This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Poll: GOP could lose the House. Shutdown planned months in advance. County My Vote contributors skipped caucus meetings.
Happy Monday. The government shutdown could be hurting the Republican Party in competitive districts, and a new poll shows that the GOP could be in danger of losing the House in next year's election. A poll by Public Policy Polling, commissioned by the liberal group MoveOn.org, shows Republicans behind generic Democrats in 17 out of 24 seats in head-to-head matches. In four other districts, the Republicans are behind the generic Democrats when told the Republican supported the shutdown. [Politico] [Scribd]
-> Outside groups planned this government showdown months ago and even put together a package of talking points, sample tweets and stock responses to the tough questions. [NYTimes] More on the shutdown below.
Topping the news: A majority of the contributors of the Count My Vote initiative did not attend their caucus meetings in the past several years. [Trib]
-> Mormon leaders said their faithful cannot condone same-sex marriage because even if human law changes, God's law hasn't. [Trib]
Tweets of the day: From @RexHuppke: "Tea Party Republicans whose fantasy football teams did poorly this weekend will blame Obama for their draft picks and shut down the league."
And from @owenbarder: "Next time you blame the woes of developing countries on 'poor governance' have a think about how the US government arrived at today."
Shutdown, day 7: "Give us this, our daily scolding:" While Congress has earned the wrath of millions of Americans, one of their critics is the Senate chaplain who pleads daily for the two sides to work together. [NYTimes]
-> House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, says there aren't the votes in the House to raise the debt ceiling and f the Democrats don't start negotiating, the nation will default for the first time ever. [WaPost] [CNN] [NYTimes]
-> Democratic House members are pushing a discharge letter that would force House Speaker John Boehner to allow a vote on a clean continuing resolution bill. If all the Democrats, and 22 GOP House members support it, the bill would have a bare majority. [WaPost] [Politico]
-> The Pentagon will be recalling its 350,000 furloughed civilian workers back to work this week according to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. [WaPost] [Politico] [CNN] [NYTimes]
-> Sen. Mike Lee's shutdown strategy is seen as brilliant by friends and a big mistake by foes. While Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is seen as the face of the shutdown, Lee is known as the strategist behind the scenes. [Trib]
-> A majority of Utahns don't support the move to tie government funding to trying to kill or delay Obamacare and more than one third disapprove of the job performance of Sen. Lee, according to a KSL/Deseret News poll. [DNews]
-> A rally held outside Rep. Chris Stewart's Salt Lake City office targeted the tea party for the federal government shutdown, and urged leaders to open the government. [Trib]
-> An event called Occupy Zion protested the closure of the national parks by hopping the fence and going on a hike. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Gov. Gary Herbert worked with Colorado's governor to share state funds to allow the Utah Army National Guard to assist in rebuilding the flood-damaged highways. [DNews]
-> Utah has 35,000 federal employees, here's an infographic of all of them. [Trib]
Opinion section: According to Paul Rolly the phrase "like father like son" doesn't apply to Rex Lee and his son, Sen. Lee. [Trib]
-> Rolly also says the Utah Transit Authority could learn a bit about customer service from Europe. [Trib]
-> Frank R. Pignanelli and Lavarr Webb discuss the potential lieutenant governor appointees and the odds of them being appointed. [DNews]
-> John Florez says that elected officials need to stop playing sandlot ball with democracy and to accept the rule of the law for every law — even ones you don't agree with. [DNews]
-> A group of county commissioners say that many Utah counties rely too much on the federal government, and it's time to push for more local control. [Trib]
-> Jean Hill says that effective immigration policies will protect our borders more than any security measure could. [Trib]
-> Listen First Project's Pearce Godwin says that the warring factions between parties and ideals needs to end, and the solution is listening to each other. [DNews]
-> The Legislative Vice President of the Utah PTA Ronda Rose says that school trust lands aren't public property, and SITLA shouldn't cave from pressures of outside special interest groups. [Trib]
-> A way to improve the air quality in Utah would be to implement congestion-pricing schemes as seen in some of the more heavily traffic cities in the world. [DNews]
-> The chairman of the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly, Marco Diaz, says the current caucus system isn't perfect and needs improvement, but the Count My Vote initiative isn't the solution. [Trib]
-> Economic geologist Brian K. Jones says that climate change is real and it's irresponsible to ignore it, and in Utah we have an opportunity to switch from carbon fuels to renewable energy. [Trib]
-> Utah Democratic Party Chairman Jim Dabakis pleads with Gov. Gary Herbert to "lead us" and approve the expansion of Medicaid to help needy residents. [UtahPolicy]
-> Former Sen. Bob Bennett offers some facts about the approaching debt ceiling fight and warns that not approving a new limit would be devastating for the country and the world. [DNews]
Weekend in review: The NSA doesn't want you anywhere near the Utah Data Center, or filming it. Three journalists' videos were confiscated and deleted by security personnel recently. [Trib]
-> Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker announced that Salt Lake City residents will receive discount UTA passes. [Trib] [DNews]
-> From our D.C. Notebook: Sen. Orrin Hatch wears black sneakers, while Sen. Mike Lee is Luke Skywalker and Rep. Rob Bishop won't yield until he gets pie. [Trib]
-> Democrat Donna McAleer announced that she will again be running for Congress but she'll will have to go against Peter Clemens for their party's nomination in the 1st District. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Small Salt Lake County arts groups will split $1.76 million acquired from the Zoo, Arts and Parks tax next year. [Trib]
-> Salt Lake City Latinos kicked off a nationwide protest for immigration reform that was held across 100 cities nationally. [Trib]
-> Utah's official website, Utah.gov, was given the Best of the Web award by the Center for Digital Government; the website has ranked in the top three since 2006. [DNews]
-> The effort to turn Millcreek from a township to a city is back on track after a slight hiccup caused by a technicality. [Trib]
-> It's time for the Salt Lake County Council to nominate for open positions of the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District board, but council members debated whether there should be term limits for board members. [Trib]
-> Farmington will host a Meet the Candidates night where residents can meet hopefuls for mayor and City Council. [DNews]
Nationally: The Supreme Court returns to session today and it's fall docket includes some weighty issues like affirmative action, campaign finance and abortion. [WaPost] [NYTimes]
-> Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has head the calls for her to step down so President Barack Obama can appoint a replacement, but she isn't ready to go. [WaPost]
-> Some struggling midwestern cities have turned to a new approach: luring immigrants to move there as a way to revive the cities. [NYTimes]
-> A scientific panel that helped the FDA determine the effectiveness and safety of prescription pain killers was funded through hundreds of thousands of dollars from major pharmaceutical companies. [WaPost]
Where are they?
Gov. Gary Herbert attends the Western States Association of Tax Administrators Conference, holds a budget meeting and discusses school finances with Lt. Gov Greg Bell.
SL Co. Mayor Ben McAdams meets with his senior staff, judges the Salt Lake County Employee Art Show and helps receive the shipment of the emergency WIC food supply.
WVC Mayor Mike Winder attends the funeral of Merril Hutchinson.
President Barack Obama meets with Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.
Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com. If you haven't already, sign up for our weekday email and get this sent directly to your inbox. [Trib]
— Thomas Burr and Jordan Bailey Twitter.com/thomaswburr Twitter.com/thejordanbailey