The state's chief executive was on hand greeting guests prior to the dinner, and spoke about the travails he and the First Lady encountered in adopting their daughter from India last year.
The Governor based his remarks on the answers they had to give to the adoption questionnaire. Asked if their home had an attached garage, the Huntsmans had to say not, because the Governor's Mansion does not.
"Do you have any equity in your home?" That also brought a no, because the State of Utah owns the home. And on the question of whether he held a steady job, the Governor had to respond with a no, with no guarantee of employment after the November 2008 election.
Before getting into the "meat" of his speech, Bishop kept the audience laughing by sharing some of his favorite quotes by sports figures, including Tommy Lasorda, the Hall of Fame former Los Angeles Dodgers manager whom he quoted as saying, "Ninety percent of people don't care about your problems and the other 10 percent are happy you have them."
Bishop expressed concerns that the Democrat-controlled Congress is drafting bills behind closed doors -- then ramming them through committee hearings with little debate and no amendments.
He contrasted the Democrats' approach with the first 100 days after Republicans took control of the House in 1994. In that session, Democrats offered 158 amendments to Republican bills and 44 of those were incorporated.
Bishop also accused his political opposites of decreasing military funding and changing House rules to make it easier to increases taxes, which they did two weeks after taking control.
Under Republican leadership, a three-fifths majority was required, necessitating bi-partisan cooperation. Now, taxes can be raised even if every Republican and 14 Democrats vote against it, Bishop said.
He complimented Democrats for spearheading legislation taking away pension benefits from any member of Congress convicted of committing a felony while in office.
The former longtime high school history teacher also took an opportunity to educate the audience as to why the November elections went against President Bush.
Since 1900, Bush said, every two-term president has seen between 20 and 40 seats from his party lost in the House. Thirty Republicans lost seats this past November. But even with the setback, which Bishop characterized as average, Republicans need only an additional 13 seats to recapture the House in 2008.
The Clearfield High School ROTC posted the colors and the national anthem was sung by cadet Blake Murray. A patriotic flag folding ceremony was narrated by Bill Saunders, Layton Heritage Museum curator.
County commissioner Lou-enda Downs led the Pledge of Allegiance and Bret Milburn gave the invocation.
"A Touch of Class" provided musical entertainment throughout the evening while Rachel Burnham, a Davis High School graduate, performed on the harp. She has been accepted as a student of the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Duard S. Pederson, Lincoln Day Dinner chair, welcomed the group, and Todd Weiler, Davis County Republican Party chairman, gave closing remarks.
tbusselberg@davisclipper.com
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