Looks like Salt Lake City mayor Ralph Becker and Salt Lake County are urging us to buy local. That is a fine thing to do, but please help local people compete. What got me off kilter today was when Becker stated that foreign visitors thought that some tea party event was hateful.
Remember this, if you are conservative, the things that you believe in are hateful. I will agree that things like White Supremacy, Gay Bashing and many other things often associated with the far right are hateful and I find them offensive.
What is hateful about protesting the spending at the federal government? What is so hateful about holding our elected officials accountable no matter what party they belong to? These people were elected for a limited time, not appointed for life!
The far right is not guiltless in this matter. Remember that people who were against the war in Afghanistan were unpatriotic or un-American? We often paint with a broad brush. Maybe this is what George Will meant when he said that George Bush should have dithered a little bit before going into the Afghan war. If more people would listen then fewer people would feel that they need to shout.
Please, Mr Becker and others. Do not dismiss the tea party goers. Please listen to them. Many of them voted for you and will again if you only open your ears.
A post script...
I found this editorial in Newsweek. It says that Cheney should run for President in 2012. Why? Assuming he lives that long, he would be an easy person for Obama to beat. How dense to you think the GOP is?
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Clearfield Front Runner Station
The UTA wants to develop the 70 acres adjacent to the Front Runner Station. UTA's proposal was for a 4000 unit apartment complex. It was reject in whole by mayor Don Wood.
I think that both sides are unrealistic. True, you can not put a city of 8,000 new residents in 70 acres and not expect any negative consequences. Especially next to a commuter's parking lot. These cars will be empty and unattended most of the day. It is just asking for trouble.
However, a commercial site like Don Wood wants is also a bad idea. Even in better economic times, there are dozens of empty commercial sites littering the old highway from Roy to Kaysville. It does not take a genius to figure out that there are way too many such sites in the area. We have a surplus of strip malls.
One prime example is Antelope square, just to the south in Layton. This was the home of an Albertson's and is still the home of K-Mart. Most of the sites at the north end of this strip mall are empty. Ditto for a similar location in Roy. Vacant strip malls are just as much of a problem for a city as apartments. The difference is that they do not vote.
However, given the state of the economy, this may not be the right time to develop that property. I said in a comment at Deseret News that the UTA should leave it underdeveloped to show the city. They should actually leave it undeveloped because now is not the right time to move forward. There is not the demand for either a commercial or residential property at this time.
When the time comes, I hope for a mixed-use property. Some retail would be nice, but not an entire seventy acres unless a grocery store or something like it can be put on the property. Then have some professional offices. Finally, residential. Some sites work with retail on the ground floor, professional above the retail and residential on top. Maybe even some class-A office space would be nice as well. Finally, to please Mr. Wood and all of his cronies, the residential would be condo. But, it needs have something that will attract buyers, like a private pool or gym membership or both.
Now, just because a neighborhood is rentals does not make it a bad neighborhood. But if you want a mature neighborhood to have owner-occupants instead of land lords, you need to put something into it so that people will want to buy those properties to live in them. Street lights well repaired roads would be a start. This is something that my neighborhood does not have. We lack adequate street lighting and our road is not in good repair And what do we have? Landlords and renters.
The city of Clearfield has not been smart in it's planning for decades. They have relied way to much on the revenue from the Freport Center. Now, when Layton annexed all of the good revenue-generating land, Clearfield is behind. They need smart planning from now on.
I think that both sides are unrealistic. True, you can not put a city of 8,000 new residents in 70 acres and not expect any negative consequences. Especially next to a commuter's parking lot. These cars will be empty and unattended most of the day. It is just asking for trouble.
However, a commercial site like Don Wood wants is also a bad idea. Even in better economic times, there are dozens of empty commercial sites littering the old highway from Roy to Kaysville. It does not take a genius to figure out that there are way too many such sites in the area. We have a surplus of strip malls.
One prime example is Antelope square, just to the south in Layton. This was the home of an Albertson's and is still the home of K-Mart. Most of the sites at the north end of this strip mall are empty. Ditto for a similar location in Roy. Vacant strip malls are just as much of a problem for a city as apartments. The difference is that they do not vote.
However, given the state of the economy, this may not be the right time to develop that property. I said in a comment at Deseret News that the UTA should leave it underdeveloped to show the city. They should actually leave it undeveloped because now is not the right time to move forward. There is not the demand for either a commercial or residential property at this time.
When the time comes, I hope for a mixed-use property. Some retail would be nice, but not an entire seventy acres unless a grocery store or something like it can be put on the property. Then have some professional offices. Finally, residential. Some sites work with retail on the ground floor, professional above the retail and residential on top. Maybe even some class-A office space would be nice as well. Finally, to please Mr. Wood and all of his cronies, the residential would be condo. But, it needs have something that will attract buyers, like a private pool or gym membership or both.
Now, just because a neighborhood is rentals does not make it a bad neighborhood. But if you want a mature neighborhood to have owner-occupants instead of land lords, you need to put something into it so that people will want to buy those properties to live in them. Street lights well repaired roads would be a start. This is something that my neighborhood does not have. We lack adequate street lighting and our road is not in good repair And what do we have? Landlords and renters.
The city of Clearfield has not been smart in it's planning for decades. They have relied way to much on the revenue from the Freport Center. Now, when Layton annexed all of the good revenue-generating land, Clearfield is behind. They need smart planning from now on.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
My Thoughts on Palin Now.
Sarah Palin has released her memoir, and it has a lot of grass-roots conservatives in a frenzy. They love this woman, no doubt. But it would be a mistake to nominate Palin for President without more experience. She is still in her 40s and there is a lot that she can do. She could move to the lower 48 and serve a full term as governor over a state like Wyoming or Idaho. She could get elected governor over a smaller, conservative western state like that. She may even have a chance in a more moderate, energy-centric state like Montana.
She is not exactly qualified to be the President and she knows it. Only 2 years as a governor will not qualify her to knock off Barack Obama in 2012--such a win would be unprecidented. We do not want Obama to be THAT bad. If things are that bad, I think a lot of us will be living in shanties. If she wants to be the President, she will have to wait for 2016.
She can be the "king maker." She will be the factor that decides who is the 2012 nominee. The candidate that is philosophically most like Palin will get the nomination. The candidate that helps the Palinphiles feel most comfortable will get the nomination. The question is, who is that person?
I was excited about the possibility of Mark Sanford until we found out about his affair, now I agree that he should be impeached. I would be happy to see Rick Perry run for President, but the fight against Kay Bailey Hutchinson for another term is hurting his chances. I will be on the Rick Perry bandwagon if he gives up and runs for President instead. A lot of people are big on Bobby Jindal, but hey, he is from Louisiana...need I say more? That leaves it, in my mind, as a three man race for the GOP in 2012: Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty.
So if you are a Palinphile, who do you like? Other than Palin, who do you like?
She is not exactly qualified to be the President and she knows it. Only 2 years as a governor will not qualify her to knock off Barack Obama in 2012--such a win would be unprecidented. We do not want Obama to be THAT bad. If things are that bad, I think a lot of us will be living in shanties. If she wants to be the President, she will have to wait for 2016.
She can be the "king maker." She will be the factor that decides who is the 2012 nominee. The candidate that is philosophically most like Palin will get the nomination. The candidate that helps the Palinphiles feel most comfortable will get the nomination. The question is, who is that person?
I was excited about the possibility of Mark Sanford until we found out about his affair, now I agree that he should be impeached. I would be happy to see Rick Perry run for President, but the fight against Kay Bailey Hutchinson for another term is hurting his chances. I will be on the Rick Perry bandwagon if he gives up and runs for President instead. A lot of people are big on Bobby Jindal, but hey, he is from Louisiana...need I say more? That leaves it, in my mind, as a three man race for the GOP in 2012: Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty.
So if you are a Palinphile, who do you like? Other than Palin, who do you like?
Monday, November 16, 2009
Bob Bennett
The Deseret Morning News had an article about Bob Bennett and his struggle to keep his US Senate seat. Here is my stance on the issue.
-Bennett originally said he would only serve two terms. Now he is running for a fourth.
-Bennett is a social conservative, but no so fiscally. His voting record proves it. He and a group of many so called conservatives in the US Senate failed to hold the line on spending.
-We need new blood in GOP and in congress, and now is our chance to get it.
To his credit, he is fighting Obama Care.
The main item that I am upset about Bennett about is that when Bush was in office, Bennett supported TARP. But when Obama was in office, he was against the economic bailout. He changed his vote on two very similar bills because of the part of the occupant of the Oval Office. We can not have that in Washington. We need to stop the run away spending. We need fiscal consistency. We need someone else.
-Bennett originally said he would only serve two terms. Now he is running for a fourth.
-Bennett is a social conservative, but no so fiscally. His voting record proves it. He and a group of many so called conservatives in the US Senate failed to hold the line on spending.
-We need new blood in GOP and in congress, and now is our chance to get it.
To his credit, he is fighting Obama Care.
The main item that I am upset about Bennett about is that when Bush was in office, Bennett supported TARP. But when Obama was in office, he was against the economic bailout. He changed his vote on two very similar bills because of the part of the occupant of the Oval Office. We can not have that in Washington. We need to stop the run away spending. We need fiscal consistency. We need someone else.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Letter to KSL...Don't repeal food tax law.
Doug,
You made me so upset that I wanted to throw my cell phone through my windshield and I could not get to you on the phone before coming to work.
Governor Huntsman understood one thing that you and certain members of our legislature do not. "Good tax policy attracts business." And when the economy was working, so was this policy. You can not cave simply because there is a revenue shortfall. If you do, you will delay the recovery. This list of states that has a sales tax on groceries is a very, very short one. Having this tax at all puts us at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to being an attractive state for business. Right now, only Alabama and Mississippi have a full sales tax on food without some sort of tax credit back to lower income families. That is not the company that a state like Utah needs to keep.
Speaking of giving a credit to lower income families, it would be more cost effective to the state not to collect the money in the first place. Since the number of families that would fall into this range is low. We could see how well this is working in Idaho.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1230
You mentioned that you and Dee do not notice the decrease because your nest is empty. Me and my family have. As have many families. And our income tax did not go down with Huntsman's reforms, it went up considerably. If you roll back the tax on food, you have to roll back the income tax reform as well to be fair. I was OK with the income tax increase knowing that with a lower sales tax on food, our family was coming out a little ahead.
If our state legislators need more revenue, then there are other ways to raise it that are more fiscally sound. I support switching the gas tax to a percent of the sale rather than a per gallon tax. I support toll roads, especially on roads like the Bicentennial Highway by Lake Powell or other roads that are generally used by tourists and not by commuters. I support higher tuition at our colleges and universities as the tuition at our universities is very generous compared to nearby states. (The U is about half of the University of Colorado, for example). I support a higher tax on cigarettes and alcohol. I support a higher hotel tax and a higher restraunt tax. We can even have a higher tax on new cars that burn gasoline. All of these are better taxes than a regressive tax on groceries. Finally, how about simply increasing the general sales tax rate?
-Ben Hunt
Clearfield
For tuition rate comparison:
http://www.colorado.edu/about/ataglance.html
http://fbs.admin.utah.edu/index.php/fsr/
You made me so upset that I wanted to throw my cell phone through my windshield and I could not get to you on the phone before coming to work.
Governor Huntsman understood one thing that you and certain members of our legislature do not. "Good tax policy attracts business." And when the economy was working, so was this policy. You can not cave simply because there is a revenue shortfall. If you do, you will delay the recovery. This list of states that has a sales tax on groceries is a very, very short one. Having this tax at all puts us at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to being an attractive state for business. Right now, only Alabama and Mississippi have a full sales tax on food without some sort of tax credit back to lower income families. That is not the company that a state like Utah needs to keep.
Speaking of giving a credit to lower income families, it would be more cost effective to the state not to collect the money in the first place. Since the number of families that would fall into this range is low. We could see how well this is working in Idaho.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1230
You mentioned that you and Dee do not notice the decrease because your nest is empty. Me and my family have. As have many families. And our income tax did not go down with Huntsman's reforms, it went up considerably. If you roll back the tax on food, you have to roll back the income tax reform as well to be fair. I was OK with the income tax increase knowing that with a lower sales tax on food, our family was coming out a little ahead.
If our state legislators need more revenue, then there are other ways to raise it that are more fiscally sound. I support switching the gas tax to a percent of the sale rather than a per gallon tax. I support toll roads, especially on roads like the Bicentennial Highway by Lake Powell or other roads that are generally used by tourists and not by commuters. I support higher tuition at our colleges and universities as the tuition at our universities is very generous compared to nearby states. (The U is about half of the University of Colorado, for example). I support a higher tax on cigarettes and alcohol. I support a higher hotel tax and a higher restraunt tax. We can even have a higher tax on new cars that burn gasoline. All of these are better taxes than a regressive tax on groceries. Finally, how about simply increasing the general sales tax rate?
-Ben Hunt
Clearfield
For tuition rate comparison:
http://www.colorado.edu/about/ataglance.html
http://fbs.admin.utah.edu/index.php/fsr/
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Hot of the presses
On a Saturday night, the US House of Representatives passed a health care reform package. I am not going to go into all the details, because I certainly have not had the time to read it. Even if I did, it was not posted anywhere. I suspect that almost no one in Congress has had the time to read it.
None of Utah's three congressmen voted for the bill. There is a move afoot to punish the democrats that voted against the bill. There is also going to be a move against the GOP congressman that voted for the bill.
You might think that I am going to blog about the partisanship in Washington, and how the people's house is not coming together to get something that is needed done for the people. The question I want everyone to ask themselves is this: if this bill is so important to the country and our future, why is the vote scheduled for Saturday night at midnight?
None of Utah's three congressmen voted for the bill. There is a move afoot to punish the democrats that voted against the bill. There is also going to be a move against the GOP congressman that voted for the bill.
You might think that I am going to blog about the partisanship in Washington, and how the people's house is not coming together to get something that is needed done for the people. The question I want everyone to ask themselves is this: if this bill is so important to the country and our future, why is the vote scheduled for Saturday night at midnight?
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