Blog Archives

Think the present is bad? You need the full picture

12/26/2018

People are incurably optimistic. That’s more than just an endearing trait; it becomes, over time, a self-fulfilling prophecy.

That’s good news as we sit on the precipice of another new year.

A century ago, the Salt Lake Telegram greeted 1919 with an optimistic editorial about the things that had changed because of a grim and deadly world war. Because of the united efforts of foreign born and ethnic citizens to help win the war, the editors said, the nation would enter a new era of equality.

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Pope hits the right note: Christmas isn't about presents

12/20/2018

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The Pope said something radical the other day. Christmas, he said, should not just be about presents and mass consumerism.

Maybe that doesn’t sounds so terribly radical. Your grandparents might have said something similar long ago. You might even hear such a thing in idle talk today. But look around. Judging by what the 21st century has to offer — with its gadgets, cheap fashions and virtual-reality thrills — it seems radical, indeed.

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Utah leaders don't hate electric cars; it just seems that way

12/19/2018

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Bad timing often speaks louder than good intentions.

Utah lawmakers saw an inequity in the gas tax. So far, so good. A lot of states have seen the same thing. It’s as obvious as a tomato stain on a white silk tie. Owners of electric and hybrid vehicles aren’t paying the tax.

So they decided to impose a yearly fee on the owners of those vehicles, allowing them to participate in the cost of maintaining the roads they are helping to wear out.

Oops. Now lawmakers look as savvy as someone trying to improve hygiene by placing a tax on soap.

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Inversions come like swallows to Capistrano

12/13/2018

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The editorial had a forceful, decisive tone:

“The people of Salt Lake City have made up their minds to eliminate smoke,” it said. “We’re going to have soon a carefully prepared smoke elimination law with plenty of teeth in it. We’re going to have a smoke elimination department with enough men to really enforce the law. We’re going to have — already have to a considerable extent — much voluntary cooperation in complying with that law.”

I cite this not just to illustrate how the Book of Ecclesiastes’ applies to Utah when it says, “there is no new thing under the sun,” but to show that the annual winter struggle to see the sun is nothing new.

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Homeless accounting problems must be solved

12/12/2018

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Few things are as enduring as the myth that the Salt Lake metro area solved its chronic homeless problem in 2015 by giving people housing.

I’ve gotten emails that demonstrate how widespread the story was told, including one from a woman in San Diego who told me the leader of a regional task force there was talking about Salt Lake’s success and urging that city to duplicate the “housing first” program.

She had been researching the subject and wondered if the glowing reports from here, claiming a 91 percent reduction in chronic homelessness over 10 years, were true.

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Rep. Stewart hits wrong note on death of journalist

12/6/2018

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Chris Stewart, Utah’s second district representative to Congress, hit a wrong note this week when he seemed to downplay the seriousness of the murder of a journalist, which the CIA now says was directly ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He wasn’t wrong when he said the United States needs to cultivate allies and do business with countries that don’t live up to our standards for human rights and basic liberties.

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Finding an elusive "will of the people" on marijuana

12/4/2018

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Now that this week’s unique special legislative session is over (any time lawmakers meet right after an election to change a successful initiative, that is unique), it’s time to explore a couple of persistent myths.

The first, repeated on social media and comment boards this week, is that Utah lawmakers never would have passed a bill on their own allowing medical marijuana without the threat of Proposition 2. In fact, they were moving slowly in this direction in recent years. But they were moving far too slowly for many people’s tastes.

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Think the present is bad? You need the full picture

Pope hits the right note: Christmas isn't about presents

Utah leaders don't hate electric cars; it just seems that way

Inversions come like swallows to Capistrano

Homeless accounting problems must be solved

Rep. Stewart hits wrong note on death of journalist

Finding an elusive "will of the people" on marijuana

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