Kaysville City — Utah’s Hometown

Kaysville City Utah's Hometown street banner

The next time you are in downtown Kaysville take a look at the street banners. They read "Kaysville City," "Utah's Hometown." Sandwiched here between the two banner photographs are the two originals (click to enlarge). Mayor Steve Hiatt saw the photographs in my 2008 Kaysville 4th July Parade blog post and asked if he could use them. I was happy to oblige. So what are these banners for? I will explain … [Read more...]

Arlen Specter Loss Jolts Political Establishment

Arlen Specter

First Utah's Senator Bennett (alias Bailout Bob) was stricken from the November ballot. Then Democrat Representative Mollohan of West Virginia lost to anti-incumbent sentiment. Last night Rand Paul soundly defeated establishment candidate Trey Grayson and Arlen Specter lost to a younger and far less experienced rival in Pennsylvania. With record deficits it is obvious that Washington has failed. … [Read more...]

Rand Paul Wins in Kentucky

Ron and Rand Paul

Last week Democrat Representative Mollohan of West Virginia lost to anti-incumbent sentiment. The loss came soon after Utah's Senator Bennett (alias Bailout Bob) was stricken from the November ballot. Now conservative Rand Paul in a Republican Kentucky primary has soundly defeated establishment candidate Trey Grayson. Rand Paul in his victory speech said: We've come to take our government back. … [Read more...]

USS Utah

USS Utah

USS Utah was a battleship that was attacked and sunk in Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. A Florida-class battleship, she was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the U.S. state of Utah. Prior to World War 2 she had declined in usefulness and had even served for a while as a mobile target for gunnery practice. In 1941, however, she had been refitted and was in use for training purposes … [Read more...]

Sam Houston On Government

Sam_Houston_head

In March I was travelling along I-45 when I saw Sam Houston, larger than life. His statue, near Huntsville, Texas, towers 67 feet in a clearing by the freeway. On the base of the statue I spied a plaque inscribed thus: The great misfortune is that a notion obtains with those in power that the world, or the people, require more governing than is necessary. To govern well is a great science, but no … [Read more...]

Representative Alan Mollohan Loses in Primary

Representative Alan Mollohan

Last week Democrat Representative Alan B. Mollohan of West Virginia lost in a primary defeat that indicates the anti-incumbent sentiment is alive and well. Mollohan's loss comes soon after Utah's Senator Bob Bennett was stricken from the November ballot in the state's Republican state convention. Mollohan is a 14 term veteran who hasn't faced a serious primary fight in over a decade and was considered … [Read more...]

Say No to Politicians who said Yes to the Bailout

Senator Bennett

The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), commonly called "The Bailout", is a program to which a majority of citizens were opposed. The total cost, as of May 2010 is $586.3 billion, allocated or promised to 836 companies and 13 programs. $79.7 billion was spent on companies for which the bailout was not intended, such as in the non-financial sector, with money going to auto companies such as GM. There … [Read more...]

YouCut Wants Your Spending Cut Ideas

YouCut

I came across an interesting site called YouCut. YouCut is billed as a project to change the spending culture in Washington. Here is how YouCut describes itself: It allows you to vote, both online and on your cell phone, on spending cuts that you want to see the House enact. America is at a crossroads and the choices we make at this critical time will determine what kind of country we want to be. … [Read more...]

The Cost of War

Soldier firing automatic grenade launcher

I came across an interesting web site today called the National Priorities Project. The site analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent. One of the pages, called the Cost of War, lets you see the cost of war to your community. For example, the state of Utah's share of the money spent would be $5,277,419,209. For Texas, where my … [Read more...]

San Jacinto Monument

San Jacinto Monument

Prior to touring the Battleship Texas we visited the San Jacinto Monument and learned about the Battle of San Jacinto. In the above photograph of the monument, Derek and Bryson are by the minivan, Jill is to the right, and Sarah is gesturing. We rode the elevator to the top of the monument to enjoy the view of the Houston Ship Channel and the USS Texas from 550 feet. The San Jacinto Monument … [Read more...]