A conservative group is choosing this weekend’s Republican state convention to launch its campaign to “retire” Utah Senator Orrin Hatch. FreedomWorks PAC, which also took on former Utah Senator Bob Bennett last year, says Hatch is not the fiscal conservative he’s portraying himself to be.
Republicans in Utah’s Congressional delegation are sponsoring legislation to prevent the president from designating any new national monuments in the state. This week, Congressman Rob Bishop introduced the Utah Lands Sovereignty Act, co-sponsored by Congressman Jason Chaffetz, with a companion Senate bill from Senators Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch.
When you think of a dysfunctional family, the Bundys from the television show “Married with Children” might be the first thing that comes to mind. But what about Utah’s own congressional delegation, where a 77-year-old senator is at war with a 44-year-old Congressman who is eyeing his job? Every Friday, we talk with Thomas Burr, Washington Correspondent for the Salt Lake Tribune, and author of Political Cornflakes, a daily, online round-up of Utah politics.
The potential Election 2012 battle between Utah Senator Orrin Hatch and Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz has just been taken to the next level, with anonymous insiders telling the Salt Lake Tribune that Chaffetz is in the race for sure against the senior senator, who was first elected 35 years ago. But Chaffetz is coyly sticking to his line that he’s only a “definite maybe.”
The loudest objections to the Patriot Act in the United States used to come from the political left. But increasingly, the right has been raising its voice against the heavily scrutinized surveillance measure. And that could be a problem for Republican Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who continues to back it.
Utah Senator Mike Lee says he’ll vote no on extending the PATRIOT Act when the Senate takes a final vote later this week. Lee says he disagrees with the roving wiretap provision, and one that allows the government to search and seize without probable cause.
A report from Taxpayers for Common Sense says Utahns pay $141 million a year to benefit oil and gas companies through tax breaks. The report, called “Subsidy Gusher” details the tax breaks that oil and gas companies receive. Vice President Steve Ellis says while Congress explores ways to reform the tax code and cut back spending on entitlement programs, itshould be cutting out big tax breaks to boot.
Not New Hampshire, not South Carolina, but Orlando, Florida. That’s where former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has reportedly picked to be his campaign headquarters, in the event that he formally plans a run for the White House in 2012. But why Florida? Every Friday, we talk with Thomas Burr, Washington Correspondent for the Salt Lake Tribune, and author of Political Cornflakes, a daily, online round-up of Utah politics.
Utah Congressman Jim Matheson says he wants to make it cheaper for Utahns to care for their pets. This morning, he discussed a bill he’s introduced aimed at making it cheaper to buy pet medication. KCPW’s Jessica Gail spoke to the Congressman, and explains the bill is modeled on similar legislation passed in 2003.
Freshman Utah Senator Mike Lee isn’t aggressively calling for U.S. troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan, like Congressman Jason Chaffetz, but the Republican does want to see a shift in the war’s focus, and that means less of them. Lee told reporters yesterday it’s time to look at ramping up counterterrorism through special operations.
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