I read with astonishment on Sunday morning the Tribune's endorsement of Orrin Hatch over Pete Ashdown. They endorsed him with apologies, and caveats, and with embarrassment. But they did indeed endorse him.read the article here....
In part, it states, "Regular readers of this newspaper's editorials know that The Tribune Editorial Board is often critical of Utah's senior senator over issues ranging from his pro-administration positions on Iraq, tax cuts and Big Pharma-friendly Medicare reform, to blocking FDA oversight of the nutritional supplement industry, to changing the Constitution to criminalize flag-burning, to rank partisanship in vetting nominees to the federal judiciary, etc.,
“Suffice to say that a complete list of Hatch's negatives might exceed this space, especially if it included some of Hatch's more outrageous statements on public policy issues such as citing author Michael Crichton as an authority on the science of global warming, or suggesting that House Republicans' failure to act on former Rep. Mark Foley's sexually explicit e-mails to congressional pages may be attributable to their desire not to appear homophobic.”
Needless to say, I’m astonished… their entire reason for the endorsement seems to be boiled down to the idea that we need our fair share of the unfair and burdensome pork that is available to us from an influence-wielding public official. They're willing to overlook the GLARING idocy of the status quo that has come to mean overspend without oversight, etc.
They should have taken the more courageous stand of endorsing governmental change and transparent accountability that Ashdown stands for – that is better for the long term health of our government, and the futures of our children’s financial burdens.
This alone is a ringing cry for the need to change how committee appointments are handled. If the only way to become a powerful committee chairperson is to sell your soul, and all your state's human, financial, and land assets, there's something wrong with the system.
The Tribune has just signed on to perpetuate the broken system. It's time for term limits, campaign finance reform, and a lottery system for committee appointments. Not to mention a lottery system for the state of Utah, but that's another conversation for another day.
Shame on you, Tribune. Did you have too much to drink while meeting with the KSL editorial board?
2 comments:
I guess we know which side their bread is buttered on, eh? Hatch produces miserable public policy, but it seems the Tribune favors getting more federal dollars than making sound (and ignored) policy. Behold the power of incumbency.
I'm pretty upset with my fellow geeks too. They spent countless hours belly-aching about Hatch on Slashdot only to dry up their support when a valid and impressive contender took the stage. Had they actually stepped away from talking trash on the Internet to appropriately apply their rage, we might've had a chance at giving Hatch the boot. All talk, no walk.
How long will big business be allowed to feed at the trough of our children's future?
I guess as long as we elect those who put big business in the front of the line.
Post a Comment