Who actually represents you?

Who is the current Representative for us? Listen to him tell you who he is and who he supports. Decide for yourself if he represents you.

What Do Jason Chaffetz and Jim Matheson Have in Common?

Not much you say. Well hold on. Here are a few items:

• Chaffetz votes with his party 92% of the time, Matheson 93%.
• Chaffetz abstains 1% of the time, Matheson 2%
• Chaffetz has sponsored 26 bills and 1 was made into law, Matheson 19 and 2 were made into law

Now for the opposites (or at least wildly different):

• One of the two representatives Chaffetz most often votes with is Walter Minnick, one of the two representatives Matheson least often votes with is Walter Minnick
• One of the two representatives Chaffetz least often votes with is Parker Griffin, one of the two representatives Matheson most often votes with is Parker Griffin.
• In his current term Chaffetz had $0 in earmarks, in his current term Matheson had $71M
• Chaffetz received a 93% rating from the National Taxpayers Union in 2009 while Matheson received a 30% rating.

Most people consider Chaffetz to be one of the most conservative members of the US House. In fact the liberal group Americans for Democratic Action rated him a 0% liberal in 2009 (Matheson received a 55% rating for the same year a drop from his previous off-year rating of 75%). Matheson is an ever so slightly stronger supporter of his party than is Chaffetz of his. So how is Chaffetz is considered a strong conservative a while Matheson is a conservative Democrat. Just a question? I’m sure there is a plausible answer.

During his entire term of office Jim has sponsored fewer bills (19 v. 26) than Jason but passed twice as many (2 v. 1). So you could say that Jim works smarter than Jason. Of course Jim has had 10 years to build his resume while Jason has had only 2. Oh, and in case you were wondering; Jim co-sponsored 180 bills of which 14 were passed. Jason also had 14 of the bills he co-sponsored make it into law but he had to co-sponsor 370 (over twice as many as Jim). You could say Jim is more effective in using his time but of course he had 5X the time to get the same results. Net/Net Jason legislatively accomplished almost as much as Jim but in 1/5 the time.

Do we want someone more like Jim or Jason representing us? Well for me the choice is easy. Morgan Philpot is unquestionably more like Jason than Jim.

 

Sources: www.opencongress.org & www.opensecrets.org

Tell the Whole Truth....

We can all tell it is late in the political season as the very 'negative' ads are flooding the airways. However, negative and untruthful are not synonymous.

I just saw the most recent advertisement by our incumbent Representative. He infers that his opponent did several things that are questionable. Namely, resigning halfway through his term, not voting for over 200 votes, not paying taxes, moving out of state etc.

When I attended the cottage meeting this past weekend, Mr. Philpot reported that this ad was coming and gave the following information:

1. He made a 'life decision' to attend Law school, which prompted him to resign once he got accepted to the school.

2. He attended Law school in Michigan...thus the move and lack of votes after he resigned.

3. Because of his move, he received a tax notice late once it arrived in Michigan. He stated that the late penalty was in the $60.00 range, and he paid it.

Mr. Matheson is inferring that Mr. Philpot is unreliable, a tax evader, and that he 'left the state'. In my view, a half truth is a full untruth. Please take the opportunity to investigate not only these accusations in this race, but any other accusations you find sensational at this point in the season with any race. Find out for yourself what the truth is.....please don't rely on talking points that seem far afield.

If things were as bad as some candidates pose at this point, why wouldn't these points have been raised earlier in the campaign? In my view, stating them any earlier would have allowed you as the citizen to learn the actual truth. By doing it now, perhaps the candidates are counting on you to not have or take the time to learn what the facts truly are.

So the question really is, who is more reliable, and who is more transparent and accessible to the constituency. Again, find out for yourself....be informed.

What Do Jason Chaffetz and Jim Matheson Have in Common?

Not much you say. Well hold on. Here are a few items:

• Chaffetz votes with his party 92% of the time, Matheson 93%.
• Chaffetz abstains 1% of the time, Matheson 2%
• Chaffetz has sponsored 26 bills and 1 was made into law, Matheson 19 and 2 were made into law

Now for the opposites (or at least wildly different):

• One of the two representatives Chaffetz most often votes with is Walter Minnick, one of the two representatives Matheson least often votes with is Walter Minnick
• One of the two representatives Chaffetz least often votes with is Parker Griffin, one of the two representatives Matheson most often votes with is Parker Griffin.
• In his current term Chaffetz had $0 in earmarks, in his current term Matheson had $71M
• Chaffetz received a 93% rating from the National Taxpayers Union in 2009 while Matheson received a 30% rating.

Most people consider Chaffetz to be one of the most conservative members of the US House. In fact the liberal group Americans for Democratic Action rated him a 0% liberal in 2009 (Matheson received a 55% rating for the same year a drop from his previous off-year rating of 75%). Matheson is an ever so slightly stronger supporter of his party than is Chaffetz of his. So how is Chaffetz is considered a strong conservative a while Matheson is a conservative Democrat. Just a question? I’m sure there is a plausible answer.

During his entire term of office Jim has sponsored fewer bills (19 v. 26) than Jason but passed twice as many (2 v. 1). So you could say that Jim works smarter than Jason. Of course Jim has had 10 years to build his resume while Jason has had only 2. Oh, and in case you were wondering; Jim co-sponsored 180 bills of which 14 were passed. Jason also had 14 of the bills he co-sponsored make it into law but he had to co-sponsor 370 (almost twice as many as Jim). You could say Jim is more effective in using his time but of course he had 5X the time to get the same results. Net/Net Jason legislatively accomplished almost as much as Jim but in 1/5 the time.

Do we want someone more like Jim or Jason representing us? Well for me the choice is easy. Morgan Philpot is unquestionably more like Jason than Jim.

Sources: www.opencongress.org & www.opensecrets.org

Is Matheson In Step with Utahns?

I thought it would be interesting to look at how a liberal group rated our congressmen so I went to the website for Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and looked at their annual rating for house members from 2001 to 2009. Over the course of that time period the average democrat was given an 86% by the ADA. Jim Matheson had an average rating of 66% so he was rated as more conservative than the average democrat. Contrast this with the ratings of the 1st (4%) and 3rd (2%) district representatives (Hansen/Bishop and Cannon/Chaffetz respectively) for that time period and you can see how out of step Matheson is with the our other congressman. I wonder which of the 3 our more closely aligned with the average Utahn. You can be the judge but it seems to me that Mr. Matheson is much more aligned with liberals than conservatives.

I also found it interesting that  in 2006 and 2008 Mr. Matheson’s liberal rating took quite a tumble. Let me see, were those election years?

I believe Morgan Philpot is more closely aligned with the largely conservative members of the 2nd Congressional District. Let’s make sure he is the one that represents us going forward.

Is Matheson In Step with Utahns?

I thought it would be interesting to look at how a liberal group rated our congressmen so I went to the website for Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and looked at their annual rating for house members from 2001 to 2009. Over the course of that time period the average democrat was given an 86% by the ADA. Jim Matheson had an average rating of 66% so he was rated as more conservative than the average democrat. Contrast this with the ratings of the 1st (4%) and 3rd (2%) district representatives (Hansen/Bishop and Cannon/Chaffetz respectively) for that time period and you can see how out of step Matheson is with the our other congressman. I wonder which of the 3 our more closely aligned with the average Utahn. You can be the judge but it seems to me that Mr. Matheson is much more aligned with liberals than conservatives.

I also found it interesting that  in 2006 and 2008 Mr. Matheson’s liberal rating took quite a tumble. Let me see, were those election years?

I believe Morgan Philpot is more closely aligned with the largely conservative members of the 2nd Congressional District. Let’s make sure he is the one that represents us going forward.

Morgan Philpot Cottage Meeting on 10/23/10

Yesterday, the New York Times followed certain grassroot political organizations here in Utah. One of the candidates they followed was Morgan Philpot. I attended a cottage meeting in Alpine to hear from Mr. Philpot last night. Although the media did not attend, if Mr. Philpot did as well as he did last night for them, they certainly should have a positive view of the citizen's of Utah.

Here are a few talking points that I appreciated:

1. Negative campaigning: Morgan stated that they looked over the last few campaigns that have been waged against our current incumbent. He said that they all turned negative, and that became the advantage for Mr. Matheson. He and his campaign made a decision early on to not use negative campaigning, and have not done so. He states that he would rather use his opponents factual voting record instead, and has done so.

2. Suggestions from the 'crowd': Several attendees suggested that he call Mr. Matheson the "Democratic Candidate, Jim Matheson" because Matheson's advertisement does not identify him in this manner. Morgan stated that he did do this for a time, but then Mr Matheson came out with ads stated that Mr. Philpot was being "political". That got a laugh from everyone.

Another suggestion was to highlight Matheson's voting record on the stimulus and other spending bills he supported.

Still others asked why he didn't point out, what they felt, were the specific untruths Mr. Matheson was using against Mr. Philpot. Mr. Philpot again stated that he is using facts and that people don't be seem to be buying the innuendo from the opponents camp.

3. Advertising: The question was asked as to why the Philpot campaign isn't advertising on TV. Morgan reported that one weeks worth of TV advertising would cost over $170,000.00. When asked how the Matheson campaign is able to afford this, Morgan reported that over 80% of their funding is coming from sources and special interests outside of Utah. The Philpot campaign is being run on a 'shoestring', but seems to be effective. Even Rocky Anderson reportedly called up Morgan to give support. That is one for the books!

4. Volunteers: Many people asked how they could get specifics on his platform to be more knowledgeable when sharing with others. He gave this link to get this information.

He also spoke about many people who have taken on campaigning without being asked. He spoke of a gentleman in Wasatch County who has organized and lead a campaign there. For the first time in years, Wasatch County is leaning toward someone other than Mr. Matheson. He also mentioned that people were doing many things on their own to campaign and fund raise. He was very specific when he mentioned that a Garage Sale had been held to raise funds. I quickly spoke up stating that this was out precinct and the whole room erupted in applause.

If you want more information about Morgan Philpot's campaign, please go to http://www.philpotforcongress.net/icampaign/index.php.

Philpot v. Matheson Debate and the FairTax

After listening to the debate (if you haven't listened click here) I kept thinking about Matheson’s oft repeated refrain that Morgan wants to tax everything you buy at 23% and in reality that rate would likely be 30%. There is some truth to this statement but Matheson leaves a lot of information out as well.

What Morgan has said on a couple of occasions is that he could support a national sales tax such as the proposed Fair Tax Act of 2005 (HR 25 and S 25) which call for a 23% sales tax on all new goods and services. This proposal is explained in detail by the Americans for Fair Taxation on their website www.fairtax.org for those who want to learn more.

What Matheson left out was that the fair tax initiative would only be enacted if the 16th Amendment was repealed (this is the one that gives the federal government the right to tax our income) and it It abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes.

The FairTax replaces the revenue collected by the taxes enumerated above with a national sales tax. It was designed to be revenue neutral. So if we are bothered by 23% (or in 30%) sales tax then our anger should be directed at those in government who are spending our money at a rate equivalent to that kind of a sales tax. As someone who has been in office for 10 years and voted for the stimulus bill, cash for clunkers and numerous other programs Matheson should be the last person who would want talk about issues related to the cost of government.

What I love about a sales tax versus an income tax is that it decreases the federal government's involvement in my life. No longer do they need to concern themselves with how much I make and my sources of income. Nor do I need go through an annual exercise in determining how much I owe the government. If I’m wrong and underpay I’m subject to varying degrees of penalties and interest charges. However, if I overpay the government then, oh well, the government has benefitted from my money but only pays me the principle back. The more I think about it the more I like the idea of a national sales tax (again, if and only if the 16th amendment is repealed).

Back to the debate, I have the mental picture of Matheson waving his finger at Morgan and touting how naive he would be to consider a tax program like the FairTax which could impact the economy in such as negative way.

Tell me again Mr. Matheson, how a program which takes the same amount of money from us but eliminates the IRS, means I don’t have to file income tax reports, and has the potential to generate income from people who currently don’t pay income taxes (criminals, workers paid on a cash basis …) is bad. That finger and the self-righteous attitude that goes with it should be more introspective.

I looked (see When is a Blue Dog only a Mirage?) and at no time in his last term in office did Matheson cast a deciding vote or was even one of several deciding votes on spending bills that were conservative in nature. Any votes against bills that I feel were terrible such as ObamaCare were cast only after the fix was in for these monstrosities.

I loved Morgan’s comment that he fully supports Milton Friedman’s stance that “I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible.” Additionally, I thought Morgan’s comment that he thought Matheson’s assertion that a 23% or higher sales tax was necessary simply reflected the typical Washington attitude that spending must increase not decrease.

We need people like Morgan in office who will seek to cut taxes and spending wherever and whenever possible.

Go Morgan!

By the way did you know that 9 states have no personal income tax and use a state sales tax  (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Washington, Wyoming)? And how do they rank in a survey of the best and worst managed states in America (note, Utah was 6th).

• (14) Alaska
• (42) Florida
• (41) Nevada
• (8) New Hampshire
• (13) South Dakota
• (36) Texas
• (35) Tennessee
• (15) Washington
• (1) Wyoming

The average ranking was 22. So these states are in general better than average and don’t burden their citizens with annual income tax filing nor do they invade their privacy. So tell me again Mr. Matheson how terrible the FairTax concept is and why I shouldn’t vote for Morgan because he said he would consider such a proposal. Maybe I shouldn’t vote for you because you think it is such an awful idea. Good idea. I think I’ll do that :)

Go Morgan!

Philpot - Matheson Debate on Video

This past week, a debate was held in St. George between Morgan Philpot (R Candidate) and Jim Matheson (D Candidate). Please use the link below to view it. It helps differentiate where each candidate stands on various issues. It is a "must-see" view. Please inform you neighbors about it and please plan to vote on or before November 2nd. This is one of the most important elections of our time.

The link below shows the debate held in St. George, Utah between Philpot
and Matheson. The debate introductions don't start until around 15 minutes so
feel feel to skip forward at least that far.

http://vstream.dixie.edu/DSC/Viewer/?peid=cac4131afa2d4fd397fc9e08b7d0b12d

Matheson casts the deciding vote.....

The President of the Utah Taxpayer association recently spoke about the House of Representative's decision to not extend the Bush Tax Cuts. This speaker happens to be our own State Senator, Howard Stephenson. See who the swing vote in Washington DC was ....

Utah County General Election 2010, Early Voting Schedule and Locations

(Image courtesy of media.sacbee.com)

Early Voting

The Utah County Clerk's Office provides voters the option of voting prior to Election Day at any Early Voting Location. Registered voters may visit any Early Voting Location and cast a ballot in person using a touch screen voting device. Voters are not required to go to a certain location to vote early, you may visit any site within Utah County to vote. Early voting begins 14 days before Election Day, and ends the Friday before Election Day.

In order to be eligible to participate in Early Voting, voters must be registered to vote at least 30 days prior to the election and provide valid voter identification. Valid voter identification means:

1. a form of identification that bears the name and photograph of the voter; or

2. two forms of identification that bear the name of the voter and provide evidence that the voter resides in the voting precinct.

Utah County General Election 2010 Early Voting Schedule and Locations
October 19-22 and October 25-29, Location Times

Utah Community Credit Union
1364 North Commerce Drive
Saratoga Springs 1 pm - 5 pm

American Fork Library*
64 South 100 East
American Fork 3 pm - 7 pm
(*Friday, October 22, 2010 and Friday, October 29, 2010 1 pm - 5 pm)

Orem City - City Building Rotunda
55 North State Street
Orem 1 pm - 5 pm

Utah County Administration Building
100 East Center Street
Provo, Utah (Room LL900) 8 am - 5 pm

Spanish Fork National Guard Armory*
2801 North Main Street
Spanish Fork 3 pm - 7 pm
(* Friday, October 29, 2010, 3 pm - 5 pm)

A recap of Republican "Meet Your Candidates"Family Picnic ,

An event was held on October 9th, 2010 allowing citizen's to not only hear, but meet the candidates from our local races all the way up to our Congressional races. Here are some photo's from the event:




Governor Gary Herbert



Doug Whitney and Jeff Buhman

Mike Lee

Lot's of candidates were represented!