Eminence Front

Earlier this year, I started listening to The Who. One of the Blue Dogs in the Legislature introduced me to it, for which I am grateful. One of their greatest songs is "Eminence Front", a song Pete Townshend wrote during the early part of the 80s, and the lyrics seem particularly appropriate during this time of economic uncertainty. Townshend's composition, both lyrically, and musically, depict flashy lifestyles, partying, and stylish clothes, all apparently the product of immense wealth. But Townshend is not deceived:

The drinks flow, People forget.
That big wheel spins, the hair thins, People forget,
Forget they're hiding.
The news slows, People forget.
The shares crash, hopes are dashed, People forget,
Forget they're hiding
Behind an eminence front,
Eminence front - it's a put on.

Take a listen to the song. Buy it on ITunes. Because as I watch this financial crisis, born out of Democratic housing goals, American greed, and inflated home values, I keep turning back to this tune: In spite of all that wealth brings, in the end, it's an eminence front. Because as "shares crash, hopes are dashed", people are remembering, you can only hide behind your wealth for so long.

So as I consider what I would do, were I making this $700 Billion decision that is as philosophically heavy as it is economically, remembering the transitory nature of wealth is an important reminder to put value on those things which truly matter.

I encourage everyone to take some time, and reflect on this, and pray that our Congressional leaders, perhaps as much as ever before, get some kind of divine wisdom on this decision. Because as phony as this eminence front is, wealth can do wonderful things for our lives.

Economic depressions may serve to refocus us, but certainly do not bring great happiness or greater prosperity to Americnas generally. Paraphrasing Neal Maxwell, though we may travel through fiery furnaces in life successfully, wise men do not line up for another turn. Whatever decision they make, it is my hope that Congress is not starting up the queue.

"Numbers Never Lie...

but liars use numbers." Of all the things Dr. Dan Jones has said to me over the years, that statement stands out. Dan was right because, as another person once put it, "Numbers will tell you anything when tortured." Turns out, Bob Springmeyer is fully willing to engage in cruel and unusual punishment of numbers.

For anyone listening to Monday's debate between Huntsman and Springmeyer, this was quite evident. When Huntsman claimed "$1 Billion increased education spending over 3 years" under his administration (that's 40% more), Springmeyer countered with this:

"I don't know where Jon is getting his numbers, but off his own budget, it was just barely revised, public ed (in) fiscal year 2009 only provided a point three, 3/10ths of one percent increase in public ed...that's off your own website."

(Let's not get into Bob Springmeyer refusing to grant the Governor the dignity of the title Utahn's saw fit to grant him, and just calling him Jon. It's a classic, yet classless political move.)

Huntsman is right, and Springmeyer is wrong. In fact, Springmeyer seems to be attempting to tell the truth in order to obscure the reality of what Huntsman and the Legislature have done for public education, but he fumbles the truth and ends up lying. In fact, .3% is not the number in 2009, it's 3.0%. That sounds small, but it's over $92 Million dollars. Feel free to check me on this, but the budget is clear at http://www.governor.utah.gov/budget/Budget/Agency%20Summaries/FY2009/14_Public%20Education.pdf He may not of intended it, but by attempting to muddy the waters on education funding, Springmeyer ends up lying.

On another note, and a very boring one at that,Springmeyer whines that the Tax Commission is failing to release TC-23 reports, apparently in some sinister ploy by the Governor to hide public information. Now, for those unaware (that's 99.9% of Utahns), a TC-23 is essentially the Tax Commission stating what revenues are, and sometimes, predicting what revenues might be according to current trends. A forecast of sorts. What Springmeyer doesn't seem to realize is that the reports he whines about not seeing are reports that detail the first 2 months of the fiscal year that have only been compiled 3 of the past 10 years, and are generally just part of the Quarterly report issued by the Commission. So he's complaining about receiveing a report that is rarely issued, and that few people are even aware exists. Springmeyer is probably whining about this at the behest of Bob "Dirty Bernie" Bernick of the DNews, and Doug MacDonald, former Tax Commission economist. Are you bored yet? Me too, and Doug Fabrizio sensed the ticky-tack nature of this attack, moving the debate on.

But by all means, Mr. Springmeyer, continue fighting for those TC-23s. Send mailers out about it. Doubtless, half of the 1/10th of 1% of people who know what you are talking about will find your TC-23 complaints to be the main issue driving them to the polls...

One last note on the debate: Governor Huntsman gets the first ever Ninth Circle "Quip of the Day" for his take on the Salt Lake City Weekly. When asked about a Holly Mullen article in the liberal SLC rag, where Editor Holly Mullen (wife of Ted Wilson, who is a good Springmeyer friend from what I know) essentially says Governor Huntsman is a leader unwilling to use his political capital, willing to coast and not take on the issues of the day, the Governor responds in full dry wit mode:

"...that comes from a great newspaper, by the way, the Salt Lake Weekly, which is where I go to get all my information, since we don't have any other reliable papers in the state."

Meantime, this is one thing the people of Utah should understand about their Governor: He is a diplomat, and a kind man, but do not mistake his gracious and calm demeanor for a man devoid of passion, intellect, or pride. In fact, in my 28 years, only Neal Maxwell has impressed me more with his talent for dry one liners. Having spent time around both men, these quips are rare, but always richly deserved by the target.

AG Candidate Webpage Hacked!!!

I came home from work a bit early today. With the boss out of town, she was kind enough to allow me to use some leave time. I went to surf the campaign sites for updates, and stumbled across http://www.jeanwelchhill.com/. I was shocked to find that the website for the Democratic candidate for Utah Attorney General has been overtaken by a hacker! Take a look by clicking the link.

Though I can't imagine a great deal of traffic is flowing to her website, I feel for the Democrat and her campaign. This kind of nonsense can take hours to repair, and writing the material for a website takes a significant chunk of time. Here's hoping the culprit is caught, but regardless, let's hope Jean's website comes back up soon.

I am no internet security expert, but it would probably be wise for campaigns take a good look at their webpage provider's security options.

What Happened to the Treasurer's Race Probe?

Does anyone even remember this? This was frontpage news just 3.5 months ago, when Richard Ellis accused Rep. Mark Walker of attempting to bribe him to drop out of the Treasurer's race. I should stipulate, I supported Walker, a good friend, over Ellis, someone I met during my stint with the Lt. Governor's Office.

Ellis, the Deputy Treasurer, filed a complaint wtih the office of Lieutenant Governor Gary Herbert. When Herbert set aside the complaint to avoid unduly influencing the outcome of an election before the complaint could be fully investigated, Ellis was furious. He called Herbert's actions "outrageous", and told the Deseret News "He's frustrating the process from moving ahead."

So what did Ellis do? He filed a lawsuit to force the Lieutenant Governor to act. The legal representative for Ellis even called the Lt. Governor "stupid". The Supreme Court shot down Ellis, and said the Lt. Governor was within his rights to determine the time table of his response to the complaint. So the moment the polls closed on Richard Ellis and his resounding Primary Victory (aided in no small part by his accusation against Rep. Walker), the Lt. Governor forwarded the complaint to the Attorney General's office. Having endorsed Walker, AG Mark Shurtleff's office sent the complaint to the County Attorney's in Davis and Weber County, a Republican and Democrat, to investigate the allegations.

On July 19th, the prosecutors said they should be done "by August". It's now mid September. The media has let the story drop, aside form a mention of the scandal in a Cathy McKitrick story on Sunday in a Treasurer's Race profile story.

I have some thoughts:

• What is delaying the County Attorneys? Lt. Governor Herbert endured withering criticism for his decision to hold up the investigation to wait for the primary in order to provide due process to all involved. 2 months ago, they implied "we're almost done". Apparently, something is delaying this. Anyone who now claims the Lt. Governor stopped an investigation that could have been concluded before the Primary probably needs to have their head checked.


• What is up with Richard Ellis and his campaign finance disclosures? Reading a bit on blogs, rumor has it that the UEA bankrolled Ellis and his lawsuit. The dates associated with UEA contributions appear to match the dates of major significane in the complaint and lawsuit. Take a look here https://ucrs.state.ut.us/ Of course, I'm open to Richard Ellis's campaign contradicting this account. I'd be happy to have breakfast with you anytime, Richard. Just expect me to bring a witness to avoid any unfortunate lawsuits...


• I'm a Republican, but I will be voting for Democrat Dick Clark. I know both Richard and Mark Walker, and after watching this affair, I have no confidence in Richard Ellis. His timing was transparently political (waiting months to file the complaint)and his legal counsel was disrepectful to one of my personal heroes (Gary Herbert). Now I understand that disagreements happen: But filing suit against your own party's Lt. Governor? The possibility that the UEA funded your legal counsel? With Dick Clark, we get a fresh start at the top in the Treasurer's Office, and get to put this unfortunate event behind us.

I'm anxious to hear some results from this investigatoin. Let's get to the bottom of it and move on!

Facebook Follies

Recently, one of my best friends, Joe Demma, was in hot water for a Facebook posting. If you missed the controversy, you missed a classic example of the tempest in a teapot media, with Joe's Facebook posting serving as the media's "controversy of the day". If nothing else, the episode served as a warning to all campaign managers and staffers that the world wide web and social networking sites, while great campaign tools, can also be wielded by the media as a tool against your boss.

Apparently, Jean Welch Hill's campaign manager, Maryann Martindale, missed the memo. Her Facebook page is still full of politically explosive opinions, which could serve to undermine her candidate. A smattering of examples:

"Maryann Martindale isn't afraid to say it -- Palin IS a pig and someone DID put lipstick on her. But that's still not what Obama meant, idiots!"

"Maryann wants people to realize that wanting to see more women in office doesn't require them to vote for a fascist (Palin). "

"Maryann is wondering if an article on how much corporate money Shurtleff raises actually increases his corporate donations."

"Maryann has had her toes stepped on enough lately, thank you. Back the f*** off!"

This displays what most Utah campaign insiders already know about Democratic politics: While most Democrats posture themselves as moderates (and indeed, some truly are moderates), many of their campaigns are filled with hard-core leftists who are far from the mainstream in any state, let alone Utah.

Considering the moderate posturing of Jean Welch Hill, her campaign manager would be wise to throw out the extremist rhetoric. Certainly, in the no holds barred campaign world, her comments are potential fodder for anyone with a Facebook account and a little bit of time on their hands. If I can do it, so can Bob Bernick (though rumor has it that Bob has limited computer literacy, and let's face it, he can't write anything to hurt his friends in the Democratic Party) or Matt Canham.

Some may complain that these worries are stifling to the personal lives of campaign managers. That's hogwash. Campaigns are never supposed to be about the campaign manager. It is your job to let the candidate stay front and center. Those unprepared to deal with that reality need to find another line of work.

Jay Seegmiller on the Issues: Public Financing of Elections

Occassionally, I'll post my opinions on state legislative races. Today, it's the big one in the House: The Speaker of the House, Greg Curtis, has been challenged once again by Jay Seegmiller. The Trib profiled the race on Monday morning: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10409209

I make no secret that I am a fan of Speaker Greg Curtis. He's done a ton for Utah schools via increasing funding. He's been one of the leading forces in making Utah the best managed state in the nation. And he will not buck principles he believes in to raise his popularity. That's the kind of leadership I appreciate, and not to be to cliche, this really is "Leadership that Delivers".

In the above linked Trib article, Seegmiller supports Public Financing of elections. This is an idea I flat out despise. I'm so anti-public financing, I'm glad Obama's turning the money down. I never check that box on my tax return to give $3. The IRS says it doesn't add to my tax bill, but if it doesn't add to my tax bill, the money does come from somewhere.

And it's not because I am cheap. I simply think that taxpayer money should not be used to fund someone's campaign. Let me be clear: The government has a responsibility to fund the cost of administering an election. But supporting candidates by giving them funds is not a role for government.

Why should my tax dollars support speech which I do not endorse? Why should there be limits on the amount of money spent on politics? In my mind, if all candidates were funded equally by tax dollars, does that not disconnect the citizens from the political process by making it feel rather distant and impersonal? Why shouldn't a citizen be able to give their money to a candidate? If a candidates message is more persuasive, would it not make sense that they would have less trouble raising money from a supportive electorate?

These are just a few of the problems with public financing. I understand Seegmiller is trailing in fundraising by thousands of dollars. But don't come to me, or any other taxpayer, and hope to have my taxes solve your financial disadvantage.

Utah Dems Disgusting Attack on Palin: How to Lose an Election

Wayne Holland has gone too far. In a press release on Sarah Palin, the Utah Democrats claim Sarah Palin is a member of an Anti-Mormon church. From their press release:

"Will Republicans of the LDS faith vote for Sarah Palin, a devout member of
an anti-Mormon denomination?"

This claim of Palin belonging to an anti-Mormon faith is absolutely false. And in two ways.

First, the Church the Dems refer to is the Assembly of God. But Palin hasn't been a member there since 2002.

Second, the Assembly of God is not an anti-Mormon faith. Officially, they have no stance. But I can relate personally that these folks are not anti-Mormon as a whole. When I served an LDS Mission in Texas, I tracted into many AoG members who wished us well in spreading the message about Christ. They were, on the whole, very kind, and humble people. A few wanted to argue and give us literature to explain our faith to us, but that happened with random folks everywhere.

Now the Utah Democrats have stepped back from their release. Gratefully, the
It's truly a shame that Party Chair Wayne Holland has seen fit to belittle Palin based on her faith. Is there any area off limits in politics any more? Perhaps there never was, and never will be.

Democrats are simply lucky to have people like Sen Pat Jones, my former boss, to help deflect the criticism. She's the best thing the Democrats have going for them.

Republicans should pounce on this as proof the Democrats in Utah will use any and all available issues to win. If Wayne Holland wants to complain it's unfair, perhaps he should have his press releases checked for accuracy, and more importantly, stop trying to draw in LDS voters through fear.

Note to Democrats: As an LDS Republican in Utah, I don't think I, or my LDS friends, are drawn to your victimization narrative. I could care less if members of my party think my religion is a cult: I would probably think the same thing if I heard the silly rumors spread about Mormons. You're going to have to do better than that to make me question my commitment to fiscal discipline, limited government, and personal freedom.