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DECEMBER 2007 www.utdemocrats.org | Winter in the Wasatch (© Willie Holdman, www.willieholdman.com)
FROM THE CHAIR | WAYNE HOLLAND This is a special time of the year for all of us living in Utah. We gather around friends and family and reflect on the blessings of living surrounded by the richness of nature and rekindle our spirits. From all of us at the Utah Democratic Party, it's a time to say "Thanks" to those of you who helped in our recent successes. We extend an invitation to join us in the coming year as we fight to:
The New Year's resolution of Utah Democratic Party is to hold every Republican office holder accountable for their performance as public servants.
KICKING ASS | THE BLOG OF UTAH DEMOCRATIC PARTY If Mitt Romney's presidential fate was not already sealed by the right-wing of the Republican Party before his speech on Dec. 5, it certainly would've been had he closed the way Sen. Harry Reid did on Oct. 9 at Brigham Young University. Reid's was a public testimony and benediction in front of 6,000 students and every news camera and reporter of significance in Utah, coming from Romney, could never have happened because he is a Republican. It could and did happen coming from Reid, because he is a Democrat. Read more of this post. Also, read a post written by Sen. Scott McCoy, Utah Senate District 2, and one written by Christian Burridge, chair of the Salt Lake County Democratic Party. GET INVOLVED The John Edwards presidential campaign invites you to join them for a door-to-door canvass in Nevada this Saturday, Dec.15, to kick-off the final stretch of its campaign toward the Nevada caucus. Concerned about possible health risks of a proposed coal-fired power plant in southeastern Nevada? Demonstrate that concern Dec. 17 at a rally in St. George. Join the Utah Democratic Party Jan. 19 at the 2008 Legislative Gala. It promises to be a high-spirited event for members of the Legislature and other elected officials, business leaders, lobbyists, Party officers, and a rapidly growing number of party supporters. SEN. ED MAYNE | 1945-2007 The Utah Legislature could use more lawmakers like Ed Mayne. That's true, not only because Mayne, who died Nov. 25 of cancer, was one of those rarest of political animals in Utah's single-party state government - a Democrat - but because Mayne was a true statesman. Read the editorial by The Salt Lake Tribune Karen Mayne was elected last night (Dec. 12) to replace her late husband in the Utah Senate. Rebecca Chavez-Houck was elected to replace Salt Lake City Mayor-elect Ralph Becker in the Utah House of Representatives. Read the story by The Deseret Morning News The Utah Senate Democrats met in caucus on Dec. 10 to fill the vacancy created in leadership by the death of Sen. Ed Mayne. Sen. Mayne had served as the Assistant Minority Whip.
Sen. Goodfellow served in legislative leadership as a member of the Utah House of Representatives. He was House Minority Leader. Sen. Mayne’s committee assignments will be filled as follows: Sen. Scott McCoy (D – Salt Lake City) will now serve on the Senate Rules Committee; and should Karen Mayne be appointed to the State Senate as expected, she will assume the other committee assignments previously held by her late husband on the Commerce and Workforce Services Appropriations Subcommittee and the Transportation, Public Utilities and Technology Standing Committee and the Business and Labor Standing Committee.
2ND DISTRICT UPDATE | JIM MATHESON
PUBLIC SERVICE | PRIVATE ENRICHMENT "I really don't have a conflict of interest, because I'm not a regulated utility." – Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, part owner of Transition Power Development, a private equity group considering building a nuclear power plant in Utah. Tilton is vice chairman of the Legislature's Public Utilities and Technology Committee, which is considering legislation that would help utilities build nuclear power plants. Is this a conflict of interest? Of course it is. A legislator starts a business in an industry, for safety and environmental reasons, is closely regulated by the state. That same legislator is vice chairman of the committee that sets regulations for that industry. And the legislator is pushing for regulations that help the industry and, consequently, his business. Commentary by the chairman and vice chairman of the Utah County Democratic Party and an editorial published by the Deseret Morning News. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? | D.A. FAKES CRIME WAVE The crime wave that Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller presented in pushing for more prosecutors? It appears to be more fiction than fact. A closer look at the Republican D.A.'s data reveals no rise in criminal cases. In fact, felonies have fallen during the past three years. "We need to resurrect the issue," Democratic County Councilman Jim Bradley said. "The council doesn't want to be duped or lied to for any reason. We can differ on solutions, but we don't differ on facts." Read the story by Jeremiah Stettler of The Salt Lake Tribune FROM THE DNC | DEMOCRATS LEAD; GOP OBSTRUCTS Democrats are as committed to change as the American people, and we are equally as fed up with the unprecedented obstructionist tactics of Bush Republicans. The more the President and Bush Republicans issue reckless veto threats and deploy legislative roadblocks, the more evident it becomes that they are not interested in addressing America's priorities. Democrats will continue to fight a President committed to a failed war strategy and Republicans enablers unwilling to stand up to him.
Iran
Iraq
The Democratic Party of Utah 455 S. 300 East, Suite 301 | Salt Lake City, UT 84111 | 801-328-1212 www.utdemocrats.org Support your Utah Democratic Party through ACT BLUE www.actblue.com/page/utdemocrats THE MESSAGE is published monthly and compiled by the staff of the Utah Democratic Party as a way to build a community of Democrats committed to political reform and common sense solutions to public policy. Submissions related to events, facts, figures, trivia, and idle chit-chat are welcome. Please contact Bill Keshlear, communications director, at bkeshlear@utdemocrats.org. Call (801) 328-1212, ext. 206 or (801) 699-7773. Paid for by the Utah Democratic Party, www.utdemocrats.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidates' party. PREVIOUS MESSAGES |