Read Wisely
For those of you who don't take physical copies of The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News, you're missing out on the joys of comparison. We'll start with marches. On Sunday's D-News local page: "Thousands rally during annual March for Life." This delightsome story continued on B6 with an adorable photo of the Pro-Life Utah's president hugging the Eagle Forum's Gayle Ruzicka. On the Trib's Local page: "Tribal leaders protest against Native American mascot proposal." This continued on B2, while the Trib tucked the March for Life rally at the bottom of B4. No mention of that rally in the D-News. Both papers saw fit to write about charter schools, too. The Trib's was about an accusation against a Draper-based school for mishandling special ed money. The D-News, however, wrote about a West Jordan charter winning a STEM contest. So, save the newspaper industry and subscribe to both for the full picture.
The Hill Knows Best
Now for the tax cut, tax referendum, tax confusion and power to the people. The conservative Utah Taxpayers Association spent considerable time trying to disabuse the public of its "hysteria" over the hastily passed tax reform law. The governor and Legislature have decided to repeal the law after a successful petition drive to place the issue on the ballot. Mostly, they say they did a poor propaganda job. But how would you reframe this explanation? "If you eat, you pay more sales tax. If after eating you stay alive, you pay less income tax," Zions Bancorporation wrote in an email uncovered by KSL Channel 5. So maybe it's more than a PR problem. Let's not forget a seismic lack of trust. Citizens passed laws on medical marijuana, Medicaid expansion and redistricting. Two of those laws have been substantially changed, and the public awaits the death knell for the anti-gerrymandering law.
A Win for Medicine?
To save their lives, people are going to Mexico and Canada—not to live, but to buy insulin. The cost of the life-saving drug has risen 250% over the last decade, causing diabetics to ration their insulin, buy from the black market, or cross borders, if they can. The state even started a pilot program to send employees to Mexico to buy insulin. Now, way short of federalizing drug prices, Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, says he will introduce a bill to lower the cost by allowing the state to buy insulin in bulk. He wants Utah to be the first state to ask U.S. Health and Human Services to approve the plan, paving the way for a "national discussion." Indeed, it sounds a lot like what other countries do in socialized medicine, but please don't call it that unless you're ready to doom a great proposal.
