“Utah” on The Daily Caller

“I despise these people,” Orrin Hatch told NPR last week, “and I’m not the guy you come in and dump on without getting punched in the mouth.” What would make the powerful 36-year incumbent senator from Utah say such a hostile thing? Who does he “despise”? What did they do? Who, exactly, does he want to punch “in the mouth”? (more)

Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love, a Republican candidate for Utah’s 4th Congressional District, is getting lots of attention in the conservative blogosphere as a future conservative and tea party leader. But does her record actually match the hype? (more)

Has the federal government become so arrogant as to claim ownership of the land over which it has jurisdiction? Put differently, does the United States of America exist to protect and defend the property of each individual living within its borders, or to own and control that property itself? (more)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Sarah Burke was an X Games star with a grass-roots mentality — a daredevil superpipe skier who understood the risks inherent to her sport and the debt she owed to it for her success on the slopes. (more)

If Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love wins her bid for Congress, she will be the first black Republican congresswoman in history. But don’t try to put her in that box. (more)

Let’s start with the premise that lawmakers are the only people in America who aren’t convinced we have too many laws. (more)

A popular GOP state senator from Utah who survived a horrific plane crash in Guatemala three years ago says it’s likely he’ll challenge Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch for his seat in 2012. (more)

Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman doesn’t color his salt-and-pepper hair, but admits his wife buys him plenty of hair products from the local Aveda Institute to keep everything in place. (more)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah’s experiment with a first-in-the-nation four-day workweek for state workers is over. (more)

Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch may have dodged a conservative primary challenge — at least from one possible opponent. (more)

Utah’s Disney/Pixar fans won’t have to drive all the way to California this summer to get a piece of Disney magic. They’ll just have to drive to Herriman. (more)

Utah’s single Democratic congressman, Rep. Jim Matheson, has a good shot at unseating Sen. Orrin Hatch should he decide to run for Senate, according to a new poll by Public Policy Polling. (more)

They weren’t wearing face paint, but they said they felt like they were in Braveheart. (more)

Tuesday sees Jon Huntsman’s first day as an official presidential candidate vying for the Republican nomination in 2012, but already, Democrats are on the offense against the former Utah governor and Obama-tapped ambassador to China. (more)

Republican Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch could face some tough competition in 2012 from a Democratic competitor, and also from within his own party, according to a Deseret News/KSL-TV poll released Monday. (more)

At least one big name at the Tea Party-aligned organization, FreedomWorks, isn’t behind the group’s effort to oust Republican Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch from the ticket in 2012. (more)

Voters are still reeling from President Barack Obama’s overhaul of the nation’s health care system, so it’s no surprise that as they begin examining in earnest the records of his would-be Republican replacements, they will devote a great measure of their time to health care reform. In the record of former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, with whom I worked closely as the speaker of Utah’s House of Representatives, voters will find the marketplace reforms that our national health care system desperately needs. (more)

A mother is facing multiple felony charges for trying to sell her 13-year-old daughter’s virginity for $10,000. (more)

Two escort services have filed a federal lawsuit to halt a Utah solicitation law they fear could lead to the arrest of strippers or escorts who are simply acting sexy. (more)

Although they lack a clear presidential front-runner, Republican Party leaders are confident on their 2012 prospects when it comes to House races. National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) political director Mike Shields rattled off a list of Democrats nationwide they’re targeting in the upcoming cycle, including Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah, Adam Smith and Rick Larsen of Washington state, Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Ben Chandler of Kentucky and John Barrow of Georgia. (more)