But Matheson is again tilting at windmills by arguing that members of Congress shouldn't get an automatic pay raise. Members, who currently make $165,200 a year, get an annual cost of living increase and never have to vote to get it. This week, Matheson plans to make his annual effort to get rid of the automatic raise and have members vote to line their own pockets with more of your cold, hard cash.

"At a time when we are tasked to show the American people that we care about fiscal restraint, providing a pay raise to members of Congress without an up or down vote does not honor their faith in our Congress to provide a new direction," Matheson wrote in a letter to the Financial Services subcommittee chairman.

As usual, Matheson - who donates his most recent raise to charity and never fails to send out a news release noting that - will probably try to get a vote on axing the automatic raise, but it won't pass.

It's hard, ya know, to turn down more money, no matter who you are.

'Extreme'

supporters

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney dropped into Utah in February to raise some cash and herald the endorsement of a majority of the state Legislature.

All but 10 of the House Republicans and five of the Senate GOPers said they were backing Romney, the former head of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

It's doubtful those lawmakers had read Romney's comments in the July 2002 issue of Commonwealth Magazine, in which he bashed the single-party dominance in Utah.

"I just came back from living in a state that was overwhelmingly Republican," Romney told the Massachusetts magazine. "And a single-party system generates problems, in my view. In that state, the more extreme wing of the dominant party begins to have more and more political sway, and that de-energizes the great mainstream of citizens. They get turned off by politics and offended by the politicians and become less engaged in the political process."

Wonder what happened when Romney ran into those legislators during his Utah visit this weekend. Any bets on whether he'll air those criticisms while he's asking for donations?

Cannon's habits

Rep. Chris Cannon is a staunch Mormon and doesn't drink or smoke. But Cannon, R-Utah, admitted to The Hill newspaper that he has tried both before.

"He once drank half a glass of beer thinking it was apple juice," feature reporter Betsy Rothstein wrote in a long piece about Cannon's "milkshake diet."

"When he was 11 he took a puff off a cigarette on the Fourth of July."

"It was great," Cannon says. "I realized I like this too much, so I never did it again."

I'm guessing, unlike other politicians, he inhaled.

Calling heaven

You just know that a story is going to be a good read when the headline says, "Bush Cabinet secretary seeks meeting with dead senator."

Apparently, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt's staff needs to pay a tad bit more attention to the news.

The RAW Story this week, quoting a Washington Post blog, noted how someone on Leavitt's staff had called Sen. Craig Thomas' office to set up a meeting regarding presidential nominations. The staffer, it appears, didn't notice that Thomas died on June 4.

Leavitt spokeswoman Christina Pearson told the Post's Mary Ann Akers that she didn't know who from HHS had called Thomas' office but that "obviously it's a mistake."

Congrats, neighbor

Sometimes it pays to be neighbors with members of Congress.

Rep. Rob Bishop took to the House floor this week to congratulate his next-door neighbor in Brigham City, Maria Contreras, for becoming a citizen. Bishop said she was "illustrative of the many immigrants that we openly welcome into this country," and one who obeyed the law and entered the country the "right way."

"So I am very pleased today, Madam Speaker, to welcome a great neighbor, a new American. Hopefully I can convince her to be a voter, because I am very proud of the price she paid to do things the right way, to become a new citizen in this new land," Bishop said.

Bishop held back in urging Contreras to register as a Republican.

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* BURR reports for The Salt Lake Tribune from Washington. He can be reached at tburr@sltrib.com.