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Daily Briefing

Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 324th day of the year. There are 41 days remaining in 2017.

The clock:

• 43 days until candidates can declare their intent to gather signatures for the 2018 election (1/2/2018)
• 63 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
• 108 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
• 109 days until the filing period for candidates in the 2018 election opens (3/9/2018)
• 115 days until the filing deadline for the 2018 elections (3/15/2018)
• 120 days until the statewide GOP caucus meetings (3/20/2018)
• 152 days until the GOP State Convention (4/21/2018)
• 218 days until the 2018 Primary Election (6/26/2018)
• 351 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1,079 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today's political TL; DR -

• Gov. Gary Herbert gives his tacit approval to the new Count My Vote ballot initiative but stops just short of endorsing the measure [Utah Policy].
  
  
• The 4th CD race between Rep. Mia Love and Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams could be a barnburner. Another national analyst has shifted their rating of the race toward McAdams, demonstrating the real threat he poses to Love's prospects for re-election [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Sen. Orrin Hatch gets into a shouting match with Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown after Brown claimed Hatch's tax reform bill was written to favor the wealthy at the expense of the lower and middle class. Hatch responded by calling Brown's claim "bullcrap" [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Rep. Mia Love cautions against using recent allegations of sexual harassment by both Republicans and Democrats as a partisan political weapon [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Our "Political Insiders" say Alabama Republican Roy Moore should drop out of the U.S. Senate race amid mounting allegations of sexual misconduct [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Former U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz suggests a kind of "political death penalty" for public figures who engage in sexual misconduct. Chaffetz famously withdrew his support for President Donald Trump after the "Access Hollywood" tape surfaced, but a few weeks later said he would vote for Trump [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Rep. Jeremy Peterson wants Utah to join a group of states who will award their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. The plan will only go into effect if enough states join the compact to give the presidency to the popular vote winner [Deseret News].
  
  
• Utah's four U.S. House members say they don't agree with a provision in the Republican tax reform proposal that would tax tuition waivers for graduate students as income, but they voted for the plan anyway [Tribune].
  
  
• The GOP tax plans currently under consideration in Congress threaten affordable housing programs that would have a big impact on Salt Lake City [Tribune].
  
  
• Congress is taking issue with a proposal that would significantly hike entrance fees at some national parks [Tribune].
  
  
• South Salt Lake promised to complete an outside audit into whether public funds were being shifted to Mayor Cherie Wood's re-election campaign in three weeks. That was more than four months ago [Tribune].
  
  
• The ACLU saw a 400% jump in membership in the past year following the election of Donald Trump [Fox 13].
  
  
• Utah officials are trying to contain a hepatitis A outbreak that has sickened at least 75 people since late spring [Tribune].
  
  
• Carbon County officials are rethinking two big tax hike proposals after public outcry. One plan would hike the municipal services levy by more than 700% [Deseret News].
  
  
• The number of hate crimes is on the rise in Utah [Tribune].
  
  
• Utah's jobless rate is 3.3 percent, meaning just over 51,000 Utahns are seeking work [Deseret News].

National headlines:

• While you were sleeping: Charles Manson, the leader of the murderous Manson Family cult, died on Sunday evening [New York Times].
  
  
• Republicans in Congress want to kill the individual mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act to pay for massive tax cuts in their tax reform proposal. Killing that provision may not provide as much money as they're estimating [New York Times].
  
  
• President Trump reportedly would be open to dropping the plan to repeal the Obama-era health insurance mandate as part of the Republican tax reform plan [Reuters].
  
  
• Democrats see a rising backlash against the Republican tax proposal as a key issue in their quest to retake control of Congress in 2018 [Washington Post].
  
  
• Special counsel Robert Mueller has requested the Justice Department turn over a large trove of documents as part of the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election [ABC News].
  
  
• White House officials are still not sure how worried they should be about the Russia investigation as the probe enters its seventh month [Washington Post].
  
  
• Jared Kushner is coming under increasing scrutiny as part of the Russia investigations [The Hill].
  
  
• Sen. Al Franken will not resign after a woman said he kissed and groped her in 2006 [CNN].
  
  
• The White House says the opioid epidemic cost half a trillion dollars in 2015 [Associated Press].
  
  
• Here's how to maintain your family relationships when politics comes up at Thanksgiving dinner [NBC News].
  
  
• Trump takes the bait. After LaVar Ball, the father of two UCLA basketball players downplayed Trump's efforts to get his son LiAngelo and two other players out of China following their arrest for shoplifting; President Trump took to Twitter to blast Ball saying he should have left the players in jail [USA Today].

On this day in history:

• 1789 - New Jersey becomes the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
  
  
• 1945 - 24 German leaders went on trial at Nuremberg before the International War Crimes Tribunal. 
  
  
• 1947 - Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II of England, married Phillip Mountbatten.
  
  
• 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the country.
  
  
• 1974 - The Justice Department files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T, which leads to the breakup of the Bell System.
  
  
• 1985 - Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released.

Today At Utah Policy

Herbert seemingly supports new Count My Vote initiative By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor GOP Gov. Gary Herbert tells UtahPolicy that he will not endorse nor oppose any of the proposed 2018 ballot propositions....

'Political Insiders' say Roy Moore should drop out of the Alabama Senate race By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Our "Political Insiders" say Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore should step down amid mounting allegations of sexual misconduct....

Mia Love says harassment claims shouldn't be politicized (with video) By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Rep. Mia Love says the recent wave of sexual harassment claims against prominent politicians should not be used for political gain because it hurts those who are already victims....

Chaffetz says there should be a political 'death penalty' for sexual misconduct, even though he voted for Trump By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz on Sunday proposed a kind of political "death penalty" for elected officials who engage in sexual misconduct, even if it happened before they were elected to office....

Legendary Bob Woodward speaks at U: "This is the final exam for democracy." By Jared Whitley Things are so bad right now for the White House, the Congress, both parties, and the press that we are facing "the final exam for democracy."...

Guest opinion: How schools can reject the "Deficit Model" By Christine Cooke, Sutherland Institute Education, above all things, should be a humane process focusing on the one and taking into account individual circumstances....

Love/McAdams race tightening up By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor In the latest sign that Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams poses a serious threat to Rep. Mia Love in 2018, the Cook Political Report has shifted their assessment of the race toward the Democrat for the second time....

Hatch unloads on Democrat's claim that Republicans only help the rich (with video) By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Sen. Orrin Hatch has had it with Democrats claiming Republicans only want to help wealthy Americans....

Policy News

Wise Words

Rank

"Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility." Peter Drucker

Lighter Side

Breaking News

"It just came out that as many as four elected officials have NOT been accused of sexual harassment." Jimmy Fallon