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Washington Watch
SCHIP Splits Utah Delegation
Associated Press: "Shrugging off a barrage of political attacks, House Republicans are on track to hand President Bush a victory this week by upholding his veto of legislation expanding children's health coverage. To understand why, consider Utah, where Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch is an outspoken supporter of the measure -- and the state's two GOP House members oppose it. Rep. Rob Bishop called the vetoed bill a 'dumb idea' for relying on higher tobacco taxes to pay for insuring children, a provision he said would create a need for new smokers. And Rep. Chris Cannon said that while he agrees with Hatch on one point, they part company on another. 'This is a profoundly moral issue,' he said in an interview. 'But that doesn't mean the government should do it. Government isn't very good at doing some things, mostly because of rigidity.'"
UIR Annual Summit
The Utah Intergovernmental Roundtable is holding its annual summit this Thursday in the VIP Room of the Energy Solutions Arena between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. The summit's focus this year is on Utah housing issues. Speakers include Gov. Huntsman and SL Co. Mayor Peter Corroon. For more info and to register, click here.
John Tyler and the Mormons
As a former President, Tyler is impressed by a young Mormon missionary playing the piano in a Richmond music store. He invites the boy to teach his daughters piano lessons. In this way, young Karl G. Maeser—future president of BYU—financed his mission in Virginia. (From Mike Winder’s Presidents and Prophets: The Story of America’s Presidents and the LDS Church)
New Web Site
The Davis County Republican Party has a nice new web site. Check it out at www.davisgop.org.
Today in Political History
October 16, 1859: John Brown raids the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry.
October 16, 1962: The Cuban missile crisis begins as President John F. Kennedy is informed by his aides that reconnaissance photographs reveal the presence of missile bases in Cuba.
October 16, 1964: China tests its first atomic explosion. (Source: Perspicuity)
October 16, 2002: President George W Bush signs a congressional resolution authorizing war against Iraq. (Source: NBC5)
Wise Words
“So, let us not be blind to our differences -- but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved.”
-- John F. Kennedy (Source: Quotations Page)
Communications Tip
Strategic Listening
We can communicate on one-or all-of four different levels at any given time:
- facts,
- meaning,
- feelings, and
- intention.
"The house is burning" is a simple, straight-forward statement. But those four words — depending on how they are said — may mean:
- "A residential structure is being consumed by flames." (Facts)
- "The house we're in is on fire." (Meaning)
- "Ahhhh!!!!" (Feelings)
- "Run for your life." (Intention)
Sometimes we don't understand other people, because we're not listening — or not listening well. We're distracted or simply not paying attention. But sometimes we don't understand them, because we're not hearing what they want to communicate. We're not listening to the right level. We may hear the facts, for example, but miss the feelings. (Source: Witt.Com)
National Politics
Best Stories From …
-- Boston Globe: "Hillary Clinton's advisers are predicting that women will carry her to victory in the Democratic primary and that, if they do, they will turn out to vote for her in historic numbers in the general election next November."
-- The Hill: "Republicans plan to seize on an allegation from the 1992 presidential campaign to tarnish [Sen. Clinton] on the red-hot issue of government surveillance. ... Republicans are focusing on an allegation in a recent book by two Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters, which suggests Clinton listened to a secretly recorded conversation between political opponents."
-- The New Republic: Peter Bergen looks at "how Osama Bin Laden beat George W. Bush."
-- Los Angeles Times: Editorial: "It's a silent but deadly source of greenhouse gases that contributes more to global warming than the entire world transportation sector, yet politicians almost never discuss it, and environmental lobbyists and other green activist groups seem unaware of its existence. That may be because it's tough to take cow flatulence seriously. But livestock emissions are no joke."
Blog Watch
-- At The Senate Site, Sen. John Valentine reports on his recent trip to the Kyrgyz Republic, which he calls "an island of emerging democracy in the heart of central Asia."
-- At Utah Politics, Gordon Jones posts a long, detailed defense of the proposed voucher program. (For more on the voucher issue, see Paul Rolly, The Utah Amicus, and KVNU's For The People)
Lighter Side
“The man who never makes a mistake always takes orders from one who does.”
-- Author unknown |
