George Carlin: Baseball vs Football

It's that weird season of the year again.

No, I'm not talking about the Utah Legislative Session. I'm talking about the season in between when football ends and baseball starts.

For those of you confused about the differences between the two, here's a little primer:



I think that's the longest Carlin ever went without cussing.....

HB 288 -- Daylight Savings Time Elimination

Deseret News:

"Over time, I've had so many constituents say they hate switching," said [Rep. Kenneth] Sumsion, [(R-American Fork)], who Wednesday introduced HB288.

So his bill, with an accompanying amendment, will open a dialogue that simply says: Pick Daylight Savings Time or pick Mountain Standard Time and stay on that all 12 months.

No more spring forward and fall back.

No more resetting the clocks in your house and trying to remember how the heck you change the time on your car's digital or face-number clocks.

Arizona is now the only state in the continental U.S. that doesn't go on Daylight Savings Time. So it is out of sync with surrounding states for part of the year.

One way or the other, depending on whether Utah legislators pick Daylight Savings Time or Mountain Standard Time, the Beehive State would join that minority.

I rather like this idea. However, I think that Rep Sumsion misspoke later in the article:

Yes, a change could mean that the sun would set in the winter around 4 p.m. "But it would be daylight" when Utahns got going in the morning, he said.

"How many of us really are enjoying the outdoors in the winter? Not many," Sumsion said.

Ski resort operators likely would have to shoo skiers and snowboarders off the slopes before the sun goes down, but they would just open an hour earlier in the morning.

Actually, if we stayed Standard Time year-round it would still get dark around 5 PM in the dead of winter. It would get dark just after 8 in the summer. If we went with Daylight Savings year-round, it would get dark at six in the winter, and just after 9 (as it does now) in the summer.

Like I said before, I like this idea, but only if we make it daylight savings year-round.

Best Governor $10,000 can buy

KSL:

Gov. Gary Herbert has been challenged by his presumptive Democratic opponent to return a $10,000 campaign donation to a coal company that got a fast-track decision from state regulators on a strip mine.

"The right thing for the governor to do here is to return the money," Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon said Thursday. "The public needs to have confidence that their elected officials and government are not in a pay-to-play position."

Corroon, who's running for Herbert's job in the next election, is calling for an independent investigation to establish the facts.

Thursday evening, the governor's office spoke back sharply to the Democratic challenger. Herbert's chief of staff accused Corroon of spreading inaccuracies for political purposes, adding that Herbert will not return the campaign contribution.

The money came from the Alton Coal Development company, which wants to start a coal mine near the town of Alton. On the day the $10,000 contribution was deposited by the governor's campaign, he met with company officials. A month later, the state approved the mining application.

Officials of the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining have given conflicting statements on whether the approval process was sped up after the meeting with the governor.

The team leader on the approval told KSL News Wednesday that her supervisors did speed up the timetable and told her that's what the governor wanted.

"That's why we need strong ethics reform up at the Capitol, and we want citizens to have faith that the government is doing the right thing and not being overly influenced by large corporations or money," Corroon said.

But the governor's staff insists he never even knew about the campaign contribution; it went to his campaign committee, not the governor's office. They say he did nothing to pressure the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining on behalf of the coal company.

"No money exchanged hands. No one came to the governor and gave him money, looking to do something on their behalf. It's just inaccurate and really not appropriate to even insinuate that there was in this case," says Jason Perry, the governor's chief of staff.

Perry says the governor will not support an independent investigation.

While I believe that there was no quid pro quo, I do not believe that the Governor did not know that he was dealing with a campaign contributor. $10,000 donations don't often appear out of thin air.

-Bob

No Legislative Pay Raise in 2011

Deseret News:

The 104 part-time Utah legislators should not get a pay raise next year.

So says House Minority Leader David Litvack, D-Salt Lake, who introduced a bill Wednesday that would keep lawmakers' daily pay at $117, like it is this 45-day session.

If legislators don't act, they would automatically get a pay raise July 1 to $130 a day — their old pay level. That is the recommendation of the Legislative Compensation Commission.

A law passed in 2001 says that pending other action, legislators' pay automatically goes to the level recommended every two years by the commission. Late last year, commission members said it is proper that lawmakers' pay go back to where it was two years ago.

At that time, lawmakers cut their own pay by the same percent that state budgets were trimmed. Most state employees got no pay raise this year, and some had to take unpaid furlough days, as well.

Most state employees won't get a pay raise next budget year, either, and some may have to take furlough days again.

No to mention the fact that many state employees have been laid off, and therefore some of their former coworkers have faced increased workloads because of it. Furthermore, most state employees are nervously following the legislative session to see how much their department is going to get cut, resulting in new rounds of labor cuts.

-Bob

Corroon and Herbert on "Social Issues"

The Tribune ran a feature yesterday talking about the similarities and few differences between the two candidates running for Governor. It is well worth the time and effort to read the piece. I agree with BYU political scientist Quinn Monson when he says that while Corroon and Herbert agree on many social issues,

Corroon ... needs to make the governor's race about fiscal responsibility and good government. "If it turns on social issues," he adds, "you activate the vote-Republican gene" in GOP-dominated Utah.

So, how does Peter Corroon feel on some of the Utah's hot-button social issues?

Gay Marriage/Civil Unions:

Corroon » "I believe traditional marriage is between a man and a woman. I also do support making sure all our citizens can work, live and support their loved ones without discrimination in our society.

"Our citizens have spoken on [civil unions] through a constitutional amendment so it wouldn't be something I would pursue."

Abortion:

"Based on my [Catholic] faith and upbringing, I am opposed to abortion except in limited circumstances: rape, incest and the life and health of the mother. ...

"I certainly understand that other people may have a different opinion. I respect that difference. As governor, my goal would be to unite everybody to see how we could reduce the number of abortions. ...

-Bob

Cycling Bill Dies

I posted about my opposition to this bill a couple of weeks ago. Well, it looks like the bill died in committee yesterday:

Utah bicyclists will have to keep stopping at stop signs or risk a ticket, regardless of whether there's any traffic.

The House Transportation Committee on Tuesday deadlocked 6-6 over a bill that would legalize a rolling stop when a bicyclist finds it safe to cross and also allow for stopping and then riding through red lights when there is no traffic. The tie vote means the bill fails to advance to the House floor.

Rep. Steve Mascaro, R-West Jordan, said the change would confuse drivers and send the wrong message to children taught to wait out red lights and walk their bikes across the street. Like others on the committee, he added that he believes drivers would be sued and found at fault for hitting cyclists who make poor choices.

Ethics Reform -- They're Doing it Wrong

So, the lobbyists rented a room at the State Capitol Building so they could have an office to work out of. And, because they wanted to prove that you can indeed purchase anything in this world with money, including a Legislature, made it the nicest room in the building:



(Thanks to Ashley Anderson for the poster....)

Glenn Beck is a Big Fat Liar

Applying WimmerLogic to Carl Wimmer's Pet Issues

From the same article from my previous post:

Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, is one who has opposed a cell phone ban on the principle of individual liberty.
"Government does not need to mandate every good idea," said Wimmer, who acknowledged that driving while phoning may be dangerous. "We are a free people."

So, let's use this reasoning on some of Wimmer's pet issues:

Abortion:

Sure, you're taking the life of another person into your hands, but we are a free people. Government does not need to mandate every good idea..... Oh, that's not his position? Never mind.

Marriage:

We are a free people. We should be able to choose whom we marry. Government does not need to mandate every god idea..... Oh, that's not his position? Never mind.

Hmmm... Wimmerfail, anyone?

-Bob

Hang up and drive!

One article, two posts. Part two to come. but first, from the Tribune:

Many Utahns are wary of drivers who are talking on cell phones behind the wheel, and most say they would support legislation to ban the practice.

A Salt Lake Tribune poll found 69 percent of respondents favor a ban, and on Thursday a state senator introduced a bill to keep drivers younger than 18 from using cell phones while driving.

That's a start, but doesn't go far enough, said West Jordan resident Thomas Black, one of the poll respondents.

"I have two daughters that drive while using a cell phone, and I refuse to ride with them," Black said. "It's dangerous. It takes away from concentration."
He prefers an all-out ban.

Honeyville resident Shelly Thorsted agrees it's especially important for new drivers to avoid distraction. Even adults can zone out, though, she said. She has become frightened enough that she won't answer calls while in the car.

"I've been talking on my phone and hung up and realized I didn't even remember driving that last five or 10 minutes," she said.

Sen. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake City, on Thursday introduced a ban on phone use by under-18 drivers. Rep. Phil Riesen, D-Holladay, is sponsoring a bill with the same ban in the House.

Limiting the ban to teens was necessary because the Legislature has been hostile to a flat cell phone ban, Romero said. Lawmakers last year prohibited texting while driving, but all talk of a phoning ban has gone nowhere.

No phone call is so important that you have to answer it or make it while behind the wheel.

I've been guilty of doing it, but I try not to.

-Bob

HB 223 -- Applying Free Market Principles to Liquor Licensing

Blue in Red Zion:

This bill, if it were to pass, would eliminate the population requirement for liquor licenses issued to restaurants and open the liquor license process to the free market – allowing any restaurant to receive a license if they are willing to pay the fee.

For those of you who may not know, there is a limited number of restaurant liquor licenses (and bar licenses for that matter) that the liquor commission can give out to restaurants across the state, and this number is tied to the state population. In fact, only one license can be distributed per 5,200 people if the restaurant wishes to sell liquor (these laws apply to, say, the Olive Garden). The bill goes further, if a restaurant wishes to sell wine, heavy beer, or beer (but not spirits), it too lifts the population requirement of one license per 9,300 people (these laws apply to that local wing joint you may love).

There's a reality that just because a place sells alcohol doesn't mean that you have to partake. And, if this means that more restaurants can open and be profitable (because there is a large profit margin in alcohol, as well as soft drinks), then I'mm all for it.

-Bob

GOP Legislature Doesn't Want Your Grandma to Vote

Well, not without waiting in line for 4-5 hours to get a state ID card.

KSL:

Elderly voters in Utah won't be allowed to use their Medicare cards as a valid form of identification at the ballot box.

The Utah House voted down a measure Thursday 47-27 that would have carved out an exception in state law that requires a picture ID to vote.

Current forms of acceptable identification include a valid Utah driver's license, U.S. passport, tribal identification card and concealed weapons permit.

Two forms showing the voter's name and proof of address can also be used.

Rep. Marie Poulson, a Cottonwood Heights Democrat who sponsored the bill, says many older voters don't have driver's licenses or other necessary documents.

But opponents defeated the bill out of fear illegal immigrants would obtain fraudulent Medicare cards.

Maybe Grandma can get a concealed weapons permit.....

Hunsaker: You Can't Handle The Truth About Canal Safety

Tribune:

Last summer's deadly Logan canal collapse is spurring efforts to identify potential hazards along Utah's waterways, but a House bill would keep those findings secret from the public and even the courts.

That is, if there ever were any findings from HB60, the Water Conveyance Facilities Safety Act. Compliance, if the measure passes, would be voluntary.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Fred Hunsaker, R-Logan, says water companies should create management plans identifying potential hazards along their canals or ditches. Voluntary compliance would give them continued access to state revolving funds. Noncompliance would cut them off from state money for repairs or hazard prevention.

But Hunsaker's bill would make the plans exempt from the Government Records Access and Management Act, Utah's open-records law. And if a lawsuit were filed in the event of canal failure, the management plans -- or the lack of them -- would not be allowed as evidence in civil negligence, injury or damages litigation.

But because the canal companies wouldn't have to actually file the plans with the state, only certify that they exist, would they be records at all? And what would be their point?

HB 60 -- The "We know whether or not you live under a canal that could destroy everything you own and possibly kill you, but we're not going to tell you or the state." bill.

Cause that will work really well.

-Bob

I'm a Human Being, and I'm Mad as Hell

From TPM:

A third political party is emerging in America. Call it the I'm-Mad-As-Hell party.

It's a mistake to see the Mad-As-Hell party as just a right-wing phenomenon - the so-called Tea Partiers now storming the gates of the Republican Party. There are plenty of mad-as-hellers on the left as well - furious at Wall Street, health insurers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and establishment Democrats.

Mad-as-hellers don't trust big government. But they don't trust big business and Wall Street, either. They especially hate it when big government gets together with big business and Wall Street - while at the same time Main Street is in shambles and millions of people are losing their jobs and homes.

First it was TARP, the giant bank bailout that seems to have made Wall Street flush again -- so flush the Street is now distributing giant bonuses as if the crash it brought on never happened.

Then came the stimulus package, replete with earmarked goodies for every corporation big enough to hire a team of Washington lobbyists.

And then it was health care, which to some people looked like a sweetheart deal between government and Big Pharma and big health insurers.

Whenever I go on a rant about Congress or the Legislature screwing us over, my mom just smiles and says "Well, that's just the way it is." And, it will remain that way until we, the people, act.

An answer to Sutherland

From an email:

For years now non-profit organizations like the Sutherland Institute have advanced policies which reflect conservative values. Progressives in Utah have been largely left out in the cold, especially since the loss of fine organizations like the Utah Progressive Network (UPNet). Too often progressives have been forced to react to legislation they disapprove of instead of going on the offensive with ideas of their own. Those days are coming to an end.

The Citizens Education Project (CEP) has been in existence for more than 10 years. During that time, the grassroots organizers who formed the CEP have had some significant victories. For example, they blocked efforts to bring private prisons to Utah and worked closely with downwinders to make sure nuclear testing in Nevada never resumed. They have also been fighting the Las Vegas water grab in Snake Valley and have a long history of holding the military accountable at Dugway Proving Grounds when others wouldn't. The CEP is proud of its record of standing for openness and transparency and will continue to do so.

Now the organizers that founded the CEP are ready to take the organization to the next level. They realize it is no longer enough to simply block bad policy. They believe it's time to also start bringing good policy ideas to the table. You are receiving this message because we think you agree.

While organizations like the Sutherland Institute have enjoyed considerable corporate support and even have members of Congress like Congressman Rob Bishop raising money for them (see Paul Rolly, Jan 4, 2010 Salt Lake Tribune), progressive organizations like CEP likely won't. For one thing, the CEP won't have much corporate support because we don't intend to muddy the waters on climate change or other issues, we intend to inform and educate the public and policy makers about problems facing Utah and the West and offer real solutions.

By the end of 2010 we plan on having raised the resources needed to establish a foundation that will support a progressive think tank in Utah for years to come, but we will need your support to get things rolling. With your help, we will be a resource for the public and policymakers offering information and ideas that over time can create real positive change in the lives of people across Utah and throughout the region.

By becoming a sustaining member at $5, $10, $25, $50 or more each month, you can help us build the solid small donor support needed to sustain our organization and begin the work of both creating and critically analyzing policy choices that will effect your life and the lives of your fellow citizens for generations to come.

Our goal is at least 1,000 monthly donors by the end of 2010. We know there are far more than 1,000 citizens in Utah who want to see a strong progressive non-profit presence and understand how influential it could be in shaping our state and region's future. If you think the time has come for an organization like the CEP, we ask not only for your contribution, but that you forward this email to others who share our values and ask them to join you in supporting the CEP.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. We know these are difficult times economically. However, the most difficult times are when the need for solid progressive ideas and organizing is greatest. From poverty to climate change, what happens today has serious consequences for our future.

Sincerely,

Craig Axford
Executive Director, Citizens Education Project