Simple Utah Mormon Politics

Senator Orrin Hatch's recent letter to the Deseret News seems to me to be an effort in propaganda. His discussion about the District of Columbia having a seat in the House of Representatives has some logic to it, but the contortions he goes through to say that Utah should also have another House Seat is atrocious. He begins by saying: Legislation is necessary to give the District of Columbia a seat, and Utah another seat, in the House of Representatives so Americans are properly represented in Congress. D.C., maybe. Utah--no way. Let's leave aside the reasoning that Senator Hatch uses to justify a D.C. House seat. I'll talk about that below--after I talk about his contorted Utah House Seat "logic". Here's what he says about Utah: This legislation would give Utah the fourth House seat we deserve and years of seniority before the next census and redistricting process would be complete. I remind those who insist that process will necessarily give Utah a fourt...

You may not want to read this post, because you might find out that you are breaking the law, too! It has just come to my attention that I am a miscreant because I have not been itemizing and reporting to my employer my cell phone usage into business vs. personal minutes. It will cost my employer more money for me to do that each month than my monthly phone bill costs! There are things that the IRS does that tick me off, and there are things they do that are beyond explanation. I found one, and apparently, I and my co-workers have been breaking this law for quite some time. Here is an excerpt from an e-mail that I just received, entitled "2nd Request-URGENT!! Important Cell Phone Tax Implications". Dear Cellular Phone Subscriber, A previous communication was sent to you on July 6, 2007 and we do not have a record of a response. You are receiving this because our records indicate that you have a cell phone ... which is paid for by [the company]... The IRS requires that p...

It is a travesty that the media and nearly everyone else with an opinion has declared Michael Vick guilty of participating in dog-fighting. He might just be. But how can we possibly apologize to him and give him his life back if he is not? Updated : 7/31/2007 I don't even really like the National Football League (college football is much more fun to watch). And I don't really like the Atlanta Falcons. And I don't think, from my limited knowledge of the professional game, that Michael Vick is a very good quarterback. But I am of the strong opinion that he is being treated wrongly by a pack of leeches who can't wait to get in the first lick. Have you ever noticed that when someone is captured for this or that crime, that more often than not the person's mug shot is on the evening news that night with the implication that the individual is clearly guilty of the crime for which he has been arrested? I think such statements by the media should be illegal. In most c...

The previous federal minimum wage was so low that it had little effect on the nation's economy, and particularly Utah. Which confirms my opinion that, instead of increasing the minimum wage, the government ought to be doing the kinds of things that government can do best--promoting the general welfare--so that business can thrive and grow amidst fair competition. If the minimum wage is raised in a forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound ? The nation's lowest-paid workers will soon find extra money in their pockets as the minimum wage rises 70 cents to $5.85 an hour today, the first increase in a decade. It ends the longest span without a federal minimum wage increase since it was enacted in 1938. The previous increase came in September 1997, when a bill signed by President Bill Clinton raised the minimum 40 cents, to $5.15 an hour. Legislation signed by President Bush in May increases the wage 70 cents each summer until 2009, when all minimum-wage jobs wil...

If recent polling results are true, I'm disappointed in the younger generation. I have a suspicion, however, that the results are suspicious. MTV participated in the polling. According to a recent poll, youth are much more likely than their elders to favor national health care : "Young Americans are more likely than the general public to favor a government-run universal health care insurance system, an open-door policy on immigration and the legalization of gay marriage, according to a New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll. ... Forty-four percent said they believed that same-sex couples should be permitted to get married, compared with 28 percent of the public at large. They are more likely than their elders to support the legalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana. The findings on gay marriage were reminiscent of an exit poll on Election Day 2004: 41 percent of 18-to-29-year-old voters said gay couples should be permitted to legally marry, according to the exit pol...

To be sure, me and Barack Obama disagree on a lot of things. But I was surprised how many times I found myself agreeing with him as I read his new book, The Audacity of Hope. You might be surprised what his political beliefs are. I was. Almost shockingly to me ( after recently accusing Barack Obama of dogpiling on whites at a debate a Howard University; I now suspect the statement I made about him was wrong ) there are a plethora of things that I put an "A*" in the margin of my copy of The Audacity of Hope (meaning that I agree substantially with the associated statement in the book). I list here several of those issues that I'll admit I thought were the exclusive domain of conservatism. I agree with him on sexuality and abortion: I think faith can fortify a young woman's sense of self, a young man's sense of responsibility, and the sense of reverence all young people should have for the act of sexual intimacy. (pg 215) He has something good to say about the ...

It bugs me when people speak half-truths or worse when it comes to the defense of their position on a controversial issue. The issue that is perhaps most spoken of in less than a forthright way is global warming. The Deseret News jumped to its own erroneous conclusion about Global Warming yesterday. Why is it so easy to speak in false platitudes about Global Warming? The only other issue that appears to me to be so falsely spoken of is stem cell research. When the media talks about stem cells, they invariably refer to embryonic stem cells, avoiding completely the fact that adult stem cells exist, and that adult stem cells are the only stem cells with which cures have been effected, of which there have been several. When it comes to global warming, it's hard for the media to admit that although global warming exists, and that although we should clean up our environment, that not everyone thinks we need to clean up the environment because it will reduce global warming. I'll ...

The City of Orem, Utah got a bit of egg on its face recently, and it was all because of a law that should have never been passed. A 70-year-old Orem woman was arrested as a result of having not watered her lawn. Have you ever driven down the street and looked at someone's yard and thought, "I sure wish someone would make them clean that up"? Orem, Utah has a law that says they can do that. And they did that a couple of weeks ago . A widow and grandma spent the morning in jail, arrested for refusing to give a policeman her name when he tried writing her a ticket for failing to water her yard. The woman hasn't watered her lawn in more than a year, and the condition of her yard violates an Orem zoning ordinance. Tonight, the woman says she is traumatized and shocked that she was hauled to jail, just because she says she can't afford to water her lawn. Betty Perry says, "I never thought they would ever do anything like that to a person that is 70 years old. I...

I often measure the worth of the book I am reading by how much it inspires me to write about my feelings. I have only reached page 23 of Barak Obama’s The Audacity of Hope and already I have a lot of things to write about. Senator Obama’s insights into political decorum are particularly poignant for me as I contemplate the vitriol that accentuates the current debate over Utah public education vouchers. As I began to read Senator Obama’s book, I already knew that I was going to disagree with him on several issues: health care, global warming, welfare, and many others--because he had the courtesy in the beginning of his book to tell me. I’m sure as well that he and I would have diametrically contrasting positions regarding education vouchers, but I’m also confident that we could sit down over a cup of hot chocolate and have a respectful and respectable conversation on the subject. Which is more than I can say for a plethora of Utahns on both sides of the issue. It is the height o...

When productive members of society have to make up for the waste of non-productive members of society, the net effect is a decreased enjoyment of the material blessings of life for everyone. One problem with health care in the United States is that we have way too many lawyers. Like annoying dogs, many attorneys constantly nip at the heels of doctors with their senseless litigation on behalf of themselves rather than for their clients. I remember quite some time ago listening to a Paul Harvey commentary on the radio. I don't remember the exact ratios, but I remember the stark contrast he presented. While Japan had something like five doctors for every one attorney, the United States had nearly the correlative inverse--about 5 lawyers for every doctor. This skewed ratio of lawyers to doctors contributes significantly to the high cost of health care in the United States. It needs to be fixed. Investor's Business Daily recently ran across a place that lawyers don't muc...

In a day when race mongers profit from their race mongering, it is refreshing to have heroes who are not “conscious of race at all”. Ronald Reagan was such a person, one who loved and respected every man and woman because we are all children of God. How unfortunate that some current candidates for President of the United States would attempt to use their bully pulpits to divide and desecrate on the basis of race. Have you ever had someone tell you over and over how bad you are and that something is your fault? Did it make you more or less disposed to try and fix the problem? I thought so. Me, too. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints often sing the song I Am a Child of God. The third verse says I am a child of God Rich blessings are in store If I but learn to do His will I’ll live with Him once more An essential part of His will is that we love everyone else, because everyone else is a child of God, too. It doesn’t matter if they’re male or female, black, ...

For the next few days, I'll be traveling with my three oldest kids, who are members of the Utah Valley Children's Choir, based in Spanish Fork, Utah. To follow the One Nation Under God choir's tour, check here . Stops along the way will include Springfield, Illinois, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.

Warning: If you are a liberal and do not think that conservatives have anything to contribute to the conversation, and that sometimes they are downright rude, you will be offended by this article. I, however, think that political satire is funny, as long as it's not vulgar, and regardless of which side of the aisle you come from. Hopefully we all can take satire as tongue-in-cheek when necessary and as constructive criticism when appropriate. If you want to laugh at the same time you consider a brilliant insight that you might never have considered before, go to ProtestWarrior.com . The following introduction greets you after you successfully navigate to the site. Welcome to ProtestWarrior.com , a website created to help arm the liberty-loving silent majority with ammo -- ammo that strikes at the intellectual solar plexus of the Left. In a recent interview on the Right Balance, Kfir Alfia of ProtestWarrior unlocked for host Greg Allen and his listeners the secret of why l...

There's a lot of envy going on the United States these days. It's not necessarily by those who have less than the others. It's more often by those who are trying to convince the ones that have less that they're trapped, and that it's because those with more took it all from them. This is how subsidies are born. This is how nations die. Jesus taught that "Thou shalt not covet." I think it's a pretty good idea. There was once a time when I had a hard time making ends meet. I've worked hard, and that's not the case now. If I'd have coveted, at best I would have settled for a life of mediocrity. It's frustrating, then, that many people believe the propaganda of certain politicians who tell them that they can't ever work hard and make something of themselves, and that it is other people's fault that they can't. Coveting makes us all angry. It makes the poor angry because they are encouraged to believe that they've ...