Simple Utah Mormon Politics

We all want to be safer, right? Sometimes we scream "There oughtta be a law!!!"  Congress made a law once that was fully intended to make things a lot safer, but which didn't (okay, maybe they've done that more than once).  The unintended consequences of the Seamen's Law, contributed to the deaths of hundreds of people.

In the past few days, Senator Bob Bennett has switched into--what seems to me--desperation attack mode.  He claims viciously, vehemently, and falsely that Mike Lee does not support the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines of the United States military.  Having been a soldier who spent a year in Iraq, I'd like to illustrate to you why, as a soldier, I feel much more supported by Mike Lee than I do by Bob Bennett.

It is clear that Robert Bennett no longer deserves to be a United States Senator from Utah.  The only choice left is which of his four Republican challengers should replace him.  When Mike Lee recently announced his candidacy for the position, I threw my initial support behind him.  After last night's Independence Caucus-sponsored debate, I am even more convinced that I made the correct choice.

The rich in the United States are getting richer. We're not Rome yet , but we're heading in that direction in a lot of ways, and particularly with regard to the growing divide between rich and poor. The ethanol scam is a perfect example of how that divide most often gets wider-- with the help of government . When the richer get richer by theft, they should be punished, even if government helped them in their highway robbery. And those government shysters should at least be voted out of town on a rail. The ethanol people never really did have as their primary goal to save the planet. Their primary intended consequence was to get filthy rich--which they have now done. Congress wasn't out to save the planet either. They may have been out to look good, but their primary goal was to buy votes. It goes like this--dream up a scary scenario, then provide a "solution" for the concocted problem. Then, before too many people find out about the scam, make millions of ...

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...

It is the duty of the Supreme Court to interpret the laws of the United States (those laws can only be created by Congress). Yesterday, in MASSACHUSETTS ET AL. v. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ET AL . four Supreme Court justices did this, while five did not. It is the duty of the Supreme Court not to give opinions on facets of science that are still controversial and unproven, let alone to use such opinions for making new law (which the Constitution of the United States leaves to Congress). Yesterday, four Justices fulfilled their Constitutional duty, while five exceeded it. I'm not sure why Al Gore visited congress recently, unless he's trying to run for President of the United States or Secretary General of the United Nations. Surely he must have known that "the third branch" of the legislature would "solve" the issue that he was trying to get the regularly elected Congress to decide. By a 5-4 decision yesterday, the Supreme Court decided once and fo...

Congress can limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme (and other federal) Courts. But what happens if the Supreme Court has already issued a ruling on a particular issue? Is it too late for Congress to remove jurisdiction? Historical precedent--including the Supreme Court's willingness to abide by Congress decision--says it's not too late. Article III, Section 2 of the United States Constitution says: In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make. This means that in certain rare cases, the Supreme Court can hear an 'original case', without it having to have been heard first in a lower court and then appealed to the Supreme Court. Most issues that the Supreme ...

A lot of scuttle has been made lately about Utah gaining a fourth seat in the US House of Representatives. This would be a great boon to Utah, but only if it is done the correct way. Updated December 28, 2006. Utah governor John Huntsman Jr. has been very interested in drawing up plans for a fourth district for the United States House of Representatives . He has been so aggressive that it has caught some Utah legislators by surprise. A plan actually already exists. In 2001, following the 2000 US census wherein Utah narrowly missed getting that 4th seat, and in anticipation of winning a subsequent appeal at the Supreme Court (Utah missionaries living out of country were not counted in the census) that plan was drawn up. Utah Senate President John Valentine says the 2001 plan "is the official four-seat plan." It is interesting to note why there is currently a new push for a 4th Utah seat in the House, considering that the 2010 census is about 4 years away. In conjunction w...