This article explains succinctly why Senator Hatch decided to retire.
His donors have been fully paid off, he’s 83, and public opinion in Utah is against another term for him.
“After 41 years in the U.S. Senate — a blink really — Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is retiring at the age of 83. He ran on term limits in 1976, zinging his opponent with, “What do you call a Senator who’s served in office for 18 years? You call him home.” Now a government career older than the Seattle Mariners comes to a close. Sometimes they’re gone before you know it.
“Goodness knows what Hatch will do now. But what is even less certain is what the Republican Party will do without him and over two dozen peers; he’s not taking the sunset trip alone.
“Although “shepherding the GOP tax reform bill through the Senate” already represents an ignoble enough swan song to close a career, Hatch’s reason for leaving might be even less dignified than that. Polls show 75 percent of Utahns don’t want him to run again, perhaps because of his 2012 pledge not to seek another term.“
Time for Senator Hatch to stay home after serving as Trump’s faithful lapdog.
Amazing how many Republicans have decided it’s time to spend more time with their family. Hatch is likely to be replaced by Mitt Romney, who is well liked in Utah, having successfully run a Winter Olympics there and being a Mormon.
Many others, perhaps, may be hearing the sound of a big blue wave, the one that started in Virginia.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Utah is one of the reddest states in the Union. His successor will undoubtedly be a Republican.
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His successor will likely be Mitt Romney, who knows that Trump is a moron.
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Orin Hatch was caught on videotape proclaiming that trump was a great president, possibly the greatest ever. Rachel Maddow replayed the tape, an excerpt from the celebration of getting the tax bill passed. He was as pathetically obsequious and Pence and the rest.
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“Goodness knows what Hatch will do now”
Become a lobbyist and play golf with Trump
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Term limits have been the conservative non issue ever since the 1994 revolution swept all the unresponsive Gingerich minions into office. Many are still there, voting in lockstep with the rest of the robbers. Others have placed clones in power, resulting in more of the same.
I am not sanguine about a big blue wave in Utah, but I might be wrong.
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Nor am I, Roy. For anyone who clings to the fantasy that Utah will elect anything other than a Republican, please take a look at Sen. Mike Lee, Ted Cruz’s best friend, and the rest of the Utah congressional delegation. They have a Democratic mayor in Salt Lake City, but that ain’t enough to make a statewide change.
On another note, in a previous post, I joked about Moore’s “Jew” lawyer probably having voted for Jones. Turned out I was right!: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/367107-jewish-lawyer-mentioned-by-roy-moores-wife-is-passionate. Sometimes snarky remarks can be true.
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This is unrelated, but the sneak previews of Michael Wolff’s new book are a very fun read.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/michael-wolff-fire-and-fury-book-donald-trump.html
Priebus demonstrated no ability to keep Trump from talking to anyone who wanted his ear. The president-elect enjoyed being courted. On December 14, a high-level delegation from Silicon Valley came to Trump Tower to meet him. Later that afternoon, according to a source privy to details of the conversation, Trump called Rupert Murdoch, who asked him how the meeting had gone.
“Oh, great, just great,” said Trump. “These guys really need my help. Obama was not very favorable to them, too much regulation. This is really an opportunity for me to help them.”
“Donald,” said Murdoch, “for eight years these guys had Obama in their pocket. They practically ran the administration. They don’t need your help.”
“Take this H-1B visa issue. They really need these H-1B visas.”
Murdoch suggested that taking a liberal approach to H-1B visas, which open America’s doors to select immigrants, might be hard to square with his promises to build a wall and close the borders. But Trump seemed unconcerned, assuring Murdoch, “We’ll figure it out.”
“What a fucking idiot,” said Murdoch, shrugging, as he got off the phone.
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It is about time that Hatch called it quits. I think he saw the writing on the wall. Nearly 70% of Utahns did not want Hatch to run again, and Hatch had promised that this term would be his last. Hatch could have easily lost the election.Utah is not particularly enamoured Trump, and Hatch crawling into Trump’s colon has not been welcome, either.
I also think that Roy Moore’s loss in Alabama scared him. It showed that, even in a very Republican state, Democrats can win when the Republican is tainted.
Also, while Utah is still pretty Republican, and gerrymandering has kept Republicans solidly in power in the state, the demographics are beginning to shift in Utah. And Utah has had Democratic representation in Congress as late as 2006, so it’s not unheard of.
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Good (&most important) to hear your knowledgeable Utah voice in on this, TOT! Hoping you/fellow Utah residents find a good, progressive Dem to run. Didn’t Bernie win in Utah?
Also–off thread–but have you any comments RE: Lily (former Utah educator, & have appreciated your insider comments in the past) & the NEA?
Here, in ILL-Annoy, our foremost ed./politics blogger, Fred Klonsky, has written that, w/the inevitable Janus ruling (Gorsuch), the by-all-appearances-unprepared Education Assn. is going to end up folding
(looking bad in ILL-Annoy, at the very least). AFT/IFT (IL FT) seemingly better ready for repercussions.
Also–copy Bob, below: good riddance, & let Orrin retire to the ends of the earth & leave all of us alone.
He probably has tax shelters all over & doesn’t contribute anything to U.S. coffers anyway.
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I am NOT a fan of Lily. She does VERY little for Utah schools, even though she taught here for a couple of decades. The UEA is fairly toothless and timid as well.
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Good riddance. One down. 290 to go.
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I hope Hatch croaks. Good riddance. A complete sellout and recent fraud.
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Can we speed it up a little.
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In this case, wishful thinking and karmic energy are called for. Personal actions are reserved for the mafia, gangs, and the CIA.
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People say Karma’s a b—-. But she’s just fair. The Repugnicans are working overtime, right now, to bring about their own end.
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Anyone else surprised to find this on an NBC News site? I’ve never seen this side of the network before. Seems very non-mainstream media. Am I missing something?
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Lofgren nails it again.
Call this a follow up to,
The Parties Over .
How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless and the Middle Class Got Shafted
https://www.mikelofgren.net/will-conservatism-end-nihilism/
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Joel,
The party is not over. Neither party is. They will continue screwing the constituents as long as their constituents bend down and say and do nothing or form third, fourth, and fifth new parties.
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Norwegian Filmmaker
The party he was referring to was a sane Republican party . In case you haven’t read either article or the book . Lofgren’s analysis is spot on . “The Parties Over” is summarized in a much shorter article . “Goodbye To All That Confessions of a Republican Who left the Cult “. On Truth Out .
This new article yesterday , describes just how far it has gone .
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I see what you mean. Yes, I can see it now.
In terms of the true GOP and their “conservatism” and core philosophies, the party really is indeed over. Ditto for the Democrats.
In term of still wielding and holding onto power, the parties are far from over. It’s part and parcel of what is wrong here, but the people here are capable of correcting in over time.
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