Simple Utah Mormon Politics

On April 29, 2007, a bridge on Interstate 580 in Oakland, California collapsed after one of its supports was hit by a fuel tanker truck. Under the "give me a call and we'll take care of it" form of government that Barack Obama seems intent on creating, this bridge would still not be repaired. It's good that the only thing government did in the case of the I-580 was to let out the rebuild contract. The free market, awarded a contract by CalTrans, was left to work by itself, and the bridge was rebuilt in 17 days. I attended a computer conference this past week, during one session of which Dr. Moshe Rubenstein ( click here for one of his excellent books ), emeritus The new bridge opened 17 days after the old bridge collapsed. A socialistic government, such as the one envisioned by Barack Obama, could never hope to accomplish such a monumental task. professor from UCLA, told the story of the rebuild of the I-580 bridge in Oakland, California in a stunning feat of free

A racist comment about a black baby. A crusade in favor of a Christmas KGB. You probably recognize those faux pas positions as being held by Utah State Senator Chris Buttars. It couldn't possibly get any worse...could it? Uhhh, yep; it could. Yesterday Chris Buttars compared gays and lesbians to terrorists. Yikes! Should he resign? I don't think so, but I wonder what those people were thinking who voted him back into office last fall. And I especially wonder what they're thinking now . In an interview with KTVX TV channel 4, Chris Buttars's unconscionable statement went something like this : Sen. Chris Buttars believes gays and lesbians are "the greatest threat to America going down," comparing members of the LGBT community to radical Muslims. "I believe they will destroy the foundation of the American society," the West Jordan Republican said in a recent interview with documentary filmmaker Reed Cowan. "In my mind, it's the beginning

You might not have heard of Adam Smith's Invisible Hand theory. That's okay. Of those who have heard of it, though, a fair number of them belittle the Invisible Hand, a metaphor for the process which is supposed to guide a free market economy to generally positive outcomes for everyone. They belittle the theories because they are dummies. Or because they are immoral. Or both. This short article is for them. The Invisible Hand theory is this [The business person] generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. ... He intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain. He is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. ... By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it

From 4% of GDP at the turn of the 20th Century, now government controls 33% of the U.S. Gross domestic product--up from 25% just a year ago. We have not had a free market in the United States for just about 100 years now, yet the free market is getting blamed for all the problems that are finally coming to a head. FDR did not fix the problems of the free market; he simply exacerbated the problems of socialism, policies that were already being implemented by Herbert Hoover administration. If what we really have now is the free market, ask yourself why so many of these so-called free market institutions are asking for -- and receiving --bailouts from the federal government? The free market doesn't do these things!

Advertisers constantly attempt to manipulate consumers into wanting--and therefore buying--the advertisers' products. That often doesn't work, so, more and more, advertisers have turned to manipulating our children. This is the essence of the scientifically proven and continually refined process known as "The Nag Factor". Have you been overrun by the Orcs of Nag? "But mom, all my friends have one!!! I just gotta, gotta, gotta have it!" "You know, dad, if you get me that cell phone, then it will be much easier for you to know where I am, and for me to get in touch with you if something bad happens." If you have ever given in to such demands, you have been a victim of the Nag Factor. Lucy Hughes, who is director of strategy and insight for Initiative Media, has helped develop a scientific breakdown of the the ways that children nag their parents to buy things. Nags are broken down generally into two categories: The Whiny Nag ("all my frien

Republicans are crying foul that the Democrat leadership in Congress forced blitzkrieg votes on the second most stupid economic stimulus plan in world history yesterday. They have short memories. It was their leadership only four months ago that was advocating the most stupid economic stimulus plan in history. The idea of panicking the Congressional herd into a voting stampede had its beginning just after September 11, 2001. And that is why the current fiasco is all the Republicans' fault. Without the diabolical attacks of 9/11, do you think that Congress would recently have been voting for silly stimulus packages on the threat of "if we don't do something now, then it will get much worse"? Not a chance. Mike Huckabee had this to say recently : I learned a few tricks and tactics while I was a lieutenant governor and governor for over 13 1/2 years. And one thing is that when someone is in a hurry to pass legislation, you'd better slow it down because the re

It all depends on what you mean by the term "civil union". I fully support the existing Utah Marriage Amendment to the constitution, as well, which doesn't allow marriage of same-sex persons or anything like unto it. It appears that that's the same thing that Utah Governor Jon Huntsman supports. Utah Conservatives need to stop worrying about a stealth campaign to destroy traditional marriage in Utah. In some states, civil unions are the So when Governor Huntsman talks about supporting civil unions, he can't possibly mean that he supports something akin to marriage. I suspect that would be an impeachable offense to support a violation of the Utah Constitution...wouldn't it? same thing as domestic partnerships. In other states, civil unions are the same thing as marriage. In Utah neither domestic partnerships nor civil unions could possibly be the same thing as marriage, because of the third amendment to Article 1, Section 29 of the Utah Constitution (th

The biggest mistake I made during the 2000 election was to not notice what was going on in Florida, because to me by that point it didn't matter. Since I felt there's wasn't a toilet-paper square's worth of difference between Bush and Gore, I spent time laughing with most of the rest of Americans about dimpled chads and butterfly ballots. I should have at least cared enough that justice be done in Florida. I didn't. It wasn't. I'm sorry. The year 2000 was when I developed my theory of two speeding cars . It doesn't matter if the Bush car is going 90 MPH toward a cliff and the Gore car is going 100 MPH--both of them will crash and burn when they hit the bottom. When my candidate, Alan Keyes, was aced out of the election by an Establishment-compliant media, I stopped caring. I shouldn't have. I learned about my mistake as I recently watched the documentary Unprecedented , which describes what went on in Florida in the 2000 election. I wish I had

Even today, students of Karl Marx seem to be enthralled by his supposed wisdom. Jesus Christ taught that "by their fruits ye shall know them." The fruits of Karl Marx were dark and hateful. As we learn more about the demonic life of Karl Marx, it becomes hard to imagine why anyone would believe his teachings. Chauncey Riddle, a former Brigham Young University professor, once remarked that Karl Marx made some accurate observations about life, but that the problem arose with Marx's solutions. It is much easier to destroy than it is to build something up. Karl Marx was a destroyer--and we're still paying for it. Everything that Karl Marx wrote came from a Marx implied that "capitalists" were capable of nothing but exploitation of the working men and women--a surefire recipe for class hatred instead of problem solving. framework of class combat. Everything that Jesus Christ taught was from a perspective of loving and serving one's neighbor. Marx's

I oppose homosexual marriage because of its effect on children. Some people seem to be opposed to a lot more things that I think homosexuals should be allowed to do. They seem to be afraid of giving an inch, but having a mile taken from them. That has never been a good reason to oppose the rights of another. I don't think that homosexual marriage is a right. As I have discussed in various articles elsewhere , something that is almost sure to have a profoundly detrimental effect on children should never be considered a right. However, there are a lot of things that homosexuals are not now legally allowed to do that they should be allowed to do. Equality Utah commissioned a I don't think that homosexual marriage is a right. However, there are a lot of things that homosexuals are not now legally allowed to do that they should be allowed to do. survey in January 2009 that asked the sentiments of Utahns regarding various homosexuality rights issues. Here are a few of those