Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Talkin' Politics

You wouldn't know it from all my posts, but I love politics, and I proudly call myself a Utah Democrat. Given my partisan affiliation, I thought it was about time I ventured into the political arena here again. Luckily, I recently wrote a letter to the editor that got published in three of Utah's four papers. This isn't a big deal, but excuse me while I congratulate myself. So just in case you missed it, which you probably did, my latest thoughts on Utah gubernatorial candidate Peter Corroon:

"It's no secret that our economy is struggling. Unemployment is at 7.2 percent and the state has lost 72,000 jobs over the past two years.

The job issue won't fix itself. Utah legislators have been ineffective in addressing the job and economic crisis. This past session they dodged the important issues by wasting time with "message bills" and other non-issues.

With a state budget shortfall projected around $100 million, many of our lawmakers have neglected to propose solutions that create jobs and increase revenue.

Gubernatorial candidate and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon presented his job plan for Utah ("Corroon wants tax break for companies," Tribune , June 10). His plan strengthens Utah's economy by supporting Utah's most important asset, its small businesses.

Utah has the highest number of small businesses per capita in the nation, and the current state government's strategy of attracting big business leaves bright-minded entrepreneurs and working families behind. Without raising taxes, Corroon's plan will invest in our future while putting Utahns back to work.

I am excited by Corroon's plan and look forward to hearing his other inventive solutions for Utah."

Published at the following links: here, here, and here.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

"Empty Handed" & "After the Love"

I'm not sure how I missed this, but nearly ten months ago two unreleased Kelly Clarkson songs, "Empty Handed" and "After the Love," hit the web. I stumbled upon them this weekend, so if you too missed them, they're embedded below. "Empty Handed" is the better of the two, and while neither would be chart busters, they're singer-songwriter ditties that'll please any Clarkson fan.

"Empty Handed":



"After the Love":

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Better Days

Following in the footsteps of American Idol alums Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta, Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry took the stage this weekend and proved that American Idol has seen better days.



And Kris and Allison's killer pairing, just in case you missed it: