Situational Analysis | December 7, 2021

It's Tuesday, Dec. 7, the day that still lives in infamy. My father was 9 days old when my grandmother hid under the bed with him on Oahu as Japanese bombers flew low overhead. My grandfather was already at work in the shipyards and stayed, working around the clock, for days. Later, my grandmother became a "Rosie," working in the Bremerton Navy Yard as a riveter. ❤️

Be in the Know

1. Governor Cox's approval rating is holding steady at 60% as he heads into the final month of his first year in office. A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll shows his approval ratings have ticked up after a slight dip in October. Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute, says that Governor Cox was elected with 63% of the vote and has stayed within the margin of error all year. He also noted that "any elected official would be grateful to stay steady" after the difficult issues faced by the state this year. 
2. Congrats to Ryan Cowley, the state's new elections director. He is currently the Weber County elections director, helped found the Olene Walker Institute and currently serves on the Voter Registration Database committee. Cowley graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business information systems from Utah State University and received his MPA from Brigham Young University. He begins his new position next week, Dec. 13. 

FROM OUR SPONSOR

Supporting small businesses you can trust

Overstockstock.com supports the businesses you trust: women owned, veteran owned, AbilityOne and small business. Create a FREE account at overstockgovernment.com and purchase your supplies from State Contract MA3638.

Utah Headlines

General

• DNews Editorial Board: 80 years later, the day of infamy still resonates. Those who fought to preserve our freedoms deserve all the thanks and honor the nation has the capacity to give (Deseret News)
• The best tech for road trips this Christmas (Deseret News)
• 😳Sandy daycare shutdown after police find meth during search for child porn (ABC4)
• Loved ones left behind seek changes in mental health coverage for medical caregivers (KUTV)
• Stay in the Grinch's cave in Utah during the holidays - no, really! (Fox13)

Politics

• Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s first year in office is almost over. How are his approval ratings? (Deseret News)
• Weber County official to take over as Utah’s top election official (Standard-Examiner)
• Blake Moore: Why this abortion case could be a turning point for Utah’s pro-life cause. Being pro-life means more than fighting to end abortion. It also means ensuring there is more support for women who are struggling with pregnancy and parenting (Deseret News)
• Bill seeks to put tattoo, microblading and body piercing under state health regulation (Fox13)
• James Greaves: Congress is risking the future of Utah tech companies (Deseret News)
• ‘When I think of the greatest generation, I think of Senator Bob Dole’: Utah leaders reflect on Dole’s lifetime of service (Deseret News)
• Lindon mayor to retire after two decades of service (Daily Herald)
• What’s the political strategy behind the Great Republican resignation in the Utah Legislature? (KUER)
• Sara Jones on the Adoptee Citizenship Act 2021 (Sunday Edition with Doug Wright)
• These business leaders want to make international adoption less complex (Utah Business)

COVID Corner

•  3457 new cases from Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 32 more deaths, bringing Utah's total deaths to 3595.
• Do you still need to wear a mask if you got the COVID-19 booster shot? (ABC4)

Education

• Education, love will guide Davis District after scathing DOJ findings, new assistant superintendent says (Deseret News)
• Utahn penned anti-racism song that sparked Sky View controversy. Greg Miller of Layton Christian Academy wrote "400 Years" after watching Black students face slurs (Herald Journal)
• Concerned residents speak out on Sky View incident at Cache County School Board meeting (Herald Journal)

Environment

• Will EPA help fund Utah Lake island-building project? (Salt Lake Tribune)

National Headlines

General

• Stock futures, oil gain on omicron optimism (Wall Street Journal)
• China says it doesn’t care about Biden’s Olympics snub. Why is it warning of countermeasures? (Washington Post)
• Instagram is touting safety features for teens one day before CEO testifies before Congress. Mental health advocates aren’t buying it. (Washington Post)
• Hawaii governor declares state of emergency as heavy rains bring ‘danger of a disaster’ (Washington Post)

Politics

• Rep. Devin Nunes is resigning from Congress to be CEO of Trump's new media company (NPR)
• Biden to warn Putin of economic pain if he invades Ukraine (AP)
• Surgeon general warns of mental health challenges confronting youth (The Hill)
• Lawmakers drop proposal to add women to the draft as defense bill headaches mount (Politico)

International

• End of an era: Germany’s Merkel bows out after 16 years (AP)
• Desperation drives thousands of Afghans a day across borders (AP)
• Rohingya refugees sue Facebook for $150 billion over Myanmar violence (Reuters)
• Three more missionaries released in Haiti following October kidnapping (Reuters)

News Releases

Gov. Cox orders flags lowered in honor of Sen. Bob Dole life and legacy

Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox has ordered the lowering of the flag of the United States of America and the flag of the state of Utah on all state facilities in recognition of the life and legacy of Sen. Bob Dole.

Flags should be lowered to half-staff immediately until sunset on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. Private citizens and businesses are encouraged to participate as well.

Read the President’s proclamation here.

Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson appoints Ryan Cowley to serve as new state elections director

Lt. Gov. Deidre M. Henderson has appointed Ryan Cowley to serve as the new director of elections in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. 

“Ryan brings such a wealth of experience to the office,” said Lt. Gov. Henderson. “I appreciate his willingness to serve the people of Utah in this new capacity and am confident that under his leadership, Utah’s elections will remain safe, secure, and transparent.”

Cowley currently serves as the Weber County elections director and has 18 years of professional experience in election administration, process management, and information technology. He helped found the Olene Walker Institute to provide professional elections certification for elections teams across the state. In addition, Cowley currently serves on the Voter Registration Database committee and has been an important voice in Utah’s elections innovations for the past 10 years. (Read More)

Curtis highlights addiction testimonials in House Energy & Commerce Hearing

Congressman Curtis spoke last week in a House Energy & Commerce Hearing on Fentanyl. Over 250 constituents sent testimonials about how the crises has affected them, their families, and their communities. (Read/Watch More)

Romney, Kaine applaud administration’s decision to diplomatically boycott Beijing Olympics

U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today released the following joint statement after the Administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.

“We applaud the President’s decision to withhold any diplomatic presence from the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. America must not lend its credibility to the Chinese Communist Party, which represses ethnic and religious minorities—committing genocide against its Uyghur citizens, oppressing the people of Hong Kong, and subjugating the people of Tibet. Never again must the Olympics be awarded to a nation which so blatantly violates the human rights of its own citizens.” (Read More)

Meta launches Neighborhoods

The heart of every community are neighborhoods which has proven true especially over the past 18 months. To give people a new way to connect with people and places in these important communities, Facebook is expanding its test of Neighborhoods, a dedicated space within the Facebook app designed to help you connect with your neighbors, participate in your local community and discover new places nearby. Having just launched in November, residents can join their Neighborhood on Facebook.

The availability of Neighborhoods is timely as the holidays approach. One key feature in Neighborhoods is a Giving Marketplace which enables people to offer items they’re no longer using to their neighbors. It is the Season of Giving and Neighborhoods will empower people to help people in their own community. (Read More)

Number of the Day

Opinion: Does the Constitution hang by a thread?

By Justin Stapley

Some say that large, centralized government began with Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal. Others point to Woodrow Wilson and the expanded powers granted to him as part of his “new freedom” before World War I and during the war as part of his “war socialism.” Some go to Theodore Roosevelt, whose strong personality transformed the US Presidency from a largely symbolic figurehead to the active modern role it plays today, and whose later political efforts introduced a “new nationalism” into the American experience.  

I often go even further into history and comment on the great powers seized by the Radical Republicans after the Civil War, the complications created by the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, and the crony capitalism introduced by big government as they breathed life into big business through the subsidizing of the transcontinental railroads.    

But honestly, if we are to find the actual beginning of big government, we must go to the dawn of time. It all comes down to man’s natural desire for power and the natural urge to accumulate more. This was something the founding fathers understood all too well.....

America is far more than a political structure. It is a belief carved on the heart, a belief in freedom and liberty. If we all keep these things close to our hearts and live up to them, we will weather whatever storms are brought by those whose actions could destroy this country and its founding values. Freedom-loving people are the threads that hold the Constitution together. We are the threads it hangs by. As a freedom-loving people, if we rely upon the strength of our convictions, we can be threads of iron. (Read More)    

Upcoming

• 2022 Congressional Policy Forecast Webinar - Hatch Center – Dec 8, 10:30 am - 11:30 am Register here
• Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit 2022 - SLC Chamber – Jan 13, 2022, 8:30 am - 1:30 pm. Register here
• Utah legislative session begins – Jan 18, 2022, 10:00 am
• Utah legislative session ends – Mar 4, 2022, midnight

On This Day In History

From History.com

• 1787 - Delaware is the 1st state to ratify the US constitution
• 1941 - Pearl Harbor is attacked, killing more than 2000, decimating the US fleet and pulling the US into war
• 1941 - Capt. Annie Fox received the first Purple Heart awarded to a woman for her service while under attack at Pearl Harbor.
• 1970 - Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist whose cartoons inspired the Rube Goldberg contests (Pulitzer Prize 1948), dies of cancer at 87
• 1972 - Apollo 17 launched, the final manned lunar landing mission where the crew takes the famous "blue marble" photo of the entire Earth
• 1982 - Charlie Brooks Jr, convicted murderer became first US prisoner to be executed by lethal injection, at a prison in Huntsville, Texas
• 2006 - Jeane Kirkpatrick, American ambassador to the UN and a key foreign policy figure in Ronald Reagan’s administration, dies at 80
• 2020 - Chuck Yeager, American test pilot who was the 1st man to break the sound barrier, dies at 97

Wise Words

“Words can destroy. What we call each other ultimately becomes what we think of each other, and it matters.”
-- Jeane Kirkpatrick

Lighter Side

“So far, Omicron appears to be milder and more infectious than Delta, and that may be happening because, according to a new study, ‘It shares genetic code with the common cold.’ This pandemic has gone on so long, we’re officially in the remix stage. The next variant’s going to be Covid, featuring shingles, the Skrillex mix."

— STEPHEN COLBERT

– Advertise With Us –

Subscribers may receive special messages with information about new features, special offers, or public policy messages from clients and advertisers.