Tag: civic participation
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Mike Lee and the Constitution
I have been having a hard time getting the time to read and write here as much as I would like. Things are very busy at work, a bit crazy at home, and I am spending more time with offline political activities in preparation for the upcoming legislative session and this election cycle. The result…
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New Year’s Resolution
My New Year’s resolution for this election year is to be elected as a GOP state delegate in my neighborhood caucus meeting in March. It’s amazing to think that it’s only a few weeks away now. I can’t wait to see what all the candidates will have to send me as they try to win…
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The Health Care Issue as a Catalyst for Debate
photo credit: the queen of subtle When I saw that Jim DeMint had written an article titled Our Health Care Mess Is a Symptom of a Much Bigger Problem my interest was piqued partly because I like DeMint as a senator and partly because I had just been saying the same thing in a series…
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The Goal of My Political Activity
Last month, in response to a comment that: more often than not it seems the only choice we have in our candidates is a choice between horrible and horrible. I wrote back saying: That means that you need to get in earlier in the process – before there are only two candidates left – because…
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Legislator as Negotiator
Politics is the art of the possible. So said Otto Von Bismarck in 1867 and he was surely right. One of the challenges for an idealist is that compromise is a necessary and appropriate component of the political process. It happens within parties and it happens within legislative bodies. In both cases compromise is necessary…
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Political Cultures
photo credit: www.charlietphoto.com There are two political cultures that we need to change in order to have a healthy “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” in this country. The first is the culture among the voters as defined by how thy perceive those who hold political office. The second is…
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Eight Ideas for Reform
Kyle Mathews shares eight steps he believes would produce a more functional congress at the League of Ordinary Gentlemen. It is an interesting list including ideas I’ve heard before and a few new ideas. There is also some good discussion in the comments. I thought it would be worth sharing here in the order that…
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Term Limits for All
One year ago today I pointed out that the subject of term limits becomes popular after an election. Like clockwork it came up again this year. Jim DeMint jumped the gun a bit by announcing three weeks ago that he would introduce a term limit amendment. Yesterday he introduced the bill and today I read…
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You Must Answer These Questions
Jim Matheson voted against the health care bills – that’s old news already. Some Democrats have, with varying degrees of seriousness, questioned whether they should run or nominate someone else for his seat – that’s not really fresh news either. The news that I am following is that along with the ruminations regarding a new…
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Constituent Communication Can Innoculate Against Insiderism
When I wrote about a legislator’s role as an information analyst the comments initially centered on Sen. Bob Bennett because of a quote I had used despite my desire to not single anyone out. Later in the comments on that post I made this statement that deserves to be elevated to its own post here:…