Jay Evensen
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Gay marriage opinions from the right

3/30/2013

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Predictable and boring – that describes many of the media opinion pieces on the subject of gay marriage, especially in light of recent Supreme Court hearings on the subject. Political correctness has pulled much of the dialog in favor of same-sex unions, even among conservatives.

Here are links to five thoughtful pieces in recent days that break the mold, building arguments either against same-sex marriage or in favor of a so-called "third way":


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The freest states? It's all how you define it

3/28/2013

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The authors of “Freedom in the 50 States,” a ranking published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, are up front about their opinions.

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Forgiveness, the miracle of Easter, keeps healing lives

3/27/2013

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Lisa Clements was watching television with her husband, Tom, earlier this month when the doorbell rang and her life changed forever.

By now you probably have heard the story. Tom was the executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections. When he answered the door he was shot to death, apparently by a parolee who was thought to be a member of a white supremacist gang.

Like many who go through the prison system, the parolee couldn’t forgive or get past the system that had put him behind bars. Lisa, however, had a different approach to his act of vengeance, without which she might been in an


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Powerball winner may not be so lucky

3/26/2013

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Pedro Quezada won the fourth-largest Powerball payout in history this week. Poor guy.

I wish him luck. He’ll need it.

The New York Daily News said his take-home pay after taxes will be $152 million. Maybe the 45-year-old Dominican immigrant who worked at his family’s deli will be able to handle it. He sounds like a hard-working guy who has known the value of a dollar.



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Rope swing death a sobering reminder

3/25/2013

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It’s all about the adrenaline rush, the heart-pounding thrill of doing something a hair’s breadth away from serious injury or death.

Oh, and these days it’s also about going viral on YouTube.

But if you don’t know what you’re doing, the hair’s breadth can be erased quickly.

A 22-year-old man from West Jordan, Utah died Sunday apparently while trying to imitate what he saw in a viral YouTube video titled, “World’s largest rope swing.” The man, Kyle Stocking, and five of his friends tried to make a rope swing around Corona Arch near Moab, just like the people in the video. Only Stocking and friends miscalculated the length of the rope. (Read a news story about it here.)


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Victoria's Secret's new line - why do we tolerate this stuff?

3/20/2013

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We are surrounded by images that objectify women.
Here’s an interesting exercise: Pretend you’re entertaining a visitor from another planet. Try explaining to him why your society arrests and locks away men who prey on young girls for sexual favors and yet allows national clothing chains to freely market lines of sexy clothing to underaged girls.

Explain why television shows are allowed to increasingly make teenage girls the targets of sexualization and objectification, while few people raise any sort of protest.

Explain why your part of the planet condemns the way fundamentalist Arab cultures treat women but allows a subtler, and yet destructive, form of cultural repression.

The latest target of concern is Victoria’s Secret, which has begun marketing a “college line” of sexy underwear to teenage girls, reinforcing the idea that they are mere objects.



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Who pays the most taxes?

3/19/2013

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Ever wondered how your state ranks in terms of taxes collected and owed? The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit Washington-based organization, has released a booklet that breaks it all down. (Access the booklet by clicking here.)

Because this blog is based in Utah, I paid particular attention to the figures concerning that state. Generally, however, states in the Northeast seem to be the highest taxed states, while those in the South taxed the least.



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Cyprus bailout scheme fraught with moral hazard

3/18/2013

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First, a reality check. There is zero chance the Cypriot bank tax would happen in the United States.

At least, we’re far from that point. For one thing, sequestration is leading us in the right direction.

The larger question is whether what Cyprus decides to do (the subject is scheduled for debate in the Cypriot parliament Tuesday) will have a ripple effect here and, more likely, in Europe.

It would be hard to imagine a worse way to handle an economic crisis than to tax bank accounts. Cyprus got into this problem because its two largest banks made irresponsible loans to the Greek government equal to 160 percent of the GDP in Cyprus.

You shouldn’t even loan Greece a buck for a cup of coffee.



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Muhammad Yunus still saving people one at a time

3/13/2013

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Muhammad Yunus (Deseret News photo)
When he arrived in Minnesota — his last stop before coming to Utah this week — Muhammad Yunus came face-to-face with Fahmida Zaman.

I imagine it would have been similar to if Henry Ford had met the children of farmers liberated from isolation by the automobile, or if Thomas Edison had looked out an airplane window at the millions of twinkling electric lights of Los Angeles after dark.

Economists aren’t supposed to have experiences like this.
Zaman is a student at St. Catherine University in Minnesota, but she is a native of Bangladesh. Years ago, her hopelessly impoverished mother received her first tiny unsecured loan from Yunus’ Grameen Bank, which was her first step out of squalor.

Now the daughter is on track to earn graduate degrees in politics and economics, after which she hopes to return to


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Ryan, Democratic plans are just starting points

3/12/2013

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I heard a lot of familiar blather out there after Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., unveiled his latest plan to fix the nation’s long-term budget problems and provide an alternative to the sequester.

Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post said the plan “ought to be burned.”


Really? This is how we negotiate toward a compromise?

I’m guessing Ryan realizes his plan, “The Path to Prosperity,” has no chance of becoming law in its present form. No, I’m sure of it. He said as much in his press conference. This is meant to be the starting point in a negotiated settlement, just as his earlier plans were meant to be.

Finally, the Democrats are unveiling a plan of their own, too. Until now, it seems Ryan has been a lone wolf, presenting his plans and getting little in return from the other side

except banshee-like cries of how awful it is.

Ryan’s plan would completely repeal Obamacare. He knows that isn’t going to happen. It’s a nod to his constituency and an effort to show people how much health care reform is going to cost the American people in the long run.

And yes, other parts of it are unrealistic, or perhaps undesirable, too.

The Democrats' plan claims to save $1.85 trillion over 10 years by cutting spending and raising taxes, and by repealing much of what was cut by sequestration. It's not clear the party wants to approach entitlement or tax reform at all, or if it wants to go on pretending it can balance the budget without those things.

It's significant that the Democratic plan was drafted by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. The White House indicated the president might not agree with all aspects of it.

So where is his plan? What kind of president confronts a crisis, such as the automatic, nonsensical spending cuts currently underway, and does not present a workable solution of his own?

“This is an invitation. Show us how to balance the budget,” Ryan said. “If you don’t like the way we’re proposing to balance our budget, how do you propose to balance the budget?”

If the nation is going to chart a logical course toward fiscal responsibility, it must start with each side staking a realistic claim, even if it’s slathered in unwinnable ideology, as both these plans are. Then the two sides have to come together, find common ground and make acceptable compromises.

You can’t accomplish the goal without being provocative. Ryan says his plan would cut $4.6 trillion by 2023, decreasing the net spending from $46 trillion to only $41 trillion over 10 years. He would reform the tax code into two brackets, one at 10 percent and the other at 25 percent, cut Medicare and reduce federal pensions.

Critics seemed to be treating Ryan's plan as a final, best offer. Maybe now, with two plans on the table, the real work can begin. Frankly, it's about time.

If you were buying a car and the salesman laughed and scoffed at every offer you made without ever offering a counter, you probably wouldn’t reach a deal.

No wonder people say they wouldn’t buy a used car from Washington politicians.

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    The author

    Jay Evensen is the Opinion Editor of the Deseret News. He has more than 40 years experience as a reporter, editor and editorial writer in Oklahoma, New York City, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. He also has been an adjunct journalism professor at Brigham Young and Weber State universities.

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