The Trib vs. the Church
While polls say most Utahns want to see The Salt Lake Tribune survive, there's an influential minority that are less inclined to see the newspaper overcome its financial woes. And since so many want the Trib to endure, it's hard to place the blame for the Trib's troubles entirely on the LDS Church. That's not to say that the church doesn't influence how people think. To wit, a post on LDS-themed blog, Millennial Star, commented on the Trib's coverage of suicides among teens with same-sex attraction: "None other than The Salt Lake Tribune, always anxious to find ways to criticize the church, went looking for information to corroborate the claim of 32 suicides. But, in a strange twist, actual journalism took place at the Tribune, and they were forced to report that there is no evidence of that many of suicides." You can sense the distaste for dissident voices.
Free Our Food
It may not exactly be an anti-Monsanto bill, but House Bill 144 hopes to give those big corporate producers a kick in the pants. The idea is to get rid of intrusive regulation (yes, this sounds very Republican—or Libertarian) so that consumers can buy directly from local suppliers. "We can determine for ourselves whether the food we purchase is safe and wholesome," according to an op-ed in The Salt Lake Tribune. It's a more official take on the whole Buy Local effort. The bill, currently being held in the Rules committee, encourages expansion of agricultural sales by farmers markets, ranches, farms and home-based producers. It purports to bring consumers closer to the food they eat—and makes it economically viable to sell local products. Wyoming has passed a similar law without evidence of increased food-borne illnesses, but a similar 2012 bill in Utah died.
End Mob Rule
Sen. Alvin Jackson, R-Highland, was appointed to the Utah Senate and reportedly will resign before he has to face election. Nonetheless, he's making a statement by sponsoring Senate Joint Resolution 2 calling for the repeal of the 17th Amendment. Say what? Not the First Amendment? Quick lesson: The 10th Amendment Center (which promotes limited government and the principle that powers not delegated to the United States are reserved for the states) and Jackson want to repeal the 17th Amendment (providing for direct election of senators) and send senate elections back to state legislatures. These guys don't like "true democracy," which they call "mob rule." They do have a point, however, in talking about campaign finance. If senators are appointed, there's no need for campaign financing. Or is there?
