Salt Lake City News - Hits & Misses: Hits & Misses | Sen. Buttars, Rep. Litvack & the Governor

Posted // February 27,2008 - Upside of Buttars
The embarrassing public meltdown of Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, over allegedly bigoted remarks may have a silver lining: His bigoted bills are going down in flames. Buttars’ SB 262, a proposal to do away with Salt Lake City’s newly minted domestic partner registry, once seemed sure to pass. Hating gays is still OK in Utah’s statehouse. But when Buttars’ statements made it appear he was prejudiced against blacks as well, legislative leaders began making noises about shelving SB 262. In more good news, Butters himself killed a misguided bill he’d proposed to veil police discipline in secrecy. Add the Senator’s sincere-sounding apology at Calvary Baptist Church, and it looks like there is hope for growth, even at Utah’s Capitol.

Armed Abusers
A bill proposed by Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake City, to allow victims of dating violence to obtain protective orders against abusive boyfriends or girlfriends was killed in the House after—get this—lawmakers objected that HB 247 might deprive abusers of the right to carry guns. Speaking against the proposal, Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, said they didn’t need laws in Kane County to deal with dating violence: “Usually the father handles it first, then there is a posse that goes out and takes care of the rest of it as we drag them across the sagebrush.” Wouldn’t it be easier for the vigilante mob to chase down the rascal if he wasn’t armed? Or does that take the sport out of it?

Veto Pledge
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will bail Utah lawmakers out of some of the anti-immigrant lunacy that has gripped the Utah’s Legislature this year. The governor announced plans to veto two proposals—one to strip undocumented immigrants of driver cards, the other to strip their children of affordable college tuition—if the measures made it to his desk. Neither idea appears to have the two-thirds majority needed to overturn a veto. Unfortunately, an even worse bill is moving through the Legislature, the omnibus tough-on-immigration measure SB 81, which would make local police federal immigration agents, drive immigrants from jobs and possibly lock up landlords who unwittingly rent to those without papers. Hopefully, Huntsman has one more veto up his sleeve.

REPLY TO THIS COMMENT

Anonymous

Posted // March 1,2008 at 15:19 Hey Rob, when you have an accident with an illegal alien that shouldn’t be here, but is; that shouldn’t be driving, but is; that should have auto insurance but doesn’t.... and you say, incredulously and self-righteously, it shouldn’t be this way but it is, and you wonder why he or she didn’t have insurance, keep your thoughts in mind. nnSometimes, we just need to pull our heads out of ..... the sand, yea, the sand.... and face reality. Drivers need licenses to get insurance. Insurance has a public safety purpose. Also, it’s better we know who is here rather than pushing folks more into the shadows where they are further isolated and vulnerable. nnGranted, they shouldn’t be here (according to you) but they’re here! Face it. Rule of law? What about the law of economic reality? That’s the rule we’ve been following for so long that now the laws need to catch up. We need them, they need to work, we have jobs, they want to work. nGet real and get a life!

Posted // February 29,2008 at 14:15 For the life of me, I don’t understand why those of us against illegal immigration are constantly labeled as anti immigration. I personally think immigration is fine, as long as the law is followed in the process. My wife is an immigrant, and we had to follow the rules in order for her to come here to the US.nnAlso, why do illegal immigrants (note the word illegal) need drivers licenses? That’s just one step towards legitimizing their illegal status that we don’t need. Is it going to make them suddenly better drivers? People who don’t respect our immigration laws and rules are likely to think much better of our driving rules and regulations. Hell, we can’t even get our real citizens to drive right, but at least they mostly have insurance. Illegal immigrants don’t even have that, so when they cause and accident (note I didn’t say if) the victim gets screwed all around.

Posted // February 29,2008 at 12:43 “Usually the father handles it first, then there is a posse that goes out and takes care of the rest of it as we drag them across the sagebrush.”nnI wish we had more context here because, well, just because.

Posted // February 28,2008 at 05:37 When you can’t dispute the allegations themselves, at least point out a typo.

Posted // February 28,2008 at 05:28 Chris Buttars is a Senator. If you are going to slam him, at least get the facts straight. If he is the sponsor of a SENATE bill (SB), you should realize that he is a Senator.nnJust a friendly plug for smart journalism.

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Also written by Ted McDonough

Hits & Misses | Sen. Buttars, Rep. Litvack & the Governor