WASHINGTON — Viewers of the second Republican presidential debate heard inflated claims about Planned Parenthood abortion practices and the risks of vaccines, as well as a dubious assertion by Donald Trump that he wasn’t interested in establishing casinos in Florida back in Jeb Bush’s days as a candidate for governor.

Some of the claims in the debate Wednesday night and how they compare with the facts:

TRUMP: “I’m in favor of vaccines, do them over a longer period of time, same amount, but just in little sections and I think you’re going to see a big impact on autism.”

THE FACTS: Medical researchers have debunked claims that vaccines given to children can lead to autism and developmental disorders. The Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, says vaccines are not free from adverse effects, “but most are very rare or very mild.” A study that drew a connection between autism and vaccines was retracted in 2010.

For all of that, Trump asserted that a child of one of his employees “went to have the vaccine and came back and a week later got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic.”

With those remarks, Trump waded into subject matter that had scalded a few others on the stage.

In February, Paul said he’d heard of “many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.” But he quickly backed down under criticism from pediatric experts and others, and endorsed vaccines. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, too, clarified that he supported the measles vaccine after appearing to question it.

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BUSH: “The one guy that had some special interests that I know of that tried to get me to change my views on something — that was generous and gave me money — was Donald Trump. He wanted casino gambling in Florida.”

TRUMP: “I didn’t. … Totally false….”

BUSH: “I’m not going to be bought by anybody.”

TRUMP: “I promise if I wanted it, I would have gotten it.”

THE FACTS: Trump’s hopes of expanding casino operations in Florida in the mid-1990s were well known at the time. Trump employed a prominent lobbyist to represent his gambling interests in Florida. And news reports from that time show he hosted a fundraiser to help Bush’s campaign for governor and donated $50,000 to the Florida Republican Party during that campaign.

Bush did not bend in his opposition to casino gambling. It is not clear whether Trump approached Bush directly on the casino matter, but his interest in the enterprise is a matter of record.

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TEXAS SEN. TED CRUZ: “On these videos, Planned Parenthood also essentially confesses to multiple felonies. It is a felony with 10 years’ jail term to sell the body parts of unborn children for profit. That’s what these videos show Planned Parenthood doing.”

THE FACTS: The Center for Medical Progress released five videos showing furtively recorded conversations with Planned Parenthood officials, recorded by people posing as representatives of a fictitious private company that buys fetal tissue for researchers. In the videos, Planned Parenthood officials discuss how they obtain tissue from aborted fetuses for research, how they decide how much to charge and how it’s possible to alter the procedure to enhance the chances of recovering the organs being sought.

But the officials also repeatedly say they are only allowed by law to recover costs, not to make a profit. The videos don’t unambiguously show otherwise.

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CHRIS CHRISTIE: “In New Jersey, we have medical marijuana laws, which I’ve supported and implemented.”

THE FACTS: Christie has gone slow in implementing New Jersey’s medical marijuana law, which was signed before he took office, and has argued it is little more than “a front for legalization.”

Medical marijuana in New Jersey is tightly restricted and state lawmakers said Christie’s administration has placed “arbitrary and unnecessary” restrictions on the program. Patients and doctors, for instance, must register with the state and pay a $200 fee apiece. Only patients suffering from one of six conditions, including terminal cancer, multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy, may apply.

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TRUMP: “In Wisconsin, you’re losing $2.2 billion right now. … I would do so much better than that.”

WISCONSIN GOV. SCOTT WALKER: “Mr. Trump, you’re using the talking points of the Democrats. … We balanced a budget.”

THE FACTS: Trump’s figures are way out of date. Wisconsin, like many states, is required by law to balance its budgets.

Last year, the Legislature’s budget-watchers projected that a $1 billion surplus would accrue by June of this year. Walker and his GOP-run legislature later passed a series of tax cuts. But state revenues slowed and by November the projected surplus had turned into a $2.2 billion projected shortfall. After making a series of budget cuts to compensate, Walker in July signed a budget that was balanced, as the law requires.

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TRUMP: “I want to build a wall, a wall that works. So important, and it’s a big part of it.”

BEN CARSON: “I was down in Arizona a few weeks ago at the border. I mean, the fences that were there were not manned, and those are the kind of fences when I was a kid that would barely slow us down. So, I don’t see any purpose in having that.”

THE FACTS: The expectation that a fence all along the border with Mexico could stop illegal crossings is not borne out by the fencing that’s already been built — about 700 miles of it. But neither is that fence as porous as Carson suggests. The reality is somewhere in between.

Maintaining the existing multibillion-dollar fencing has been a time-consuming task for Border Patrol agents, who routinely patrol the fence line looking for holes or other damage. It was never designed, or expected, to block all illicit traffic from coming across the border, but instead to act as a deterrent and slow those who try crossing on foot.

Even so, a fence section that appears unmanned is not unguarded. In urban areas such as El Paso, Texas, the fence line is monitored by cameras mounted atop fixed poles, and accessible to patrolling agents. Carson acknowledged that such areas can be more secure than some of the fencing in disrepair that he witnessed.

WASHINGTON — Splintered House Republicans elected Rep. Paul Ryan to be the chamber’s 54th speaker on Thursday, turning to the youthful but battle-tested Wisconsin lawmaker to mend the party’s self-inflicted wounds and help woo voters in next year’s elections.

“The House is broken,” Ryan said in his first remarks to the chamber, seemingly referring as much to a GOP civil war between hard-liners and pragmatists as to the House’s customary partisan divisions.

“We are not solving problems, we are adding to them, and I am not interested in laying blame,” he said. “We are not settling scores. We are wiping the slate clean.”

In a slow-moving roll call that mixed politics with pageantry, 236 Republicans called out Ryan’s name as their pick for the job. That puts him next in line to the presidency after the vice president and atop a chamber that has been in tumult ever since defiant conservatives hounded John Boehner, R-Ohio, into announcing his resignation from the speaker’s post last month.

Just nine hard-line conservatives voted against Ryan, instead backing little-known Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla. That was significantly fewer than the 25 who cast ballots against Boehner in January, a harbinger of the antagonism he encountered with them as the year progressed. Instead, most rebellious Republicans, including members of the House Freedom Caucus, backed Ryan.

Even so, it was clear that future tensions between them and the chamber’s new leader could not be dismissed. Conservatives have demanded changes in how the chamber operates, including a greater voice for rank-and-file lawmakers in shaping legislation and deciding who will chair committees, and Ryan has expressed openness to such ideas.

“Now Paul Ryan has 14 months to prove he can be a speaker for the future, not of the past,” said one Freedom Caucus member, Tim Huelskamp of Kansas.

Ryan spoke of helping the country’s working people, but his 13-minute speech was devoid of specifics. In an unscripted moment, when he finished his remarks he turned to a House aide and said, “What’s next?”

Many Democrats consider Ryan someone they can work with, as they did two years ago in crafting a budget compromise. But they don’t hesitate to assail him as a symbol of Republican policies they consider harsh, including efforts to reshape Medicare into a voucher-like program.

“I hope he will stand up to the extreme voices in his caucus,” said House Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., received 184 votes for speaker, all from Democrats. Following tradition, she handed the speaker’s gavel to Ryan after praising Boehner for “his dedication to this House and his commitment to his values.”

Ryan also saluted Boehner, who for conservatives became a symbol of Washington’s ills as a man who too readily accepted compromises with President Barack Obama.

“He’s a man of character, a true class act,” Ryan said.

Boehner shook hands with Ryan at the lectern and walked up the aisle to the chamber’s rear, his eyes brimming with the tears the emotional lawmaker is known for. He accepted hugs from Republicans and Democrats alike.

Watching the vote from the visitors’ gallery was Mitt Romney, the GOP’s unsuccessful 2012 presidential nominee who vaulted Ryan, 45, to national prominence by selecting him as his vice presidential running mate. Also in the audience were Ryan’s wife Janna and their three young children, who gained some attention after Ryan insisted he would take the time-draining speaker’s post only if he could carve out time with his family.

Before the vote, Boehner bade farewell to his colleagues after a quarter-century House career, including the last five as speaker.

“I leave with no regrets, no burdens,” said Boehner in a 10-minute speech. “If anything, I leave the way I started, just a regular guy, humbled by the chance to do a big job.”

Ryan’s ascension came as Congress neared completion of a bipartisan accord to avert a jarring federal default next week and likely prevent a December government shutdown by setting spending levels for the next two years. The House approved the bill Wednesday 266-167, with final Senate passage on track in a few days despite opposition from conservatives including senators seeking the GOP presidential nomination.

The House budget vote underscored Ryan’s challenge in leading Republicans who often have scant interest in compromise, especially in the midst of a GOP presidential contest dominated by candidates who vilify Washington insiders. House Republicans opposed the budget deal by 167-79, but Democrats supported it unanimously.

Boehner’s resignation prompted a month of GOP turbulence after the Freedom Caucus derailed the candidacy of the heir-apparent, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California. Establishment Republicans pressured a reluctantRyan to seek the speakership, viewing him as their best shot at patching the GOP.

The amiable Ryan has been in Congress 17 years and has strong ties with all wings of the GOP. Past chairman of the House Budget Committee and current head of the Ways and Means Committee, he has put his imprint on deficit reduction, tax, health and trade legislation — prime subjects that have raised his stature and put him at the center of many of Congress’ highest profile debates.

Ryan will be the youngest speaker since Rep. James Blaine, R-Maine, who took the job in 1869 at age 39.

The leading Republican presidential candidates clashed last night over immigration policy, military spending and other emotional issues, showing the party’s fault line between rigid conservatism and mainstream practicality.

The two-hour debate spotlighted the rift between the outsider candidates and “establishment politicians” over how strictly to enforce immigration laws and whether to provide a pathway to legal status for the country’s more than 11 million undocumented immigrants or deport them.

While several other candidates, like Senator Marco Rubio (Fla.) and the retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, received a pass from the moderators on immigration, Gov. Kasich (Oh.) took on the issue directly after Donald Trump (N.Y.) defended his plan to build a wall along the Mexican border and to identify and deport some 11 million people.

“Think about the families; think about the children,” Kasich said. “Come on, folks, we know you can’t pick them up and ship them across the border. It’s a silly argument. It’s not an adult argument.”

Trump, whose counterpunches were a memorable part of his early debate performances, replied coolly at first, citing President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s approach to deporting immigrants in the 1950s.

“You don’t get nicer; you don’t get friendlier,” Trump said. “We have no choice. We have no choice.”

But Kasich stayed on the attack. “Little false little things, sir, they really don’t work when it comes to the truth,” he said.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.) then tried to pounce. He hammered Trump, his longtime rival in the race, for suggesting that he be allowed to speak — “What a generous man you are” — and warned that Trump’s harsh proposals would drive Hispanic voters to support the Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“They’re doing high-fives in the Clinton campaign right now when they hear this,” Bush said.

Last nights debate also revived a long-simmering dispute over the size and role of the U.S. military, with Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) warning of the potential adverse fiscal effects of increased defense spending and Sens. Rubio and Ted Cruz (Tex.) advocating a more muscular American military presence in the world.

“Marco, how is it conservative to add a trillion-dollar expenditure for the government that you’re not paying for?” Paul asked.

Rubio responded by calling Paul “a committed isolationist,” and won one of the loudest ovations of the night by defending American leadership.

“I know that the world is a safer and better place when America is the strongest military power in the world,” Rubio said.

However, Paul did not relent in the face of the applause, responding, “I don’t think we’re any safer from bankruptcy court,” and asking Rubio how he could be “a conservative and be liberal on military spending.”

Cruz then interjected, saying, to evident approval from the crowd: “You think defending this nation is expensive? Try not defending it.”

The Texan also found a creative way to link two common Republican concerns — illegal immigration and the purported liberal bias of the media — when he suggested that coverage of border security would be much different if people entering the United States illegally held “journalism degrees” and were going to drive wages down in the news industry.

Overall, however, the debate was a relatively intellectual affair. In a marked departure from the three previous debates, Tuesday’s questions prodded the candidates to explain their positions on such substantive issues as tax policy, the minimum wage and trade treaties, rather than draw contrasts with one another.

By Ryan Joyner

Only 13 out of fewer than 200 registered voters attended section 109 of the Greater Salt Lake precinct during the Republican Caucuses held in March. This low number that was reflective of the majority of the precincts sections.

The small group was lead by Lari Kleinman who started off by reading GOP mission statement in the Salt Lake Center for Science Education charter school where the meeting was held, and closed after unanimously making appointments of group members to party positions.

The Great Salt Lake precinct is home to people in the majority ages 50’s and older a group, one that has largely been categorized as having the most active voters.

Experts point to social stability and the direct effect programs such as Social Security and Medicare have on the elderly as reasons for the uncommonly large turnout among the elderly — however, among recent years turn out among even this group has fallen drastically.

Kleinman said she remembers a time when her home was full and several people would vie for candidacy as a delegate.

Utah GOP party leader James Evans spoke about what needed to be done to improve precinct participation.

He and Kleinman talked about how moving caucus meetings to the local high school might have negatively impacted attendance because of the precincts geographic broadness and elderly’s inability to travel.

The meetings were originally moved because community members felt hosting a meeting within someone’s home gave unfair advantages to candidates who were friends of the host.

It remains to be seen is whether lower participation comes as the result of bills passed by Legislators moving races to a primary, failure to reach out, or a deeper mistrust that communities have of the political process.

Precinct Legislative Candidate Kris Smith said, “ it’s a sign of failing communities not a failing system.”

by Chris Larson
Capital West News

SALT LAKE CITY –The fight over Count My vote is all but finished for this legislative cycle. But the final word on the matter is still very much up in the air.

“I suspect, knowing delegates the way I do, we haven’t heard the end of this,” Rep. Scott Jenkins, R – Plain City, said.

Jenkins sponsored two bills in the senate that took direct aim at SB54, legislation that embodied the Count My Vote voting reform. Both bills made it of committee only to die on the Senate floor.

“I’m disappointed as heck,” said Jenkins in reaction to the outcome of his bills. “As far as I’m concerned I think this will go down as the greatest suppression of voter rights in our history.”

Jenkins sees SB54 as destroying the mechanism that has allowed for the election of officials that have made Utah one of the best managed states in the country. According to Jenkins, CMV should have gone through with its ballot initiative. He said that the Republican Party fell for a bluff to get legislation for the CMV drafted and that the initiative would have failed.

“I’ve been a delegate lots and I wonder why would I go to a convention if my vote doesn’t mean anything?” Jenkins said.

Jenkins feels that the petition option will turn Utah elections into a money game. He predicts that the cost of running campaigns will jump astronomically and allow candidates to run with the Republican name regardless of their political views. Also, Jenkins sees this as yet another way for incumbents to keep their seats. He cited the example of former congressman Bob Bennett as a way that caucuses might level the political playing field between incumbents and new candidates.

Todd Weiler, R–Woods Cross, agrees that the petition route might be incumbent friendly but disagrees that the new two tiered system makes the caucus system meaningless.

“If you want to ignore the signature gathering route and go the Republican Party and go through the convention caucus system then your appeal can be that you are the true Republican Party candidate. I still think that has meaning,” Weiler said. “What I fear as an incumbent is if the caucus is only attractive to the really hardcore partisans like a tea party candidate who are always going to get the party’s stamp of approval. Then I have to run as the outsider if I’m not in good graces with them”

Weiler also made it clear winner with the SB54 staying intact are moderate Republicans.

“The whole purpose of the Count My Movement, in my opinion, was to get more moderates elected,” Weiler said. “The argument has been that the caucus is not representative of the public at large. I think that disparity, whatever it is, will grow… only the diehard partisans will go to the caucus if the majority of candidates are doing signature to get the primary ballot.”

Both Weiler and Jenkins said that the final word on the issue will come once the courts have made their decision on the matter. It is possible that the law may be overturned if the courts rule in favor of the Utah Republican Party. Jenkins said that his efforts were intended to make an attempt at undoing SB54 without jeopardizing what the Republicans feel is a strong legal position.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz abruptly ended his presidential campaign Tuesday night after falling to Donald Trump in Indiana’s primary, a devastating loss that left him with no viable path to the Republican nomination. Trump, considered a fringe candidate a year ago, now is poised to represent Republicans in the fall presidential campaign.

“I’ve said I would continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory; tonight I’m sorry to say it appears that path has been foreclosed,” Cruz told a somber crowd in Indianapolis.

Cruz campaigned aggressively in Indiana, but could not overcome Trump. The billionaire businessman has stunned the Republican Party with his appeal to voters deeply frustrated with Washington and their own party’s leaders.

Trump still must win about 200 more delegates to clinch the nomination. But his victory in Indiana — where he picked up at least 45 of the state’s 57 delegates — made it all but impossible for Cruz to block him from doing so.

Before Tuesday’s results, Cruz had vowed to stay in the race through the final primaries in June, clinging to the possibility that Trump would fall short of the 1,237 delegates he needs and the race would go to a contested convention.

Trump now faces pressure to unite a Republican Party that has been roiled by his candidacy. But whether he can accomplish that remains deeply uncertain.

. Even before the Indiana results were finalized, some conservative leaders were planning a Wednesday meeting to assess the viability of launching a third party candidacy to compete with Trump in the fall.

One outside group trying to stop Trump suggested it would shift its attention to helping Republicans in other races. Rory Cooper, a senior adviser to the Never Trump super PAC, said the group will help protect “Republican incumbents and down-ballot candidates, by distinguishing their values and principles from that of Trump, and protecting them from a wave election.”

Only about half of Indiana’s Republican primary voters said they were excited or even optimistic about any of their remaining candidates becoming president, according to exit polls. Still, most said they probably would support whoever won for the GOP.

Clinton, too, needs to win over Sanders’ enthusiastic supporters. The Vermont senator has cultivated a deeply loyal following in particular among young people, a group Democrats count on in the general election.

Sanders has conceded his strategy hinges on persuading superdelegates to back him over the former secretary of state. Superdelegates are Democratic Party insiders who can support the candidate of their choice, regardless of how their states vote. And they favor Clinton by a nearly 18-1 margin.

Exit polls showed about 7 in 10 Indiana Democrats said they’d be excited or at least optimistic about either a Clinton or Sanders presidency. Most said they would support either in November.

The exit polls were conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.

A fall showdown between Clinton and Trump would pit one of Democrats’ most experienced political figures against a first-time candidate who is deeply divisive within his own party. Cruz and other Republicans have argued that Trump would be roundly defeated in the general election, denying their party the White House for a third straight term.

Trump has now won seven straight primary contests and has 80 percent of the delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination. With his victory in Indiana, Trump now has at least 1,041 delegates. Cruz has 565 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich has 152.

Transgender bathroom debate

On the Transgender Public Accommodation bill, MA:

Myth: This bill allows people to use the bathroom that the gender the(y) associate with, not the gender they are.

Fact: There is a big misunderstanding on the difference between gender and sex. Gender is what it is to be psychologically male or female and sex is what it is to be biologically male or female. This bill only allows a person who identifies as a male to use a male bathroom and who identifies as a female to use a female bathroom.

Myth: This bill allows for predators and perverts access to bathrooms and locker rooms.

Fact: This bill does not permit a predator or pervert access to a bathroom or locker room; it is only allowing a transgender person access to all public accommodations. If a predator or pervert tries to gain access to an opposite sex bathroom or locker room, that is already against the law.

— Paul Heroux

Huffington Post

Joseph Backholm, executive director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington, recently posted a video of a “thought experiment” he conducted at the University of Washington, in which he pulls at the threads of the nation’s gender confusion (beginning with dispensing with “sex” for “gender,” which is important only if you’re a verb). He found widespread acceptance among the young of the idea that men and women should be allowed to visit whichever toilet they choose, regardless of how they’re made. They should be happy by the year 2020, when for the sake of the “transgendered,” who make up about one-tenth of 1 percent of the population of 320 million, all toilet facilities will be “gender-neutral.”

— Editorial Board

The Washington Times

The American Family Association launched a boycott of the nation’s second largest retailer a week ago – over Target’s corporate policy allowing men who identify as women to use the bathrooms and fitting rooms of their choosing.

The American Family Association stressed that their boycott has nothing to do with the transgender community.

“We want to make it very clear that AFA does not believe the transgender community poses this danger to the wider public,” Wildmon said. “Rather, this misguided and reckless policy provides a possible gateway for predators who are out there.”

— Todd Starnes

Fox News

GOP politics, Trump

It’s a sign of the stunning success of Donald Trump’s crossover act that we no longer even think about this campaign’s most revolutionary effect on our politics: the demolition of the line between celebrity and political achievement.

We need to think hard about the multiple weaknesses Trump is exposing in our politics. How has he been able to convert fame and outrage into votes without even a moment of apprenticeship in public service?

One reason is the anger in a large segment of the Republican Party that has been stoked by its leaders. You might say they have now lost control of the beast they were feeding. There is also the utter contempt toward government that their ideology encouraged. Trump has played on the fragility of our media system, which, in its search for ratings, can’t get enough of him, and on a pervasive pain among the many who have been cast aside by our economy.

— E.J. Dionne Jr.

The Washington Post

Donald Trump now looks set to be the Republican presidential nominee. So for those of us appalled by this prospect — what are we supposed to do?

Well, not what the leaders of the Republican Party are doing. They’re going down meekly and hoping for a quiet convention.

The better course for all of us — Republican, Democrat and independent — is to step back and take the long view, and to begin building for that. This election — not only the Trump phenomenon but the rise of Bernie Sanders, also — has reminded us how much pain there is in this country. According to a Pew Research poll, 75 percent of Trump voters say that life has gotten worse for people like them over the last half century.

Trump’s success grew out of that pain, but he is not the right response to it. The job for the rest of us is to figure out the right response.

— David Brooks

The New York Times

Something has changed in American politics since the Great Recession. The old slogans ring hollow. The insurgent candidates are less absurd, the orthodox candidates more vulnerable. The GOP donor elite planned a dynastic restoration in 2016. Instead, it triggered an internal class war.

The puzzle for the monied leaders of the Republican Party is: What now? None of the options facing the GOP elite is entirely congenial.

— David Frum

The Atlantic

Former U.S. Sen. Robert Bennett, 82 years old, died Wednesday, May 4, after suffering complications due to pancreatic cancer and a recent stroke.

Two separate viewings will be held in Salt Lake City. The first is Saturday, May 13, at Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple from 6-8 p.m. The second will take place on Saturday, May 14, at 9:30 a.m. at the Federal Heights Ward Chapel, 1300 E Fairfax Road with funeral services to follow at 11:00 a.m.

“His final days were filled with kindness and love, and the family greatly appreciates the outpouring of well wishes and support,” Bennett’s family said in a statement. “It touched his heart, and deeply touched ours, to see how much he was loved.”

Bennett served three terms as a U.S. Senator for Utah until 2010 and subsequently worked as a senior policy advisor for a law firm and as a part-time teacher, researcher and lecturer at the University of Utah.

A staunch Republican, Bennett was known as a reliably conservative senator who was also willing to work and collaborate with opposing parties in order to accomplish what was best for his constituents.

“His commitment to his constituents transcended partisanship and he often reached across the aisle to get things done,” said President Barack Obama in a statement he issued on Thursday, May 5.

This sentiment was echoed by many across the political aisle.

Utah House Democrat Patrice Arent also remembered Bennett in a statement, reminiscing on the many years she knew him.

“Whenever we talked, it didn’t matter that I was a Democrat; what mattered was that I was a Utahn,” Arent said.  She also remembered their shared love of Shakespeare and the Utah Shakespeare Festival, where she said they had sat and discussed plays.

Bennett, also a former member of the Utah Debate Commission, was remembered by Thomas Wright, former chairman of the Utah Republican Party and current Utah Debate Commission board member.

“He (Bennett) had a way that was simultaneously kind but strong and principled,” Wright said. “He did what he believed to be right and didn’t care about the political consequences. That’s so rare. There are too few like him.”

Many believe that it was this attitude, as well as Bennett’s willingness to “work across the aisle,” that cost him in 2010 when he was denied a spot on the primary ballot at the Utah State Republican Convention as the Tea Party wave ousted many that were seen as “establishment” Republicans.

However, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell explained, “Bob preferred the often low-key work of legislating to the bright lights of the media.”

He noted that Bennett had once said there were two kinds of senators in Washington: work horses and show horses. It was clear to many which path Bennett had followed.

“He was respected by men and women on both sides of the aisle, not only for his expertise but also for his common touch, his common sense and his commitment to uncommon virtues,” Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor and Republican presidential nominee posted on Facebook.

Bennett was also an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is survived by his wife, Joyce, their six children and 20 grandchildren.

Former Facebook journalists/employees released information via Gizmodo on Monday, May 10, about the Trending Topics section on Facebook, saying that journalists “inject” topics that weren’t necessarily trending and were discouraged from posting conservative news.

The former employees, all of them anonymous, claimed that they were encouraged to not place sources from conservative websites on the list of trending topics. A few days after they came forward, Facebook posted on their blog 28-page internal document showing the procedures of trending articles. This was posted after The Guardian leaked a similar document.

The former workers stated that Facebook forced stories onto the list, including the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. News outlets also reported that the former workers were not permitted to post any stories related to Facebook on the trending feed.

The issue sparked such a controversy that Senate Republicans wrote a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the trending news section. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, requested an investigation on the case, and asked who was in charge of Trending Topics.

Zuckerberg posted a response on his Facebook page Thursday saying that Facebook is conducting a full investigation. He also invited leading conservatives and others across the political spectrum to share their points of view.

“I want to have a direct conversation about what Facebook stands for and how we can be sure our platform stays as open as possible,” Zuckerberg wrote.

Adam Durfee, Vice President of Wallaroo and a social media professor at BYU, explained Facebook users need to understand that Facebook is a business, not a news entity.

“Newsrooms need to be unbiased. Facebook is not a news entity and has no obligation to the public or anyone else to have a neutral stance on (any topic),” Durfee said. “Whether or not they’re guilty of (having a liberal bias), it is their website and they are welcome to do as they will on it.”

Billions of people use Facebook as a news source. Durfee mentioned a report from August 2015 that shows Facebook as the No. 1 trafficker for news sources, edging out Google.

Hunter Schow, an incoming BYU student, noticed a few patterns on his Facebook feed while scrolling through trends. “I like the Trending (Topics), but I have noticed that it is very liberal and tends to have a very progressive bias,” he said.

Like many others, Schow relies on his Facebook News Feed to get the latest news. “I stopped watching other networks a while ago because it was too depressing,” he said.

Ed Carter, Department Chair of the School of Communications, knows that most social media, especially Facebook is a big news source for millennials. Because a majority of adults receive their news from social media websites, Carter believes Facebook should be responsible for providing unbiased information.

“Facebook is representing itself as an information delivery company. They hold some responsibility to become more transparent. What’s trending is supposed to appear on the algorithm, not their opinion,” he said.

Because Facebook is such a powerful social media influencer, Carter fears that without checks and balances, Facebook could easily abuse its power to inform the public.

“There can be an abuse in power,” he said. “(Whoever) is making the decisions, they don’t seem to be trained as journalists.”

Washington D.C.’s congressional newspaper The Hill revealed Facebook’s vice president Tom Stocky as a donor of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign last Monday. Stocky has denied the anonymous allegations made against the company, stating that there is no evidence as to whether the claims against Facebook’s objectivity are true.

“There are rigorous guidelines in place for the review team to ensure consistency and neutrality,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “These guidelines do not permit the suppression of political perspectives. Nor do they permit the prioritization of one viewpoint over another or one news outlet over another. These guidelines do not prohibit any news outlet from appearing in Trending Topics.”

After Stocky released his statement, Schow noticed more “conservative news” in the Trending Topics section.

“Seems pretty convenient now; I’m just seeing how many conservative stories are getting posted,” he said. “(There are topics) including the actual trend suppression itself.”

Zuckerberg expressed his passion for sharing news on his social media website.

“The reason I care so much about this is that it gets to the core of everything Facebook is and everything I want it to be,” he said. “Every tool we build is designed to give more people a voice and bring our global community together. For as long as I’m leading this company, this will always be our mission.”

Zuckerberg is scheduled to meet with conservative leaders this Wednesday, May 18, including radio host Glenn Beck and conservative think tank president Arthur Brooks.

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence visited Salt Lake City to speak at the Utah Solutions Summit prior to a campaign fundraiser in hopes of gaining support from Utah politicians.

Pence’s visit comes at a critical time for the presidential election in Utah, where the Trump-Pence campaign continues to struggle in a predominantly red state.

In a joint statement released Tuesday, a number of Utah GOP officials voiced their support for the Trump-Pence campaign. The signatures of Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and representative Mia Love (R-Utah) were notably absent. Neither Lee nor Love have publicly endorsed a presidential candidate.

“We believe that the policies Donald Trump and Mike Pence have put forward reflect the goals of the overwhelming majority of Utahns,” said the statement. “By contrast, Hillary Clinton’s long record and current agenda put her at odds with the values of Utah citizens and our public policy objectives.”

Lee said he invited Pence to speak at the Utah Solutions Summit to “talk about what (he has) done for higher education at the state level,” in a recent push-email. The invite has provoked people to question if Lee will endorse the Trump-Pence campaign in the future.

“Of course we are told it’s not an official campaign appearance, but when you bring Donald Trump’s running mate to our state and espouse his ideas as beneficial to our people, you are supporting ideals that Donald Trump supports,” Utah Democratic Party Chair Peter Corroon said in a press conference Wednesday.

BYU political science assistant professor Adam Brown said he doesn’t think Lee’s invitation to Pence signifies an impending endorsement.

“If he was planning to endorse today, then he would have signed that letter two days ago,” Brown said. “That being said, as a Republican official, he’s going to feel political pressure to show that he’s a team player.”

The lack of Utah GOP unity in endorsing the Trump-Pence campaign brings uncertainty about how this might affect the election this November.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is attempting to capitalize on this uncertainty by sending out anti-Trump mailers to voters across Utah. Whether this will persuade Utah voters to vote for the Democratic Party’s candidates is unclear.

“Utah is a tough sell for Democrats, but this is the year they may find some support,” said Jeremy Pope, co-director of the BYU Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy. “Even if that is a low probability, it is worth spending some money on. I suspect that Secretary Clinton probably has some room to take risks.”

WRAL-TV, a local television station in Raleigh, North Carolina, recently censored nine different parts of a Saturday Night Live episode hosted by Dave Chappelle, according to the Complex website.

Several people were in uproar about the incident, believing the local station censored parts of the episode related to Donald Trump. The station allegedly cut out Chappelle’s anecdote of staying at a Trump-owned hotel and everything beyond that point, according to the website.

Director of the BYU School of Communications Ed Carter felt WRAL-TV did not over-step its boundaries censoring certain parts of the episode.

“I think the word censorship is probably too strong here. It’s not the government that’s doing it. This was a private company that owns a broadcast station,” Carter said. “They have the right to air whatever they want to air.”

Carter defined censorship as the government preventing something from getting in the marketplace of ideas or punishing somebody for expressing a viewpoint. He explained people in Raleigh could go online to see the skits if they wanted to.

“The government’s not keeping that out of the marketplace. It’s there for people who want to access it,” Carter said.

Carter also said people could argue about whether the station should have cut the audio during certain parts of the skit. He said people may argue that stations should leave the decision of what is appropriate to watch to the viewers.

Many people feared Donald Trump’s election led to the censorship of these skits, according to the Complex website. Carter said the FCC was more strict regulating content under President Bush than it has been the past eight years under President Obama. He said it remains to be seen whether another Republican president will lead to heavier FCC regulation.

“We have a president elect who hasn’t been shy about using profanity and vulgarity on TV,” Carter said. “Would he be inclined to order the FCC to regulate content issues? Who knows?”

Carter said Republicans generally prefer more regulation of the content of the media while Democrats prefer less regulation.

BYU statistics freshman Brigham Villanueva is a member of the BYU College Democrats. He said the station went too far and shouldn’t have cut the audio for these skits.

“I get how swearing or saying (vulgar things) can detract from the Spirit, but (the skits) still have an argument,” Villanueva said. “Honestly, I would want to hear it.”

BYU exercise science senior Tyler Sorensen said he leans more toward the GOP than the Democratic Party. He said he felt WRAL-TV made the right decision. He said he personally does not want to here vulgar language on broadcast television.

“Realistically I think more people think it’s more funny when they hear (comedians curse), but there are people who don’t want to hear (swear words), like me,” Sorenson said.

Villanueva said he fears Trump’s election will lead to more censorship of broadcast television from the government.

“To be completely honest it makes me feel very unsafe,” Villanueva said. “One thing that terrified me is that he had an open season on journalists, saying ‘Oh the things they are saying aren’t true.'”

Sorenson said he thinks the current FCC regulation of broadcast television is fine.

“I do not have a problem with how they are doing their censorship, from what I have seen on television,” Sorensen said.

WRAL-TV stated it will review its policies and procedures after the criticism it received for cutting the audio on Saturday Night Live, according to the Fox News website.

Carter said this review will include an internal assessment of whether the employee who cut the audio did the right thing. He does not think this assessment will include any punishment. Carter said broadcast operators have a 10 second delay to cut audio.

“My opinion is that people should go easy on the station. If this was the best editorial judgement they used, then great,” Carter said.

Carter also said people need to make room for variety in this country.

“There are probably hundreds of stations around the country that played Saturday Night Live,” Carter said. “If one of them decided to exercise editorial judgement, I don’t think people should freak out about that.”

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has finally unwrapped his plan for dismantling President Barack Obama’s health care law. Now comes his next challenge — persuading enough Republicans to back the measure and avert a defeat that could be shattering for President Donald Trump and the GOP.

McConnell released the bill Thursday after weeks of closed-door meetings searching for middle ground between conservative senators seeking an aggressive repeal of Obama’s statute and centrists warning about going too far. Erasing Obama’s law has been a marquee pledge for Trump and virtually the entire party for years.

The bill would cut and redesign the Medicaid program for low-income and disabled people and erase taxes on higher earners and the medical industry that helped pay for the roughly 20 million Americans covered by Obama’s law. It would let insurers provide fewer benefits, offer less generous subsidies than Obama to help people buy policies and end the statute’s tax penalties on people who don’t buy policies and on larger firms that don’t offer coverage to workers.

“I am very supportive of the Senate #HealthcareBill. Look forward to making it really special! Remember, ObamaCare is dead,” Trump tweeted late Thursday.

Shortly after the 142-page bill was distributed, more than a half-dozen GOP lawmakers signaled concerns or initial opposition. McConnell, R-Ky., has little margin for error: Facing unanimous Democratic opposition, “no” votes by just three of the 52 GOP senators would sink the legislation.

McConnell, eager to approve the legislation next week, indicated he was open to changes before it reaches the Senate floor. But he said it was time to act.

“No amount of eleventh hour reality-denying or buck-passing by Democrats is going to change the fact that more Americans are going to get hurt unless we do something,” he said.

Democrats said the GOP measure would take coverage away from people and raise their out-of-pocket costs, all in the name of paring taxes on the wealthy.

“This bill may change, but Republicans will only be putting lipstick on a devastating blow to Americans’ health care,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Four conservative senators expressed opposition but openness to talks: Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Mike Lee of Utah and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. They said the measure missed delivering a GOP promise to Americans “to repeal Obamacare and lower their health care costs.”

In an interview with Fox News Channel, Trump was asked about the four conservatives opposing the bill. “Well, they’re also four good guys, four friends of mine, and I think that they’ll probably get there,” he said. “We’ll have to see.”

Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada, facing a competitive 2018 re-election battle, Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia expressed concerns about the bill’s cuts to Medicaid and drug addiction efforts.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine reiterated her opposition to language blocking federal money for Planned Parenthood, which many Republicans oppose because it provides abortions. The bill would also bar using tax credits to buy coverage that includes abortions.

Obama held nothing back as he weighed in on Facebook.

“If there’s a chance you might get sick, get old or start a family, this bill will do you harm,” he wrote. He said amendments during the upcoming debate “cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.”

The House approved its version of the bill last month. Though Trump lauded its passage in a Rose Garden ceremony, he called the House measure “mean” last week.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that under the House bill, 23 million fewer people would have coverage by 2026. The budget office analysis of the Senate measure is expected early next week.

The Senate bill would phase out extra money Obama’s law provides to 31 states that agreed to expand coverage under the federal-state Medicaid program. Those additional funds would continue through 2020, then gradually fall and disappear entirely in 2024.

The measure largely uses people’s incomes as the yardstick for helping those without workplace coverage to buy private insurance. That would focus the aid more on people with lower incomes than the House legislation, which bases its subsidies on age.

Caroline Pearson, a senior vice president of the consulting firm Avalare Health, said the Senate subsidies would be smaller than Obama’s because they’re keyed to the cost of a bare-bones plan and because additional help now provided for deductibles and copayments would eventually be discontinued.

The bill would let states get waivers to ignore some coverage requirements under Obama’s law, such as specific health services insurers must now cover.

States could not get exemptions to Obama’s prohibition against charging higher premiums for some people with pre-existing medical conditions, but the subsidies would be lower, making coverage less affordable, Pearson said.

For the next two years, the Senate would also provide money that insurers use to help lower out-of-pocket costs for millions of lower income people. Trump has been threatening to discontinue those payments, and some insurance companies have cited uncertainty as a reason they are abandoning some markets and boosting premiums.

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