Utah Policy Blog Watch

At Under the Dome, Rep. Craig Frank delivers a long post on laws regulating 16-year old drivers and unintended consequences….Neal Abercrombie posts some highlights from the 2007 Economic Report to the Governor, which was recently released by Gov. Huntsman's Council of Economic Advisors.... Shauna Harris explains "how organic farming can save Utah agriculture".... SLCSpin notes: "Here's something new. And cool. It's the most comprehensive collection of Utah political blogs to date".... At Out of Context, Robert Gehrke reports: "The White House announced Monday that Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt would lead a delegation to the inauguration of Daniel Ortega as president of Nicaragua. For those who missed the '80s, Ortega was a leader of the Sandanista movement, which overthrew the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua in 1979. In 1985, Ortega became president, but the Reagan administration didn't approve of his Marxist tendencies and bankrolled, trained and supplied Contra rebels who fought to overthrow the Ortega administration. Ortega lost an election in 1990, but didn't fade from the scene and won the presidential election in November, to the chagrin of the U.S. government. Ortega promises a moderate rule this time. In addition to Leavitt, the inauguration will be attended by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Should provide some interesting conversation for Leavitt: 'Hey, remember that time my government used illegal arms deals to try to throw you out of power? Ah. Good times'".... The Washington Prowler reports: "Sources inside the exploratory presidential campaign for former Massachusetts Gov. [Mitt] Romney say there are high level discussions taking place that would put former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the top most slot of the exploratory committee. 'The talk is Huckabee serving as chairman of the exploratory committee,' says one insider. Huckabee has been mulling a presidential bid of his own, and was viewed as a potential threat to the Romney campaign, particularly in the South, where the minister and former governor would peel away social conservatives from the Massachusetts moderate. 'This strategically would be an interesting decision, not only for Romney, but for Huckabee,' says one Washington insider who is aligned with the McCain campaign. 'It helps Mitt marginally, I don't see what's in it for Huckabee at all, which to my way of thinking means it won't happen.' On Thursday, Romney released the names of his big money finance co-chairs, which featured at least one eye-brow raiser, eBay CEO Meg Whitman, a woman considered by most to be of a liberal political stripe on social issues, as well as some economic issues. In 2006 Whitman entangled eBay in the 'net neutrality' fight in Congress, sending a letter to millions of eBay customers and clients, asking them to support federal government regulation of the Internet" (hat tip: Article VI Blog).