If you are like me and are tired of the competing claims about Rep. Jim Matheson's voting record re: ObamaCare, consider the following:
For those that think Rep. Matheson helped fight "ObamaCare" when it passed, think again.
Look at what votes he made the last week prior that helped set up what
happened Sunday March 21, 2010. For those that wanted the bill to pass,
he voted against it, for those that wanted it to fail, he voted to
suspend the rules so it could pass.
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/ROLL_100.asp
Look at votes 129, 130, as well as votes 159, 160, 162 and 163
He did the same thing months before:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/ROLL_800.asp
Look at votes 881, 882, 884, 885, 886, 887
Jim Matheson appears to vote with Nancy Pelosi when she needs the vote. In 2010
There were 39 democrats that voted to stay and vote about the "Bush" Tax
cuts. One more and they would not have left without discussing it. Yes,
Matheson wrote a letter saying he wanted the cuts, but then he voted
with Nancy Pelosi to dismiss and not discuss it. One vote would have
made the difference. It did and it was Matheson voting with Nancy
Pelosi, and not representing Utah.
http://hollyonthehill.com/2010/09/29/matheson-for-tax-cuts-before-he-was-against-them/
The legislature didn't redistrict Rep. Matheson out
of the 2nd district. He lives in the current 2nd and new 2nd district. The new
2nd district and 4th district are reportedly both as republican as his current district. He
chose to run in the 4th district because he resides in Utah and the US
constitution doesn't say he has to run in his own district. Unless he moves, he won't be able to vote for himself this fall.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Town Hall Meetings for Fall of 2012
TOWN HALL MEETINGS
Come and Meet Representative Fred Cox, and ask questions at
Hunter Library, 4740 West 4100 South on the following dates and times:
Thursday, September 13, 2012, 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Saturday, September 15, 2012, 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Wednesday, October 3, 2012, 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Representative Fred Cox new post card and flyer
New Postcard
http://www.fredcox4utah.com/FredCoxFlyer6x9.pdf
New Flyer
http://www.fredcox4utah.com/FredCoxFlyerNotFolded.pdf
Mitt Romney group photo when we endorsed him on June 24, 2011, The Grand America, Salt Lake City, UT
http://www.fredcox4utah.com/MittR.jpg
http://www.fredcox4utah.com/FredCoxFlyer6x9.pdf
New Flyer
http://www.fredcox4utah.com/FredCoxFlyerNotFolded.pdf
Mitt Romney group photo when we endorsed him on June 24, 2011, The Grand America, Salt Lake City, UT
http://www.fredcox4utah.com/MittR.jpg
An open letter to Robert Gehrke of the Salt Lake Tribune
OK, am I a member of the Tea Party? I had someone ask me. TEA party as
Taxed Enough Already, yes, or as someone that doesn't listen to both
sides, no. When someone says Tea Party, it isn't typically as defined as the national media likes to make it when they label someone.
I am a Conservative Republican, and yet have never voted "straight ticket" in my over 30 years of voting. Sometimes I get to the bottom of the ballot and I did vote for all Republicans and sometimes I didn't.
The headline of your initial article http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51001951-76/cox-bigelow-delegates-district.html.csp suggested that I may be a member, but I didn't join the Patrick Henry Caucus, and have spent more time reading bills than attending the different caucuses.
I don't know how to categorize me. Utah Data Points hasn't done their annual Ideology Scores, so I am not sure based on votes. [update, they finally did, see 2012 ratings link below. put me 33 out of 75 in the Utah House]
I supported the more moderate Dan Liljenquist over Rep. Herrod, picked Tim Bridgewater as my second choice over Mike Lee, and actively fought a couple of former Rep. Carl Wimmer's bills.
I was trying to decide between the most moderate Jay Cobb vs Mia Love for the 4th District and not Carl Wimmer or Stephen Sandstrom. I picked Mia Love, as did 70% of the delegates helped seated by Sen. Hatch's campaign.
I am outspoken on some issues. (Some people feel too many). I fought a gun bill because I felt it unfairly targeted hotel owner property rights. The NRA endorsed me but won't give me anything higher than a B+ because while I have fought to protect gun rights, including open carry, I believe that if someone is going to conceal the fact that they are carrying, a concealed carry permit is a good requirement.
I am more apt to quote the Utah Constitution vs the US Constitution, but have read both and have tried to make sure we (the legislature) are following both.
I am friends with members of the Tea Party and Eagle Forum, but disagree with and fight them on some issues.
On Education, I believe it should be a priority, but we are never going to have enough money for some. The UEA gives me a 50% this year and PCE gives me a 67% and I went to meet with the more balanced Education First.
My vote on 2012 SB 82, Equal Access for Education Employee Association Amendments changed my ratings for 5 different groups. http://fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2012/05/equal-access-for-education-employee.html
I run a Utah Land Protection Act that initially gets a favorable response from Ed Firmage Jr. (see page 2, comment 19) http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51121753-76/bill-cox-federal-lands.html.csp and a member of the SL Tribune staff recently calls me part of the New Sage Brush rebellion even though I fought Rep. Ivory on his land bill for 6 months until it morphed away from requiring the Feds to sell the public lands (to who? China? ) or pay property taxes.
My last session ratings are at:
http://fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2012/03/rep-fred-cox-voting-ratings-for-2012.html
You report politics. How would you categorize me? I don't want to throw my "Tea Party" friends under the bus, and don't mind being called a Conservative Republican. Who could get an endorsement from Cherilyn Eagar, Jim Bennett, and Bennion Spencer? I don't know anyone else.
Who would have their own state party threaten to sue the state if they adopted one of my redistricting maps and get nice words from Sen. Ben McAdams on my post on non-discrimination, negative comments from some of his supporters, and positive comments from Represent Me! on my original state house redistricting map?
I know what I believe. I am willing to stand up to pressure. I am outspoken and have way too many statements on my blog on controversial bills and issues. I am willing to listen to both sides and fight for or against a bill no matter the sponsor.
So, how do I answer the question, am I a member of the Tea Party or not?
I am a Conservative Republican, and yet have never voted "straight ticket" in my over 30 years of voting. Sometimes I get to the bottom of the ballot and I did vote for all Republicans and sometimes I didn't.
The headline of your initial article http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51001951-76/cox-bigelow-delegates-district.html.csp suggested that I may be a member, but I didn't join the Patrick Henry Caucus, and have spent more time reading bills than attending the different caucuses.
I don't know how to categorize me. Utah Data Points hasn't done their annual Ideology Scores, so I am not sure based on votes. [update, they finally did, see 2012 ratings link below. put me 33 out of 75 in the Utah House]
I supported the more moderate Dan Liljenquist over Rep. Herrod, picked Tim Bridgewater as my second choice over Mike Lee, and actively fought a couple of former Rep. Carl Wimmer's bills.
I was trying to decide between the most moderate Jay Cobb vs Mia Love for the 4th District and not Carl Wimmer or Stephen Sandstrom. I picked Mia Love, as did 70% of the delegates helped seated by Sen. Hatch's campaign.
I am outspoken on some issues. (Some people feel too many). I fought a gun bill because I felt it unfairly targeted hotel owner property rights. The NRA endorsed me but won't give me anything higher than a B+ because while I have fought to protect gun rights, including open carry, I believe that if someone is going to conceal the fact that they are carrying, a concealed carry permit is a good requirement.
I am more apt to quote the Utah Constitution vs the US Constitution, but have read both and have tried to make sure we (the legislature) are following both.
I am friends with members of the Tea Party and Eagle Forum, but disagree with and fight them on some issues.
On Education, I believe it should be a priority, but we are never going to have enough money for some. The UEA gives me a 50% this year and PCE gives me a 67% and I went to meet with the more balanced Education First.
My vote on 2012 SB 82, Equal Access for Education Employee Association Amendments changed my ratings for 5 different groups. http://fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2012/05/equal-access-for-education-employee.html
I run a Utah Land Protection Act that initially gets a favorable response from Ed Firmage Jr. (see page 2, comment 19) http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51121753-76/bill-cox-federal-lands.html.csp and a member of the SL Tribune staff recently calls me part of the New Sage Brush rebellion even though I fought Rep. Ivory on his land bill for 6 months until it morphed away from requiring the Feds to sell the public lands (to who? China? ) or pay property taxes.
My last session ratings are at:
http://fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2012/03/rep-fred-cox-voting-ratings-for-2012.html
You report politics. How would you categorize me? I don't want to throw my "Tea Party" friends under the bus, and don't mind being called a Conservative Republican. Who could get an endorsement from Cherilyn Eagar, Jim Bennett, and Bennion Spencer? I don't know anyone else.
Who would have their own state party threaten to sue the state if they adopted one of my redistricting maps and get nice words from Sen. Ben McAdams on my post on non-discrimination, negative comments from some of his supporters, and positive comments from Represent Me! on my original state house redistricting map?
I know what I believe. I am willing to stand up to pressure. I am outspoken and have way too many statements on my blog on controversial bills and issues. I am willing to listen to both sides and fight for or against a bill no matter the sponsor.
So, how do I answer the question, am I a member of the Tea Party or not?
Friday, August 31, 2012
Utahns for Ethical Government Survey
To the Utahns for Ethical Government (UEG)
Answers to your 3 questions:
1. I am supportive of the current ban for members of the legislature to be contract lobbyists. Is there a proposal I can read? It appears you are just targeting one republican member and some existing democrat members would be exempt. Unless drafted correctly, writing a law for one person is against the Utah Constitution.
2. The past proposals would do nothing to stop individuals from currently working as a paid lobbyist for a single company or leaving the legislature and immediately working as a paid lobbyist for a single company. One of the current teacher's union representatives appears to have done exactly that legally and stepped down and started working as a lobbyist.
Increasing the time from one year to two doesn't solve that. Why change the time from 1 year to 2 when someone can immediately lobby for their new employer whether in the legislature or not?
We have members of the State School Board that seem to be able to be lobbyists. Do we need to change that too?
3. You are describing only one exception (not two) to a very complicated law. I would love to have the law more simple, but again, you seem to be targeting a very narrow situation.
Generally lobbyists can only now pay $10 or less for a meal without disclosure, unless they invite a very specific general group, such as all the Utah Senators, where that invitation was very well known. Modifying what we have may make UVU fill out a bunch of paperwork for inviting the legislature to a ribbon cutting ceremony for their Center of Constitutional Studies. They already have provided a lot of transparency in their current invite.
I hope you find the answers helpful,
Thank you for discarding your past 20 page proposal. Many items were already solved in past years. These are three great questions, but they don't have simple yes or no answers.
Fred C. Cox
Representing House District 32 and running for the new House District 30
_______________________________________________________________________________
TO: Utah Legislative Candidates in the November 2012 Election
FROM: Utahns for Ethical Government (UEG)
RE: Brief survey
We respectfully request your response to the following 3 questions. We are interested in ascertaining which legislative candidates would support key elements of ethics reform that have not yet been adopted by the Utah Legislature. We plan to release the survey responses to thousands of our supporters across the state and to the media. Silence is usually construed by interested persons as a NO answer. We request your response by Friday, August 31st.
1. If you are elected, will you support legislation to prohibit a Utah legislator from simultaneously serving as a paid lobbyist?
YES _______ NO _______
2. If you are elected, will you support legislation to establish a 2-year waiting period before a legislator can become a paid lobbyist after leaving the Legislature?
YES _______ NO _______
3. If you are elected, will you support legislation closing two major loopholes in the 2010 lobbying reform act that (1) allow lobbyists to pay for meals for groups of legislators and (2) require no disclosure of that fact?
YES _______ NO _______
To respond, just hit the reply button, mark your response in the Yes or No blanks, and hit the send button. Thank you for your response.
Sincerely,
Kim Burningham and Dixie Huefner for the UEG Executive Committee
Answers to your 3 questions:
1. I am supportive of the current ban for members of the legislature to be contract lobbyists. Is there a proposal I can read? It appears you are just targeting one republican member and some existing democrat members would be exempt. Unless drafted correctly, writing a law for one person is against the Utah Constitution.
2. The past proposals would do nothing to stop individuals from currently working as a paid lobbyist for a single company or leaving the legislature and immediately working as a paid lobbyist for a single company. One of the current teacher's union representatives appears to have done exactly that legally and stepped down and started working as a lobbyist.
Increasing the time from one year to two doesn't solve that. Why change the time from 1 year to 2 when someone can immediately lobby for their new employer whether in the legislature or not?
We have members of the State School Board that seem to be able to be lobbyists. Do we need to change that too?
3. You are describing only one exception (not two) to a very complicated law. I would love to have the law more simple, but again, you seem to be targeting a very narrow situation.
Generally lobbyists can only now pay $10 or less for a meal without disclosure, unless they invite a very specific general group, such as all the Utah Senators, where that invitation was very well known. Modifying what we have may make UVU fill out a bunch of paperwork for inviting the legislature to a ribbon cutting ceremony for their Center of Constitutional Studies. They already have provided a lot of transparency in their current invite.
I hope you find the answers helpful,
Thank you for discarding your past 20 page proposal. Many items were already solved in past years. These are three great questions, but they don't have simple yes or no answers.
Fred C. Cox
Representing House District 32 and running for the new House District 30
_______________________________________________________________________________
TO: Utah Legislative Candidates in the November 2012 Election
FROM: Utahns for Ethical Government (UEG)
RE: Brief survey
We respectfully request your response to the following 3 questions. We are interested in ascertaining which legislative candidates would support key elements of ethics reform that have not yet been adopted by the Utah Legislature. We plan to release the survey responses to thousands of our supporters across the state and to the media. Silence is usually construed by interested persons as a NO answer. We request your response by Friday, August 31st.
1. If you are elected, will you support legislation to prohibit a Utah legislator from simultaneously serving as a paid lobbyist?
YES _______ NO _______
2. If you are elected, will you support legislation to establish a 2-year waiting period before a legislator can become a paid lobbyist after leaving the Legislature?
YES _______ NO _______
3. If you are elected, will you support legislation closing two major loopholes in the 2010 lobbying reform act that (1) allow lobbyists to pay for meals for groups of legislators and (2) require no disclosure of that fact?
YES _______ NO _______
To respond, just hit the reply button, mark your response in the Yes or No blanks, and hit the send button. Thank you for your response.
Sincerely,
Kim Burningham and Dixie Huefner for the UEG Executive Committee
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Representative Fred Cox running for the Utah House District 30
Courtesy of Comcast. More of these videos for other candidates are
available at Comcast On Demand, Utah. Vote Utah 2012. This video is a
little rough, as they didn't allow edits or redos after we started
recording and I had not used a teleprompter before.
http://youtu.be/ZsmlM1Cag8w
http://youtu.be/ZsmlM1Cag8w
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Do we let the Wookie Win
I said I liked the Outdoor Retailer Industry Trade show coming to Utah for
their convention. When "pushed" that we should do everything and anything
they want, I obviously pushed back.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/54623703-82/utah-outdoor-state-public.html.csp
The group has the same chance as anyone else. Did they show up at the hearings or the discussion the last couple of years? The Sierra club, the ATV folks and many others did.
They have been threatening to either get their way or take their marbles and go somewhere else for many years. We have no assurance that if we continue to do what they want that they will continue to come here.
More convention space, even if it sits partially vacant most of the year, done, more hotels, done.
Now, they want a reserved seat at the table for Utah land policy with veto rights?
A new County Hotel is being looked at even though it could cause the Grand America and others to go under. I have read the reports sent to the Convention Center about the proposed County Hotel. It was pretty obvious that the connection between the existing county convention center and hotels doesn't work and that the hotels as a whole think the County is competing with them instead of working with them.
I would like to see the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau work with the existing hotel owners instead of trying to compete with them. They almost ignore both the Little America and Grand America Hotel and that you can ride TRAX free from the north convention center exit to those hotels.
The hotels near the Salt Palace Convention Center should be able to market their individual hotel and the fact that they have all the convention and meeting room space that someone could want with the convention center. The convention center should be able to market with the surrounding hotels to utilize their meeting rooms and convention space if more space is needed.
For yesterday's comments on Utah Lands, see:
http://www.fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2012/08/outdoor-rec-industry-lashes-out-again.html
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/54623703-82/utah-outdoor-state-public.html.csp
The group has the same chance as anyone else. Did they show up at the hearings or the discussion the last couple of years? The Sierra club, the ATV folks and many others did.
They have been threatening to either get their way or take their marbles and go somewhere else for many years. We have no assurance that if we continue to do what they want that they will continue to come here.
More convention space, even if it sits partially vacant most of the year, done, more hotels, done.
Now, they want a reserved seat at the table for Utah land policy with veto rights?
A new County Hotel is being looked at even though it could cause the Grand America and others to go under. I have read the reports sent to the Convention Center about the proposed County Hotel. It was pretty obvious that the connection between the existing county convention center and hotels doesn't work and that the hotels as a whole think the County is competing with them instead of working with them.
I would like to see the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau work with the existing hotel owners instead of trying to compete with them. They almost ignore both the Little America and Grand America Hotel and that you can ride TRAX free from the north convention center exit to those hotels.
The hotels near the Salt Palace Convention Center should be able to market their individual hotel and the fact that they have all the convention and meeting room space that someone could want with the convention center. The convention center should be able to market with the surrounding hotels to utilize their meeting rooms and convention space if more space is needed.
For yesterday's comments on Utah Lands, see:
http://www.fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2012/08/outdoor-rec-industry-lashes-out-again.html
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