Author Archives: David

About David

David is the father of 8 children. When he's not busy with that full time occupation he works as a technology professional. He enjoys discussing big issues with informed people, cooking, gardening, vexillology (flag design), and tinkering.

Perceived Electability and IRV – A Case Study

As a followup to last night’s special election to fill Dan Liljenquist’s term as State Senator, I noticed some interesting things based on my interactions with other delegates and my review of the actual results (round-by-round, not just the final … Continue reading

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Special Election – Senate District 23

Regardless of who is ends up finishing the state senate term that Dan Liljenquist was elected for there is one campaign promises that I would hold them to even if the eventual winner did not make this promise personally: to make representation a two way street by actively providing information to constituents during the session and by holding a weekly meeting for constituents to come make their voices heard and hear what is happening on the hill. Continue reading

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Please Don’t Vote

Voting is no panacea. If we don’t do the work that needs to be the foundation of voting it can do more harm than good. Continue reading

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Redistricting in Ut(opia)

I have been watching the redistricting process with interest although I have not been able to be as vocal in the discussions as I might have wished. This late in the process we can see the forces at work and … Continue reading

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Marginal Logic for Same-Sex Marriage

I’m a big fan of the CATO Institute and their perspective on constitutional government but no matter how much I may generally agree with them, that cannot give them a free pass to use use absolutely terrible logic to promote … Continue reading

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Happy Fireworks Day

photo credit: Camera Slayer Regardless of how much some people may talk about the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States during their celebrations on the fourth day of July each year, and despite reports suggesting that … Continue reading

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Failure of the American Voter

I’ve been thinking about the massive disconnect between the abysmal ratings that Congress enjoys (8% approval I recently read) and the virtual invincibility of Congressional incumbents (incumbents consistently win 90% of the elections where they seek reelection). I realized that … Continue reading

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GRAMA Answers – A First Pass

I really appreciated the 36 questions that came out of the first meeting of the GRAMA working group and wanted to offer one perspective on a first pass at answering those questions. I will say upfront that the answers provided … Continue reading

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The Straw Man of Teacher Pay

photo credit: 2create I saw a post on Facebook, and later an email, with a title about how overpaid teachers are. The post went on to show mathematically that teachers are not overpaid by any reasonable measurement. Teachers and their … Continue reading

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Orrin Hatch’s Insurmountable Obstacle

photo credit: Gage Skidmore Two years into his bid for re-election (yes, he has already been in obvious campaign mode for two years), in a recent tweet Orrin Hatch invited people to let him know if he was on the … Continue reading

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