Situational awareness: April 25, 2019

Situational awareness: April 25, 2019

Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City

Here's what is driving the day:

• McAdams speaks about Mueller, impeachment, and Pelosi.
• Herbert announces he's receiving treatment for skin cancer.
• Biden jumps into the 2020 race.
• Trump vows to fight Democratic subpoenas.

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TICK TOCK

Today is the 115th day of the year. There are 250 days remaining in 2019.

9 days to the Utah State Republican Party Organizing Convention (5/4/2019)

9 days to the United Utah Party state convention (5/4/2019)

39 days until the municipal election filing period opens (6/3/2019)

43 days until the municipal election filing period ends (6/7/2019)

44 days until the Independent American Party Utah State Convention (6/8/2019)

58 days to the Utah State Democratic Party Organizing Convention (6/22/2019)

62 days to the first Democratic presidential primary debates in Miami (6/26/2019)

96 days to the second Democratic presidential primary debates in Detroit (7/30/2019)

110 days to the 2019 Utah primary elections (8/13/2019)

194 days to the 2019 municipal elections (11/5/2019)

277 days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature (1/27/2020)

285 days to the 2020 Iowa Caucuses (2/3/2020)

313 days to the 2020 Utah presidential primary (3/3/2020)

554 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today At Utah Policy

Q&A with Rep. Ben McAdams on Mueller, impeachment, Pelosi and progressives
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
It's been just over three months since Rep. Ben McAdams was sworn into Congress as a member of this year's freshman class.

Utah wins a 2019 regional innovation cluster grant through the SBA
By USTAR Team
Utah was one of seven regional innovation cluster (RIC) initiatives awarded $500,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Utah Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Initiative (UAMMI) received the award to expand its efforts to foster small business growth within the advanced materials and manufacturing industry cluster in Utah.

Utah Thrives Podcast: Teacher pay
By Utah Foundation
Why should a young person in Utah make the career decision to become a teacher? Why do potential teachers often choose another line of work? And how do Utah's pay scales for teachers compare to other Mountain states and the nation?

Lee: Mueller investigation 'went off the rails'
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Sen. Mike Lee says special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election "went off the rails."

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

• Op-ed: Right track, wrong track on drug pricing
• Derek Miller: The Golden Spike marks Utah's greatest leap forward
• Jay Evensen: How Utah Democrats could influence tax reform
• Editorial: Utah teacher shortage needs less discussion and more action
• Canyons District proposes $50K starting teacher pay and $7,665 raise for all teachers
• Access is not the only problem with health care in Utah
• Utah Gov. Gary Herbert being treated for skin cancer
• Mitt Romney's first foreign trip as senator turns out to be first he would have made as president
• In 50 years, a more diverse Utah will look like today's U.S.
• Housing costs skyrocketed in 2018, but could slow this year, analyst says
• 'Abort the port': Protestors crash Utah Inland Port Authority board meeting

Salt Lake Tribune

• One of these four Republicans will be the next leader of Utah's dominant political party
• A Moab resort owner says she 'cannot calculate' the damage phone outages have caused to her business
• Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has cancerous skin removed
• Rep. Ben McAdams calls Trump's behavior 'dishonest and corrupt,' but says it does not yet merit impeachment
• Minority population expected to boom in Utah in next 50 years. In 2065, 42% of schoolchildren projected to be minorities.
• Study: Salt Lake, Orem and Provo among worst in the nation for air pollution
• Environmental activists take over, shut down the Inland Port Authority Board's monthly meeting

NATIONAL HEADLINES

Biden is in. Former Vice President Joe Biden announced his candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination early Thursday morning - https://wapo.st/2Gv4biC

• Biden raised the alarm about his fundraising during a conference call, telling donors he will be judged on how much he can raise in the first 24 hours after announcing his candidacy - https://politi.co/2GzzDw7

"We're fighting all the subpoenas." President Donald Trump and his administration plan to resist subpoenas issued by Democrats in Congress, curtailing their ability to conduct oversight on the Executive Branch - https://cnn.it/2GvvxoQ

• The White House is rejecting a call from Democrats in the House for Stephen Miller to testify on immigration - https://wapo.st/2Gw4NV5
• Democrats may have to turn to the courts as their only recourse to Trump's plans to stonewall their investigations - https://nyti.ms/2GyeEK6
• Time is on Trump's side as he could stiff-arm Democratic investigators until after the 2020 election - http://bit.ly/2GCS0jF
• "Sorry, Mr. President. Congress has every right to investigate you" - https://wapo.st/2GE4yr4

Clinton says Congress should hold hearings on the Mueller report. The Democrat who lost to Trump in 2016 says Congress has a duty to investigate the information contained in the Mueller report, even if it leads to an eventual impeachment effort - https://wapo.st/2GzhqPq

Trump says he'll turn to the Supreme Court if Democrats try to impeach him. The high court ruled unanimously in 1993 that impeachment authority lies with Congress and "nowhere else" - https://politi.co/2GAORkp

Weld calls on Trump to resign. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who is challenging President Trump for the 2020 GOP nomination, says Trump should resign from office following the Mueller report - http://bit.ly/2Gvv4mA

Deutsche Bank is giving Trump's financial records to New York investigators. The bank is turning over records in response to subpoenas by New York's Attorney General - https://cnn.it/2Gv7JkW

"Like pulling teeth" to get the Trump White House to focus on Russian hacking efforts. Russian interference in America's political system is continuing, but the White House is shrugging off warnings from senior officials - https://cnn.it/2Gw5q0T

How will newsrooms respond if hackers release stolen data during the 2020 election? Most news organizations say they will consider the data on a case-by-case basis - https://cnn.it/2GxyNjx

Trump threatens to send more armed troops to the border. Trump renewed the threat Wednesday following an incident in which Mexican soldiers confronted U.S. personnel - http://bit.ly/2GBNZw7

HHS plans to roll back transgender protections. The Trump administration is preparing to roll back protections for transgender patients while strengthening protections for healthcare workers who refuse care based on religious objections - https://politi.co/2Gv5LRA

Measles outbreak. The number of measles cases in the U.S. hits a level not seen since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000 - https://wapo.st/2GwSyHW

Facebook expecting a massive fine. The social media platform is bracing for a fine of up to $5 billion for mishandling users data - https://cnn.it/2GE3inQ

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1846 - Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican-American War.

1862 - Forces under Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

1898 - Spanish-American War: The United States declares war on Spain.

1901 - New York becomes the first state to require automobile license plates.

1945 - Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco.

1953 - Francis Crick and James Watson published their paper describing the double helix structure of DNA.

1967 - The first law legalizing abortion in the U.S. was signed into law by Colorado Gov. John Love.

1983 - Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit.

Policy News

CCAGW honors Sen. Mike Lee for being a 'Taxpayer Super Hero'
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) applauded Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) for his relentless and unwavering support of the fiscal interests of American taxpayers while serving in Congress. Sen. Lee is one of only four senators to earn a perfect score of 100 percent in CCAGW's 2018 Congressional Ratings, making him a "Taxpayer Super Hero." Since he was elected to the Senate in 2010, he has an exemplary lifetime rating of 96 percent. Sen. Lee was also a Taxpayer Super Hero in 2014.

Salt Lake City launches home buyer program for first-responders, teachers, and nurses
Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski will join representatives from the Community Development Corporation of Utah to formally launch the Community HEROES Home Buyer Program, a down-payment assistance program for nurses, teachers, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and 911-dispatchers who live and work in Salt Lake City.

More National Headlines

• The Press Will Learn Nothing From the Russiagate Fiasco (Rolling Stone)
• California Politicians Hiked Gas Tax, Now Demand Investigation Into State's $4 Per Gallon Gas Prices (Reason)
• CBO Report: 1.4 Million Lost Health Insurance Since 2016 - And Obamacare Is To Blame (Issue & Insights)
• Trump's army of 'the uncovered' (American Thinker)
• How the Intercept Is Fueling the Democratic Civil War (Politico)
• Beto O'Rourke, other white candidates face 'woke litmus test' when they visit Texas (Associated Press)
• 2020 Democrats confronting debate over letting felons vote (Associated Press)
• Buttigieg says he doubts Sanders can win general election (The Hill)
• Biden and Bernie set for clash (The Hill)
• Typical Worker's Pay Nears $200,000 at Oil Refiner (Wall Street Journal)

Wise Words

Re-Connect

"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." John Muir
 

Lighter Side

Reading Again

"Say what you will about this president: He has Americans reading again." - JIMMY KIMMEL