These are classic discussions published back in December 2004
Hang On There, Sparky
Apparently, the Gov-elect’s Chief of Staff is thinking up ways of getting the legislators out among the people:
“We’re excited to get out to the people of Utah, away from Salt Lake City” for the speech, Chaffetz said. “You’ll see Gov. Huntsman out among the people all the time, and it’s good to get the Legislature out, too.”
Um, does he know legislators are each elected from a certain part of the State and that we’re only in session 45-days out of the year? I think today — as I go to my full-time job and take my kids swimming and exchange a Christmas gift at Christensen’s and take in a movie — I’ll offer constituents photo ops. When my neighbors and friends ask what the heck I’m doing, I’ll proclaim I am being one of them; you know, man-of-the-people.
Give me a break.
A State-of-the-State speech in rural Utah is cool, and I support it, but I would think, with the general session... (read more)
Pot, Meet Kettle
In a Deseret News article today, a spokesman for the Sierra Club expresses concern that the Lake Powell pipeline to Washington County could take away money the State needs for education and transportation:
He questioned whether many millions of dollars should be invested in the project when school textbooks may be in short supply for school children and transportation may be short-changed.
Ya. It would have been nice had they thought of that before they wasted many millions of dollars by their challenge to the Legacy Highway in Northern Utah.
Grammatically Speaking
I received Eats, Shoots and Leaves for Christmas. Lynne Truss approaches grammar like Joe Frazier approaches a fight — no nonsense, no pulled punches, and no prisoners. For example,
Someone wrote to say that my use of “one’s” was wrong (“a common error”), and that it should be ones. This is such rubbish that I refuse to argue about it. Go and tell Virginia Woolf it should be A Room of Ones Own and see how far you get.
and
The big final rule for the comma is one that you won’t find in any books by grammarians. It is quite easy to remember, however. The rule is: don’t use commas like a stupid person. I mean it.
The one area where she does equivocate a bit is regarding the effect of the Internet on language (and punctuation in particular). While she decries e-communication’s effect on the language –”Nothing as scary as this has confronted punctuation before” — I disagree. Sure, the rules of... (read more)
Media and Public Policy
I appreciate the watchdog role of the media. Too often, though, the media engages in helpless hand-wringing that only serves to further disengage the public. In its varying forms, the charges are the same — elected officials are in it for themselves and could care less about the public and, by the way, they respond only to special interests, not constituents. Those predisposed to believe such conspiracy theories are further inflamed, and those who are not are further turned off to the entire process.
I wonder if it is cause or effect that, in my very politically-active corner of the state, the newspaper editorializes in a constructive manner (e.g., the County surely didn’t break any laws; in fact, it probably made the right decision; but, no gold stars are awarded for the process followed, and more input should be expected in the future. And, not a single suggestion that the officials involved are sorry human beings). This is the type of... (read more)
Merry Christmas
Sara’s sister and her family joined us for Christmas. We had a wonderful recital and reenactment of the nativity and just a very nice day. Sara is amazing. How she does all she does, and does it so well, I have no idea. Our brother-in-law, Paul, is an Army Major and will leave for Iraq soon. I thank God that he and so many other dedicated men and women are willing to serve our country and safeguard freedom (because isn’t that, after all, what we’re fighting about?). Many peaceful, happy scenes played out all over this nation and this world today, because of the service of people we have never met nor ever will. Miracles and angels do exist.
Constituent Input
My constituents are much smarter than I am — especially at knowing what they want. Therefore, I am always pleased when they provide input.
I received a letter this week from a constituent, expressing disappointment that I had not responded to his inquiry on a certain policy issue (drivers licenses for illegal aliens). I quickly set up a meeting with him and did meet with him today to thank him for his involvement and to discuss the issue (I am against issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens).
I am always grateful when constituents share their time, wisdom and opinions with me. Often, constituents have taught me much about issues affecting their lives. If I’m ever slow at responding, it means the message got lost in the inches of information and messages I receive everyday; get back to me, again.
Tuition Tax Credits II
Ronnie Lynn wrote a good article on tuition tax credits (“TTC”) in today’s Tribune. The study she describes should not be viewed as the determinative factor in the TTC debate. Rather, it is one tool in the tool box, to be used to determine whether TTC could benefit overall funding of public education.
In any study of a complex issue, assumptions will be subject to criticism. On balance, I think the study ends up providing useful data. While I tend to agree that some of the positive numbers might have been overstated (like the marginal cost per student), I also believe that some of the negative numbers also might have been overstated. For example, there is no marginal cost for a student receiving the tax credit, if that student would have gone to private school without the credit. In other words, that student receives the credit but never would have put a financial burden on the public system. For TTC to... (read more)
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