Mero Moment 1-17-12: Setting Educational Standards The State Office of Education recently released standards for early childhood education, or basically what we used to call nursery school.
Mero Moment 12-14-11: Why Marriage Does Matter Colleagues at the Institute for American Values in New York City have published an updated edition of their excellent research on marriage and family titled Why Marriage Matters.
Government Spending Amendment: Taming the Beast of Utah Government Spending Did you know that Utah's state government in 2010 spent more than 75 percent more per person in Utah than they did in 1970?
Mero Moment 11-29-11: Power Balance And The Electoral College The wisdom in this system is its balance of power between big states and little states, between densely populated states and less populated ones.
Mero Moment 11-22-11: The Merits Of Caucuses The debate over state-based immigration reform has given me pause in reflecting on the caucus and convention system.
Mero Moment 11-15-11: Foul Mouths and Free Speech My friend passed along an article about how a group of Liberaltarians have submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court opposing the Federal Communications Commission censorship of bad language on television and radio.
Mero Moment 11-8-11: Such Inhospitality The same people who want their rights to sell and consume liquor also want to deny other people the right to speak against the sale and consumption of liquor.
Mero Moment 11-1-11: Hate Mail and How We Communicate Politics is filled with people who listen only to react. They hang on your every word, like vultures waiting for the kill, just so they can reply with their own argument.
Mero Moment 10-25-11: Was The Declaration Of Independence Illegal? This was the question before a panel of British and American lawyers at a recent debate in Philadelphia just a few blocks from where the document was originally drafted
Mero Moment 10-18-11: Approve That Map! The state House has completed its responsibilities, and now Governor Gary Herbert must decide to approve or veto the new redistricting map. If I were governor, I’d sign it. And, as I did, I’d also add these thoughts.
Mero Moment 10-11-11: Dubious Values This week I want to talk about the politics of family values. The 2011 Voters Value Summit was held over this past weekend in Washington, D.C.
Mero Moment 10-5-11: Pointless Protests There they were, the protesters, angry and inflamed that some injustice had occurred, behaving as if representative democracy had been turned over to the Third Reich.
A license for hair braiding? Should Utahns have to obtain a state license to do landscape architecture, paint nails or braid hair? The state currently requires professionals in these fields, and many others, to obtain a license to work here legally. Some state legislators would like to do away with these rules.
Halt government funding to Planned Parenthood in Utah? Rep. Carl Wimmer is proposing a bill that would stop the state from giving taxpayer funds to organizations in Utah that perform abortions, such as Planned Parenthood.
Mero Moment 9-20-11: Math or Class Warfare? During yesterday’s press conference from the Rose Garden of the White House, President Obama used a nifty sound bite to describe his new jobs proposal. ...
Mero Moment 9-13-11: Are We Not All Beggars? 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.
Mero Moment 9-6-11: Politics And Unlikely Friendships Not enough gets spoken about how politicians are often very good friends even as they differ in opinions.
Mero Moment 8-30-11: The Slippery Slope of Sexual Politics 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.
Mero Moment 8-23-11: Irrational Environmentalists Radical environmentalists are irrational; they think through fear and superstition. They see the haze over the valley and know, without any scientific basis, that two weeks of winter haze will surely kill us all and that reducing human mobility by punishing drivers will surely save us all.
Mero Moment 8-16-11: Representation Without Taxation American tax policy began largely on the premise that taxation required representation that England had not afforded the settlers. Today, I think we have an opposite problem.
Bye-bye, collective bargaining? This fall, the Utah Legislature may research the possibility of eliminating collective bargaining for government workers, including employees of public schools.
Mero Moment 8-9-2011: Jeffs and the Limits of Religious Liberty 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.
AMES: A charter school that helps its students overcome challenging obstacles A 2011 graduating class of only 113 students managed to receive $6 million in scholarship awards.
Mero Moment 8-2-11: Tax Credits Are Not Vouchers What’s been the response of those who oppose the education tax credit concept? Well, of course, they cry “vouchers!”
Mero Moment 7-26-11: Caring For Our Neighbors In Need Conservatives can take away government programs that unintentionally create dependency, but no one can take away the human struggle through mortality.
Safety and Emissions Testing: Is It Necessary? Representative John Dougall wants to pass a bill this next legislative session that would get rid of safety inspections entirely and change the stipulations for emissions testing of passenger vehicles.
Mero Moment 7-19-11: Utah Democrats Still Irrelevant This past Saturday, Utah Democrats had another opportunity to right their wrongs but, once again, they failed to do so.
Ogden School District Negotiates With Teachers -- Not With Ogden Education Association In a move that has sent waves throughout Utah, the Ogden School District will not be negotiating with the Ogden Education Association for the teachers 2011 through 2012 contract.
Yeah Samake Uses Sound Principles to Effectively Govern in Mali, Africa Yeah Samake was elected mayor of Ouelessebougou, Mali in 2009. Mali, Africa is the second-poorest country in the world. Samake overcame many obstacles en route to becoming the Mayor of Ouelessebougou, and, at the same time, earned a masters degree from BYU. On the way, Samake learned and applied essential principles of effective government.
Federal Summer Lunch Program is No Free Lunch for Utahns The Utah State Office of Education supports a summer lunch program that offers FREE meals to anyone under the age of 18.
West Valley City's $30 Million Hotel The anchor of West Valley City's Fairbourne Station redevelopment project is a 4-star Embassy Suites Hotel. The private developers could not get favorable terms on the loan, so West Valley City's Redevelopment Agency stepped in to borrow $30 million from Bonneville Mortgage, and will loan that money to the private developer to build and operate the hotel.
Mero Moment 7-12-11: Higher Education And Remediation Utah faces increasing pressures on our system of higher education. More and more students are enrolling and, in these difficult economic times, the money simply isn’t there to sustain the load. This is a wonderful time to ask ourselves the question: What is the purpose of higher education?
Mero Moment 7-5-11: Declaration Of Independence Is The Basis Of Conservatism As Utah activists vie for who is the most patriotic, the most freedom-loving, the greatest defenders of liberty, I’d like to make a case that the Declaration of Independence is the basis of American conservatism.
Mero Moment, 6-28-11: Violent Video Games 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. The California law reaffirmed parental rights.
Mero Moment, 6-21-11: It's A Complicated Life This week I want to talk about the ongoing housing crisis. Utah has been one of the four states most flattened by the mortgage crunch, exceeded on a proportional basis only by California, Florida and Nevada.
Mero Moment, 6-14-11: Mormons And Politics 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.
Mero Moment, 6-7-11: Multilevel 'miracles' 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...
Mero Moment, 5-31-11: Utah Gop And Immigration Platform In a little over two weeks, Utah Republicans will meet for their annual state convention. It’s not an election year, so...
Utah Tax Dollars Paying for Drunken Drivers Assessment and Referral Services, housed at the University of Utah, receives tax money from Salt Lake County to help fund assessment of DUI offenders.
Mero Moment, 5-24-11: 2 Ideas That Made America Great So many Americans are newly energized about politics. Everyone would be better served in these political discussions if they first tried to address these two big ideas.
Mero Moment, 5-17-11: Religion, Politics and Jon Huntsman Jr. Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. was recently interviewed by Time magazine, and the subject of his faith came up.
Mero Moment, 5-10-17: Legislative Rankings The Salt Lake Tribune has a scorecard ranking state legislators on how conservative or liberal they are. These rankings are based on a composite of other measurements established by several special interest groups. But perhaps there’s a better way to determine who in our state Legislature is really conservative or liberal?
Mero Moment, 5-3-11: The Role of Stigma The Georgia Children’s Health Alliance has begun a public opinion campaign against childhood obesity. Their latest tactic is to post billboards that remind Georgians that their childhood obesity is second highest in the nation.
Maggie Gallagher Speaks at Sutherland Event Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the National Organization for Marriage, delivers remarks at the SI 100 Club Dinner, April 2011.
Mero Moment, 4-25-11: Bullies and Discipline A family is where we learn discipline, and, unfortunately, even intact families seem to be failing miserably in this task.
Mero Moment, 4-19-11: Government Services Sutherland Institute President Paul Mero asks, "What government services could you do without?" Better yet, what government services should be privatized?
Mero Moment, 4-12-11: Political Extremism Sutherland Institute President Paul Mero discusses 11 characteristics of right-wing extremism. ... (more info) (less info)
Mero Moment, 4-5-11: Mormons and the ACLU This week I want to talk about Mormons and the ACLU. University of Utah President Michael Young, a descendant of Brigham Young, spoke at rival Brigham Young University about the importance of religious freedom and suggested that all Latter-day Saints should be members of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Mero Moment, 3-29-11: San Francisco's Barren Tree What really do we expect from a barren tree? Recent news out of the city of San Francisco is that its population of children continues to shrink.
Mero Moment, 3-22-11: Political Reality This week I want to talk about political reality. In the waning minutes of the 2011 legislative session, the state Legislature passed HB 477. About a week had gone by when a House Republican, Kraig Powell, recanted his position.
Mero Moment, 3-15-11: The Utah Solution Sutherland Institute President Paul Mero discusses Utah Governor Gary Herbert's signing of four immigration bills into law.
Mero Moment, 3-8-11: GRAMA and Transparency This week I want to talk about government transparency and the Utah state Legislature. ... Politics has been described as sausage making -- a lot goes into it and nobody really wants to see it being made. Most policy making is done behind closed doors and in private conversations.
Mero Moment, 2-22-11: State Spending Problem Paul Mero discusses HJR 37, a proposed amendment to the Utah Constitution that would place a cap on state spending.
Immigration Debate, 1-21-11: Entire Debate, Unedited This is the single-camera, unedited video from the immigration debate hosted by Sutherland Institute at Thanksgiving Point.
Mero Moment, 1-11-11: Politics and Violence Paul Mero discusses the reprehensible shootings that occurred during a meeting U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was holding outside of a supermarket.
Raising a standard in the pursuit of happiness