This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sen. Bob Bennett and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, those stalwart advocates of local control and of getting the federal government out of local decisions, seem to make an exception when their know-it-all philosophy is endangered by local decisions. Those two have been instrumental trying to overturn the decision by the city council and mayor of Washington, D.C., to allow gay marriage. According to federal enforcers Jason and Bob, the greater good is that the locally elected D.C. officials be overruled by Congress so that Provo's values can be imposed on the District of Columbia. If that doesn't work, these Utah-Washington guys have encouraged a lawsuit in the federal courts, asking activist federal judges to go around the will of the local government and impose a federal mandate.
Next time an eastern liberal wants to make more Utah federal lands into wilderness, despite the clattering of local officials, let's use the Bennett-Chaffetz rule: Local control is best, unless it disrupts your political agenda.
Jim Dabakis
Salt Lake City