I am shocked and saddened by the recent statements made by two members of the Republican Caucus of the Utah Senate.

By now, you may have seen the Senate Majority Leader, Scot Jenkins, outburst on the outlandish thought of exempting military personnel from having to pay property taxes while serving on active duty (click here for post and video).

Well, on Thursday, the trend continued. Senator Casey Anderson (R-Cedar City, District 28), while discussing HB 263, stood up before the chamber and claimed, in short, that military families should do one of two things: have a spouse quit their job and suffer financial hardship due do a forced relocation,  or break up a family because a spouse needs to stay behind to earn money at their present job while their military family member moves due to deployment.  The worst possible solution, in Anderson’s eyes, apparently, is that the state will have to cough up roughly $85,000 a year to cover unemployment benefits while the relocated spouse looks for work near their partners new base (for those of you doing the math, that is a show stopping three cents per year per Utah resident).

Don’t believe me? Lets take a look at the tape:

Boy, that doesn’t look good…eeee. Almost looks like you care more about your rabid anti-tax stance that you wouldn’t know a good bill if it punched you in the face. I mean, the idea of paying three cents more is so gawdawful that you are willing to either split up families or force them to suffer because, whelp, they knew what they were getting into when they signed up to serve.

This kind of fanaticism makes me sick. Far too often dogmatic lawmakers such as Anderson can’t see the forest for the trees. This same type of thinking creates lawmakers who will shoot down a revolutionary school education funding program because they perceive it as a tax hike, but make them more than eager to pass laws that will cost the state millions in lawsuits that will undoubtedly be overturned – all because we want to prove a point to the nasty federal guv’ment.

I hope that voters see these people for what they really are, dangerous to our state. At the very least, I hope Republicans are able to reign this kind of crap in because, frankly, they have gone way too far.

P.S. To contact Sen. Anderson, Click Here or call 435-263-5854

So, I am just going to say it now and get it out of the way, watching Senator Casey Anderson (R-Cedar City, District 28) propose legislation is a bit like watching clowns continually come out of a car labeled “mind numbingly bad.” Just for kicks, you could even add the word “Express.”

I have  already told you Anderson’s brilliant idea to arrest cops for enforcing federal law, and his awe inspiring ideas on making it more difficult to pay our bills as a state.  In that tradition, I would like to inform you of his latest work of legislative craftsmanship by informing you of SJR 11, Joint Resolution – Informal Poll on United States Senate Candidates.

To put it bluntly, this piece of crap is a grand bit of legislative masturbation if I have ever seen any.

Get this – if this resolution were to pass, the state would have to create a way for state lawmakers to voluntarily participate in a poll to determine who (as a body) they feel would be the best senator for Utah.

Yes, we would spend state tax payer time and money to allow lawmakers to participate in what amounts to a popularity contest.

I just have to ask how this possibly serves the needs of the citizens of the State of Utah? Like, at all?

Anderson is proposing this bill for one of two reasons (or possibly both – lord only knows what is going on in his head at this point):

1) Anderson really wants to go back to the good ol’ days when state legislatures picked senators, as opposed to when the 17th Amendment was added to the Constitution, placing that power in the hands of the people – because he can’t change the US Constitution, he would like to do the next best thing and just pretend – if only for a day.

2) Anderson wants a way to influence the general public to vote for senators by giving whatever candidate one the added “endorsement” of the Utah State Legislature. However, I dream that this tactic would backfire terribly given most peoples attitudes towards the legislature at any given moment.

Regardless of the motive, this bill is beyond stupid. Every “small government” Republican should vote against this bill because it expands government and truly does nothing for the people.  Not one citizen will benefit from this resolution (except the person running for office that gets the endorsement I suppose).

Seriously senator? Is this really what you came to Capitol Hill for? Was this how you dreamed you would serve the people? If so, you really need to ask yourself how you think you are going to achieve those goals…cuz’ buddy, right now you ain’t cutting it.

To contact Sen. Anderson, Click Here or call 435-263-5854

Impact: 0

Need: 0

Overall: -5

Questions about the rating system? Click Here

To view other bills in the 2012 Bills to Watch series, Click Here

After reading through SB 34, Production and Sale of Food in Utah Revisions, I literally spat out a sigh of disgust/confusion/and general “huh?” a-tude.

The bill, proposed by Senator Casey Anderson (R-Cedar City, District 28) says that if an agricultural product is grown, distributed, and consumed entirely in Utah, it is exempt from federal regulation.

This was the confusion part.

The bill then goes on to say that  if a state or federal agent arrests someone for growing, distributing, and consuming an agricultural product entirely in Utah, the state or federal agent will be arrested and charged with a Class A misdemeanor.

This was the “huh” part.

And the cherry on the cake – if some mean old law enforcement officer does manage to arrest someone without getting arrested themselves…wait for it…THE STATE WILL PAY THEM BACK FOR THEIR TROUBLES…EVEN THOUGH THEY BROKE FEDERAL LAW!

Disgust has now set in.

Really Senator Anderson? Really? I MEAN REALLY?!

Your grand idea, the whole reason you wanted to come to Capitol Hill was to propose some half-baked law that would be overturned in a heartbeat.

Yes, that is the best part of this bill – IT IS COMPLETELY IMPOTENT! SAYS SO RIGHT IN THE BILL!

Scroll down to the bottom, down there where Legislative Research threw in its own two cents; and I quote (emphasis added):

As drafted, these provisions raise issues relating to the Supremacy Clause, contained in Article VI, Section 2 of the United States Constitution (“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States . . . shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”). The United States Supreme Court has “long recognized that state laws that conflict with federal law are ‘without effect,’”… and has further held that an individual cannot be guilty of a state crime if the individual was acting necessarily and properly under the authority of the laws of the United States.

Based on the federal statutes and case law described above, there is a high probability that a court will find that this bill violates the Supremacy Clause to the extent that it: 1) conflicts with valid federal regulation of intrastate commerce; 2) makes it a crime for a government agent to enforce federal law; or 3) requires a court or the governor to uphold state law in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.

That’s right, if this bill were to pass, IT WOULD DO NOTHING! and (this is the best part) WASTE STATE TIME AND MONEY IN THE PROCESS!

I mean really? You are concerned about the feds? With Carrots? I mean…Really? You…we…Constiu…Can’t do it…won’t work…I…wha?

You know what? I am done here. Captain Picard, take us out.

To contact Sen. Anderson, Click Here or call 435-263-5854

Impact: 0

Need: 0

Overall: -5

Questions about the rating system? Click Here

To view other bills in the 2012 Bills to Watch series, Click Here

Yes, another year has passed, and another legislator is proposing the elimination of Daylight Savings time.  Last year Representative Wilcox thought it would be a great idea and the year prior Representative Sumsion took a crack at it. This year, it appears that Representative Jim Nielson (R-Bountiful, District 19) drew the short straw at the conservative caucus meeting this year, so he has the distinct honor of running HB 199, Elimination of Daylight Saving Time.

So, because this bill has been killed in the most dishonorable way twice in the house-having the enacting clause struck (a procedural move that basically says “this bill is so bad, we want to neuter it right out of the gate”), I have decided to do the most dishonorable thing I can think of to a bill to be watched, and simply quote myself from the past two years.  Yes, I will not even bother to give this a proper evaluation because, frankly, I have done it twice.

Enjoy!

Yup, for some reason Sumsion [oops, Nielson] wants to join Arizona and Hawaii in doing away with daylight savings time because…it is a pain to fall back?

Actually, I suspect that this is the lamest attempt yet by the legislature to take on the federal government.

Yes…this is a message bill at its worse – this bill will achieve absolutely nothing other than confuse people and not actually change how the government does business in relation to the states.

Nothing has changed from last [two] year[s] (aside from the name of the title of the bill[and some slight wording]). Wilcox [I mean Nielson] wants to do what Sumsion [and Wilcox] couldn’t – take us off daylight savings.

I will reiterate the points I made [for the] last [two] year[s]…[T]his is a pathetic attempt to shake our fists at the federal government and their oppressive spring forward liberal agenda.

Damn you Obama for forcing me to have one more hour I have to shut the blinds as I sit at home and watch tv. Curse you Nancy Pelosi and your communistic ways to reduce energy costs by not having to turn on as many lights. A hearty fist shake to Hillary Clinton and her socialistic agenda of encouraging people to go outside and meet people!

Sigh.

…Do we really need to spend an hour (even if it is an extra one) on such stupid legislation?

And…I am spent – whew, that was some hard work.

To contact Rep. Nielson, Click Here or call 801-550-3474

Impact: 5

Need: 0

Overall: -3

Questions about the rating system? Click Here

To view other bills in the 2012 Bills to Watch series, Click Here

Now, it may come as no shock that my apartment complex is filled with, shall we say, people who are slightly further to the right than I. After all, I do pay my rent to Zions Property Investment and my office window is in the shadow of the Church Office Building.

Overall, I have no real problem with this, my neighbors are nice enough and I have had no real problems with them (aside from the screaming three-year-old that, despite our rather thick apartment walls, still manages to pierce through with loud shrieks and hollers).  But MRW did warn me of one neighbor in particular – yes, she told me of My Republican Neighbor.

MRW occasionally runs into MRN, and one time in particular she found herself in quite the interesting conversation. Apparently it wandered for a bit, but it made her cringe nearly top to bottom.  The problem was the cringe-worthy items came only after she revealed that I was, in fact, a filthy liberal who (at the time) was a double filthy community organizer.

Apparently, after that point, MRN was eager to meet me and discuss very subtle and refined points regarding the differences between the Republican and Democratic party platforms. That, or he wanted to try and corner me on gay rights and environmental issues. Ya know, one or the other.

Well, MRN finally caught up with me…post work out.

I did feel bad for the guy at first – and it wasn’t because he actually didn’t know how to respond to intelligent answers to his bullet-point questions.  No, no, I felt bad because (as MRW would be happy to point out, doing the laundry and all)  I was drenched in sweat. Now, I don’t know if MRN was just overly eager to talk to me, or just focused on my Peter Corroon for Governor T-shirt (great shirt to exercise in by the way), regardless – I had my earbuds in and didn’t hear him; so, to catch my attention, he may have slapped me on the back, getting a good amount of bodily fluids on him in the mean time.

Feeling obligated at that point, I proceeded to talk to him. And, well, he had some very…*cough* interesting ideas about what was wrong with the country (almost everything, unsurprisingly,  had to do with my political ideologies). He seemed utterly amazed that anyone could be a liberal, let alone be able to defend it.

The fact that I might actually know a thing or two about not only what I think, but where he is coming from, did quite the number on him.  At the end I doubt he will think twice about where he stands on issues, but at the very least he knows that there is at least one person out there who is willing to challenge him – and in the end, I have to smile at that.

I expect a few more encounters, and I will be sure to fill you in.

This past Saturday, MRW and I headed down to our local PetSmart with the intention of adding a new member to our family. We were motivated by my incessant shouting of “I WANT A KITTY!” and MRW’s relationship with a CAWS volunteer (who informed her of the adoption fair).

The night before we purchased some of the basics – litter box, litter, food, scraching post et al. and waited until the next day to make our decision.

Well, sure enough, we looked at a few of the kittens and cats that CAWS had available and finally decided on a beautiful 4 year old Russian Blue.  He has quite the personality and is a talker, but we are very happy with our decision.

Being a Russian Blue, we naturally racked our brains to come up with an appropriate name. Sure enough, MRW stumbled upon the name “Ruski” after much soul searching between the both of us. In short, it appears that our bipartisan marriage has produced an evil commie-pinko cat with socialist sympathies, and (I am sure) breaks the political power stalemate that has existed for the past year.

In all seriousness, though, please consider adopting from CAWS – they are a no-kill group that fosters animals until they can find a permanent home.  Ruski was a great find and our decision was not an easy one thanks to so many well adjusted animals. to learn more about CAWS, visit www.caws.org and learn how to make a donation.

Oh, and for future reference, Ruski will also be known as MCC (My Communist Cat).

This month I have the to suffer the joy that is renewing my car registration. The fee is a stone cold $170 to legally drive on Utah’s roads for another year. I will, of course, pay this fee, along with any sort of costs to test my cars safety and emission standards because I rather enjoy not being pulled over for expired tags.

There is a part of me, however, that wants to have a little fun.

You see, during the last legislative session, Representative Brad Galvez (R – West Haven- District 6) successfuly pushed through HB 317, a bill that makes gold and silver legal tender in Utah. I am just thinking how great it would be to walk up to the DMV with a little more than a tenth of an ounce of gold in order to pay my dues.

Of course, there are a few problems.  First and foremost, you have to pay with gold or silver that was minted by the federal government and the money would only be worth the face value, not the value of the gold or silver that actually resided within the coin.  So I would need to buy 8 $20 “common” gold coins at $1,650 a pop, and one $10 coin at $816 – sadly, as much as I would like to prove a point, I don’t know if I could justify spending $4,000 more than I actually dropped to buy the car just to renew it for another 12 months.

The other hitch is that the law says that I can’t force the poor soul at the DMV to actually accept my gold as payment – though, if they clerk were smart, they would gladly accept it and swap it out with the $20 in their pocket – in the eyes of the state they are equal.

So, alas, I guess I won’t show up to the DMV with nine ounces of gold after all.

“But wait,” you say, “you mean to tell me that the legislature took up valuable time debating a bill that structurally does nothing more than prove an absurd point but gets nothing done?”

Yes, I am afraid to burst your bubble on that one.

Representative Galvez, along with 18 far right cosponsors, knowingly spent the states resources on a bill that would do NOTHING, other than prove a point that we don’t need the gov’ment telln’ us what ta’ do!

*Sigh* I guess I will just have to settle with using a gold card instead.

Happy 4th of July!

Hey everyone, sorry for the long delay in actually posting something!

I know many of you…well some of you…well one of you…ok I don’t really know if any one noticed, but I sure did, that I have not put up a post for a good month.  But I do have my reasons, some more legitimate than others.

First and foremost, the pace at work picked up a bit and included many massive writing projects, sapping my creative (?) talents (??) and giving me little desire to write. Furthermore I took on an additional, temporary, board position that brought my total commission/committee membership (and the work associated with that) up to four. Finally, despite the wishes of MRW, I may have been irresponsible and purchased an xbox when she left town – needless to say an important decision on my part (gamertag agreenblinker if you are so inclined).

So I do have a few ideas cooking that are not redistricting related and you should start to see those guys get pumped out over the next few weeks. So sit tight – I am back in the mood to write and am ready to go!

Also, Blue in Red Zion turned 4 earlier this month – so I just wanted to say happy belated birthday blog – now go play Call of Duty: Black Ops (I hate it when parents dictated their children’s lives, I guess I will just have to do that myself).

Well the be sure to follow Blue In Red Zion on Twitter – @blueinredzion or click the link on the right.

Heck, you should probably do that anyway!

Updates start at 7:00 in the A.M.