Behold The Utah GOP Death Panel

I have to admit it, I've been wrong all along. Silly liberal media had me bamboozled. Now, where do I get my Glenn Beck Commemorative Shiny Tin Foil Hat®?

Voicing their displeasure Tuesday with "Obamacare," Utah Republican lawmakers targeted for possible cuts a program that helps 450 low-income Utahns with HIV/AIDS pay for health insurance and life-saving medications.

The Ryan White Program was one of dozens reviewed Tuesday by the Executive Appropriations Committee under a normally perfunctory, monthly approval process for federal grant applications. The committee OK'd most of the applications but deferred approval of the $5.2 million Ryan White grant while they wait for more information at next month's meeting.

(snip)

"It looks to me like we're funding a program providing insurance and [medical care] that is going to be covered under Obamacare: pre-existing conditions, lifestyle choices and things of that nature," said the Taylorsville Republican. "I'm just concerned about that."

Democrats objected to the delay, fearing it would effectively shut down the program, which is underfunded and no longer accepts new enrollees.

The program subsidizes the purchase of health coverage for AIDS patients with incomes below 250 percent of the federal poverty level, about $27,000 for a single-person household.

But most of the grant money is spent subsidizing expensive, life-saving anti-viral medications, which have turned what used to be a universally fatal disease into a manageable, chronic illness.

(snip)

Said Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, who has a stepson living with AIDS: "I guess I'm struggling to understand why the focus on this program and this group of people."

Well Rep Spackman, just take a look at the bit I bolded and you'll be able to figure out their motivation.

Utah County parents protest schools' promotion of 'democracy'

By GottaLaff

The D word! Oh noes! Kids, cover your ears! Adults, watch your mouths!

Some Utah County parents are calling on the Alpine School District to stop spreading "false educational ideas." First and foremost, the parents say, the district needs to clamp down on its use of the D-word: "democracy."

Why... sputter, sputter... How. Dare. They? Words like d... de... de-e-m-m o... democracy (whew! I barely got that out, it was made of such nasty dirty filthy wrong) should be banned! Redacted! Removed from dictionaries!

Why, why... that's a gateway word!! Next thing you know, an innocent child may slip and morph right into big f***ing deal!

Yes, it's actually come to this:

This week, a spokeswoman for Utah's Republic, a group that advocates for a strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, asked the Alpine Board of Education to scrap its democracy-centered mission statement. [...]

But this nation is a republic, not a democracy, said Oak Norton, a Highland father of five and the founder of Utah's Republic. The Constitution guarantees every state a "republican form of government." "Karl Marx said, 'Democracy is the road to socialism,' " Norton said. A true democracy, he said, relies solely on majority rule and inevitably devolves into anarchy, which then sprouts socialist dictators.

That's commie Marxist gay abortionist French fascist socialist Jewish Muslim dictators to you, Elm.

Sorry... Oak.

But never fear, the board stands by its language. Good. We'd hate for a guy named after a tree to dictate anything to a place of education.

The Alpine board:

"We chose 'our democracy' to reflect both a government with power vested in the people and our freedoms. We not only recognize that our government is a republic, but we value and participate in this form of government with an elected Board of Education," the statement said. "The use of the word democracy underscores the type of republic found in the United States."

Gee, ya think?

You can read more about the end of the United States as we know it here.

Utah House Passes Bill Outlawing Nonmedical Abortions

By GottaLaff

Awhile ago I posted about a Utah bill that criminalized miscarriages. Remember? It got a lot of attention, not only here at TPC, but in the media:

A bill passed by the Utah House and Senate this week and waiting for the governor's signature, will make it a crime for a woman to have a miscarriage, and make induced abortion a crime in some instances. [...]

While the bill does not affect legally obtained abortions, it criminalizes any actions taken by women to induce a miscarriage or abortion outside of a doctor's care, with penalties including up to life in prison. [...]

In addition to criminalizing an intentional attempt to induce a miscarriage or abortion, the bill also creates a standard that could make women legally responsible for miscarriages caused by "reckless" behavior.

Today we have a postscript:

The bill still would make abortions not performed by a doctor through a medical procedure illegal. [...]

The new version says a woman is not guilty of criminal homicide if the abortion is caused by a reckless act of the woman.

So as it now stands, if a woman miscarries because she crashes into a tree while skiing, she's in the clear.

How compassionate.

Cartoon of the Day

Click to enlarge, via.

Utah Bill Criminalizes Miscarriage

By GottaLaff

Incrementally, inch by inch, law by law, the anti-choicers are trying to take away women's reproductive rights:

A bill passed by the Utah House and Senate this week and waiting for the governor's signature, will make it a crime for a woman to have a miscarriage, and make induced abortion a crime in some instances.

According Lynn M. Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, what makes Utah's proposed law unique is that it is specifically designed to be punitive toward pregnant women, not those who might assist or cause an illegal abortion or unintended miscarriage. [...]

While the bill does not affect legally obtained abortions, it criminalizes any actions taken by women to induce a miscarriage or abortion outside of a doctor's care, with penalties including up to life in prison. [...]

In addition to criminalizing an intentional attempt to induce a miscarriage or abortion, the bill also creates a standard that could make women legally responsible for miscarriages caused by "reckless" behavior.

Using the legal standard of "reckless behavior" all a district attorney needs to show is that a woman behaved in a manner that is thought to cause miscarriage, even if she didn't intend to lose the pregnancy. Drink too much alcohol and have a miscarriage? Under the new law such actions could be cause for prosecution.[...]

Such a standard could even make falling down stairs a prosecutable event, such as the recent case in Iowa where a pregnant woman who fell down the stairs at her home was arrested under the suspicion she was trying to terminate her pregnancy.

This reminds me of the Ugandan anti-gay bill:

The government of Uganda is considering passing a law to execute gay people. Execute as in by hanging a, quote, “serial offender” or an HIV-positive person who commits same sex act. If enacted, this law would also impose a three-year prison sentence on anyone who knows of a gay person in the country but doesn‘t report that gay person to the government within 24 hours.

Here's the truth of the matter:

Paltrow says this bill puts a lie to the idea that the pro-life movement cares about women.

"For all these years the anti-choice movement has said ‘we want to outlaw abortion, not put women in jail, but what this law says is ‘no, we really want to put women in jail.'"

Blastocysts matter. The rest of us? Not so much.

H/t: Dawgs529

Palin: Tomato-less in Salt Lake City

By GottaLaff

If I didn't already know the back story, I'd swear this was a parody post:

The Salt Lake City Costco removed all tomatoes from the store before a Sarah Palin book signing, reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

"It turns out that Palin had been pelted with a tomato at an earlier stop on her book tour and the management at the Costco was determined it wouldn't happen here."

No tomatoes for you!



Think about it: Do you remember another public figure who had to ban tomatoes prior to a book signing?

Me neither.

One might accuse Barbie McLipSchmutz of tomato bigotry.

VIDEO: Utah Senator Chris Buttars Doesn't Want The Gays Stuffing It Down His Throat All The Time

By GottaLaff

Relevant quote at about 1:15:



Oh no he di-int! Oh yes he did:

Utah senator Chris Buttars has said he might support a bill giving gay people equal rights for jobs and non-marriage related things. His word phrasing of not wanting gays “stuffing it down [his] throat all the time and certainly in [his] kid’s face” leaves something to be desired.

Dare I say it? This one will go down in history.

Via the YouTube page:

Apparently, LGBT Utahns deserve to be allowed to work and rent an apartment, but heaven forbid they be allowed to legally adopt children.

Senate President Michael Waddoups weighs in, too.

And what Waddoups has to say now seems an improvement on his earlier statement to the Deseret News:

However, Waddoups, a property manager, said he wants the "right to protect the image of my company" against gay employees "out flaunting the gay lifestyle" during work hours.

He said he also had concerns about similar behavior among his tenants.

"I'm not going to put up with that on any of my properties," Waddoups said.

Shaking head slowly, sadly.

H/t: Karoli, LJSearles

Utah kiss-in shows support of gay couple

By GottaLaff

It's 2009, but sometimes you have to wonder:

A participant in a Salt Lake City kiss-in says the event was organized to support a gay couple allegedly targeted for kissing at a Mormon church.

Salt Lake City resident Isabelle Warnas said she and her husband kissed at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints's Salt Lake Temple because Derek Jones, 25, and Matthew Aune, 28, were detained by church security guards, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday.

Jonas and Aune allegedly were detained by church security guards last Thursday after one of the men kissed the other on the cheek.

Jones and Aune were cited for trespassing after arguing with security guards.

"My husband and I cannot understand the discrimination," Warnas said of the incident. "This is not right."

Neither can I. And no, it sure isn't. Bravo, Warnases!

Obama picks Republican Gov. Huntsman as China envoy

Well isn't this a nice nugget of intrigue. I like John's take on this.

BEIJING (Reuters) – President Barack Obama has chosen Mandarin-speaking Jon Huntsman, the Republican governor of Utah, to be the next U.S. ambassador to China, a diplomat said on Saturday.

The diplomat, who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed news reports from Utah that Huntsman, 48, had accepted the job.

The reports said an official announcement from Washington was likely on Saturday.

Local GOP cancel speech by Utah governor-- too moderate

By GottaLaff

Well isn't that just like the Rushpublics? I may have to start calling them the Tushpublics:

Joanne Voorhees, the chairwoman of the Kent County Republican party in Michigan, has "abruptly canceled" an upcoming fundraiser with Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. (R). Voorhees "said that hosting the moderate Utah governor would mean abandoning the party's conservative principles." [...] Huntsman sharply criticizes the national GOP leadership, giving them an "incomplete" grade on their first 100 days as an opposition party to President Obama. "Instead of just kind of grousing and complaining, it would do us all a whole lot of good if we actually started engaging directly in finding compromises and common ground and shared solutions," said Hunstman."

Huntsman should think about changing teams right about now...

H/t: Pigboy

Romney Unloads Homes

G-d forbid he should get stuck on one of those "how many homes do you own" questions. But still, I doubt if it will fend off the holy underwear ones...

According to the Boston Herald, Mitt Romney sold his ski house in Utah for "a little less" than the asking price of $5.25 million and has a tentative buyer for his suburban Boston house.

"The sale of the Utah and Boston homes has been described by political analysts as a way for Romney to prepare for another presidential race without having to explain why he owns excess real estate -- the issue that brought ridicule on rival Republican candidate John McCain last fall."

As for running for president in 2012, Romney told the Deseret News he's "keeping the door open, but I'm just not walking through it. Time will tell what the future holds. It may be a decision I make down the road to become involved. I may make the decision not to become involved in another race."

I could only find pics of his New Hampshire home here, and his California one above. Click to enlarge.

Eradicating an ugly Bush stain: Drilling Leases Scrapped in Utah

By GottaLaff

More, more, more, pleaseohplease, more like this:

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday canceled leases to drill for gas and oil on 77 parcels of public land in Utah.

The leases, which cover more than 100,000 acres, including lands near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, were auctioned in the last weeks of the Bush administration. They were among 11th-hour actions taken by the Bush Interior Department that have been criticized by environmental groups and are being reviewed by Obama officials.

In a news conference, Mr. Salazar said that after a review of the leases he concluded that the Bush administration had “rushed ahead to sell oil and gas leases at the doorstep of some of our greatest national icons, some of our nation’s most treasured landscapes” without proper scientific review or consultation.

Why is there always a "however"? Whywhywhy? Here it is: How-damn-ever:

He did not rule out drilling on the lands in the future if a review found it feasible. He said, however, that the Obama administration would find a “new balance” between protecting environmentally sensitive park areas and opening public lands to energy exploration and drilling. [...]

The cancellation is effective immediately and means that the government will forfeit $6 million in fees from the bidders.

Go green. Drilling is so Sarah Palin ago. Just. Go. Green.

Eradicating another ugly Bush stain: Court halts Utah oil/gas leases

By GottaLaff

BushCo just had their noses rubbed into one of their own greasy, smelly, putrid stains. Score another one for the good guys:

Court halts Utah oil and gas leases

Environmental groups win a temporary restraining order, potentially leaving the fate of the 110,000 acres to the Obama administration.

A federal judge late Saturday halted the Bush administration’s efforts to open 110,000 acres of federal land in Utah to oil and gas exploration, ruling that the danger of damaging the pristine land required further study before leases were awarded. [...]

A coalition of seven groups sued for a temporary restraining order, and the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo M. Urbina means the checks written by energy companies for the land cannot be cashed.

[This] will potentially place the fate of the land into the hands of the incoming Obama administration. Obama aides have objected to the sale.

From the Dep't. of Desperation: Republican Congressman tries to prove Bill Ayers wrote Obama memoir

By GottaLaff

This is $10,000 worth of pathetic:

Nutball Congressman Chris Cannon (R-UT) tried to hire an Oxford don to use his special computer program to prove that Obama's memoir was actually written by Bill Ayers. The program "can detect when works are by the same author by comparing favourite words and phrases." Apparently, he got cold feet after the he learned that the Oxford academic, Dr Peter Millican, would release the results publicly no matter what they showed.

Yes, it cost Cannon $10,000. More:

Robert Fox, a California businessman and brother-in-law of Chris Cannon] contacted Millican, who said : “The $10,000 was a standard fee for 25 hours’ work. He sent me electronic versions of the text from both books.”

Millican took a preliminary look and found the charges “laughably unsubstantiated”. A deal was agreed for more detailed research but when Millican said the results had to be made public, even if no link to Ayers was proved, interest waned.

Millican said: “I thought it was extremely unlikely that we would get a positive result. It is the sort of thing where people make claims after seeing a few crude similarities and go overboard on them.”

He said Fox told him that Cannon had got “cold feet about it being seen to be funded by the Republicans”.

This is who Utah elected to represent them. I'm sure they'll be thrilled by his priorities, not to mention his sense of ethics.

Three more days.

Utahns giving — to Obama

BFCE, putting conventional wisdom on it's ear since 2007.

Here's a quick political quiz about famously Republican Utah: Which presidential candidate has raised more money from Utahns this election cycle, Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama?

Utahns have given more, actually much more, to Obama. For every $4 that McCain raises from Utahns, Obama raises almost $5.

Through the end of July, disclosure forms filed this week show Obama has raised $706,046 from Utahns. McCain reported raising $595,320 from them.

That means Obama has raised $110,000, or 19 percent, more than McCain.

So what in the name of Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and George Bush is going on here — especially since McCain is not only a Republican but also from neighboring Arizona?

It appears that Obama supporters are truly enthused by his candidacy and are opening their wallets to show it. Meanwhile, Utah Republicans may be suffering donation fatigue from their heavy contributions to favorite-son Mitt Romney — and have not been so free-flowing with cash to McCain after he beat Romney.

"It has to do with the incredible amount of enthusiasm for Obama in the Democratic base here in Utah, which is not as insignificant as you might think," said Theodore Cowan Jr., secretary of the grassroots Utah for Obama group.

A Utah Puppy For The Obama White House?

By Paddy


Okay, fine, this is just an awww post, but I'm a sucker for these.

There's a new campaign to get a Utahn in the White House — one whose qualifications include a wet nose, a wagging tail and a willingness to become a loyal member of a Democratic administration.
Dozens of dogs, including six from Utah, have been nominated on a new Web site created to convince Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama that he should adopt a shelter dog for his family rather than purchase a purebred.

Utah's canine candidates include Jeep, a red heeler mix described as "extremely liberal with her kisses" and Angel, a yellow lab said to be "already imagining herself playing fetch in the Rose Garden."

They appear on obamafamilydog.com, the Utah-based Best Friends Animal Society Web site that includes a petition already signed by more than 27,000 people nationwide urging Obama to rescue a homeless dog.

Poll-itics: Obama has nice lead in New Mexico

By GottaLaff

Two outta three ain't bad:

State	#EV	Obama	McCain
Pennsylvania	21	46.0	42.0
New Mexico	5	47.0	39.0
Utah	5	33.0	52.0