I’m a state delegate. Last Thursday I got home about 6 p.m. and the phone rang. It was Mike Lee, inviting me to participate in a live phone conference call where he would answer questions. I didn’t stay on the line because I had an event I needed to attend at 6:30 p.m.

I barely hung up and the phone rang again. It was Cherilyn Eager on a recorded call, inviting me to participate in a live on-line town meeting. I put the phone down and it immediately rang again. It was Bob Bennett, inviting me to listen in and ask questions on a live phone conference.

I set the phone down and, again, it rang. “It has to be Tim Bridgewater,” I thought. But no, it was ORRIN HATCH inviting me to participate in a live phone conference starting immediately.

All of this happened within 15 minutes. With the state convention drawing very near, I’m not surprised at all to be inundated with mail and phone calls from the candidates. But I was surprised that Orrin Hatch is acting very much like a candidate more than two years out from his election.

He is obviously seeing the polls and is reading the tea leaves. He’s going to be working the delegates, the party caucus attendees and the opinion leaders hard over the next two years. He has to learn to talk to conservative party activists, to talk their language. He has to convince them he’s not really a Washington insider, or that if he is an insider, he will carry their agenda in Washington. If he’s viewed as being part of the problem, he will be in trouble in 2012.

Hatch has a big communications machine, both within his Senate staff and in his campaign apparatus (which he’s already cranking up), that churns out a lot of material.

Can Hatch stave off a strong intra-party challenge in 2012? He’s clearly going to try. It will be interesting to watch.

If you’re a history buff, like I am, you’re gonna love this story.  In 1961, the Pentagon drew up a contingency plan for a possible confrontation over West Berlin with East Germany.  Even though Berlin is no longer divided, the U.S. Government still says the plan, dubbed “Poodle Blanket” is still classified because it could damage U.S. national security.

The National Security Archive at George Washington University says that “Poodle Blanket” (awesome name, by the way) was a series of diplomatic, economic and military contingency plans that eventually led to nuclear war.  They argue that it’s simply a waste of taxpayer money to keep the documents secret, especially since the Germany situation is settled now.

Is it justifiable to keep documents on "Poodle Blanket" classified? Would declassification reveal "war plans still in effect" or "seriously and demonstrably undermine" U.S. diplomacy?

 

"Spending taxpayers' money withholding 50 year old documents about long-resolved Cold War conflicts is not only a waste but also damages our national security by undermining the credibility of the system that protects real secrets," said Tom Blanton, director of the Archive.

You can read all about “Poodle Blanket” and what we know about the documents here.

TIME magazine has compiled the Top 10 Unfortunate Political One-Liners.

Included are, "I am not a crook," uttered by Pres. Richard Nixon in 1973, and the quote Pres. Bill Clinton will always be famous for: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

Says TIME about the Clinton quote:  "With those words, President Clinton didn't just dig himself a hole, he stole a backhoe, dug a really deep hole, wired the backhoe with explosives and blew it up."   

Read all 10 famous quotes here.

The effort by a Republican Congressman to replace President Ulysses Grant on the $50 bill with Ronald Reagan is not igniting the imagination of most Americans.

A new Marist poll says the effort by North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry is not something they’d like to see.

The poll shows 79% of Americans think the suggestion is a bad idea.  Even more surprising is that 71% of Republicans do not agree with the proposal.  83% of Democrats and 79% of Independents frown on the idea.

Longtime Republican Ray Matthews explains his political conversion to the Democratic Party:

When I was a boy my Dad warned me never to talk to people about two things: politics and religion. He said that people are set in their ways and opinions and the only thing that comes of it is argument. Being a child of the 60s, though, I felt compelled to violate both strictures.

Though not activists, my family does come from a long line of Republicans that trace their lineage back to Lincoln. My siblings, parents, grand-parents, and every cousin that I know have been proud Republicans. There was nary a Democrat among them. My first honk-and-wave was for Goldwater. My first presidential votes were cast for Nixon and then later for Ford. I left the country for a couple of years to convince people to change their religion to mine. When I returned, someone I had never heard of, Jimmy Carter, was president. I promptly went to work to get my guy, Ronald Reagan, elected. I proudly served as a Republican state delegate and RNC supporter. Through the years I've supported Bob Bennett, Mike Leavitt, Olene Walker, and Jon Huntsman, Jr, and was the Republican voting district chair and state delegate for my precinct 4654 as recently as 2004-06.

I have considered myself somewhat open-minded and in every election, at least since 1986, I have voted for Democrats when they were clearly the more qualified candidates. The tradition of Republican politics, though, still coursed through my veins.

My Republican party, the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower is no more. It's been infiltrated and now taken over by rabid, radical extremists. ...

Click to read the full essay. 

Failed political campaigns can be the gift that keeps on giving. 

Remember Derek Smith?  He’s the Republican who ousted former Congressman Merrill Cook in the 2000 Republican primary by a 57%-42% margin.  Smith eventually lost to current Representative Jim Matheson. 

While perusing FEC reports I came across one filed by Derek Smith.  He is reporting more than $1.5 million in debt from his failed run nearly a decade later.  That’s quite a bit of money. 

Sometimes, running for office can leave a lasting legacy that is not a positive.

(From the Center for Public Policy and Administration's newsletter, Policy Perspectives)

When Utah State Senator Dan Liljenquist of Davis County began his service with the legislature in January of 2009, he probably didn’t anticipate what a significant role he would play in his first years in tackling the state’s growing financial worries.

As co-chair of the Retirement and Independent Entities Committee, Senator Liljenquist introduced six retirement bills this session, with four passing. Two in particular, SB63 and SB43, substantially alter the future of retirement for public employees.

In committee meetings prior to the 2010 legislative session, it was made clear that Utah’s unfunded pension liability of approximately $6.5 billion required immediate attention. This inflated unfunded liability stemmed from a 23% loss on investments in 2008, along with an unmet expected return of 7.75%.

At the request of committee members, state actuaries modeled various assumptions of future return on investment, demonstrating the increased contribution rates necessary to compensate for unexpected losses sustained during the recession. Even in models with highly optimistic investment return assumptions, the requisite contribution rates increased dramatically, predicted to quickly reach unsustainable levels. The Retirement and Independent Entities Committee, led by Senator Liljenquist, considered a number of strategies to tackle this problem, resulting in an extensively altered system, with amendments going into effect as early as June 2010.

Read the entire article here.

Want to know how much money Glenn Beck makes? Forbes magazine has a cover story entitled Glenn Beck Inc. An excerpt:

With a deadpan, Beck insists that he is not political: "I could give a flying crap about the political process." Making money, on the other hand, is to be taken very seriously, and controversy is its own coinage. "We're an entertainment company," Beck says. He has managed to monetize virtually everything that comes out of his mouth. He gets $13 million a year from print (books plus the ten-issue-a-year magazine Fusion). Radio brings in $10 million. Digital (including a newsletter, the ad-supported Glennbeck.com and merchandise) pulls in $4 million. Speaking and events are good for $3 million and television for $2 million.

Read the full article here.

OK, so it's probably a little cheesy, dragging family into the campaign. But it's also probably effective. Here's a pretty unique fundraising message from David Harmer, a former Utahn who's running for Congress in California's 11th District (here's his web site:  http://www.harmerforcongress.com):

Dear LaVarr,

Benjamin, my robust eight-year-old, attacks life with such gusto that he's become a frequent patron of Kaiser's minor injury clinic and emergency room. In fact, he's on a first-name basis with several of the doctors, nurses, and support staff there. To his history of burns, broken bones, and stitches, he recently added a new injury: a stab wound. To the thigh. With a pocketknife. Through his jeans. Self-inflicted.

Home when it happened, I heard him shriek and came running.

"Benjamin," I said, a bit crossly, dressing the wound, "what were you doing playing with a knife? And why on earth did you stab yourself?"

"I was trying to get the quarters out," he answered, and he pointed toward one of his most prized possessions: his Statehood Quarters Collector's Album. It lay open on the floor, with about half the quarters missing. Next to each empty slot on the 50-state map was a small gouge mark, about the size and shape that a boy trying to pry out a quarter with a pocketknife might leave.

"The quarters aren't supposed to come out," I said. "Collecting means you save them."

"But I wanted to give them to your campaign," he explained.

Oh.

"Ben, you don't have to do that."

"But I want to, Dad."

I gave him a hug, carried him to the Suburban, and watched as Elayne drove off, heading for the hospital.

Returning to Ben's room, I found, next to the Statehood Quarters Collector's Album, a response card for one of our fundraising events. (I had sent an invitation to each of the kids, wanting them to feel included and important.) Ben had carefully completed the card, writing his name and address, and even filling in the blank for the amount of his contribution: $12.50. With no money in his piggy bank, he had decided to give the only cash he had: his quarter collection.

Now, Ben's is the only injury I know of that resulted from our fundraising drive. But his willingness to sacrifice for the cause of freedom exemplifies the spirit of this campaign. I have been humbled and inspired by the generosity of our supporters, over 1200 of whom rose to the challenge and assured that we attained our first-quarter goals. I'll provide a full report next week, but for now, please know that with your help, the campaign is off to a remarkably strong start.

Cordially,

David Harmer

P.S. I didn't have the heart to accept Ben's quarter collection; over his objections, I returned it. But he has made three subsequent contributions: $2.10 that he earned from a neighbor; $1.00 that Jonas gave him for trading chores and emptying the dishwasher; and $5.00 that Grandma Harmer sent in his Easter card. So I'm proud to report that our first-quarter fundraising totals include $8.10 from Ben.

If you haven't yet contributed the legal maximum, please join Ben in giving as much as you can. You'll be in very good company.

Okay, we get it. A mid-level staffer decides to use her discretion to approve an expense just under her signing authority of $2000 and reimburses a donor for some after hours decadent entertainment. She was wrong to do it and she paid the price by being terminated, because it flat out violated RNC policy and this employee knew better.

The good news is the system worked. That's right it worked. The transparency of what happens to money given to the RNC and expended by the RNC is the sunshine that casts the light of truth on what actually happens. Someone (who was either smart enough - or deviant enough - to know what the Voyeur in West Hollywood was) picked up on a questionable expense. They were able to do that because of transparency.

We ought to applaud the fact that the RNC had a policy forbidding such actions and further did not try to hide, diminish or excuse such a flagrant break with policy. Thank you Chairman Steele for taking swift action and for tasking your staff to further tighten policies to help avoid these incidents from happening again! (had this occurred in another party I'm sure we would have heard something akin to "boys will be boys", blah blah blah... Jay Leno may have had it right when he said, "what do you call Republicans that go to strip clubs, (comic timing pause), Democrats!).

The punishment fit the "crime", a staffer who wantonly disobeyed policy and directives was fired when it came to light that she had indeed violated policy and the funds reimbursed are now being repaid to the RNC... Choices have consequences.

So why the moral outrage, the "slashing and burning" of the RNC image and why punish the other employees and members of the RNC, its leadership, and maybe most especially, the candidates who will need the support of the RNC? I suppose the obvious reason is there are many in the media and some political pundits and insiders who will look to any incident and take any opportunity to tear down and denigrate an organzation that has lofty principles, values and ideals. Further, many will delight in it just because it is the RNC. I do understand that when you espouse moral values that you become a target and expectations are higher than if you do not.

But the incident was handled properly by the RNC and I haven't seen any reports from the media who have indicated how effectively the RNC leadership dealt with this aberration of behavior by one of its employees.

Yes, Choices have consequences... but when someone speeds through a school zone, who receives the consequence? The person who broke the rule. Not the legislative body who passed the ordinance, not the police chief who is charged with enforcing the law. When an embezzler is caught, that person is punished, not the other members of the organization. Especially when there are clear rules and policies in place.

Choices have consequences... not giving to the RNC will create consequences indeed. The consequence of not being able to support state and local parties and candidates. Just think of the impact the RNC had on the races in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachussets after they contributed 10's of millions of dollars into those states' races! What candidate and party will be negatively affected if people decide not to give to the RNC because of this incident?

If you want to see a return to a more conservative congress and a nation more grounded in the Constitution, then giving to the RNC is a great way to show your support for those principles. The party has raised record dollars this year and spent record dollars in support of Republican candidates and in support of other Republican Parties and Committees. This is no time to slow the momentum, especially when you consider what is at stake in November.

Bruce Hough blog: http://www.brucehough.blogspot.com