The Week Ahead

It’s a slow week for politics, but a big week for sports, as the summer Olympic games begin on Friday. There’s a bit of legislative action this week, with the Higher Education & Applied Technology Governance Committee scheduled to meet a couple of times to hash out draft legislation. See the legislative calendar for agendas and details.  For all the week’s political events, see the UtahPolicy.com calendar.

Candidate Forum Cancelled
Today’s Salt Lake Chamber Candidate Forum  co-sponsored with the Utah Foundation has been cancelled because of a scheduling conflict with the Democratic candidate.

Monday Musing

Downtown Rising

It has been quite a few years since we’ve seen steelworkers balancing precariously on huge steel beams high above the city streets as they weld the structural support system together for a new skyscraper. The 22-story, $120 million high-rise office project at 222 S. Main is going up quickly as truckload after truckload of beams roll into the construction site and enormous cranes hoist the beams up to the next floor being worked on. Workers maneuver the beams into place and weld them firmly together.

My wife and I can watch the action from one of the windows of our condominium at American Towers. Unfortunately, the new building is going to block our direct view of the Walker Building tower that lights up in different colors depending on the weather forecast. But it’s great to see new construction occurring downtown. The immense City Creek project up the street is also moving quickly on the west side of Main. It’s a veritable anthill of activity with hundreds of workers. Several floors of underground parking have been poured and it appears parts of the project are ready to go vertical with steel support structure. Over the next few years, downtown will be dramatically transformed with these and other planned projects.   

Presidential Election Update

For the latest on the presidential election, check out the New York Times 2008 Election Guide. It provides a lot of polling data, what’s happening in the battleground states, candidate profiles, candidate positions on issues; schedules, and election finance. Barack Obama is well ahead of John McCain in projected electoral votes, according to the Times. Meanwhile, columnist William Kristol offers scenarios and timetable for McCain’s VP pick.   

Washington Watch

Hatch: Clarify Intent of ADA
Sen. Orrin Hatch introduces a bill that would clarify the intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act "and ensure that all Americans with disabilities are protected from discrimination" (see press release); the Senate passes a higher education bill that contains a provision authored by Hatch that protects private institutions' religious freedoms "by requiring accrediting agencies to apply and enforce standards that respect the stated missions of private institutions, including religious missions" (press release).

NYT: No to Electronic Voting Bill
The New York Times  editorializes against "a dangerous bill" introduced by Sens. Bob Bennett and Dianne Feinstein that "would permit states to verify electronic voting machines' results using electronic records rather than paper. Verifying by electronic records -- having one piece of software attest that another piece of software is honest -- is not verifying at all. The bill is also vague about rules for audits, leaving considerable room for mischief. ... The bill would do some good things, including reducing the conflicts of interest that plague the process for certifying voting machines. But the damage it would do is much greater."

Today in Political History

Aug 4, 1914:  Britain declares war on Germany while the United States proclaims its neutrality.

Aug 4, 1977:  Pres. Jimmy Carter signs a measure establishing the Department of Energy.   (Source:  NY Times)

Wise Words

“I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof!”

-- John Adams, referencing the White House  (Source:  Patriot Post) 

Leadership Tip

Offer a Vision for the Future

It's important for leaders to take the time to write down their vision for the future. Who do you want to be as a leader? Where do you want your organization to be in the community? Below are some questions to reflect on and then use to write a vision statement. A written vision can help guide you as you make decisions -- measure your choices against your vision. Does decision A, B, or C help you be the person/organization you envisioned?

What images come to mind when thinking of the future? What does it look like, sound like, taste like, and feel like? What symbols or pictures best represent your vision of the future? What is your ideal work community? What do you personally aspire to create? What is unique about your hopes, dreams, and aspirations? How is it distinctive compared to all the other visions of the future? When you project this into the future 1, 5 or 10 years, what does it look like? How does this vision serve the common good? What's in it for others to align themselves with this vision? (Source:  Leadership Tips) 

National Politics

Best Stories From . . .

-- Associated Press: "Intensified attacks by Republican John McCain on the character of his Democratic opponent have coincided with Barack Obama losing a nine percentage point advantage in a national poll, which showed the candidates running dead even over the weekend. ... Obama may have given McCain more fodder in recent days by announcing a readiness to compromise with Republicans on offshore oil drilling ... and apparently rejecting McCain's challenge to join him in a series of town hall meetings."

-- Washington Post: Columnist George Will: "Measured against his party's surging strength in every region and at every level, [Obama] is dramatically underperforming. ... Does Obama have the sort of adviser a candidate most needs -- someone sufficiently unenthralled to tell him when he has worked one pedal on the organ too much? If so, Obama should be told: Enough, already, with the we-are-who-we-have-been-waiting-for rhetorical cotton candy that elevates narcissism to a political philosophy."

-- Politico: If McCain "selects Mitt Romney as his running mate, Romney's former colleagues in the private equity industry expect they are in for a bloody campaign that will paint them all as job-killing fat cats eager to stomp the little guy to make a quick buck."

-- The Hill: "A group of House Republicans will again take to the shuttered House floor on Monday to protest the decision of House Democrats to adjourn without acting legislatively to combat the rising cost of energy. ... On Friday, 48 House Republicans led a gallery crowded with visitors and staff in a virtual pep rally to push House Democratic leaders to hold a vote on energy related issues."

Blog Watch

-- At The Senate Site, Sen. Lyle Hillyard says: "I was saddened to read of the passing of former State Senator Jack Bangerter. Jack represented the southern part of Davis County and I had the privilege of serving with him for several years in my early days in the Utah Senate. He was not bothered by such things as being 'politically correct,' he just said what needed to be said and made lots of sense in discussions on governmental direction. ... My first acquaintance with Jack occurred well before my Senate experience. I graduated from law school in 1967 and moved back to Logan. While waiting for the bar exam results to be released I worked for my uncle who, among other things, raised potatoes that he sold to Jack. I drove a truck load of potatoes to Bountiful and was waiting for his crew to unload them. Jack was working as hard as any of his employees and looked at me standing there waiting for them to finish so I could drive the empty truck home. He looked at me and said, 'No one stands around here when there is work to do.' I immediately jumped in and helped along with the others. I realized then, and was proven right by my later experience with Jack, that there was no better man to join with to do a job -- no matter how difficult -- than Senator Bangerter."

Lighter Side

Favorite Headlines

(From James Taranto’s Best of the Web at OpinionJournal.com)

-- We Blame Global Warming: "Emotional Eskimos Overcome Lions"--headline, CBC.ca, Aug. 1

-- Let's Hope He Wasn't Wearing a White Shirt: "Bush Embraces Coal"--headline, Register-Herald (Beckley, W.Va.), Aug. 1

-- What Would We Do Without Experts?: "Experts: Rain Cause of Park Township Flooding"--headline, Holland (Mich.) Sentinel, Aug. 1

-- Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: "Fat Cat Is Victim of Foreclosure"--headline, WNBC-TV Web site (New York), July 31; "Will Sylvester Stallone Star in 'The Sound of Music'?"--headline, FoxNews.com, July 31
  -- News You Can Use: "Don't Streak, Get Drunk or Sleep Outside"--headline, Reuters, Aug. 1
-- Bottom Stories of the Day: "Dan Quayle Declines 'Dancing With the Stars' "--headline, MSNBC.com, Audg. 1