JM Bell | June 16, 2006
From this morning’s Tribune article: “If the First Amendment rights are to be protected, why would they want a statute that takes away First Amendment rights?” Hatch asked. “There’s only one answer to that. To cover their behinds, so they can say, ‘Well, I’m for a statute.’ Well, that’s just the usual dodge that people [...]
JM Bell | June 14, 2006
“The legislature doesn’t need to approve the Medicaid Dental funding. The Health Department can make that decision themselves.” Rep. Jeff Alexander, (R)Provo “…the legislature chose not to fund an optional dental program until the comprehensive [Medicaid] study had been undertaken.” Rep. Steve Urquhart, (R)St. George (emphasis added) ”We didn’t view this as a political issue. [...]
JM Bell | June 14, 2006
I went to the Utah Bloggers Conference last night, and, let me tell you, it was a great crowd. There were a lot more people there than I expected. The panel was interesting, Pete Ashdown was compelling (as usual) but, really, my favorite part was meeting people whose blogs I’ve been reading everyday. Being able [...]
JM Bell | June 13, 2006
Today the House Appropriations Committee surprised everyone with a 32-27 vote to raise the minimum wage over a three year period from the current $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour. See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13302871/ for details. Unfortunately, Republican leaders have indicated this amendment isn’t going anywhere. They plan to strip it from the bill before it [...]
JM Bell | June 13, 2006
3rd Congressional District Candidate Christian Burridge has had a couple of interesting posts on his blog the last few days. The two most recent are my two most favorite: The Real Cancer on Society and the Cannon Brothers Myth Making Machine
JM Bell | June 12, 2006
From MoveOn.org House Republicans just voted to slash funding for NPR and PBS this year–and eliminate funding altogether in two years. We stopped them last year. We can stop them again. Sign our petition to Congress opposing these massive cuts to public broadcasting. “Congress must save NPR, PBS, and local public stations. We trust them [...]
JM Bell | June 9, 2006
Some Republican legislators responsible for keeping continued funding of dental care for the poor from coming up for a vote are now scoffing at the Governor’s efforts to raise the money from private sources. According to KCPW House Majority Leader Jeff Alexander states he won’t be donating to help the poor. “I believe the Governor [...]
JM Bell | June 2, 2006
Both this morning’s Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News reported on rapidly growing property values. The St. George area leads the nation and Utah ranks 15th nationally in growth in home prices. What got no attention in these articles is the skyrocketing foreclosure rate both in Utah and around the nation. Since January 2001 most [...]
JM Bell | June 1, 2006
