The Week Ahead
A few legislative meetings are scheduled this week, including the Executive Appropriations Committee Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in w135. The committee will discuss revenue estimates, spending limits, and hear reports from appropriations subcommittees and the Equalization Task Force. For all the meeting notices and agendas, see the legislative calendar. See the UtahPolicy.com calendar for all the week’s political events.
Monday Musing
Downtown Rising
It’s Christmas time in the city, but we’re not hearing silver bells on every street corner. Not many busy sidewalks this year. Not many shoppers rushing home with their treasures.
What we’re hearing is a lot of big trucks grinding into construction sites. It’s hard to dress big holes in the ground in holiday style. I suppose the dump trucks could be trimmed with strings of lights so they blink a bright red and green.
Still, it’s fun living downtown during the holiday season. We have Temple Square and the whole LDS Church complex with beautiful Christmas lights and decorations. Close by is the Gateway mall, with plenty of holiday hustle and bustle. And a lot of activities are happening at the Gallivan Center, across the street from where I live. In the air there’s still a feeling of Christmas.
But, clearly, downtown this year isn’t Santa’s big scene, and won’t be for a few more years. It will be nice when the City Creek project is finished and the shoppers return downtown . . . with children laughing and people passing . . . meeting smile after smile. But, still, despite the paucity of silver bells downtown, soon it will be Christmas day.
Washington Watch
Hatch Votes for AMT 'Fix'
Sen. Orrin Hatch joins 87 other senators "to pass legislation to keep 21 million Americans, including more than 100,000 Utahns, from paying the Alternative Minimum Tax in 2007" (see press release).
Matheson Hails Energy Bill
Rep. Jim Matheson says Thursday's "passage of a bipartisan, comprehensive energy bill will lead to savings at the gas pump for Utahns and a bright future for the renewable energy industry in Utah" (see press release).
Regional Politics
States to Ratify Drought Plan
Arizona Republic: "Water users from the seven Colorado River states are expected to ratify a regional drought plan this week in Las Vegas, ending years of bickering over how to balance uncertain resources with growing demand." See related New York Times story.
New York Times: Editorial blasts Nevada for “cashing in on the sale of federal lands to spare their taxpayers the tab for a raft of amenities that include parks and shooting rages.”
Today in Political History
Dec. 10, 1817: Mississippi is admitted to the Union.
Dec. 10, 1948: The U.N. General Assembly adopts its Universal Declaration on Human Rights. (New York Times)
Dec. 10, 1869: Wyoming is the first U.S. state to grant women the right to vote. The act to grant suffrage to women was signed into law by Gov. A.J. Campbell. (Source: Perspicuity)
Wise Words
“A constitution founded on these principles introduces knowledge among the people, and inspires them with a conscious dignity becoming freemen; a general emulation takes place, which causes good humor, sociability, good manners, and good morals to be general. That elevation of sentiment inspired by such a government, makes the common people brave and enterprising. That ambition which is inspired by it makes them sober, industrious, and frugal.”
-- John Adams, Thoughts on Government (Patriot Post)
Leadership Tip
The Difference: Management & Leadership
Managers think incrementally, whilst leaders think radically. "Managers do things right, while leaders do the right thing." This means that managers do things by the book and follow company policy, while leaders follow their own intuition, which may in turn be of more benefit to the company. A leader is more emotional than a manager . "Men are governed by their emotions rather than their intelligence". This quotation illustrates why teams choose to follow leaders.
"Leaders stand out by being different. They question assumption and are suspicious of tradition. They seek out the truth and make decisions based on fact, not prejudice. They have a preference for innovation." (Source: See.Ed)
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- Associated Press: "Mike Huckabee has vaulted from nowhere into second place in the Republican presidential race, riding a burst of support from evangelicals, Southerners and conservatives, a poll showed Friday."
-- The Economist's Lexington columnist explains why Republicans should take another look at John McCain.
-- The Politico: "Iowans turned out by the thousands Saturday to watch the 'O' Show: Oprah Winfrey stepping into presidential politics for the first time, hailing Sen. Barack Obama as a 'rare thing.'"
-- Wall Street Journal: Editorial: "President Bush has been scrambling to rescue his Iran policy after [last] week's intelligence switcheroo, but the fact that the White House has had to spin so furiously is a sign of how badly it has bungled this episode. In sum, Mr. Bush and his staff have allowed the intelligence bureaucracy to frame a new judgment in a way that has undermined four years of U.S. effort to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions."
Lighter Side
Nothing bad can happen if you haven’t hit the Send key.”
-- David Shipley & Will Schwalbe (Reader’s Digest)
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