On July 1, the Utah Democratic Party sent an e-mail out to people who have given us their e-mail addresses for one reason or another over the years. It said:
The Utah Democratic Party wishes you, your friends, and family a joyous Independence Day!!!
This coming long weekend is a good time to reflect on the direction we want our country and state to go. The Obama administration and the 111th Congress have worked diligently to change our national course to a direction that will bring benefits for decades to come – we’ve seen reinvestment in our nation’s infrastructure, reform of our broken health insurance system, reform of the outlaw world of credit cards, and soon a change in our financial regulatory system to prevent the abuses that got into the current recession. It has been the most productive congressional session since in 45 years since Lyndon Johnson was President. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same here at home in Utah.
Last Thursday, Governor Herbert was talking to reporters about Utah’s economy. He said "there's a lot of good news out there." So what's the good news?
Is it that we rank dead last in education funding, or that we have the highest jobless rate in over 25 years? Maybe it's that we're the only state in the western United States that has lost clean energy jobs in the last 4 years. There is one place where we know Utah is number one. We have the highest gasoline prices in the Country. That doesn't sound like a lot of good news.
See the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqOmjRcxRUo
We can't take two more years of this kind of leadership!
The State of Utah at one time received an "A" from Governing Magazine. Now, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, our state has dropped to twelfth worst in the nation for budget gaps. And the incumbent governor recently discovered an additional $150 million dollar deficit in our state budget that he explains as "right on target" and "normal." How did this happen? Simply put, this situation is a result of poor leadership.
Thankfully, we can do better with your help to get new leadership by electing Peter Corroon as our next Governor.
Peter has developed a plan to get “Back to Basics” and increase government efficiency in the State of Utah.
Government efficiency is one of the best ways we can enhance government and private sector programs. In Peter Corroon’s plan, he pointed out several areas where we can dig deep, cut fat, save money and still improve our quality of life.
As governor, he will:
□ Reform the budget process by ending gimmicks
□ Demand results
□ Cut waste
□ Require department directors and other top-level employees to sign performance agreements
□ Conduct a top-to-bottom review of ALL state programs
It's pretty clear we need to take steps RIGHT NOW to make state government better for the 21st Century.
Read Peter’s “Back to Basics” Government Efficiency Plan at http://www.votecorroon.com/images/stories/media/0628%20-%20budgetpaper.pdf
As mayor, Peter Corroon cut Salt Lake County's government by nearly 20% last year and made our government more honest and transparent. He can do the same for the State of Utah. Peter Corroon is ready to roll up his sleeves and get to work. As the next Governor of Utah, he has a plan to provide true fiscal discipline to our state government.
Please help bring fiscal management to Utah by supporting Peter’s campaign at www.votecorroon.com.
We join you in celebrating America this 4th of July and hope you talk with your friends about how much better it could be here in Utah next year if we elect Peter Corroon as our next Governor of the State of Utah. You can bring a little of the revolutionary spirit to your holiday by supporting good candidates who will set us on a new course to better days ahead.
It got mostly a positive response. But here is one that respectfully took us on. It was signed and a telephone number was given. It read:
Dear Utah Democrats,
While I don’t believe Republicans have all the answers, I do believe Democrats stand on the wrong side of many of the issues facing our nation and our state. Take for example your recent statement in the 7/1/10 newsletter:
“Last Thursday, Governor Herbert was talking to reporters about Utah’s economy. He said "there's a lot of good news out there." So what's the good news?
Is it that we rank dead last in education funding, or that we have the highest jobless rate in over 25 years? Maybe it's that we're the only state in the western United States that has lost clean energy jobs in the last 4 years. There is one place where we know Utah is number one. We have the highest gasoline prices in the Country. That doesn't sound like a lot of good news.”
First off, when are you Dems going to be satisfied with enough per pupil spending? Dollars spent does not necessarily equate to smarter kids. Dems are always crying for teachers, union workers and government employees. I never hear either party crying for my profession other than Dems attacking business owners (of which I am not one). I’m just a lowly, non-union worker bee. Teachers are OVERPAID and OVERCOMPENSATED as or other government employees. Don’t get me wrong, I believe business owners should pay taxes and a decent wage to their employees, but your party spends WAY TOO MUCH time worried about the POOR TEACHERS.
Secondly – The jobless rate is because of the democrats, longstanding anti-capitalist stance.
Thirdly – Clean energy is a MYTH. It’s been around for a long time and is proven to be inefficient as compared to other forms of energy. Again, don’t get me wrong, clean energy and conservation have their place, but job growth through clean energy positions is a looser.
Forth – It’s because of your party that the economy is such a wreck. SPARE ME with the “George Bush did it” garbage. Your party is solely responsible for this mess, you take pride in it, and you have no plans for recovery. Btw. Spending more and more money you don’t have is no way to stimulate a budget, whether it be large or small. Governments DO NOT CREATE anything.
And finally gas prices – Your party hates gasoline, and from all indication wants prices as high as possible so we’ll all have clean energy.
Thank you,
It was full of ideas that needed rebutting. Here was our response:
Utah Democrats will not be satisfied with per pupil spending until our children have the resources and learning they need to keep up in our fast changing world and lead productive lives. One would think that would be at least the average in this nation (which is double what Utah’s legislature provides). Doing this does not require any tax increase from individuals, simply setting the right priorities. Over the past decade, we have decreased education funding by $1 billion of an $11 billion state budget. If we had simply left the state constitution and tax code alone, we would have a 10% increase. The GOP is systematically defunding public education in order to drive people away and get them to seek private education.
It is laughable to think that the Kennedy family, Rockefeller family, John Corzine, Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, and most of the Democrats serving in Congress are anti-capitalist. Many of them come from the largest investment banking systems in the world. Many of them are entrepreneurs. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are both Democrats. It takes a whole lot of brainwashing to believe that Democrats are anti-capitalist.
We know about small business. The Democratic Party of Utah is one. Every successful candidate knows what it means to meet a payroll, to deal with regulation, to find banking services. We know what makes life easier and more difficult for small business owners. Small business owners will be the great beneficiaries of the health insurance reform (more than any other segment of our population). Small business owners know what it is like to get jacked around by banks changing the rules at their own whim. The credit card reform and financial system reform will lighten those “surprises” of free market capitalism. I’d put the business savvy of Peter Corroon against Gary Herbert any day. Ditto for Sam Granato versus Mike Lee, Jim Matheson versus Morgan Philpot. All three of the Democrats were successful small business owners. Two of the Republicans are professional lawyers and Herbert last ran a business twenty-five years ago.
To believe government does not create anything is preposterous. From the water you used to shower, brush your teeth and flush your toilet every morning to the streets you drive to work on to the education that your employees had before they came to work for you to the technology that is sending this communication, you benefit from the things that government has created.
As for gasoline, it is a necessity in America today, but our overreliance on this one fuel has cost us countless lives in foreign wars and from pollution in our skies. Salt Lake, Provo and Logan consistently rank in the top ten cities in the United States for the worst acute spikes in air pollution. Air pollution causes many serious illnesses, aggravates many others, and shortens the life span of Wasatch Front residents about two years. And, four to eight percent of all deaths are attributable to air pollution (about 1,000 premature deaths along the Wasatch Front annually). The federal government is doing something about it. Starting with model year 2012 and by 2016, the American fleet of cars and light trucks will be almost 40 percent cleaner and more fuel-efficient than it is today, with an average of 35 miles per gallon. The program is projected to save 1.8 billion barrels of oil and will achieve greenhouse gas reductions equivalent of taking 177 million cars off the road.
Air quality is a serious problem that is uniquely bad in Utah because of our geography. But do we see any leadership from Republicans who cry “state’s rights” to solve what is a great problem that is unique to us – something that kills 1,000 of our family, friends and neighbors each year. NO!!! Failure to find and promote alternative energy sources leads directly to death. Fossil fuels are not renewable. We will run out. With the industrialization of China and India, that day is coming sooner rather than later. We either find an alternative or fight with them over the scarce resources that are remaining – and there are over 1 billion of them compared to 360 million of us, and they are younger and more male.
Republicans think that if you get government out of the way and let the free market operate, then the economy will magically take care of itself – like it does in Afghanistan and Somalia where there are no governments. Democrats know that the economy grows only when we invest in human, physical and intellectual capital as the United States has done for most of its history. Businessmen know this, too. Investment in those three areas are critical to economic growth. Sometimes the free market will do this, much of the time it won’t or does so in a manner that leaves out important segments of the population. By working together collectively, we can accomplish things that we never could individually. Adam Smith described this effect of the division of labor in the Wealth of Nations. One example he used was the making of pins. One worker could probably make only twenty pins per day. However, if ten people divided up the eighteen steps required to make a pin, they could make a combined amount of 48,000 pins in one day. Government has a role in this division of labor. We can use it to uplift us or to torment us or we can let it fall into nothingness and the American influence we enjoy will truly die.
And, finally, our correspondent got the last word, with this:
Thank you.
In this world of sound bites and name calling substituting for political discourse, it’s good to hear what Utah Democrats believe in and you’ve made some very good arguments. I appreciate you taking the time to spell some of these out. With Jim Matheson voting against Obamacare it has solidified in my view that the Utah Democrats (if I can lump them all together) are a special breed apart from the ones in Washington. It’s Blue Dog Democrats like Jim who are beginning to realize that their conservative campaign platforms which get them elected, do not align with the radical left leadership in their party.
By the detail you’ve provided it would appear you are more in tune with the day-to-day dealings in local politics and can see all the good that comes from good pieces of legislation. I tend to take an interest in a high-level view of politics and generally apply a principle of trusting the private sector over big government. This view is over simplistic and can not be broadly applied, but I would caution anyone not to trust so heartily in our public servants. These days it appears the population is trending more and more towards government dependence and a blind faith in our elected leaders as demonstrated with all the current administration handouts including stimulus, tax credits and out-of-control spending. There is a balance between belt tightening and infrastructure investing which most recently has tipped too far towards recklessness. I do not consider Utah Democrats anything like Pelosi, Reid and Obama, but, unfortunately, they’re in the same party. You sound like you want a stronger Utah and a stronger America. I do to. The details and the over-arching philosophies in doing so can be debated all day. Like I said it’s good to hear your side of the argument without the usually nastiness and name calling which usually accompanies political discourse today clouding the real issues we face as a state and a nation.
