Recent news from Sutherland Institute. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org Our state Legislature recently held a hearing on expanding the days that state liquor stores can be open. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3198&type=Search+Results&newsletter=1 UtahSpending.org helps Utahns understand why legislators should pass SJR 22, an amendment to the Utah Constitution to limit government spending growth. http://www.utahspending.org This government spending amendment is the most important public policy I have worked on in all my years at Sutherland Institute. And it is very interesting how the politics surrounding this great bill are playing out. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3185&type=Search+Results&newsletter=1 A few thoughts in light of the favorable committee vote on HB 363, a bill that would require abstinence education in public schools. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3184&type=Family%20and%20Society&newsletter=1 Within the early days of the new 2012 legislative session, and on the heels of the recently announced Prosperity 2020 initiative by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, Utah Democrats have announced their own remedies for our public schools. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3183&type=Search+Results&newsletter=1 Senator Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake, believes talking on a cell phone is a dangerous activity for minors. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/blog/2012/01/27/capitol-daily-memo-is-cell-phone-ban-for-minors-a-good-idea/ During the 2012 legislative session, Sutherland Institute will provide insight and analysis of votes, meetings, debates, legislation and policy from a conservative perspective. Go to our blog to see the videos and memos. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/blog/ January 21st issue of The Economist magazine shows a drawing of the communist leader Vladimir Lenin, with his fist pumped, holding a cigar ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3181&type=Search+Results&newsletter=1 This, my friends, is big-government thinking at its worst. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=265 The State Office of Education recently released standards for early childhood education, or basically what we used to call nursery school. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3174&type=Search+Results&newsletter=1 Though digital learning is growing rapidly across the country, many people are unfamiliar with it. This allows supporters of the status quo in education to spread various myths ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/blog/2012/01/11/debunking-the-myths-and-outright-lies-about-digital-learning/ Former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt has joined a reform movement called Count My Vote Coalition ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3172&type=Search+Results&newsletter=1 What conservatives who defend marriage and family should realize is that they are the true champions of progress, rightly understood. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=263 We cannot borrow and spend our way to prosperity. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3171&type=Search+Results&newsletter=1 Given the impact athletics exerts upon American education and a large swath of the populace, it is worth pausing to consider the symbolic impact of the decision made by BYU to go independent in college football. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=262 How to help Utah businesses flourish. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3158&type=Press+Releases The events unfolding in Europe have led me to think about what appears to be an almost universal affliction of politicians: lying to supposedly protect their constituents. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=260 As good as Utah decision-makers are in relation to government spending, no state is immune from slipping into an often subtle pattern of spending bias. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3156&type=Search+Results&newsletter=1 The anti-federalists who opposed the ratification of the Constitution made many great contributions, perhaps ironically, to the constitutional culture of the United States. For instance, they stressed the centrality of a virtuous citizenry ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=259 The wisdom in this system is its balance of power between big states and little states, between densely populated states and less populated ones. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3154&type=Limited%20Government&newsletter=1 As the extended economic downturn drags on, key sectors of the Democratic base are now experiencing an intensified pattern of suffering due to deprivation of their parental rights. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=257 State delegates are charged with selecting primary candidates, but surprisingly little is known about these delegates’ opinions on important issues in Utah. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=249 Disgruntled with the only world he knew, the unhappy young man hiked to the crest of a nearby mountain, turned one last time to gaze upon the lives he was determined to abandon, and resolved, then and there, to never look back. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/uploaded_files/sdmc/theUnhappyYoungMan1.pdf All this talk about jobs raises a question: Can government even create jobs? http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=246 For me I think the decision to give a handout or not is a matter of human dignity. I give when I think I’m lifting someone’s dignity. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3116&type=Community%20and%20Economy&newsletter=1 The 2009 book from Sutherland Institute is now available for download in PDF form. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/uploaded_files/sdmc/sacredGroundBookAllOnline.pdf Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors in the world, and Harvey Golub, the former chairman of American Express, recently had an exchange concerning taxes. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=245 Selecting tidbits from a CDC report, The Salt Lake Tribune’s recent article, “Sex and chocolate: Utah kids know a lot about one, not the other,” laments the fact that “Utah schools have nearly barred the topic of safe sex." http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/blog/2011/09/07/sex-and-confusion-tribune-article-is-a-puzzler/ Not enough gets spoken about how politicians are often very good friends even as they differ in opinions. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3114&type=Community%20and%20Economy&newsletter=1 Politically educated Utahns remember the French political thinker Montesquieu largely for one reason: the clear separation of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=244 On August 17, in Baltimore, Maryland, a symposium was held to discuss pedophilia, or child molesters. It wasn’t a meeting to talk about how to keep them from molesting children. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3113&type=Search+Results&newsletter=1 On April 30, 2003, 12-year-old Parker Jensen was taken to a doctor to have a small growth under his tongue removed. A long nightmare for the Parker family began, culminating in a recent legal decision by the Utah Supreme Court. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=243 Sutherland Institute announces the release of an updated publication, Saving Education and Ourselves 2011: The Moral Case for Self-Reliance in Education. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/saving-education.php The recent debt ceiling debate, and the seriously deficient nature of the related public discussions, lead me to think that one of the best things that Utah could do for its children is to insist that economics be taught in our public schools. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=241 This week I want to talk about religious liberty. In an era of civil rights, with everyone seemingly clamoring for their own version, we forget that civil rights are not absolute. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3108&type=Family%20and%20Society&newsletter=1 Does the law a state adopts affect the family? Asked a different way, does the law merely reflect reality or might it interact with other variables to change reality? http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=240 What’s been the response of those who oppose the education tax credit concept? Well, of course, they cry “vouchers!” http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3105&type=Educational%20Progress&newsletter=1 Can public school students be searched, interrogated and given intimate physical examinations by government officials at school without advance parental disclosure or any warrant? http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=239 Conservatives can take away government programs that unintentionally create dependency, but no one can take away the human struggle through mortality. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3102&type=Community%20and%20Economy&newsletter=1 By the early 1960s, the government’s pro-family housing policy could be judged a success. However, the housing and mortgage markets began operating in strange new ways, starting about 1970. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=238 This past Saturday, Utah Democrats had another opportunity to right their wrongs but, once again, they failed to do so. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3100&type=Search+Results&newsletter=1 My Sutherland colleague Alexis Young recently created a video about the decision by West Valley City to act as the lender on a $30 million hotel project. The issues she uncovered are important enough that I want to repeat them here. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=237 Utah faces increasing pressures on our system of higher education. This is a wonderful time to ask ourselves the question: What is the purpose of higher education? http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3091&type=Educational%20Progress&newsletter=1 A front-page headline was a cry of alarm: “Puberty Too Soon; Girls Are Maturing Faster Than Ever, and Doctors Are Not Sure Why.” But there is plenty of research to indicate why. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=236 Sutherland Institute lauds Ogden School District’s decision to take steps toward creating a performance-based pay system over the next six years. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3090&type=Press+Releases The Supreme Court struck down a California law that would have restricted the sale of violent video games. ... I understand that there are “nanny state” ideas that interfere with parental rights. The California law is not one of them. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3088&type=Family%20and%20Society&newsletter=1 Some minors are dangerous or criminal to the point that government intervention is required. Some parents are hopelessly unable or unwilling to impose adequate oversight for such minors. How should Utah deal with chronic bad apples? http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=234 Mr. Potter’s questions from the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life continue to haunt American politics. The contemporary mortgage crisis is now in its fourth year. It has destabilized the American and global economies ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3076&type=Community%20and%20Economy&newsletter=1 How would George Bailey, the fictional saint of the old mortgage industry, view the ongoing crisis and governmental response? Some real history may help here. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=233 This video animation explains why HB 116 is a good first step in the right direction to solve Utah's immigration issues. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1EWjVF8MTM On Saturday, the state Republican convention will vote on a resolution calling for the repeal of HB 116. Wise delegates will reject the proposal and stand behind HB 116, the most sensible piece of legislation ever to emerge on this difficult issue. http://www.heraldextra.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_4d11ede2-88ca-5cf8-ba96-2b48b5a26f1e.html?mode=story Now that Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr. are running for president of the United States, I think it’s fair to discuss the circumstances surrounding Mormons and political ideas. I’d like to know if there’s such as thing as Mormon political philosophy? http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3071&type=Family%20and%20Society&newsletter=1 Some critics are seeking repeal of HB 116. One group has created a list of specific complaints about the bill, to which Sutherland responds. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/publications_detail.php?id=3070 There is a surefire way for our federal elected leaders to save the nation's fiscal stability without committing political suicide. This issue is crucial not only for the federal government, but also for Utah ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/newsletters_stories.php?id=232 Over the last several years, Sutherland Institute has supported a sensible, reality-based approach to solving Utah’s complex immigration issues that, at a fundamental level, recognizes undocumented immigrants as human beings. http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3066&type=Press+Releases A story the other day in The Salt Lake Tribune caught my eye. The picture with the story had a confident-looking middle-age man standing by a beautiful Rolls-Royce with the name of his company on its side. ... http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3063&type=Community%20and%20Economy&newsletter=1 Sutherland Institute will host the second of three nuclear energy forums Tuesday, June 14, at 10:30 a.m. at Sutherland Institute headquarters. The purpose of this forum is to help Utahns learn about the water requirements and resources for nuclear power a http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/article_detail.php?id=3064&type=Press+Releases