2011 Northern Trust Open

I am a little slow getting this on the blog, but I figured I would share it anyway. Last month I took a break from "tax season" to go enjoy a little piece of heaven. The piece of heaven I am referring to is the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. Riviera CC is the host course of the Northern Trust Open, one of the PGA Tour's premier events on the west coast swing early in the season.

I went with a couple of buddies and spent four days living the high life. We got to watch some unbelievable golf and meet some of the tour players. We met Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Rickie Fowler, Padraig Harrington, Mike Weir, Ryan Moore, Dean Wilson and Daniel Summerhays to name a few. It was fun talking to Daniel Summerhays. Like Mike Weir and Dean Wilson, Summerhays is a former BYU Cougar. He talked with us for a few minutes after he finished his second round. He seemed like a pretty cool guy.

Unfortunately, the fun had to come to an end. But we have already started planning the trip for next year. By the way, Aaron Baddeley won the tournament this year!

The Utah HB477 Mess

It has been widely publicized that the Utah Legislature passed, and Governor Herbert signed into law, the highly controversial bill that dramatically changes the public's access to government records. The changes to GRAMA, or Government Records Access and Management Act, provide special status to certain electronic communications of elected officials. HB477 also increased the fees and allows government agencies an indefinite amount of time to respond to records requests.

Utahns are upset and down right angry at their elected representatives over their votes to pass this fast-tracked bill. The public was not allowed time to review and comment on HB477 before the legislature acted in haste to pass this bill that could potentially make our State and local governments less transparent. All citizens want to know what their elected representatives are doing while on the job. And the elected officials who argue that their electronic communications with constituents and other officials should be protected for privacy reasons should remember that they work for us, the people of the State of Utah. If they don't want their emails to be read, they should step down from their elected position and allow the voters in their district to elect someone who will do the job in an open manner. Can you imagine what an employer would say if an employee of thier business said the owner couldn't read their emails because they were "private". Give me a break. That employee would be fired so fast his head would spin! Our elected representatives should not be treated any differently.

I'm glad to see that my State Senator, Steve Urquhart, realizes he made a mistake in voting for HB477. You can read his statement here.We all make mistakes, and I'm glad Steve can admit that and move forward to correct the mistake. I agree with Steve that HB477 should be scrapped, and then we should move forward to improve GRAMA in a way that addresses our modern electronic communications but still provides the citizens of Utah a transparent government.

Morgan Philpot Closing The Gap With Jim Matheson

In a poll released last night by Dan Jones & Associates for KSL and the Deseret News shows that Morgan Philpot is quickly closing the gap in the polls with Jim Matheson. The released results shows Philpot now down 12%, with 51% of the respondents saying they plan to support Matheson and 39% planning to vote for Philpot.

What is significant about these latest poll results is that two weeks ago in a poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, Philpot was down 26% to Matheson. And as Philpot appears to be closing the gap fast, Matheson's support has dropped to 51%, which is not a good sign for Matheson. If this trend continues for Matheson and if the 10% of undecided voters break for Philpot, which could happen in this anti-incumbent wave of voter anger, the Philpot - Matheson race could come down to the wire on election night.

Philpot appears to have the momentum, but it remains to be seen if there is enough time before election day for Philpot to win over enough voter support to get him across the finish line as the victor on election night next week. I hope that voters in Utah's 2nd Congressional District will see through the deception and negative attacks on Morgan Philpot and send Philpot to Washington D.C. as our representative.

Click here to see my thoughts on the Morgan Philpot vs. Jim Matheson race.

One Great Sandwich!

Since my wife is 8 1/2 months pregnant, I told her I would take care of lunch today while the kids were at school so she could relax. It figured it was the least I could do to help lower the stress level of a miserable woman who is about ready to pop!

One thing that continually amazes me about the St. George area is the vast number of good restaurants for a community of its size. So with that said, I decided to pick up sandwiches from Capriotti's Sandwich Shop. And although Capriotti's is a regional chain of sorts, it has the feel of a local neighborhood sandwich shop. On top of that, the sandwich I bought was one of the best I have had.

If you like turkey, you have to try the Cran-Slam Club. It is a triple decker sandwich with hand-pulled turkey, cranberry sauce, ham, mayo and lettuce. And of course I got it on wheat bread since I am trying to lose a few pounds to get into running shape! It was one great sandwich. I will definitely be going back to have it again.

Philpot vs. Matheson

In the race for Utah's second congressional district, it is interesting to hear what my friends and colleagues are saying about the two candidates; Morgan Philpot (R) and Jim Matheson (D).

Most of the feedback I have heard about Morgan Philpot is mixed. Even many republicans, while planning to vote for him, feel that Philpot doesn't seem to understand the demographics of the district. Observers draw this conclusion from watching and listening to Philpot look and sound like a candidate trying to sway voters of a younger age (i.e. He spikes his hair in the front and uses a vocabulary that you would expect to hear from a 25 year old). Philpot is struggling to rally his base in a year that he should have easily tied it down.

On the flip side, many republicans and democrats are not satisfied with the incumbent Jim Matheson. Democrats think he is too conservative, and republicans think he is too liberal. Matheson claims to be an independent, but most of the water cooler talk I hear leads me to believe that most don't buy into Matheson's self-proclaimed independent label. Upon review of his voting record, Matheson consistently votes with Nancy Pelosi, even though he touts the handful of times he broke ranks and didn't vote with his party. He continually reminds voters that he is a blue dog democrat, supposedly trying to keep the extreme liberal left of his own party in check. Furthermore, Matheson always falls back on his Southern Utah roots as a reason that he relates with the conservative, rural part of the district.

However, the fact remains that Jim Matheson is a democrat that helped bring Nancy Pelosi to power by casting his vote for her to be Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. My personal opinion is that Matheson's campaign slogan of him "putting Utah first" is a farce. He puts his own interests ahead of his constituents' interests. I would like Matheson to explain his votes for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker and with a straght face say that he believes those votes were the votes his constituents wanted him to cast. He couldn't do it without lying.

Additionally, it appears that Matheson broke ranks and voted with the republicans only on votes where Nancy Pelosi already had the votes she needed to pass the socialistic Obama agenda. If Jim Matheson was truly undecided on his vote for Obamacare until the day he cast his vote, which he claimed, that tells me all I need to know about him. He is either too stupid to understand that what his party is doing is destroying America, or he is putting his own interests ahead of his constituents. Either way, Matheson is not getting my vote.

So while many conversatives may buy into Matheson's propoganda, I hope they will come to their senses, overlook Philpot's perceived lack of credibility, and vote for the only true conservative in the race for Utah's second congressional district, Morgan Philpot.

Lessons Learned From the Virginia and New Jersey Gubernatorial Elections

While many pundits are trying to decide if the republican victories in Virginia and New Jersey are a referendum on President Obama, my observation is that most Americans are angry about the direction our country is going. Barack Obama maintains a moderate level of popularity, but that popularity is a result of his personality and charisma, not his ability to govern effectively.

Literally from day one of his administration, President Obama has done exactly the opposite of what he promised during the campaign of uniting the country and implementing the best ideas regardless of which party the idea originates from. But now his true colors are shining through as we see him dismissing republican ideas, attacking Fox News, and disparaging the thousands of Americans who attended town hall meetings and voiced their opposition to socialized health care.

I have to admit, President Obama would probably be a fun guy to play a pick-up game of basketball with. But as the leader of our nation, he is doing a lousy job. I might be a little biased since I am a conservative, but I am also an American and I can't stand to sit back and watch Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi move our country one giant step closer to becoming a socialized, European style country. They are steering our country right down the same road that Jimmy Carter took us on. Spending is out of control and then some, and inflation is bound to become a serious economic factor for all Americans just like it did back in the 1970s.

With his actions over the last ten months, it is not surprising to me that the back lash of Americans has begun. And while most elections revolve around local issues, most voters consider heavily the candidate's positions on national issues. And in this case, the republicans in Virginia and New Jersey came out victorious because a majority of Americans are already starting to see through Barack Obama's smoke and mirrors and they are becoming angry and want to turn the bus back onto the Reagan highway.

St. George City Municipal Elections

It has been quite a while since I have posted on my blog - a little over 8 months in fact. I decided today that although I am extremely busy with some big projects at work, I need to make the time to share my thoughts about the current events and issues affecting my community.

Yesterday, the City of St. George held its election for mayor and two city council seats. While I am generally pleased with the outcome, I do wish that Suzanne Allen could have had a better showing. Suzanne has worked extremely hard for the citizens of St. George over the last 16 years, and I believe that she has always had the interests of the greater good at heart during her time on the city council. Voters reelected Gail Bunker to the council where she will continue to serve the citizens of St. George for four more years.

After his third run at the St. George City Council, Ben Nickle won a seat on the council. I don't personally know Mr. Nickle, but I have some concerns about his ability to govern as a member of the city council and work effectively with the other council members. While some have criticized Mr. Nickle over his extreme positions on certain issues, my concerns are more with his demeanor and delivery of his message. However, I will wait and pass judgment on Mr. Nickle after he has had an opportunity to demonstrate his abilities and intentions on the council.

Finally, while I do not always agree with Mayor McArthur on some of the positions he takes, I do believe that he is currently the right guy to be our mayor. He has worked hard and given his heart and soul to the city. He deserves our thanks for his commitment and dedication to service.

Again, congratulations to all of those who stuck their neck on the line and emerged victorious last night.