you'd rather have someone in there who will shut down the govt and cripple the country? The teabaggers whine about the deficit but their actions were one of the main reasons our credit was lowered, further hurting the debt. Seems kinda stupid to say you're concerned about the debt but flush our credit rating.

Liljenquist will lose this primary fight to Hatch and has likely done his political career a lot of damage by even challenging him. The main stream republicans are getting sick and tired of the tea party extremists and the disrespect that Liljenquist has shown by challenging Hatch will not go unnoticed. Hatch is one of the elder statesmen of the republican party and this tea party idiot should have just played the game and sat back and waited his turn. Hatch has already said this will be his last term and then the seat would be up for grabs. Instead of being loyal to the party and waiting his turn Liljenquist has alienated a large percentage of the party by jumping in and causing problems. He is also causing the party to waste a lot of money that could have gone towards useating democrats in close races that will not end up being spent in this primary campaign. Overall, this was a very dumb move for Liljenquist and my bet is that it will come back to haunt him for a very long time.

@Thomas Blue, now you don't really believe that there are enough T-beggers in either the senate or the house to have done all that by themselves do you? They have done this with the full assistance of the repugs and don't fool yourself okay? We were in trouble when Bush II decided to fight 2 wars off the books, that was long before the T-beggers started organizing & winning seats in both Houses. Don't forget that they thought it a grand idea that the Iraq war would be paid for by that country's oil and that was long before the beggers came onto the scene.

Orin is 78 yrs. old and is 13 years over due for retirement just like the rest of us and that personal opinion applies to all of the other oldies who are long, long over due for getting the hell out!!

Hatch had his chance and didn't accomplish anything except create a bigger government, supported the Patriot Act to reduce our rights, and sent us into Iraq.

Ozzie, 36 long long years. He needs help probably finding his own home in Utah, he's a DC addict.

I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE SOMEONE IN THERE THAT WOULD SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT, the only time government does not do things that hurt or cost the taxpayers more money is when they are not able to pass anything or take any actions. It is not like they are doing there one and only job yet as they have not passed a budget in years, instead they more concerned with steriods in baseball and things such as if steroids were used by "professional wrestlers". They keep wasting more and more of our money on wasteful studies, there "pay" is double what it probably should be, they get benefits that are better then what anyone else can get at our expense, They concern themselves with things that have nothing to do with 'government business", and look at all the expense of transporting them from there home state back to DC week after week, also their insider trading they were and can still do.

It's been shut down since 2009, bubba, when all the collective loathing and obstructionism kicked in...

No unfortunately it has not. They are still passing more and more regulations that increase the costs to business that are then passed to us in higher prices, they are still giving money to pet projects costing us more and more in taxes, they are still giving money to foriegn countries to try and bribe them to go along with what our government wants costing us more and more. We are still giving money, equipment and troops to train and fight costing us more and more money.

Not much of a choice for you Utah, either a Dinosaur or a Bagger. Why not send someone that will work for America and not the rich?

Term limit these old farts. We need new ideas, real leaders, not entrenched power addicts. New, change, ideas, all foreign to these geezers

@ Duke: I wish we had term limited them 40 years ago. You know, when they whined that only the long termed, seasoned and politically savvy politician will get your state the best. Still waiting, after 40 years. Sooner or later people are going to wake up and realize the longer they're in...the worse it gets.

Yep, yep...I agree with you. Limits would be great.

@Hey, all we can do is hope that the people do wake up but I don't think I'll still be ablive to see it though.

Hatch criticized Moss's 18-year tenure in the Senate, saying "What do you call a Senator who’s served in office for 18 years? You call him home." Hatch argued that many Senators, including Moss, had lost touch with their constituents.

These are comments made by Hatch when he ousted the incumbent back in '76. He's been there twice as long so that must mean that he is twice as far out of touch with his constituents.

Time to pack your bags Orrie, and head home to Vernal, Utah. Time for a fossil like you to go to the fossil capital of Utah. You've had your turn at screwing the country - time for somebody else to have a go.

PLEASEEEEEEE!!!! Don't make the same mistake in Utah that too many uninformed voters made in 2010 with Sen. Harry Reid!!! Don't send Orrin Hatch back to the senate because he's telling you that because of his "experience" he'll get more done for you than a newcomer will. That's B---S--t!! Each senator gets a single vote, regardless of seniority.

In 2010 the uninformed masses of Nevada made the same mistake and re-elected Harry Reid to the Senate for his umpteenth term. He said his opponent (Sharon Angle) was inexperienced and wouldn't get thing done for the state like he would. Well, he promised us 46,000 clean/green jobs and to date, about 200 have materialized. He said his experience would lead us to fiscal responsibility, yet there's been no budget in 3 years. He promised a lot of other items, but when we decided not to put his son in the statehouse (as governor - same election) he turned to the camera and said, "Washington has got it's hands full; you're on your own (Nevada)."

Yes, it's true Reid is a Democrat and Hatch a Republican, but the issue is the same. THEY'VE BEEN THERE TOO LONG!! This isn't a Tea Party issue it's a return to sanity issue. It's a dump the incumbents and get some new blood and ideas in Washington issue.

If you want to end the impact that special interests have, you've got to make it too expensive for them to do business as usual. If we continue to elect the same people (McCain, Levin, Pelosi, Hatch, Reid, etc...) we'll never break the cycle of influence lobbyists have. By electing different persons each election cycle, the cost of doing business with a continual flow of newcombers will be too expensive. This would force lobbyists to re-examine the cost of doing business the old "I'll scratch your back and you scratch mine" way.

DUMP THE INCUMBENTS!!! Regardless of party. Government will never surrender to an ammendment to the Constitution that limits the terms of senators or congressmen, so we have to do it in the ballot box. Do it this year. Send them home. You sent Bennet home; send Hatch home.

If you put another teabagger in there, it will become a Teap Party issue. How long and how mant times will we allow the the world's most vocal micro-minority to take down a whole country? They already damaged the credit rating, thus driving up the debt that they claim to be so obsessed about. They will absolutely destroy our economy. Do you really want to give your country to the Koch bros.?

Thomas Blue, very well said.

The dems controlled both houses of congress and couldn't get things done. Yet when the tea party gets elected it's their fault the economy has failed. The democrat controlled senate hasn't passed a budget for three years and that is the tea party's fault? They can't agree among themselves what their course of action should be.

An economy as large as the U.S. that fails is not due to a single change in political make-up but rather a history of bad decisions. But you won't agree because it is counter to your beliefs.

We always hear how not all Mormons are Republican, and then one takes a look at Utah and quickly realizes not only is this a crock of crap, but Utah is as close to a theocracy as this nation has ever seen. There is no way this kind of culture should be allowed in the White House (even Jon Huntsman who was more tolerable), because there are many Mormons in office and most are Tea Party extremists. Neighboring states with large Mormon populations like Idaho and Arizona are becoming more far-Right radical as a result too. For national security reasons we should put them in camps in Colorado City and keep them there.

Seriously though, let's hope the Republican Party can survive this fringe from taking over. Conservatives -- Please throw out the John Birch Society-type conspiracy theorists, and bring back William F. Buckley, sanity, and the Rule of Reason before it's too late!

ZOMBIE William F. Buckley!!!!

I miss Buckley.

True:
Interesting comments, Utah being as close to theocracy as we can get in USA.

@truepatriot. Your screen name would lead someone to believe that you are really a patriot. I'm far from a tea party follower. I vote for as many dems as I do repubs. I am a moderate and proud of it. But I bristle whenever I hear anyone calling for the unlawful detainment of any group of American citizens because of their beliefs. Your contention that there are too many conservative Mormons in Utah justifies rounding them up? What next? Too many Southern baptist conservatives in Alabama? What about conservative, anti-contraceptive Catholics? What would be your take on someone calling for liberal Jews in Florida to be rounded up because there are too many? None of that is acceptable in any kind of political dialogue...any kind! It isn't funny. It isn't clever. It isn't legal. It doesn't help your argument. It SOUNDS crazy. It sounds oppressive. And it pretty much invalidates anything else you might have to say. I will say this about Mormons, I grew up next door to a family of strict Mormons. Nicest, most hard working, most Christian giving people I have ever met, AND both parents were sworn democrats. The father was a union carpenter, and they actively campaigned for dem candidates every 2 years. Hate fully generalizing an entire group of people just because you don't agree with them is stupid and ignorant.

@ True Patriot - You do realize that Harry Reid is an active Mormon right?

First- Utah isn't run by the LDS church, although the politics of the state do have strong influences from the beliefs of the church due to the large membership population. Which is that way because the Freedom of Religion of its members was ignored by this country during the 1830's through the 1850's, so they had to leave what was the country at that time and move to a land where they could practice their religion without worry of being killed.

Second- The LDS church remains completely neutral in political issues and political races. They do not support a single party or candidate. (I know people will bring up Prop 8, the church did not use any of its funds to support that campaign in California; although members of the church used their own personal funds to support it.)

Third- The LDS church does help every country without limit, it doesn't worry about politics. The welfare program within the LDS church is made to help people be self-sufficient and not simply reliant.

Forth- I am an active member of the LDS church, a resident of Utah, and a Democrat. Don't bundle an entire states population based on false ideas of what is going on there!

but Utah is as close to a theocracy as this nation has ever seen.

Close isn't the word for it - Utah IS a theocracy.

First- Utah isn't run by the LDS church,

You've obviously bought into their BULL$H!T. There is no a single major piece of legislation that gets passed without the "blessing" of the moron church. The state politicians make no bones about the fact that they have to get permission from the church to pass bills.

Second- The LDS church remains completely neutral in political issues and political races.

They not only peddle their theocratic views within your state, they peddle their BS outside the state. But of course you'll try to deny their neutral view of Prop 8 in CA. Didn't the moron church just give permission to Salt Lake City permission to allow same sex cohabitation and other rights but retained the right to deny them admittance to the church positions?

Third- The LDS church does help every country without limit, it doesn't worry about politics.

The church is no better than oprah winfrey. It will not do anything unless it stands to gain something. There is nothing "free" in the moron church.

It's great that you are such a proponent of your church but you have certainly become biased by their preachings. They should be proud of their accomplishment - another unquestioning follower.

Ghengis Khan & others, the containment camp joke was not good, sorry.

Culture and religion, though not a test to be POTUS, is still very relevant to who that person is and will be in office. Some Rapture-type Evangelicals, or say those who went to Jonestown, or Moonies (remember them?) indicate a disconnect with reality, so probably shouldn't have access to the button. And saying so is not bigotry, it's just being factual.

Gneisenau -- Yes, we're aware that Harry Reid is a Democrat, but we're also aware this is an exception to the rule, and that most Mormon's think he and all Democrats are evil.

Clayton-Utah

Second- The LDS church remains completely neutral in political issues and political races. They do not support a single party or candidate. (I know people will bring up Prop 8, the church did not use any of its funds to support that campaign in California; although members of the church used their own personal funds to support it.)

This is the BS I'm talking about. the thinker-318752 above already did a job job of responding to this.

Romney is a banking lobby bought off stooge. The GOP primary is a complete lobby owned scam. Nobody even gets any press but Obomney.... errr Romney. They lost truckloads of votes, announced the wrong winners prematurely, changed primaries to controlled caucuses etc etc etc etc etc.

It is not about either party but about the lobby interests that run them. Both Obama and Romney are in SOOO deep with the legacy global corporate lobby's it is sick. Obama is up to $20 trillion in bailout money in less than four years. He just keeps letting the Federal Reserve shove trillion after trillion out the backdoor to not just corporations but FOREIGN corporations!

The Federal Reserve is NOT allowed to send one single dollar to a corporation without it being part of the Presidents Economic Plan......... Assuming Obama has a plan he sure loves to give away the trillions to foreign corporations and billionaires. I guess Obama is on the "Let the federal reserve do whatever they please" plan.

Romney/Obomney will not be one bit better. Both candidates lobby list reads like a who's who of current and future corporate bailouts.

32maniac

I couldn't have written it better. Senators are a bit like fish fillets . . . the longer they've been around the more they begin to smell. Now just as a senate of thirty-three percent freshmen is possible, but unlikely, do we really need a senate comprising ninety-eight percent old farts and some of these old farts very old, stale, and sour?

You people are so incredibly arrogant! Here you are bashing and insulting people you probably don't even know, because they are older (and probably wiser) than you are? You can try to force you will but it will never work. In the history of the country, no single political position has ever taken over all the reigns of government, and it will never happen. The system of checks and balances was put in place exactly to prevent it, because the great founding fathers knew idiots like you in their lifetimes and were determined to prevent it. Let's see. Old men who are stale. I suppose you include men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Quincy Adams.... Yes, those old farts definitely made no contribution to the USA. Please tell us more about it.

john - Read a bio on Hatch. The reason he ran for office in '76 was to get rid of the lifetime politicians - the incumbent he replaced had been there for 18 years. His comment was "time to call him home". He has been there for more than 36 years and he isn't a stale old fart?

Time to send the fossil home to fossil mecca - Vernal, UT.

I'm confident with your opinion of Obama's re-election. I'm hopeful about more dems in the house. IF that happens, there will be less of a chance that the US will be down-graded....again. TP'ers just went too far, too fast...and don't know how to work within the system.

FYI-

The downgrade was because spending was not cut enough!

Leave it to liberals to rationalize their failure, though.

wrong,Tammy....crack a book...the credit rating agency said that their primary concern was the overall climate in Washington that was not conducive to working together to solve the problem- you know...things like trying to shut down the govt.

Tammy-311614 -- S&P said the downgrade was due to obstruction and delay in raising the debt ceiling. Leave it to conservatives to fail to be intellectually honest. Who was holding the nation hostage and taking things down to the wire? Who cheered when the credit rating was downgraded? Teabaggers.

The evangelical "tea" party movement has to lie. They have tried for years to run on their fascist social agenda and have failed miserably. The "tea" party is nothing more than a cover for the same freaks that were a part of the defunct "moral majority".

To say that it was the teabagger's fault that the US credit rating was downgraded gives the small minority of the minority way too much credit. Boehner's only goal is to make the President of the United States fail and the fascist agenda of the evagelical "tea" party served Boehner's treasonous agenda...neither of which have a thing to do with being fiscally responsible. The teabaggers were duped by Boehner because brainwashed evangelicals are extremely easy to fool.

As horrible as Orrin is, he is better than the instant oatmeal the the teabaggers have to offer.

Invisible Hand -- Not since the 1970s according to the article. Rocky Anderson was elected Mayor of SLC, which has a couple of districts where the teeny tiny number of Democrats reside in Utah. So this is the exception to the rule. If you are a progressive, and non-Mormon, it's not easy to live in Utah. This is not what America is about.

@TruePatriot do you live in Utah? Or do you just have a problem with accepting that not everything is the same in every state? I'm a progressive and a member of the LDS church, and I do live in Utah and I don't find my life hard at all! There is a growing number of progressives in Utah and they come from outside and inside the LDS church, so you need to stop making stupid comments about things that you obviously don't have first hand experience with. America is about freedom for everyone, even if their views don't concur with yours!!

I'm a progressive and a member of the LDS church, and I do live in Utah and I don't find my life hard at all!

But have you ever lived outside of Utah? Mormons are more welcome outside Utah than "gentiles" are in Utah.

I lived behind the Zion curtain and there is certainly a whole different perspective for those of us non-members.

Clayton-Utah -- Yes, I have lived in Utah, and neighboring states with communities with large Mormon populations. I also have family who are members of the church and even they have had difficulty with the "culture."

America is about freedom for everyone, even if their views don't concur with yours!!

I agree, so it's too bad the churchy people in Utah aren't more open-minded and accepting. And the rest of the state are NRA Redneck radicals even if they aren't members of the church. My guess is many progressives who try to live there will move if/when they get a chance. Sorry, but that is not just my experience or observation.

the thinker-318752 is correct about the bubble many live in. I have lived in Red States all my life, so know very well what it is like to be in the minority.

That's the irony--is even Orrin Hatch reasonable, was Bob Bennett reasonable? Liljenquist equates himself with Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky, and "changing how the Senate works." In other words, "eat the seed corn" anarchy! Lovely.

This is the result of the "reasonable" republican middle cultivating right wing fanatics. Now the lunatics have taken over the asylum.

Last I looked there were ZERO social programs and ZERO mentions of socialism in the Constitution. This is despite government charity and mob rule failing WAY back before our founding fathers. Rome was destroyed by a Democracy.

A Democracy is a majority rule or crude form of "mob rule". The "mob" votes itself the power to extort from the minority. The pattern is always the same.... they empty the Treasury, ruin the credit, destroy the currency then set out after anyone with a dollar more than themselves. They start with the uber-wealthy and keep moving down as the wealth leaves the country like cheetahs at a salad bar.

At that point the mob needs the military to enforce its extortion and block the exit of the wealth. Then we have Communism. Once again there is not one word of a Democracy or a social program in the Constitution. There is not the slightest reference to the taxpayers owing "the poor" one single thing. There is also not the slightest reference to the taxpayers owing ANY "too big to fail" business's one single thing.

Our government is a complete aborition of the Constitution and we have one heck of a mess because of it.

Adams101-

Read the Preamble lately?

Adams101

"We The People" doesn't give you any clues?

Democracy means having at least a two-party system in which there are contested races. In states like Utah it is effectively a one-party state. Even the one or two districts that may elect a Democrat, that Democrat will be such a minority in the state legislature as to be a waste of time. Voters who don't live in those one or two districts who would like to elect a Democrat are wasting their time voting unless it is the general and they can vote for POTUS. What this article is talking about is competition between the far-right and the off-the-cliff far right. I assure you this is NOT what the founding fathers envisioned.

You really need to join a church where people "DONATE" money for "your" idea of a worthy cause and you can choose the definition of "poor". You see when you FORCE people to "donate" to your idea of a worth charity that is called EXTORTION.

It is insane to even define such charity much less manage it so only the truly "worthy" get it. It is also ALWAYS grossly unfair the way the money is extorted, specifically who is force to give and how much they have to give. Then we have the government borrowing money to support such programs and forcing people not yet born to pay for the people NOW using such programs.

I think a worthy charity is great but not when people are literally forced to contribute under threat of imprisonment if they don't comply. If you read the Constitution there is nothing regarding this insanity.

The concept is totally insane for a government...... works fine for a church with donations, where it belongs. Being nice is NOT a form of government.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,^{[note 1]} promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Let's see. I wonder what the words "general Welfare" mean. They mean that the elected representatives of government have the power to pass legislation to promote the "general Welfare" as they see fit in their times. The Founding Fathers were too smart to write the Constitution around only the micro issues of their day. They were looking to the future.

As for "threat of imprisonment." You must be referring to the health care issue. Nothing there says anything about putting miscreants into prison.

Better governance always starts with honest people starting with the real facts and discussing options in reasonable voices, not with screaming and yelling.

Oh I see....... You are completely hilarious. You take the words "general welfare" and have decided to interpret that to be acting like a church and monster sized charity run organization to completely undefined groups of people. Funny I believe the founders would not have "missed" some little thing like half the budget of the country going from one group to another as income supplements. They also would not have missed the ability of one group to literally vote themselves the money of others as well as financially enslaving future generations not born with assorted "general welfare" debt.

The founders specifically designed the Federal Government to ONLY run the military and Immigration budgets. PERIOD This was done to keep domestic spending out of the hands of a few elites. Been there, done that with the King. Small groups running everyone is not fair.

There is no way they "missed" that or felt it was too small to mention. It is the foundation of a Republic the rights of the INDIVIDUAL take total and complete precedence over those of both the majority and government. They were very specific about this and that is why they formed a "FREE REPUBLIC" and not a DEMOCRACY which is what you are trying to move into. We just moved this mess from physical slavery to a financial one. One group voting themselves the income of another group. It is "mob rule" and at this point they have financially destroyed the country and are dissolving what is left of the Republic.

Micro issues............ GEEEEEZZZZZ Your "micro issues" are bankrupting the country.

Unfortunately, Our illustrious lawmakers have been promoting their own general welfare, and that of those who contribute to their re-elections. (PACs,)

Yep, lobby money and vote buying using entitlements. That is what is making the entire vote on a federal level a complete joke. The politicians give lobby's a thousand to one return on their campaign investments and use money borrowed on the backs of the taxpayers to purchase votes from the lower class.

The era of big government started under Roosevelt because of the great depression. The new deal wasn't just about helping fellow Americans who desperately needed it. It was also about giving people hope so they don't tear down the system. Expansion of social spending helps minimize the likelihood of riots and violence. Imagine what this country would be like without anything resembling a social safety net--it's quite a frightening picture.

Even a three year old realizes that if it didn't prove effective after a second attempt it is time to change strategies. Seems as though the voting aged in Utah have not the sense of three year olds.

How many dinosaurs have had good ideas lately?

You should refrain from calling an entire states population "dummies"! Do you not realize that while Senator Hatch may have been elected by the majority of the population, that doesn't mean that everyone voted for him! I certainly did not!

I also hope that the Democrats will have a better chance this election in Utah.

Clayton-Utah -- Agreed. And I admire your hope.

This isn't necessarily a vote for a nominee but rather a vote against an incumbent - which is due. If the incumbent has been nothing more than a place marker it is time for a change. Inexperience is no worse than ineffective/inert.