I should have done this sooner, but I guess there's still some time before election day.

Vote Pete Ashdown... to send a message

It's pretty obvious Pete Ashdown's campaign will not come close to toppling Orrin Hatch. Many Utahns who have been intrigued by Pete's sensible ideas for government and his stands on 21st century issues of copyright law, Internet governance, and other issues will probably fall back to voting Republican.

Don't do it! Pete is probably the only democrat I'll vote for this year and it's not because I want to see a Democrat majority in the U.S. Senate, because I don't. At the national level, the Democrat party is more socialist and anti-religion than ever before. That being said, Orrin Hatch and the Utah GOP needs to know that a growing set of highly informed voters are displeased with the status quo.

While Hatch has done the "right thing" on the war and the government's handling of terror, he has become a puppet to the entertainment industry and others who want to control what you can and can not do with your own data, hardware, and software; a frightening prospect as we head into an age where we rely increasingly on digital information.

Salt Lake County - Proposition 3

If you live in Salt Lake County, you should know about Proposition 3 which proposes an additional 1/4 percent sales tax be collected and the revenue be used for transportation. Utah County faces a similar ballot initiative.

This is a tough issue and I must admit I'm not completely sold on it either way. But, I wanted to share some of my concerns in case others may not have considered them.

My biggest concern is dumping more money into the giant sucking machine that is the Utah Transit Authority. In addition to getting sales tax money in several counties, the UTA charges gargantuan fares to ride its buses and light rail services. It would be one thing if they were building up a pile of cash to fund future growth, but as we all know, that's not the case.

The UTA is, perhaps, the best example of government bureaucracy out of control in the state of Utah. If I were in charge, I would turn over management of public transit to a private firm. Holy cow, things would change! Fares would drop through the floor! Bus lines that go places other than TRAX stations would reappear on the map. Oh, and a lot of overpaid, underworked public employees would be out on the street.

In addition to more pork-barrel funding of a broken public transit organization, there's the fact Proposition 3 doesn't come close to explaining to the voters exactly what will happen to the money generated. It could be used on any of a number of projects currently in the hopper - and maybe for others dreamed up in the future.

None of the projects in the hopper now deal with east-west travel in the middle of the Salt Lake Valley- a bigger problem than those addressed by the Mountain View Corridor, TRAX lines into West Valley, or future widening of I-15.

I'm also offended by the tone of the political advertisements endorsing the proposition. They infer a make-believe expediency in passing this tax hike- like the Great Salt Lake will flood the valley next year if we don't do something about it right frickin' now!

The commercials claim we must act now to prevent imminent gridlock in 15 years, but, again, there's nothing specific to be done with the money. This is clearly an example of irresponsible government.

There's nothing wrong with us, as voters, saying, "Uh, no. Come back with something that makes more sense and spells things out more clearly."

Don't worry, if it gets voted down, they'll be back next time with another tax hike for transit and transportation. It's becoming a fact of life in Utah.