Situational awareness - July 19, 2019

Situational awareness - July 19, 2019

Good morning from Salt Lake City and TGIF!

Welcome to Utah's must-read daily political news rundown. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to sign up for our emails.

Here are the stories you should pay attention to this morning:

• Trump's job approval underwater in Utah
• Bishop will announce his future plans later this month
• Trump disavows "send her back" chant

Friday trivia!

This week's question comes from Steve Owens.

"When Senator Ted Kennedy lost his driver's license due to the Chappaquiddick incident, what Utah staffer drove him to and from work every day for a year?"

Send your guesses to me via email at bschott@utahpolicy.com. The first three readers with the correct answer will be recognized in Monday's newsletter.

Help us! Send a news tip!

I love hearing from you! Send your news tips or feedback to me at bschott@utahpolicy.com. or you can message me on Twitter.

The UtahPolicy.com daily newsletter gets you up to speed on the top local and national news about politics and public policy. Our news is curated by Managing Editor Bryan Schott, along with help from Golden Webb. ((Click here to subscribe))

TICK TOCK

Today is the 200th day of the year. There are 165 days remaining in 2019.

4 days until ballots for the 2019 primary election are mailed to voters (7/23/2019)

11 days until in-person voting for the 2019 municipal primaries begins (7/30/2019)

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

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

55 days to the third Democratic presidential primary debate (9/12/2019)

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

167 days until candidates can begin to gather signatures to get on the 2020 ballot (1/2/2020)

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

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

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

237 days to the final day of the 2020 Utah Legislature (3/12/2020)

238 days to the opening of candidate filing for the 2020 election (3/13/2020)

256 days until the deadline for candidates to submit signatures to be placed on the 2020 primary ballot (3/31/2019)

340 days to the 2020 Utah primary election (6/23/2020)

360 days to the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee (7/13/2020)

402 days to the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte (8/24/2020)

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

Today At Utah Policy

Most Utahns say they are not happy with how President Trump is doing his job
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
A slim majority of Utahns say they disapprove of President Donald Trump's job performance.

Opinion nuggets: Greg Miller for governor? . . . Tofu burgers? . . . Dem vs. Dem . . . Radio talk shows . . . BLM in Colorado
By LaVarr Webb, Publisher
LaVarr Webb, UtahPolicy.com publisherShould Greg Miller run for governor? I have had the privilege of working with Gail Miller, Greg's mother, on a few projects and initiatives.

Rob Bishop will announce whether he'll run for another term in Congress by the end of this month
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Rep. Rob BishopRep. Rob Bishop, who said the current term would be his last, now says he will make a decision on whether to run again by July 29.

Sen. Lee locks in vote to pass 9/11 Victim's Compensation Fund
By Press release
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) secured unanimous consent Thursday for the Senate to vote on two amendments and final passage of 9/11 Victim's Compensation Fund next week.

Guest opinion: Yes, Donald Trump is a racist
By Darlene McDonald
Earlier this week, UtahPolicy.com publisher LaVarr Webb wrote an editorial addressing whether President Donald Trump is a racist for telling four congresswomen of color to "go back," where they came from.

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

• Jay Evensen: Think Sweden is a good example for health care? Think again
• Editorial: Increasing fire prevention funding is a step in the right direction, but commonsense is another
• Democrat Ben McAdams, rest of Utah delegation, vote against $15 federal minimum wage
• Utah Rep. Rob Bishop now says he may run again
• Highland joins other local Utah governments taking stance against abortion
• Utah Sen. Mitt Romney proposes more legislation against Chinese tech giant
• Utah gives $1 million in education grants to help fill workforce jobs
• A new freight train route for Utah? Uinta Basin hopes so
• Salt Lake police seek man accused of assaulting TV photojournalist during Inland Port protest

Salt Lake Tribune

• The state believes a now shuttered Utah charter school has no plan to repay $400,000 it owes
• Sen. Mike Lee strikes deal to get a final vote on 9/11 compensation bill
• Salt Lake City International Airport may see passengers increase by 65% in 20 years
• Rep. Ben McAdams votes with House Republicans against minimum wage bill

Other

• U.S. Rep. Bishop now said to be mulling another House bid in 2020 (Standard-Examiner)
• Ogden's 4 mayoral candidates debate issues ahead of primary election (Standard-Examiner)

NATIONAL HEADLINES

"Send her back"

• National Republicans pushed President Donald Trump to disavow the ugly "send her back" chant directed at Somali-born Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a campaign rally [NYT].
• President Trump falsely claimed he tried to stop the "send her back" chant at his campaign rally [AP].
• Anthony Scaramucci was disinvited from a Florida GOP fundraiser for criticizing Trump's "racially charged" tweets [Politico].
• How Trump's racist tweet attacking four Democratic women of color became a campaign rally chant in just three days [WaPo].

Omar pushes back. Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar told reporters on Thursday she believes President Trump is a "fascist" [Daily Beast].

Good news. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says the Trump administration and congressional leaders have "reached an agreement" on spending and raising budget caps [Politico].

Minimum wage. Democrats in the House voted to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. All of Utah's representatives, including Democrat Ben McAdams, voted no. The bill has little chance of passing the Republican-controlled Senate [NYT].

• Staffers on Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign are demanding he pay them the $15 per hour minimum wage he has been pushing for in Congress [WaPo].

Iran. President Trump said Thursday the American military shot down an Iranian drone that was threatening a Navy warship [NYT].

• Iran denied Trump's claim [AP].

2020

• The lineups for next week's Democratic debates are set. Night one features Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, while Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will take the stage on night two [WaPo].
• Staffers for Democratic hopeful John Delaney have urged him to drop out of the presidential race. He's spent $19 million, including $11 million of his own money, on his long-shot bid so far [Axios].
• Many Democratic candidates have vowed to not take campaign cash from lobbyists. That ban may not be as strict as it appears [Politico].

Hmmm. William Barr dramatically increased his political donations to Republican Senators in the months leading up to his confirmation hearings [Quartz].

Michael Cohen

• Newly released search warrants show President Donald Trump's direct involvement in a hush-money scheme to silence an alleged affair with an adult film actress that threatened his 2016 presidential bid [CNN].
• Following the release of those documents, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are demanding that longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks return to clarify her testimony because of "inconsistent" remarks she gave about Trump's hush-money payments [Politico].

Immigration. The Trump administration is considering cutting the number of refugees admitted to the U.S. next year to nearly zero [Politico].

Democratic governors warn presidential candidates. Some state leaders are worried the 2020 Democratic presidential field will push the party too far to the left in the race for the nomination [NYT].

Labor secretary. President Trump announced he plans to nominate Eugene Scalia, the son of former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, as his next secretary of labor [NYT].

Climate change. The Agriculture Department blocked the release of a plan to help American farmers deal with the effects of climate change [Politico].

Conspiracy time. An amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act instructs the government to investigate whether Lyme disease was developed by American bioweapons researchers during the Cold War [Defense One].

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1911 - Pennsylvania became the first state to pass laws censoring movies.

1977 - The world's first Global Positioning System (GPS) signal was transmitted.

1989 - United Airlines Flight 232 crashes in Sioux City, Iowa killing 111.

1993 - President Bill Clinton announced the "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy toward gays in the military. The policy was lifted in 2011.

Policy News

Casual Friday: Weekend Events & Outdoors Report
Outdoors Report -- Salt Lake Tribune: Interior to shift 44 jobs to Utah, move BLM headquarters to Colorado

Sandy City unveils new public works building
Sandy City will unveil its new Public Works building on July 19th 9:30-10:30 am.

Utah Department of Commerce, Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing completes national construction fraud sting, nabs unlicensed contractors statewide with 96 administrative citations and $543K in fines
Francine A. Giani, Executive Director of the Utah Department of Commerce, announced that the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL) completed a three-week statewide investigation targeting unlicensed contractors advertising online and across social media platforms.

More National Headlines

• Off the record, House Dems tell CNN's Tapper that Trump was 'brilliant' snookering Dems into letting The Squad become their symbol (American Thinker)
• Axelrod: Trump 'Forcing' Democrats To Embrace AOC's Squad, Accept They Run The Party (RealClearPolitics)
• The Sordid History of Liberals Calling Republicans Racists (PJ Media)
• 'Racism': It's not what it used to be (Powerline)
• The unexpected effectiveness of US President Donald Trump Read (Channel News Asia)
• New generations of Chinese immigrants hate affirmative action - and some are beginning to love Trump (National Review)
• Surge in voters who say race card used against Trump 'for political gain' (Washington Examiner)
• Ilhan Omar Happened Because Media Chose to Lie to You (PJ Media)
• Trump Averaged Highest Approval Last Quarter (Political Wire)
• Democrats can't take their own medicine (Powerline)
• The Outrage Economy (Commentary)

Wise Words

Political Will

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." John F. Kennedy

Lighter Side

Making Mistakes

Trump believes Iranian leaders made a mistake in shooting down the drone and is not yet on board with going to war. "Yes, Trump understands that people make mistakes. After all, he's had three wives and Eric." Stephen Colbert