It’s been nearly two years since health reform was signed into law, the new law was meant to make health care and health insurance more accessible and affordable for more Americans. But many of the enactment's provisions don't kick in until 2014. In the meantime, here are seven ways you can save money--right now.
1. Lock in That Rate: When you’re purchasing private health insurance for yourself or your family, keep in mind that your insurance company may periodically increase your monthly premiums. One way you can temporarily protect yourself is to look for a “rate guarantee” when shopping for coverage. Work with a licensed broker who represents a large variety of health insurance companies to find out which companies offer rate guarantees. Some carriers may automatically lock in your rate for the first year of your policy.
2. Right-size Your Health Insurance Plan: If your current plan is getting too expensive to keep, but you’re afraid of being declined for new coverage based on your medical history, make sure you explore your options. Work with a broker who has the experience and resources to negotiate with your carrier directly. You may be able to stay with the same insurer and transfer to a more affordable plan without undergoing medical underwriting and running the risk of being declined. There are trade-offs, of course. You may need to accept a higher deductible in return for a lower monthly premium. But the new plan may still provide you with valuable protection in case of serious illness or injury, and you may be able to trim a substantial amount from your monthly bill. Make sure you ask questions and get as much information before making a final decision.
3. Negotiate Your Medical Bills: Did you know that you can potentially shave up to 30% off your medical bills by negotiating with your medical care provider? Health insurance allows you to benefit from discounted rates for health care services. Chances are, your insurance company has negotiated discounts with providers ahead of time. If you’re currently uninsured, you’re not benefiting from those discounted rates, so the charges listed on your medical bill may be substantially higher than others are expected to pay. Talk to your doctor or your hospital’s billing department to see if you can negotiate a discount by paying up front or creating a payment plan. Even if you have health insurance, that doesn’t mean all your medical procedures are automatically covered. If you’re seeing an out-of-network physician or receiving medical services not covered by your insurance plan, you may be charged the full rate. In these circumstances, even insured patients should negotiate their bills.
To learn more about negotiating medical bills, visit the Healthcare Blue Book website, where you can find suggested prices for many standard medical services. If you’re surprised by an especially high medical bill and you need help negotiating payment, you can work with a professional medical bill negotiator. Some negotiators are paid only on a contingency, based on how much they are able to save you.
4. Consider Generic-only Prescription Drug Coverage: Find out if health insurance companies in your area offer generic-only prescription drug coverage. If you rarely use prescription drugs but don’t want to go entirely without drug coverage, you may be able to save on your monthly premiums. As a supplement to your insurance coverage, a prescription discount card may help mitigate the cost of a brand-name drug, should it become necessary to take one. Just be sure that any discount card you purchase is accepted by your local pharmacy.
5. Look into a Health Savings Account (HSA): An HSA is a tax-advantaged savings account used in conjunction with a health insurance plan. Account contributions, qualified distributions and earnings are all tax-exempt. An HSA allows you to deposit a portion of your pre-tax income into a savings account and use those funds to pay for qualified medical expenses. Unused money can be invested and accrue from year to year. If you have an HSA, be sure to deduct your contributions up to federally prescribed limits. Contributions to your HSA designated for 2010 and made before April 18, 2011 can be counted toward your 2010 federal taxes. According to IRS Publication 969, HSA contributions for the 2010 tax year are capped at $3,050 for individuals and $6,150 for families.
6. Look Beyond Your Employer’s Plan: If you can no longer afford your share of the premium for an employer group health insurance plan, consider your options in the private health insurance market during your next open enrollment period. While it may not always offer the same benefits, coverage purchased on your own is sometimes less expensive than what your employer may require you to contribute toward your monthly premiums. Employer-sponsored coverage is especially valuable for those with pre-existing medical conditions who may be declined for coverage elsewhere, but healthy individuals should consider all of their options before selecting a health insurance option.
7. Use a Utah Health Insurance Broker: A Utah Health Insurance Broker can do all the research to find the best plan for you with the best rates. Insurance brokers add value by representing you and providing many options through multiple insurance carriers. Instead of trying to make the plan fit your needs, we will take your needs and find a plan that is suitable for you. They can also talk you through the whole process and give you expert advice. Using a Utah health insurance broker will cost you nothing! A health insurance brokers is paid a commission by the Utah health insurance companies, and you pay the same rate going through a broker as you would going straight to the health insurance carrier. So why not use a broker’s free advice to help you sort through the Utah health insurance jungle!
So what are you waiting for...start saving on your Utah health insurance today, go with Utah's #1 health insurance broker: www.UtahHealthInsuranceBroker.com
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(See Downtown Alliance Web Site)
People like to complain about Washington, DC – sometimes with good reason, but the District of Columbia is more than shorthand for the dysfunction that seems to paralyze politics these days. It is also a dynamic urban center and downtown Salt Lake City has much to learn from the nation’s capital.
Recently, 57 Utah business leaders went to the nation’s capital to ask our political leaders to please stop bickering, and get to work solving problems. In two-and-a half days, we met with administration officials, business lobbyists, Utah’s entire congressional delegation and former U.S. Senators Bennett (R- UT) and Dorgan (D – ND) who talked about paralysis in our nation’s capital. The meetings were well organized and educational, but they were not very optimistic. The Washington, DC culture seems more focused on preserving power and advancing rigid ideological agendas than actually solving problems.
On the other hand, I got to see, up close, some of the innovations in urban development that the city of Washington has unveiled. These were awesome.
Washington has an attractive and helpful way-finding system. We’re working on something similar for downtown Salt Lake City – renovating and in some cases replacing our downtown maps and signage that still talk about Crossroads, ZCMI and the Delta Center. We’ll be talking to the Salt Lake City Council over the next few months about how local business and political leaders can work together to make this happen.
DC has an amazing bike sharing program, with solar-powered kiosks scattered throughout the district where you can rent a bike for as little as $5. We have something like that in the works here, too. Parking a car in Washington DC isn’t easy. But if you do find an open space, you can pay with a credit card, or your phone as part of a solar powered parking pay station. We’re hoping to unveil a similar system with Salt Lake City’s transportation department in the next few months.
When you arrive at Reagan International Airport, the METRO rail line takes you to the City Center in about 15 minutes for just a few dollars. And, guess what? In Salt Lake City, the Airport TRAX line is ahead of schedule and under budget. We’re almost there.
Over the next year, downtown will change dramatically. In part because of City Creek Center’s opening, bringing 15 million (that is not a typo) visitors, and in part because of streetscape and other infrastructure improvements that will make downtown more user-friendly. It’s also changing because Utahn’s are feeling a greater sense of ownership and connection to their downtown as the region’s urban center and capital city.
I know we’re not perfect – we still have problems in pockets of our city that make the urban center unwelcoming, and we need to aggressively work to fix those problems. But the long-term trajectory of downtown is moving in the right direction as a more livable, walk-able and dynamic neighborhood. We have much to learn from the city of Washington, DC in terms of urban innovation. But the nation’s capital could also take a few hints from Salt Lake City’s business, community and political leaders in how to work together cooperatively for a better future.
The question of market forces in health care is very important. Here’s how I addressed it in a discussion with the Salt Lake Chamber:
Health care is not a commodity that can be efficiently distributed by a market. In the United States, we continually pretend that market dynamics just need to be invoked (by making quality and cost information more transparent, etc) and the invisible hand of Adam Smith will take care of the problem. Unfortunately, market forces will never fix health systems, though accountability can. Allow me to explain:
A market exists when a completely informed buyer can freely choose to enter into a transaction with a self-interested seller without any positive externality. Market efficiency is demonstrated when demand rises as price declines. None of these conditions is an accurate description of health care.
a) Buyers of health care are not completely informed and even with web-based "transparency" of price and quality, they can not become completely informed. Physicians spend a decade gaining knowledge and experience so that their clinical judgment can be relied upon by patients and families. no amount of web-based research will ever replace that clinical judgment/skill. This lack of information on the part of patients makes impossible the usual dictum of 'caveat emptor' and it is the reason for the ethical obligations of physicians and nurses, embodied by the Hippocratic Oath.
b) Buyers of health care, especially acute care (trauma, intensive illness, emergent surgery, etc which accounts for 80% of costs), are not free to decide whether to purchase health services. They are constrained by their condition and are generally making few if any decisions about what happens to them. No one is forced to buy a car--one can choose a bus ticket, bicycle, or tennis shoes instead. This is manifestly not true of health care.
c) Sellers of health services are not supposed to act in their own self interest. Ethical and legal restrictions have evolved restraining doctors, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and all other health institutions and professionals. They are all supposed to place the patient's interests before their own. This has created very awkward situations in the for-profit settings, where the executive officers of the corporation have a fiduciary duty first and foremost to make as much money as possible for the shareholder, which is an interest in direct opposition often to the care of the patients. Greed is supposed to be an important motivator for sellers in a free market, but we do not tolerate physicians and nurses whose greed pre-empts the best interests of their patients.
d) Positive externality is an economic term referring to a situation when someone other than the buyer or seller has a legitimate interest in the outcome of a transaction. Generally, positive externalities do not exist in markets. I don't care what kind of shoes you buy, or car, or food, etc. Those decisions matter for you but not for me. However, I do care whether you are treated for TB, your children are immunized, and your extended family members receive proper care if injured. Perhaps the infectious disease examples are obvious to you concerning why I should care about others access to health care. Access to trauma surgery also matters to me because if I am ever injured, my best hope for survival is if the trauma system is in constant use making it always optimally functional (that's why it is called the practice of medicine). We have massive infusion of tax dollars into health systems because of positive externalities. What market of $2.5 trillion is based on $1.5 trillion in tax revenues?
e) The inverse relationship between price and demand does not hold for health services. No one ever bought an appendectomy because it was on sale. Demand for health services is determined by epidemiology (the frequency of disease and injury), not by price.
Thus, the underlying presumption that market forces will solve our health care woes is not correct. Lack of accountability in our health system is not a market failure, since health care is not a commodity efficiently distributed by market forces. Rather, lack of accountability in health systems is a social failure. Preventable hospital injuries can be discovered and eliminated not by individual buyers (patients) but by public health agencies. Reducing inefficiency waste in health financing should be the job of the insurance commissioner and a (as yet to be established) health benefit commission. A health benefit commission is the vehicle to reduce massive variations in the practice of medicine and surgery and the all too frequent use of inappropriate care. With socialized health financing (which we already have) and socialized accountability (which we must create), private physicians and hospitals will be free to do what they cannot do now: focus on the patient and provide highest quality care.
Correct! Free markets are not the answer to improving access to care, improving quality or bringing down costs. A helath benefit commission is defintiely the answer but many people, and the the majority of Utahns, will not be able to get past the point that it is indeed "socialized accountability." And hospital and physicians will be none to happy with anything such a body comes up with because there will necessarily be restrictions on their choices in patient management...no increased freedom for them.
I think the Afforable Care Act has already created exactly what Joe is advocating. The Indpendent Payment Advosory Board is exactly what is needed to control Medicare costs. The IPAB will go into effection in 2014 and its 15 member advosory committee, Joe's heatlh benefit commission, would make recommedation to the President and Congress if Medicare spending exceeds a target growth rate. The board would be prohibited from making recommendations that would ration care, increase revenues or change Medicare benefits, elibibilty or cost sharing. It remains to be seen whether those constraints are relistic but it seems to be exactly want Joe is advocating. That is encouraging becuase I know that Joe is vehemently opposed to the ACA.
In 1920, Sinclair Lewis wrote a provocative novel called Main Street. It’s the story of an ambitious young woman who follows her husband to his fictional home town – a provincial Midwestern community called Gopher Prairie. She tries to introduce new ideas and a sense of vitality to the townsfolk. But most members of her new community aren’t impressed or persuaded. Gopher Prairie’s Main Street remains unchanged, regressive and sedentary.
Gopher Prairie’s Main Street is fictional but it illustrates the tension between new and old, progress and stagnation. These same forces are part of the life of any community or any Main Street. And this tension is unavoidable. Every Main Street and every downtown is either rising or sinking. We are fortunate to live here during an ascending cycle. As a direct result of thoughtful and dedicated efforts by many business, religious and community leaders, downtown Salt Lake City is on the rise. It hasn’t happened by accident and the momentum won’t continue without the help of our community.
A quick walk down our Main Street shows dramatic progress at City Creek, new restaurants, sandwich shops, galleries, and a new Joseph A. Banks clothier. Plans are moving forward for a new Performance Center and Utah Theater renovation. The new and improved Gallivan Plaza will be done next month and 222 South Main and the Walker Center continue to attract new corporate offices. Construction on the new $300 million federal courthouse is spurring economic activity on the south side of Main Street as well.
Our downtown transformations aren’t limited to Main Street. Red “donation meters” are popping up around the city – part of a new outreach effort by the Salt Lake City Police Department called HOST. If you feel compelled to give spare change to the homless, put it in a meter where it can be distributed to local service providers. In addition to donation meters, the police are actively approaching panhandlers throughout the downtown area. If panhandlers need help with housing, food, medical care or other social services, Salt Lake City’s finest are there to help. The goal is directing people in need to the service providers who can help.
We don’t face the challenge of stagnation of Gopher Prairie’s Main Street. Instead, we need to manage our dynamic change in ways that continue to build momentum. To that end, the Alliance is working with City leaders, Visit Salt Lake, and the downtown-based Infinite Scale Design Group to upgrade and expand our way finding system. We are developing a strategic communication plan to leverage the opening of City Creek Center. We are supporting Salt Lake City in the launch of new parking pay stations. And we continue to support the concept of a cultural core as expressed by County and City leaders.
As downtown continues to rise, we need your help, ideas and perspectives to successfully navigate the next few years. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with your suggestions at jason@downtownslc.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . In the novel Main Street, nothing significant changed in Gopher Prairie because people were suspicious of new ideas and new ways of looking at the world. To ensure the continued success of our Main Street, we must do the opposite – embracing change and new ideas as together we shape our shared future.
Best of the Web, from the Wall Street Journal
--ObamaCare Claims a Casualty: "Bin Laden Killed in U.S. Operation"--headline, JewishPolicyCenter.org, May 2
--Acceptable Answers Are 'Yes, He Has No Shame' and 'No, He Has No Shame': "Does Jimmy Carter Have No Shame?"--headline, BigPeace.com, April 29
--'Resolved: 15 Minutes Can Save You 15% or More'” "Small Lizard Sparks Big Debate in NM, Texas"--headline, Associated Press, April 28
--They've Got a Law for Everything: "Man Arrested After Being Found Standing Over Goat, Wearing Women's Underwear"--headline, Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail, May 3
--Question No One is Asking: "What if Sanity Prevails in Washington?"--headline, New York Times magazine, May 1
--Lung Found in Haystack--Now That Would Be News: "Needle Found in Ex-South Korea President's Lung"--headline, Reuters, May 3
--Look Out Below!: "Corn Falls as Weather May Allow Some Planting"--headline, Associated Press, May 2
--Another Great Conspiracy: "Eerie Links Between Harry Potter, bin Laden"--headline, Reuters, May 2
The Alliance for a Better UTAH respectfully disagrees with Bob Bernick’s April 29th suggestion that text messages shouldn’t be public record (See Maybe Lawmakers’ Text Messages Shouldn’t be Public Record http://utahpolicy.com/featured_article/maybe-lawmakers-text-messages-shouldnt-be-public-record). Similarly, we previously disagreed with Sutherland Institute’s Paul Mero when he suggested that the changes to GRAMA proposed by HB477 were justified for similar reasons. (See Mero Moment http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3023&type=Search+Results&newsletter=1).
Bernick’s contention seems to be, for the most part, that text messages are “transitory” in nature and, as a practical matter, are difficult to collect and catalog. Mero’s contention was that text messaging is a new form of “contemporaneous communication” and, therefore, like an oral discussion, should be shielded from public view.
We disagree. While both Bernick and Mero make strong arguments that seem compelling on their face, we feel that these arguments fail under their own weight and are fraught with internal inconsistency.
The better argument, as Mero alludes, is that all communication should be public in the interest of transparency and good governance. That is, however, impractical because not all conversations are recorded or are intended for public consumption and, as Mero points out, few people really want to know how the sausage is made. Bernick, on the other hand, argues the need for a communications “safe harbor” and also points out the relative ease with which technology could soon allow the easy recording and transcription of all telephonic conversations, thereby questioning why all such conversations shouldn’t ultimately be public as well.
Flimsy as it may be, the answer seems rather simple. Oral communication has, for time immemorial, been respected as private. In answer to the collection difficulty that Bernick points to, we note that the same could be said for letters and other documents that have no obviously central collection point, or email before the widespread use of exchange servers and other central collection points.
However, to distinguish a text message from other forms of written communication as the equivalent of an oral, contemporaneous communication – whether in person or by telephone - is intellectually dishonest. Like Mero, Bernick simply decides to equate a text message and a phone call as being one and the same.
Mero suggests that an email discussion between two parties is different because it is not a contemporaneous conversation, though he acknowledges that this is merely his personal view and relates to his own use of the two modes of communication. Bernick notes that his own terrible texting abilities may lead him to his conclusion.
But one cannot honestly dictate what form of communication will be used for what purpose to a population as a whole.
The idea of hastening non-oral conversations toward the contemporaneous nature of speaking has been around for centuries. Talking may always be the most contemporaneous and expedient compared to available alternatives, but cost and technology have always imposed limitations on the ability to make such conversations practical in all circumstances. In the time of Pony Express letter delivery, cables and telegrams became relatively contemporaneous. The invention of the facsimile or overnight delivery made written communication cheaper and ever more contemporaneous. Email is another step in the evolution of constant - and contemporaneous – communication, and many people treat it as a convenience when compared to the difficult of trading voicemail messages until two people can talk by phone. Facebook, Twitter and text messages have provided us with an ever growing number of ways to communicate in real-time. Without a doubt there will be one or more other new methods of communicating contemporaneously before the end of this decade.
Although Bernick and Mero do not fall prey to the argument, lately we hear more and more people asserting that the public nature of the text message should be tested against the owner of the device or the identity of the party paying the cell phone bill. Here too we have to disagree. The test, as with all government records, should be its relationship to government business. This relatively simple test has worked for so long because destruction of evidence has very real consequences. However, to evade the simple government business test by using a personal device would make a mockery of the law.
When it comes to transparency in government and good governance, we need bright lines. We cannot do away with the oral conversation or the private meeting – nor, perhaps, should we – but if parties to a discussion decide to reduce that discussion to “writing,” whether by pen, typewriter or one electronic method or another, it should, subject to reasonable limitations, be subject to GRAMA, FOIA and the public’s right to know. Any governmental employee who doesn’t want their communication subject to such discovery should pick up a phone or meet in person but to distinguish a text message from any other form of written communication fails even the most basic smell test and fails under the weight of its own intellectual dishonesty.
Cherilyn Eagar, who calls herself "Utah's Common Sense Conservative," is using e-mail messages and blog posts to raise money for her American Leadership Fund. She's also asking her supporters to call Paul Mero of the Sutherland Institute and Salt Lake Chamber President/CEO Lane Beattie to ask them to stop supporting "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants.
In a recent message and blog post, Eagar celebrates and takes credit for the resolution passed by Salt Lake County GOP delegates opposing HB116, which provides a path toward a guest worker program.
She says the Utah Compact message is "deceptive" and adds that the Chamber and Sutherland Institute "have used their big money special interests to try to defeat the will of the people." Numerous surveys have shown, however, that Utahns overwhelmingly support the Utah Compact and HB116, along with other immigration measure passed by the Legislature.
She also says the Chamber and Sutherland have joined with Pres. Obama and Marxists and Communists to support amnesty. Read her fundraising letter HERE.
The Utah Compact states "Immigration is a federal policy issue between the U.S. government and other countries — not Utah and other countries."
The 4 immigration bills that passed the Utah Legislature reject that and claim Citizenship/Naturalization is a federal power, but prior to a case law decision over 100 years ago, Immigration was a state power, which is the concept that the 4 bills were passed on.
While I voted for 3 of the 4 bills, the latest comments from the Church are increasingly confusing, if you read more into them than "appreciates" and "a responsible attempt" or “a responsible approach”.
As I mentioned during the final debate of HB 116, I have a lot of respect for members of the House of Representatives that voted for and against HB 116. It is sad that respect is lost by others, and the Church's newsroom has made a very poor attempt to help.
Rep. King, who I have a lot of respect for, stated the belief that HB 116 should be voted against because of the Constitutional Note that was attached to the bill, and his oath of office. While I came to disagree with that reason to vote against the bill, (State Power) I did vote against the bill because I finally believed HB 469 was the answer and HB 116 would cause more harm than good.
Rep. Richardson felt like without HB 116 you were not solving the problem and while I disagree, I respect that attitude.
Rep. Fred C. Cox
For more information about HB 469 and why I believe it is the answer:
http://fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2011/04/hb-469-missing-link-in-immigration.html
To test your knowledge of prominent people and major events in the news, you are invited to take a short 11-question quiz. Then see how you did in comparison with 1,004 randomly sampled adults asked the same questions in a national survey conducted Mar. 17-20, 2011 by the Pew Research Center.
The Pew Research Center updates the News IQ quiz every few months by conducting a nationwide survey of Americans reached by both landline and cell phones. Each version of the quiz asks a wide range of questions about current events and issues as well as background facts and concepts that are relevant to the news. For an analysis of the findings from the most recent national News IQ survey, read the full summary of findings. (No peeking! If you are going to take the quiz, do it first before reading the analysis.)
The exact same quiz administered on the telephone survey is replicated here on the website. When you finish, you will be able to compare your News IQ with: the average American, as well as with the scores of men and women; with college graduates as well as those who didn't attend college; with people who are your age as well as with younger and older Americans. Are you more news-savvy than the average American? Here's your chance to find out.
The full reports from earlier versions of the quiz are also available (See November 2010, July 2010, January 2010, October 2009, April 2009, December 2008, February 2008, September 2007 and April 2007). The April 2007 report also includes an analysis of how knowledge levels vary according to people's news sources.
I recently heard a nationally known leader in health system improvement speak about the current problems of the US. His principle thesis was that the American health care system will draw our country into another financial crisis within just a few years. Here are some of the facts he alluded to:
1) In 2009 the US had $14.1 trillion in debt, up 42% over the previous four years.
2) But the present value of unfunded future obligations is actually $60 trillion, including $43 trillion for Medicare, federal employee, and veteran health benefits.
3) Our nation's total economic value for all of our assets combined is $45 trillion.
4) Health economist Alain Enthoven of Stanford University: "The United States does not have decades to wait for health system reform; in 2009 about $1.15 trillion of the federal budget was spent on health care. And health care expenditures are growing 2.7% per year faster than non-health care gross domestic product. [The current] reform bill does practically nothing to slow health expenditures."
Read complete post HERE.
There is a vibrant discussion throughout America today on federalism. “The 10” is a summary of 10 noteworthy federalism stories or thought-provoking commentary designed to provide people access to this discussion. Not all items included in “The 10” are supported or endorsed by the members of the 10th Amendment Task Force, which is a project of the Republican Study Committee in Congress.
1) The 10th Protects All Citizens from Concentrated Power - Michael Maharrey, the Communications Director for the Tenth Amendment Center, writes that “a rediscovery of the constitutional principles envisioned by our founders can serve as a bridge spanning different ideologies.”
2) The Challenge of Bringing Common Sense to a Federal Program - The Washington Examiner recounts Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s efforts to save money and bring common sense to Medicaid.
3) Health Reform and Federalism - The Heritage Foundation’s Stuart Butler maintains that “structural, innovative and continuous reform” in health care will only occur through “bottom-up experimentation in both the private and public sectors.”
4) Governor Perry touts 10th Amendment Solutions - Texas Governor Rick Perry recently joined with other Texas officials to “affirm the rights reserved to the states by the 10th Amendment.”
5) One-Size-Fits-None: California vs. the EPA - The Tenth Amendment Center has an interesting article detailing an impending battle between California and the U.S. Congress over vehicle emission standards.
6) South Carolina Fights to Opt-Out - South Carolina’s Senator Lindsey Graham and Governor Nikki Haley attempt to roll back ObamaCare, state-by-state.
7) Constitutional Guidance for Lawmakers on Article V - The Heritage Foundation has released a primer on the process, pros, and pitfalls of the constitutional amendment procedure detailed in Article V of the U.S. Constitution.
8) ObamaCare an Anchor on States and Local Governments - Rep. Phil Gingrey (GA) recently wrote on op-ed describing how ObamaCare will “sink our local and federal governments further into debt.”
9) 10th Amendment Day – A New National Holiday? The Georgia Senate chose a day earlier this month as “Tenth Amendment Day” to consider a number of bills that highlight state sovereignty.
10) Flashback - In June of 1950, Frank Chodorov wrote a thought-provoking examination of the States’ Rights movement as a “revolution…[in] opposition to the urgency of political power to limit choice and compel adjustment.”
If you have an item to include in the “The 10,” please contact Cody Stewart at 202 225-8411
In his Utah Healthcare Initiative blog, Dr. Joseph Jarvis discusses Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen's suggestions regarding healthcare reform. Christensen, a Utah native, is the famous author of the "Innovator's Dilemma" series of book and articles. He has written about how disruptive innovation changes businesses and industries, including the healthcare and education industries.
Says Jarvis in his blog post:
Clayton Christensen has written extensively about how innovation can disrupt old patterns of business and bring economic improvement. His list of accomplishments is long. He is well known to Utahns, having been raised in Salt Lake City. His life story is compelling, mixing professional achievement with a devotion to his family and his faith in God. Forbes magazine features him and his ideas in its recent edition. And there is an extensive section about what Christensen thinks about American health care policy ...
President Obama and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle say they support budget cuts. That’s good. The federal budget certainly needs cutting, and the Republicans are suggesting large cuts, while the Democrats want small cuts.
The problem is, the cuts are focused only on discretionary spending, a very small part of the budget. When entitlement programs, interest payments on debt, and military spending are excluded, only about one-seventh of the budget remains. So even big cuts don’t make much of a dent on deficit spending.
And, unfortunately, no one, not Republicans, not Democrats, are making bold proposals to rein in entitlements, the biggest part of the budget. So while members of Utah’s congressional delegation all, even Democrat Jim Matheson, talk like budget hawks, they are really budget sparrows, not proposing specific action to make a real impact.
Sure, they all say that entitlement programs need to be addressed. But they aren’t making meaningful proposals. They’re all waiting for someone else to act.
I would love to see Sen. Mike Lee tell us how he would specifically cut entitlements. Ditto for Sen. Orrin Hatch, and Reps. Rob Bishop, Jim Matheson and Jason Chaffetz.
If they’re really serious about getting the budget under control, how do they propose to reform Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid? I’d like to see specific proposals, with numbers.
Ironically, former Sen. Bob Bennett, who was defeated because many delegates thought he was too liberal, did propose a realistic plan to reduce Social Security obligations. He put his plan out there for everyone to see. How about Utah’s current congressional delegation? Can they show as much courage and resolve to really cut the budget as Bennett did?
I bundled up and went for a walk in a snowstorm Saturday morning – and everywhere saw telltale signs of spring. In utter defiance of the snow and cold, the crocuses, daffodils and tulips were popping up everywhere in my garden. Since I live in the heart of downtown, I claim Temple Square as my garden.
As I walked up the crooked streets of my favorite eclectic neighborhood, West Capitol Hill, a large flock of robins, at least 100 birds, flitted around a group of trees. Interestingly, a number of starlings were intermingled with the robins. The starlings, many of which stay around though the winter, were either welcoming the robins back from warm southern climes, or they were laughing at them for arriving just in time for a snowstorm.
I walked around the Capitol toward City Creek Canyon and remembered the biggest of all harbingers of spring: The Legislature is almost finished.
Surely, sunny days are ahead.
Deseret News President & Ceo Clark Gilbert says newspapers have three years to change until "permanent reality" occurs. Speaking to the Multimedia Key Executives Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida, Gilbert said, "The industry is forever broken. It will bounce again, but three years from now will be the permanent reality."
Here's an except from a report in News & Tech:
... Gilbert didn't pull any punches as he opened the inaugural Multimedia Key Executives Conference that opened here today.
"Unless you are willing to completely transform yourselves, I don't have a lot to say to you today," he told the more than 470 newspaper executives attending the conference.
"A complete transformation is necessary to move forward and to be competitive" with new businesses entering the marketplace, he said, adding that he believed the industry has a three-year window to make the necessary changes.
Gilbert has overseen a dramatic change at the Deseret News, which last spring launched a digital-centric strategy. It also integrated its operations more tightly with sister media outlets KSL Radio and KSL Television in a bid to become the dominant force in Salt Lake City.
Gilbert said emerging competitors, such as Groupon, threaten to do a lot more damage to newspapers, much like Craigslist all but evaporated the industry's classified ad base.
"Groupon is going to destroy the newspaper coupon business," he said.
Read News & Tech report here.
Once the 2011 legislative session ends, redistricting will become a major focus of attention. Thanks to today's amazing tools of technology and the ready availablility of Census data, most anyone can draw new boundaries for legislative and congressional districts.
In fact, one software developer has built his own online mapping tool, called "Dave's Redistricting App." It allows anyone in any state except Alaska to draw district boundaries. Read this excellent Stateline story from the Pew Center on the States that discusses citizen redistricting and the technological tools that make it possible.
Some states will make tools available for citizen groups to draw boundaries. It remains to be seen whether Utah will do so. But, no doubt, groups will create their own districts and compare them to what the Legislature produces. Clearly, redistricting has been democratized. Legislators, congressmen, and citizens alike will be able to participate in and monitor redistricting like never before. It's no longer a back-room process that few people understand or have access to.
It makes sense for the Utah Legislature to make the redistricting process the most open and participatory process ever conducted. The still-to-be-appointed Redistricting Committee should invite recommendations from anyone and everyone. They should explain far and wide the process and the requirements and guidelines they must follow. They will avoid a lot of criticism if they make the process transparent and open. They should create a redistricting web site and mount a strong communications effort to reduce suspicion and misunderstanding. They can co-opt independent efforts if they welcome the input.
Best line heard at the Salt Lake County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner: "Carl Wimmer is by all means a perfectly good name. But think of the missed opportunity when Carl's mother failed to name him Jimmer."
At Utah Policy.com we do daily national news searches to see what the national media outlets are saying about Utah politics and politicians. Our news aggregator says that, by far, Utah is in the national news more today than at any other time since we launched UPD in 2004. Here is what has kept the national media eye focused on Utah:
Major coverage began last year with Sen. Bob Bennett's primary defeat, which drew an unprecedented amount of attention because it fit perfectly with the media's preferred narrative of the Tea Party as an irrational, destructive political force. Even now, half a year later, there are several articles every day that at least mention or reference it.
Sen. Orrin Hatch has always been in the news, but he's raised his profile lately by becoming the standard-bearer in the Senate for the GOP's fight against Obamacare. If he gets a serious challenge from the Tea Party in 2012, he'll generate a hurricane of coverage, win or lose.
Congressman Jason Chaffetz is a media darling, always tweeting, always ready to give a colorful quote; he seems to calculate everything he says and does to generate the maximum amount of press attention.
Congressman Jim Matheson is one of the top two or three leaders of the Blue Dog Democrats; since the GOP regained the House he's become a crucial fulcrum vote both for and against Obama's most important initiatives, and thus generates a lot of press.
Congressman Rob Bishop has been aggressively spearheading the House GOP's efforts to oppose Obama's public lands, space, and border enforcement policies. Bishop spent years with hardly any media coverage. Now he gets a lot.
Sen. Mike Lee generated news when he won the primary and general elections, but he's really been making waves since he took office. The liberal media is fascinated with his "extremist" views on the Constitution, federal spending, and limited government.
Mitt Romney's presidential candidacy drew enormous attention to Utah, some of it indirectly, but now with both Romney and Jon Huntsman in the presidential mix, it will create a perfect storm of stories about Utah and Mormonism.
As debate rages about healthcare reform, Utah's health insurance exchange is mentioned quite a bit. The shootings in Arizona put a spotlight on Utah's loose gun regulations, and many are watching to see if Utah follows Arizona's lead on immigration reform, or takes a softer position due to the moderating influence of the LDS Church.
In a time when so many states are about to go bankrupt, Utah's fiscal discipline, it's ability to poach companies from California, it's growing film industry, and it's imaginative economic development programs are gaining notice. Michigan's recent hiring of John Nixon was a reflection of Utah's reputation as one of America's best-managed states.
Utah's Legislature always generates coverage, usually of the derisive sort; the national media delighted recently in mocking Rep. Carl Wimmer's "state gun" proposal.
The Utah State Archives is pleased to announce that the 116-year-old Utah State Constitution is now available with a full-text search on its web site. The Utah State Archives is also the custodian of the record which now may be viewed alongside a typescript taken from the 1898 Revised Statutes of Utah at http://archives.utah.gov.
The “engrossed” copy of the Constitution was adopted by the Constitutional Convention following completion by the engrossing clerk, Joseph A. Smith, “without blot, erasure or interlineation, on parchment sheets, 11 x 17" on May 8, 1895. Voters in Utah approved the new Constitution in November of the same year, and final approval from President Grover Cleveland came on January 4, 1896, when Utah officially became the 45th state in the Union. A complete archival description of the original record will also be available.
“The State Constitution is an important historical record. It is the original document of citizen’s rights in Utah,” comments the State Archivist, Patricia Smith-Mansfield. “Having online access provides the public a wonderful opportunity to see the original State Constitution.”
The Utah State Digital Archives provides over half a million images of historical records online and free to the public, including death certificates from 1904-1959. With worldwide online access, patrons have the ability to do research from anywhere while the State Archives efficiently fulfills its mission “to provide quality access to public information.”
Should the war on the federal budget deficit ultimately be won, former U.S. Comptroller David Walker is likely to emerge as one of its battlefield heroes.
Walker delivered his compelling and timely sermon of economic repentance to a luncheon mix of Utah local and state elected officials on Wednesday (Jan. 26), warning that the ongoing fiscal madness being engaged in by the federal government cannot continue.
The former head of the U.S. Government Accounting Office for nine years under presidents Bill Clinton and George Walker Bush, Walker pulled no punches explaining how the current trajectory of U.S. Government spending is unsustainable and why changes must be made to sidestep economic calamity.
Walker told the audience that America has strayed from the principles and values that made it a great nation to the point where the future is at risk. “We think we are a great country and a great nation but we aren’t as great as we think.”
He said Tuesday night’s State of the Union address is a case in point. “The tone and tenor were positive and the delivery eloquent, but the president missed an opportunity to state to the American people where we (really) are.”
The U.S. is heading toward an “unacceptable” outcome and state and local officials find themselves on the frontlines of the battle. “State and local governments must lead the way,” Walker urged, suggesting that the states must be the experiments that the founding founders intended so that their successes can then be replicated at the national level.
In that regard, he believes Utah to be in much better shape than many other states, some who may soon be looking to Washington to help solve their individual economic morasses. “But thinking the federal government will bail out the states is unrealistic,” he said.
Walker, who now leads the Comeback America Initiative, has been preaching against what he sees as unrealistic, unsustainable and unfunded government commitments for providing health care and bloated entitlement programs, such as Social Security. His newest endeavor promotes fiscal responsibility and sustainability on a non-partisan basis to solve the nation's fiscal imbalances.
This is not just an economic issue, it’s a moral issue. The path we’re on is not moral,” Walker said.
He also told his Salt Lake audience, sprinkled with high school student leaders from up and down the state, how he deplores the nation’s young people being “had” under the present system of kicking the can down the road largely because they tend not to vote. He said this group will continue being targeted until that changes.
Walker once told a national television audience, "You know the American people, I tell you they are absolutely starved for two things: the truth, and leadership."
Utah's elected officials just received healthy doses of both.
Having lived in Washington for five years, I can say the time I get most homesick for Utah is the end of January: during the Sundance Film Festival.
News articles about the festival, friend’s Facebook status updates about which stars they’ve met, and scenes of snowcapped mountains behind entertainment reporters remind me of the 10 days out of the year where Utah is the coolest place in the world.
See Utah, much as we love it, doesn’t command much attention nationwide. There aren’t very many of us, and the state doesn’t have the financial prominence or history of other small states (like Connecticut or Massachusetts). While virtually every TV series is set in New York or California, the best Utahns can hope for is a show set in Las Vegas or Colorado. (And even then those are pretty rare.)
Ultimately the reason Robert Redford chose Park City for his film festival is precisely because Utah is overlooked by many on the outside – he wanted Sundance to be independent from mainstream cinema and culture. Of course, he’s been so successful that he’s become the mainstream in many ways.
The oddity of Sundance is that while you have so many outsiders focused so intently on Utah, you have so few people in Utah actually paying attention to Sundance. (That would probably describe me too, were it not for the two years I worked for the Park City newspaper.) This is probably because so little about Sundance actually has to do with Utah. Sure, there will be the occasional bash-fest (such as last year’s Prop 8 movie), and Sundance also gave birth to “Napoleon Dynamite” – but such films are rare.
Even when a lot of people are looking toward Utah, they’re not really looking at it. This is perhaps the reason that so many Utahns get enthusiastic for political movements like the Reagan Revolution or the Tea Party – they see a wave washing across the fruited plain that echoes their own long-held values. Throw in Reagan’s line about the Mormon Tabernacle being “America’s choir” or Glenn Beck’s frequent references to his religion, and many Utahns are hooked.
See even if Utah don’t command a lot of attention nationwide, it’s fun to see people nationwide voting like Utahns.
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Olympics gave Utah a five-ring economic boost (Salt Lake Tribune)
European troubles affect Utah (Davis County Clipper)
Black Diamond Prices Public Offering of Common Stock (Park Record)
Legacy of 2002 Winter Olympics lives on in Utah's economy (Deseret News)
A month out, City Creek tenants in hurry mode (Salt Lake Tribune)
Reclamation success: Salt Lake City warehouse gets a new life (Salt Lake Tribune)
| 0 | | Barrick Sees Gold Stocks ‘Inflection Point’ as ETFs Nab Funds: Commodities (Bloomberg)
Express Scripts 4th-qtr profit lower than expected (Reuters)
Duke Energy, Progress File New Market Plan For Merger (Dow Jones)
Media General says exploring sale of newspapers (Reuters)
S.E.C. Charges 2 Chinese Executives With Fraud (New York Times)
Bankruptcy Judge Approves Solyndra Bonuses (Associated Press)
Home sales rise, but prices will be slow to follow (USA Today)
72 comments AT&T CEO pay docked $2 million for T-Mobile debacle (CNNMoney)
Fuller Brush Files for Bankruptcy (Wall Street Journal)
Global markets ease, focus moves to growth, oil (Reuters)
Why Debit-Card Overdraft Fees Are Under Scrutiny Again (Bloomberg)
IMF turns sights to its Greek bailout contribution (Reuters)
Hewlett-Packard Forecast Misses Estimates (Bloomberg)
Obama proposes cutting corporate tax rate to 28% from 35% (Los Angeles Times)
Shares Down Modestly, Ending a 4-Day Streak (New York Times)
