Friday Letters Round-Up

• You can have my yellow-ribbon magnet when you pry it out of my cold, dead hands.
  
  
• Technically, it's not even the bullet that kills you; it's the hole.
  
  
• Obviously, my wife was trying to sneak a bottle of piña coladas into a baseball game. I'm just pissed because she got caught.
  
  
• If there were such a thing as global warming, Exxon would be doing something about it. Exxon isn't doing anything about global warming. Ergo, there's no such thing as global warming. Problem solved!
  
  
• You can have either God or sex. Choose wisely!
  
  
• Some of those 70-year-old ladies are just askin' for a smackdown.
  
  
• I'm writing a response to the great-great-grand-response to an original letter: Let the Great ORV Debate rage on!
  
  
• I'm so far to the right I think Dave Broder is a liberal.
  
  
• Homelessness isn't a societal problem; it's a "lifestyle".
  

Hypothermia in 100-degree weather?

That's the problem with working too long at a fondue restaurant: After a while, you start to think that all life's problems can be solved by dipping.

Show Review: Built to Spill & The Boggs

[Music] I arrived at The Depot Saturday night [July 21] admittedly knowing and expecting very little of the opening Brooklyn-based band, The Boggs. As the five of them came on stage, they offered little hint of what type of sounds they might emit. Definitely a diverse group, their styles ranged from pinstriped slacks with suspenders to jeans and a flannel shirt. Once they started playing with the driving bass line, scattered keyboards and two drummers, I was forced to pay attention.

Their music was almost as diverse as they were, ranging from noisy post-punk rock to sweet mellow pop. Most of the cuts played in their short set were from their third and latest release, Forts, standouts being “Arm in Arm” and “Remember the Orphans” (my personal favorite of the evening). The audience seemed to be captivated by the performance. It was not solely due to the music: I have to make mention of frontman Jason Friedman’s awkward and frenetic dancing. Even though it was at times funny and distracting, I think overall it added to the appeal of the show. In short, I quite liked it—so much so that I may just have to invest in some of their music.

At first it seemed the stars were set against Built to Spill playing Salt Lake City. There were auto problems causing them to arrive late, and once finally onstage, there were technical difficulties. Doug Martsch was visibly irritated and I began to fear the worst. Then Doug worked some magic with a screwdriver and all was right in The Depot.

They opened with “Liar” from their album You in Reverse, which was enthusiastically received by the crowd. At one point Doug proclaimed that the show would be “more instrumental than usual” and that it was. It meant hearing less of his unique but loved voice and more seeing him with his eyes closed and brow knit, seemingly somewhere else, as he brilliantly manipulated the guitar.

The audience didn’t seem to mind and many hypnotic favorites were played including “Time Trap,” “Strange,” “Car,” “Wherever You Go” and “You Were Right.” The encore had some members of the Boggs helping out on an extended version of “Randy Describes Eternity” ending the nearly two-hour set with lingering feedback and reverb. As Built to Spill shows go, it turned out to be another excellent one. (Emily Jeskie)

Emily Jeskie hosts Mix Tape on KRCL 90.9 FM, Wednesday nights, 8:30-10:30 p.m.

Friday Letters Round-Up

• The War on Terror is like World War II. Except in WWII, our troops had specific, achievable goals. And we were actually fighting against the people who bombed us. And WWII eventually ended. But, other than that, the similarities are spooky.
  
  
• Utah is exceptional. Who needs WIC when you’ve got Deseret Industries?
  
  
• Three bucks and change constitutes a generous contribution in Utah.
  
  
• What could be better than reading a report generated by a committee of IHC flaks? Reading two of them each month!
  
  
• I do this not for myself, but for future generations of 15-year-olds.
  
  
• If your kid ever refuses a legislative “invitation,” you'll know it’s the school board’s fault.
  
  
• It’s “Ask a Cop to Water Your Lawn” Week!
  
  
• There were no copies of Debbie Does Dallas anywhere to be found in ancient Rome. Why can’t we be as moral as the Romans?
  

(Brandon Burt)

Rocky Mountain Reviewed

[Sports] The fans roared as Utah Jazz point guard Dee Brown stood his ground at the center of a two-on-one Seattle Sonics fast break, deflecting a pass and starting a break that eventually resulted in a three-point play. They booed the referees lustily as foul after foul was called against Jazz players. They fired up chants of “over-rated” at Seattle’s super-hyped first-round draft pick Kevin Durant as Durant launched one off-balance jumper after another, or was stuffed by Jazz second-round pick Kyrylo Fesenko on a layup attempt. The standing-room-only crowd was in mid-season form.

No one told them, apparently, that it was actually the off-season.

The Rocky Mountain Revue—the annual NBA summer league taking place on the Salt Lake Community College campus—doesn’t exactly showcase the league’s finest players. It serves primarily as a place for rookies to learn their new team’s system, and for journeymen and undrafted free agents to show off their game in front of scouts. Most of them are younger than the arena’s time-out soundtrack—seriously, “Get Down Tonight”?—and even more of them won’t see the inside of an NBA arena unless they buy a ticket. The results of the games matter just as much as pre-season exhibitions—maybe even less, if that’s mathematically possible.

Still, the Jazz faithful fill the place when their team’s summer incarnation—one of the seven teams who choose to participate, either instead of or in addition to a league in Las Vegas earlier in July—takes the floor. They come to catch semi-established players like Brown and forward Paul Millsap work on their game. They come to get a preview of the new draftees like Fesenko and guard Morris Almond, cheering when Almond hits a three-pointer not just because of what it means in the game they’re watching but because of what it might portend for the franchise’s future. And they come to get a look at future stars on the other teams—even if many of them on the roster, like Atlanta’s Al Horford and Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas, never play a minute.

They got to see Durant on this night, though, and plenty of him. From the moment he hit the floor for warm-ups, the building was nearly as much about him as it was about the Jazz. In what was expected to be his only RMR appearance between playing in the Vegas league and heading off to practice with the U.S. National Team, the #2 overall draft pick played significant minutes. And despite often being out-played by teammate and fellow lottery pick Jeff Green, Durant led all scorers with 29 points, mostly as a result of the quickness that gets him to the free throw line. In this way, the Rocky Mountain Revue is the closest Utah sports equivalent to the Sundance Film Festival: an opportunity to be in proximity to people who soon will be far too famous to be anywhere near you.

It was more than a little strange to find the Revue so heavily promoting the Utah Flash, the new Orem-based NBA Development league franchise that will begin serving as the Jazz’s “minor league” affiliate. Much of the Revue’s appeal is the play of guys whose energy conveys a fight for their professional lives, rather than the NBA’s glut of guys whose “I’m a star, where’s my paycheck” mentality can be so grating. Come November, the Flash will be like a six-month Rocky Mountain Revue—minus the #2 overall draft pick, and minus the roar of fans for whom love of the Jazz never has an off-season. (Scott Renshaw)

Saturday (and Friday and Sunday) in the Park ...

[Music] Last weekend, former City Weekly graphic designer Josh Wangrud and his lovely lady friend Lauren Eimers flew to Chicago for the mind-blowing Pitchfork Music Festival (hosted by the venerable, some might say elitist, indie-rock publication). After drying my tears of rage and jealousy, I asked Wangrud and Eimers for a complete recap of the three-day event. Here is the result. Read carefully and make plans to attend next year's auditory bachanallia (Jamie Gadette)

As I type these words, I fear a messenger-bagged-10-speed-bike-riding-Proust-quoting lightning bolt might strike me down … but after attending this year’s three-day Pitchfork Music Festival I have come to one ghastly conclusion: Lindsay Lohan is the shit. This is not due to the fact that her mammary glands seem to fill and empty bra cup sizes like a Solo cup at a frat kegger, but because she is aspiring to be what Hollywood deems a “triple threat.” The girl can (in the eyes of movie/recording execs, anyway) act, sing, and dance.

This startling epiphany comes after watching band after band at Pitchfork with musicians that not only play a couple of instruments, sometimes at the same time, but demand all members of the band sing … and not just back-up crooning, either. If a musician, heaven forbid, plays only one instrument, their technique would morph to use props to play that song or a campy costume change.

Friday was an All Tomorrow’s Parties and Pitchfork sponsored evening bringing Slint back (again) to play their Spiderland, the GZA to present his oeuvre Liquid Swords, and Sonic Youth (!) their Daydream Nation. Slint, already looking pissed-off, started sounding pissed-off when the genius running the sound board decided that Spiderland was over and some funky filler music needed to be played over the last fifteen minutes of the album before the GZA went on … Guess Slint will have to auction off their instruments again to dull the pain.

The GZA was, well, the genius that he is, improving on his set with samples from Ol’ Dirty Bastard and other Wu-Tang Clan alum. Any other night, the GZA would have been the highlight of the show, but Sonic Youth had so much fun playing Daydream Nation, they couldn’t be touched. Thurston Moore, still looking 15 from 20 paces, used a drumstick for a portion of the show to play his guitar, with Kim Gordon following suit to play her bass. Their performance was the icing on the icing of the proverbial concert cake—and they proved to be a difficult act to follow.

Saturday’s main stage line-up started with Glasgow’s Twilight Sad. The only thing more annoying than the lead singer’s voice and stories about his pubescence was the sweaty dude without his shirt in front of me. Austin’s Voxtrot failed to fill Grant Park with their “we’re not emo, we swear” tunes, with about half the crowd ditching their spot in front of the stage for some vegan ice cream or poster-purchasing at the Flatstock 13 poster fair (where local artist Leia Bell could be found selling her prints). Califone, Iron & Wine, and Brooklyn’s Grizzly Bear brought the slow burn, excellent and beautiful, but a little overwhelmed by the size of the crowd and the park itself. Battles was one of the first bands to turn it up and catered to the huge venue with their crazy indie/prog/electronic/fusion. Lead singer Tyondai Braxton pitch-shifted his voice electronically while playing the guitar and keyboards, challenging listeners and winning them over at the same time. Metal rockers Mastodon were, well, Mastodon. And if there was an emoticon from which I usually abstain, I would break my rules and use one for “devil horns” to describe Mastodon’s performance. They owned it.

The small Balance stage found Beach House singer/organist/drum machinist Victoria Legrand channeling Mazzy Star and Professor Murder party-whistling, snare-drumming, tongue-rolling, and getting the packed crowd to clap off-beat. Sadly, the adorable Dan Deacon set up shop on the ground instead of the stage and only the sardines in the front could see his contagious antics. Fujiya & Miagi and the Oxford Collapse didn’t disappoint, but one felt show-goers were just saving their spot for Girl Talk’s Gregg Gillis to get the DanceDanceUSA party started.

More amazing than Clipse’s performance on the main stage were the droves of women digging their oft misogynistic raps. Pusha and Malice spit the new stuff alongside the old, although most of the audience was baffled by the joints that Clipse dropped from albums pre-Pitchfork discovery. The headliners for Saturday were Cat Power and Yoko Ono. Chan Marshall, aka Ms. Power, struggled and apologized through her set … But, hey, at least she showed up! Ono, on the other hand, prepared the audience with tiny Onochord pen lights distributed at the gates to each festival-goer (and the surplus flung about the crowd during Clipse, those little lights HURT!) Everyone stayed, mostly for mash-up extraordinaire Girl Talk, who had the plug pulled on him TWICE before Yoko would even take the stage. Too bad, because no one could hear/understand what the 74-year old icon was saying after she’d segue directly from her incoherent wailing to explaining how love will save us all with a penlight.

Sunday started off with Atlanta’s Deerhunter on the main stage. Bradford Cox, the visually assaulting lead singer, donned not one, but two pretty party dresses for the festival. The usually explorative band reined it in, keeping the audience entranced, although one could guess it was equal parts Cox’s emaciated body (he has Marfan Syndrome) AND the music that was so fascinating. Chicago’s own Ponys followed with a quick and clean, although uninspiring, set. One of the true highlights of the festival was Portland, Oregon’s Menomena. This is three-man band in which every member is the lead singer and each plays at LEAST three instruments a piece. Engaging, interesting, and innovative the crowd was more than pleased even though the band was forced to keep sound checking throughout the set (not surprising with all the instruments they brought to the table!)

Canada’s Junior Boys and UK artist Jamie Lidell rounded out the afternoon’s line-up for the main stages. Both proved to be extremely accessible listens, almost to a fault. Lidell, a bluesy soloist who mixes his own voice over itself with his Mac, started to sound eerily like a British Maroon 5 … just enough so the taste of bile was barely detectable at the back of one’s throat. Junior Boys were poppy—and forgettable. Thankfully, they were followed by good ol’ standbys Steven Malkmus and Of Montreal. Malkmus, every indie-kids’ masturbatory aid, stuck to the more popular cuts from his solo albums and even strayed to blessed Pavement-land to wrap-up his set. Of Montreal was the eye-candy of the day, with Kevin Barnes’ neurosis fully visible along with his ass thanks to his patent-leather-jockstrap ensemble. Indie-rock canons, the Sea & Cake and the New Pornographers filled out the evening with technically precise sets, although the Pornographers sounded hollow and tinny without Neko Case to flesh out their usually rich sound.

The Balance Stage had newcomers the Cool Kids and Cadence Weapon dropping old school beats and rhymes. The Cool Kids who claim they don’t want to be “the next hipster hip-hop act” sure seemed happy to play to a crowd of perfectly-coiffed Ray Ban wearers. Canada’s Cadence Weapon, Rollie Pemberton, produced his first album, “Breaking Kayfabe,” which filled up most of his energetic set. The Field and Klaxons brought a little electronic and rock fusion to the small stage, but had to battle horrible sound and the impending De La Soul performance on the main stage for an audience.

The night and the festival were brought to a close with hip hop intellectuals De La Soul. Everyone, tired and sunburned, managed to muster a little sway and shake as Prince Paul took the stage with De La. Although the group used tried and true crowd control, the act was still a welcome commencement to a full weekend wrought with sound problems and lackluster performances … It sure was difficult to follow Sonic Youth…

All in all, the bands that really made that “steep” $50 price tag worth it were the “triple threats” - the innovators who made the Pitchfork archetype what it is today, remarkable AND significant. Well, almost as remarkable as Lindsay Lohan’s boobs, that is. (Lauren Eimers)

A Bomb! A Bomb! Oh My!

[Bomb Scare] When a bomb scare fills the streets of downtown Salt Lake City with people, it makes for an exciting Tuesday. But when it's covered by the very media involved, it's the same old story.

Apparently, all it takes to get people on the streets of down town Salt Lake City is … an empty bag, a couple choice words and a camouflage T-shirt. Well, at least an empty bag that may or may not contain an explosive device, such as a bomb. On this Tuesday afternoon, the Wells Fargo building was evacuated because of such a bomb threat. By 3 pm streets were filled with office workers and police officers, yellow tape and sirens. It was like a street fair without the food. A street fair with assault rifles and a bomb squad. Kind of like a street fair in, say, Columbia, except there they actually blow things up.

Soon after the news of the bomb threat had spread to the taco stand on State and 200 South and the Wells Fargo building and a half-block radius around it had been evacuated, the cameras came out and were rolling.

Behind the Gallivan Center, with the sound of a news helicopter overhead, they (the media, including me) encircled the police department’s spokesman and then began asking biting and incisive questions like, “Was he considered dangerous?” All Detective Jared Wihongi knew at the time was that it didn’t seem to be a bank robbery, the suspect may have been mentally unstable and he was wearing a camouflage T-shirt with a cartoon character on his chest.

It all started, according to Wihongi, at around 2:45 pm when a 30-something white male walked into the Wells Fargo building with a bag and said something like: “I have a bomb.” After police took the suspect into custody at gun point, the bomb squad came on the scene. Geared up for Armageddon, the armored crew dealt with the potential threat that was waiting inside of the building.

Among the crowd of cameras circling Wihongi were the folks from KUTV 2. They had come all the way from…their offices in the Wells Fargo building. They too had been evacuated. Luckily, though, they brought their trusty cameras and microphones with them when they ran from their desks. They were ready to catch all the action. So, I guess, the news came to them.

As for City Weekly and staff, apparently the width of Main Street and our windows were not enough to keep the staff safe from a potential explosion. So, we absconded to the safest place we could find, a bomb shelter of sorts: Port O’ Call.

By around five, after several beers, it was discovered that, yes, the bomb scare had been a hoax. Alas, the crowds that for once made downtown feel like, er, a city had been swept back into their air-conditioned high-rises never to be seen again. (Jonah Owen Lamb)

Nazis Who Live in Glass Houses ...

... shouldn't throw stones.
[Caution: This entry contains links to Websites with offensive racist, sexist and homophobic content.]

This is the second attempt at connecting the dots in a rather confusing series of month-old events:

1. Nazi asshat No. 1, Jack Gray, is running for Salt Lake City Council.
   
2. His buddy, Nazi asshat No. 2--aka Robert Muscheck--is running for Salt Lake City Mayor.
   
3. Nazi asshat No. 3 publishes a horror-show of a Website called Overthrow.com pimping the American National Socialist Workers (Nazi) Party.
   
4. The Deseret Morning News publishes a story explaining that No. 2 has been known to hang around school playgrounds wearing a uniform and accusing poor old schoolteachers of being queer-loving abortionists.
   
5. On his horror-show Website, No. 3 writes that asshat No. 2 seems to share No. 3's National Socialist values.
   
6. Nos. 1 and 3 become outraged at the D-News behalf of No. 2--not over the schoolyard story, but because in another story, the D-News understandably thought No. 3's characterization of No. 2 as a "National Socialist" meant that No. 2 was a member of the American National Socialist Workers Party.
   
7. Apparently, there's some mysterious difference between a "National Socialist" and a "member of the American National Socialist Workers Party."
   
8. The distinction is, apparently, a Very Big Deal for No. 1.
   
9. Making minute distinctions between the various squabbling factions in the right-wing-iverse seems to come very easy to No. 1.
   
10. On the other hand, making rather fucking important distinctions about the real world does not appear to come naturally to No. 3: He refers to the LDS Church-owned Deseret Morning News as a "Jew paper."
    
11. The LDS Church is not Jewish. In fact, as Roseanne Barr famously observed, Utah is the only place where a Jew can be called a "gentile."
    
12. Elsewhere on the National Socialist/American Nationalist/Nazi/whatever Party's Website is a "news" report about a "scientific study" that has "proven" that "white men have bigger cocks than blacks.")
    
13. This report must be very comforting for Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
    
    (Brandon Burt)

Friday Letters Round-Up

• I looooove bottled water! I hate Rocky! Unlike most Rockophobes, I'm from Salt Lake City (!)
  
• I think we can win this war! All we need to do is send 40,000 more troops. No, I'm not volunteering.
  
• I'm rich and I hate dog poop.
  
• I'm a 40-year-old Boy Scout. No, there's nothing weird about that. The other Boy Scouts didn't make fun of me much.
  
• I think any columnist who didn't care about Bill Clinton's blow job has no business criticizing possibly treasonous activities.
  
• Here's my list of presidential qualifications. Go ahead and dismantle the Constitution; institute a police state for all I care. Just as long as you keep the war going and are not gay.
  
• I may be wearing a tin-foil hat, but at least it's a retro tin-foil hat.
  
• First Amendment? We don't need no stinking First Amendment
  

(Brandon Burt)

Thunderdome Extra

[Music] City Weekly contributors Jenny Poplar and Ryan Bradford entered the critical Thunderdome to discuss this month's CD releases. While their opinions might not seem divergent enough to merit a battle-to-the-death comparison, by revisiting the classic Road Warrior sequel you'll notice that Mel Gibson showed a rare moment of compassion for his opponent thereby proving that some competitions can be settled in a civil matter--and occasionally with some level of agreement. For more Thunderdome fun, pick up a copy of the July 12 issue of City Weekly. You'll be glad you did.

Foo Fighters, The Colour & The Shape Reissue (Roswell/Capitol)
RB: Has it really been more than 10 years since we've been graced with the giant hand/Evil Dead-inspired video for "Everlong"? As far as a re-release goes, the extras are kind of bare: only six bonus songs (B-sides and covers recorded at the time of the album), and despite the awesome cover of Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street," I wonder if this album is really necessary.

JP: I really don't think a re-release is necessary. I experienced this dreadful Foo Fighters saturation in the late '90's from which I have never been able to fully recover. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I kept hearing the same handful of songs from this album, and to this day The Foo Fighters induce of visions of frat boys chugging Natural Light in a brown-carpeted basement.

RB: I will say that I've always found Dave Grohl immensely enduring and the Foo Fighters slightly subversive. Given the members' histories in harder, underground rock, each radio-hit from Colour sounds like an inside-joke or a template to faking commercial viability (or winning the hearts of Natty Light-chugging frat boys). It seems that the Foo can now venture into harder material and still produce hits, but on Colour, it's nice to hear that their playfulness holds up as one of the only bands from the '90s that doesn't sound dated.

JP: Perhaps I should give Dave Grohl & Co. a break, but I sincerely believe that-even with the bonus tracks-everyone on this green earth who ever wanted a copy of this disc probably already has one.

BR6, Here to Stay: Gershwin & Jobim A Capella (NuVision)
JP: Hmmm. This record certainly isn't for everyone, but I think Brazilian A Capella arrangements of jazz songs is the type of thing that can really grow on you. Or completely repel you. Possibly give you a violent stomach ache. Or, make you want to sing in the shower. Depending on what you like.

RB: Very ambitious. I feel like I have to slap myself in the face infomercial-style and exclaim: "Really? No instruments were used in the making of this album?!" I think of it more of a cocktail-party album, where you'll find an anxious crowd raring to sing along to "The Girl From Ipanema."

JP: I'm in the sing-in-the-shower category myself, but I like jazz.

RB: It's like, a hundred times better than my Jay-Z A Capella Black Album that I recently, accidentally, bought.

Funniest Deseret News Headline Ever

Traditional definition of Taint. The other definition of Taint. Pick your favorite. (Bill Frost)

Almost Twiggy

[Death & Fashion] I love this obituary.

I got my first pair of bellbottom pants at Adrien & Emilie in Salt Lake City in 1969, maybe 1970.The pants were pumpkin orange, fine-wale corduroy. My mom was feeling flush and bought me a purple cotton knit “body shirt” with orange stripes to match. I wanted to be Twiggy.

As for Emilie Segil Martin, some women just know how to live. (Holly Mullen)

Kick Their Ass, Please

[National Panic] Oh shut up. There simply is no other reaction to this USA Today story.

Some researchers are now clucking about the danger flip-flops pose to female foot health. Ballet flats, too. Everything sexy, fun to wear and cheap to buy made the list of hazardous footwear.

Since when did medical researchers become geezers and fall into collusion with the sensible shoe industry?

I hate these stories. I don’t want no stinkin’ foot health lecture on a 103-degree July afternoon. I’ll risk a bout of tendonitis or foot fungus in exchange for foot freedom.

Really, just shut up. (Holly Mullen)

5 Spot: Judi Hilman

[CW Extra] Judi Hilman is Utah Health Policy Project’s executive director. Her organization seeks sustainable health-care coverage for every Utahn. Are Hilman and her minions tilting at windmills? Or are they on the verge of ushering in a new era of health-care reform? Read her comments below and you can decide. (Excerpts of this interview appeared in City Weekly’s July 5 Five Spot column.)

What did you think of the Michael Moore film Sicko?
Overall, thumbs up. I think it’s definitely worth seeing, but it is a pretty devastating portrait of our health-care system, and whether that’s accurate or not, that type of portrait may not be helpful for when it comes to getting people focused on solutions. States all over, including Utah, are finally tackling the beast of our health-care crisis, so I wouldn’t want Moore’s reputation to slow down momentum on solution seeking.

Was there any moment in Sicko when you felt sicko?
Sicko but also catharsis. At the moment when the medical director from Humana got up in front of Congress and testified that she denied claims. I just broke down completely. I think what that confession showed us is there is an awareness of the problems with the current system, the cherry picking and the social Darwinism that goes along with the experience rating that we do. We finally have a critical mass that sees there is something horribly wrong with that. It’s not just the Michael Moores of the world that find that outrageous but the actual former medical director of Humana.

That sicko feeling is not especially new to me. What got me really sicko was the difference between U.S. and, say France in terms of our quality of life and ultimately family values.

Why does health care in our country languish behind other nation’s?
We have not seen health care as vital part of our social infrastructure. I think that what’s happening now in the U.S. is that we have more and more businesses saying, “Hey, we can’t compete.” I think that’s what in the end is what gets the U.S. to do something meaningful. I think we are on the brink. I think Utah is on the brink of meaningful reform. It’s not because of the tragic stories so much as businesses can no longer compete. They have to continually pay double-digit health-care costs.
Moore’s movie points to specific historical developments that moved each European country and Canada to financially sustainable coverage for all. I’m optimistic that the U.S. is next, starting with Massachusetts and the other earlier implementers. Utah is not far behind.

What does the Utah Health Cooperative (UHC) hope to accomplish?
Financially sustainable health-care coverage for every man, woman and child in Utah, whether through the UHC or the Exchange, which is a mechanism to facilitate efficient purchase of insurance.

Utah is trying to model the Massachusetts Connector Model in Utah. Utah solution seekers want to call it the Exchange. The idea being that right now some big pieces—making it truly affordable, doing community ratings so we are share risk appropriately—those are big pieces that are being seriously considered in the Exchange. If we get those big pieces, if they fit, that will be a very meaningful reform, and we will be happy to put all of our energies toward it.

We are hopeful about the Exchange, because so far at least at this concept stage, it will allow everyone covered on the Exchange to share risk—no more cherry picking! And it will be affordable.

What or who are the biggest obstacles in achieving your aims?
The concept that health care is a commodity. And the idea that authentic charity care could somehow make up for whatever the market lacks.

Is it possible for one state to offer universal health care?
Absolutely. Look at Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, soon California, Illinois, now Wisconsin. Utah is next! All are learning as they go, but that’s how it starts.

If yes, won’t everyone want to move here?
What’s wrong with that? If we make coverage affordable and accessible, businesses will want to locate here … and everyone wins when this happens. Far as I can tell, our governor’s No. 1 priority is to bring businesses to Utah.

Do you ever feel threatened for speaking out on health-care reform?
No, not anymore. You would be surprised at how open political leaders are now to positive changes. We are at the table because everyone is relaxing about change and realizing we have to do something fast. In Utah, there is increased urgency to do something before the next presidential election. This is why solution framework for the Connector and for the Exchange is coming right out of the Heritage Foundation.

Do state legislators have a clue how increasingly out-of-reach affordable health care is becoming for the average family?
Yes, some of their own families are impacted. I can introduce you to at least six legislators who’ve had medical crises that they had trouble paying for. Now, whether this awareness translates into making sure coverage is affordable for low-income families: we have work to do here.

What can local residents do to see that universal health care is enacted in Utah?
Join the UHPP Health Matters alert list and consider endorsing our nine principles for health-care reform. Visit HealthPolicyProject.org.

Do you have any message for the CEOs of insurance companies?
I say: Please stay with this Exchange concept: what you might lose in any disruption to your business model you will gain in increased volume of business. (Jerre Wroble)