Paul Mero

The hot story this week is the presidential decree establishing the Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah. With a swipe of his pen, President Obama set aside over one million acres of Utah wilderness as land too sacred, too historical, too intergenerational and too pristine to be left in the control of anyone and anything short of the all-seeing and all-powerful federal government.

Utah conservatives are up in arms. They say President Obama abused the Antiquities Act (he did). They say his timing in doing so as he leaves office feels politically motivated (it does). They say he ignored the broader interests of Utah and the nation (clearly he did). And they say they will do everything in their power to undo what has been done (and clearly they will try). read more

On the political right, the free market is the holy grail of prosperity. And rightly so. Market-based economies have lifted more people out of poverty than any other economic system devised by man. After all, that is the purpose of any moral economic order: human happiness.

Sometimes the political right forgets that end game. Sometimes the political right sees the means as end and forgets that, like all other human systems, the market economy has its own ecology comprised on many components that ensure its success. Honest observers understand that free markets have their weaknesses. They do well to encourage work and private property. But free markets do poorly for people who find it hard to work or simply cannot possibly compete for a variety of reasons. read more

Prior to this year’s presidential election, four times in our history has a candidate become president without winning the popular vote. In 1824, John Quincy Adams lost both the popular vote and the electoral vote to Andrew Jackson. But Jackson fell short of the electoral votes needed that year to claim the presidency. That election fell to the House of Representatives to decide and it chose Adams. I’ll come back to this example in a minute.

In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes won the electoral vote, by one vote, but lost the popular vote by a quarter million votes to Samuel J. Tilden. In 1888, Benjamin Harrison won the electoral vote over Grover Cleveland to claim the presidency but lost the popular vote. And, in 2000, you might recall that George W. Bush became president while losing the popular vote to Al Gore. Of course, now we have the 2016 election as well. As of this date, Hillary Clinton is almost three million popular votes ahead of Donald Trump who won the electoral vote to become president. read more

When it comes to taxes I am definitely prejudiced. I can’t stand them. In fact, I cannot remember a tax increase on a state or local ballot that I have voted for. This past election there was another tax increase on the ballot and, without even thinking about it, I voted against it. It’s not that I refused to think about it. It’s just that I already had thought about it years ago and decided to vote against any and every tax increase.

Maybe moving from an employee to an independent contractor re-lit my anti-tax fervor. All of my business income is taxed as personal income, not unlike nearly every small business. I thought paying $40,000 in taxes was a lot until the TurboTax counter spun up another $40,000 last year. Eighty thousand dollars in taxes! I still almost choke on those words. Maybe rich people are used to those kinds of numbers and have figured out ways to shelter income and avoid paying (I’m thinking Donald Trump). But I’m a regular guy and my heart tells me that regular people shouldn’t have to pay those kinds of taxes. read more

In over 8-plus years of these radio commentaries I have been generous with the Robert Louis Stevenson quote about honesty. He wrote, “To tell the truth, rightly understood, is not just to state the true facts, but to convey a true impression.”

Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, President-elect Donald Trump was fond of calling his opponents names such as “Lyin Ted” and “Little Marco” and especially “Corrupt Hillary.” In fact, during one speech, Trump referred to Hillary Clinton as a “dirty rotten liar.” Hillary was deemed corrupt largely because she was deemed a pathological liar. Voters, ultimately, didn’t trust her. But interestingly, neither did they trust Trump. And now, post-election, we can see why Trump was so mistrusted. read more

The morning after election night I found myself whistling “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow.” And it did. And it was beautiful. I was reminded of the words from conservative godfather Russell Kirk, “Politics is not the whole of life.” Indeed, it’s not even the most important part of life.

Of course, I was as shocked as any person watching Donald Trump’s victory unfold late into the night. Frankly, it was unbelievable. But true nonetheless. Watching Fox News, as soon as they announced that Hillary had conceded to Trump, the Trump supporters outside the studio began chanting, “Lock her up!” – the same chant heard throughout the Republican National Convention that nominated Trump. I thought of all of the good (i.e. not crazy) people who voted for Trump. Is that what they were thinking, “Lock her up”? read more

Now that the circus we call the 2016 presidential election is coming to a close, the biggest election year story has to be the Mormon vote. The Republican nominee calls it the “Mormon problem.” The Democratic nominee campaigns in deeply red Utah like she actually has a chance to win. And a third party candidate, a Mormon, looks as if he might actually win Utah.

It’s a proud moment for me. All throughout my professional career I’ve expounded the idea of Mormon exceptionalism. Many times I’ve been deeply disappointed in the Mormon vote. A few times I have been gratefully surprised. Mostly I’ve been concerned at the ongoing indifference expressed civically by members of my faith. I’ve applauded the Mormon stand for family and marriage, not to mention expressions of human dignity and reasonableness that surfaced in the state immigration debate. I shake my head in disbelief over our lack of insight and foresight pertaining to issues such as gay rights and the legalization of pot. read more

Today, the 178th anniversary of the Mormon extermination order in Missouri, is as good a day as any to remind Utahns for Trump why Latter-day Saints have deep concerns about his candidacy.

Well settled in the memories and histories of Latter-day Saints is Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs’ executive order to his state militia to remove Mormons, by deadly force if necessary, from the state. Mormon “crimes” included practicing a different religion and believing that slaves should be freed. Of course, the biggest crime for the Latter-day Saints was that they were different and they began to congregate in one place. read more

I felt a great sense of loss after separating from Sutherland Institute just over two years ago. A lot of work had been put into building its conservative brand and reputation. Furthermore, an impetuous and unceremonious firing only heightened my feelings of loss. It was stunning and it hurt. But, as with most of life’s trials, there was a silver lining, a liberation of sorts that perhaps many conservatives and Republicans should experience.

Shortly after separating I received a call from the Governor’s office inviting me to stand with Governor Herbert at his press conference introducing the Healthy Utah plan. Sutherland was opposing the governor’s plan. I accepted the personal invitation nonetheless. In fact, I went on to defend the plan rather aggressively. It was the right thing for Utah – and, as it turned out, it was the conservative thing. Opponents of extending eligibility for Medicaid ended up supporting “expanding” it anyway covering fewer people for more money. read more

Nobody could accuse me of being a lackey for public education. Not only did Sally and I home school our six children, K-12, but professionally I have pushed for parental rights, local control and self-reliance in education throughout Utah. I supported school vouchers and tax credits before that. I’m infamous for authoring a lengthy essay titled Saving Education & Ourselves: The Moral Case for Self-Reliance in Education.

In that essay I wrote, “government schooling does indeed have a proper role in society, but it is a limited and welfare role,” and I concluded the essay with the following recommendations: read more