Author Archives: ptmadmin

In 2008, the Utah State Legislature passed SB81 in an attempt to curb the growth of illegal immigration in the state. Many of us who opposed SB 81 warned that there would be many unintended consequences and that we really wouldn’t discover many of these until it became law – which it did last July 1st.

I received a call from a friend last week who helps Hispanics start businesses in Utah. She told me that several of the folks she’s helped recently were being denied a license to pay sales taxes because they were undocumented and did not have a valid Social Security number. In the past, she told me, no one asked for a Social Security number for someone to start a business. She wondered if I’d look into it. read more

I am so tired of hearing liberals talk about health care as if it’s some alien life form. Health care is pretty simple: take care of yourself, don’t do anything too reckless, don’t over-indulge yourself (and don’t indulge at all in some things), exercise, eat right, get enough sleep, get married, have kids, and stay married. Do all of those things and you’re going to stay pretty healthy.

Notice that good health has very little to do with health insurance. It has nearly everything to do with living right. read more

The Canadian Hockey League is, arguably, the best junior hockey league in the world. Many of its stars go on to become professional hockey players. But what makes them so successful? As author Malcolm Gladwell writes, “You can’t buy your way into [the league.] It doesn’t matter who your father or mother is…nor does it matter if you live in the most remote corner of the most northerly province of Canada. If you have the ability, the vast network of hockey scouts and talent spotters will find you, and if you’re willing to work to develop that ability, the system will reward you.” read more

This week I want to talk about multi-level marketing.  When I was a younger man, and living back in the Washington, D.C. area, a friend of mine approached me about becoming involved in a company called Shakley.  It sold a product line of vitamins and cleaners and cosmetics that used natural ingredients.  My wife, Sally, and I looked over the products, used them for a while, and decided to get involved.  As young as we were, we had entrepreneurial visions of owning our own business and becoming filthy rich. read more

As fate would have it, I have known Joe Cannon for 30 years. Joe is the editor of the Deseret News. I met him just shortly after I joined the LDS Church in the Washington, D.C. area but before my wife, Sally, joined. He helped to teach her the Good Word every Wednesday night at 7:30 for nearly a year. In other words, he’s a good friend and I admire him greatly.

Just before Sally and I moved from DC to Provo to attend BYU, Joe pulled me aside and, in all seriousness, told me, “No matter what you see or hear out there in Utah, the Church is still true.” read more

In a post-911 world, privacy is an elusive ideal. The Patriot Act alone gave government broad powers to be more intrusive in our private lives. And while those powers, arguably, can become too intrusive, few people would argue that 911 didn’t change the way we think about such things.

Technology alone has changed our ideas about privacy – not James Bond-like technical advancements (although I’m sure spy equipment isn’t what it used to be), but reasonable technology designed to share information about our lives. read more

Utah isn’t the only state to favor some private businesses over others. My friend, Darcy Olsen, who runs the Goldwater Institute in Arizona, recently described what’s going on in her state.

As I speak, the Arizona State Supreme Court is deciding a lawsuit to determine whether cities in Arizona can give taxpayer subsidies to private companies.

In 1910, at the state’s constitutional organizing convention, Arizona’s founders banned gifts to private companies through sad experience. In the closing decades of the 19th century, local governments borrowed money to force-feed private railroad development. Pima County outside of Tucson, for example, took out $300,000 in bonds in 1882 for a railroad that promised to build some 100 miles of track. The money was spent but the railroad dissolved after a mere 10 miles of track was constructed. The bonds were worthless, but taxpayers were still on the hook for the money. read more

After another round of devastating defeats at the State Legislature and now, with Jon Huntsman moving on, gay activists in Utah are trying out a new strategy. They’re focusing on more liberal city and county governments such as Summit County, home to many of the resettled California snobs in Park City and other progressives who despise historic Utah.

Last week, the Summit County Council passed a resolution in support of gay rights. Not having the political courage to call the resolution what it really is, the Council titled it “Inclusive Communities: A Vision For Common Ground.” Of course, the “common ground” portion pays homage to the gay rights group Equality Utah and their “Common Ground Initiative.” And why not? They wrote the resolution. read more

Today, I want to shed light on the work of the United Nations – not because I think the UN is a diabolical machine of the New World Order (although I do think that), but because more and more American jurisprudence is looking to international law to achieve radical change in American culture – the gay rights decision in the Lawrence case a few years ago is a perfect example of this judicial hubris: what Justices can’t establish through American precedents and state laws, they now reach across the oceans and grab from international law and treaties. read more