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Lawmakers Plans On-Line Town Meeting
An on-line town meeting will be held in conjunction with the legislative site visits Wednesday and Thursday to Davis and Salt Lake counties. The Senate Site provides details, and says:
“For several reasons, such as a packed itinerary, a plethora of diverse communities, etc., the traditional ‘brick and mortar’ town meeting was impractical this year. We decided to take to the web. This on-line town meeting replaces 3X5 cards with E-mail, replaces the brick and mortar of an auditorium with whatever surrounds your computer, shrinks geography and tosses the clock out the window.”
Anyone with questions for legislators can pose them at www.utahsitevisit.com. More information here. The site is still under construction.
Dems: Good Riddance to Rove
Utah Democrats say the “resignations of two top-level Republicans with ties to Utah (Karl Rove and Kyle Sampson) reflect GOP policies that put party loyalties and the dark side of politics above what’s best for America.” See press release.
Today in Political History
August 14, 1846: Henry David Thoreau is jailed for tax resistance.
August 14, 1935: Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law, creating Aid to Dependent Children, unemployment insurance, and pension plans for the elderly. (Source: Perspicuity)
Wise Words
“Were we to be directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread.”
-- Thomas Jefferson (Source: Quotes Exchange)
Management Tip
Acting on Employee Feedback
How do you handle an employee's criticism? You listen to what the employee has to say, ask questions where appropriate, get the employee's suggestions on how you could improve and then pledge to consider it.
You are likely not to agree with everything said, at least initially. But take it all under advisement. Your initial reaction might be to reject the feedback completely. Bad move. Tell him you will take some time to think about the criticism, and get back to him later. Then do so.
Chances are, you will appreciate what the employee had to say, even if — after spending some time thinking about it — you still disagree. Do get back to the employee and pledge to do what you feel is necessary to enhance the relationship. (Source: Microsoft.com)
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- Wall Street Journal: Editorial page editor Paul Gigot interviews Karl Rove about his decision to resign from the White House at the end of August.
-- Des Moines Register: "Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is facing a new challenge in light of his surprise second-place finish in the Iowa straw poll: Inspiring Republicans statewide to believe the former pastor can relight the party's fire."
-- Boston Globe: "Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani continues to discard the moderate and liberal positions of his past. The latest is civil unions for same-sex couples, which the Republican presidential candidate has been backing away from in recent months."
-- Washington Post: Columnist Howard Kurtz: "To a striking degree ... [the '08 presidential candidates are] carefully choosing which media operations they will court and which they will ignore. ... The new media order has been spawned by a 500-channel universe and a polarized climate in which news organizations are increasingly viewed, fairly or unfairly, as leaning to one side or the other. And with a cornucopia of choices, politicians tend to gravitate toward what they see as friendly arenas."
Blog Watch
-- David Fletcher notes: "Secretary [Mike] Leavitt made his initial post [Monday] to his new blog. I'm hoping that he can keep it up. He qualifies it as an experiment right now because of potential 'time management' issues. I've had a few of those myself over the years since I started blogging (May 2002) and have had a few prolonged periods of absence during that time, so I can imagine how challenging it will be for the Secretary to keep it up. I hope he can, because he has so many great insights to share."
-- Rep. Steve Urquhart says: "Rep. Sheryl Allen and I spoke on vouchers at the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Boston. It was a fun exchange. However, based on some of the commentary, I sense that the financial aspects of the voucher program seem particularly difficult for some people to understand. One attendee gave me the business on the 'cost' of vouchers -- repeatedly challenging whether Utah could afford vouchers. The cost he cited was over $300 million. 'Can Utah afford that?' I explained that the other side of the balance sheet -- the savings -- was $1.4 billion. To understand the financial impact, the costs AND the savings have to be considered. Thus, if Utah does spend $300 million on vouchers, the savings would be $1.4 billion -- thus, a net gain of $1.1 billion, to be spent on students remaining in the system. Vouchers will make education dollars go further. It's not magic. It's basic accounting." (For more on the voucher issue, see Jeremy's Jeremiad.)
Lighter Side
“A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.”
-- Bob Hope (Connect magazine 2007 Connectory edition)
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