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Situational awareness - March 27, 2019 Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. Here's what is driving the day: - The Salt Lake City mayoral race could be the most expensive ever.
- Sen. Mike Lee delivers a cheeky speech mocking the Green New Deal. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claps back on Twitter.
- Gov. Herbert signs a bill allowing stronger beer in grocery stores.
- Trump tees up a new fight over healthcare
Political bracket face-off rolls on The next four matchups in our 2019 political bracket are live. You can vote on our website, Twitter or Facebook. Check out the brackets here.
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TICK TOCK Today is the 86th day of the year. There are 279 days remaining in 2019. 24 days to the Utah Libertarian Party state convention (4/20/2019) 38 days to the Utah State Republican Party Organizing Convention (5/4/2019) 38 days to the United Utah Party state convention (5/4/2019) 68 days until the municipal election filing period opens (6/3/2019) 72 days until the municipal election filing period ends (6/7/2019) 87 days to the Utah State Democratic Party Organizing Convention (6/22/2019) 139 days to the 2019 Utah primary elections (8/13/2019) 223 days to the 2019 municipal elections (11/5/2019) 306 days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature (1/27/2020) 314 days to the 2020 Iowa Caucuses (2/3/2020) 342 days to the 2020 Utah presidential primary (3/3/2020) 583 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)
Today At Utah Policy  Political Bracket Face-Off Round 2 - Day 3
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Buckle up, dear readers. We've got four more big matchups in the second round of our 2019 bracket face-off on tap.
 Salt Lake City mayoral candidates racking up some big financial numbers
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
This year's Salt Lake City mayor's race is well on its way to becoming the costliest in the city's history.
 Vetoes and lawsuits - Bernick and Schott on politics
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Gov. Gary Herbert signs a controversial abortion restriction bill into law, and the lawsuits won't be far behind.
 AOC ridicules Sen. Mike Lee saying 'If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything'
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ripped Sen. Mike Lee on Tuesday after he delivered a speech mocking the "Green New Deal" on the Senate floor.
 UtahPolicy.com straw poll - Utah GOP Chair and Salt Lake City Mayor
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Who do you think is most likely to win the elections for Utah GOP Chair and Salt Lake City Mayor? Vote now in our straw poll.
Tuesday's Political Bracket Face-Off winners
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Four more Utah politicos punched their tickets to the "sweet 16" in our bracket face-off. Check out the winners below:
 Utah consumer attitudes rebound, fueled by strong job market and positive income outlook
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
The Zions Bank Utah Consumer Attitude Index (CAI) increased 8.6 points to 122.5 in March. The year-over-year CAI ticked down by 7.0 points when compared to the record high set in March 2018. In comparison, the national Consumer Confidence Index decreased 7.3 points to 124.1 this month.
OTHER UTAH HEADLINES Deseret News Salt Lake Tribune
NATIONAL HEADLINES Another health care battle brewing. President Donald Trump is launching another assault on the Affordable Care Act, and Democrats are welcoming the fight as they believe it gives them a clear political advantage - https://nyti.ms/2FwhEpV
Schiff doubles down on collusion claims. Democratic House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said despite what Attorney General Bill Barr says about the Mueller he has seen ample evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia - https://wapo.st/2Fz6ZKW - The FBI is prepared to brief congressional leaders on the counterintelligence findings from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation - https://nbcnews.to/2Fzat04
- 84% of Americans want the full Mueller report released publicly - http://bit.ly/2FvsjBl
- Despite Barr's summary, nearly half of Americans still believe Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 campaign - https://reut.rs/2Fxcbz4
- 47% of Americans believe President Trump "tried to impede or obstruct the investigation into whether his campaign had ties to Russia" - https://politi.co/2FCmBNQ
Trump's popularity remains unchanged. Following Attorney General Bill Barr's claim that President Trump was cleared of collusion allegations, 55% of Americans say they disapprove of his job performance - http://bit.ly/2FznHtH
Barbara Bush said she would not consider herself a Republican. Prior to her death, the former first lady said she would no longer consider herself a Republican and blamed Donald Trump's treatment of her son Jeb as the cause of her heart problems according to a forthcoming book - http://bit.ly/2FuOSWK
Biden laments "white man's culture." Former VP Joe Biden condemned violence against women, blaming a "white man's culture" for the phenomenon. He also expressed remorse for his role in the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court hearings that undermined Anita Hill's claims of sexual harassment - http://bit.ly/2FuShVA
Senate blocks Green New Deal. Senate Republicans voted against taking up the issue while Democrats voted "present" to avoid taking a position on the proposal to battle climate change - http://bit.ly/2FAQjTH House fails to override Trump's veto. House Democrats couldn't muster enough votes to override President Trump's veto of a measure blocking his emergency declaration allowing the shifting of funds to build a wall on the southern border - https://nyti.ms/2Fu09qg - The list of military project funding that the Trump administration wants to tap for construction of the wall touches nearly all 50 states - https://nyti.ms/2FqgDzu
Democrats divided on minimum wage hike. Several red-state Democrats say they will oppose an effort to hike the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour - https://politi.co/2FASnuV
Interior nominee blocked the release of a report on endangered species. David Bernhardt, President Trump's nominee to head up the Interior Department, stepped in to block a report on the harmful effects of three popular pesticides on hundreds of endangered species - https://nyti.ms/2FvUyzD
A ban on unvaccinated individuals. Rockland County in New York has banned unvaccinated people under the age of 18 from public areas in an attempt to contain a measles outbreak - https://cnn.it/2FAhKNl
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY 1794 - The U.S. government establishes a permanent navy and authorizes the building of six frigates 1866 - President Andrew Johnson vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866. His veto is overridden by Congress. 1886 - Geronimo, Apache warrior, surrenders to the U.S. Army, ending the main phase of the Apache Wars. 1915 - Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the U.S., is put into quarantine, where she would remain for the rest of her life. 1964 - The strongest recorded earthquake to hit North America -- magnitude 9.2 -- struck Alaska, killing 139 people.
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Argument for Electoral College
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