This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Since my column on Sunday concerning Mike Lee's squeals about Obamacare and his constant begging for money, the junior senator from Utah has sent two more emails with the same theme: He's trying to save America by defunding the Affordable Care Act, he's a martyr to the cause, and you need to give him a contribution.
The latest one, sent Thursday, pleaded for donations so many times it makes me wonder if he has mortgage problems again.
"My friend, please make an emergency contribution of $35, $50, $100, $250, $500, or whatever you can possibly afford to my campaign today to help me close the deal on defunding Obamacare," he said in the third paragraph of the email.
"Please give whatever you can right away" he said in the 10th paragraph.
"Please give whatever you can right away," he said again in the 18th paragraph.
"I need your help. Please, give whatever you can right away," he said in the 24th and last paragraph, followed by a box that says: "Donate Now!"
I'm beginning to think I will see Lee soon with a cardboard sign on a freeway ramp.
A comparison • While Mike Lee seems to be spending all of his time yipping about Obamacare and begging for money, Utah's other senator, Orrin Hatch, is actually doing his job.
Erin Gorton, of Sandy, is a Utah representative of the International Justice Mission, an organization dedicated to fighting modern-day slavery and, in particular, the child sex-slave industry that is growing in the U.S. and Utah.
She and Pastor Travis Mitchell of Sandy Ridge Community Church attempted to meet with Utah's two senators during Congress' summer recess last month to discuss legislation that would strengthen anti-sex trade laws.
Their attempts to contact Lee through telephone calls and emails placed on his website went unanswered. Perhaps they should have sent him money.
When they contacted Hatch's office, they were granted a meeting with Sharon Garn, a senior staff aide. Gorton said Garn gave them plenty of time to make their case for a bill that would elevate the status of the federal office that investigates human trafficking.
Gorton said she feels optimistic that Hatch, who spoke at a Senate Finance Committee hearing in June about the need to address sex-trade crimes, will sign on as a cosponsor.
Utah, by the way, was given a D by the American Center for Law and Justice and Shared Hope International in a report grading states' efforts against the sex slave trade.
Makes no sense • If you drive all the way up Millcreek Canyon, you come to a parking lot, and from it you can walk a trail south up to Dog Lake and over into Big Cottonwood Canyon. You can also take a trail east that takes you over the divide into the Park City area. Each involves climbing more than 1,200 feet. So here's the question: Who is parking in the designated handicapped parking stalls in that lot?
Makes little sense • Sign spotted at the Harmons store on Redwood Road in South Jordan: "BYU wine glasses $14.99. You save $3."