Today's Featured Articles:
You, not so much - Bernick and Schott on politics
Poll: Cox leads Huntsman 41-29% among Republican voters
Lawmakers pass sweeping tax reform measure
Situational Awareness
Good morning from Salt Lake City.
It's Friday the 13th, so let's all be careful out there today.
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Here are the stories you need to pay attention to this morning:
- The Utah Legislature passes a massive tax cut as part of their tax reform proposal.
- The House Judiciary Committee will likely vote on articles of impeachment after 14 hours of debate on Thursday.
- President Trump may not participate in the 2020 presidential debates.
Friday trivia
There is no legal requirement that a member of Congress live in the district they represent. Currently, Rep. Ben McAdams lives outside of the 4th Congressional District, but he's not the first Utahn to do so.
Who was the first Utah member of Congress not to live inside the district they represented in Washington?
The THIRD reader with the correct answer will get the honor of asking our next trivia question. Send your guesses to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
TICK TOCK
Days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature: 45 (1/27/2020)
Days to the 2020 Iowa Caucuses: 52 (2/3/2020)
Days to the Utah presidential primaries: 81 (3/3/2020)
Days to the final day of the 2020 Utah Legislature: 90 (3/12/2020)
Days to the 2020 Utah primary elections: 200 (6/30/2020)
Days to the 2020 election: 326 (11/3/2020)
Read: Top local news | National News Briefing
Today at Utah Policy
Herbert calls special session on tax reform for Thursday
Unwieldy nicknames - Bernick and Schott on politics
Panel approves tax overhaul proposal. Special session up next
Utah Republicans fail to repeal illegal bylaw, leaving the party's status uncertain ahead of the 2020 election
Salt Lake County GOP announces Dinesh D'Sousa as keynote speaker for upcoming Lincoln Day Dinner
Guest opinion: Utah's tax reform plan is on the right track
Policy News
Casual Friday: Weekend Events & Outdoors Report
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes joins bipartisan coalition in calling for fentanyl to remain a Schedule I drug
Utah first state to receive federal approval of Family First Act plan
Romney expresses concern about 500% fee increase to obtain genealogy records
Curtis 'Miracle Mountain' bill sails through committee
McAdams votes for strong national defense; support for military families
Local Headlines
Deseret News
- Op-ed: Utahns deserve lower drug prices
- Jay Evensen: Utah’s rapidly rising home prices and bad air have the makings of a new state motto
- Editorial: Congress should take a break from impeachment and look at the USMCA
- Massacre in Mexico spurs Mitt Romney, others to treat cartels as terrorists
- State incentive plan goes out with a bang in year that saw tax breaks draw 10,000 new jobs
- Utah Military Academy placed on warning amid financial, grading concerns
- Tax reform passes after last-minute changes that give checks to Utahns
- How Utah’s restored sales tax on food impacts grocery shoppers
- Paid family leave is a bipartisan cause, and Ivanka Trump is leading the charge
Salt Lake Tribune
- Utah school board votes to close charter school that lost $1 million after 1 year in operation
- Immigration arrests in Utah and surrounding states are up 32%
- Why Utah Rep. John Curtis says he won’t vote to impeach Trump
- Utah’s Romney introduces bill to impose sanctions on drug cartels, require report on killings of U.S. citizens in Mexico
- Utah’s poverty rate is nation’s 3rd lowest — but prosperity is spread unevenly
- Utah lawmakers pass sweeping tax reform, impacting paychecks and grocery bills
National Headlines
- Impeachment needle not moving as majority of voters oppose removing Trump: polls (FOX News)
- How Democrats lost the Impeachment War — and probably 2020 (Spectator)
- This impeachment has to be the most irrelevant ‘historic event’ ever (New York Post)
- Joe Manchin says he's torn on voting to convict Trump in Senate trial (Axios)
- The ridiculous storm over Trump’s latest move against anti-Semitism (New York Post)
- The Twitter reaction to Richard Jewell is completely expected and completely contrived (Spectator)
- Democrats can't wait to raise your taxes, and take your job, too (Washington Times)
- Shooting his mouth off, Iranian official admits the truth about Lebanon (Washington Examiner)
- Elizabeth Warren says 'there's always money' when asked how she'll pay for her policies (The Blaze)
- Trump Shows Himself a Better Friend to the Jews Than Even Truman (Epoch Times)
- Trump Ends Liberal Domination of 9th Circuit Appeals Court as Senate Confirms Lawrence VanDyke (Life News)
Lighter Side
“We Catholics don’t hate anyone, O.K.? We are not allowed to. We don’t hate anyone. That’s why we waged 11 crusades: to remind those people how much we love them. The Inquisition was just a tickle fight that got out of control.” — STEPHEN COLBERT
Wise Words
"The truth is found when men are free to pursue it." Franklin D. Roosevelt
National Briefing
14 hours and no vote
The House Judiciary Committee abruptly adjourned on Thursday evening after 14 hours of debate on two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Thursday's hearing featured fierce debate and members hurling insults at each other. The panel is expected to take a final vote on Friday [AP].
"We all know how it's going to end"
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday night there's "no chance the president's gonna be removed from office" when the Senate holds an impeachment trial next year [USA Today].
Trump's revenge
President Trump's advisors are worried about his anger once the impeachment process ends, saying he will be angry and looking for revenge [New York Times].
Schiff rips Republicans for defending Trump
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff scorched Republicans Thursday for "willfully blinding themselves" to President Trump's misconduct [Washington Post].
Shutdown averted
Congressional negotiators say they've reached a deal in principle to approve $1.3 trillion in federal spending for next year [Washington Post].
Trump may not debate in 2020
President Donald Trump is reportedly discussing with advisers the possibility of sitting out the general election debates next year because he is worried about who will be chosen as moderator [New York Times].
Trade deal
President Trump has signed off on a phase-one trade deal with China which will avert new tariffs on about $160 billion of consumer goods [Bloomberg].
Brexit
Conservatives in Britain won a landslide victory in Thursday's election, giving a major boost to the Brexit effort [Washington Post].
Trump's financial records
The Supreme Court could decide as soon as Friday whether President Trump can shield his financial records from Congress and New York prosecutors [Bloomberg].
