Republican Bishop "punts" when it comes to taking on nuke buddies at EnergySolutions

To mix a few metaphors, the buck does not stop with Utah’s 1st District Republican Congressman Rob Bishop. When it comes to one of his former clients, Envirocare (which has morphed into EnergySolutions), Bishop punts.

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By BROCK VERGAKIS
Associated Press Writer

SALT LAKE CITY - If states are willing to accept foreign nuclear waste, there's no reason the federal government should prohibit them from handling it, says a Utah congressman whose district could get tons of Italian leftovers.

"I don't see it as a federal issue," U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop told The Associated Press.

EnergySolutions Inc. wants to import about 20,000 tons of waste from Italian nuclear plants for processing in Tennessee.

After processing, about 8 percent, or some 1,600 tons, would be shipped to the company's facility in Bishop's district, about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City, for disposal. It is the largest and only privately owned radioactive-waste dump in the U.S.

Bishop differs from U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, a Utah Democrat who is co-sponsoring a bill that would ban nuclear-waste imports unless it originated in the U.S. or came from an overseas U.S. military facility.

Bishop is a former lobbyist for Envirocare, EnergySolutions' predecessor, and has received more than $20,000 in campaign contributions from the company's executives and its political-action committee since being elected in 2002.

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Bishop's justification amounts to a nifty bit of rhetorical escapism. He could trot it out for anything that crosses his desk in Washington. But it begs the question: If his political philosophy on federalism prevents him from solving problems at the federal level, how can he effectively represent his constituents? Did they vote for him to be a privileged seat-warmer?

The "Straight Talk Express" has an uphill climb, even in its own mountain backyard

Download a primer on McCain's weaknesses in the West and the growing strength of the Democratic Party.

John McCain heads West today, a far weaker candidate in his home region than anyone could have been expected. In Utah, he'll likely be upstaged when Mitt Romney joins him at a fundraiser in Salt Lake City. McCain only won 5 percent of the vote in the Feb. 5 primary. Romney won 90 percent.

The do-anything-to-win John McCain of 2008 has cast aside his principles to secure the GOP nomination, has ignored the West and western issues, and continues to struggle to unite a divided Republican Party.

At the same time, McCain’s promise of a third Bush term on everything from dealing with Iraq to the economy has alienated key voting blocs including independents and Hispanics. The results paint a picture that looks anything but promising for Republicans for the November elections.

While McCain had problems across the country - from traditionally GOP-leaning states in the South to so-called "swing states" like Iowa and Michigan (which he won in 2000 but lost in 2008) - his resounding losses throughout the West and Southwest, a critical region in November, are an ominous sign heading into the general election.

After representing Arizona for more than two decades McCain failed to break 50 percent in his home state's Feb. 5 primary, and turned in big losses in two other potential swing states that surround Arizona. In Nevada McCain lost to Mitt Romney and even to Ron Paul, earning a meager 13% of the vote. In Colorado McCain received only 19 percent of the vote. Going all the way up the Rocky Mountain West, McCain has won just one of six states. The message is clear: The voters who know John McCain best don't trust him.

Here's how he did in Western primaries:

Utah (Feb 5)
Romney 90%
McCain 5%
Paul 3%

Arizona (Feb 5)
McCain 48%
Romney 34%
Huckabee 9%

Nevada (Jan 19)
Romney 51%
Paul 14%
McCain 13%

Colorado (Feb 5)
Romney 60%
McCain 19%

Wyoming (Jan 5)
Romney 67%
Thompson 25%
Hunter 8%
McCain 0%

Montana (Feb 5)
Romney 38%
Paul 25%
McCain 22%

SPRING TIMES: A message from Bob Springmeyer, Democrat for governor

Dear fellow Utahn,

This is a great time to be a Democrat!

Change is coming to the U.S. and Utah, and not a moment too soon.

Let me get straight to the point: I'm running for governor of Utah, and I'm running to win. But to win this race I need your help.

Republican leaders have failed Utah time and time again on:

• Health care
• Jobs
• Education

They've squandered opportunities to move our great state forward, instead focusing on a narrow, ideological and extreme agenda that has done nothing to improve the lives of average Utahns.

WE MUST DO BETTER!

Too many Utahns simply cannot make ends meet. They cannot find a job that pays enough to support a family, or they live in fear of losing the job they have.

We desperately need new leadership. Leadership that will focus on Utah and not ambitions to higher office. Leadership that will reverse the fall in real wages. Leadership that will bring jobs to the state that can support a family.

I can be that kind of leader, but first I am going to have to get elected and for that I need your help.

WE MUST DO BETTER!

Our opponent will have the full support of his family's billions.

We can win this race, but I'm not taking anything for granted. I'm counting on you!

Please share my thoughts and my candidacy announcement with your friends and neighbors at your caucus meeting tonight.

Thanks,

Bob Springmeyer
Democratic candidate for governor

Candidacy Announcement

Democrat Bob Springmeyer Files for Governor
March 17, 2008 - Salt Lake City

Springmeyer, a lifelong Democrat, said:

"I am running for governor because I know that Utah can and must do better. This is a great state. But it must be an even greater state."

• I am not satisfied that more than 400,000 people in Utah, including 135,000 children, have no health insurance and many more families are struggling to keep up with rising insurance costs.

• I am not satisfied that one-third of Salt Lake School District students and almost half of Ogden students dropout, and far to many of our Hispanic students end up dropping out. Pretty great is just not good enough anymore!

• I am not satisfied that Utah wages, as a percentage of national averages, have been falling steeply since the early 1980s under Republican administrations - 80 percent of Utah workers have suffered real wage loss since 1979.

• I am not satisfied that when my 87-year-old mother tries to call state government she can't get a real human - just a complicated stream of clicks, beeps and frustration.

Middle class families are been squeezed by higher health care, energy and tuition costs. The only thing that is absolutely certain is that we cannot wait to act - WE MUST DO BETTER.

Today, Springmeyer will file with the lieutenant governor's office declaring his candidacy for governor.

A Utah native, Springmeyer has a record of civic involvement, including:

• He and his wife, Gwen, chaired the efforts to build the Ronald McDonald House of Utah - serving the families of hospitalized children of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada.

• He helped form and is the first president of the "Utah Wildlife and Conservation Foundation" to improve the habitat of non-game wildlife in Utah and educated students of the importance of the Great Salt Lake.

• He is the father of four adult children and grandfather to four grandsons.

• He is the President of Bonneville Research, a regional economic and management consulting firm.

• An avid cyclists and advocate for bicycle safety, Springmeyer helped form and plan for the annual Josie Johnson Memorial Bicycle Rides.

• He and his wife Gwen were born in Provo, and now live in Salt Lake City.

Contact: Bob Springmeyer:

Springmeyer's Web site will be http://www.bobforgov.org/. (It is still under construction)

170 South Main #775
Salt Lake City, UT
801-364-5300

If you agree that Utah MUST DO BETTER and want to help, please send donations to:

BobforGov
1289 4th Avenue
Salt Lake City, UT 84103

Utahns won't forget McCain's past when he comes around glad-handing for dollars

Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain has put Western states on his travel itinerary, including a brief stopover Thursday in Salt Lake City. But he has work cut out for him.

• A CANDIDATE WITHOUT DEPTH OF SUPPORT: A recent Deseret Morning News poll found that only 54 percent of Utahns would vote for John McCain. Granted, Democrats have a long way to go, but the poll reflects strong dissatifaction with the Republican Party's presumed presidential nominee - even here in the heart of the West where he should be strongest. It's hard to imagine John McCain generating the kind of passion that the Clintons or the Obamas generated during their recent visits to Utah.

”The state is overwhelmingly Republican. I'm surprised he's (McCain’s) not stronger," said Nikki Norton, an Obama supporter quoted in the article. "I think Republicans should be concerned about that. It shows that Utahns are not necessarily that committed."

“I think it's telling that McCain is only at 54 percent," said Donald Dunn, a Utah spokesman for Hillary Clinton, who was also quoted in the article.

• LACK OF RESPECT: Many Utah members of the LDS faith were surprised at the way Republicans – fellow conservatives, especially John McCain Republicans – treated a candidate of their own faith. They couldn't help but recall that many of their ancestors made the trek West in the middle 1800s to escape religious bigotry. And they compared that to the Democratic Party, in which arguably the most powerful lawmaker in Washington, D.C., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, is a devout member of the LDS faith who openly expresses his faith (“Reid gets warm reception at BYU; He says he's a Demo because of his faith and not in spite of it,” Deseret Morning News, Salt Lake City, Oct. 10, 2007) and the CEO of Democratic National Convention in Denver, Leah Daughtry, is a woman, an African-American, and a Pentecostal minister.

Democrats value tolerance and aren't shy when it comes to demonstrating their “Big Tent” inclusiveness. It's hardwired into their DNA - if that's what you can call party rules.

• THE ANTI-OLYMPIAN: John McCain demonstrated his lack of concern for economic issues vital to Utahns and other Westerners when he threw obstacles in the path of Utahns, including thousands of fellow Republicans, trying to bring the world to Utah for the 2002 Winter Olympics. (“For Utah, McCain once had disdain,” Salt Lake Tribune columnist Paul Rolly, Feb. 18, 2008: “Now that former Salt Lake City Winter Olympics boss Mitt Romney has endorsed GOP presidential candidate John McCain and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has been a McCain campaign water boy for months, does anybody remember the Arizona senator's disdain for us? McCain was the leading anti-Utah Olympics voice in the U.S. Senate during the critical time when Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch and other Olympics supporters were trying to secure federal funds to improve the infrastructure …”)

That infrastructure, helped along by Democrats during the Clinton Administration, has helped sustain our unmatched quality of life. No thanks to McCain.

As economy sinks, anti-poverty scorecard shows which political party is likely to help

"The persistence of widespread poverty in our nation can in large part be explained by the failure of our elected representatives in Congress, working with the President, to enact laws and adequately fund programs that would meaningfully address the root causes and most profound effects of poverty." - JOHN BOUMAN, president of the Shriver National Center on Poverty Law in Chicago

A national anti-poverty advocacy group has flunked or given barely passing scores to Utah’s Republican Congressional delegation while awarding Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson an “A.”

A report published by the Sargeant Center underscores the stark difference Democrats and Republicans - even as a recent local news story indicates 28 percent of Salt Lake City children live in poverty and economists forecast a severe nationwide recession that will impoverish tens of millions.

The study looked at 14 significant poverty-related measures introduced in the 2007 session of Congress.

“The causes and effects of poverty are many and varied,” said John Bouman, president of the Shriver Center. “Reflecting this reality, we have included bills in a wide range of fields, including affordable housing, budget and tax, civil rights, prisoner reentry, early and higher education, health care, immigrants, labor, and rural poverty.

“While about 2/3 of the members got good grades on the Scorecard, their votes were not enough to pass most of the measures. Moreover, the votes recorded in the Scorecard would suggest that a significant number of legislators do not believe in taking aggressive action to address poverty. Given the high rates of poverty in many of their states, we are not convinced that they are paying attention to poverty, or that they have an effective, alternative strategy.”

• Download the scorecard.

In the March edition of THE MESSAGE: Recruiting for success in November

These items and more in the March edition of THE MESSAGE:

• FROM UTAH DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR WAYNE HOLLAND: It's a good year to be a Utah Democrat. We saw more candidates file as Democrats this year than at any time in recent memory.

• YOUR CHANCE TO CHANGE THE WORLD: On Tuesday, March 25, Democrats from all over the state will gather at local caucus meetings to select delegates and precinct officers. These meetings are essential to the functioning of healthy local Democratic parties and provide every single Utahn interested in becoming involved in our party old enough to vote in this year’s November election the opportunity to participate.

• FROM AN OP-ED PUBLISHED IN THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: "The Republican House majority leader cannot be blamed for trying to put a positive spin on the recently concluded, and often embarrassing, legislative session (Re: "You can count on Republicans to meet the challenges of the future," The Salt Lake Tribune, March 9, 2008). However, he belittles the hard work and day-in, day-out professionalism of thousands of Utahns by attempting to take credit for an efficient state government and a relatively solid economy.

"Despite the headline accompanying the opinion piece, Republican lawmakers are precisely the people who cannot be counted on to meet future challenges. Their political philosophy prevents it."

• THE MINORITY REPORT: At the beginning of the 2008 legislative session Utah House Democrats set specific goals that we had hoped to accomplish during this year’s session. Education, the environment and health care system reform were at the top of our list as items that we felt were most important to the residents of Utah and to the constituents we represent. Find out how we did.

• MATHESON BILL WOULD BAN FOREIGN NUCLEAR WASTE: Matheson bill would ban foreign nuclear wasteCongressman Jim Matheson on March 13 introduced a bipartisan bill to ban the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from authorizing importation of foreign-generated nuclear waste. Matheson — a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee — joined fellow committee members Bart Gordon of Tennessee and Ed Whitfield of Kentucky in sponsoring the legislation.

FIVE YEARS AFTER: the cost of President Bush's war of choice in Iraq, by the numbers

As we begin the sixth year of the Iraq War, the costs of President Bush's misguided decision to use force have far surpassed the Administration's rosy predictions. Nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have been killed, with nearly 30,000 injured. Our army is out of balance according to Army Chief of Staff General George Casey, and violence is surging in Afghanistan/Pakistan where Osama Bin Laden remains at large. Democrats continue to push for a change of course, but Bush Republicans block the way, insisting on more of the same.

The Cost to Our Forces in Iraq

3,990: American troops who have died in Iraq since the start of the war. [icasualties.org, 3/17/08]

29,395: Number of U.S. service members that have been wounded in hostile action since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq. [AP, 3/11/08]

60,000: Number of troops that have been subjected to controversial stop-loss measures--meaning those who have completed service commitments but are forbidden to leave the military until their units return from war. [US News and World Report, 2/25/08]

5: Number of times the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment has been sent to Iraq. They are the first Marine Corps unit to be sent to Iraq for a fifth time. [San Francisco Chronicle, 2/27/08]

2,100: Number of troops who tried to commit suicide or injure themselves increased from 350 in 2002 to 2,100 last year. [US News and World Report, 2/25/08]

11.9: Percent of noncommissioned Army officers who reported mental health problems during their first Iraq tour [Los Angeles Times, 3/7/08]

27.2: Percent of noncommissioned Army officers who reported mental health problems during their third or fourth Iraq tour [Los Angeles Times, 3/7/08]

The Cost to Our Military Readiness

88: Percent of current and former U.S. military officers surveyed in a recent independent study who believe that the demands of the war in Iraq have "stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin" [Foreign Policy/Center for New American Security, 2/19/08]

94: Percent of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2003 [Larry Korb, The Guardian, 10/12/07]

79: Percent of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2007 [Larry Korb, The Guardian, 10/12/07]

4,644: Number of new Army recruits who were granted moral waivers in Fiscal Year 2003. [Houston Chronicle, 10/14/07]

12,057: Number of new Army recruits who were granted moral waivers in Fiscal Year 2007. [Houston Chronicle, 10/14/07]

67: Percent of captains the Army managed to retain this year, short of its goal of 80 percent, and in spite of cash bonus incentives of up to $35,000 [Armed Services Committee Hearing, 2/26/08]

The Cost to Our National Security

1,188: Number of global terrorist incidents from January - September 11th, 2001. [American Security Project, "Are We Winning?," September 2007]

5,188: Number of global terrorist incidents in from January- September 11th, 2006. [American Security Project, "Are We Winning?," September 2007]

30: Percent increase in violence in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007. [Reuters, 10/15/07]

21: Number of suicide bombings in Afghanistan in 2001. [Center for American Progress, "The Forgotten Front," 11/07]

139: Number of suicide bombings in Afghanistan in 2006, with an additional increase of 69 percent as of November 2007. [Center for American Progress, "The Forgotten Front," 11/07]

30: Percent of Afghanistan controlled by the Afghan Government according to DNI Mike McConnell. [Associated Press, 2/27/08]

2,380: Days since September 11th, 2001, that Osama Bin Laden has been at-large.

The Cost of Funding the War in Iraq

$50-60 Billion: Bush Administration's pre-war estimates of the cost of the war. [New York Times, 12/31/02]

$12 Billion: Direct cost per month of the Iraq War. [Washington Post, Bilmes and Stiglitz Op-Ed, 3/9/08]

$526 Billion: Amount of money already appropriated by Congress for the War in Iraq. [CRS, 2/22/08]

$3 Trillion: Total estimated cost of the Iraq War. [Washington Post, Bilmes and Stiglitz Op-Ed, 3/9/08]

$5 Trillion - $7 Trillion: Total cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan accounting for continued military operations, growing debt and interest payments and continuing health care and counseling costs for veterans. [McClatchy, 2/27/08]

160: Percent that the cost of the Iraq War has increased from 2004 to 2008. [CRS Report, 2/22/08]

The Cost to Iraqis and Journalists

8,000: Number of Iraqi military and police killed since June 2003. [Brookings Institute, Iraq Index, March 13, 2008]

82,000-89,000: Estimate of Iraqi civilians casualties from violence since the beginning of the Iraq War. [Iraq Body Count]

4.5 Million: Number of Iraqi refugees both inside and outside the country. [Washington Post, 3/17/08]

61: Percent of Iraqis that believe the U.S. military presence makes the security situation in Iraq worse. [Agence France-Presse, 3/17/08]

127: Number of journalists killed in Iraq since March 2003. [Committee to Protect Journalists]

U.S. Troops and Contractors in Iraq

132,000: Number of U.S. troops in Iraq in January 2007, before President Bush's escalation. [Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, 3/13/08]

155,000: Number of U.S. troops currently in Iraq. [Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, 3/13/08]

140,000: Number of U.S. troops projected to be in Iraq in July 2008. [Associated Press, 2/26/08]

35,000: Number of private security contractors operating in Iraq. [Human Rights First, Private Security Contractors at War]

180,000: Number of private contractors operating in Iraq. [Human Rights First, Private Security Contractors at War]

Progress Toward Political Reconciliation Made By Iraqis

3: Number out of 18 Bush Administration Benchmarks Met by Iraqi Government As of January 24, 2008. [Center for American Progress, 1/24/08]

18: Number of provinces President Bush said would be secured by Iraqis as of November 2007. [President Bush Speech, 1/10/07]

8: Number of provinces actually secured by Iraqis as of January 2008. [NPR, 1/7/08]

Bush-Republican Intransigence on Staying the Course in Iraq

8: Number of times a majority of the Senate has voted to change course in Iraq.

7: Number of times Bush Republicans in Congress have blocked changing course in Iraq.

1: Number of vetoes issued by the White House over changing course in Iraq.

So hold on Utah Democrats. We're off on a 308-day ride to change the political landscape

It’s a good year to be a Utah Democrat. Our Utah Democratic Party will be contesting the most races across the state in recent memory.

It was much easier to recruit candidates for this election cycle than in previous years. After the Republican-dominated Legislature ended and ethics reform got nowhere, when health-care reform got nowhere, when Republican leaders continued to make sweetheart deals for their cronies, Utahns had a clearer sense of the need for change. And it didn't hurt that the major presidential candidates and their super surrogates paid visits here.

Todd Taylor, our executive director, estimated that Democrats will contest eight out of eight statewide and federal races (president, three congressional offices, governor, attorney general, treasurer, and auditor); 14 out of 15 Utah Senate races; and 68 out of 75 Utah House races.

Vice Chair Rob Miller was tireless (and fearless) working the phones and using every trick in the book to persuade Democrats that we have a great opportunity this year to make substantial gains across the board. And our hats are off to all of you who decide to throw your hats in the ring.

So hold on. We're off to the races!

Does the GOP majority leader have the intellectual honesty to shoulder the blame?

Last Sunday in a Tribune op-ed, Dave Clark, the Republican majority leader of the Utah House, bragged about the strength of Utah’s economy, giving himself and other Republicans full credit. What he did not mention was what United Way of Salt Lake has tried, and failed, to get on the agenda of our Republican-dominated Legislature for at least the past two years – poverty is our No. 1 social problem because of its ripple effect across society.

After reading today’s Page 1 Tribune report on kids living in poverty, will the majority leader harness his heady political ambitions to serve our most needy? Does he have the intellectual honesty to shoulder the blame for the true state of our economy as he tries to unseat Greg Curtis as top dog in the House? Will he lead our business, community and religious elite in a good-faith initiative – joined, of course, by Democrats – to create opportunity for everyone as he launches his campaign for Congress when a fourth Utah seat is created in a couple of years?

I believe the answer is obvious. Many Republicans, not all, share the philosophical underpinnings and glib callousness of Ronald Reagan. While stumping to become the governor of California in the 1960s he said, “We were told four years ago that 17 million people went to bed hungry every night. Well, that was probably true. They were all on a diet.”

How many Utah Republicans would say, “I do not share the values of Ronald Reagan”? He continues to be lionized. In fact, our Republican-dominated Legislature commemorated Reagan this year.

Big money skittish as coal-fired power generation falls on hard times

So far, 2008 has been a rough year for Old King Coal, according to a report published by The Center for American Progress.

Just 24 hours after Bush touted clean coal in his January State of the Union address, the Department of Energy pulled the plug on the ambitious FutureGen project, which aimed to build the first zero-emissions coal plant.

Days later, major banks such as Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, stated their concern over coal's enormous carbon footprint with emissions caps on the horizon, a consideration that "make[s] it less likely the banks will finance other coal-fired plants."

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley say they have concluded that the U.S. government will cap greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants sometime in the next few years. The banks will require utilities seeking financing for plants before then to prove the plants will be economically viable even under potentially stringent federal caps on carbon dioxide, the main man-made greenhouse gas. The move shows Wall Street is the latest U.S. business sector that sees some kind of government emissions-capping as inevitable."

The next week, Bank of America agreed that coal plants were a bad investment. Soon after, The New York Times reported, "With opposition to coal plants rising across the country - including a statement by three investment banks...saying they are wary of financing new ones, utilities are turning to natural gas to meet expected growth in demand."

This is not good news for backers of proposed plants in or near Utah - a new 950-megawatt unit near Delta, the 270-megawatt Sevier Power Plant proposed at Sigurd, the 110-megawatt Bonanza plant near Vernal, and the 750-megawatt Toquop plant upwind of St. George in southeastern Nevada. Even Wall Street is turning against coal-fired power, but not because of the moral imperative of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It's all about the bottom line.

Jean Hill files for attorney general race; Democrats, Utahns hit pay dirt

When Jean Hill, an attorney for the State Board of Education, agreed to run as a Democrat for state attorney general, Democrats struck gold.

Jean has been at the top of our list of AG candidates for almost a year. She demonstrated her integrity and leadership last year when she took a stand against implementing vouchers and against the politically tainted opinion of the current attorney general - who has politicized the office in service of his own ambitions. Jean will bring a fresh spirit to the office; she will work for Utahns.

Legal advice Jean and a colleague, Carol Lear, provided the Board of Education regarding implementation of a controversial voucher law was upheld by the Utah Supreme Court in June of 2007. The ruling paved the way for the November vote that threw out the law.

"I am running for Attorney General of Utah because I believe in protecting the public interest,” Jean said. “When the AG and vast majority of the Legislature are from the same party, the public interest gets lost in partisan politics. However, with the combined talents of the attorneys in the AG’s office, the AG can do more, such as protect the vulnerable from predatory lenders or overzealous developers, or protect teens from dating violence, or protect the public coffers from legislation that does little more than generate useless and expensive litigation."

__________________________

Jean Hill's biography

Jean Welch Hill is an attorney for the State Board of Education. Since 1999 she has provided legal counsel to the Board, school districts, school administrators, teachers, parents, legislators and any one else with questions about public education law in Utah.

Ms. Hill also prosecutes educator misconduct cases before the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission, ensuring that educators who violate the public trust are no longer permitted to teach in this or any other state. She is a member of the National Council of State Education Attorneys and the State Advisory Board on Children’s Justice. She also serves on the Boards of Directors of Wasatch Community Gardens and the Law-Related Education Project.

Before joining the State Office, Ms. Hill worked as a high school history teacher at Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake and was an editorial writer and columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune. She attended the University of Utah, receiving a Bachelors of Science in Political Science and in Geography. Ms. Hill graduated from the University of Utah College of Law in 1995.

Ms. Hill has three children, Noah, Nathan and Samuel, and will celebrate her 16th wedding anniversary in May. Her husband, Ron Hill is a history teacher and coach at Judge Memorial.

Democrats in Washington, Utah take on Republicans over ethics reform

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By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — House Democrats, trying to restore integrity to the chamber's tarnished image, pushed through a measure Tuesday to create an outside panel to review possible ethical lapses by its members.

The vote was 229-182, with much of the opposition coming from Republicans who argued that lawmakers should be able to police themselves. Utah's congressmen split on party lines, with Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson voting for the measure and Republican Reps. Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop voting against it.

________________________

Utah Democrats are pushing similar reforms in the Utah Legislature, and numerous candidates are filing to run as Democrats for the Legislature on platforms “to clean the House.”

In announcing his bid to unseat Republican House Speaker Greg Curtis, Jay Seegmiller said, “It’s time to hold him (Speaker Curtis) accountable for his leadership style, rules he imposes on a whim that uniformly benefit his cronies, and the privileged access he grants special interests but denies constituents. I will fight for campaign finance and ethics reform that Utahns overwhelmingly favor but the Curtis Legislature has consistently stymied.”

Seegmiller and the other Democrats face the same kind of GOP opposition at the state level that Cannon and Bishop represent in Washington. During the legislative session that ended a few days ago, Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake City, introduced an ethics bill that Republican power brokers killed without so much as a hearing.

“Once again, Republicans have demonstrated their core values,” said Wayne Holland, chair of Utah Democratic Party. “They are out of touch with constituents and their arrogance blinds them to the possibility of change.”

Bush frees Iraq to embrace Iran, while nearly 4,000 American lives have been lost

"At last the President has been greeted in Iraq by an outpouring of hugs, kisses, and rose petals - just as the Bushites predicted would happen when they invaded that country in 2003. Unfortunately, though, it is not George W. getting the love treatment from the Iraqis. It is President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran ..."

Read more from America's #1 populist, Jim Hightower

McCain's merry pranksters target Utah Democrats' Web site. Gee, thanks

From Salt Lake Tribune columnist Paul Rolly (March 12, 2008): Those little devils: When trying to access the Web site of the Utah Democratic Party, a reader typed in "www.utahdemocrats.org," and was immediately redirected to John McCain's campaign Web site, www.johnmccain.com. The actual Web site for the Utah Democratic party is www.utdemocrats.org.

Thanks, John McCain. We’re flattered your merry pranksters believe they can help your campaign by driving people from our Web site to yours. It’s a clear indication they recognize the growing influence of Utah Democrats. But isn’t it beneath the dignity of a so-called honorable war hero? Besides, adolescent political tricks – the kind you used against Mitt Romney - don’t work well in Utah. Didn’t you learn that lesson Feb. 5 when Romney won 264,856 votes in Utah for president and you won 15,931?

Ideology of Utah Republicans prevents them from meeting future challenges of state

The Republican House majority leader cannot be blamed for trying to put a positive spin on the recently concluded, and often embarrassing, legislative session (Re: “You can count on Republicans to meet the challenges of the future,” The Salt Lake Tribune, March 9, 2008). However, he belittles the hard work and day-in, day-out professionalism of thousands of Utahns by attempting to take credit for an efficient state government and a relatively solid economy.

Despite the headline accompanying the opinion piece, Republican lawmakers are precisely the people who cannot be counted on to meet future challenges. Their political philosophy prevents it. Take the Republican representative from Harriman, a no-holds-barred partisan. He has stated publicly that government should play no role in health-care reform and was the lawmaker who kicked off the campaign to privatize our neighborhood schools via vouchers. And he’s not alone.

Look at what happened this session. Despite overwhelming popular support for ethics reform, a Democratic attempt to create an independent commission died without so much as a hearing; despite the recommendations of a task force of community, business, and government leaders, health-care reform was consigned to even more study and thousands of Utahns will continue to suffer needlessly; Republicans stiffed an attempt by Democrats to limit water wasted keeping government lawns green only because it had the name of an environment group attached to it; and another session went by with Republican rhetoric overwhelming meaningful attempts to reduce class sizes in Utah public schools. The Legislature has spent millions on education over the past few years, thanks to Democratic prodding. But it’s not enough to keep Utah from coming in dead last in support of our children’s education. We keep treading water.

The program the majority leader touts, USTAR, may one day have more than a marginal impact on the state’s relatively low salaries. For now, it’s just beginning to get off the ground. It’s certainly a step in the right direction. United Way of Salt Lake has determined insufficient income is the No. 1 social problem in its four-county service area because of its causal connection to other problems. What the majority leader fails to mention is that USTAR was the result of collaboration among business, university, community, and state policy analysts openly expressing a wide range of views. It was not initiated by Republican lawmakers. Community leaders, realizing that “in the globally competitive Knowledge Age, Utah is falling behind ...” according to the USTAR Web site, lobbied for passage and Republican lawmakers fell in line.

Without pressure from high-profile community and religious leaders, the Republican-dominated Legislature defaults to mean-spirited, backwater ideological justifications and backroom power politics. Its response to illegal immigration is one example. Another, of course, is the racist remark from a Republican senator. Still another senator criticized an advanced program for high school students. She said she was concerned because it promoted the “United Nations agenda,” whatever that is. The program helps our top high-school students prepare for leadership in the globally competitive Knowledge Age. In other words, the senator wanted to kill what USTAR attempts to nurture.

The majority leader dismissed all this in his op-ed as “perceived quirks and follies” then blamed the media. When all else fails, blame the media.

Holland is chairman of the Utah Democratic Party.

Criminal probe of mine disaster possible after results of Senate investigation

On Aug. 6, 2007, a hollowed out mountain at Crandall Canyon on the Wasatch Plateau in eastern Utah came down on six miners. Three rescuers died several days later. It should never have happened.

The next month Wayne Holland, chair of the Utah Democratic Party, told the U.S. Education and Labor Committee, "Mr. Chairman, I'd like to tell the people back in Emery and Carbon counties that Congress will not wait for any more miners to die before it acts."

And he can.

The House passed a far-reaching mining oversight and safety reform measure - the S-MINER Act - in January. Utah's Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson voted for the bill, while Republicans Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop voted against it. Not only that. In an astonishing display of insensitivity, Bishop, who was Utah's lone champion on the committee, actually got up and walked out as miners' families told their stories during a televised hearing in October.

Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced a similar bill in the Senate, the Miner Health and Safety Enhancement Act of 2007. It is expected to find the same kind of resistence from Utah's Republicans - Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch - that the House version faced.

The best responses to the tragedy mustered so far by Republicans who dominate the Utah Legislature and executive branch have been glib platitudes and a task force of prominent Utahns to study the issue even more. During the session that just ended, our Legislature created a state mining advisory council. It will not have any meaningful power to challenge powerful mining operators.

Utah's impotent response contrasts with a U.S. Senate investigation that suggests Robert Murray and his mining company could be held criminally negligent.

Kennedy's committee released an investigative report yesterday that discusses findings of its investigation into events leading up to the mine collapse.

Kennedy said, “The Committee’s investigation has revealed that the owner of Crandall Canyon mine, Murray Energy, disregarded dangerous conditions at the mine, failed to tell federal regulators about these dangers, conducted unauthorized mining and - as a result - exposed its miners to serious risks. MSHA also unconscionably failed to protect miners by hastily rubber-stamping the plan. This is a clear case of callous disregard for the law and for safety standards, and hardworking miners lost their lives. This deserves a full criminal investigation by the Department of Justice. The report’s findings greatly underscore the urgent need for mine safety reform. ”

The full text of the report and exhibits are available at www.kennedy.senate.gov. Here are key findings:

• Murray Energy and its technical consultant, Agapito Associates, failed to make sufficiently conservative engineering assumptions and ignored the history of the mine’s instability. Had they been cautious and conservative, the company may have scaled down the plan, or perhaps done away with it entirely. Instead, they rapidly pushed it ahead.

• MSHA missed significant flaws in Agapito’s analysis, dismissed critical findings by MSHA’s own engineer, and did not submit the plans – which proposed one of the most hazardous mining operations ever attempted – for review by MSHA’s expert technical staff. Had they been exacting and cautious in their review, MSHA may have significantly modified or refused to approve the plans. Instead, MSHA approved the plans with minor changes.

• Murray Energy ignored substantial evidence of instability during mining operations, continuing to extract coal despite mounting evidence of danger in the North Barrier. The company could have taken the time to notify MSHA of these conditions, stop mining, and reassess the risks. Instead, they continued mining until stopped by a powerful, nearly tragic, bounce.

• MSHA also ignored red flags during mining that should have prompted an exacting and cautious review of mining operations – the most obvious being the March bounce that closed the North barrier. Had they thoroughly investigated the March bounce, closely monitored conditions thereafter, and rigorously reviewed the company’s revised plan for the South barrier, MSHA may have required greater safety precautions or prohibited mining in the South entirely. Instead, MSHA allowed the company to continue.

• Murray Energy encountered – and ignored – instability in the South Barrier Where the Accident Occurred. Again, they did not take the time to report to MSHA and reassess, but continued mining, retreating under deeper cover.

• Murray Energy may have been conducting unauthorized mining right before the mine collapse. The evidence uncovered by the investigation reflects that Murray Energy was illegally mining the remnant barrier pillar just before the August accident.

• MSHA entered into an illegal agreement with Murray Energy. The evidence strongly suggests that MSHA entered into an informal agreement with a Murray Energy official agreeing that MSHA would relax the reporting requirements for seismic events occurring at Murray Energy mines.

The rematch: Working class guy shaking THE POWER vs. bully boy and his big money

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One man one vote
Now izzat really real?
The name of our game is
Let's make a deal.
Now people got their problems
The haves and the have-nots.
But the ones that make me listen
Pay for 30-second spots!...

- the Jay Billington Bulworth fundraising rap from Warren Beatty's 1998 movie "Bulworth"

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As Bob Bernick in his Deseret Morning News story documented the kind of sweet deal and access to backroom power that would make Speaker Curtis a valuable investment to any big developer (not just the biggest in Utah he works for), along comes a Democratic candidate, Jay Seegmiller, who says enough of this.

(By coincidence, Seegmiller was actually downstairs in the Capitol Rotunda announcing his candidacy based, in part, on ethics reform while members of the Republican caucus were upstairs in private being pumped for $42 million that would benefit St. George's effort to build an airport and indirectly Curtis’ client, Anderson Development. A couple of Republicans balked, according to Bernick, but St. George is likely to get the money.)



In a press release last week Seegmiller said, “It’s time to hold him (Speaker Curtis) accountable for his leadership style, rules he imposes on a whim that uniformly benefit his cronies, and the privileged access he grants special interests but denies constituents. I will fight for campaign finance and ethics reform that Utahns overwhelmingly favor but the Curtis Legislature has consistently stymied.”

As a kind of morality tale, this is one to watch. The bully boy backed by big money ($300,000 and counting) vs. the working class guy taking on THE POWER.

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There's a time when every homey
Got to risk his neck and fight
For the thing that he believe in,
And he got to preach it right.

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Faced with a choice between Utahns and big money, Speaker Curtis goes for the money

The chairman of the Utah Democratic Party issued the following statement in response to a report today that Republican members of the Legislature were asked to approve a $42 million “bridge” loan to St. George in connection with construction of a new regional airport. The loan likely would benefit the largest client of Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis’ law firm, Anderson Development.

“It appears that Speaker Curtis has been as pure as Caesar’s wife,” said Wayne Holland. “The public does not know what goes on behind those closed doors.”

The report titled “House speaker says he could not disclose association with bidder” was written by Bob Bernick and published online this afternoon by the Deseret Morning News.

As Republican lawmakers were being asked to provide the loan during their caucus at noon upstairs in the Capitol, Democrat Jay Seegmiller was downstairs in the Rotunda announcing his bid for District 49, the seat Speaker Curtis currently holds.

In a press release last week Seegmiller said, “It’s time to hold him (Speaker Curtis) accountable for his leadership style, rules he imposes on a whim that uniformly benefit his cronies, and the privileged access he grants special interests but denies constituents. I will fight for campaign finance and ethics reform that Utahns overwhelmingly favor but the Curtis Legislature has consistently stymied.”

The report illustrates that when confronted with an apparent conflict between his responsibility to Utahns as a public servant and greasing the skids to help a client make millions, the speaker of the Utah House follows the money.