Denver papers over the weekend editorialized about Mike Leavitt’s dodgy family charity organization. Apparently if you create a charitable organization where you put your money it can be sheltered from taxes and you only have to actually donate up to 5% of the holdings for charitable purposes each year.
Leavitt’s organization hasn’t even been doing that amount up until recently and they have been using the charitable organization to finance Leavitt family business ventures too. Read the whole piece in either the Rocky Mountain News or Denver Post.
The whole thing isn’t really that big a deal…even though it looks bad. The Leavitt family has great lawyers who have set up an excellent shelter from taxes. I understand and would probalby do the same if I had enough money to justify setting something like this up. I just thought it was an interesting story to post on this boring Monday!
Hat Tip: Utah Policy Daily
Joe Cannon, Utah’s Republican Party Chairman, was talking about why Bush is so popular in Utah (Bush’s 66% approval rating among Utahns is higher than in any other state in the country) when these words jumped out of his mouth:
“Mormons are the African-Americans of the Republican Party — something like 90 percent of black Americans vote Democratic…
“Utahns are a little different than Idaho, Wyoming or even Texas (where Bush was governor) because of the large percent of LDS voters”
I wonder why so many members of my church have put themselves in a position where they can be taken so completely for granted by one of the political parties. Republicans have done nothing to deserve the loyalty Mr. Cannon assumes Latter Day Saints will continue to display.
Mormons and non-Mormons in Utah deserve better than the Republican Party. Utah’s Democratic Party is more fiscally responsible than the Republicans. We support the maintenance of the morals and values Utah’s LDS and Non-LDS have vocally expressed and as a party we are far more inclusive than the Republicans. If Utahns want to be heard by their politicians they will need to look to the Democratic party, the party that knows it really needs them.
For a perfect example of the current difference between the Utah Republican Party and Utah’s Democratic Party compare the campaigns of Pete Ashdown and Orrin Hatch. Pete’s campaign is working to get more Utahns involved by using technology to allow all who want to be involved to be part of his organization and to suggest what his priorities should be in office and even help to set his policy positions. Hatch is running the traditional multi-million dollar campaign that involves him selling himself and his pre-set policy positions to us on TV. He figures thats all he needs to do to win. It would be great if more Utahns cared enough about their representation in Washington to prove him…and Joe Cannon…wrong.
Representative Jeff Flake from Arizona recently pushed through legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives which forced House members to vote yes or no on each earmark (pork barrel project) attached to a spending bill so it would be plain as day who really is fiscally conservative and who only claims to be. The Club For Growth now has the tally listing who is responsible for the pork coming from Washington and who is working to fight it.
How did Utah’s congressmen do? I’m sure none of you will be surprised to hear that the only semi-consistent anti-pork congressman from Utah is the lone Democrat in the delegation, Jim Matheson. He voted against the earmarks 14 out of 19 times.
The votes of Utah’s Republicans did nothing to help improve their reputations as complete hypocrites. Rob Bishop voted in favor of pork projects 11 out of 19 times and Chris Cannon was even worse voting for the pork projects 14 out of 19 times.
More reason for Utah’s Republicans to be embarrassed at their candidates’ policies and actions.
UPDATE:
Cleverly Blogged has done a great job cataloging each of these earmark votes and how Utah’s delegation voted. Nice work!
I’ve commented on the Fingertips blog before…to sum up…I LOVE IT! He put up an excellent song this week that I had to share on my blog.
Here’s this week’s “5 star on my ipod” music selection.
“He is the very model of the modern GOP”
Hmmmmmm…I think I’ll pass on Mr. Romney.
I’ve always been a little creeped out by the picture of “Batboy” you see yearly on the cover of the Weekly World News tabloid. This guy, Ben Underwood is the real thing…without the creepy sharp teeth and freaky looks. He’s a completely normal 14 year old boy who is blind…but he can gain a striking amount of detail about the world around him by interpreting the echo’s from clicking noises he makes as he moves around. His abilities are really amazing.
There was the time a fifth grader thought it would be funny to punch the blind kid and run. So he snuck up on Ben Underwood and hit him in the face. That’s when Ben started his clicking thing. “I chased him, clicking until I got to him, then I socked him a good one,” says Ben, a skinny 14-year-old. “He didn’t reckon on me going after him. But I can hear walls, parked cars, you name it. I’m a master at this game.”
…”I tell people I’m not blind,” he says. “I just can’t see.”
Very cool. Read the whole story.
Hat tip Boing Boing
Is there a better way to celebrate the oncoming weekend than to have a chance to see the most amazing Ukelele performance ever? I can’t think of anything better.
Thank you Galley Slaves.
From The Agitator:
So as it turns out, before the House voted to pass the Internet gambling ban (317-93), Rep. John Conyers offered an amendment that would have stripped out the exemptions for horse racing and state lotteries. It failed. Which means that a good number of Republican Congressmen voted for both the ban, and the exemptions. Which means they voted exactly as Jack Abramoff wanted them too. Fools.
Kudos to the 17 Republicans and 76 Democrats who still give a damn about individual freedom.
For the record it should be noted that I think the Internet gambling ban is completely pointless since it really can’t be enforced (I’d also argue that it shouldn’t be enforced…but thats a different issue).
Are you curious who in the Utah Congressional delegation thinks we should be morally consistent in banning Internet gambling including lotteries and horse racing? Only Jim Matheson.
All other Utah members of the House of Representatives think it should be ok to gamble on horse races or lotteries over the internet…just not poker or sports betting. That makes sense eh? Cannon and Bishop should be embarrassed…I know I’m a little embarrassed that they represent my state in such a foolish manner.
UPDATE 7/13/06:
Jon Stewart has the explanation about why our representatives felt it so important to keep horse race wagering and state lotteries from being banned by the Internet gambling ban that recently passed the house. It all has to do with the fact that, “the Internet is a series of tubes”. It is really complicated so I encourage you to click here for the full explanation…with diagrams.
Thad Van Ry at Woods Cross Citizen has questions for the candidates running for the open Davis County Commission seats. The questions are well written, fair and insightful. Hopefully the answers are as well prepared.
UPDATE: 07/12/2006
Now blogs from the “left” and “right” are calling on candidates to answer Van Ry’s questions. No responses yet but it is still early…hopefully all candidates know that we are all waiting for them to address these substantive issues.
The name of the July 4th holiday “Independence Day” seems a bit ironic to me this morning on a day when most Americans clearly exhibit more dependence on government than ever before. We want the government to provide us with a retirement, health care and numberless laws to keep us from possibly harming ourselves in any concievable way.
Radley Balko at his blog says:
Would the founders — whom our government celebrates today — have tolerated the government we have now? As Cowen notes, we rose up and revolted against a government that was far less intrusive, invasive, and — at risk of hyperbole — tyrannical than the one we have now. My guess is that alcohol prohibition alone would’ve been enough have Payne or Jefferson calling for arms. Never mind the New Deal, the Great Society, or today’s encroaching police state.
I bet he’s right. I love America the way it is now. I think I’d love it more if it had been kept as free as the founders intended it to be. Freedom is becoming less and less of a value to those who govern us these days. George Bush is definitely no George Washington and I bet there are few politicians in both parties who have ideas for governing that wouldn’t greatly offend the founders. Sorry for the spat of cynicism there…but I think we’ve screwed things up to a great degree and I only see it getting worse as Americans demand more and more from their government which was created 219 years ago for the sole purpose of doing less and less. Its hard not to be a little cynical about current times when you are someone who really loves the ideas set forth by those founders. We should all be doing more to defend and restore the freedom they risked their lives to provide for us…and that is this website’s holiday message on July 4th, 2006.
Now…go fire up the BBQs and light off fireworks to celebrate the most excellent country on earth! I know thats what I’ve got planned for today. Happy Independence day!
