Gimlet-Eyed Federalism
New York Times columnist David Brooks published an insightful essay a few days ago saying that the 2008 election will be shaped by the gap between voters’ “private optimism and their public gloom.”
American are generally happy with their own lives, Brooks says, citing survey research, “but are overwhelmingly pessimistic about their public institutions.” There is a 40-point gap between private and public happiness. Citizens are highly disillusioned with the president and Congress. “Americans today are more pessimistic about government’s ability to solve problems than they were in 1974 at the height of Watergate and the end of the Vietnam War.”
Brooks suggests that citizens “don’t believe government can lift their standard of living or lead a moral revival.” They want a federal government that focuses on a few macro areas like national security, energy, entitlement debt and immigration, and otherwise stays out of their lives. This attitude is neither liberalism or conservatism, Brooks says. “It’s a gimlet-eyed federalism – strong government with sharply defined tasks.”
I’ve written many times that the job description of the federal government has gotten so immense that it’s impossible to accomplish, hence the deep cynicism about the federal government. The nation’s founders intended for the national government to focus on a few things and do them very well. We need a national resorting of the roles of the different levels of government. A smart presidential candidate would do well to pick up on the mood of the people.
William Howard Taft and the Mormons
Taft visited Utah a record six times. His rave reviews of the new Hotel Utah led to its national recognition. Every president since him through Reagan stayed at the hotel. Taft also enjoyed the first Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert in the White House. “There is in my heart a warm feeling for your people,” he tells Church President Heber J. Grant. (From Mike Winder’s Presidents and Prophets: The Story of America’s Presidents and the LDS Church)
UIR Presentations
The University of Utah's Center for Public Policy & Administration has posted the presentations from Oct. 18th's Utah Intergovernmental Roundtable, which focused on Utah housing issues.
Today in Political History
Nov. 8, 1889: The state of Montana is admitted to the Union.
Nov. 8, 1892: Former President Grover Cleveland beats incumbent Benjamin Harrison, becoming the only president to win non-consecutive terms in the White House. (source: NBC5)
Nov. 8, 1960: Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy defeats Vice President Richard M. Nixon for the presidency. (New York Times)
Nov. 8, 1994: Republicans regain majorities in both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years as voters reject Democratic incumbents.
Wise Words
“A government for the people must depend for its success on the intelligence, the morality, the justice, and the interest of the people themselves.”
-- Grover Cleveland (Source: Brainy Quote)
State Agency Spotlight
Utah’s Alcohol Distributor
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control was created by the Legislature in 1935 and was charged by statute with the responsibility of conducting, licensing and regulating the sale of alcoholic beverages in a manner and at prices which reasonably satisfy the public demand and protect the public interest, including the rights of citizens who do not wish to be involved with alcoholic beverages. The legislature also mandated that the department be operated as a public business using sound management principles and practices.
Two years earlier, the ratification of the 21st First Amendment not only ended national prohibition, but it also gave individual states the right to choose their own system of controlling and distributing alcoholic beverages. The Utah legislature at that time believed that the state, rather than private enterprise, should control sales.
The purpose of state control is to make liquor available to adults who choose to drink responsibly -- but not to promote the sale of liquor. By keeping liquor out of the private marketplace, no economic incentives are created to maximize sales, open more liquor stores or sell to underage persons. State policy promotes moderation and enforcement of existing liquor laws.
Utah's system of controlling the sale of alcoholic beverages is not as unique as many people believe. There are 18 states and one county in Maryland that control the sale of alcoholic beverages at either the wholesale or retail level. These jurisdictions account for 28% of the nation's population. The stated common purpose of these jurisdictions is to promote moderation in the consumption of alcoholic beverages and to discourage excess and abuse. (Source: Alcoholic Beverage Control)
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- The Hill: "White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) unveiled a package of tax breaks and programs Wednesday in Iowa that he said would help middle-class Americans."
-- Arizona Republic: "Sen. John McCain's battered presidential fortunes have rebounded enough that the Arizona Republican, who had fallen to a distant third in many national surveys, has returned to second place behind Rudy Giuliani in three recent polls."
-- San Antonio Express-News: Columnist Jonathan Gurwitz says the Bush Administration should "use the improved security situation [in Iraq] to leverage political progress in Baghdad. After all, when conventional wisdom held that military force couldn't make Iraq any better, the threat of a drawdown was next to meaningless. Now that the situation has improved, more Iraqis have a vested interest in a continuing U.S. presence."
-- National Review Online: Columnist Jim Geraghty: "Gloom hangs over Republicans when they think of next year's elections -- but it shouldn't. ... Next year could be a surprisingly good one for the GOP ... [O]n a wide variety of fronts, there are pieces of good news that are overshadowed by the mainstream media's preferred 'Democratic-Tsunami Part Two' narrative."
Sutherland: Reform Efforts to Continue
The Sutherland Institute says that, despite the results of the voucher referendum vote, it will continue "to develop sound policy ideas for education reform in Utah, including how to provide the large population of minority students -- who are now not graduating with a diploma -- new opportunities to succeed" (see press release).
Blog Watch
Lots of reaction to the voucher referendum outcome: See BoardBuzz, Steve Urquhart, SLCSpin, The Utah Amicus, Dynamic Range, The Senate Site, Paul Rolly, Out of Context, Reach Upward, COL Takashi, Jeremy's Jeremiad, Davis County Watch, Salt Blog, and Millard Fillmore's Bathtub.
Lighter Side
“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”
—Groucho Marx (Patriot Post) |
