Jay Evensen - Opinions

The window for tax reform in Utah may have passed

6/4/2020

If they haven’t already, Utah lawmakers may soon wish they had passed some sort of tax reform before the roof caved in.
On Feb. 25 of this year, during a week when stocks first began to tumble on worries the coronavirus might begin to disrupt supply chains, I asked state Senate leaders for their reaction. Did this give them concern that the good times were about to end?
“We worry about that all the time,” Sen. Majority Whip Ann Millner said. She pointed to the great recession of 2008, when the state went from healthy surpluses to a deficit almost overnight. “Events outside of Utah can impact us, as they did then.”
And how.

How smartphones have helped the oppressed

6/4/2020

As protests began to devolve into vandalism in Salt Lake City and elsewhere last weekend, thousands assumed a unique 21st century pose — they stood erect with one arm raised to the sky holding a smartphone aloft.
George Orwell got it only half right. In “1984” he envisioned a future in which video technology was the friend only of oppressive governments, allowing them to keep constant tabs on everyone. But while phones can indeed invade privacy, and oppressive regimes use technology to control subjects, the momentum instead has been in favor of freedom, giving the masses an ability to record video in ways governments can’t control or explain away.

Will SpaceX get children dreaming of space again?

5/27/2020

Can a crossover campaign for governor work?

5/26/2020

With temperatures soaring, it may be time to sit back in the grass and contemplate the world. Here’s a bit of cloud-gazing:
Party loyalty: So, former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. is trying to get people to register as Republicans in order to vote for him in the party’s closed gubernatorial primary next month; and now former state Democratic Party chair Jim Debakis says he’s crossing over so he can vote (for some unnamed candidate), too. He told the Deseret News he’s urging everyone to “get into this fixed, rigged election.”

No 'new normal' for schools or government

5/20/2020

People are talking about the “new normal,” or pandemic-induced lifestyle changes that will linger after the virus is gone.
You can debate the pros and cons of permanently working from home — maybe we have to go stir crazy to make the air cleaner — but two parts of the pandemic world ought to go away as quickly as possible: virtual school and virtual government, at least until we find a way to do both better.

Governments are becoming secretive during pandemic

5/19/2020

SALT LAKE CITY — If I want to know how clean a restaurant down the street is, I can quickly go to slco.org/health/inspection-reports and check it out.
Just now, I spent five minutes and found out a favorite place of mine didn’t wash its utensils frequently enough at the time of its last inspection, and it was using a hand sink to wash sanitizing rags. It’s up to me to decide whether this changes my dinner plans.

How dysfunctional politicians will save us from Depression

5/13/2020

Unemployment has hit 14.7% nationwide, according to a Labor Department report last week that hinted the real rate might be more like 20%. We haven’t seen numbers like that in 80 years.
So, is it time for Broadway to do a reprisal of Annie? Should we search for the next Shirley Temple or Fred Astaire to help get us through? Will bread lines and street urchins selling apples become a regular part of our lives in the new ‘20s?
In other words, are we heading for another Great Depression?

Why is Utah doing better with the virus than other states?

5/12/2020

By now, it’s becoming clear that Utah is doing better than just about any other state when it comes to controlling the COVID-19 outbreak.
The first question is why, but the second, perhaps more relevant, question is, does this mean Utah will be better able to rebound economically when all of this is over?
How well is the state doing? The worldometer.info website, which tracks facts associated with the pandemic daily, has consistently ranked the state third or fourth in deaths per 1 million population. On Tuesday, Utah was fourth, with 21. But the four states ahead of it (two are tied for first), are mostly rural, with the exception of Hawaii, and its population is far less than Utah’s.

What would mom say about the pandemic?

5/6/2020

I’ve spent the last several minutes studying a certificate from the Department of Justice, dated June 26, 1956. It’s my mother’s official naturalization certificate, signifying the day she was sworn in as a U.S. citizen in Rochester, New York.
It brings back a lot of memories.
Not from that day. I didn’t come along until three years later. No, the memories have to do with stories she would tell me about World War II, about America and freedom.

The false choice between saving lives and the economy

5/6/2020

I took a leap of faith Tuesday and got a haircut.
Friends may look at me and the hair desert on my dome and wonder why, but the little I have on the sides was becoming irritating as it bunched against my ears.
The suburban Salt Lake County barbershop I chose didn’t require masks. I’m not sure the barbers were operating six feet apart. But I did wait patiently as my barber meticulously sterilized his tools and wiped down the seat between clients.
Welcome to the brave new world, which looks almost like the one we left in March before we all were sent to our rooms.

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