News Highlights

Over the past eight years Rep. Jim Matheson has voted with the GOP more often than all but a handful of his fellow Democrats, according to a new study (Deseret News).

Standard-Examiner editorial notes that Utah isn’t close to being the fraud capital of the nation, although being No. 11 isn’t all that great.

The Legislature has been frugal with its own spending over the last seven years, but some individual legislative staffers have received large pay raises, according to analysis of legislative budgets (Deseret News).

Quote of the Day

"I will wish I was there every minute. It looks like it is going to be a fun one."

-- Beverly White, retired state legislator from Tooele, who will miss the Democratic National Convention after attending them for 20 years (Salt Lake Tribune).

The Week Ahead

The Olympics are over, Democrats are painting Denver blue, school is in session, August is almost over, and it’s still awfully hot outside. With the Labor Day weekend ahead and the two national conventions back to back over the next two weeks, it’s going to be all politics, all the time for the next couple of months.

A couple of legislative committees meet this week, including the Immigration Interim Committee on Wednesday (see agenda). Committee members will hear from a former INS official, a former border patrol officer, a Utah Minuteman Project representative, and an Oklahoma legislator. See also the legislative calendar.  For all the week’s political events, see the UtahPolicy.com calendar.

Regional Politics

West Holds Key to Victory
Los Angeles Times: "The Democratic National Convention hasn't been held in Denver for a century, but when the party nominates Barack Obama here this week it will be returning to a region that is key to its hopes of winning the presidency in November. Buoyed by their success in state and congressional races, Democrats are hoping the Rocky Mountain West can move solidly into their column during this presidential election, making up for the loss of the party's former base in the South to the Republicans."

Today in Political History

Aug. 25, 1916:  The National Park Service is established within the Department of the Interior.

Aug. 25, 1950:  President Harry S. Truman orders the Army to seize control of the nation's railroads to avert a strike.

Aug. 25, 1998:  Former Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell dies at age 90. (Source:  NY Times) 

Wise Words

“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed -- else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”

-- Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower  (Source:  Quote Garden) 

Leadership Tip

Establish Ethical Standards

Unethical behavior, in which people deliberately intend to harm themselves or others, springs from, and is reinforced by, destructive and painful mind states such as fear, greed, anger and jealously. Ethical behavior, on the other hand, enhances the well-being of everyone because it comes from, and reinforces, motives and emotions such as love, joy, generosity and compassion.

Ethical cultures are the result of diligent effort--frequent, scheduled conversations between leaders and followers about what the standards of your organization really are, according to Laura Hartman, a professor at DePaul University.

A biennial survey of the nonprofit Ethics Resource Center found 25% of nearly 2,000 U.S. employees said they had observed their colleagues or their companies lying to customers, suppliers, workers or the public--up from 19% in 2005. The industries in which people are most likely to bend the truth: hospitality and food (with 34% of employees observing falsehoods), arts, entertainment and recreation (also 34%), and wholesalers (32%).  (Source:  Coach Thee) 

National Politics

Best Stories From . . .

-- New York Times: Barack Obama settled on Joe Biden as his running mate "about 10 days ago while on a weeklong vacation to Hawaii. That week, Mr. Biden's strengths in foreign policy were highlighted by the conflict between Russia and Georgia ... But people involved in the process said it was not just foreign policy that tilted the balance. They said Mr. Obama's decision had as much to do with Mr. Biden's appeal among white working-class voters and compelling personal story, and his conclusion that the Delaware senator was 'a worker.'"

-- Politico: John McCain says Biden is a "formidable" but "wise" VP choice.

-- National Review's  Yuval Levin says Obama's choice of Biden "implicitly emphasizes Obama's inexperience."

-- Slate columnist Jacob Weisberg says the only reason McCain is running even with Obama in the polls is because of racial prejudice among older white voters.

Blog Watch

-- Rep. Steve Urquhart says: "Deseret News reporter Bob Bernick laments, 'I am often these days attacked by bloggers, and while I make an effort NOT to read the misinformation about me and my work (just keep on plugging away), I know for a fact how inaccurate and unfair blogs can be.' Yet again, Bob fares poorly when fact checked. Let's look at the who, what, and how of his claim. Who are the bloggers attacking Bob and his work? Searches on Technorati and Google Blogsearch reveal surprisingly little discussion about Bob. So, it seems Ric Cantrell mostly sums up Bob's blogging critics. What are those bloggers saying about Bob? The bloggers are saying that Bob made up a story about Utah's referendum process. How are those charges 'misinformation,' 'inaccurate,' or 'unfair?' It would be simple for Bob and the D News to contradict these charges. They recorded the editorial board meeting at issue. Open it to public scrutiny. If I'm wrong, I've offered to eat my blog. I'll double down. If I'm wrong about Bob fabricating this story, I'll donate $100 to the Utah Democratic Party on Bob's behalf. (Someone please convey this to Bob, since he does NOT read blogs)."

-- David Fletcher posts video of a recent CNN piece on Utah's new 4-day workweek.

Lighter Side

“We had just listened to an old Simon and Garfunkel tune when my young daughter asked, “Well, did he?”

“Did he what?” I asked.

“Did Parsley save Rosemary in time?” (Ron Pearce in Reader’s Digest)

Elected Officials Birthday List

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