The Path to State and Local Sovereignty

Ranch life vignette: Mom made "candy" for us from ground sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and flaxseeds, mixed with honey. Sometimes, she stuffed pitted dates with this candy, and gave me a baggie of them for road trips (when we Salmon High School Savages played football or basketball games "away"). Lots of energy here! I thought of this vignette last Saturday while watching American Fork High School Senior Danny Simmons run 1600m in 4:01.78 at BYU (Outdoor).

Constitution Corner: On May 1, the US House approved HR 6090, which gives a private body control of the definition of "antisemitism" and seeks to penalize public schools that permit antisemitic activity. All four of Utah's representatives voted for this bad bill. It is unconstitutional because the states agreed that "All legislative power" was vested in Congress--not in a private body; and because it intervenes in domestic (state) affairs--for which the general government has ZERO authority.

SecureVote.News: Ten Lies the Democrats Tell about Elections, and how to refute them. A Georgia bill allows citizens to challenge registered voters who are dead, who have moved, and have voted elsewhere. Trump campaign sues Nevada for accepting mail-in ballots after Election Day.

Natalie Clawson was our guest the last half hour. She was selected by Phil Lyman last Saturday as his choice for Lieutenant Governor. Natalie is a wonderful choice. She is impressive yet humble, effective yet teachable, and professional yet friendly. She graduated from BYU in Political Science and obtained her Juris Doctorate from the BYU Law School in 2002. She did the writing of the Secure Vote Utah Initiative, which acquainted her with Utah Election Law (Title 20A), for which the LG has direct responsibility.

Ranch life vignette: The hay hook enables you to work longer gathering hay because the smooth, round, wooden handle of the hook is easier on your hands that the tight strings of heavy bales of hay--even if you are wearing gloves. Gathering hay from the field is best done with four people: one steering the vehicle, two bucking hay, and one stacking the hay in the bed of the pickup or wagon.

Constitution Corner: What part of the US Constitution is ignored the most nowadays? Probably Article I Section 8, particularly the war powers. Ten days ago, Congress decided to give $61 billion more to Ukraine, and $26 billion more to Israel, which means Ukrainians will continue to die in that country’s unwinnable war with Russia, and Palestinian civilians will continue to be slaughtered in Gaza with US weapons.

SecureVote.News: Court opinions vary on undated ballots in Pennsylvania. Cybersecurity experts agree that internet voting is not reliable. Eleven Republicans in Arizona have been indicted on felony charges (more "lawfare"), relating to alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Open phones: I discussed Saturday's state GOP Nominating Convention, and callers shared their opinions on a variety of topics.