We're no longer last in voter turnout.

DesNews:

Despite regular encouragement by local civic and religious leaders, Utah suffered the second-worst voter turnout in the nation in last November's election, according to estimates released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

It estimated, based on surveys, that only 53.1 percent of U.S. citizens in Utah age 18 or older voted in that presidential election, even though the election also featured a Utah governor's contest, and legislative, county and school board races on the November ballot.

Nationally, 63.6 percent of eligible Americans participated in the election.

"That's so unfortunate," said Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen about Utah's poor showing. "I think that so many Utahns believe the presidential election is a foregone conclusion. And the Legislature has made it more inconvenient to register to vote."

Only Hawaii had lower turnout as only 51.8 percent of its eligible citizens voted. Minnesota had the nation's highest voter turnout at 75 percent.

But Utah's poor showing was still sort of an improvement over the midterm races in 2006, when Utah finished dead last in the nation with only 36.7 percent of citizens voting. (Turnout is always much higher in presidential election years.)

Maybe we get the Legislature we deserve here in Utah.

Health Care: Canada vs US

This was written by a Canadian who has been living in the United States for 17 years.

CanadaCare doesn't seem so bad, does it?

Myth: Taxes in Canada are extremely high, mostly because of national health care.

In actuality, taxes are nearly equal on both sides of the border. Overall, Canada's taxes are slightly higher than those in the U.S. However, Canadians are afforded many benefits for their tax dollars, even beyond health care (e.g., tax credits, family allowance, cheaper higher education), so the end result is a wash. At the end of the day, the average after-tax income of Canadian workers is equal to about 82 percent of their gross pay. In the U.S., that average is 81.9 percent.

Myth: Canada's health care system is a cumbersome bureaucracy.

The U.S. has the most bureaucratic health care system in the world. More than 31 percent of every dollar spent on health care in the U.S. goes to paperwork, overhead, CEO salaries, profits, etc. The provincial single-payer system in Canada operates with just a 1 percent overhead. Think about it. It is not necessary to spend a huge amount of money to decide who gets care and who doesn't when everybody is covered.

Myth: The Canadian system is significantly more expensive than that of the U.S.

Ten percent of Canada's GDP is spent on health care for 100 percent of the population. The U.S. spends 17 percent of its GDP but 15 percent of its population has no coverage whatsoever and millions of others have inadequate coverage. In essence, the U.S. system is considerably more expensive than Canada's. Part of the reason for this is uninsured and underinsured people in the U.S. still get sick and eventually seek care. People who cannot afford care wait until advanced stages of an illness to see a doctor and then do so through emergency rooms, which cost considerably more than primary care services.

What the American taxpayer may not realize is that such care costs about $45 billion per year, and someone has to pay it. This is why insurance premiums increase every year for insured patients while co-pays and deductibles also rise rapidly.

Myth: Canada's government decides who gets health care and when they get it.

While HMOs and other private medical insurers in the U.S. do indeed make such decisions, the only people in Canada to do so are physicians. In Canada, the government has absolutely no say in who gets care or how they get it. Medical decisions are left entirely up to doctors, as they should be.

There are no requirements for pre-authorization whatsoever. If your family doctor says you need an MRI, you get one. In the U.S., if an insurance administrator says you are not getting an MRI, you don't get one no matter what your doctor thinks - unless, of course, you have the money to cover the cost.

Myth: There are long waits for care, which compromise access to care.

There are no waits for urgent or primary care in Canada. There are reasonable waits for most specialists' care, and much longer waits for elective surgery. Yes, there are those instances where a patient can wait up to a month for radiation therapy for breast cancer or prostate cancer, for example. However, the wait has nothing to do with money per se, but everything to do with the lack of radiation therapists. Despite such waits, however, it is noteworthy that Canada boasts lower incident and mortality rates than the U.S. for all cancers combined, according to the U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group and the Canadian Cancer Society. Moreover, fewer Canadians (11.3 percent) than Americans (14.4 percent) admit unmet health care needs.

Myth: Canadians are paying out of pocket to come to the U.S. for medical care.

Most patients who come from Canada to the U.S. for health care are those whose costs are covered by the Canadian governments. If a Canadian goes outside of the country to get services that are deemed medically necessary, not experimental, and are not available at home for whatever reason (e.g., shortage or absence of high tech medical equipment; a longer wait for service than is medically prudent; or lack of physician expertise), the provincial government where you live fully funds your care. Those patients who do come to the U.S. for care and pay out of pocket are those who perceive their care to be more urgent than it likely is.

Myth: Canada is a socialized health care system in which the government runs hospitals and where doctors work for the government.

Princeton University health economist Uwe Reinhardt says single-payer systems are not "socialized medicine" but "social insurance" systems because doctors work in the private sector while their pay comes from a public source. Most physicians in Canada are self-employed. They are not employees of the government nor are they accountable to the government. Doctors are accountable to their patients only. More than 90 percent of physicians in Canada are paid on a fee-for-service basis. Claims are submitted to a single provincial health care plan for reimbursement, whereas in the U.S., claims are submitted to a multitude of insurance providers. Moreover, Canadian hospitals are controlled by private boards and/or regional health authorities rather than being part of or run by the government.

Myth: There aren't enough doctors in Canada.

From a purely statistical standpoint, there are enough physicians in Canada to meet the health care needs of its people. But most doctors practice in large urban areas, leaving rural areas with bona fide shortages. This situation is no different than that being experienced in the U.S. Simply training and employing more doctors is not likely to have any significant impact on this specific problem. Whatever issues there are with having an adequate number of doctors in any one geographical area, they have nothing to do with the single-payer system.

Small Business Closed In Havor of Having Insurance for Teenage Daughter With Acne

From the Provo Daily Herald:

My husband and I are cancer survivors, which makes us uninsurable. We applied for an individual health insurance policy for our 17 year old daughter so she could have coverage separate from our health history, but she was turned down because of a topical gel prescribed for typical teenage acne two years earlier. In order to provide access to insurance, I gave up my successful small business of 18 years and went to work for a large corporation.

To us, health insurance has been more distressing than the fear of cancer itself. If health insurance companies can reject a perfectly healthy, athletic, teenage girl for such a trivial reason, they have gone too far.

As a conservative Republican from the heart of Utah County, I am generally opposed to more government involvement. However, I am convinced that the federal government must step in and establish some national regulations. We currently have a patchwork of vastly different laws from state to state, and insurance companies continue to have too much power. While I understand the arguments about a public plan creating unfair competition for private insurance companies, I feel strongly that some competition would be healthy.

The worst thing that could happen at this point is for partisan politics to bring the current momentum to a halt, thus preventing any legislation from being passed. For the sake of all Americans, we cannot return to our current situation. I urge Congress to be sure that reforms move forward.

"Best Health Care in the World" Kills California Teen

"Beware Government Health Care because some bureaucrat will decide whether or not you get treatment instead of your doctors."

Because that doesn't happen now, right? Right? We're the United States of America! We have the best health care in the world, right?

Wrong.

The lawyer for California teen Nataline Sarkisyan charged today that the only reason Cigna Health Care officials changed their minds and approved a liver transplant for the desperate girl was they knew it was too late and they wouldn't have to pay for it.

Sarkisyan, 17, died Thursday just hours after Cigna reversed its decision and approved the procedure it had previously described as "too experimental…and unproven." Now the Sarkisyan family hopes manslaughter or murder charges will be pressed.

[..]

"All of the doctors there unanimously agreed that she needed and should have that liver transplant. And the only entity, if you will, who said no to that in the middle of that medical decision, was some piece of garbage who decided that making a couple of dollars, or saving them a couple of dollars, was worth more than the 65% chance over six months that she would survive," said Geragos.

I hope there is a special corner of Hell reserved for people who are OK with this.

-Bob

"Choice" in health care

I just had an inline chat with a friend of mine about health care.

What's funny about it is that she called me biased biased because I'm uninsured. Yet, she isn't biased, being an insurance sales person, but I digress.

One of the topics in health care reform that was addressed is the concept of choice. I let Craig Axford do my talking for me on this one:

I have been fortunate to occasionally enjoy some great health insurance over the years. That said, I never got to choose the plan and I never got to choose the doctors covered by the plan. Either my employer or my wife's employer picked the insurance company and picked the plan from that company's menu of options. They never consulted either my wife or I before doing so.

My wife is diabetic, so finding a good doctor is especially important to her. She does her homework when it comes to the doctors available under whatever plan we have to deal with. Unfortunately, like many businesses my wife's employer not only changes plans every year or two but frequently insurance companies as well. After finding a doctor she likes she frequently must switch doctors in January as the new policy her employer has chosen kicks in. Where is the choice Senator McConnell is praising in this scenario?

If we should ever be forced to shop for insurance in the individual market, my wife would have no choice whatsoever. As someone with juvenile diabetes no insurance company would give her a second look. If she ever suffered a serious illness related to her diabetes you, kind reader, would be forced to pick up the tab for her treatment through your taxes, higher premiums, or most likely both because we almost certainly could not afford to pay the medical bills out of pocket.

And, if you want some more great commentary on the "evils" of government-run health care, watch Bernie Sanders talk about current government-run health plans.

-Bob

Sutherland Gets Snarky

It's not often I agree with the Sutherland Institute. However, when it comes to SB 81 (2008), we stand on the same side.

And, well, I am a fan of snarkyness.

So it was with great pleasure when I read their response to State Representative Chris Herrod's comments on their Just the facts report.

From the Senate Site (who get a lot of credit in my book for posting this):

As background, our Just the Facts report was a follow-up to a study we presented to the Immigration Interim Committee in 2008 citing, among other things, current state prison-inmate data. At that time, some supporters of SB 81 countered our findings by arguing that better data on illegal-immigrant inmates would be found in the county jail system. Sutherland took them at their word and investigated the claim.

What we discovered was reported in Just the Facts. Not to their liking, opponents then argued, as Representative Herrod has in his memo, that the better data is actually “arrest data” (i.e., the idea that the court system keeps many undocumented immigrants out of state prison). The Sutherland staff is not new to this game. We have no doubt about the insistence of some proponents of SB 81 that endless and distant data sources would one day “prove” that, indeed, Utah is awash in a sea of brown criminals intent on subverting everything godly and virtuous. Even so, this game only proves boring.

[...]



Ethnicity data cannot reasonably be used to say anything useful about the crimes of undocumented immigrants for one simple fact: the vast majority of Hispanics living in Utah are not undocumented. Using data on Hispanic ethnicity to comment on the crime rate of undocumented immigrants is like using a data-marker of “Caucasian” to represent crimes committed by freckled red-heads. Further, in its most noxious form, it assumes that all Hispanics are undocumented, which is contrary to both fact and common sense.

That's it! Sutherland must be racist against red heads! That makes two things we agree on.....

-Bob

President Obama Remembers Walter Cronkite

Watch CBS Videos Online

And that's the way it is....

Walter Cronkite announced his retirement from the CBS evening news on my first birthday. Therefore, I have no memories of watching him deliver the news.

Yet, at the same time, he occupies some deep memories in my head. I feel like I'm missing something if I watch the Apollo 11 landing without his voice.



Many other events are linked in my mind with Cronkite: JFK Assassination and Vietnam are embedded with his voice.

The world lost an important man today. Yet, I don't think it will get the overage other recent celebrity deaths have gotten. And that's too bad.

-Bob

(video hat tip: The Daily Beast)

Channel 4's Fart Joke

"Wind Power" Ha! Todd GROSS?!? Ha!Ha!

Why, yes, I am 12. Why?

Member of Utah Jazz Visits White House

I was going to title this "Utah Jazz Player Visits White House," but that would be inaccurate.

From FoxNews:

Boozer told me he met First Lady Michelle Obama and all senior White House staff. "I saw everyone but the boss man," Boozer said. "It was great."

This was Boozer's second visit to the White House. His first was with Obama body man Reggie Love as members of Duke University's 2001 National Championship team.

Asked if he was disappointed the president was busy, Boozer said, "Nah, we'll be back. We're going to visit again."

Boozer is a two-time NBA All-Star forward with the Utah Jazz. Recent reports suggest the Jazz may trade Boozer, who is in the final year of his contract.

I wonder if he sat there and sent text messages the whole time he was there.

-Bob

Hatch Saving America

Kirk Walters, The Toledo Blade

Mayor SuperDell?

KSL is reporting that "Super: Dell Schanze is running for mayor of Saratoga Springs.

Yes! Some excitement this year.

Oh, and if the rest of y'all had voted fr him last year like I did, we would no longer be Americans:

He says if he would have won his campaign for governor, Utah's economy would be much stronger. "We would have pulled out of the Union, and basically told Obama that he can shove his stimulus packages," he said.

Comedy Gold.

Ladybugs attack!

I'm going to get the creeps every time I see a ladybug now.....

Dennis Kucinich: People love their insurance company, Right?

Sarah Palin Explained!

Oh,now I get it.....

Fair Boundary Friday I: Drawn by whiskey-liver gentlemen

Back in 1999 (could have been early 2000), Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura got in trouble for telling David Letterman that the roads in St Paul were laid out by drunken Irishmen.

Some of the boundaries drawn during the 2001 redistricting process would fit the same description.

Take this map of congressional boundaries in Salt Lake City's Avenues Neighborhood. The gray is Congressional District 1 (Rob Bishop), while the white is District 2 (Jim Matheson):



So, Speaker Clark, how do these lines make any sense?

-Bob

P.S. Given that Drunk Irishmen is not PC, I solicited more PC termsfrom my twitter followers. The one in the title comes from MteeJ

Stadium of Fire Lies About Retiring a Flag

One of the most reverently patriotic things I have ever witnessed was a flag-retirement ceremony at a scout camp.

When I heard that Stadium of Fire was going to feature one, it almost made me want to attend. Yes, just for that moment.

So, imagine my shock that the ceremony was a fake.

Fifty thousand people stood in silence Saturday night as men in uniform brought a giant American flag into LaVell Edwards Stadium to be retired by incineration.

Or so the Stadium of Fire crowd thought.

In actuality, the 155-by-90-foot flag was not burned that night due to the toxins a nylon flag that size would have emitted, Provo Fire Marshal Lynn Schofield said.

"It would have been impractical to burn it in the stadium," Schofield said. "There is just no way you can burn that kind of a flag in that big of a group of people safely."

Event organizers originally planned for the no-longer-serviceable flag to be burned. But after talking to the fire marshal a few months ago, Stadium of Fire executive producer Brad Pelo said organizers realized that would not be possible in any type of container. After discussing other ways they could retire the flag, organizers did what they thought was most appropriate, Pelo said.

[...]

During the ceremony, the flag was put into a large, cauldron-like container, then flames appeared on its top. Many people teared up, including event emcee Glenn Beck, who emphasized to the audience what a special ceremony they were witnessing.

Last I checked, dishonesty was a violation of the honor code.*

-Bob

*Other lines I wanted to use there:

"False Patriotism -- the GOP Way"
"A Retirement Ceremony approved by Orrin Hatch, Maybe"
"Special -- in a short bus kind of way."

Letterman's Top Ten Messages Left On Sarah Palin's Answering Machine

I don't Fear Sarah Palin One Bit

Doug Gibson, for the Standard-Examiner's Political Surf:

I’m a big Sarah Palin fan. One of the things I most like about her is that she puts fear in many liberals. They mask their fear with hatred, loathing, scorn, invented scandals … a whole bunch of angry gestures. Some people call it Palin Derangement Syndrome, but Palinphobia works pretty well too. They can’t understand her and they most likely never will.

Fear? I don't fear her one bit. She's a joke.

Yes, I don't understand her. I don't understand why she threatens to go after people for telling the truth. Like when people pointed out that her daughter was engaged to a high school dropout. He left school after his Junior Year without a diploma.

It's like saying Sarah Palin doesn't use sports metaphors.

As JM Bell said, she "makes G.W.B. look like a MENSA member"

As far as political strategy goes, this is the most unwise thing that she could have done short of pulling a Mark Sanford. Well, the running away to Argentina without telling anyone part. Not the affair part. An affair is more recoverable than this.

Why?

Well, there's two Sarah Palin clips that are just made for opponents to make into a commercial. One is video of her talking about Barack Obama's lack of experience, with graphics over it stating her experience with 10 years in city government of a town of 6,000 and 2.5 years as Governor, forred by the words "and then it got too tough for her, so she quit." The other ad is from her resignation press conference with text asking if you want someone who couldn't handle the pressuregoing up against Russia, NKorea or Iran.

Oh, but you can see Russia from a small Island in her state, so it's OK.

But, if you think the "gotcha media" is bad ("Name one magazine or newspaper you've read this week), imagine sitting in a room with a worldleader with whom you disagree.

So, please, somebody, anybody, tell me why Sarah Palin is loved by so many people.

-Bob

Top 10 Reasons Sarah Palin is Quitting

I would imagine that we will hear the real reasons for Governor Sarah Palin's departure from the Governor's Office by the end of this week Nobody around her has the ability to keep their mouths shut. However, I won't speculate anymore on that course under threat of a lawsuit.

So, from the home office in Holladay, Utah, here are the top 10 reasons Sarah Palin is quitting being Governor:

10. She's not. April Fools!
9. She got Letterman fired and is taking his place. "heeeeeere's Sarah!"
8. Hiking the Appalachian Trail with Governor Sanford. (and by hking, I mean it in a G-rated sense.... ;))
7. With the economy in the crapper, she knows it will be harder to win as an incumbent. So, she'll run for Governor as the challenger in 2010.
6. New Show on TLC: "Todd and Sarah plus 5 plus 1."
5. New Show on NBC: "The Apprentice: Palin Edition" (New Catchphrase: "Yure soo Fired"
4. Another New Show for NBC: "I'm a Governor, get me out of here!"
3. [redacted on advice of legal council]
2. ESPN finally called to give her a shot.
1. Heard there is an opening to be King of Pop. Crazy Child Names is a prerequisite.

-Bob

Star Spangled Banner on a Baseball Bat

Star Spangled Banner, Whitney Houston

Stars & Stripes FOREVER! (Muppets Variation)

Soldiers Singing Army Song in Baghdad

Hey, Mr Shurtleff, What Day is it Today?

Last Time I checked, July 4th is known as Independence Day here in the United States.

There is a Patriot Day. That day is September 11. There is also a Patriots' Day, Commemorating the start of the American Revolution. That is in April.

So, I was a little confused when Mark Shurtleff sent me an invite to a Patriot Day Tea Party for July 4th:

BREAKING: Sarah Palin Resigning

Sarah Palin, less than 3 years into he reign as Governor of Alaska, is quitting.

WASILLA, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday she is resigning from office at the end of the month, raising speculation that she would focus on a run for the White House in the 2012 race.

The former Republican vice presidential candidate made the surprise announcement from her home in suburban Wasilla on Friday morning. She said she would step down July 26 but didn't announce her plans.

"Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose," Palin said in a statement released by her office.

"It is my duty to always protect our great state. With that in mind, my family and I determined that it is best to make a difference this summer, and I am willing to change things, so that this administration, with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future, can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success," she said.

And I'm sure she's going to throw her hat in the ring for President. Because 4 years on the city council and 6 years as mayor of a town of less than 10,000 people, pul being governor for 2.5 years, qualifies you to be President.

-Bob

What Freedoms are you Grateful for?

I'm grateful for the freedom to vote for whomever I want to lead my government. I am also grateful for the ability to speak out when those leaders travel down the wrong path.

I'm grateful for the ability to practice my religious beliefs according to the dictates of my own conscience, no matter what that may be.

I'm grateful for the vast amounts of information available to me, and the freedom to input my points of view to the discussion.

I'm grateful for the freedom to assemble with those who are of like mind.

I'm grateful to live in this great country.

-Bob

Web Site Story

I heard they had updated West Side Story......

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

PRESS RELEASE-Mayor Becker Recommends Public Safety Building site

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Today, Mayor Ralph Becker recommended the City Council place an initiative on the November 2009 ballot authorizing a $125 million bond for the acquisition, construction and equipping of a Public Safety Building and Emergency Operations Center.

“Salt Lake City has a critical and urgent need for an Emergency Operations Center and a new Public Safety Building. As leaders in Salt Lake City, I believe we have a moral obligation to keep our community safe and to be prepared in advance of a catastrophic emergency,” explained Becker.

The City’s existing Public Safety Building is an aging, overcrowded facility with more than 500 employees occupying space intended for 300 employees, and is not rated as functionally survivable should the City experience a major disaster, such as a large earthquake. The City currently does not have an Emergency Operations Center.

The recommendation put forth today reflects a significantly streamlined proposal from the $192 million public safety bond narrowly rejected by voters in 2007. “We have looked for every efficiency we could find and will continue to do so throughout the course of this project,” added Becker who expressed strong support for the possibility of partnering with the State of Utah on the Emergency Operations Center, an idea currently under evaluation.

A report written by renowned local architect David H. Hart, FAIA, Architect of the State Capitol, who reviewed all of the public input and data on 10 different location options, recommended the Council focus on the area known as the Barnes Bank block (Block 35/Plat B) as the preferred location for the facilities. The Mayor upheld Hart’s recommendation in his transmittal to the City Council.

In the report, Hart stated, “After thorough consideration of numerous options for the location of the Public Safety Complex, it is my recommendation the preferred site to be considered is Block 35 Plat B. Among the sites that were reviewed, this location meets the site criteria, provides the best combination of advantages, fewest disadvantages, and continues the development of the Civic Campus. The City will need to complete further work to define which portion of the block best meets the overall needs and desires of Public Safety officials and the community.”

In response to today’s announcement, Former City Council Member Deeda Seed remarked, “Salt Lake City has an urgent need for a new Public Safety Building. We’ve known for years about serious deficiencies in the current building; deficiencies that make us less safe as a community. We truly cannot afford to wait any longer to address this problem, thus I support Mayor Becker’s recommendation to locate the new Public Safety Building complex on the Barnes Bank block. I am confident the Mayor and his planning team will work with the community to ensure the project is carried out in a cost-effective manner, with an emphasis on mixed-use compatibility.”

The City Council will review the proposal over the next two weeks before making a final decision.

Limbaugh Connects Michael Jackson's Carrer Path to Reagan, Clinton, Obama

Hard to believe anyone listens to him.

From Today's show:

Happy Canada Day, eh!

Wikipedia:

Frequently referred to as "Canada's birthday", particularly in the popular press,[1][2][3] the occasion marks the joining of the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada into a federation of four provinces (the Province of Canada being divided, in the process, into Ontario and Quebec) on 1 July 1867. Although Canada is regarded as having become a kingdom in its own right on that date,[4] the British Parliament kept limited rights of political control over the new country that were shed by stages over the years until the last vestiges were surrendered in 1982 when the Constitution Act patriated the Canadian constitution.

Game this Poll

JM Bell points out that Speaker Dave Clark pulled his poll from his blog:

I wrote earlier about a poll that Dave Clark had on his “blog” about redistricting. He obviously expected to be visited by sycophants and instead heard from real Utahns, so, like any Utah Republican’t – he removed the poll because his point of view was getting waffle stomped.

Way to keep the “run and hide” traditions of the Utah Republican’t Party alive and kicking, Dave.

Now, it's obvious that those of us on the correct side of the issue encouraged all of our friends to vote. However, given that there is no evidence of multiple votes from the same people, it's as legit as a web poll can get.

Web polls are about the worst way to gauge public opinion for this very reason.

However, Speaker Clark's poll is not dead. It's been resurrected on my blog, over on the right hand side. Please only vote once, but encourage your friends to vote.

I'm asking people on both sides of the issue to vote and encourage others to vote.

-Bob