Billions Saved Stopping IRS Tax Fraud Malfeasance May Be Overturned

I should be ashamed. Last year I started tracking an investigation Bob Segall with WTHR had begun on illegal immigrants fraudulently collecting credits and refunds using fraudulent ITINS and, thereby, submitting falsified IRS forms. I dropped the ball and didn’t follow the investigation. At least not until

Since the last time I posted, Segall continued to press the story and highlight the Inspector General’s and IRS whistleblower efforts to stop the IRS practice of allowing the fraud. Coincidentally, Mr. George is the IG who reported on the IRS specifically targeting conservative groups. That scandal is still unfolding.

Really, the sanctioned procedure of allowing $4 Billion per year in fraudulent claims should have been a scandal all on its own. Despite no congressional or national media investigations on why this was allowed and why IRS tax processors were directed to allow it, Mr. Segall has won a sizeable victory. Click here for the full listing of his reports including video.

According to Segall’s December report the IRS was enacting new rules and procedures improving document verification in order to stop the fraud. The rules were supposed to be in effect this year and applicable to 2012 income tax filing. The only lingering question that I wish Segall have followed up on is if the IRS did actually enforce the new rules or just paid lip service to the problem? Have we seen the projected billions in savings from interdicting the fraud? Are perpetrators being pursued and prosecuted?

Hopefully, those questions will be answered. Nonetheless, Segall and WTHR deserve great credit for potentially saving taxpayers billions…billions. I certainly hope he gets a lot more recognition than just this post!

The irony of course, is that the “Gang of 8″ undocumented worker amnesty bill will likely legalize the tax credits and we’ll see the billions flowing out of taxpayers pockets again: Tax Credit Bonanza For Illegal Immigrants

Exit question: Assuming we did save the money, what’s the over/under that congress blew it on pork?

Empire Strikes Back: Fruit Heights City Poised To Force Out Private Competition

A couple of weeks ago, I highlighted an amusing article on how one innovative private recycling firm had turned a lemon into lemonade when Fruit Heights City decided to push it’s own recycling program.  Concluding that post, however, I warned “government gets fickle when it loses and will use power to win” and provided Bountiful City’s recycling example.  Looks like the warning was on the mark based on the latest City Council meeting (passed on by a reader):

Fruit Height’s attorney advised them that they did NOT have a exclusive contract with the current waste hauler and that they would have no liability to let someone else haul recyclables in the city.

Nonetheless, Brandon Green [City Manager] purposed that they move forward with a city sponsored recycling program with Robinson Waste without going to bid.  Furthermore, he suggested that they remove any minimum participation requirements (previously 60%) and that they SUBSIDIZE the cost of the curbside recycling for the next 2 YEARS using a “surplus” in the garbage budget to keep the price under $4.00, regardless of participation….

…Ultimately 2 of the 3 present council members voted for Brandon’s plan, but the measure was tabled to a future meeting because they need at least 3 votes.

A couple of weeks ago, the Mayor seemed to take a laisez-fair approach and effectively indicated he was fine not having a recycling program if the existing private service would work and residents were not sufficiently interested in the city-dictated program.  I don’t know if his position has changed but the City Council is poised to crush the private-sector, non tax-subsidized competition.

To make matters worse, the Council wants to crush the competition by a mechanism (subsidy) to underbid and cloak costs using citizens’ tax money (from garbage disposal overcharges) and drop the participation requirement.  This essentially turns the program into a mandatory recycling program where every resident is forced to pay via the subsidy.

Do also note that once the two years are up, the subsidy will go away and rates will necessarily increase (and participation will have to be mandated to maintain the program).  Meanwhile, the private company will have likely been financially chased out of town leaving the city-ordained monopoly the only means to continue curbside recycling.  It stinks to high heavens.

Now is the time to contact the Mayor and City Council and politely, but firmly, ask them to allow the private sector to continue to fulfill the curbside recycling service it has already been providing for the last nine years:

Main City Phone Number: (801) 546-0861
Mayor Todd Stevenson – tstevenson[at]fruitheightscity.com
City Council:
Craig Hill – chill[at]fruitheightscity.com
Kris Christensen – kchristensen[at]fruitheightscity.com
Mike Anderson – manderson[at]fruitheightscity.com
Bette Hubrich – bhubrich[at]fruitheightscity.com
Don Carroll – dcarroll[at]fruitheightscity.com

Free Market Or Government Monopoly: Fruit Heights Recycling Options

I recently got the freebie Davis County Clipper paper delivered.  Normally, I just toss it but this time I opened it and an article (titled “Recycler faces off against Fruit Heights“) had me laughing and enjoying the initiative taken by Josh Hughes with Mountain West Curbside Recycling.

Up to this point, the free market allowed Hughes to provide the service to willing participants.  However, Fruit Heights decided to foist residents with a government coordinated recycling plan and handed the monopoly contract to Robinson Waste.  Everyone gets a bill you unless they opt-out.  That is better than Bountiful and other Davis County Cities’ forced recycling gambit, but it shows how government and special interests will team to force their pet projects on all.  Imagine if a business started charging you for a product they decided was good for you…they usually get a visit from Consumer Protection and/or law enforcement.

Undeterred, Hughes said he would match the contract price and placed his bins (including instruction for opting out of the city program) at Fruit Heights homes with his offer (unlike the city, allowing residents to choose to accept it or not) before the city placed their bins out.  He also offered better service with extra pick-up days and donating part of the profit to parks and trails.

So far, Hughes has 800 (of 1,500) homes opting out of the government program and “multiplied our business by a few times, at least”.   This has the city scrambling to figure out what to do as lower involvement in their program increases cost or may terminate the program (60% must participate).  Most poignantly, was the Mayor’s statement demonstrating why government should stay clear of nosing in on the private marketplace:

Usually when there are competitors in a marketplace, everyone wins because prices come down.

One warning for Hughes and Fruit Heights residents:

Government gets fickle when it loses and will use power to win.  Bountiful, is a perfect demonstration – they quickly, and underhandedly, changed their recycling opt-out program to a mandatory program….after the majority of survey respondents opposed the program.  Then get ready for fee increases.

Here’s hoping that won’t happen and residents pick free market (Mountain West Curbside Recycling) over government-endorsed monopoly.

Edit: Added link to Clipper report and link to Bountiful recycling survey results (56% opposed).  Also fixed some grammatical errors…my English teachers would be so ashamed.

Fail: Market Reality VS Common Core

Currently, I have children in a charter school as well as a traditional school.  I have been very happy with the math program and flexibility/fluidity offered in the charter school with various subjects.  The traditional school has been a reasonably good fit for my other child with the exception of the Common Core portion.

This whole year, despite still getting a good grade, my son has been struggling with math, has not gained a real understanding of key concepts, and we’ve been frustrated with the program ourselves. We couldn’t figure out why things were so unnecessarily difficult and, just this week, we found out the school has implemented the Common Core math program. Since then, I have talked to other parents in the neighborhood  (and teachers) and heard the exact same concerns from them.

The program jumps from one concept to another unrelated concept, lacks foundation building, lacks review of the concepts they completed (they don’t see what they just learned a few weeks ago). It is the worst math learning program I’ve ever seen. I’ve had to teach my son the “right” way to do some of the problems because the way he was taught to do them was overly complex and turned simple things into a convoluted mess to get the same answer. The resulting lack of foundation knowledge to apply these critical math concepts has lead my wife and I to get some math books for him to go through this summer to actually gain a foundation and understand the concepts.

During the parent-teacher conferences, his teacher also expressed (politely, of course) frustrations with the lack of review and problem solving concept issues and is doing her best to incorporate reviews whenever she can. Her concerns about retention and application extend to the whole class.

After finding out that Common Core math was being used, I have begun looking into it more and have some serious concerns about Common Core and what it means for my children (and all children in the public education system); particularly, related to preparing realizing the full potential of current students when they enter the labor force.

The strength of the charter school and the ability to choose educational programs (including traditional schools) to fit the child will be significantly constricted by Common Core.  The program is a top-down approach that effectively dictates what math/reading etc programs will be used and destroys the ability of schools (charter and otherwise) to offer their own unique programs or tailor curriculum to the students they serve.  It destroys the small amount of educational choice we have.  It is clear that one-size-fits-all approaches never truly “fit all” and significant numbers fall through the cracks.  This is also reflected in the marketplace.

Schools are supposed to provide a basis for students to enter and compete in a broadening marketplace with a premium in innovation.  The marketplace has consistently encouraged and delivered customizable solutions to consumers.  Consumers are not interested in on-size-fits all products they must adapt to – the expectation is that products should adapt to the individual.  This can be seen with the thousands of apps, software programs, food choices, brands, electronics, vehicles…virtually every consumer good is pushed to being able to be customized beyond small groups and clear down to the individual.

Common Core is, at it’s essence, a one-size-fits-all program that dictates what and how subjects will be taught.  In that respect, it absolutely fails to acknowledge the market demanding customization.  Besides constricting educational innovation to preclude delivery of the most effective tools to the individual student, Common Core will necessarily result in significant numbers of students falling through the cracks when the boilerplate math/reading/other program does not fit them.  Furthermore, other students, while passing, will not meet their full potential without the ability to find the best fit.

Common Core fails to acknowledge the uniqueness of each child and will be a blow educationally and economically to children.  It has already set back my child who now needs “math home school” this summer in order to regain a foundation.  That is unacceptable.

UPDATE: An excellent personal experience essay from a teacher working on their Educaion Policy PhD.

UPDATE 2: Utah State Senator’s Weiler and Dayton have written on Common Core.  Senator Weiler’s (What’s the deal with “Common Core”?) is detailed and received supportive comments from both sides (Dixie Allen on the State Board of Ed and Christel Swasey) – I highly recommend reading his post. Senator Dayton’s (Thoughts on NCLB & the Common Core) is brief but discusses the funding carrot link related to No Child Left Behind, Race To The Top and Common Core.

2013 Gang Of Eight Bill (S.744) – Meet The New Boss, Same As The Old Boss (June UPDATES)

Illegal immigrants remain a large driver of employment-related identity theft (they need a Social Security Number (SSN) to work).  In 2005, in a New York Times article, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration noted that 75% file earnings and thus use a fraudulent number to do so.  This identity theft often involves your victims (children) as their SSNs are highly valued (they don’t check their credit etc) and fraudulent number that are “made up” are eventually assigned to a newborn (and they are born into identity theft). This crime involves real victims and real damage in earnings, tax, medical, and credit records.

Illegal immigrants remain a large driver of employment-related identity theft (they need a Social Security Number (SSN) to work).  In 2005, in a New York Times article, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration noted that 75% file earnings and thus use a fraudulent number to do so.  This identity theft often involves your victims (children) as their SSNs are highly valued (they don’t check their credit etc) and fraudulent number that are “made up” are eventually assigned to a newborn (and they are born into identity theft). This crime involves real victims and real damage in earnings, tax, medical, and credit records.

In 2007, I reviewed the amnesty bill that was ultimately defeated.  I noted various significant problems with the bill rendering it unacceptable and unworkable as it stood.  I also noted that the bill was overly intricate, loopholes/vagaries made enforcement measures unlikely, and the bill a major amnesty push.  Six years later, I’m now trying to review a much larger, more intricate bill…and things seem awful familiar.

Just as in the 2007 amnesty attempt, the “Gang of Eight” legislation (S744 - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act) completely exonerates illegal immigrants from culpability related to identity theft and fines anyone who dares inform their victim(s):

• Sections 1207 and 2215 amend 40 USC 408(e)(1) to explicitly exempt illegal immigrant amnesty card holder from SSN fraud (ID theft)and Social Security Fraud prosecution. I see no mechanism for informing victims or allowing a means for them to clean up the corrupt SSN records nor seek restitution.
• Section 2105 prohibits release of information and attaches a $10,000 fine. Thus if a processing officer informs the real SSN holder of a breach, they would face the $10,000 fine. The fine goes into the program (Section 6(a)(1)) that issues the amnesty visas.

No disclosure of SSN used is required, no victim notification (it would be punished with a $10,000 fine), no mechanism for clearing corrupt information from the victim’s record, no means for restitution. It’s all swept under the rug like it doesn’t exist…and victims are left to bear the costs of cleaning up the mess.  The bill is surely going to cost tax payers as well.

• Section 2106(d) appropriates $50 Million of tax money for grants that allows organizations to assist illegal immigrant applicants get the permits and appears to allow them to use the grants to pay for the permit…with your money.  Better yet, the $10,000 fine for informing a victim of identity theft would go into this fund as well – inform a victim and help pay for the perpetrator’s permit.  How’s that for a double slap in the face?
• Update: Under Section 2101 (page 92), illegal immigrants get a brand new SSN (not so for their victims). In the meantime, they (and their employers) get carte blanche to continue to use the stolen/fraudulent SSN.

It is worse than amnesty; it punishes the innocent and rewards the perpetrator.

Update: Rewarding unethical behavior (employer amnesty) is also in the bill:

Besides the illegal immigrant identity thieves, their unscrupulous employers also get amnesty from knowingly illegally hiring them (including knowing about the identity theft) – See Section 2104(a). These are the same employers who happily undermine their competition on labor costs and effectively force the honest competitors to choose to also become violators themselves, face market-share declines, and/or business failure (bankruptcy). We’re rewarding the dishonest profiteers here. Note, again, the employer is free to continue to allow the stolen identity use while a new SSN is given to their illegal employee. Note in the May 1 update below the tax benefit the unethical employers are given.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform 2007, now 2013  – “Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss”…

Note: Rather than separating reviews, I will post updates (when time permits) as I continue to go through the bill to this article.  Stay tuned.

UPDATE (May 1)

Clarification – there’s an argument that since there is no explicit SSN disclosure requirement, no application processor would know about the SSN used and, therefore, could never be subject to the $10,000 fine. That is not correct – they will see the SSN used. Section 2102(a) requires the applicant submit employment and/or education records (under the amended 245C(b)(3)) – these records include the SSN used for the employment and/or education.

More articles are coming out as people continue to work through the bill. I have added links in reference to those articles, where appropriate. I am, honestly, beginning to loose track of the number of amnesties and may just start linking the articles which reference the bill (if you wish to see the provisions yourself). Many of the below points are detailed here.

• Unscrupulous employers who paid illegal immigrants under the table and failed to pay payroll taxes are given amnesty and not required to pay back taxes (that is an economic advantage over their ethical competition which paid the payroll taxes).
• Illegal immigrants and their employers get amnesty from I-9 fraud and perjury.
• Illegal immigrants get extremely gracious terms on the $1,000 “fine” which then goes into the aforementioned $50 Million grant fund that can be used to pay for their permit. Assuming they get a grant, it’s like a revolving door; the fine pays for your permit (there is no real fine). In Vegas, this is known as a shell game. Per the linked article, legal immigrant applicants are not eligible for the grant.
• Repentant illegal aliens who want to legally rectify their status and those in the process of doing so face another disadvantage: they must stay in their home country for a decade. Unrepentant illegal immigrants get immediate legal status (“provisional”) and get to stay here and work during the 10 year waiting period. Yet another perverse incentive. (Update: it’s worse, the unrepentant may not even need to wait 10 years for citizenship: [L]oopholes put many illegal immigrants on fast track to citizenship
• Applicants are granted amnesty from paying back taxes (employers are given full amnesty – see above). Per pages 68-69 of Section 2101, tax liability is limited to “assessed taxes”.
• Going along with the amnesty for businesses illegal hiring practices, the bill has a gaping hole related to E-Verify, effectively gutting the program for years (pages 503-504 of Section 3101 – read the article for details).

Another loophole was found that results in illegal aliens immediately qualifying for welfare programs based on page 91 (Section 2101) based on state law definitions (see the linked article for details).  That should make things easier for the USDA’s current food stamp marketing emphasizing no immigration status requirement.

Anyone really surprised why the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce is supporting this and threw a major tantrum when Senators Lee and Hatch expressed misgivings?

Just for the record: The bill is listed as having around 844 pages. That’s a misnomer. A good part of the bill only adds/removes sections to already existing law that must be looked up and read to determine the context and what the addition/removal actually does. The bill is, realistically, much larger than 844 pages. Reminiscent of Obamacare.

UPDATE 2: Hey, who’s for interjecting gay marriage into the bill?  Patrick Leahy plans on adding in the ability to sponsor your foreign born same-sex partner for a green card (after all, we don’t want to break up families…).  Do note, however, that the same-sex thing is political “Kabuki”.  Dude, I can’t help but laugh at the fiasco this is becoming. Update (May 8): Let the Kabuki begin! Senator Patrick Leahy Files Amendments (also opening the door for Dems to surreptitiously kill the bill).

…and illegal border crossings are spiking in anticipation of the amnesty (from CBS of all places):

UPDATE (May 4): Rubio et al have prepared a substitute bill to deal with flaws.  The first “flaw” to fix: Increasing the bill’s start up cost tenfold, from $100 Million to $1 Billion.  Problem. Solved.

UPDATE (May 8): Looks like there are also problems with the background checks.  The loophole appears related to the prohibition on sharing information gained from submitted applications (Section 2105).  The wording also appears to grant amnesty and immediate legal status to those who’ve already been deported as well as family members.  Business is still pushing the bill and it is no surprise as to how it mirrors a bunch of HB116 which is Utah’s unconstitutional amnesty attempt by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce to get a lock on cheap labor (no matter what the cost to taxpayers may be).

I’m sure more will shake out but this, yet again, demonstrates why these monstrous “comprehensive” bills (eg Obamacare) crafted behind closed doors are something to avoid.  This really should have been broken up into several separate bills to be fully developed, debated, and vetted in public.

UPDATE (May 10): NRO finds a loophole for known illegal immigrant gang members (basically we have to trust they’ll behave).  Note the waivers option.  ICE’s union and Senator Sessions notice a major problem with huge discretionary power ceded to DHS’s Secretary thereby allowing the secretary to waive any crime etc and grant amnesty at will:

They warn that the Senate immigration bill gives DHS Sec. Janet Napolitano “virtually unlimited discretion to waiver” prohibitions on obtaining legal status, such as criminal activity or previous deportation:

Additionally, this waiver power is denoted as “sole and unreviewable discretion” in several instances in the bill (Andrew Stiles goes into detail).  That means Napolitano or a future Secretary’s decision is final – no judicial nor other review can be legally made on the decision. Period.

The Social Security’s chief independent actuary found that the bills provisions will not stop illegal immigration.

The most telling event, however, was the action taken by the Senate Judiciary Committee in rejecting an amendment to require border enforcement go into effect before granting provisional legal status.  Senator Schumer is quoted as noting the amendment would “…delay, probably forever, any legalization…”.  Allahpundit notes Schumer’s (finally) honest admission:

That Schumer quote is pure spun gold. We can’t delay legalization until the border is effectively under control because, let’s face it, the border will never be effectively under control. The border-security provisions are a sham, by his own admission.

Read the above post on the amendment (it is excellent) and don’t miss the part about Rubio wanting to add a provision for a double fence which was already legislatively required in…2006.  We should totally trust them this time.

While 66% of voters want border security before amnesty and the majority don’t believe government will follow-through on security measures, we’re going to keep wasting time and resources on something that is a shinola sandwich and the lowest political priority for Americans.  Take a guess what is the second lowest priority and click the link (hint: it recently failed and Obama/Senators want to resurrect it for another vote).

UPDATE (May 22): Almost two weeks have passed since the last update – I suck.

First, Leahy’s kabuki confirmed on his gay partner stuff. While we’re on the Judiciary Committee shenanigans, here’s one from the Republicans Graham and Flake covering their butts (please SC and AZ, remember this come election time).

Meanwhile, in Utah, Hatch tried to get cover for his upcoming vote in support of amnesty at the Utah GOP convention but came out with zero when delegates refused to pass a resolution in support of the amnesty-promoting Utah Compact. Hatch’s game runs the Flake/Graham tactic. Put up some amendments that don’t have a prayer of passing. Then, reluctantly…reluctantly, support the bill because it was the best you could get…stressing the shock (shock!) that they didn’t take your amendments. Rubio is in on this too, and appears to be coordinating the deception.

The Gang of Eight bill supporters also came out with two admissions today: Not all back taxes are required after all, and illegal immigrants will be eligible for tax-funded welfare benefits and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The Union for Immigration Processing Officers is now also opposing the bill citing it will make enforcement even harder, “provides no guarantee of increased border security”, and will result in an “approval machine” “instead of conducting diligent case review…”

Then the enforcement joke in the amnesty bill remains as it is entirely focused on appearances over results.  Child identity theft still remains to be acknowledged.

UPDATE (June 4): Remember, the lengthy Obamacare bill?  Me to…looks like get to relive the experience: Immigration Bill Swells to Over One Thousand Pages.  Looks like Rubio will also be eating his words:

Rubio said The Daily Caller’s Neil Munro was pushing “myth” over “fact” for saying the bill would be “more than 1,000 pages.” The Post’s Nakamura, the Miami Herald, and the Washington Examiner’s Byron York also received criticism from Rubio for their articles reporting the estimate of the bill’s length.

Rubio also attacked his Senate colleagues, criticizing Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) for saying it was a “thousand-page bill” and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) for suggesting the estimates could place the bill’s length as high as 1,600 pages long…

…The new bill towers over previous versions in length, clocking in at 1,076 pages. It was introduced on Tuesday afternoon.

I’ll try to get through the next version.  My understanding is that the ID theft amnesty and fine for informing a victim remains as do most, if not all, the problems I’ve highlighted.

UPDATE (June 5): Looks like not only are back taxes requirements a sham but the “undocumented immigrants” will also be getting tax credits – Tax credit bonanza for illegal immigrants? Remember, tax credits are direct payments (with your money) to the filer (unlike deductions that reduce the amount taxed).  Then again, this may not be that new…they are simply legalizing a practice that so far is illegal but, thanks to IRS neglect, has been costing us billions.

Illegal Immigrant ID Theft And The FTC

I have previously highlighted WTHR’s Bob Segall’s reports on illegal immigrants raking in billions in illegitimate IRS refunds. I need to keep better tabs on him. A little while ago, he completed a three part report on an illegal immigrant’s identity theft and the victims and damage left in his wake:

Targeting children: the young victims of identity theft
Indianapolis man charged with stealing child’s identity
Identity theft suspect sentenced to one year in prison

As I documented so many times before, illegal immigration is not a victimless crime. This is by no means an outlier nor limited to Indiana. It is in Utah and nation wide. The fact is that illegal aliens need an SSN to work for a legitimate employer and, as noted by Segall, children’s identities are the prime target. This is exactly why we need to address Utah’s currently toothless E-Verify law.

Interestingly enough, Segall also repeatedly cites FTC data on identity fraud against minors. Utah has plenty of those as well. While illegal immigrants are not the sole source, per the Social Security Administration’s chief actuary, they are a large driver. Is it any wonder identity theft continues to top the FTC’s Consumer Complaints?

Turning Point: Did The LDS Church Lose Its Youth On Gay Marriage With KSL?

A week or so ago, pro-gay marriage groups crashed the Celebration of Marriage event at the Utah Capitol. While polite, the demonstrators reveal a demographic split that exists between the supporters of gay marriage and those of traditional marriage.

The traditional marriage folks were generally 40 and above while the same sex marriage group was well below 40. The gay marriage group also included a good number of LDS members including BYU students supporting same sex marriage under the banner of “Mormons for Marriage Equality.”

This begs the question: Has the LDS Church lost its youth on social/moral issues? If so how/when might this have occurred?

Truthfully, I can’t answer the former. I hope the youth will find it’s bearings and adhere to the morals traditionally espoused by the church. However, in talking about this issue, I recall talking to my father well over a decade ago. He noted that the programming on LDS Church-owned KSL that was often in direct conflict with LDS values. He said the church could have exerted its authority to reject those programs (apparently NBC affiliates can do so). At the time, I poo-pooed him and said the leadership was probably unaware and had so many investments they couldn’t be that involved. That could be partially true but I now regret disregarding the concern. He was not the last to raise a red flag and even in 2004, another group (CleanTV America) raised the issue but, apparently, gained no traction. I guess everyone was too concerned about being called a prude and going along to get along.

In the intervening time, KSL was running Friends, Seinfeld, Ellen*, and…Will & Grace. All had a staple of alternative lifestyles (“noncommittal sex” etc) with the latter considered having a significant cultural impact, “heralded as responsible for opening the door to a string of gay-themed television programs, such as Queer as Folk, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Boy Meets Boy” and, last year, VP Biden “cited the series as an influence in American thinking regarding LGBT rights, saying “I think ‘Will & Grace’ did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody has ever done“.

While this fare was being consumed by LDS youth (who are now politically active), according to an article on CleanTV America’s website, KSL President, Bruce Christensen, justified the content as necessary in order for KSL to maintain a voice in the community:

KSL’s mission is to establish and maintain a community voice through its news division. KSL is not motivated by ratings for money but ratings for building a large news viewership in order to have this voice…

Again, according to CleanTV America, Bonneville Communication’s President (Reese) then made the case for how shows were chosen to boost the ratings:

KSL’s position, according to Bruce Reese, is that television programming reflects the morals and values of the community and KSL is only giving the community what it wants:

According to Reese, KSL research shows that the primary viewers of NBC’s salacious programming are members of the LDS Church. Research also shows, explained Reese, that the more salacious the programming, the more LDS viewers are attracted to NBC’s programming.

While the LDS Church leadership implored members to avoid the content and turn it off, as owner of KSL, the church investment/communications section was providing the very content that may well have led away a sizable portion of its youth. In hindsight, not only was the church’s leadership precise in their warnings and admonitions but so was CleanTV America in 2004. KSL and the church won the ratings battle but may have lost the war.

The current situation (without reclaiming the youth) will serve as a serious threat to the church’s foundational principles but this is a personal lesson as well. We are now paying the price for poor judgment and have a very good case study on the critical importance of standing by principles even if it lowers your return-on-investment…or ratings.

*Note: Ellen was not an NBC show (ABC produced it) but KSL opted to carry it. KSL did turn some other series down (even in 2012) but as the saying goes, if you lie down with dogs…