After years of consideration, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has made up his mind to file a lawsuit against college football’s Bowl Championship Series. He says the state has concluded that there clearly is an antitrust violation, and the BCS is an illegal monopoly. We talked with him about his decision, and the state’s case regarding roadside crosses.
Imam Muhammad Musri was launched into the spotlight for trying to stop a Florida Pastor from burning the Quran. We talked with him about that effort, and what it’s like to be Muslim in the U.S. He spoke in Salt Lake City this week at the Salt Lake Committee on Foreign Relations and the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
Utah Congressman Jim Matheson has always had it tough running as a Democrat in a congressional district that’s widely considered to be gerrymandered to the extreme. Now, The Cook Political Report is saying after this year’s re-districting process, the moderate Blue Dog will have one of the ten most difficult re-election campaigns of any House Democrat, should he go for a seventh term in 2012.
Planned Parenthood is no stranger to scrutiny from politicians. But Republicans in Congress have sparked a fierce battle over federal funding for the organization. We talked with Planned Parenthood of Utah President & CEO Karrie Galloway.
While some advocate for tax increases on the wealthy to increase funding to Utah schools, others say outcomes can be improved by increasing innovation. SB 65, passed this year by the state legislature allows Utah students to take their public education dollars and use them for a variety of online courses. Its critics call it little more than a backdoor voucher program; it’s supporters say it places students above systems.
Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz scored a victory this week in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, successfully getting two bills passed aimed at federal employees and contractors who don’t pay their taxes. But it’s not the first time the sophomore Republican has scrutinized federal workers. 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.
As Republicans and Democrats in Washington, DC scramble to pass a budget before midnight tonight, the prospect of a federal government shutdown looms large. And right in the middle of that debate is Utah Congressman Jim Matheson, a moderate Blue Dog Democrat. We had a conversation with Congressman Matheson about the prospect of a federal government shutdown on Thursday.
It happens every ten years in Utah and across the nation, and now the time has arrived once again for redistricting, the process of re-drawing the state’s boundaries for the Utah Legislature and for congress to reflect the changes in population. But it’s hardly an easy or fun process, and invites a lot of scrutiny from voters and local communities.
If the federal government shuts down, it will have a very real impact on federal employees, who will have to find another way to put food on the table without receiving a paycheck. But it will be more of a minor inconvenience to Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz, who’s become famous for sleeping on a cot in his congressional office and showering in the House gym. Every week on Politics Up Close, 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 Jason Chaffetz is one of the leading voices against President Obama’s decision to intervene in Libya. We talked with the Republican about that and the prospect of a federal government shutdown if there’s no compromise on the budget.
Additional Programming Provided by
