Citizens for Principled Government

2010 Utah Legislative Session

The 2010 session of the Utah State Legislature has begun.  The top priority is the need to shave as much as $700 million off of last year’s budget in order to meet the projected shortfall in government revenue from taxes, fees and other sources. (As quoted in Monday’s Deseret News, the House Speaker has stated, “The budget dominates.  It is the 800-pound gorilla in the room.  Less spending trickles down to all other policy issues”).

Most elected officials tend to think in terms of “raise the bridge” or “lower the water.” Some (like the Democrat majority in Washington) want to raise taxes and fees to guarantee the revenue needed to keep funding all existing government programs and give regular “cost of living” increases to all government employees.  (The self employed and most business owners have no such guarantee from year to year).  Others want to cut and reduce spending to stay beneath the reduced income ceiling.  The hard part is prioritizing and knowing where to focus and best apply the citizens’ combined resources.  (When it comes to budget cuts – there are no volunteers).

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The Forgotten Wisdom of Harry Truman

Harry Truman declared, “Never trade principles for votes.”  Those who do are what George Washington described and rejected as “mere politicians.”  The recent healthcare reform bill vote in the United States Senate has set a new low in Washington politics.  The party of Truman chose to disregard their former leader’s counsel.  To reach the required 60 vote total, the Senate majority dished out massive pork and individual favors to get the votes they needed.  Some are calling it a modern version of the “Louisiana Purchase” and a “Corn Husker Kickback”.  (See Human Events January 4, 2010 p. 1, 6, 10-11).   The form of currency is unprecedented preferential treatment on a state by state basis to fund government Medicare and Medicaid payments back home and provide other requested earmarks and benefits.

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Towards the end of 1843, in South London, a gifted young writer could be seen late at night, wrapped in a long coat, feverishly pacing the City sidewalks. As he walked fifteen and twenty miles at a stretch, he shouted out in the cold night air, laughed aloud and even wept at times. Those who knew Charles Dickens understood that he was writing again. They knew that Dickens always took his imagination to the streets and the streets into his imagination. His writings were characteristically sensitive to the human condition and especially the plight of the less fortunate. For that reason and the many popular Christmas stories that he published each December for so many years, the name Dickens has become forever linked with the spirit of Christmas. It is the “Christmas Carol” that he first developed while braving the chilly night air and briskly pacing the streets of London in November, 1843, for which he is best known and loved today more than a century and half later.

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In September, we wrote to you and warned of the pending Federal “Hate Crimes” legislation that President Obama and the Democrat majority in Washington were about to pass. It was expected that this controversial new law would be thoroughly reviewed and debated because of the significant threat which it poses to current constitutional law. We identified key constitutional objections and potential adverse consequences of classifying citizens and crimes according to “sexual orientation.” 45 states (including Utah) already have their own version of “hate crimes” statutes. No new Federal legislation is needed in this area. Nonetheless, activists have pushed this Bill as part of a larger expansion of “gay rights”, which President Obama has promised to deliver.

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The U.S. Supreme Court is about to decide whether a war memorial in the form of a Christian cross that has stood unchallenged for 75 years in the Mohave Desert of California will be allowed to stand. The upcoming decision of the Supreme Court will add to the confusing line of cases that have evolved in recent decades as the High Court has intellectualized (secularized) the First Amendment’s provision that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Surely the Court cannot fail to see the longstanding heritage that Americans enjoy under our national motto, “In God We Trust”. Is the American Cemetery at Normandy, France, for example, to be abolished with its many traditional grave markers such as that which now stands covered and boxed up in the Mohave Desert? Now we must wait for the Court to decide whether the judgment of prior generations will stand as legal precedent or be disregarded as merely fleeting sentiment? Why? What has changed? What does that say about our country and the direction we are headed? Are we less in need of and, therefore, more willing to retreat from the “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence” expressed in our Declaration of Independence? Absolutely not.

President John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” And yet, today, we are witnessing the distortion and misapplication of our Constitution to prohibit the full and free expression of moral and religious truths in public life.

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The recent gathering of the United Nations with its many controversial and contentious speeches by world leaders, war and conflict in sundry places, Congressional wrangling over “healthcare reform,” unemployment and lingering economic problems — they capture and dominate the daily headlines but most basic of all to every generation is the strength and stability of the family as the fundamental unit of society.

Utah Families

What are the individual dynamics of Utah families and how do they compare with the rest of the Country? The latest national census reports that Utah leads the nation in family size, two parent families, homes headed by a married couple rather than simply “cohabitants” and families with children under the age of 18 headed by married couples raising their own children together. Utah has the most stay-at-home Moms and a higher percentage of marriages and births than other states. (28.4% of women are married and only 17.9% nationally and the birth rate in Utah is 82 per 1000 compared to 58 nationwide). Young women marry three years sooner in Utah than the national average (23.5 instead of 26.2). Because Utah has more children and larger families, the average age of its citizenry is the lowest in the nation at 28.7 compared to 36.9 nationally. (These statistics support our recent report on both the challenges and the success of our schools and education system).

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There is no limit to what we would do for our children if we had unlimited resources.  What parent could ever deny their children any available means or asset that would enhance their growth and learning?  However, we do not have unlimited resources and when it comes to our schools, taxpayers do not have unlimited funds.  Thus, thrift, prudence and prioritizations are continually required.

I am passionate about and very proud of our education system in Utah.  My years on the Education Committee in the Utah State Legislature and my continuing efforts as a member of the State Commission on Civic and Character Education continue to fuel that passion.  I strive to promote Civic and Character Education wherever and whenever possible because I know that informed and active citizenship is the heart of self government.  That is why George Washington said to Congress at the end of his Presidency that there is no duty more pressing upon a Legislature than to support a plan for teaching the science of government to the rising generation who are the future guardians of the liberties of this Country.

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I was extremely disappointed in the last Presidential Election when opponents of the Bush Administration continually railed against what they called, “the last eight years”.  Despite whatever objections to the War or criticisms they might have carried concerning the economy or their desire for health care reform etc., how can they or anyone forget the tragedy and the heroes of 9/11? America united in a spirit of profound patriotism and determined resolve in support of our leaders, our armed forces and our Country.  For me, that has been the defining and overriding characteristic of “the last eight years”.  As William Bennett has written,

“In the wake of September 11, the doubts and questions that had only recently plagued Americans about their Nation seemed to fade into insignificance.  Good was distinguished from evil, truth fromfalsehood.  We were firm, dedicated, unified.  It was, in short, a moment of moral clarity – a moment when we began to rediscover ourselves as one people even as we began to gird for battle with a not yet fully defined foe.” (Why We Fight-Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism, p. 10).

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Congress is about to pass Federal Hate Crimes Legislation that undermines our Constitution and conflicts with state law.  No one condones violent hate motivated crimes but there is much more to the question of whether a new and additional criminal statute is needed than simply reaching a consensus on our common disdain for hate.

For eight years running (prior to 2006), Democrats in the Utah Legislature tried to pass “hate crimes” legislation that would add “sexual orientation” to their special class of citizens who they contend are entitled to heightened protection and enhanced criminal prosecution.  Although there are many tragic and reprehensible instances of acts involving a violent mental state, the degrees of criminal offenses in our laws all the way up to first degree murder and capital punishment are sufficient to provide justice unless an added social statement is desired to establish special classifications of citizens that must call for increased punishment.

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An overview of today’s political environment and the desired qualities expected of elected officials throughout our nation

Ronald Reagan emphasized that “America needs leaders, not labels” — Forget the convenient, self characterizing labels politicians sometimes come up with to describe themselves.  Watch, instead, whether they use and rely on a compass or a weather vane to chart their course of action.   What determines how they will vote on an issue?  Do they lead or just gauge the winds of opinion and wait until the last minute to join the final majority?

What Would We Think of a Football Team that Spent the Entire Game on the 50 Yard Line and Called that a “Victory?”

A politician who must constantly poll to know where they stand and what stands (if any) to take and who base all decisions on the quest for re-election or high approval ratings is not a true leader.  However, that is what we frequently witness in today’s politics. Too many mushy politicians rush to the mushy middle and then call themselves “moderates,” “mavericks” or “centrists”.  They hope to turn wandering into a virtue and emphasize their “open mindedness”.   Their vote is always up for grabs and available to anyone who comes to court them for their vote.  And yet, what would we think of a football team that spent the entire game on the 50 yard line and called that a “victory?”

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