archives

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the cumulative cost of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be between $1.2 trillion and $1.7 trillion by 2017. The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board responds:

From these numbers, we draw the conclusion that U.S. national security would be better served by winding down the Asian wars as quickly as possible and concentrating the
money now being spent there on developing renewable energy sources that will reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil. It may be cheaper to develop alternatives to oil than to fight for it in Asia. [...]

[G]iven the costs of the war in Iraq and the price of oil, the huge numbers that are often quoted for developing renewable energy in the United States do not look so daunting. For example, the editors of Scientific American magazine estimate that the U.S. government would have to invest about $450 billion to help build solar arrays in the Southwest that could produce 69 percent of the nation's electric power and 35 percent of its total energy needs by 2050. That would cut both oil consumption and carbon emissions that contribute to global warming by roughly one-third.

In the context of the Asian wars, that looks like a bargain.

Info from the Utah Democratic Party newsletter:

On Tuesday, March 25, Democrats from all over the state will gather at local caucus meetings to select delegates and precinct officers. These meetings are essential to the functioning of healthy local Democratic parties and provide every single Utahn interested in becoming involved in our party old enough to vote in this year’s November election the opportunity to participate.

Delegates serve two-year terms and are empowered to nominate local candidates for office. In Salt Lake County, those elected county delegates are automatic state delegates. Other counties usually choose to elect their state delegates at county convention. State delegates will vote at our state convention on May 9-10 on statewide candidates for office, congressional candidates, legislative candidates whose districts cover more than one county, and on delegates to the national convention. [...]

For a complete listing of caucus locations and local county convention dates and locations, please visit our Web site. You can also contact our office at (801) 328-1212, ext. 207, or e-mail Craig Axford at caxford@utdemocrats.org with any questions.

A national anti-poverty advocacy group has flunked or given barely passing scores to Utah’s Republican Congressional delegation while awarding Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson an “A.”

While a recent news story indicates that as many as 28 percent of Salt Lake City children live in poverty, a report published by the Sargeant Shriver National Center on Poverty Law underscores the stark difference Democrats and Republicans take on the issue.