Newest endorsement

With just one day left before the Utah County Republican Convention I am pleased to announce that I have received the endorsement of the Utah County Republican Assembly. It is great to see to be recognized as serving to uphold and defend the values of the Republican Party, as well as the rights and freedoms of the Constitution.

I have included here for you the actual letter for your review.

Sincerely,

John D. Morris

Zoning and property rights

I was asked today to describe my feelings on zoning, the need to respect property rights and how do you still plan for a growing city? Below is my response.

What I would like to do is make sure that the zoning is represented with the lowest limits on individual rights and allow people to build and create wealth with their investments, while ensuring the minimums.

I am for reducing the zoning and moving it out of the commissions hands, but moving it to a local level control, so the commission isn't always able to step on people's individual rights. For example, there are farmers that have their properties zoned for one type of crop, but they have to get special permission to move to a different crop, which costs time and money, while a neighboring farm is free zoned and does not have that kind of restriction.

Also, if that same farmer would like to add some small manufacturing to his area, so he can process his own crops, the whole area could be rezoned as manufacturing, instead of just the small area where the manufacturing would take place.

The County should still make sure and have a basic idea of the zoning of roads and future growth, but in a way that those who sell and those that don't aren't forced into changing what they do with their land. Let me give you an example, in North San Diego, at the beginning of the 80's they planned a whole series of cross freeways to join the I-5 and I-15, as they run more or less parallel to each other. Now at that time, there was no one selling the land, and not a whole lot of need for the freeways, so what they did was to give them right of purchase when someone wanted to buy the land where the freeways would be. This gave the city the chance to save for the purchase, bought the land when the owner was interested in selling, and knew what kind of businesses or housing would go into the area, because it was determined by the buyer, not the city. They planned for several cross freeways, and those that sold first were the ones that were developed, some of them were abandoned, because the need was no longer there.

So that is what we need to do for Utah County, I hope that you will take this into consideration. It is always nice to talk to people that have expertise in an area.

Many of my ideas come from a book called, "The Seamless City,"by Rick Baker. It takes on the redevelopment of a city in Florida using conservative methods.

John

Sacred responsibilities

‎"Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual -- or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country." --Samuel Adams (1781)

This is a sacred trust that we share and give to those whom we are electing. It is of eternal consequence to see that we uphold those oaths with solemnity.

What is life worth?

"Count it the greatest sin to prefer life to honor, and for the sake of living lose what makes life worth living." --Roman poet Decimus Juvenal (c. 1st - 2nd century)

The path to Convention

A very good friend of mine made this graphic for me. Please feel free to use it and let people know about the caucus night and about convention.

John

New FDA regulations

Last year there was a new piece of legislature that promised to regulate food improve food safety through new laws and restrictions guidelines. That translated into new ways that the government can monitor and enforce onerous new requirements for all sorts of different things that aren’t part of the intended use of the law. After all, we know that Congress really only passes laws so that we can tell what is actually in it.

It is now being revealed that as a result of the new FDA powers that were added they are able to start pulling off the market any product that they do not agree with, instead of the current method that is currently in use, which gives the United States a clear advantage over the rest of the world. Many of the products that we use commonly, such as vitamins, minerals, gingko, ginseng, Reservitrol, garlic oil, aloe vera and many others, are not allowed to be sold outside of pharmacies, if at all. These products natural benefits that allow the average consumer to avoid using pharmaceutical products that have side effects and are much more costly, not to mention fit nicely in the Obamacare health plan. The current FDA proposed regulations would move us towards becoming more like those countries. This is a direct attack on Freedom and liberty. It is a direct attack on a large number of employers and companies here in Utah, especially Utah County.

On Thursday, September 8 there is a call-in campaign that is being organized to let our senators and representatives know that we do not support another attack on business, one that provides health benefits and employment to thousands. Please join me and many others to call in and let your US representatives know that we are drawing a line where they may not cross.

Here are some points to mention:

• Request that Congress direct the FDA to carefully review their draft guidance, and unless they amend the guidance to reflect my concerns, to call hearings at the end of the review process.

• When the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act was passed, Congress intended there be a simple notification system for new supplements. But now the FDA is turning it into a pre-approval scheme—one that Congress never intended. This will reduce the number of supplements sold and increase the cost of those that remain.
  
  
• Ask that the FDA honor Congressional intent and protect access to supplements

Mention at least one of the following points on your call:

• Congress recognized that dietary supplements are natural ingredients and therefore inherently safer than drugs and chemical food additives. It did not intend that the FDA would have the power to approve or reject dietary supplements.
• The FDA’s draft guidance creates unnecessary regulations that limit my access to the dietary supplements I rely on. The expensive and burdensome process will force between 20,000 and 42,000 dietary supplements to be removed from the market and will increase the cost of those supplements that remain.
• The draft guidance hurts our economy. Expert analyses show that this guidance will cause a total economic loss of $21.2 billion to $39.8 billion annually.

Closing:

· Please keep close watch of the FDA to stop them from defying Congressional intent with their new draft guidance.

To look up your representative use this link: http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/search.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=4860375

For those that live in Utah, here are the phone numbers for your representatives:

Senator Orrin Hatch’s offices:

Washington: 202–224–5251

Utah: 801–524–4380

Senator Mike Lee’s offices:

Washington: 202–224–5444

Utah: 801–524–5933

Representative Jim Matheson’s offices:

Washington: 202–225–3011

Utah: 801–486–1236

Representative Rob Bishop’s offices:

Washington: 202–225–0453

Utah: 801–625–0107

Representative Jason Chaffetz’s offices:

Washington: 202–225–7751

Utah: 801–282–5502

To the heroes . . .

My grandfather served in the navy during WWII. He landed Omaha beach even though he wasn't slotted for the landing, he was a medic so he was only carrying a .45 and his medic bag. That limited weight he carried saved his life as he jumped over the side of the landing boat he was on rushing the beach. He was one of the very few that survived out of his platoon. These are stories that he never told me, my dad did after reading his diaries. I actually only heard one story from my Grandpa before he died.

My grandfather grew up in rural Pennsylvania in the coal and slate mine areas of the west. He joined the Navy and enrolled in the pharmacy program. During that time he crossed the Atlantic ocean 4 times in a PT boat. Not the most fun of trip. So I heard about a kid that he knew from Pennsylvania. My grandfather say him as he was getting on another craft in their preparations to storm Normandy. He said that they waved to each other and my grandfather couldn't believe how much older he looked, how tired he looked and how much of a goof-off he had been in school. He went on to say that he never saw him again, he was one of those that had jumped over the side of a boat and had all his gear pull him down never to surface again.

There are so many that left their mortals lives at that and many other beaches in Europe, Africa and Asia. This was a generation that went to war because they had to because they knew that do otherwise would let tyranny and slavery march across the globe. And they did it with humility and honor. We are less because we do not know their stories, their history because it is our stories, our history. I thank all veterans this day, who's stories are told, untold or left unsaid because they laid they testimonies of Freedom on the battlefield.

We have much to learn from these heroes. We need to learn of Honor, of Courage, of Selflessness and, most of all, of Faith. We honor them when we know history. For if we do not know history we are bound to repeat the mistakes that some have laid their lives on to stop.

John D. Morris

PS. Here is a group that has found a way to mark and remember this occasion in Oklahoma: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110606/od_nm/us_oklahoma_paintball