I'm an accountant. As such I've done tax returns in the past as part of my employment, and still do a few here and there each year. One of my biggest pet peeves is people having a large withholding balance at year end when they don't really need one. See,' [...]
I attended the Sutherland forum on the state budget this afternoon. The panelists were Representative Rob Bigelow, Salt Lake Chamber president Lane Beattie, Deputy State Superintendent Dr. Martell Menlove, and former Governor Norm Bangerter.
Lane Beattie spoke first, stating that this is "one of the most difficult years in" [...]
I recently discovered that our state Medicaid program is incredibly inept at catching fraud. Why is this important, you ask? Because 60 Minutes just did a piece about how Medicare is being defrauded out of $90 billion a year because they too are inept at catching it.
I recently discovered that our state Medicaid program is incredibly inept at catching fraud. Why is this important, you ask? Because 60 Minutes just did a piece about how Medicare is being defrauded out of $90 billion a year because they too are inept at catching it.
I recently wrote about an interview NPR conducted with the author of a new book which shows that Lyndon Johnson lied to the American public in order to get Medicare passed. In the words of the author, "One of the things he did was suppress the costs...if the true" [...]
In August Utah's Legislative Auditor General released the findings of its audit of the state's Medicaid program. What it found was a program which spends $1.7 billion a year, but has almost no oversight of where it's going.
Reading through the 100 page report, I was struck by' [...]
From the inbox:Dear Sir/Madam, Our company was founded in 1977 . The company produces various clothing materials, batiks, assorted fabrics and traditional costume.As a result of our competent records for treating customer demands and supplies, customers have refered us to other possible clients and we have been recieving [...]
The Deseret News ran another editorial advocating reducing Utah's class sizes. They reiterated the statistics showing Utah as last in per pupil spending, as well as polls showing most Utahans believe class sizes are too large and education spending is too small. Quoting Benjamin Franklin, the News writes, "The'" [...]
I attended the Sutherland Institute's blogger briefing on civility this past Tuesday. Rob Miller and Dave Hansen formed the panel, and a small group of bloggers were present to ask questions. Most of those who attended have written about the event, including Connor, Frank, David, and Trenton' [...]
NPR recently interviewed James Morone, who co-authored a book entitled, "The Heart of Power: Health and Politics in the Oval Office." The interview centered on how President Lyndon Johnson pushed Medicare through Congress until its ultimate passage. Mr. Morone and Renee Montagne, who interviewed him for NPR, both assume [...]
Scripture study yesterday got me thinking, so I put some thoughts to paper. Here's what came out:
One of the most important, yet often forgotten, doctrines of the Gospel is found in 2 Nephi 4:15-35. These verses are sometimes called “Nephi’s Psalm”. Nephi’s father Lehi has just passed' [...]
One of the principles of accounting is to match revenue and expenses to the period they are incurred. That becomes problematic when you are working on a long term project like building a house. You might start the house in August but not finish and sell it until February. Under [...]
Those crazy right wing extremists are at it again, calling president Obama a fascist:
From the Huffington Post:A memo obtained by the Huffington Post confirms that the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby secretly agreed to precisely the sort of wide-ranging deal that both parties have been denying [...]
From the AP:Twenty years ago Wednesday, members of Hungary's budding opposition organized a picnic at the border with Austria to press for greater political freedom and promote friendship with their Western neighbors.
Once the initial group got through hundreds more East Germans joined them. Still vivid in Bella's [...]
First, for Larry O'Donnell to cluck cluck about having a rational debate without yelling and screaming is incredibly ironic considering his meltdown about Mitt Romney's mormonism. You can watch it here. But really, that's indicative of' [...]
I've read in a few places how the lies being spread in the media and elsewhere about Health Care reform are distorting the public's perception of the issue and making it difficult to have a rational debate. So I've put together a quick list of lies I've come across:
In response to the very vocal opposition to the health care reform plans being railroaded through Congress, the White House recently asked US citizens to send them any "fishy" (their word) information they may have gotten in emails and the like.
The first video shows clips of President Obama and others explaining how a public option is the first step to getting rid of private health care. The second is a quick follow up from the White House's youtube page showing President Obama promising that if you like your current doctor' [...]
"If it [health care] is paid for by a surtax on the wealthy -- and I am wealthy -- can I then stop poor people from smoking and eating ice cream. 'Cause I see them on the subway and I want to say 'Hey! Dude. You're costing me money.'"
My post about the dishonest uninsured statistic from a couple of months ago got a revealing response. I thought this political cartoon further explains the point:
From Phil Levy comes a wonderful take on what the calls for a second stimulus reveals about the first stimulus.The extent of spending in 2011 and beyond under the initial package can have one of two interpretations. Either this was the excess that spilled over after all sincere attempts [...]
Sarah Palin announced her resignation as governor of Alaska recently. The specifics of her reasons for resigning are sketchy, though level headed observers intimate it's likely because she tired of the attacks on her family coupled with the time and money lost defending against frivolous lawsuits.
It seems that despite backgrounds hailing from Princeton, Harvard, MIT and Yale, in the end, bloggers are bloggers.On the issue of tone, I again think I understand Paul's point of view. He likely believes that civility is overrated. He seems to think that in the blogosphere, and perhaps in [...]
ESPN columnist Bill Simmons writes that the golden era of baseball was the five year span of 1988-1992. That just so happens to coincide with my introduction to the sport. The era began with me as a ten year old just beginning to scour and memorize the backs of [...]
A few years ago I watched a Denzel Washington movie called Deja Vu. Aside from being a pretty solid movie, it was also set and filmed in New Orleans. Filming actually began before the 2005 hurricanes, but instead of finding another locale to finish shooting, the movie's producers went back' [...]
In chapter four of Mere Christianity we are told that since the beginning there have been two views of the world,; the Materialist view, and the Religious view. However, in a note at the end of the chapter, CS Lewis explains that there is actually an "In-between view called Life-Force" [...]
Reverend Wright recently has come under scrutiny for remarks he made to a reporter about the president of the United States being controlled by "them Jews". Referring to President Obama, he told reporter David Squires that, "them Jews ain't going to let him talk to me. I told my'" [...]
I attended Sutherland's forum on SB 81. There were four panelists: Representative Chris Herrod, Senator Luz Robles, Representative Stephen Sandstrom, and Mrs. Dee Rowland of the Catholic Diocese. Each was given time for a presentation/speech, and then it was opened to questions from the attendees. The crowd had a bit' [...]
So I started reading CS Lewis' Mere Christianity. I have previously read The Screwtape Letters, and I love Lewis' simple profundity. The last paragraph of chapter one in Mere Christianity follows this pattern:These, then, are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, [...]
President Obama's $1.1 trillion stimulus package is not delivering the expected economic benefits, even according to the President's own benchmarks. The President projected that his stimulus package would prevent the unemployment rate from exceeding 8%. Today, the Bureau of Labor' [...]
I would like to posit a theory, or perhaps make a prediction. The US will never pay off its national debt. Here's why:
Today's prevailing economic theory is that when the government spends money it grows the economy. Therefore, the government should play a significant role in making everyone [...]
Broadcast on Sunday, Mother's Day, a transcript from their websiteMother Teresa, known the world over for her great compassion, was once asked what she considered the most significant honor she had ever received. There were many to choose from, including the Nobel Peace Prize. But she surprised her questioner' [...]
From the Daily Herald. This is the paragraph that makes it so:It's a thrill just to get another story about James T. Kirk, Spock, Leonard "Bones" McCoy and the rest of the "original series" crew. Picard/Riker/Data, Sisko/Kira/That-Guy-Who-Sleeps-in-a-Bucket, Janeway/Big Chief First Officer/The-Borg-Chick-in-the-Spandex-Bodysuits and Capt. Dude from "Quantum Leap"/The Hot Vulcan/Was-There-Anybody-Else-on-That-Show?' [...]
From economist Keith Hennessey comes a really interesting breakdown of how many uninsured people there are in the United States, and how many of those people actually need/want insurance. Since the 46 million number appears prominently in the national health care debate, this information is very valuable.
Much was made of Israel's military action in the Gaza Strip late last year. A lot of the news centered on the civilian suffering and casualties caused by the engagement.
A new report by the group Human Rights Watch, and discussed here by Richard Cohen, sheds' [...]
Alaska relies heavily on its tourism industry for revenue. A major part of that industry is cruises. In an effort to make the cruise lines "pay their fair share", the state passed a referendum in 2006 which increased taxes on the cruise lines for every passenger they brought to Alaska. [...]
Eagle Mountain passed a tax increase last fall in order to get an express bus line to Salt Lake City. You can read my previous posts on the topic here. The bus service began this month, and not everyone is pleased with it.
In a column blasting basketball player Allen Iverson, Jason Whitlock makes an interesting observation,Iverson is a one-man, no-country Army, more than likely the victim of a dysfunctional upbringing that left him incapable of embracing the concepts essential to teamwork, winning and sacrifice for the benefit of others.
Here's what's wrong with high school, AAU, college and professional basketball.
Lance Stephenson is a 6-5 senior at Lincoln HS in New York, and one of the best schoolboy players in the country. But he's strictly a one-man show, who always insists' [...]
I wrote about my flirtation with the Democratic Party, and how the last election was the final nail in the flirtation coffin, here. However, with Obama's "Change" candidacy sweeping into the presidency, and Democrats increasing their hold over Congress, the Democratic Party was supposed to be marching to total' [...]
As discussed here, Eagle Mountain is considering an application for a group home for substance abuse rehabilitation. The application was tabled at the last city council meeting, and is now scheduled to be reviewed again at the meeting on April 7th. In a Daily Herald news article, Gloria [...]
John Kass, in the Chicago Tribune:Obama told Jay Leno he was surprised that those greedy AIG executives who helped lead the country into financial ruin were in line to receive $165 million in bonuses paid for by bailout cash authorized by his administration.
So argues Martin Feldstein of the Washington Post,President Obama's proposal to limit the tax deductibility of charitable contributions would effectively transfer more than $7 billion a year from the nation's charitable institutions to the federal government. But the high-income taxpayers affected by the rule change are likely to cut [...]
But the American auto industry, under pressure, has invested heavily in the small-car and hybrid market. So it should probably not be a surprise that auto industry leaders like Alan Mulally of Ford have called for higher gas taxes, an idea Detroit once abhorred.US automakers got creamed by the [...]
"Because the American taxpayer now owns 80 percent of AIG, they should have full access to anything and everything they own, including their country club memberships, their recreation facilities, their built-in swimming pools"So said Jeff Meyer, a passerby to the protests outside of an AIG employee's house.
I went to my city council meeting last week to hear the debate surrounding whether or not to allow a substance abuse group home in Eagle Mountain. The home would be called Ark of Eagle Mountain and would house up to eight people undergoing substance abuse rehabilitation programs in a [...]
Investors Business Daily is touting the following economic information as indicators that the economy is on the upswing. I wonder, is it true? • A broad rally in stocks, confirmed last Thursday, continuing into this week and led by the beaten-down financials.
“Brethren, noble fatherhood gives us a glimpse of the divine attributes of our Father in Heaven. A father should be many things. He should magnify his priesthood and be an example of righteousness. In companionship with his wife, he should be the source of stability and strength for the whole [...]
"The scripture passages "As ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40) and "Remember in all things the poor and the needy" (D&C 52:40) take on special meaning as we review highlights of humanitarian endeavors.
Another great TED Talk:The Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra (Sinfónica Juvenil Teresa Carreño) is the national high school age youth orchestra of El Sistema, Venezuela's groundbreaking, life-changing musical education program.
Like other large faith groups, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sometimes finds itself on the receiving end of attention from Hollywood or Broadway, television series or books, and the news media. Sometimes depictions of the Church and its people are quite accurate. Sometimes [...]
A UTA express bus line is coming to Eagle Mountain this Spring. I discussed the line here and here. I had questions concerning the cost and subsidy the bus line required, particularly since the cost to ride the bus remains pretty high.
Soon to be up for consideration in Congress is the Employee Free Choice Act. According to the Huffington Post, Big Labor is "very pleased" that President Obama has been more outspoken in his support for the bill.
Hold up. You mean to tell me that higher taxes cause less productivity?
Who knew?"President Barack Obama's tax proposal – which promises to increase taxes for those families with incomes of $250,000 or more -- has some Americans brainstorming ways to decrease their pay.
President Obama spoke about the Iraq War recently. There were a few things that caught my eye because of their contrasts to the rhetoric used by the president and the president's party since 2003."To understand where we need to go in Iraq, it is important for the American people'" [...]
Las Vegas continues to get pounded because of its image. After an initial refusal to cancel their incentive trip to Vegas, Wells Fargo finally caved to public pressure:Wells Fargo & Co. abruptly canceled Tuesday a pricey Las Vegas casino junket for employees after a torrent of criticism that [...]
My grandmother sent this to me last week. I've been to Monroe where she grew up, and I've seen the house she writes of here. It truly was a different world they lived in, and what's truly remarkable to me is to think that it wasn't really that long ago. [...]
One month in and his approval rating went from 68% to 63%. Jimmy Carter had the highest approval rating at this point, at 71%. Of course, at 55%, Reagan's approval was the lowest since Nixon, so the title of this post could just as easily' [...]
Makes people not want to go there any more,Born of carefully crafted slogans — "What happens here stays here" — and smiling, sequined showgirls, the image of a 24-hour adult Disneyland with free-flowing liquor and casino chips is making the tourist destination seem radioactive to companies keen on not [...]
My daughter is painfully shy. She does not like to have attention fall on her, and at times will not speak or even look at people she doesn't know or doesn't know well. Even people she does know and likes still may not get much outward attention from her. [...]
Here Each extra drink per day increased the risk of breast, rectal and liver cancer, University of Oxford researchers reported Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The type of alcohol — wine, beer or liquor — didn't matter.This supports a another study from two years' [...]
How will he do it?"he wants to reinstate a pay-as-you-go policy on federal spending programs, get rid of programs that do not work and end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas."Pay-as-you-go = the bill for all of the profligate spending of the last [...]
A few days ago I posted a link to Harvard economist Greg Mankiw's blog post listing a number of economic principles about which economists generally agree. Number 4 on that list was,4. Fiscal policy (e.g., tax cut and/or government expenditure increase) has a significant stimulative impact on a less' [...]
There is a bill at the Utah Legislature that would make it easier for professionals to be teachers as well. Information on the bill's status can be found here.
It's passed initial votes in the Senate so far, and has a House sponsor, but there have been some [...]
The local ABC TV news station reported Utah State Senator Chris Buttars saying the following quotes in a not-yet-released documentary about Proposition 8:"They're mean. They want to talk about being nice. They're the meanest buggers I have ever seen."
“It's just like the Muslims. Muslims are good people' [...]