These are classic discussions published back in September 2005
Tax Cut — State Income Tax
As I’ve said before, it’s time for Utah to give it’s citizens a break on their taxes. The budget is sound, and we have surpluses.
As this article hints, the House is driving for a tax cut, without a lot of help from other quarters at this time. But, that’s what makes the process enjoyable — believing something will be good for the people and, then, working to make it happen.
Because the surplus is largely coming from the income tax and because reductions in income tax give the largest return in terms of future economic activity, this seems like the appropriate place to cut. Most Utahns paying income tax quickly fall into the top bracket (which has not been adjusted to keep track with inflation) and pay the highest rate. By not adjusting the brackets to keep track with inflation, Utahns’ effective tax rate actually increases. Even if there weren’t such high surpluses, adjusting the... (read more)
No Child Left Behind
Below is the text of an e-mail message I received today from the Utah State Office of Education. Though long, it provides great information on No Child Left Behind and how Utah is doing.
Dear Public Education Supporter:
You’ve probably already read about how well Utah’s public school students performed on this year’s federal No Child Left Behind Act’s adequate yearly progress (AYP) report. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington asked that I send you some more information about the report so you’ll know just how well our teachers and students are doing, and in what areas we still need to improve.
I know your time is valuable, so I will start with the highlights and leave the explanation for later in the letter.
805 of 923 schools, or 87 percent, made AYP this year
The 87 percent of schools that made AYP did so even while academic targets... (read more)
Leadership and Nuclear Waste
For years now, I have been saying that storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain would be as bad for Utah as storage in Skull Valley. One of the biggest problems with moving the waste is the chance of an accident while the waste is being transported. Yucca Mountain, though, would mean even more transportation miles through Utah than would Skull Valley. So, it makes little sense to fight Skull Valley on one hand and eagerly support Yucca Mountain on the other.
Regarding the success of the Yucca Mountain v. Skull Valley fight, Senator Hatch earlier said, “I don’t think it comes down to politics.” Well, okay, you run with that.
For the rest of us, our best option seems to be to join with Nevada and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and work to keep the waste out of the West. Now, it looks like Senator Bennett also is seeing the light. “However... (read more)
Stop Spending My Kids’ and Grandkids’ Money
People are wrong to say that Congress is spending money like a drunken sailor. Drunken sailors spend everything they have in their pockets. Congress, on the other hand, is intent on spending everything we have in our pockets and then moving on to everything our kids and grandkids might someday have in theirs.
Likewise, comparisons between Congress’s fiscal restraint and Santa Claus are misplaced. First, no one would waste breath suggesting that Congress’s fiscal restraint is real. Second, Santa operates under a budget.
The federal government was right to quickly provide emergency relief for the Gulf Coast to pay for things like food and shelter. And additional relief is in order to rebuild critical infrastructure (relief, with tight restrictions and close oversight). But, mercy, how about looking for some offsets elsewhere in the budget to fund this? We have a choice: either we fund it now with offsets or we pass the buck to future... (read more)
Judicial Activism and Its Cure
What is judicial activism? One commentor pointed out that most people define judicial activism to be any court decision they don’t like; conversely, any outcome they do like is simply great jurisprudence, no matter how far beyond its authority a court might stray to reach that outcome.
Better understood, judicial activism means courts stepping beyond their authority to interpret the law, in order to actually make law.
Law-making should occur in legislative bodies, not courts, because legislative bodies give voice to the people. The public can attend hearings, provide input, and lobby for a particular result. Also, importantly, if the people don’t like the result a legislative body reaches, the people can vote and work to remove the offending lawmakers. This places decision-making authority with the people, not unelected, unreachable judges.
Yesterday, a New York Court provided a great example of judicial restraint. The Court handed down an opinion in a case where Plaintiffs asked... (read more)
Technology, Politics and You
Gavin Clarke, of The Register, interviewed me for an article he recently published.
For more, here are the questions and answers from that interview:
1. Your web site described Senator Orrin Hatch as “bad for the internet” – could you explain that in a little more detail? What statements or pieces of legislation endorsed by Hatch are bad?
Senator Hatch has shown that he doesn’t understand the Internet or, at least, he does not welcome the kind of democratizing tool it can be. This attitude is clearly shown by sponsorship and promotion of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the Induce Act. It is shown by the amicus brief he filed with the Supreme Court in the MGM vs. Grokster case, essentially asking the court to make the Induce act law through court action. These actions favor big, entrenched business over small, innovative business.
I’m no friend of people who break the law and I have... (read more)
Momentum
Good things are happening with the campaign. The Wall Street Journal notes, “Conservatives from all over the country are flocking to [Urquhart] for several reasons, ranging from Mr. Hatch’s broken 2000 campaign promise on embryonic stem-cell research (he now favors it) to his divisive roles on pro-life and family issues for the past three decades.”
A few other news stories are here and here.
As mentioned in the Standard-Examiner, if an incumbent wants to run on the basis of how long he’s been in government, then he should pick one of two alternatives. One, he should admit he’s not very influential in the process and has little responsibility for what government is doing or, two, own the direction government has taken during that time — say, “I got us here! How do you like it?”.
Part of the reason I’m running is that I’m tired of hearing, “I would have done X or I was... (read more)
Polling