Jay Evensen
  • Front Page
  • Opinions
  • Second Thoughts
  • Portfolio
  • Awards
  • About

A buck is simply not a buck everywhere

8/4/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
The same $100 bill buys different amounts in each of the 50 states. That shouldn’t surprise anybody.

A two-bedroom apartment in Mississippi costs about $769 per month, according to MyApartmentMap.com. The same unit would cost about $2,785 in New York.

A gallon of gas costs $1.81 in South Carolina, according to gasbuddy.com. It costs $2.32 in Utah and $2.74 in Hawaii.
​
Those figures have a significant impact on the standard of living in each of these states, as well as on how much someone would need to earn in order to live comfortably. Many of us instinctively understand this, especially if we travel frequently. 

Read More
0 Comments

The news is that tax fraud, identity theft are not news

8/25/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
The news wasn’t that Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz was the victim of tax fraud, although irony like that can be startling. Certainly, when the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee falls victim to something that could have been prevented with a little reform, eyebrows are raised.

No, the news was that this information came to light as an afterthought in an editorial board meeting months after the fact.

You might say identity theft and cyber fraud have 

Read More
0 Comments

Obama administration should emphasize religious liberty

1/21/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
President Obama gave an obligatory sentence or two to religious freedom during his State of the Union address Tuesday. It wasn’t nearly enough.

He deplored the “anti-Semitism that has resurfaced in certain parts of the world.” He criticized the “offensive stereotypes of Muslims — the vast majority of whom share our commitment to peace.” And he quoted the Pope, although in a context that had less to do with religious freedom than with diplomacy.

Altogether, these took two paragraphs in a long speech, and they were capped by the first-ever condemnation of transgender discrimination in a State of the Union, which grabbed all the media attention.

Also, it was all wrapped in the unconvincing message that things are going well in foreign arenas.

In truth, religious intolerance and persecution is an 

Read More
0 Comments

Is this how cable TV will come unbundled?

1/7/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Show of hands — among those of you who pay for a cable TV service, how many of you were lured there by the promise of hundreds of channels, most of which were presented as acronyms that meant as much to you as a list of federal agencies in Washington?

OK, now, how many of you signed up mainly because you wanted access to one or two specific channels, such as ESPN or HGTV, or perhaps you wanted to see BYU games or Jazz games or watch the History Channel?

If my guess is right, your house is a lot like 


Read More
0 Comments

'Marketplace Fairness' would make you pay more online

12/3/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
If you find yourself one of these days paying local sales taxes on something you buy from your favorite craft site in Maine, you may have Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker to at least partially blame.

Or to praise, whichever is your preference.

Of course, I’ve seldom known many real folks who appreciate having to pay more for a thing. My vote is for blame.


Read More
0 Comments

What if voting in the U.S. was required by law?

11/4/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
I had to wait about 15 minutes to cast my ballot Tuesday morning. I took that as a good sign, but in truth it was probably a false indicator.

As I write this, not one single ballot has been tabulated, but I can make a fairly safe prediction: Voter turnout in Utah will be dismal.

The website Wallethub.com confirmed recently what people here have been noticing for years. Polling locations in the Beehive State end up with a big surplus of unused “I voted” stickers at the end 

Read More
1 Comment

A Christmas Tree tax? Farm Bill is full of surprises

2/6/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
If you were to guess, off the top of your head, which government programs would get the kind of bipartisan support needed to pass a deeply divided Congress, would a tax to promote live Christmas tree sales make the list?

Well, grandma may or not have been run over by a reindeer, but you just got smacked by another special interest.

And at a time when government seems to be increasingly hostile to religion — even trying to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to sign a paper consenting to their workers receiving contraception coverage — isn’t it a bit ironic that Washington finds it in government’s best interest to urge you to put a real tree in your house to celebrate the birth of Christ? And you thought folks in Washington had forgotten how to pronounce the word “Christmas.”



Read More
0 Comments

Yes, TSA agents are laughing at you naked. So what to do?

2/5/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
It turns out TSA agents really are sitting in a private room somewhere laughing at how you look naked on a full-body scanner, your feet spread slightly and your hands over your head.

Tell me you’re not surprised.

Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz isn’t. When I got him on the phone, he was at an airport, of all places, waiting for a flight from Washington to Salt Lake City. He refrained from saying, “I told you so,” but he was happy to point out the obvious. “Now we find the allegations to be true. The TSA always insisted they don’t capture that image of you. Well, yeah, they do, and they’re laughing at you,” he said.

Late last week, former TSA agent Jason Edward Harrington


Read More
0 Comments

Here's why religion shouldn't be pushed into the shadows

1/15/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
One online commenter to a recent report on public attacks against religion pointed to what he called “The fundamental and very real difference between poking fun (even to the point of ridicule) at someone because of their race and someone’s religious beliefs.”

He was implying that religion is merely a choice, or as others have put it, you can’t pick your skin color, but you can pick your church.

You also, presumably, could choose not to go to church, which many would consider more convenient when it comes to expressing opinions on current events.

Attached to another recent story about an increase in violence toward religious people worldwide was a comment that said the persecution is happening because religions have overreached “into political and public policies and (are)


Read More
0 Comments

Mandatory prison sentences serve no purpose

11/21/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
  It’s hard to imagine too many causes that would bring together conservatives such as former Utah Gov. Norm Bangerter and former Utah Sen. Jake Garn and liberal activists such as singer-song writer Bonnie Raitt and Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame.

But when that happens, it’s probably good to pay attention.

All four were among 114 people who signed an appeal to President Barack Obama in recent days


Read More
0 Comments
<<Previous

    RSS Feed

    Search this site


    Like what you read here?

      Please subscribe below, and we'll let you know when there is a new opinion.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

    The author

    Jay Evensen is the Senior Editorial Columnist of the Deseret News. He has nearly 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.

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    Campaign 2012
    Congress
    Crime
    Culture
    Iran
    Oil And Gas
    Poverty
    Steroids
    Taxes
    Utah
    Washington
    World Events
    World Events

    Links

    Deseret News
    Newslink
    Marianne Evensen's blog

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.