Eight things I have learned as a first-time Utah Capitol Hill observer

By Kelli Lundgren


1. With 1,000 bills being presented in this Utah State general legislative session, it astonishes me that some of our politicians accuse our federal government of socialism.

2. Numerous times ideology has trumped sensibility in legislative debate and outcome. Reasonable decisions and compromises are being made, but man, the nonsense that sometimes occurs is entertaining and scary at the same time.

3. Bills get sacrificed. “You give us this. We’ll give you that.” Politician versus politician, party member versus party member, party versus party, spy versus spy. Compromise is good, but leveraging the killing of good bills for the passage of bad, I’m not sure its worth.

4. The media throws polls and facts at the legislature, saying 75% of citizens are in favor of this, 63% of citizens oppose that. Silly media, thinking legislators will listen. (But keep trying! We will too.)

5. Political activists are alive and well, some paid, some volunteer like us. I meet with several in the Senate cafeteria at the liberal table. All the Davids up against the Goliath are pigeon-holed as liberal in this state, so we aptly fill a bulging table. But also, you have the Eagle Forum table, the labor union table, the militia table, and the media table. People wander around carrying a lunch tray anxious they may sit down at the wrong table.

6. Political activists admit they are addicts. “How many years have you been doing this?” I say. “Eight,” he says. “Have you ever swayed legislators to fail or pass a bill?” I say. “No,” he says. In silent response, I stare deep into his eyes knowing I have only peeled the outer surface of this onion.

7. In conversation with anyone on the political spectrum, when you offer a solution or a practical idea, you get a response of “that’s too rational” to pass through this legislature.

8. It’s all about control. If a city proposes and implements an idea, say a vehicle idling ban, or the federal government sends our state money with contingencies, bills fly all over the place in Utah, telling cities what they can and cannot do, telling our nation (after we cash the check) it can take a flying leap.

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Asking a supermajority-led legislature to make it easier for full citizen participation is nearly impossible, we realize. so Represent Me Utah! attends the general session to watch the legislative debate and influence where we can.

Represent Me Utah!’s focus is to lobby citizens, not so much the legislature. We tried to focus on the legislature during redistricting and were unsuccessful. We are only grassroots without much money. Yet the public is where change can happen.

Of all the distorted ideological bills on Utah’s Capitol floor this year, and there are plenty, the one I find most fascinating is the bill that allows Utah to distribute hunting permits to kill wolves. Anywhere from zero to six wolves possibly reside in Utah, reintroduced into Wyoming through a wildlife restoration project. But come on.

Other ideological bills, such as elimination of sex education in public schools, and discrimination against the LGBT community are among several. I can’t believe there is actually a for-and-against debate on discrimination... of anyone, or that it's even a discussion. How embarrassing for our state. These bills do not go into my “fascinating” category. They go into my “ignorance” category.

www.RepresentMeUtah.org

A False Enemy

Why, if Mitt Romney becomes President, Utah’s frenzy over states’ rights will dissipate.


By Kelli Lundgren

I firmly believe that whether Senator John McCain or President Barack Obama became President in 2008, our national debt still would be a huge spiraling problem. Tarp money still would have been distributed to prevent a depression. Our President still would have consulted the same conservative economists. Stimulus money still would have been spent to keep people working on roadways and projects. Welfare and unemployment rolls still would have bulged. Iraq and Afghanistan war costs eventually would have been placed on the books. And our nation would hurt no matter what.

Could President Obama have done better? Yes. I think he’s the first to admit this. I believe every new U.S. President needs two to three years to become fully functional in their leadership position.

Steve Jobs of Apple told President Obama that because of the market crash no matter what Obama did he would be a one-term president. Jobs could have been right.

During the President George W. Bush years, conservatives praised the President as he could do no wrong, voting him back into office for a second term. Life was good for most Americans, yet behind the scenes the nation’s balance sheet was going bad, and a meshed banking system with Wall Street was getting greedy.

Why do I rehash this? Because conservatives have picked an enemy during this recession. They picked anything “liberal.” They picked the wrong enemy.

If (the actually moderate) President Obama says the red couch is red, many conservatives say it’s blue. Some conservatives in Utah prevent their children from listening to this Democratic President in public schools. Utah, along with a few other conservative states, are shouting states’ rights, throwing anti-federal government bills at our nation, essentially saying, “You’re doing this to us.”

Conservative U.S. Senators and Representatives say their main directive is to remove Obama from office no matter what it takes. They threaten National Public Radio, the Consumer Protection Agency, those on welfare, saying they are sources of our nation’s deterioration. Really?

Here’s the scoop, liberals did not start and continue the run-up on our deficit. Both Republican and Democratic leaders horded and continue to horde earmarks and stimulus dollars. States are raising taxes. Our federal government is not.

Liberals do not use legislation to prevent conservatives from practicing their beliefs. But the same does not apply to conservatives. I have seen several bills scoot through Utah’s legislature that do just that, trying to make others conform to the conservative view on life.

Liberals alone did not cause this recession (see above). But it seems liberals are now the greatest threat, the biggest fear, the people that have allowed this nation to run amuck. An enemy for some reason must be found, and that enemy is President Obama, and anyone that believes in him.

In Utah, leaders are planning for and spending two to three million taxpayer dollars this year to focus on suing the federal government, demanding our nation hand over its lands in our state.

Conservatives seem to be trying to get others to conform to their views, their definitions, while even conservative views vary greatly. How could there possibly be one standard for all? Why do we polarize our country into only two ideologies, when really, we all need each other as a community? We need to continue to pull out of this recession together.

I see an emotional wall being erected on the perimeters of Utah's state. Yet we should not isolate ourselves from those we disagree with, or find fault with. The moment we look for fault, we need to look in the mirror and take responsibility. Finding enemies does no one any good.

Utah citizens were the holdouts in their loyalty to President George W. Bush. Up until the last few years of his presidency, several conservatives seemed to think Bush could do no wrong.

The same will hold true with Mitt Romney if he becomes President this year. He will be able to do no wrong in Utah’s eyes. And Utah’s states’ rights under Romney? What states’ rights? Oh yeah, that thing. Utah will have forgotten. The notion of states' rights will go away. The nation will be welcome in Utah once again. And Utah parents will freely allow their children to watch a President Romney speak in public classrooms.

Oh, the irony and sadness of defining an enemy. How distractive and unproductive it has become.