campaign Finance
(From Investigative Reporters & Editors tips on election coverage.)
People like to know who is putting up the money to get somebody elected. If your state has some kind of contribution limits, figure out how the candidates get around them. They always do.
Pay attention to who hosts the fundraisers. Often, they are more important than the donors. Keep track of when your candidates are holding their fundraising parties and make sure you get a copy of any official program. Demand that the candidates release a list of anyone who has hosted a fundraising reception.
Don't forget the in-kind contributions. Does somebody give the candidate free planes rides around the state? Rent-free office space? Both can be a lot more valuable to a candidate than a $1,000 contribution.
Also keep an eye on the spending side of the ledger. Pay particular attention to any money going to the candidate. If it's for expense reimbursement, are the expenses itemized? Do the amounts seem reasonable? If something is not completely disclosed, demand the backup documentation.
Pull all of the candidate's old campaign finance reports. They may reveal a pattern that you hadn't noticed when a banging out a story of the day of a filing deadline.
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- Washington Post: In op-ed, centrist Democrats Martin O'Malley and Harold Ford Jr. say Pres. Bush "is handing us Democrats our Hoover moment. ... With an ambitious common-sense agenda, the progressive center has once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win back the White House, expand its margins in Congress and build a political and governing majority that could last a generation."
-- Inverstor's Business Daily: Editorial: "President Bush got help from 16 Democratic senators and 41 Democratic congressmen in expanding warrantless surveillance of terrorist communications to the U.S. Still think he's ineffective? We don't, though the media constantly tell us there is no more wind left in the sails of this presidency."
-- Los Angeles Times: "As she presses for a coveted endorsement from organized labor, presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is facing a backlash over the business ties of a top campaign aide who has angered the labor movement."
-- The State: Columnist Brad Wharthen explains why he thinks John Edwards "is a phony -- a make-believe Man of The People."
Blog Watch
-- Utah Taxpayer says: "Kim Burningham is turning to the age-old canard of 'diversity,' a common theme among voucher opponents. As he notes in [Monday's] Salt Lake Tribune, 'We are best served by schools that throw children together .... One of our greatest faults as a society is that we have become fragmented. Separation is not to be encouraged.' While that theme is laudable, it's hard to see how the school system he has overseen for 8 years fulfills that mandate." (For more on the voucher issue, see BoardBuzz and COL Takashi.)
-- The Utah Amicus posts a bunch of pictures from the Jefferson & Jackson Celebration and the Democratic state organizing convention.
-- Pete Ashdown says: "I saw Barack Obama this last weekend in Park City. He is the fourth Democratic presidential candidate that I have seen here in Utah. I've met Richardson, Dodd, and Edwards before him. For all, it was a repeated stump speech and only Dodd had the temerity to actually open it up to questions. I was disappointed that I baffled him with my question regarding Los Alamos Labs producing fresh weapons-grade plutonium. Aren't senators supposed to know these things? Seeing these candidates up close has been like peering behind the wizard's curtain of our Presidency."
Lighter Side
“Economic statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is important . . . what they conceal is vital.”
-- Sir Frank Holmes (quoted in The Economist’s Joke Book by Jeff Thredgold)
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