Skype Video Interviews on Utah Policy

Utah Policy uses all the latest tools and technology, including occasional Skype video interviews.  

We're excited about this technology because it allows us to feature video interviews easily and inexpensively, without any travel, using Skype and inexpensive web cams. We can bring you more conversations on timely topics with public policy leaders.  Expect to see more in the future.  

By Bryan Schott

There are 49 days until the party caucuses in Utah, 95 days until the Republican and Democratic State Party Conventions, 140 days until the 2010 Primary Election and 273 days until the 2010 General Election.

• Political insiders and the public predict whether the legislature will be able to meet all of Utah's needs in the face of a big budget hole (Utah Policy, Fox 13).
• A new poll shows 2/3 of Utahns favor some legal protections for gays and lesbians (Salt Lake Tribune).
• Legislators come to a compromise over gay rights legislation (Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News).
• Nearly half of Utahns want a law providing in-state tuition rates for undocumented workers repealed (Salt Lake Tribune).
• A package of bills dealing with legislative ethics are set for public hearings this week (Deseret News).
• A study shows that Utahns pay less under the 5% flat tax than the traditional method (Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News).
• Salt Lake City is named a finalist to host the 2012 GOP Convention (Deseret News, Salt Lake Tribune).

By Bryan Schott

As we head into the second week of the 2010 legislative session, lawmakers are still grappling with how best to balance the budget.  Governor Gary Herbert wants to hold the line on new taxes while keeping public education free from any budget cuts. 

This week, we asked our insiders if the Utah Legislature will fairly balance the needs of the state and make the right decisions regarding tax increases or budget cuts.  We also compare those results to an Exoro Group/UtahPolicy.com public poll by Dan Jones an Associates. 

Full results after the jump. 

Welcome to February. We hit a couple of legislative deadlines this week in Utah.  Thursday is the last day lawmakers can request bills or appropriations without floor approval. 

On Tuesday, the Salt Lake County Council meets to consider the issuance of $22 million in general obligation bonds. 

More public meetings and political events after the break. 

By Bryan Schott

MSNBC’s First Read says the challenge to Senator Bob Bennett from within his own party is one of the top-10 primaries in this election season. 

By Angelo Valenti, Leader Values

Leaders and leadership are top-of-the-mind subjects among businesspeople, coaches, athletes, politicians, clergy, and individuals in all walks of life. We demand more from our leaders every day but do little to prepare people for the leadership roles they take on during their lives. To paraphrase Shakespeare, some people are born leaders, some achieve leadership, and others have leadership thrust upon them....

By Bryan Schott

More Americans are getting their healthcare from government-based insurance while fewer are getting their coverage through an employer.

The Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club has begun updating its 2010 Utah Legislative Session bill tracker, noting: "It's up to us what kind of legislative session 2010 will turn out to be. Representatives and senators generally want to hear from their constituents. Please check out the good and the bad bills below. Let's make it a good session."

Source: Wall Street Journal

The Obama administration is considering opening a probe into "the legality of college football's controversial Bowl Championship Series, according to a senator who had asked for an antitrust investigation. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah) said he received a letter from the Justice Department, in which it 'outlined the inequities' of the BCS system and said that it is considering whether to investigate the BCS under the antitrust laws." (See also related New York Post, ABC News, The Hill, and CNN stories and Hatch press release.)

Following his back-and-forth with President Obama, Representative Jason Chaffetz tells Greta Van Susteren he's willing to work with Obama in the future.

Video after the jump.

Senator Orrin Hatch tells Fox News that it's a good idea to move the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed trial out of Manhattan.

Video after the break.

Representative Jason Chaffetz questions President Obama during the House Republican Conference in Baltimore.

Video after the jump.

Senator Bob Bennett says it's time to end the TARP and pay down the national debt.

Video after the jump.

The Washington Post interviews Reed Cowan and Steven Greenstreet about their "audacious" new film, "8: The Mormon Proposition," which purports to document the nefarious involvement of the LDS Church in the Prop. 8 fight. Says Greenstreet: "The people in California went to the ballot box with misinformation and lies orchestrated by billions of dollars raised by a church."

Source: Quote Garden

"A free press can be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom a press will never be anything but bad". ~Albert Camus

Source: Political Humor

"The speech [State of the Union] was pretty much the same thing we hear over and over again, asking us for patience and a willingness to sacrifice, things we are totally unwilling to do as Americans." –Jimmy Kimmel

Source: Citizens for Principled Government

State lawmakers are focused hard on building a balanced budget that serves the needs of citizens. At Citizens for Principled Government, LaVar Christensen has a thoughtful, timely, and lengthy post on the state budgeting process and how to improve it. He lists several principles that should guide budget decisions, including an item on "Performance Budgeting:" ... {read more}

At the Salt Lake Chamber Blog, David Jordan says: "In his State of the State address, Governor Gary Herbert called on the Legislature to hold education harmless from further budget cuts. That challenge presents the Legislature with some difficult and critical choices. Without increasing user fees on tobacco or motor fuel, and barring significantly improved revenue projections, something has to be cut. Should legislators make across-the-board cuts to the entire state budget or should they fund education at the expense of other programs and projects? The right answer is to follow the governor's charge to fund education." (For more on the Legislature, see The Senate Site, Utah Senate Democrats, Salt Lake Crawler, Out of Context, Under The Dome, Sausage Grinder, Utah Legislature Watch, Steve Urquhart, Political Notebook, and UAC Blog.)

Source: NY Times

1968: During the Vietnam War, Saigon's police chief, Nguyen Ngoc Loan, executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head.

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