Posted by AaronA on 02/24/09
Last updated 02/24/09

I actually had time at work to try and find out how much money Utah state gets from the federal government.  I called the Utah State Treasurer's office and explained what I was looking for.  The kind woman on the phone put me on hold for a few moments to find out the answer.  When she came back she explained that I should contact the Governor's office of budget and planning.  She gave me the number and then transfered me to that office.

I next talked to a woman at the Governor's office.  I again explained what I was trying to find out.  She told me that they give us all sorts of funding for highways, schools, tuition, and other state programs.  I said, "I realize that, I just want to know how much."  She said something like all categories of spending or several categories of spending get federal money and that she didn't have that information.

She then said, "Utah has been given awards for the last few years for being the most fiscally responsible state." 

My reply was, "That doesn't mean a whole lot, if all 50 states receive federal help, then Utah is just recieving the lowest amount. I want to know what that amount is."

She then put me on hold to transfer me to someone that would know.  I was on hold for close to 5 minutes.

When she came back, she said, "Can I have someone call you back, the person you need to talk to is not available.  He just walked into a meeting."

She said he, so she was thinking of a specific person.  I asked, "Who is going to call me back?"

She gave me the name of the Deputy Director of Budget and Planning and said that he knew the most and could answer my question.  So I'll give him a day to call me back, if he doesn't I'll give him a call tomorrow.

I'll keep you all posted.

UPDATE:

I got a call from the Governor's office.  They said they only had numbers from FY 2007, while all my numbers are for fiscal year 2008.  So, for fiscal year 2007 the government gave Utah $17 Billion dollars, and an additional $3 Billion in loans and insurance.  So according to my numbers, Utah state needs $5 Billion more that what both the Federal and state governments collect.

I guess now I need to look at all the programs that Utah spends money on and determine which ones are unconstitutional.

Posted 02/25/09 mgmartin74 Monticello, UT

Aaron, please keep up the great work you are doing. I appreciate all the time and effort you are putting into this. MM

Posted 03/02/09 roserty Orem, UT

How interesting. But I'm confused as to why Utah needs $5 billion more. I thought we had a surplus every year. What am I missing?

Posted 03/11/09 doubletree Monticello, UT

Hi Guys I have been pushing the Legislature to get a Resolution to declare State Sovereignty I even went to the Legislature and found out I was to late this year. Then on further reserch I find out that Utah has already passed one in 1995 (HTR 003 and HJR 013) sponsored by Nora B. Stephens. No one seemed to know that when I was there. I was also trying to get them to not accept any of the "stimmulus" money but they all went deaf when I dared to talk about that. Thanks to Aaron for your efforts at least we know how much we are dealing with and we know there are a lot of strings.

Posted by AaronA on 02/20/09

On the 13th of this month, I wrote about how I talked to a state senator about the 10th amendment and the monies we as a state receive from the federal government.  Near the end of the blog I stated I was looking for some information.  Here it is:

 In fiscal year 2008 the IRS collected a total of $15,063,650,000 from the residents of the state of Utah.  In that same fiscal year, Utah collected $7,328,837,843 from its residents.  Added up, Utahans paid a total of $22,392,487,843 in taxes.

I tried all sorts of searches to find out how much the federal governemnt gives to the state of UT and was unsuccessful.  I tried to contact the UT state treasurer but had no luck.  UT government is on a 4 day work week.  They are closed on Fridays.

If it's less that $15B then I have a solution at least for my state.  Decrease Federal taxes and slightly increase state taxes.  I would keep more of my money, the state wouldn't need anything from the federal government, and people would be more vocal about what programs the state should adopt or persue since that would directly affect taxes.

States can then compete with each other.  "Come live in our state, it has the lowest taxes!" "Come live in my state, it has the best social programs."  Those that want to live in a state with a huge safety net can go there, those that want the least amount of taxes can go to those states.

If you want to see what everyone from your state contributes to the federal government check out this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_tax_revenue_by_state.

My action item: contact the UT treasury and find out how much aid the federal government gives to the state of UT.

Posted by AaronA on 02/16/09
Last updated 02/16/09

I know, I couldn't believe it when I heard it.

I went to the Provo Marriot Hotel to listen to Senator Bennett (R) answer questions from people.  While answering a question about the current economic crisis and the federal reserve, he made that statement.  I couldn't believe my ears.

Bennett went on to extol the virtues of central banking and planning.  Senator Bennett gave an example of a bank in Kirkland Ohio failing and causing Joseph Smith all sorts of financial problems.  He knew his audience, he knew most if not all were Mormons. I am a Mormon and I call that a cheap shot.  Right up there with "Think of the children".

I had gone there hoping to discuss real issues.  I was hoping that he would be more of a statesman.  What we have is a politician that dances around the issues, is firmly entrenched in the keynesian theory economics, and calls those of us that fear big central goverment conspiracy theorist.

I will continue to write him about issues that are important to me, that is my duty, responsibility, and right.  However, I can not vote for him when he is up for reelection in 2010.  I must do all that I can to campaign for someone who is more libertarian/constitutionaly minded.

--Aaron

Posted 02/16/09 Fu Manchu Belleville, MI

He should be fired immediately for making comments like that!

Posted 02/16/09 Heather D Port Byron, IL

Aaron, I have to say, when I clicked on your blog, I expected to see flame wars as a result of your title! GREAT attention grabber. That man has got to go.

Posted 02/16/09 AaronA Springville, UT

The worst part is, it looks like he's trying to groom his son to run when he retires. His son has the same beliefs.

Posted 02/16/09 FreeMikeLive Mission, TX

"Hayek was smart, Keynes was an idiot" - FreeMikeLive

Posted 02/16/09 veteran mike Gays Mills, WI

Yeah, that guy that wrote that stupid "Declaration of Independence" thingy is such an idiot.(sarcasm, of course) It's guys like Senator Bennett that we really need to get rid of because they are the true idiots....

Posted 02/19/09 doubletree Monticello, UT

I just had a conversation with Senator Bennett in his visit to San Juan County, and came away with the thought that he has served his time and needs to be replaced. He has gotten so entrenched with his cronyism that he is dangerous to liberty. This is not to say that he isn't smart, quite the contrary he will not be easy to unseat but can be done. He has an aristocracy attitude and I believe that can be used agains him. Larry of Doubletree

Posted 02/19/09 roserty Orem, UT

Ouch! I wanted to go to that, but since it was a little too far out of my way, I had to stay home! I'm so shocked that he would actually come right out and say that. How many people were there? Did any of them come away feeling good about their senator? That's just crazy!

Posted by AaronA on 02/13/09

After reading fadestyle's blog titled "21 States Claiming Sovereignty" (http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=10789), I got to thinking; Why isn't Utah on that list?

I went here (http://www.utahsenate.org/perl/roster2009.pl) to look up my UT Senator and contacted Curtis S. Bramble.  (Turns out he is not my Senator, I called him because his address was the closest to mine.)  I called him because I wanted to find out a few things, one why aren't we doing that what the other 21 states are doing and how much in aid are we receiving from the federal government? He was in the middle of a committee meeting but was kind enough to give me 10 minutes of his time.

We had a good chat about UT reaffirming its sovereignty.  He would support it, in fact he tried to before.  A few years ago he and Senator Howard A. Stephenson from Draper tried to get some legislation passed that would be kind of like a 17th amendment lite.  It would require anyone running for the Federal Senate to be nominated by the UT legislature, then those so nominated could be voted on by the people.  I would rather see the 17th amendment repealed, but this was certainly a step in the right direction; it would make the Senators more accountable to the state legislature.  Unfortunately when this bit of legislation was proposed only two citizens actually voiced support for this bill, it was soundly defeated.

A state can't really claim sovereignty without being truly self-sufficient.  Mr. Bramble did not know the exact amount of money we were receiving from the Federal Government but did say that it was in the billions. He went on the say, (I'm paraphrasing here) we pay so much to the federal government and then beg for some money and it always comes with strings attached.

So what do we need to do? We need to answer a few questions first.

How much are Utahns paying in taxes to the federal government?

How much do we pay in taxes to the State/Local governments? 

How much do we depend on the money that the federal government gives back to us?

What I'm hoping to see is that Federal + State taxes are more than the amount the state government actually uses.  We could then show the people of the state of Utah that it is in our best interest to reaffirm our sovereignty and to move to abolish the 17th amendment.

Posted 02/13/09 AaronA Springville, UT

Thanks, man. It's one thing to say that the Federal Government is bad and to back it up with good opinion or well reasoned arguments, I want to show with facts. I'll post again in a few days or so on the answers to my 3 questions or at least how far I've gotten and what I've had to do to find the answers.

Posted 02/13/09 roserty Orem, UT

This is great information. After reading this and interacting with my state house representative, I am more and more encouraged by their responses. I'm also really coming to believe that it is on the state level that we should really be directing our efforts. We can keep writing our federal leaders and letting them ignore us, just so they'll have a better idea of why they've lost the election next time around, but I think that we can really change things on the state level. The federal government was created by the states, and it can be reigned in by the states. As individuals, our power to change the federal government is highly limited. However, on the state level, we can have much more power, and our states in turn, can do their duty to protect us from the unconstitutional actions of our federal government. By the way, check out congress.org to find your state and federal legislators. You can also easily send them emails from the site, too.

Posted 02/22/09 Casey Anderson Cedar City, UT

Most states get more from the federal government than they pay, thus a big reason for the huge national debt. Politicians will never admit that these federal funds are bad because they are the ones who get to choose who gets the money (see: kickbacks). Definitely some great information to use against them in upcoming elections though.