On His Deathbed, Former Republican Senator Apologizes For Donald Trump (Video)

As for the current situation in Utah's federal Senate delegation, and in hindsight, Your blogmeister would take Bob Bennett any day of the week, dead or alive, over his crackpot tea party replacement, Mike Lee.

Here's the video story, peeps:



Perhaps the Standard's Don Porter got it at least halfway right, after all, in the end:

• Sen. Bennett displayed lost eagerness to serve the people

"Unlike many of the politicians populating government today, Bennett was a statesman. In my book, that’s high praise," eulogizes  the ever curmudgeonly Standard-Examiner legend, Don Porter.

As for the current situation in Utah's federal Senate delegation, and in hindsight, Your blogmeister would take Bob Bennett any day of the week, dead or alive, over his crackpot tea party replacement, Mike Lee.

Howbout you, folks?

Thursday Morning 2015 Utah Legislative News Roundup

Via Utah Policy, and with the 2015 Utah legislative session set to wrap up at midnight tonight, here are this morning's "top ten headlines," folks:

• With less than 24 hours to go in the legislative session, lawmakers are still at an impasse on Medicaid expansion [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
• Utahns overwhelmingly back a shift in Utah's criminal justice system focusing that's focused on treatment over incarceration [Utah Policy].
• The Utah Senate hijacks a House bill calling for non-partisan school board elections, swapping it out with a plan for partisan elections [Tribune, Deseret News].
• Lawmakers are still trying to come to an accord over a gas tax hike [Deseret News].
• The Legislature gives final passage to historic non-discrimination legislation that includes protections for religious liberties [Tribune].
• The House gives final approval to legislation allowing government workers to opt out of performing same-sex marriages [Tribune].
• The public is split on whether police should be able to pull over drivers because they're not wearing a seat belt, but they're solidly behind a plan to ban drivers from making calls behind the wheel unless it's hands-free [Utah Policy].
• A bill to equalize tax revenue among school districts barely passes the Utah House and now heads to the governor [Tribune].
• Lawmakers send a bill making game fowl fighting a felony to the governor [Deseret News, Tribune].
• Former Governor Jon Huntsman joins Sen. Mike Lee's re-election campaign [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O Gentle Ones...

Salt Lake Tribune: Study: Utah’s Mike Lee Is Most Extreme Senator

As to today's WCF history lesson... You're welcome

In the interest of provoking a "wee" bit of WCF discussion, perhaps, we'll highlight Interesting pair of stories, which have been floating around the internet over the course of the past few days, concerning Utah's tea-party (crackpot) champion Mike Lee, who'll be standing for election again in 2016.  In the context of our continuing Weber County Forum discussions of Senator Lee, we're certain that nothing contained below will be a surprise to anyone:

• Study: Utah’s Mike Lee is most extreme senator - Salt Lake Tribune
• Study: Lee The Most Conservative Utah Senator Ever - Utah Public Radio

Just to add a little addition intigue, however, we'll highlight this fascinating background info from the latter story, wherein our Gentle Readers mayevebn  yet find a few surprises in store:

Lee’s score of .991 makes him the most conservative Senator ever from Utah. Barber said that, to find the next most conservative Utah Senator, one must go back to the state’s founding.
“The next closest legislator was actually the first senator who ever served from Utah or one of the first (since there were two), Sen. [Arthur] Brown,” he said. “He served from 1896 to 1897. He had a score of .812.

And here's the kicker, folks, which might bring along a few surpises.  Seems that, unlike esteemed "conservative" Utah Senator Arthur Brown, Senator Lee has not yet been murdered by his mistress:

• REVELATIONS OF SORDID PRIVATE LIFE SWUNG SYMPATHY AGAINST SENATOR

As to today's WCF history lesson... You're welcome, Gentle WCF Readers. 

And... speaking about ultra conservative, wing-nut Senator Mike Lee?  We'll be keeping our ear to the ground, awaiting future "conservative" news developments.

Fox 13 News: Political Experts Talk About Potential Race Between Sen. Mike Lee and Former Utah Gov. Jon Hunstman Jr. - Updated

Huntsman v. Lee? This could get interesting...

Tantalizing morning story via Fox 13 News:

SALT LAKE CITY — A potential showdown in the Utah political landscape could have national implications.
There were reports Monday that former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. could be a candidate for State Senate in 2016, running against incumbent Sen. Mike Lee.
Political experts at the Hinkley Institute of Politics say if this campaign with both Huntsman and Lee happens, it could be one of the biggest, most watched, closely followed races in the country both locally and nationally.

Check out the embedded video, folks:



Read the full story here:

• Political experts talk about potential race between Sen. Mike Lee and former Utah Gov. Jon Hunstman Jr.

Update 2/17/15 12:43 p.m.: Huntsman v. Lee? This could be interesting...

• Huntsman apparently hasn't ruled out run against Sen. Mike Lee

Don't let the cat get your tongues...

Update 2/18/15 8:00 a.m.: Alas, the Trib reports that "former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman says he's being courted to run against Sen. Mike Lee, but he isn't planning a bid to oust the Utah senator in 2016."
"Bottom line, not likely," Huntsman said in a short email to The Salt Lake Tribune. "Maybe next time!!" he added, using two exclamation points.

• Jon Huntsman not running against Mike Lee

Looking at the bright side, it appears that he hasn't completely ruled it out.

Politico: Tea Partier Braces For Primary Challenge From The Establishment -Updated

Needless to say, we'll be sitting on the edge of our seat waiting to find out who will be Senator Mike Lee's 2016 challenger(s)

“All I can say is Mike Lee is an embarrassment to the state of Utah,” [Jon Huntsman, Sr.] said in an interview, calling Lee “an extremist” for his role in the government shutdown fight that he said cost his cancer research institute millions in federal dollars and hurt small businesses affected by the closure of national parks. “He’s been a tremendous embarrassment to our family, to our state, to our country to have him as a U.S. senator.”
Huntsman, who has longstanding ties to Lee’s family, added: “He’s tried to come in and see me several times. … I have no interest whatsoever in chatting with him.”
Asked if he had a response to Huntsman, Lee simply said: “I don’t.”

 Politico
Tea partier braces for primary challenge from the establishment
December 22, 2014

“Business leaders who are successful learn to compromise and move forward as necessary,” said Lane Beattie, the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, who said he has had “strong encouragement” from the business world to run against Lee. “Strictly speaking on behalf of businesses, the frustration is when you have people who refuse … to work together to come up with solutions that can move us forward.”

 Politico
Tea partier braces for primary challenge from the establishment
December 22, 2014

Jon Huntsman Sr., former Utah GOP Chairman, and beloved Utah philanthropist, considers Sen. Mike Lee an extremist and predicts that Lee will face a major Republican challenge in 2016, according to yesterday's story from the prominent online journalism organization, Politico:.

• Tea partier braces for primary challenge from the establishment

The Salt Lake Tribune is all over this story, too:

• Jon Huntsman Sr. calls Utah Sen. Mike Lee ‘an embarrassment’

Over the course of the past four years, we've consistently railed about Senator Lee's embarrassing political extremism and general incompetence. Needless to say, we'll be sitting on the edge of our seat waiting to find out who will be Lee's 2016 challenger(s).

Howbout you?

Update 12/23/14 7:08 p.m.: Well whaddaya know; and looky here.  Seems that Jon Huntsman (the younger - former Utah Governor) now has his own US Senate Facebook candidate page:

• Jon Huntsman for US Senator 2016

Surprise of surprises? NO!

Senate Dems Find an Unwitting Ally in Ted Cruz [and Mike Lee]

Giddy Democrats could hardly believe their good fortune -- Meanwhile, most "sensible" Senate Republicans are "livid"

"Bestest Senate Buddies"

Eye-popping story frm MSNBC, reporting on the latest antics of Texas Senator Ted Cuz and Cruz's "bestest buddy" Utah Senator Mike Lee:

Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee are facing a backlash of their own from Republican colleagues after scuttling a deal between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow lawmakers to leave town over the weekend and vote on the bill Monday.
The agreement between the leaders required the unanimous consent of members, but an unsuccessful attempt by Lee and Cruz on Friday to force a vote on a measure to defund President Obama’s recent executive action on immigration upended their plan.
The result was an extraordinary gift to Democrats, handed to them by unwitting allies: two conservative Republicans who plainly didn’t know what they were doing:

Read the full story,Utah lumpencitizens:

• Senate Dems find an unwitting ally in Ted Cruz [and Mike Lee]

Let's focus further on the blowback:

Giddy Democrats could hardly believe their good fortune. Meanwhile, the other Senate Republicans – who didn’t know what Cruz and Lee were up to, and weren’t in a position to tell them what a mistake they were making – were livid. Many of them were eager to tell reporters – out loud and on the record – how badly their right-wing colleagues had screwed up. Indeed, Senate Dems posted an online collection of quotes from Republican senators bashing the Cruz/Lee gambit – and the list of quotes isn’t short. Asked for her reaction, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) added, “I think this is ridiculous."

"What Democrat got thanks to Cruz and Lee: the opportunity to advance dozens of Obama nominees, some of whom might have otherwise failed.
 What Republicans got: nothing."

MSNCC reporter Steve Benen neatly sums it all up, now that the smoke has cleared from Saturday's surprisingly productive Senate session:

It didn’t have to be this way. If Cruz and Lee spent a little more time learning how the Senate works, if they’d bothered to check in with their own leaders about the chamber’s procedural rules, if they’d thought about the consequences of their actions, this would have gone much differently.
Democrats, however, are awfully appreciative of their ignorance.

And yet some folks are still asking why consciencious Utah citizens (including prominent "mainstream" Republicans) strongly support recent changes to Utah's political nomination system, changes which are squarely aimed at dumping "self-centered" and "posturing" Utah politicians. such as "erstwhile" Senator Lee.

Salt Lake Tribune: Mike Lee Could Be Vulnerable If Count My Vote Changes Stick

Mike "Shut-down-the-government" Lee's in deep political trouble, wethinks

Tantalizing Salt Lake Tribune story, focusing on the upcoming 2016 General election, through the lens of Utah's new SB 54 dual-track political nomination system  Here are the key paragraphs:

The first crop of candidates to go through Utah’s new nominating process in 2016, if it holds up in court, will include Gov. Gary Herbert, the four Utah House members and — perhaps most notably — Sen. Mike Lee.
Herbert, according to a new poll, won’t have any problems. He’s got a 74-percent favorability rating.
Lee, though, does appear more vulnerable.
A slight majority — 52 percent — view him favorably, while 45 percent have an unfavorable impression, according to the poll released this week by the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University. Nearly one-third of those have a strongly unfavorable perception.

In fact, Lee’s overall approval rating of 52 percent is a substantial improvement from a year ago when, on the heels of waging an intense budget battle that led to the federal government shutdown, Lee’s favorability was at just 40 percent and 56 percent had an unfavorable impression, with 43 percent strongly unfavorable.

Check out the full Robert Gehrke story here:

• Mike Lee could be vulnerable if Count My Vote changes stick

Lee has of course been jumpin' through hoops and workin' like a dog to patch up his rock bottom approval ratings, in the interim since he and his pal Ted Cruz shut down the government in 2013:

• Mike Lee steps out of Ted Cruz’s shadow

Some politicos are still speculating about the real political motivation behind the Count My Vote movement however, according to Mr. Gehrke's story:

"To me, they just have an end game for a particular election cycle," [Utah GOP Chairman James} Evans said, although he wouldn’t name Lee specifically. "Everyone needs to ask the question: What else is going on here?"
Others are more direct.
State Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, who is committed to undoing the nominating changes in SB54, thinks the changes are squarely focused on ousting Lee. If SB54 survives, he said, he expects former Gov. Mike Leavitt, one of the founders of Count My Vote, to challenge Lee in a Republican primary.

So whaddaya think, folks? Does U.S. Senator Lee still have a giant "kick me sign" affixed to his back, despite our Utah electorate's obvious short-term memory deficit?

Our take?

Yep! Mike "Shut -down-the-government" Lee's still in deep political trouble, wethinks, notwithstanding ongoing Utah GOP shenanigans.

Remember what momma taught ya's: "You're judged by the company you keep." And moreover, while Utahns might be a mite "forgetful" from time to time, that still ain't quite the same as political amnesia, is it?

Sunday Morning Weber County 2014 General Election News Roundup

The most recent stories, concerning our upcoming 2014 Utah (and Weber County) General Election

In our relentless Weber County Forum fetish interest in covering Weber County politics to the hilt, we're delighted to post the most recent stories, concerning our upcoming 2014 Utah (and Weber County) General Election.

• Top of Utah candidates crowd in to file for 2014 elected offices
• Ogden lawmaker announces resignation to work for Mike Lee

In the most interesting plot development here, we're gobsmacked to learn that  learn that our very favorite  Utah GOP House Rep Ryan Wilcox will be abandoning his State House legislative post, and will be going to work for Senator Mike "Shortsale" Lee, notwithstanding Lee's still-developing political baggage:     

• Utah prosecutors forward allegations against Sens. Mike Lee, Harry Reid to feds

A bad political move for Wilcox, now that it's possible that Mike Lee "could be going down in flames," along with the GOP "Tea Party Movement," we ask? Who knows? Maybe a big fat (but short-term) paycheck will "make up" for that. Ryan's gotta feed his kids, right?

On a brighter note, it's good to hear that former Weber County Sheriff and Weber County Commissioner Craig Dearden will be running for Wilcox's soon-to-be-vacated legislative seat.

Comments, anyone?  Don't let the cat get your tongues!

Wednesday Morning State of the Union Address Armchair Quarterback Special - Updated

Pat Bagley "nails it," as per usual

S-o-o-o... did everyone catch last night's State of the Union gab-fest?

A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to Pat Bagley, of the Trib, who totally "nails it," as per usual.

Update 1/29/14 11:30 a.m.: For those hard-core WCF political wonks who'd like to keep up with "every danged" thing,  we've devoted some energy this morning to rounding up the text and video responses of each of the characters depicted in Mr. Bagley's brilliant above embedded carton.  Here goes, folks:

• Barack Obama State of the Union 2014 speech
• Cathy McMorris Rodgers official GOP Response
• Mike Lee Tea Party Response
• Rand Paul Libertarian Response
• Brackpot "Unhinged" Response

Fair warning: Don't forget to "pop" your trusty  No-doz, unless you're in need of sleep, of course.

Seriously though, the rampant GOP paranoia is something that ought to keep moderate Utah voters wondering where, exactly, the real moderate Utah "statesmen" are.

Salt Lake Tribune: Lee Receives Endorsement from Tea Party Express

"The kiss of death" for our Junior Utah Senator?

Great news from the Salt Lake Tribune (we suspect), for any bona-fide, prospective GOP candidate who might be jockeying for position to challenge Utah's Senator Mike "Shortsale" Lee for his U.S. Senate seat in the upcoming 2016 General Election:

• Lee receives endorsement from Tea Party Express

To frame any possible discussion this morning, we'll put the spotlight on this clever retort from one Trib reader in the lower comments section:

I'm sure Mikey is now eagerly awaiting endorsements from the KKK, the American Nazi Party, John Swallow, and various payday loan sharks, vitamin supplement pushers, and other con artists.

So what about it, O Gentle Ones?  Is this endorsement "the kiss of death" for our Junior Utah Senator? Or does the tea party still have traction in Utah, the reddest of all red states?

Salt Lake Tribune: Mitt Romney Backs Primaries Over Caucuses, Conventions

The days of observing crackpot fringe groups hijack neighborhood caucuses and nominate nut-jobs to important Utah elective offices are numbered

Another GOP heavyweight with substantial Utah political influence leaps aboard the bandwagon, while the organizers of Count My Vote now actively circulate their citizens initiative petition, designed to dump Utah's quirky caucus/convention system and replace it with a more broad-based and democratic direct primary nomination process:

• Mitt Romney backs primaries over caucuses, conventions

There will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth in the Utah Eagle Forum and Sutherland Institute bunkers this morning, wethinks.

The days of observing crackpot fringe groups hijack neighborhood caucuses and nominate nut-jobs such as Chris Buttars, Carl Wimmer and Mike Lee (just to name a few) to important Utah elective offices are numbered, we'll confidently predict.

Washington Post: In Utah, Tea Party Favorite Sen. Lee Faces GOP Backlash Over Government Shutdown

Mike "Shortsale" Lee, poster boy for the decrepit and archaic Utah caucus/convention nomination system.

Via the Tribune's Pat Bagley, who says, "Sen. Mike Lee (R-Deadbeat) who defaulted to the tune of $400k on his home mortgage, is telling Americans that the way to govern is to default on the national debt":

• In Utah, tea party favorite Sen. Lee faces GOP backlash over government shutdown

Gotta say we wax nostalgic for the "good old days," when real conservatives considered debt default to be "a bad thing."

Mike "Shortsale" Lee, poster boy for the decrepit, archaic and stunningly un-democratic Utah caucus/convention nomination "system".

Keep your eyes on Weber County Forum, folks, as the Count My Vote citizen initiative petitions will be arriving in your neighborhoods very soon.  When these petitions are available for your eager signatures, WCF readers will be the first to know, of course.

Standard-Examiner: Default Avoided, Shutdown Ends, But Anger Lingers - Updated

Sodden question: Was Cruz, Mike Lee's shutdown quest a fool's errand?

The Standard reports on last night's bi-partisan "deal," whereby our U.S. Congress pulled a rabbit out of its hat and voted to reopen and fund the government into January:

• Default avoided, shutdown ends, but anger lingers

The Washington Post reports on the respective Senate and House votes:

The Senate voted on a bipartisan bill to reopen the government and extend the debt ceiling. The final tally was 81-18.

• Votes to end the government shutdown - U.S. Senate

The House voted to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling late Wednesday night, by a final tally of 285-144.

• Votes to end the government shutdown - U.S. House of Representatives

A Weber County Forum Tip of the Hat to the following Utah-based federal legislators, who demonstrated the maturity and wisdom to place the best interests of this country ahead of political expediency, by voting in favor of the compromise bill:

• Representative Jim Matheson
• Senator Orrin Hatch

Notable among the Congress-critters who voted against the last-minute "deal" were the following members of our Utah congressional delegation:

• Representative Rob Bishop
• Representative Jason Chaffetz
• Representative Chris Stewart
• Senator Mike Lee

With a federal general election coming up in another relatively short 12-1/2 months, we'll assume that our ever-savvy and politically-wonkish WCF readers will write this info down so the don't forget it.

And via the Standard-Examiner, we'll raise the sodden question:

• Was Cruz, Mike Lee's shutdown quest a fool's errand?

(Hint: the correct answer is "yes.")

So what about it O Gentle Ones?  Is your blogmeister the only one who's feeling "warm and fuzzy" this morning?

Update 10/18/13 4:23 a.m.: the Trib chimes in this morning with this top-flight editorial

• Editorial: Republican-led shutdown gained the country nothing:

This handy graphic scorecard displays the final results:

Sunday Funnies: Utah Senator Mike Lee Skips Church Services to Stage a Photo Op - Updated

"Power to the People," sez shutdown co-conspirator Senator Mike Lee

With his Utah polling numbers slipping, Tea Party Senator Mike Lee skipped his LDS church services on Sunday, and hooked up with his cronies Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz and a handful of easily manipulated U.S. military veterans to stage a high profile photo op:


Read the full Salt Lake Tribune story:

• Utah’s Mike Lee, others push through barriers to WWII memorial (video)

"Power to the People," sez shutdown co-conspirator Senator Mike Lee.

Quick, O Gentle Ones! Can anyone amongst our vast collection of ever-savvy Weber County Forum political wonks explain what's wrong with this picture?

This will be on "the test." of course.

Here are a few helpful hints to add to your crib-sheets:

• Give Sen. Lee his pink slip
• A Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning
• The GOP's little rule change they hoped you wouldn't notice
• Why did House GOP Rig the Rules to Keep The Government Shut Down (Explosive Video)
• The GOP Shutdown Is Sedition and Shouldn't be Forgiven

Update 10/14/13 7:19 a.m.: Oh; and here's another relevant one, inasmuch as this whole story involves a purported U.S. military veteran protest:

• Million Vet March Organizers Condemn Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, and the Tea Party

Update 10/15/13 8:00 a.m.: The Trib's Paul Rolley reports that the tea party shutdown co-conspirators within Utah's congressional delegation are suddenly missing in action:

• Rolly: Amid the shutdown, Chaffetz lies low, Lee hides out

"Lee appears to be cracking from the pressure of the mounting anger toward him. His communications director, Brian Phillips, told a reporter for the Deseret News that not only would Lee not comment about recent polls showing the senator’s approval rating sinking fast, but also Lee would not grant an interview if the reporter even broached the subject. By speaking only with Fox News, Glenn Beck and others media types who encourage them and avoid weightier questions, such Republicans in Congress live in an echo chamber and have lost touch with average Americans," Mr. Rolly speculates.

Go figure:

• 74 percent now dislike Republican budget stand: Poll

Have at it, O Gentle Ones... 

Wednesday Morning Weber County Forum News Roundup

A few interesting items assembled this morning whilst Googling, on an otherwise S-L-O-O-W news day

Here are four (count-em 4) interesting items for our readers' consumption this morning, submitted in the interest of inspiring a little WCF discussion:

1) Just as predicted by WCF Reader Official City Hall Souse yesterday morning, and subsequently confirmed by Dan Schroeder during last night's marathon City Council Live Blogging session, the Standard-Examiner now reports that 26-year OPD veteran Mike Ashment has been selected by the Caldwell administration, and was last night appointed by the City Council, to fill the permanent position of Ogden City Chief of Police, which has been vacant since Chief Jon Greiner's 12/28/12 "retirement":

• Lt. Mike Ashment to be new Ogden chief

Looks like a great pick to us; but what say our readers about this?

2) The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Senator Mike Lee is up to his old tricks, i.e., basically "[t]hreatening to hold his breath until he turns blue and faints, falling down on the floor screeching and squalling and pounding his fists and feet," like a two-year-old who didn't get his way:

• Lee may vote against Utah judicial nominee

Can we see by a show of hands how many of our gentle readers are proud to have this guy representing the State of Utah in the U.S. Senate?

3) The Standard provides this thought provocative Letter to the Editor, for our Weber County Forum friends who are planning to attend tomorrow night's GOP Neighborhood Caucuses:

• Hatch could help save Hill AFB

We're no big fans of Orrin Hatch, we'll disclose, but remember Hatch's Senate seniority. If tomorrow night's GOP caucus attendees are short sighted enough to replace Orrin with Davis County corporatist Dan Liljenquist, or any other unproven newcomer for that matter, we'll be stuck with yet another "freshman" Senate "new kid on the block" (like Mike Lee); and you can bet your boots the chances of the Hill Air Force Base local economic "cash cow" will have a heightened chance of being placed on the BRAC "chopping block." Something to think about for would-be Weber County GOP political apparatchiks... at least those who DO actually have that capacity.

4) The Tribune caries an informative story this morning, outlining the differences between nut-case House Rep. Bill Wright, R-Holden's ill-conceived HB363 and the current law:

• Sex education bill: How would it change instruction?

Gotta say we loved this Bill Wright quote, by the way, "Homosexuality does not relate to sexuality. It’s a whole different thing." This Wright guy obviously knows what he's talking about, right?

This idiotic bill hasn't been signed into law by Governor Herbert by the way folks; and "the governor likely won’t make a decision on whether to sign the bill into law until next week," the Trib reports. In the meantime, angry Utah citizens are raising quite a ruckus about this bill:

"[The bill] has spurred much of the opposition to HB363 — including veto requests from the Utah PTA, the Utah Education Association and nearly 40,000 people who had signed an online petition as of Tuesday afternoon," according to Trib reporter Lisa Schencker.

In that connection, we'll helpfully provide links to both the online petition and Governor Herbert's web-based email contact page, for those of you who haven't yet gotten around to giving the Good Guv an "earful" quite yet:

• Petition: Gov. Herbert Veto HB363 (sex education)
• Comments: E-mail the Governor

Remember folks; be firm... but extra polite.

Another Perspective on the Possiblity of a Hill Air Force Base Closure

Would it be a good idea for our sole Utah Democratic Party House Representative Jim Matheson to waltz over to the Senate Office Building, slap Mike Lee upside the head, and then politely ask him to "cool his jets"?

In the midst of another slow Northern Utah news day, we'll direct our readers' attention to a couple of back burner news items which appeared in the Standard-Examiner and the Salt Lake Tribune, a couple of days back. Although these stories didn't seem to be intentionally juxtaposed by the S-E and Trib editors, we can't help but believe that they may be interrelated, nevertheless.

Here's the lede from the S-E story, which appeared on the print edition front page on Sunday morning, and provides the gist:

HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Even without knowing the specifics of the upcoming military budget cuts and the recommendation of new rounds of Base Realignment and Closures, there is a lot of concern that the changes could affect Hill Air Force Base.
“It’s too early to know any of the details that they are thinking, but everyone should be worried,” said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced plans to cut military spending as the military recovers from a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Part of that plan is to close military bases in 2013 and 2015 [emphasis added].

Read the full S-E story here:

• Proposed defense cuts bring worries to HAFB

With a Democratic Party President occupying the oval office and base cuts on the drawing board, the fact that Republican folks like Rob Bishop and Jim Hansen might be a mite nervous makes perfect sense, of course.

And here's the lede from the 1/28/12 SLTrib story:

President Barack Obama used his weekly address Saturday to rip Congress for blocking his nominees, focusing his ire on Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

Earlier in the week, Lee vowed to oppose all of the president’s picks for open judicial and federal positions to protest the way Obama skirted the Senate to fill key jobs at the National Labor Relations Board and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"One senator gumming up the whole works for the entire country is certainly not what our founding fathers envisioned," Obama said, not specifically identifying Lee but leaving no doubt which senator he meant to single out.

In his address, the president cited a comment Lee’s spokesman, Brian Phillips, gave to Fox News, saying the plan was to "delay and slow the process in order to get the president’s attention."

And here's the link to that (possibly interrelated) story:

• Obama takes aim at Sen. Mike Lee in nominee fight

Although Obama doesn't name him by name, it's pretty clear that Utah Senator Mike Lee is clearly on Obama's "obstructionist" radar screen, and that he's most certainly "captured" President Obama's individed "attention." (Hopefully at this point our readers are getting the drift when we suggest that these to stories may be interconnected.)

For those who might be interested in reading a robust study on the probably devastating Utah economic effect of a Hill Air Force Base closure, here's a good scholarly study produced by a research team from University of Utah David Eccles School of Business in 2004, when the possiblity of a 2005 HAFB closure was last on the U.S. Executive Department table. It's sobering, to say the least:

• Economic, Demographic and Fiscal Impacts of Closing Hill Air Force Base: A Statewide and Regional Analysis

And remember, folks, these numbers are calculated in un-inflated 2001 dollars.

As for devastating projected local impacts, the study furnishes a VERY long list, so we'll just pick out one of them, for starters:

Short-Term Impacts
In 2009, the impact of closing Hill AFB will be a loss of 47,400 jobs, an annual decline of $2.35 billion in earnings and $2.29 billion in personal income. Hill’s closure shrinks the state’s economy by $3.58 billion (a decline of 2.6% from the projected baseline). The annual loss of state tax revenue will be $192.4 million.

Hopefully everyone, Utah lefties, centrists and righties alike, will take the time to read the above-linked analysis.

The proposed 2005 HAFB closure was removed from the table during the presidential term of GOP President G.W. Bush of course, to the great glee of out mainly GOP Utah federal legislative delegation.

Can we see by a show of hands how many of our gentle readers believe Senator Lee is playing with fire? Is there anyone who believes that our Democratic Party President Obama will cut our Utah federal legislative delegation the same degree of leeway in re: HAFB as did GOP President Bush in 2005? Would it be a good idea for our sole Utah Democratic Party House Representative Jim Matheson to waltz over to the Senate Office Building, slap Mike Lee upside the head, and then politely ask him to "cool his jets"? (Maybe Matheson could even ask that a more than slightly "nervous" House Representative Rob Bishop might accompany him.)

What say you on this topic, O Gentle Ones?

Two 2010 Election Events Set For This Evening

Tonight: A Peter Corroon Open House on the WSU campus; and a KUED-televised US Senate candidate debate

For those political wonks who are eagerly following the 2010 General Election runup, we'd like to announce a couple of events which you might want to put on today's calender:

1) In case you missed it in one of our lower comments sections, Gentle Reader Eleanor informs us that Democratic Party Gubernatorial Candidate Peter Corroon will be on the Weber State campus this evening, where WSU’s College Democrats are hosting a meet the candidate open house:

CORROON v HERBERT:
IT ain't over 'til the Fat Lady sings.
So come on out, tomorrow night, to the:
PETER CORROON TOWN HALL public meeting

DATE: MON 9.20.2010
TIME: 6PM- 7:30PM
PLACE: WSU/ STUDENT UNION BUILDING/ WILDCAT THEATER

Since the WILDCAT THEATER only has 220 seats, come early. Bring a friend. Prepare your questions in advance.
Again, this is a PUBLIC meeting. You do not have to live in Weber County to attend.

And the Salt Lake Tribune's political blog, Political Cornflakes, announces this evening's television event:

Senate race: The latest Dan Jones Poll for the D News and KSL shows Republican Mike Lee with a massive lead over Democrat Sam Granato. So far Granato's claim that Lee is too extreme is not sticking.
The D News/KSL poll also asked who voters would have picked if Sen. Bob Bennett ran as an independent and Lee came out ahead of Bennett 37 to 32.
If you want to check out the KUED [Granato/Lee] debate, it airs tonight at 8 p.m. MST. Or you can just check it out online.

(As to the latter debate event, please note that we've added the prerecorded video tape to our right sidebar election module.)

That's it for now, as we move to within 43 days of the 11/2/10 Election.

Chime in on either of the above topics, or consider this an open topic thread.

Update 9/21/10 10:00 a.m.: The Standard-Examiner carries a post event writeup this morning on the Corroon meet the candidate event:

• Corroon fields questions / Gubernatorial candidate addresses issues involving federal government

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah’s Transit-funding Train May Run Out of Track

The way Republican Senate candidate Mike Lee sees it, Congress shouldn’t spend a dime on local transit or road projects

By Dan S.

Here's an interesting article from the Trib that says Mike Lee is totally opposed to bringing any more federal transit (or highway) funding to Utah:

• Utah's transit-funding train may run out of track

Does this mean the Ogden streetcar is dead for the next six years?

Standard-Examiner: GOP Primary Goes to Lee

Primary Election post-mortem: We'll turn it over to our readers to enlighten us on the true meaning of all this

The Standard-Examiner reports (via the Associated press) the results of yesterday's Weber County/Utah primary election. For unknown reasons, this important story, which appears at the top of the front page of the Standard's paper edition, is entirely absent from the SE Live! Edition. We'll thus link the Digital Edition version:

• GOP Primary goes to Lee

So what about it gentle readers? Did "Beltway Bob" Bennett's Bridgewater endorsement hurt Bridgewater's campaign and ultimately seal his fate? Will uber-right GOP candidate Mike Lee waltz into a easy November victory as AP reporter Brock Vergakis suggests? Or will middle of the road Republicans swing over to Democratic Party moderate Sam Granato in November?

And here's something we find interesting. According to Lt. Governor Bell's 2010 Primary election webpage, Tim Bridgewater actually beat Lee in most Wasatch Front high-population urban centers, but got clobbered in Utah's relatively low-population rural and semi-rural "cow counties," leaving the question open as to whether Utah voters in general will be willing to embrace a GOP Senate candidate like Lee, who's so very clearly positioned on the very far right. Remember folks, yesterday's election generated a very low voter turnout; and yesterday's results therefore arguably cannot be interpreted as accurately representing a true cross-section of voter preferences for the November General Election, for which it's reasonable to anticipate a more robust and normal voter turnout, especially in urban areas.

That's it from your blogmeister for the moment; so we'll turn it over to our readers to enlighten us on the true meaning of all this.

Primary Election Day Reminder: Today's Utah Primary Race Splits Tea Party Over Senate Seat

Weber County Forum endorses Tim Bridgewater

We'll let this morning's Standard-Examiner story serve as a reminder of today's Utah GOP Primary Election, wherein candidates Tim Bridgewater and Mike Lee square off to lay claim for the Republican nomination for Senator Bennett's soon to be vacated U.S. Senate seat:

• Utah's primary race splits tea party over Senate seat

The 2010 Weber County Primary Election consists of just this single race. Remember folks, this is a Closed Republican Primary, which means that only registered Republicans will be issued a ballot.

Unsure of your voting precinct? Visit Lieutenant Governor Bell's Voter Information Webpage, enter your name, birthdate, county of residence and house number, and the polling place locator utility will automatically generate your precinct number and the address of today's polling place:

• Polling Place Locator Utility

Please contact the Weber County Clerk at (801)399-8034 for further information.

For those readers who may be curious about our Weber County Forum endorsement, we're pleased to announce that after considerable cogitation, we've decided to throw the mighty weight of WCF behind candidate Tim Bridgewater, largely as a result of the savvy reader discussion occurring in the comments section beneath Saturday's WCF writeup, wherein, among other things, former Councilwoman Jeske incorporated this Message from Bob Lonsberry. That whole disturbing Mike Lee Energy Solutions connection is a real deal-killer for us; and we weren't very happy about candidate Lee's action in rudely blowing off the Utah Federation of Republican Women, either.

And remember, Weber County Republicans: due to the short candidate slate, it's likely that today's primary will have a relatively low voter turnout, which means that your vote will have a much greater impact than in the General Election in November. For those voters who appreciate the opportunity to wield magnified political clout, today's Primary is made to order for you.

The polls will remain open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. We urge all GOP-registered WCF readers to make a special point to get out to your polling place to cast your vote.

The floor is now open for our readers' ever-interesting remarks.

Who will be the first to comment?