Daily Fix, July28

*In spite of pizza and lots of arm-twisting, House Republicans couldn’t garner the votes to pass the Boehner plan – which is DOA in the Senate. Utah’s Jason Chaffetz is in the group of 2 dozen or so GOP members that are no votes. Matheson is also a no. The Hill, SLTrib

*The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed that mentioned “tea-party Hobbits.” Senator John McCain referenced the article as he blasted recalcitrant Republicans. That prompted a “Lord of the Zings” comment from Senator Rand Paul, who said “I’d rather be a hobbit than a troll.” USA Today I wonder if McCain realized that the Hobbits were the good guys and the only ones able to resist the lure of the ring?

*Provo city councilman Steve Turley has been charged with 10 second-degree felonies. He has taken a leave of absence but is not resigning. The Daily Herald has a long article on the charges and Turley’s history of controversy.

*In news-that’s-not-news, Morgan Philpot is running for Congress. Didn’t he start running November 5th, 2010? He joins a crowded field for the 3rd and/or 4th Congressional district that is rumored to include Rep Chris Herrod, Rep Steve Sandstrom, Mayor Mia Love, Senator John Valentine, Mike Lee state director Dan Hauser and of course Carl Wimmer. D News

Stay tuned for more games coming out of DC.

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Welcome to your Daily Fix

I’ve been thinking of adding a daily feature of the blogs and various news articles that have caught my eye but for which I do not have the time or inclination to do an entire blog post. I’ve hesitated because we already have “Political Cornflakes” from the Trib, the updates from Utah Policy Daily (although locked behind a subscription-only firewall) and Sausagegrinder. With the demise of the Sausagegrinder blog, I decided to take the plunge. With no further ado, here is the first of the Daily Fix – just what a political junkie needs.

*First, the breaking new: Governor Gary Herbert has named Derek Miller as his new Chief of Staff. Excellent choice. Glad to know the Governor reads my blog. 😉 He has also named Rep. Ron Bigelow as his new Budget Director.

*As expected for the last decade, Utah has gotten a 4th Congressional seat. Robert Gehrke points out in the Salt Lake Tribune that there are already 3 strong potential candidates for that 4th seat: current Speaker of the House, Dave Clark, Morgan Philpot and Carl Wimmer. Giggles were heard throughout the politi-sphere as Carl Wimmer – who has been laying groundwork for a campaign for well over a year – told the reporter he had not been thinking about it until fairly recently, saying: “many, many, many leaders throughout the state…put pressure on me to consider it.” The surprise campaign that’s not. People would pay good money to see a Philpot-Wimmer match-up but that seems unlikely. One of them will bow out in this game of political “chicken”. Other names being tossed around include Merrill Cook and Steve Urquhart, plus you can count on a number of people not yet on the radar.

*Speaking of the census, the US population grew by about 9.7%. As seats are shifted around, the West becomes a real power player. Of the 12 House seats that will shift in next year’s redistricting process, 11 will be taken from the Northeast and Midwest. Texas gains 4 seats, Florida gets 2, while Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah & Washington will each gain one seat.Ohio and New York will each lose 2 seats while Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania will each lose 1 seat. If Utah continues to attract new businesses and the workforce to staff them, and we all do our part to multiply and replenish the earth, Utah could have a 5th seat in 2020.

*The FCC approves new rules governing “Net Neutrality” and subsequently sets the stage for a vigorous battle to repeal that authority.

*The Senate voted for cloture on the START treaty. Final passage is expected later today.

*And finally, remember S510, the Food Safety Act? It was rolled into another bill on Sunday night and passed the Senate by unanimous consent in a “Sunday surprise.” It will be on the President’s desk today.

Gasp! Jim Matheson admits he is a DEMOCRAT

Ok, so it was only when he was challenged at convention and then during the primary, because now you find no evidence anywhere that he is part and parcel of the Pelosi debacle. In case you were wondering, the TRUE fiscal conservative – and that one that best represents Utah values – in this race is the Republican, Morgan Philpot.

No, Mr. Matheson, Philpot did NOT quit on the job

(This was posted by Ray Matthews, avowed Democrat from Salt Lake county. Ray and I don’t agree on a lot politically, but we do agree on this. It’s time for Jim Matheson to come on home now. I am reposting it here with Ray’s permission. I have made no changes to the original.)

On Fox13 News last night, October 30, Rep. Jim Matheson said of Republican challenger Morgan Philpot, “He quit on the job. I have the sources to back it up.” He’s referring to his negative attack ad accusing Philpot of missing 233 votes while in the Utah state legislature and then quitting the legislature mid-term.

The clear take-away from Matheson’s advertising is that Philpot went AWOL during his stint in the Utah State Legislature and that voters should be wary because he’ll repeat this as your Congressman.

I did some fact-checking of the newspaper sources cited by Matheson and in the legislative record here’s what I found out:

Philpot was elected in 2000 and served from 2001 through 2004. This service includes four general sessions of the legislature, numerous special sessions, and service on interim committees. A representatives’ voting record is his or hers recorded votes during sessions as recorded in the House Journals.

Let’s examine his last year in the Legislature, the 55th Legislature 2003-04. He was present, accounted for, and voting every single day of the First Special Session, Second Special Session, 2004 General Session, First Veto Override Session, and the Third Special Session. His voting record was 100% in every session except for the General Session.

As most people realize, Legislators are very busy during sessions on and off the floor. They’re often with constituents, lobbyists and others when votes are taken and these are recorded as “absent or not voting” in the record. In 2004, on any given recorded vote, typically four to eight members were absent. During the General Session there were 607 recorded votes. Philpot voted in 465; he was absent or nonvoting in 142. In total for all sessions of the 55th Legislature, 2003-04, there were 620 recorded. Philpot voted 487 and was absent for 142 giving him a “batting average,” as it were, of 785/1000.

Philpot was clearly not AWOL. He probably missed more votes than the average representative, but his record was still likely higher than that of some others such as Representatives Bourdeaux, Dillree, Hendrickson, Christensen, and Dougall. I spot-checked the earlier years and my impression is that Philpot’s attendance rate in those years was even higher. Matheson’s implication that missing 233 votes during four years as a legislator is atypical and irresponsible is simply wrong. Any reasonable person going through the voting records for those four years will not single out Philpot from any other representative for a noteworthy record of absences.

The Office of Legislative Printing kindly sent me copies of the House Journals. I’ve loaded them online where you can download them and review Philpot’s voting record for yourself:

* House Journal 2004
* House Journal 2003
* House Journal 2002
* House Journal 2001

Now, what about Matheson’s accusation that he left the legislature “mid-term” to go to Michigan. I examined the newspaper sources that Matheson cites. Here is what the sources show:

The General Session of the 2004 Legislature began on January 19 and ended on March 3. Philpot was accepted to law school and announced to the legislature in March that he was leaving. He did this to give his successor time to meet the filing deadline to run for his seat. On or before March 17, four other Republicans filed as candidates for Philpot’s District 45.

During the 2004 session, Philpot’s prized legislation that he sponsored was the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarships (H.B. 115). It had passed both houses, but on March 23, Governor Walker vetoed it, but she left the $1.4 million funding intact for the Legislature to re-authorize. Just prior to Walker’s announcing this in the veto session on April 26, Mark Walker won won 70% of the vote at the Salt Lake County Convention to get the Republican nomination for District 45.

Philpot continued acting his duties through The Third Special Session on June 28. In mid-August the Philpot family moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan for Morgan to attend the Ave Maria Law School where classes began on August 23.

Why did he not resign before he moved?

The Salt Lake Tribune explained the reason:

“Anticipating that his vetoed Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship bill would resurface for debate at a special legislative session in September, Philpot opted to wait before severing all Utah ties. ‘That bill is important to me,’ said Philpot, who, upon learning that Republican legislative leaders failed to drum up enough support to revive it, added, ‘I’ll probably resign soon.'” (Trib Aug 22).

The Tribune noted in that same article, “Philpot isn’t drawing a salary and has yet to miss a vote.”

The special session that Philpot expected wasn’t called. Philpot missed the Interim Committee Day on September 15; not much more. By September 15 Mark Walker filed to run for District 45 and the following day Philpot officially resigned by sending a letter to House Speaker Marty Stephens with his resignation effective September 30. By September 21, Walker had already raised $8,335 for the race and in October Mark Walker was formally appointed by Governor Olene Walker to replace Philpot.

In moving to Michigan to attend law school Philpot only missed a few inconsequential meetings and those were just in the weeks prior to the November election. The accusation that Philpot quit on the job mid-term is a real stretch of the truth. It remains to be seen if the negative smears by the Matheson campaign will sway the electorate.

Sources:
# JOURNAL of the House of Representatives of the State of Utah. FIFTY−FIFTH LEGISLATURE 2004 GENERAL SESSION.
# “Here are candidates who beat Utah filing deadline.” (18 Mar 2004). Deseret News.
# Bernick, Bob Jr. and Spangler, Jerry D. (19 Mar 2004). “1/3 of lawmakers facing a contest in own parties.” Deseret News.
# “Republican county conventions.” (25 April 2004). Salt Lake Tribune.
# “Lawmakers are assured they’re not that popular – On the Stump: Political Briefs.” (22 Aug 2004). Salt Lake Tribune.
# Rolly, Paul and Jacobsen-Wlls, JoAnn. (30 August 2004). “Flag Flag-abuse law under fire, again.” Salt Lake Tribune.
# Warburton, Nicole and Stewart, Kirsten (16 Sep 2004). “Candidate lists change at deadline.” Salt Lake Tribune.
# “Legislator resigns to attend law school” (16 Sep 2004). Deseret News.
# “Candidate lists change at deadline.” (16 Sep 2004). Salt Lake Tribune.
# Loftin, Josh. “Incumbents outraise and outspend.” Deseret News.
# “Vacant seat filled in the Utah House” (21 Oct 2004). Salt Lake Tribune.
# “GOP replacement set after legislator resigns.” (23 Oct 2004). Deseret News.

Alice Baker, 79 yo patriot, makes ad for Morgan Philpot

This is one of the coolest things I have ever heard. Alice Baker, inspired patriot, paid for and cut a radio ad for Morgan Philpot because she is tired of Matheson selling Utah down the river. Go, Alice!

Follow the Matheson money trail

A bad case of “deficit attention disorder”…..

More baseless Matheson attacks

Matheson must be feeling the heat – or else he just does whatever Pelosi and the DCCC tell him. His latest attack ad accuses Morgan Philpot of wanting to slap a 23% tax on all Americans. Whatever. Philpot’s position on taxes could be summarized like this: Cut every tax you can, every chance you can, as much as you can. Matheson’s claims are so blatantly false – and so common among Democrats – that it has made national news.

The Hill reports that research by FairTax.org shows that Democrats in 16 districts have run at least 31 ads blasting Republicans for supporting a consumption tax. What they DON’T mention is that what is essentially a national sales tax would REPLACE the current federal tax system.

FactCheck.org also slammed the DCCC for the ads.

“Democrats are accusing Republicans of supporting a 23 percent sales tax on everything, which would be on top of all existing taxes… it’s misrepresenting by omission of the FairTax idea,” FactCheck.org director Brooks Jackson told The Hill.

The DCCC was forced to pull an ad off the air in Michigan’s 1st district because of it’s misleading nature. Philip Hinson, national spokesman for FairTax.org said “It just speaks to the desperation of the Democratic Party because they see an absolute tsunami developing and they can’t come up with anything better than this.”

Matheson doesn’t let the facts bother him when it comes to campaign ads. He sure doesn’t like it, though, when Philpot points out that he’s only passed two bills, that he voted for the Slaughter rule, that he raised the debt ceiling $2 trillion this year, that he passed Cash for Clunkers, versions 1 and 2 and that he voted to adjourn rather than address extending the Bush tax cuts.

All in all, the truth seems to be quite the annoyance to him, doesn’t it? Shame on him.  I’ll be the first to call on Congressman Jim Matheson to pull his inaccurate, deceitful ads, misrepresenting his opponents position on Social Security and the Fair tax. Time to man up, Congressman, and finally do the honest thing.  Pull ’em today.

Matheson tries to scare seniors into voting for him

Congressman Jim Matheson claims to be a fiscal conservative. He assures voters they can count on him to rein in government spending but when his conservative GOP opponent Morgan Philpot talks about true reform, Matheson turns it into an attack ad. In August, Philpot talked about a plan to keep this country from plunging off the financial cliff. He has short-term, medium-term and long-term goals.

In the long term, Philpot knows we need to address entitlement programs. Right now, this “non-discretionary” spending, aka “entitlement spending”, uses up almost all of the money the federal government brings in. The rest of government is run on a credit card.

No one can call themselves a “fiscal conservative” when they refuse to address entitlement spending. NO ONE. Matheson obviously is NOT interested in really doing the heavy lifting required of true fiscal conservatives. Instead, he takes Philpot’s statements about reforming entitlement spending and sends out a mailer scaring senior citizens by telling them that Philpot wants to gamble away their retirement.

In fact, what Philpot said was that he wanted to address reforming Social Security that does not affect those currently receiving benefits while reforming the ongoing program for future generations.

Whatever it takes, eh Congressman?

Matheson on the ropes

Congressman Jim Matheson (D-WHAT?!) is being hammered from both sides in the last 3 weeks leading up to the election. On the right, GOP contender Morgan Philpot was endorsed by heavy hitter Sarah Palin, bringing more national spotlight – and grassroots $$ – to his surging campaign. From the left flank, Rocky Anderson is calling on Democrats to vote Republican this cycle, saying “He’s turned his back to every possible constituency.”

He has been nominated as the “Jackass Politician” of the month, along with such other notables as Alan Grayson (who ran the Taliban ad), Harry Reid and Jerry Brown.

He is also the subject of a couple of clever videos.

and

The only live debate Matheson would agree to is scheduled for October 20th in St. George.

Busted! Matheson scolds constituent!

Phantom Jim refuses to hold town halls because he can’t handle being asked to explain his positions.  He finally got tracked down and asked about 84% of his campaign money coming from PACs.  Utah’s “PAC-man” refuses to answer – but finally turns to the guy asking the questions and says “Shame on you“.  No Jim.  Shame on YOU.  That sound you hear?  That’s the Philpot Express coming up behind you and headed all the way to DC.