I’m fascinated by data visualization. Expressing complex ideas in a simple way is immensely powerful. In my post yesterday, I linked to a
county-by-county time lapse of unemployment rates. I’ve found some interesting images (complete with a thorough explanation) examining the U.S. economy. The article is interesting, but the [...]
No new pork? Openness? Transparency? Accountability? Apparently folks in DC hope we DON’T remember…. [...] 
Above you see the previous health care bill (1,018 pages); multiply that by two and you’ll have the most recent version (2,047 pages).
The Democrats have rolled out their latest proposal for health care reform. This 2,047 page version closely resembles previous versions and would push [...]
Daring Fireball pointed to this county-by-county time lapse of unemployment rates. Fascinating. It explains some of the differences I’ve observed in the move from Utah to Georgia.
A few things to notice:
Because each frame is a 12-month running average, the map doesn’t show whether some counties have started to [...]
From UPD:
There are two political cultures that we need to change in order to have a healthy “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” in this country. The first is the culture among the voters as defined by how thy [...]
There are two political cultures that we need to change in order to have a healthy “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” in this country. The first is the culture among the voters as defined by how thy [...]
The following is the text of a lecture I gave last night to the Young Americans for Liberty chapter at Utah Valley University:
Throughout the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, those who have been sustained as its leaders have repeatedly spoken out on political matters. [...]
When I read Jay Hutchinson’s post about Why Capital Punishment is wrong I could not sit still without sharing the opposite perspective so that some people can recognize that the issue is not one sided or clear cut. I am not one [...]
“Evil rarely comes upon us all at once, and liberty is rarely lost in one stroke.”
Our federal government is out of control. The sprawling government we have today is markedly different from the one bequeathed to us by our Founders, which “was strictly limited in its scope, guaranteed individual liberty, [...]
November 9th marked two decades since the Berlin Wall came crashing down. As a visual representation of the larger “Iron Curtain”, Berlin’s wall served as a symbol of the separation of and forced isolation by the Eastern Bloc. In the minds [...]
[...] The following is an op-ed I wrote that was published in the Salt Lake Tribune yesterday (my submission is below; the Trib edited it slightly for publication):
Along with the recent announcement of the NSA data center to be built near Lehi came numerous praises of the jobs it would [...]
When I learned that Dede Scozzafava dropped out of the NY-23 race, and even more when I learned that when she dropped out she endorsed the Democratic candidate rather than the Conservative candidate, it really got me thinking about what parties [...]
The Hate Crimes bill recently passed as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act, and President Obama signed it into law. I’ve blogged on the ridiculous nature of “hate crime” legislation before, but now a larger connection is materializing in my mind, [...]
Alexander Hamilton at one point in his political career seemed to have held a very limited view of the federal government’s powers, believing that such things as “agriculture and manufacture” were under the purview of state governments. Not long after taking such a stand, he advocated [...]
Senator Lyle Hillyard, along with Representative Brad Dee, spoke with KCPW about their concerns with the Utahns for Ethical Government voter initiative.It’s sometimes difficult to be appropriately critical of someone you know and respect. But it is important to speak out when you see something wrong.
The St-Ex reports that last Friday Roy High School held a special assembly “to which only minority students were invited to listen to Dave [...]
In over two hundred speeches given between 2002 and 2009, President Obama has referenced “special interests” 212 times. This near 1:1 ratio shows a continual concern (if only a verbalized one) for the influence of these allegedly nefarious groups of lobbyists.
Mr. Obama [...]
The Salt Lake Tribune on our newest senator, Stuart Adams:
Although I had never heard it before, this quote in Utah Policy really captured the essence of some of what I have been trying to convey in posts and comments on what makes an ideal legislator:
“A popular Government, without popular information, [...]
It is absurd to imagine that the former colonists, who abhored British attempts to continually centralize governmental power over them, would in turn create a federal government that possessed the same abusive powers. Yet this is exactly what some opponents to the Constitution of the United [...]
Congressman Jason Chaffetz takes a minute to talk about the new tax imposed on ALL “medical devices”, roughly 80,000 different items. [...] 
Ever heard of the acronyms NDEA, ESEA, EAHCA, IASA, IDEA, or NCLB? All these represent former or current federal laws that did or do regulate public education in the states. What kind of impact have these laws had on state governments, schools, and students? Has that impact [...]
Heard of Doug Hoffman yet? He’s the former Republican, now Conservative party candidate whose popularity just forced Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava to drop out of the NY23 race. Scozzafava is a liberal Republican who supports gay marriage, abortion rights, big labor, union bosses and card check. Before [...]
From Congressman Mike Pence [...] From Congressman Mike Pence [...] 
By Lyle Hillyard
A recent article by the Heritage Foundation provides an exhaustive and compelling list of instances in which supporters of California’s recent Proposition 8 were targeted, harassed, and violently abused by individuals in the opposing camp. While certainly not complete in its [...]
Soon after the election last year in the Wall Street Journal, Gerald Seib wrote about the opportunity presented by the financial crisis for Barack Obama. Perhaps he was simply reacting to Rahm Emanuel’s statement that, “you never want a serious crisis to [...]
At the new federal government rate of $2.2 Million per word this blog post is worth over $62 million.
Senator Steve Urquhart has been blogging about Sex Ed. Quite the discussion happening on his blog.
Barney Frank: We are trying on every front to increase the role of government“ [...] 
If a court doesn’t clearly understand what a law means, the judges always go back to the intentions of those who wrote it. So they should. A law is still the law until it is properly amended. As law, meaning of the Constitution of the United [...]
Some time ago, my local newspaper published a letter to the editor calling for harsher treatment of people that kept dogs that harmed or threatened others. The writer suggested an escalating scale for repeated offenses. The severity of the suggested punishments, the writer felt, would provide a disincentive to owning [...]
Holly has a great post/discussion about why Unity at all costs is the wrong message for the GOP today. Within her post was one small statement that I had been thinking about for weeks:
Too many are not willing to lose . . [...]
So what do you do if you disagree with the Chamber of Commerce and their stand on global warming? You take a few fake signs and throw yourself a press conference, of course……. [...] 
The Governor is committed to building a balanced budget with no tax increase. Gotta respect that. Others, according to Art Raymond's article, believe we'll need to raise about $100 M.
Incessantly, putrescent pundits and politicians blame “The Free Market” for our current economic problems. In reality, the economic crisis is due to the fact that our economy is under far more government control than you’ve been led to believe.
Besides megalomaniacal politicians, the biggest of the free [...]
You can see a list of all upcoming meetings at 
LaVarr Webb on 
Two minute video that cuts to the core of the issue:
