Familiar rhetoric?

I thought the State of the Union address sounded familiar. It wasn’t just the repetition – it was all of the Republican soundbites tossed in there as well.

Free at last!

Today as we honor Dr Martin Luther King, I came across this video clip of Carly Fleischmann. Carly has autism and is non-verbal but she broke free thanks to a computer. Check out this video as you think about what it means to be “Free at last”.

Carly also has a blog and a Twitter feed. Check them out.

I resigned today

This morning, I tendered my resignation as a member of the Utah House of Representatives to join the Dan Liljenquist for US Senate campaign.

It has been an honor to serve the people of District 57. I thank them for allowing me to serve them for the past year. I have SO enjoyed the opportunity to represent them and hope I was able to add to the dialogue on Utah’s Capitol Hill.  I am pleased to say there are many good people in Pleasant Grove who could step into the legislature and continue to advocate for limited government and fiscal restraint. The people of District 57 are good people and I am confident the delegates will choose my replacement wisely.
 
It was a difficult decision for me and not one that I made lightly.  As I decided to join Dan Liljenquist’s campaign, I knew I could not in good conscience focus on a Senate race AND be fully present during the legislative session.  It would not be fair to my constituents to be distracted by another campaign.  I will continue serving whole-heartedly – it will just be in a different capacity.  At the end of the day, we need good government at ALL levels – and that includes the federal level.

After decades of politicians centralizing power and money in Washington in the misguided belief that somehow a bloated federal government knows best, we have arrived at a critical juncture. Do we continue down the road of big government and massive spending? Or do we face reality, rebalance as a nation and move forward with a limited government that lives within its means? I have not given up on America, but to reclaim its greatness and its shining spot on the Hill, we must change the “business as usual” in Washington. To do that, we must change who we send to represent us.  We need leaders who understand that our debts must be paid, that we must stop spending money we do not have, who will look the American people in the eye and tell them the truth and we need leaders who care more about the next generation than the next election. Dan Liljenquist is that type of leader.

As my children continue to grow up, I’ve had to answer hard questions about the massive debt our generation has saddled them with – $48,500 per person and rising. I am beyond concerned at what their future looks like if we continue down the same path of economic uncertainty, regulatory strangulation and the punishing of innovation and success. Utah enjoys being ranked the best managed state in the nation – but if we cannot fix things at the federal level, it simply will not matter.  We need bold, new leadership and we need it now.

Orrin Hatch ran against incumbent Frank Moss in 1976. As he campaigned, he asked repeatedly “What do you call a Senator who has been there 18 years? You call him home.” Now, almost 40 years later, he has been in office longer than 60% of this state has been alive. He was elected during the Bicentennial year, in an era of wood-sided station wagons, gold shag carpeting, bell bottoms – and a belief that government held the solution to our problems. 

Over the years, his votes have demonstrated a consistent belief that government – particularly the federal government – knows best.  Hatch voted for spending bill after spending bill filled with pet projects and pork, adding millions and millions of dollars worth of his own requests.  He voted time after time after time to increase the debt ceiling, giving us trillions of dollars in debt we have no realistic way to pay for. He laid out the Constitutional arguments for the individual mandate in healthcare – the very arguments later used by others to justify Obamacare. After Hillarycare was killed in the late 90′s, he personally partnered with Ted Kennedy to resurrect part of it, rename it SCHIP and pushed hard to get it passed – over the objections of many fellow Republicans. He decided to pull educational decisions from the states when he created the National Department of Education and then later advocated for No Child Left Behind.  He championed Medicare Part D, the largest entitlement expansion in decades, one that added TRILLIONS in unfunded liabilities OVERNIGHT and called “the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960′s” by the former Comptroller General of the United States.  Just a couple of months ago, our senior Senator went on Fox News and said that we did not need to cut entitlements. The truth is, if we ignore entitlements – the big 3 of “Mandatory spending” – there is no way to pull ourselves out of the abyss we are in.  

We need leaders willing to lay it all on the line and work to fundamentally reform the biggest problems we face today – runaway spending and unlimited debt. We need leaders who will look down the road – not just to the next election – and who will do what needs to be done. Dan Liljenquist has done that in the Utah legislature.  He will do that in Washington. It has an honor to have been asked to join him in his campaign.  There is no question that he is up against a formidable opponent with virtually unlimited amounts of money. This campaign will require lots of hard work from a lot of people. 

I invite you to join me in getting Dan elected. Check out his website at www.DanForUtah.com, “like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @DanForUtah, donate time and/or money and join me in being a Dan fan. It’s Time!
 

Dan Liljenquist in US Senate race

Meet Dan Liljenquist!

Retire, collect $500,000 in pension, go back to work

Taxpayers in Philadelphia are stuck with hefty bills because of sky-high pension benefits for people who retire for a weekend, then come right back to work.  City Councilwoman Marian Tasco retired Friday, collected almost a half a million dollars in pension benefits and returns to work today, when she will be sworn in to serve a seventh term.  She will be joined by  Ronald Donatucci, who will collect $366,797 when he returns to work after a week-long retirement and they both join colleagues who have previously done the same thing.

The city offers a “Deferred Retirement Option Plan” that allows workers to collect a salary AND build up pension money during the last four years of their employment. Touted as revenue-neutral when it originally passed, Philly’s DROP program has cost the city a quarter of a billion dollars in just 10 years. Mayor Nutter has vowed to “work tirelessly” to abolish the program but right now, just shy of 400 people have signed up for it, declaring they are within their last 4 years of work.

This fall, the Philadelphia city council voted to override the mayor’s veto of a bill that preserves the program – a bill sponsored by none other than Marian Tasco. The city council has also raised taxes two years in a row and now the best solution they appear to have come up with is simply stall for time while more and more people move through the system, collect 6-figure payouts and go right back to work.

Citizens are starting to catch on. Four retiring council members are DROP participants while one incumbent lost his re-election bid in part because of his participation in this giant albatross of a program.   What were they thinking?!

Utah Dr charged with murder

Remember Nicola Riley? She is the still-practicing Utah Dr who had her Maryland physician’s license stripped last year because of “unprofessional conduct” while performing abortions in that state. She has been arrested and charged with murder and conspiracy following a 16-month investigation.  A botched abortion leaving an 18 year-old woman in critical condition with a ruptured uterus was the starting point of this investigation. If you remember the very disturbing story, when the abortion clinic where she worked was searched, a freezer full of dead babies was found, including one within a month of his or her due date.  Maryland is one of 38 states that allows murder charges to be brought against someone accused of killing a “viable fetus.”

Nicola was dishonorably discharged from the US Army following a court martial for credit card fraud 20 years ago. She served a year in Leavenworth. Earlier this year, she agreed to surrender her Wyoming medical license for misrepresenting those earlier charges, ones she also mis-represented on her Utah application.

So what does Utah do, not only with misrepresentation, but losing her license in two states?  The Department of Occupational and Professional Licensing lets her keep her license, but makes her write an essay, saying 1000 times “I will not lie on my DOPL application”. Oh wait – that’s only half true – she did have to write an essay but she merely had to describe her “unprofessional conduct.”  Unbelievable.

Looking Back at 2011

As 2011 comes to an end a few hours from now, there is no question it was a year to remember.  From debt ceiling showdowns to campaigning on a national scene and from redistricting and immigration to GRAMA on a state level, there was plenty of political news to fill the last twelve months.

Let’s look at some of the national news first:

*Rep John Boehner became the Speaker of the House as Republicans enjoyed one of the biggest wave elections in almost a century. The first vote by the Republican controlled House was to repeal Obamacare. The Democrat-controlled Senate would have nothing of it and the stage for the year was set- absolute gridlock.

*It’s the money, honey. More than once this year Republicans and Democrats have drawn lines in the sand when it comes to federal spending – only to stay on the path of profligate spending. The president proposed a budget that got zero votes. The Senate refused to approve any budget sent by the House and instead passes “Continuing Resolutions” to keep the dollars flowing. Discussions on raising the debt ceiling resulted in threats of a government shut-down and a president who threatened to withhold Social Security payments.  A last-minute “deal” was struck at the end of the summer and a super-committee was created to find ways to cut a trillion dollars in 10 years.  (In Washington terms, that’s barely a drop in the bucket.) The committee got nothing done, surprising no one and now, the next debt ceiling increase – to $16.2 trillion – is being asked for as most members of Congress are home for the holidays.  It’s no wonder Congressional approval ratings are at all time low.

*DC was hit by an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week, bringing an abundance of jokes about the Apocalypse.

*Some of the world’s bad guys are gone – Osama bin Laden, Mohammar Quadafi and Kim Jong Il. Their replacements, however, may not be an improvement.

*The race for the GOP presidential nomination starts earlier every cycle and this was no exception. As we approach January of 2012, almost a year away from the actual presidential election, the players are all on stage and have been for months. In spite of the “flavor of the month” from the “anybody but Romney” crowd, Mitt has remained steady and (mostly) unflappable as we approach both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in the next few days.  Rick Perry made his mark and will be remember for his top three programs to cut – One, Two, and Oops.

*The biggest story nationally continues to be the faltering economy – economic uncertainty, tens of thousands of new pages of federal regulation, month upon endless month of unemployment hovering around 9%, and states finally facing the reality of significant budget deficits brings to mind a famous quote from a previous presidential election cycle: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

 

In Utah, the top political news stories focused less on the economy and more on the legislature.

*The once-in-a-decade process of redistricting has been completed. 75 House districts, 29 Senate districts, 15 state school board districts and four Congressional seats now await a tumultuous, albeit entertaining 2012 election year.

*Utah House Republicans elected their first woman speaker – Rebecca Lockhart.

*One of the hottest topics on Capitol Hill was immigration. A series of bills was passed dealing with a number of topics including enforcement and the sticky topic of what to do with people already in the state. The LDS church weighed in heavily in the debate.

*The other hot topic was GRAMA. Passed then repealed, then studied by committee, there are actually a number of non-controversial changes all sides agree on.  One sticking point is still include text messages – are they records or are they conversations?

*Orrin Hatch spends millions of dollars campaigning with no opponent in the race. Rep Jason Chaffetz appears to test the waters and ultimately decides not to run. Jim Matheson decides against running for the US Senate or the Governor’s seat and instead decides to run for the newly created 4th district. Governor Gary Herbert has 2 (and likely 3) intra-party challengers and the grand 2012 election shuffle has begun.

*A mistake with maps led to a mid-term vacancy and allowed me the remarkable opportunity to step into the Utah House as the Representative for my area. Starting one week into the session, the first, overwhelming first days suddenly got much more intense with the death of my youngest child just three days after I was sworn in.  I have learned a lot – some good, some bad – but overall, it has been a fantastic opportunity to serve in a meaningful way.

 

Next – what’s on tap for 2012…….

Merry Christmas!

May the peace and joy of Christmas Day remain with us all year long.

A very TSA Christmas

Grandma Got Indefinitely Detained.

 

Dan Liljenquist resigns, followed by Dave Clark

The surest sign so far that Dan Liljenquist will be running for federal office was his resignation last week from the Utah Senate. Recently named “Legislator of the Year” by left-leaning Governing Magazine and “Legislative Entrepreneur of the Year” by right-leaning FreedomWorks, the Bountiful businessman has said simply that a decision has been made and an announcement will be forthcoming after the first of the year.

Known for his ground-breaking work on pension reform in 2010 and Medicaid reform in 2011, Liljenquist recently concluded a well-received statewide series of 21 “Fiscal Reality” townhalls over the last 3 months. He is widely rumored to be running for the US Senate.

Former Speaker of the House, Dave Clark, also announced his resignation from the Utah legislature yesterday. He will be seeking the nomination for the 2nd Congressional district.

There are several other Utah legislators running for different offices in the 2012 cycle but who are not expected to resign. Senators Romero and McAdams have announced they are running for Salt Lake County mayor, Reps Wimmer and Sandstrom are running for the 4th Congressional district, Rep Herrod is rumored to also be running for the US Senate and Rep Sumsion is running for Governor. Should be an interesting legislative session!