This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Matheson could make Senate race interesting. Chaffetz calls GOP debt plan 'stupid.' Huntsman keeps the heat on Romney.
Happy Wednesday, President Barack Obama lapped the GOP field in terms of fundraising in the last quarter. His campaign just announced he raised $47 million for his reelection fund and $38 million for the DNC "victory" fund. Obama's total alone is more than the GOP field combined. His nearest competitor was Mitt Romney with $18 million. [WSJ] [WaPost]
Topping the news: Rep. Rob Bishop is the lone holdout among Utah's Republican members of Congress on signing a cut, cap and balance pledge. [Trib]
-> The first attempt at redistricting the Utah House would force a dozen lawmakers into districts with another incumbent, creating tough election matchups. [Trib] [Fox13]
-> Jon Huntsman takes a direct shot at Romney over their respective job numbers as governors. [FoxNews] [ABCNews]
-> Huntsman will hit a motorcycle shop in Salt Lake this Saturday. [ABC4]
-> Rep. Jason Chaffetz kicks off a new blog at Politico with a story about two members of Congress who were just dying to try Pakistani sniper rifles and ended up regretting it. [Politico]
Tweet of the day: @jasoninthehouse: "Don't know what in the world McConnell in the Senate is thinking. Wow. Stupid idea."
Here's what Chaffetz was talking about: McConnell wants to raise the debt ceiling in steps and give the president the power to secure an increase without congressional approval. [WaPost]
Happy Birthday: to Rep. Rob Bishop and USU President Stan Albrecht, along with Jim Burr and Aaron Perkins.
Where are they?
Sen. Orrin Hatch will host a delegation meeting with BLM Director Robert Abbey and later hit a Judiciary Committee on nominations.
Sen. Mike Lee did not release a public schedule.
Rep. Jim Matheson beyond the Abbey meeting, the congressman plans to meet with the Utah AARP and the Utah Retail Merchants Association.
Rep. Rob Bishop will go to a Natural Resources Committee hearing before the meeting with Abbey. He has two more committee meetings later in the day. One is for the Republican Study Committee and the other is Rules.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz chairs an oversight hearing on the TSA and meets with the Utah AARP.
Gov. Gary Herbert signs the memorandum of understanding with Qinghai, China and then holds a dinner reception for the Chinese delegation.
AG Mark Shurtleff continues his stay in Hawaii and attends the Republican Attorneys General Association conference call.
SLCounty Mayor Peter Corroon meets with community council chairs, holds a meeting about the equestrian park and attends a luncheon for the Triple-A All Star Game.
SLC Mayor Ralph Becker attends a Sugarhouse street car meeting and later throws out the first pitch at the Triple-A All-Star Game.
WVC Mayor Mike Winder gives an interview for a student documentary, holds open door meetings with residents and then meets with Mayor Mao Xiaobing of Xining, China at a reception for the Utah-Qinghai Ecopartnership.
President Barack Obama will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and later his Intelligence Advisory Board. He continues to meet with congressional leaders to discuss a potential debt limit deal.
In other news: A pollster finds that Matheson would have a fighting chance in a Senate race against Hatch or Chaffetz. [Trib] [TPM] [DailyCaller] [PPP]
-> The governor got a small bundle of angry letters and emails after laying off the state's archaeologists. [Trib]
-> Chaffetz has some heavy criticism for the TSA after documents show 25,000 security breaches since 2001, but the agency says that is just a fraction of 1 percent of the passengers. [USAToday] [AP]
-> Bishop once supported a bill that would stop a ban on incandescent light bulbs, but he has pulled his support. [Trib]
-> An early look at municipal candidates shows Becker without a challenger in Salt Lake, while Ogden has a line of mayoral hopefuls. [Trib]
-> There is an East-West split when it comes to redistricting. [UtahPolicy]
-> Adam Brown at Utah Data Points notes that all 67 maps created by lawmakers and citizens on the state's redistricting site appear to be men. He doesn't really go anywhere with this finding, he's just sayin'. [DataPoints]
-> Bagley's attempt at casting a James Bond thriller, with Barack Obama as Bond and John Boehner as Dr. No. [Trib]
-> Rolly reports that the director of the Utah County Fair supports posting U.S. troops at the U.S.-Mexican border with orders to shoot anyone trying to cross illegally. This follows a recent incident in Lehi where a rodeo announcer suggested anyone there illegally be thrown on a passing train. [Trib]
-> Utah is home to 14 at-risk species among hundreds on proposed protection list. [AP via Trib]
-> The Salt Lake Valley's east side has Utah's oldest median ages. [Trib]
-> You know Utah has passed some tough immigration laws, but here is a handy way to see what other states have been up to. [Reuters]
-> The Utah Department of Transportation wins a Utah Supreme Court ruling worth a cool $744K. [Trib]
-> The Ogden Education Association says it will go along with a proposed contract so long as the Board of Education agrees to reinstate collective bargaining — which it has effectively dumped. [Trib]
-> A follow-up story on the slaying of Cheryl Maher, whose disclosure of a 25-year-old nude hot-tubing incident with Kevin Garn brought down the Utah House majority leader last year. [Trib] [DNews]
-> And here's the Concord (N.H.) Monitor story about the political earthquake the revelation caused in Utah during the 2010 Legislature. [Trib]
-> Sam Granato, former head of the state liquor commission, uses a Rotary Club meeting to blast the Legislature's decision to shut a profitable liquor store. [Trib]
-> Utah's anti-bigamy law is going to be the target of a federal suit. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Obama's nomination of Magistrate Judge David Nuffer to be a full-fledged Utah federal jurist is part of a pattern. [Trib]
-> Salt Lake County is set to expand curbside recycling from twice a month to once a week. [Trib] [DNews]
2012 watch: Huntsman's campaign has finally re-obtained his namesake site, JonHuntsman.com. It now links to his presidential campaign site and no longer takes a jab at Huntsman over the "remarkable leader" letter he had sent to Obama. [TPM]
-> The Boston Globe attempts to fact check criticism against Huntsman's record (but comes up a little short on the facts). [Globe]
-> The new Quinnipiac University poll shows Michele Bachmann gaining on Romney, she takes 14 percent to his 25. Where's Huntsman? At the bottom, 1 percent. That's the same percentage as little known Thaddeus McCotter. [Politico]
-> Ron Paul won't run for re-election to the House to focus on his presidential campaign. [WSJ]
-> Romney is going with an Olympic theme when categorizing his biggest contributors. [iWatch]
-> Huntsman team : "We assume Mitt Romney will continue to run away from his record." [Politico]
Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com.
— Matt Canham Twitter.com/mattcanham with contributions from Dan Harrie and Chase Hall