Mike Lee Wants You Taxpayers To Pay For The Oil Spill

No wonder Mike Lee doesn't want to be filmed.....



(Hat Tip: Green Jello)

Mike Lee loves big oil.

-Bob

Corroon: Herbert's Budget is Fuzzy Math

From the email:

Dear Bob:

The State of Utah at one time received an "A" from Governing Magazine. Now, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, our state has dropped to twelfth worst in the nation for budget gaps. And the incumbent governor recently discovered an additional $150 million dollar deficit in our state budget that he explains as "right on target" and "normal." How did this happen? Simply put, this situation is a result of poor leadership. For this reason and many more, I have developed a plan to get Back to Basics and increase government efficiency in the State of Utah.

Government efficiency is one of the best ways we can enhance government and private sector programs. In my plan, I have pointed out several areas where we can dig deep, cut fat, save money and still improve our quality of life.

As governor, I will:
Reform the budget process by ending gimmicks
Demand results
Cut waste
Require department directors and other top-level employees to sign performance agreements
Conduct a top-to-bottom review of ALL state programs

It's pretty clear we need to take steps RIGHT NOW to make state government better for the 21st Century.

Read my Government Efficiency Plan here

As mayor, I cut Salt Lake County's government by nearly 20% last year and I made our government more honest and transparent. I can do the same for the State of Utah. I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work. As the next Governor of Utah, I plan to provide true fiscal discipline to our state government.

Please help bring fiscal management to Utah by supporting our campaign at www.votecorroon.com.

Sincerely,

Peter Corroon

Maybe I should quit.....

I realize that this is the umpteenth time you've read a "goodbye cruel world" post from me over the years, but I need to get it off my chest.

I don't know what has happened lately. I don't have the drive I once had. There's a post that I've wanted to write for about three weeks.

But I've been scared to write it.

I've been scared because it is a post that would anger many of my readers. Many would accuse me of being bought or switching allegiance.

It was a fear grounded in reality, as I saw the same thing happen to others.

I felt it important enough that I had trouble making many other posts until I got that one done. But I couldn't bring myself to take care of it.

So, I suffered. The blog suffered.

It's about 8 days too late to make said post. I've been meaning to fire this thing back up, but a trip to Idaho and other events of the past few days (see previous post) have conspired against me.

And, I'm already starting to feel campaign fatigue. In June.

So, if I disappear, you know why. If I suddenly get back to my 10 posts/week, you'll know why as well.

-Bob

My Friends Kim Evans and Joe Clark

Allow me to get a little personal for a moment......

Joe Clark is one of those guys that you would want your little sister to date. In fact,I've tried to get Joe to date my little sister a few times.

Kim Evans was one of those girls that was as warm and bright as the yellow shirts she was fond of wearing.

The same yellow that members of my ward were wearing yesterday in her honor.

In case you've missed the news the past couple of days, Joe and Kim were on a first date Saturday up Bell's Canyon. They tried crossing the creek above the falls, and Kim fell in. Joe went in after her, and both fell over the falls. Bystanders, complete strangers, pulled Joe from the river and provided first aid until rescuers arrived.

Unfortunately, that was the last time anyone saw Kim.

So, we hug our friends a little closer. We thank God for the miracle of Joe's survival. We also pray that the waters may recede so that Kim's body may be recovered, so that her family can find closure.

And we try to get to know each other just a little better. Because you never know.....

-Bob

Defining Mike Lee

With 6.6% of registered voters voting for him, Mike Lee won the Republican Primary and advances to face Democrat Sam Granato in November.

Mr Lee has spent the past few months defining himself as a "constitutional expert." It's time that we Democrats stand up and define him.

*Mike Lee is a (DC Based) Lawyer who doesn't want Utah to have a say in whether or not they allow nuclear waste. (States rights my butt.)

*Mike Lee wants to declare that children born to illegal immigrants within the borders of the United States are no longer subject to the jurisdiction of the Unites States government. That would make them not citizens, so the Unites States (which, by the way, now has no jurisdiction over these people) can deport them. Let that sink in for a minute. (Please tell me someone out there has that exchange from the KUTV debate last Sunday)

*Mike Lee is in favor of underground nuclear testing. Except he is in favor of ratifying a treaty that bans testing of nuclear weapons. Unless a country decides they need to test to preserve their national security. (If a Democrat took that many positions, he'd be called a flip-flopper.)

*Mike Lee trusts the Utah Legislature more than he trusts Utah Voters. (See revoking the 17th amendment.)

*Mike Lee isn't just a lobbyist. Mike Lee is an illegal Lobbyist.

*Mike Lee wants to raise taxes on the poor and middle-class.

*Mike Lee wants to reduce government regulations. Lax government oversight caused the Gulf Oil Spill and the mine collapse in central Utah a few years ago.

*Mike Lee seems to forget that Article 3 of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court the authority to declare whether laws are constitutional or not.

*Mike Lee loves the constitution, with the exception of Article 3 and Amendments 14, 16, 17, and 10 (only when it is contrary to the desires of his clients).

How Republicans Would Govern

World's Most Awesomely Bad Dad

A Heartwarming Graduation Story

Lobbyist, Not a Lobbyist

Mike Lee claims that going up to Capitol Hill to advise the legislators that a bill is constitutional does not mean he needed to be registered as a lobbyist, even though his client was directly involved with the bill.

His source in the Lt Governor's office needs to check out the Lt Governor's Web Site:

Utah Election Law places regulations on lobbyist activities. A lobbyist, under these regulations, is an individual who receives some kind of payment to lobby a public official other than reimbursement for reasonable travel expenses. Lobbying a public official is defined in Utah Code 36-11-102 as "communicating with a public official for the purpose of influencing the passage, defeat, amendment, or postponement of legislative or executive action."

Public Official:

A public official for lobbying purposes is any of the following:

· a member of the Legislature

· an individual elected to a position in the executive branch, or

· an individual appointed to or employed within the legislative or executive branch if the individual makes policy, purchasing, or contracting decisions; drafts legislation or make rules; determines rates or fees; or makes adjudicative decisions.

Cool Video From Springville High

As a product of a high school television production class, I appreciate the time, talent, effort, and cooperation it took to pull this bad boy off.

Afghanistan: Longer Than Vietnam

USA Today:

Three months after 9/11, every major Taliban city in Afghanistan had fallen — first Mazar-i-Sharif, then Kabul, finally Kandahar. Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar were on the run. It looked as if the war was over, and the Americans and their Afghan allies had won.
Butch Ivie, then a school administrator in Winfield, Ala., remembers, "We thought we'd soon have it tied up in a neat little bag."

But bin Laden and Omar eluded capture. The Taliban regrouped. Today, Kandahar again is up for grabs. And soon, Afghanistan will pass Vietnam as America's longest war.

The Vietnam War's length can be measured in many ways. The formal beginning of U.S. involvement often is dated to Aug. 7, 1964, when Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, giving the president a virtual carte blanche to wage war. By the time the last U.S. ground combat troops were withdrawn in March 1973, the war had lasted 103 months.

[...]

U.S. forces attacked Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001. On June 7, the war will complete its 104th month. President Obama on Thursday reaffirmed his commitment to the war, saying "it is absolutely critical that we dismantle that network of extremists that are willing to attack us."

Wow.

My Personal Response to GOP Chair Dave Hansen's Comments on Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas:



OK, that was bad. But, was it bad enough to generate these comments from Utah Republican Party Chairman Dave Hansen (via today's Political Cornflakes)?

"Helen Thomas has clearly lost any semblence of rational thinking and has let her bigoted views of Israel and Jews take over. Yes Helen, its time for you to retire. You might be more comfortable living out your remaining years in a white supremacist enclave in northern Idaho."

Maybe Ms Thomas can take a few of Mr Hansen's party members with her. Namely Senator Buttars, Representatives Wimmer and Sanstrom, and Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater, too. Their comments have been just as bad, if not worse, than those of Ms Thomas.

I'm sure they'll all love it up there with those folks.

-Bob

(P.S. - I know that Senator Buttars is in the hospital with health issues. I hope he gets better soon.)

Mike Lee T-Shirt on Sale at KSL.....

This was funny. Thanks to several friends who posted it on Facebook and Twitter.

Mike Lee US Senate Campaign T-Shirt Adult XL. Pocket Constitution included.
Salt Lake City, UT 84121 - Jun 4, 2010
This is a T-shirt that I got at the Utah Republican State Convention. The shirt has "I Like Mike" on the back.

I'm selling this shirt because I stand for principles and I can no longer have "I Like Mike" displayed on my back. I thought I liked Mike. He loves the Constitution. I love the Constitution. He was a true conservative. I am a true conservative. It was something I was looking forward to wearing.

But in the past few weeks, my shirt has come to mean something else. I found out that Mike failed to register as a Lobbyist when he represented his clients in front of Elected Officials. But instead of admitting he was wrong, he blames other people. It sort of reminds me of another Constitutional Lawyer who is now our President.

Then he started attacking his opponent over issues like earmarks, even though he has represented companies that receive federal funds. These attacks came after he threw a fit before the convention when Senator Bennett was attacking him. He is acting like the bully down the street that loves to dish it out, but can't take it when someone does it to him. I'm not sure who Mike Lee really is anymore. Is he truly a Constitutional expert or is he just another lawyer opportunist?

He wants a constitutional amendment for term limits, but he won't self-impose his own limits if he is elected.

He believes in state's rights under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution, but he represented EnergySolutions that wants the Federal Government to force Utah to take nuclear waste that we don't want.

This shirt needs to go to a home that believes in hypocrisy in their Senate candidates. They need to lack depth in their political discussions and then be uncompromising in their defense of Mike Lee, even with all the evidence I just presented.

I'm willing to trade for a Bridgewater or Granato XL T-shirt. Since they still have some integrity left in them.

RIP, Coach Wooden

John Wooden's Seven Point Creed

• Be true to yourself

• Make each day your masterpiece

• Help others

• Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible

• Make friendship a fine art

• Build a shelter against a rainy day

• Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day

Mike Lee's Social Security Plan "Total Horseshit"

Tribune:

Utah's Republican Senate candidates have outlined a vision for reforming Social Security that includes raising retirement ages, private accounts and, in Mike Lee's case, taking the retirement safety net away from the federal government and letting states run it.

"Somewhere down the road we need to ask: Is the federal government the right government to be administering this?" Lee asked. "You don't find a retirement system in [the Constitution]. That, with the 10th Amendment, says it's a program best administered by the states."

Lee's proposal would mark a historic shift in the 75-year-old program, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in three cases in 1937 is a constitutional exercise of federal power.

Timothy Smeeding, a professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who studies Social Security, was blunt in his assessment of Lee's proposal: "That is total horseshit."

"What happens to people who move in and out of the state? It's just knee-jerk," he said. "[Social Security] is a federal program. It covers you no matter where you live and as long as you live."

With workers moving between states, a state-by-state patchwork is an idea that is impractical and should be discarded, Smeeding said.

I'm sure Mike Lee thinks that the Air Force should be state-run, too.....

Glenn Beck Caught In Another Bald-Faced Lie

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Glenn Beck Airs Israeli Raid Footage
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Real Salt Lake Visits President Obama

James Edward, prep sports editor for the Desert News, was in the Gold Room today when 2009 MLS Champion Real Salt Lake visited the White House. (Really, DNews, you sent the PREP SPORTS EDITOR to Washington for this? The guy who covers Daggett County wasn't available?)

He shot this video:



I especially like the equipment manager getting the President's autograph at the end.

-Bob

Granato: GOP Candidates Want To Increase Taxes on 83% of Taxpayers

Tommy Burr, Out of Context:

Sam Granato, the Democratic nominee for Sen. Bob Bennett's seat, castigated Republican primary opponents Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater for expressing support during a KSL debate for "so-called 'fair' or 'flat' tax plans" that, according to Granato, "economists say could result in substantial tax increases for 83 percent of American families."

"That doesn't sound fair to me at all," he said in a release Wednesday.

Granato said that non-partisan fact-checking organizations have said these plans aren’t very flat or fair, and will result in tax hikes for families earning less than $100,000 per year, while the wealthy receive sizeable tax cuts.

“Lee and Bridgewater need to stop pandering to extreme ideologues and start focusing on helping the Utah families who need it most,” Granato continued.

Republicans want to raise your taxes. Republicans want to raise your taxes. Sounds like who I want to vote for.....