PRIDE in Utah

Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on November 29, 2012

Utah retail stores are on track to see some of their best sales this holiday season. But unless our congressional delegation drop their partisan opposition, next year they’ll be facing huge losses and we’ll be seeing huge tax hikes.

After the 2012 election, major Republican players and elected officials across the country started recognizing that perhaps their continued strategy of “oppose everything” really wasn’t the best route, and have begun proposing compromises. Unfortunately, Utah Senators Hatch and Lee, along with Congressman Bishop and Chaffetz have elected to not only uphold the old ways, but are actually doubling down on their commitment to block any budgetary compromise.

Part of the so-called “fiscal cliff,” which will occur at the end of the year unless Congress can reach an agreement, are some serious tax breaks for middle and low income families – which 99% of Utah falls into (basically anyone who makes less than $250,000 a year). Through tax cuts given out under both President GW Bush and President Obama, families in the Beehive state are getting up to $2200 annually off of their taxes. President Obama and the Democrats are in favor of leaving those tax cuts in place for 99% of the country, but are also asking that multi-millionaires no longer be allowed to pay only 2, 7 or 14%. In other words, the uber-wealthy should be paying the rate they’re supposed to be paying instead of exploiting loopholes in the tax code that get them out of millions in taxes.

Our Republican representatives from Utah, however, have made it clear that even though many of their fellow R’s around the country are starting to decide that it’s time to get down to business and actually govern, they prefer to continue sitting in the corner holding their noses.

While political bloggers like me may find no end to the hilarity of their oblivious tactics, the impact on Utah families isn’t funny at all. 140,700 Utahns are employed by the retail industry, and retail sales – especially during the holiday season – accounts for $Billions in our economy. If the partisan blinders can’t be put aside over the next month, and Congress fails to reach an agreement, our taxes automatically rise by up to $2200 January 1st. While $2200 a year may not sound like much to those making $3 Million a year, for 99% of us it’s a really big deal.

It’s being estimated by the CEA that Utah families will spend $1.9 Billion less in 2013 than we would have if Hatch, Lee, Bishop and Chaffetz don’t do something about this, the majority of that lost revenue being in retail purchases. Our economy cannot afford to lose 1.3% of our GDP, and most importantly – our families cannot afford to pay out another $2200 a year in taxes.

Look, we get it. You hate the Democrats, you find them super evil or whatever. But this isn’t about Democrats vs Republicans anymore. If you continue your hard-line partisan stances and refuse to compromise, it won’t be the Democrats we blame for our taxes going up. Store owners won’t be blaming the Democrats for their $1.9 Billion in lost revenue. We’ll all be blaming you.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas………….now get to work please.

Category: National/International | 2 Comments »
Tags: $2200, 2012, 2013, cliff, congressman, fiscal, Impact, jason chaffetz, mike lee, orrin hatch, retail, rob bishop, sales, senator, tax hike, taxes, utah

Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on November 17, 2012

Former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt encourages states to implement Obamacare

Former Utah Governor, and the head of Mitt Romney’s transition team, Mike Leavitt is encouraging states to comply with Obamacare and setup insurance exchanges, rather than leaving things to the Feds.

Last week, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that members of the Utah Legislature had sent a letter to Governor Gary Herbert, demanding that Utah not comply with the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). The letter argued that Utah should not setup any insurance exchanges of our own, instead leaving everything to the Federal Government to create and maintain.

“Utah should not spend any state time or money” to build, run or partner on a federal exchange, declared Republican legislative leaders in a Nov. 13 letter to Utah Gov. Gary Herbert.

Now, Former Governor Mike Leavitt, who not only served as chairman of Mitt Romney’s Presidential Transition Team but was also the Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush,  is adding his voice to the mix, calling for states to do just the opposite and comply with Obamacare.

…it will be a “bureaucratic nightmare” for states to deal with the federal government if they don’t have their own exchanges, that states would be giving up the power to design their own uniquely tailored systems if they default to the feds, and that they risk losing regulatory authority over insurers that operate in their states under the auspices of the federally designed exchange.

In Utah, there are 102,900 children without health insurance, unable to see a doctor when they fall off a bike or get sick. There are an additional 290,300 (non-elderly) adults in the state without coverage, whose families are at risk if they were to get seriously ill.

The majority of people in Utah without coverage don’t have health insurance is because their employment doesn’t offer benefits (either not offering them at all, or for some because their employer cut hours or reclassified them as “contractors” so they wouldn’t have to offer benefits), or because they have a pre-existing condition and have been denied for coverage.

In our own little opinion here.. it seems the Utah Legislature needs to listen to our former Republican Governor and put a hold on their constant anti-Federal showboating for just a moment, and implement a good law that will have a direct impact for the better on more than 500,000 Utahns who could really use a little help.

Category: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Tags: democrat, federal, gop, health exchanges, herbert, legislature, letter, liberal, local, mike leavitt, obamacare, republican, romney, stats, uninsured, utah

Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on November 9, 2012

There’s been quite a bit of hype today after outgoing-Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon unveiled his 2013 budget proposal, which include a property tax raise. Check out the graphic below to see how and why the budget works.

Graphic courtesy of the SLCO Mayor’s Office

Thanks to current conservative rhetoric, the words “Tax Hike” have become some of the scariest in use in today’s public service system. Now of course, the conservatives have a point – we always need to be on guard against unnecessary taxes that cause undue suffering among a populace – but there are also times when they can be critical.

Take Salt Lake County for example. The last time taxes were increased was 11 years ago, in 2001. As the graphic above illustrates, the world has become more expensive, with everything from cheeseburgers, to milk, to gas costing quite a bit more these days. At the same time, Salt Lake County’s population size has increased dramatically (140,000 new residents). In other words? It costs more money to provide services, and there are more people demanding those services.

Add on top of that the recession which we are only now pulling out of. Salt Lake County Mayor Corroon and the Salt Lake County Council should be commended for their incredible work over the last 4 years – trimming every possible cut out of the budget that they could, recognizing that government needed to be as lean as possible during an economic crisis. However, there are many things that ended up on the chopping block which are still needed. Many of us often forget that the County is responsible for quite a bit more than just garbage collection and animal shelters. Salt Lake County  also provides public safety (jail and District Attorney), search and rescue, emergency operations, services for children and seniors, marriage licenses, passports, elections, public health, libraries, recreation and parks, and other quality of life services – all services residents would be in an uproar if they were to be eliminated.

Corroon’s 2013 budget provides a healthy balance of both additional cuts to the budget (another estimated $5.6 Million) as well as the revenue increase which amounts to roughly $5.35 a month for the average SLCO home. $5.35 a month, a small price to pay to keep our streets safe, our quality of life up, and a secure future for our children.

Also, keep in mind that our property taxes aren’t indexed for inflation, aka.. they don’t go up every year to keep pace with the market. So if you really think about it, those of us who live in the county have actually been paying less and less property taxes every year since 2001.

The proposed budget is balanced and well thought out in its approach, restoring much demanded services, fighting back inflation (which left unchecked could cost SLCO its triple-A bond rating), all while still showing good faith by including further budget cuts.

There’s a reason why it has received unanimous support from both Democrat and Republican elected officials in the County. As a resident of Salt Lake County, I approve.

Category: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: 2013, budget, corron, county, democrat, hike, mayor, peter, politics, raise, republican, salt lake, tax, taxes, utah

Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on November 5, 2012

Utah Representative Wayne Harper, currently running to become Senator Harper, is urging Utah courts to show leniency to his former intern, who has been convicted of sexually abusing a teenage girl.

Eric Ray, former intern to Republican Representative Wayne Harper, was convicted in September of sexually abusing a teenage girl at Brigham Young University. Ray was married at the time, but convinced the young girl to join him in a hotel room where he reportedly made her shower, shave, and then sexually abused her.

PRIDEinUtah has now learned that Ray’s former boss, Wayne Harper, has sent a letter in his official capacity as a state legislator to the probation and parole board, asking for leniency for Ray.

It seems that even here in Utah, we have male elected officials who don’t view rape as the horrendous crime it is. Wonder if Representative Harper thinks it wasn’t a “legitimate” rape?

Category: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: abuse, byu, eric ray, girl, intern, legislator, politics, rape, representative, republican, senator, sexual, teenage, utah, wayne harper

Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on November 5, 2012

I was more than a little shocked this morning to read a post by the Sutherland Institute favoring a law in the city of Highland which bans businesses from opening on Sunday. Sutherland may be showing ultimate hypocrisy as the self-proclaimed guardians of freedom.

It never ceases to amaze me when “small government,” “personal freedom,” and “free-market” conservatives attempt to use the government they so abhor to enforce their own codes of morality, and restrict the freedoms of citizens and business.

In this case, the argument is over Proposition 6 in Highland City. Those in favor of the Proposition want to eliminate a law which forces all businesses to close their doors on Sunday. Those in the anti-Proposition category are in favor of keeping the law in place.

The Sutherland Institute makes a rather bizarre argument in their post, claiming that the side of “freedom” is actually the side of the anti-Prop 6 group. To make their case, Sutherland uses the example of employees not having the freedom to take Sunday off to attend church services, they also mention businesses not having the freedom to close on Sundays because of national management requirements (I’m assuming they’re referencing a chain-type store, such as a restaurant chain which has a local franchise but still must take directions from corporate).

What Sutherland fails to miss in their fervent desire to come up with anti-freedom examples is the most critical element of freedom itself: choice. An employee is not having their freedom encroached upon by being told he must work on Sunday – he chooses to work for a company which is open through the weekend, and is told before he takes such a job that working Sundays may be a requirement. If someone doesn’t want to work on a Sunday, they are never forced to do so. They can work for a different company which chooses not to have their doors open on a Sunday, they can quit their current job… no one ever forces them to do anything.

The same issue of choice applies to the franchise owner. They knowingly chose to open a franchise of a company that requires Sunday operations. They were not forced to open that franchise, they could have instead chosen to go with a different chain business which closes on the weekends or opened a business of their own instead.

Conversely, what IS a clear violation of freedom is how the law reads currently. A government forcibly dictating the terms of operation to a local business is precisely what these conservatives claim to be against. A small mom and pop store is not allowed to choose whether they would like to open their doors on a Sunday, the government has chosen for them. A single mother cannot choose to work more hours on the weekend to make sure she can meet her bills, the government has taken that option away from her.

The point Sutherland Institute seems to once again miss, is that freedom is choice. The ability to make decisions for yourself. Should a business that wants to close on Sunday be allowed to? Of course. Should a business be allowed to open on Sunday if it so chooses? Of course!

Highland City’s current law, taking away all choice (ie.. freedom) from local businesses and employees, is a monstrous governmental intrusion on the privates lives, and the private market. Removing the restrictions places no undue burden on any business owner or employee, it simply provides for options – and most importantly, for choice.

Category: Local In Utah | No Comments »
Tags: anti, business, City, closed, highland, hypocrisy, no, politics, pro, prop 6, sunday, sutherland institute, utah, yes

Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on November 1, 2012

No question I’m a liberal guy, so conservative Jesse Harris (@elforesto) and I don’t agree on much these days. But one thing we come together on? Everyone should vote for Ben McAdams for Salt Lake County Mayor!

Category: Local In Utah | No Comments »
Tags: ben mcadams, conservative, democrat, Eric Ethington, jesse harris, liberal, mark crockett, mayor, republican, salt lake county

Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on October 24, 2012

As we all (hopefully) head to the polls this year, we’ll not only be voting for candidates and judges, but also two different constitutional amendments. Below is my analysis and recommendations.

Constitutional Amendment A: Required Severance Tax Deposits In The Permanent Trust Fund.

My Recommendation: VOTE “NO”

For those who don’t know, severance taxes are what the state collects when natural resources mined in Utah, such as gas or oil, are sold. Utah is one of the few states in the nation that doesn’t automatically use severance taxes for education, rather they are automatically split. A portion goes into the general fund which can be used for anything the Legislature wishes, and the other significant portion goes into the Permanent Trust Fund (aka.. saved for the future). Meanwhile, our public education system relies on revenues collected from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and Income Taxes.

The argument made by the author of this Constitutional Amendment, Representative Jim Nielson, is that the state doesn’t need the money we’re collecting right now, so we should be hoarding even more of it away. To explain it briefly, money in the General Fund can be used at any time for any project by the State Legislature, while the Permanent Trust Fund is much more difficult to access (it requires approval by 75% of the Legislature and the Governor).

Here’s my problem: The State is already struggling to fulfill many of its obligations, and adequately cover needed services statewide. For example, pay levels for Highway Troopers and others who put their lives on the line for us have been frozen for years now, resources for Utah’s medicaid program are running thin, and our schools are still languishing at dead last in the nation on per-pupil funding.

If Constitutional Amendment A succeeds at the ballot box this year, Utah will have even less money to work with, and it seems inevitable that we will need those funds that are being locked away. The Legislature finds a new pet project every year they want to work on, which requires those tax dollars we’ve all paid. But if the money is no longer available, the Legislature’s only option is to pull funds out of other programs, such as…. wait for it… public education.

While saving is smart, Utah is only beginning to pull out of a major recession, and locking away further money from the people of Utah who are still reeling from almost $1 Billion in budget cuts the Legislature has made over the past few years is fiscally irresponsible. As Representative Litvack put it on the House floor this past session, “In my family we save for our children’s future, but we don’t starve them tonight in order to do it.”

Contitutional Amendment B: Exemption of Property Taxes For Military Personnel

My Recommendation: VOTE “YES”

Does this one really even need a full analysis? As far as I’m concerned, we all owe a debt to our troops that can never be fully repaid. As Winston Churchill once said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Of course, some will disagree with this (like Senator Majority Leader Scott Jenkins – who infamously went on an anti-soldier tirade this year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BlZbsJ5ycc). But as for me, I’m on the side of doing whatever I can for the heroes who serve us in uniform.

For further analysis and non-partisan background on the Constitutional Amendments, I recommend checking out this post from the League of Women Voters.

Category: Local In Utah | No Comments »
Tags: 2012, a, analysis, b, ballot, constitutional amendment, democrat, election, general fund, jim nielson, legislature, permanent trust fund, politics, representative, republican, severance tax, utah

Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on October 18, 2012

Republican candidate for Congress in Utah’s 2nd District, Chris Stewart, is claiming in the Salt Lake Tribune that he never took any stimulus funds, but it turns out.. he’s lying.

Earlier today, 2nd Congressional District candidate Jay Seegmiller pointed out the hypocrisy of his Republican opponent Chris Stewart campaigning against the stimulus, when he himself took stimulus funds with his consulting agency, The Shipley Group. Stewart vehemently denied the charge, saying ”We have never sought for nor bid on any stimulus contracts.”

But according to Recovery.gov, which tracks all stimulus money that was given out, Stewart and The Shipley Group actually received $35,100.00 in Stimulus funds.

But the story doesn’t end there. On Chris Stewart’s campaign website, he spends quite a bit of time railing against spending by the Federal Government, saying:

“Explosive government spending and regulations have taken us away from our Founding Father’s vision of the role of the federal government. Stimulus spending, bailouts for Wall Street, local education, AMTRAK, farm subsidies, medical research, alternative energy development, transportation programs… the list of federal spending programs that can be cut goes on and on.”

But how does Stewart himself make a living? Since 2001, Stewart has received roughly $6,000,000.00 from multiple federal agencies for consulting work according to USAspending.gov.

How does one get so much money from the federal government? It doesn’t happen by accident, nor does it even happen by submitting competitive bids. It happens when you take advantage of lobbyists, who often questionably influence the decisions of Congressman and Senators in Washington DC. In Stewart’s case, opensecrets.org reveals that he authorized his brother Tim Stewart (yes, the Tim Stewart who authored the shadowy and infamous “Temple Mailer” that tried to link Mike Lee to the LDS Church in 2010) to spend more than $200,000.00 to convince lawmakers to give Stewart the money.

So to recap, Chris Stewart is lying when he claims he never received any stimulus funds. And for a candidate that consistently rails against the evils of federal spending, he’s gone to some awful far lengths to secure millions and millions of dollars for himself.

His clients are almost exclusively federal agencies, including the General Services Administration (the agency that came under fire last year for spending lavishly on a Las Vegas weekend conference), the Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

And yet… Chris Stewart is expecting the people of Utah’s 2nd Congressional District to believe that he’s a “small government conservative” who will follow through on his promises to shrink the exact same government agencies that pay him his annual salary?

Category: Local In Utah, National/International | No Comments »
Tags: 2nd, candidate, chris stewart, congress, conservative, district, environmental protection agency, epa, federal, funds, gop, government, gsa, lobbying, money, PROOF, republican, shipley group, stimulus, utah

Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on October 7, 2012

In the final month of campaigning, the race to see who will succeed Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon is heating up. But it seems that one candidate isn’t being exactly truthful in his advertising.

Throughout his campaign, Salt Lake County Mayoral candidate Mark Crockett has repeatedly made the claim that he is the most qualified candidate to handle the County’s billion dollar budget. Largely, he says this is due to his financial experience operating his consulting firms Alta Ventures and Vici Capital and supposedly saving organizations like Bank of America and the Colorado Department of Natural Resources millions of dollars.

“Crockett said his approach to supervising a government follows guidelines he employs professionally as managing director of Vici Capital Partners, a consulting firm that helps giant corporations (including Bank of America) and government agencies (such as the Colorado Department of Natural Resources) to operate efficiently.” - Salt Lake Tribune, 6/4/12

I have been fortunate to help some amazing organizations solve some interesting problems and I still do. So, with my family in NY for a little while as I help drive an overhaul of Bank of America, this may not seem the most convenient time to run for mayor.” - Mark Crockett for County Mayor campaign announcement, 01/10/2012

But something new stuck out to me this month. Mr. Crockett has sent out a printed flyer, featuring those companies’ logos, to Salt Lake County residents; implying their endorsement in an attempt to persuade votes.

Trouble is… none of these companies are actually endorsing Mark Crockett’s campaign, nor have they authorized him to use their copywritten brands.

PRIDEinUtah contacted each of the companies featured on Mr. Crockett’s campaign material, asking if they have endorsed Mark Crockett. Here are the responses we received:

“We don’t provide our logo for political purposes, and we definitely haven’t provided any endorsements. We really don’t want to comment on what type of involvement we may or may not have had with [Crockett].” - Bank of America

“We don’t actually endorse political candidates. If it’s being implied that we’re endorsing [Crockett], that’s not correct.” – Bank of New York Mellon

“We have definitely not made any endorsement in the race for Salt Lake County Mayor, nor has Mr. Crockett contacted us for permission to use our logo. Honestly, we’re really not comfortable hearing that our logo is being used for a political race.” - Colorado Department of Natural Resources

In addition, after my initial call with Bank of America this week I received a return call the following day, letting me know that they were trying to contact the Crockett Campaign to discuss why their name is being used for political purposes. As of the time of this posting, the Crockett Campaign had not returned their calls.

In addition to whether or not these organizations have either officially or unofficially endorsed Mr. Crockett, I also asked if they could validate his claims that he (and/or his consulting firms) really did save them the millions of dollars he claims. Almost without exception, the answer was “No Comment.”

The one exception was Synovus,  who’s bewildered Communications Director told me:

“We don’t have any record of him at all, nor do we make political endorsements. I don’t have any records of a connection to him, or to [Alta Ventures or Vici Capital] either.” - Sonovus

Placing company logos on your campaign material is a hallmark of official campaign endorsements. So while we have no doubt that the Crockett Campaign will offer an excuse that because  they aren’t specifically using the words “endorse” on these flyers there isn’t a problem, the message being conveyed to potential voters (who perhaps don’t have quite the political eye to catch underhanded techniques) is clear.

And with the statement given to PRIDEinUtah by Synovus – one does have to wonder about the accuracy of Mr. Crockett’s money saving-claims with the other organizations as well.

Category: Local In Utah | 4 Comments »
Tags: alta ventures, bank of america, bank of new york, claims, colorado department of natural resources, conservative, endorse, endorsement, Eric Ethington, mark crockett, mayor, mellon, partners, pride in utah, republican, salt lake county, synovus, vici capital

Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on October 4, 2012

Salt Lake County Mayoral Candidate Mark Crockett REALLY doesn’t like people who post unfavorable tweets, apparently. When I got home this evening, I was greeted by a “Cease and Desist” letter from his attorneys.

Back on October 1st, local blogger and host of The Left Show JM Bell posted a blog with copies of the public records of Salt Lake County mayoral candidate Mark Crockett’s past and current tax liens from both Utah and California. Let me emphasize that again, these are public records, available to anyone who bothers to go look. JM Bell posted the following tweet, linking to his post:

I found the blog post interesting, as Crockett has been touting himself as a financial wizard - yet apparently has a long history of being unable to handle his own personal  (as well as campaign) finances. So, naturally, I sent out a retweet of Mr. Bell’s own tweet:

So.. just to recap. I retweeted a blog post written by someone else, which displayed public-records about a candidate for office.

Now it just so happens, that in the California courts and in the Utah 3rd District Court where the tax liens against Mark Crockett are filed public records include the last 4 digits of the subject’s social security number (first 5 numbers are redacted). These records are available to anyone who requests them.

However, Mr. Crockett’s attorneys at the law firm of Strong & Hanni, have filed a Cease and Desist against Mr. Bell for posting the blog, and against me for simply retweeting the post, in that same Utah 3rd District Court.

Paranoia much?? Obviously I have no control over what someone else writes on their own blog, and I’m told that Mr. Bell complied with Crockett’s request and further redacted the public records. But what does it say about Mark Crockett’s view of free speech that he would send such a legal letter to someone who merely posted on twitter? Have we gotten to the point where you need to be considered about retweeting others’ work?

Bottom Line: Is Crockett right to legally demand that a public document be edited? Personally I don’t think so, but it’s irrelevant to this piece. I never posted the document, nor did I have anything to do with the posting of it by Mr. Bell. I was sent the Cease and Desist for tweeting.

For the record, I will not be taking down my tweets.

Oh and by the way Mr. Crockett, may I suggest you hire an attorney who can spell my name correctly?

Category: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Tags: bell, BLOG, candidate, cease and desist, conservative, democrat, Eric Ethington, jeff, jm, legal, liberal, liens, mark crockett, mayor, number, post, republican, salt lake county, social security, tax, tweet, twitter