One Utah

Let me begin by saying I apologize. I’ve been gone promoting my new movie, hob-nobbing with Hollywood bigshots and lowlifes, and basking in the human-induced tanning machine that is southern California for a while (note driving with the top down and AC off to prevent damage to ozone-layer but lack of hands-free cell headset to [...]

It’s another Ozone Red Alert day here on the Wasatch Front. It’s now been almost three months since I installed a 2 kWh, ten-PV panel, sun-tracking solar power system in my backyard. Some of you may have even watched the video of its installation: a series titled “Harvesting the Sun” on my website schreinervideo.com. When [...]

It was a little cloudier Saturday afternoon than Day 1 so solar production was slightly off. And as you can see by following the yellow line (left above chart), it was a bigger consumption day. Like most people do on weekends, we did laundry, used the coffee maker, paid bills using computers and printers, ironed [...]

Last week, I posted a series on the cost of running for the state House of Representatives in 2006; the average per house seat was $38,000.  The average of the 10 cheapest winning campaigns was just under $5000.  The single cheapest winning campaign was district 55’s John Matthis; Matthis had a Constitution party challenger who [...]

The final districts from 2006. 
53 Brown, Mel R $ 18,253.12 6462
53 Bonham, Laura D $ 46,587.51 4648
53 Shumway, Gary L $ 10,470.91 781
54 Drew, Daniel D $ 16,666.00 3083
54 Snow, Gordon R $ 15,692.94 6706
55 Mathis, John R $ 1,110.86 6042
55 Flake, Dale C $ 55.45 772
56 Barron, Michael C $ - 1103
56 Livingston, Bryan [...]

See yesterday’s note on reading these. 
31 Haddow, Art R $ 20,282.07 2224
31 Wiley, Larry D $ 19,897.57 4145
32 Bigelow, Ron R $ 27,604.14 3289
32 Lee, Michael D $ 19,677.55 2178
33 Hendrickson, Neal D $ 10,202.82 2422
33 Moesser, Joseph R $ 6,290.00 1863
34 Holdaway, Korey R $ 11,918.78 4422
35 Brummet, Jay R $ 11,018.42 1514
35 Knapp, [...]

I was complaining about the Lt. Governor’s office earlier this week - I officially take it back.  As I’ve been researching campaign spending and contributions, the folks there have been incredibly helpful.  Props to Mark!
How to read this:
The district number is first, then the name and party of each candidate, the amount they spent, and finally [...]

The votes sure seem to follow the money. 
I don’t believe that anyone in the process said, “We’ll only contribute if you agree to support the voucher bill” or “We contributed to your campaign you have to support the voucher bill.”  I think the influence of money is subtler - it buys access, preferential treatment when [...]

Last week I posted about the cost of various legislative races for 2006. 
In Utah legislature, we have 75 House of Representative districts, elected in even years - every two years (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and so on).  Districts range from the fairly compact along the Wasatch front to sprawling districts that encompass multiple counties - [...]

In the past, I’ve written about my support for clean election laws.
According to the Lt. Governor’s Office financial disclosure site, in 2006 various Utah Reps spending ranged widely (I’m doing some rounding).  David Litvack spent almost $26,000 on his campaign; Curtis Oda spent $16,600 on his; Paul Ray spent $17,000; Aaron Tilton spent just under $5,000; [...]

The arguments made by proponents of school vouchers are being shown ad naseum (pun intended) on our TV stations. Parents for Choice in Educations. Sound nice and warm and fuzzy.
Here’s my take: We have one major of American life that is dominated by choice - health care. Considering how well choice [...]

In light of last week’s discussion about Mormon Militants, I was fascinated to see two articles in the Tribune. The first an editorial by Pat Shea,The problems with Utah’s ‘bishopric’ Legislature. Shea wrote:
All too often Utah’s elected officials, particularly in the Legislature, believe even though they are elected as representatives, their judgment [...]