KVNU's For the People on SB208

http://kvnuforthepeople.com/2009/03/06/bad-bills/

Hypocrisy raises my eyebrows, especially when it’s in the form of legislation. Two examples:

As I’ve said elsewhere, when you have some of the most anti-union organizations around (not to mention a majority of Utah Republicans in the House) “standing up” for the rights of union employees — in a right to work state, nonetheless — something is up.

And when you have Steve Urquhart (eternal victim of Utah’s “liberal media”) sponsoring a bill (SB208), with the support of these same Republican representatives, that claims government can do something better than private industry while also taking away a large chunk of a private industry’s (newspapers) revenue, it’s worth at least asking a few more questions. Shouldn’t they be telling us the free market can handle this problem? And normally, that’s exactly what they would be doing. Did Steve realize the error of his conservative ways, or is there more to the story? What gives?

Maybe I’m just a cynic. Maybe they’re hoping we’ll buy it. Either way, I’d bet my reputation neither of these pieces of legislation are as black and white as their sponsors and supporters would have us believe.

If SB208 doesn’t meet with a vote today, it’s sure to be buried in the ever present end of session Ombibus, and it seems — based on noted hypocrisy alone — to deserve more scrutiny than it’s getting.