Show Tuesday April 27 2004 A4 The Herald Journal National view Rethinking campaign finance reform Daily Times-Ca- ll Longmont Colo oliticai campaignsrun on money and no one sliould be the least hit surprised that dollars have found a way over and around the supposed dam that is the McCain-Feingol- d reform campaign-financ- e legislation that became law in 2002 That outlet is a 527 group a nonprofit organization named for its Internal Revenue Service designa tion The 527 groups are sprouting rapidly and while regulations prohibit federal officials from soliciting money for a 527 dnd ban the nonprofit! from directly coordinating campaign activity with candidates or parties they will be major players in this fall's presidential campaign and in other key battlegrounds But most observers don’t expect the FEC to take strong action especially in the middle of a campaign cycle What's much more likely is that the GOP will get busy building its own network of 527s and turning the tap on millions of dollars for its efforts This isn't what the reform advocates had in mind If Congress is serious about limit- ing the role of big money in elections and creating something resembling a level playing field it has to return to the drawing board and go back to work on a comprehensive — and loophole free — campaign-financ- e overhaul Your view The American holy war Vote ‘no’ on the Logan city Ignoring Cache school bond ‘civic duty’ To the editor: I have just returned home from a soccer match a L - competitive girls’ game at Dahle Park Between being a coach of a I’-- 1 0 buy s team and a spectator parent on the 2 J ' girls team I hav e attended seven matches v far this season l am involved enough to make the following assessment: needs Logan Parks and Recreation ’ to get their act together now ' I have seen a game w ith no net a game with no referees and several games w ith insufficient ref support Only once in seven games has thcre: ' been a full contingent of officials In order for the teams to continue play- ing parents are asked to fill in as officials Having done this three times to' date I am wondering what it will lake for Logan to commit to pro- viding trained officials In the competitive leagues 'teams collect monies in advance and pay the oiTLcials on the spot If an insufficient number of officials show up " is returned to the team other The Logan Rec leagues on-thhand seem willing to keep the -- 1 U-1- jnoriey they collected regardless of whether it is used for the expected purpose — that being the payment of a full group'd!' officials ' ''Held conditions" is anolher area that jtecds correction ( Jfilcially a ' soccer game should not' be played w ithout a net on each goal Yet the Dahle Park nets were not up on the season opener And the junior fields of the new soccer complex have gone weeks without nets The saine is true of the new field by the Aquatic Center: To complicate the matter the nets that are in place are worn and fra- led io the point that a significant number ol hull's kicked into the goal proccvd unilctcrredK-yondthegdu- l frame 1 realize that nets cill" chil-dre- n io climb and otherwise abuse them but the quality of nets currently in place seems ! be ii pri idiicl price:purchasThu rather than quality- - purchasing' Logan city ' needs’ to make indeci- sion on whether they can provide the If the city can't serv ice as advertisi-live up to their part of the baigaiti fur the they should quit volume i'lsocAer matches tliaf they have in place It's i simple matter of civicdulv':'' can convention I have been able to meet many of the candidates for governor and listen to their ideas for improving the state Most call for cutting waste in state government Some call for a commission to inves-- : tigate ways to cut those costs All want to increase money going to the schools Those are good things However none that I have heard want to address the possibility of waste in our school districts Since so much of our state budget goes to the schools I would think that they would want to look there first Every business has some waste Some questions about possible waste in our school district are: How much money (if any) would be saved if the Cache and Logan school districts combined? ' Do we really need a superinten- dent two associate superintendents and a business administrator? How has the budget for the district office grown over the past 20 or 30 years in comparison to salaries for teachers and the increase in the number of students? ' The proposed bond brings even more questions: ‘Why does it cost $2 million each to expand two auditoriumcafeterias when it only costs $6 million to build ah entire school? In atime of bet tightening why are spending almost 10 percent of the proposed amount on improving sports facilities? The S280000 on technology improvements seems reasonable but why docs it cost 25 percent more than that for a technology center at the district office? Why do w e need a technology center at the district office? Who will ' be using this expensive facility? Why docs the school district need a S50000U parking Jot' in Millville? ' Why:are wc asked to approve a S60 million bond when we only need S27 million now? ' Can wc depend on them to spend the'other 533 million frugally? Will ' wc have any say on what they pur- chase or build with that money? I don't mean to question anyone’s integrity but 1 don't know many peo-' ple I would trust with $33 million ' What guarantees do we have that they won't ask for more money prior w-- United Feature Syndicate P resident Bush’s reliance on theAlmighty as he led the country to war with Iraq terrifies some comforts others But regardless of where people stand most would agree that reli-- gious fervor in America is rising - - Whv teil me that the bond will Fa to historians we may be witnessing another “great awakening” — a time of heightened religious intensity that periodically sweeps across the nation and impact social and political thought Historians say that such awakenings occurred before the American Revolution and Civil War and after World War II Accordingly we’re just about due for another one the increased attention that religion has in American life coupled with a terrorist threat fueled primarily by Muslim extremists brings us perilously close to a holy war Bush and other leaders say this is not a religious war and that the vast majority of those who practice the Muslim faith do not support the radicals who preach NoifSequitur Muslim zealots are the enemy and when the enemy wages war in the name of Allah the tendency is to respond in kind Bush apparently told journalist Boh Woodward that' he sought guidance from God as he gave the orders to bomb Iraq (though Bush said that he did not "justify war based upon God”) His refusal to acknowledge any mistakes in the prosecution of the war or its violent aftermath reflects the strength he draws from his religious faith He brings a missionary zeal to his role as commander in chief and that is why the polls are holding steady for him despite weeks of bad news from Iraq and questions about whether he took the threat of terrorism seriously enough before the ' Sept 11 attacks He seems to believe in the rightness of his cause and so do a majority of Americans — at least for now When religion is injected into politics s not done in a void Religious belief has deep roots in Anybody iq public lifewho'refusest profess a reli- gious affiliation risks being cized Can you imagine a president taking the qath of office without putting his or her hand on the Bible? Or a witness going before a judge or jury and not swearing to tell the truth before God? Religion is so ingrained n America that its presence is rarely questioned in these situations even by he most Here is a list of addresses and phone numbers lor some of Cache Valley’s representatives in government: LOGAN-MAYO- R - Doug Thompson Logan 753-689- 9 1567 Lynnwood Ave LOGAN-MUNICIPA- COUNCIL L Laraine Swenson 11 50 E 50 South Logan 84321755-818- 3 Steve Thompson 37 S 200 West Logan 84321753-601- 9 Tami Pyfer South PI 84321 753:7529 Steven C Taylor - 19Q E Center 52-13- 755816 Joseph C Needham - 250 0 ter (cell) W Cen- CACHE COUNTY COUNCIL Darrel Lee Gibbons —representing the north district — 840 S 1 600 West Lewiston 84320 258-523- 8 S Brian Chambers —representing the northeast district— 654 E 2160 North North Logari 84341 752-057-4 John A Hansen —representing the south district— 252 EMain Hyrum Political Correspondent Eleanor Clift contributed tothis column North Logan 84341 v 245-658- 4 Providence 84332 752-- 1 964 Cory Yeates —representing Logan district Nq 1— 2B1 S 100 East Logan 84321 752-902-7 Kathy RobiSon --representing ? Logan district No 2 — 335 N 400 753-5- 1 09 West Logan §4321 v Craig Petersen —representing Logan district No 3— 1440 E 1220 ' 94 igggjgg The Opinion page is intended lo acquainr readers wrth a variety o( viewpoints on matters ol public importance and provide members of ' the community with a forum Ipr their views: Personal columns bartoons and tetters (ram readers reflect the opinions ol their writers arid creators Editorials under the headng 'Our View” represent the views ol the Herald Journal editorial txJard Members ol the editorial board: DARREU- - EHRUCKtoty edita ' 1 ' BRUCE SMITHput)Ssher CHARLES McCOLLUMrtnanaginfl edtor : — Judge LtantedHani 8 716-717- :’ 84319 Paul Cook —representing the southeast district — 445 Glenwood Circle VCINDYYURTHrtealures editor 752-677- CACHE COUNTY EXECUTIVE BRANCH Executive: Lynn Lemon 179 N Main Logan 84321 1 Assessor Kathleen Howell 179 N Main Logan 84321 716-710-0 Attorney: George Dailies 11 W 100 North Ugan 84321716-836- 1 ' Auditor Tamara Stones 179 N Main Logan 84321 716-712-3 Clerk: Jill Zollinger 179 NMain' Logan 84321 716-715-0 Recorder Michael L GIeed 179 N Main Logan 84321 716-718-0 Sheriff: Lynn Nelson 50 W200 North Logan 84321 7507400 Treasurer Karen A Jeppessen 179 NMainj Logan 84321 71 !' Herald Journal are monlikfhj tp begatfuni out of a f this-countr- Editorial polic ‘‘AyUl conclusions God-earin- Lawmakers 232-t30- See LETTERS on A10 ardent secularists In Europe espe- daily England religion is far less important in the culture of public life Prime Minister Tony Blair a practicing Catholic is something of an oddity among his countrymen His loyalty to Bush on the Iraq war is thought to stem from a shared sense of mission inspired by the religious faith they hold in common' Bush seems to own the religious vote in America Prills show that the more people go tri church the more likely they are to vote Republican Bush’s challenger John Kory a Catholic and a former altar boy will have to actively contest Bush for the g vote The Catholic vote in particular is an important swing vote Catholics have been with the winner in ever recent election The last (and only) Catholic president was John Kennedy and he had to assure voters that if elected he would not take orders from th pope Kerry’s challenge is to convince voters that he is grounded in the core values of his faith even though Ire i at odds with the church hierarchy on abortion and gay rights As a reserved New Englander Kerry doesn’t talk easily about his religious beliefs In a country accustomed to le confessions from politi- Oprah-st- y cians that may make some people uneasy while others will cheer One way or another God will be on the ballot violence But the hard truth is that ': to"2fC0?'''V ic Ra'iiiu'seii Louan By Jack Anderson and Dougin Cohn To the editor: As a delegate to the state Republi- J The Herald Joumal welcomes tetters to the 'editor Potsnfialy Rteldus or offensive letters will not be published however and the edttor reserves the right to edtt al tottereto conform tp the length and style requirements ol the : ' ': newspaper Letters should be: " ' ' Typewritten and : Mo more than 450 words in length Addressed and include daytime phone number tor purposes ol verification ’ Signed by the author" Individuate are limited to one published tet-twithin any gktey period Address letters to hjtetterOhinewscont Guest com? 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