Complacent maybe; stupid, no! Yet, we keep electing state leaders who keep voting contrary to the public's interest time and time again. They tell us to trust them, since voters could not understand the complex issues they deal with. They say they are visionary and that 20 years from now we will appreciate what they did for us. They know what's best; however, on at least three bills that came up this session — the soccer stadium, school vouchers and the radioactive-waste bills — they voted for them despite significant public opposition.

Some of the excuses they give for voting contrary to what the voters wanted makes them seem like middle-school students (apologies to students) giving lame excuses for their misbehavior, such as, "Why ask neighbors for needed cash simply to avoid 100 percent 'special-interest' giving?" Or, "Money doesn't influence how we vote." Or, how they can quickly change the laws that benefit big campaign donors but find little time to find ways to help students pay for their college education, health costs for the middle class, or help the poor and those with disabilities. They lash out at big government and champion fiscal responsibility and local control; yet, they overturn the decisions of local elected leaders, such as one who took fiscal responsibility in not risking the public's money with the soccer stadium. In a flash, they changed or ignored their old rhetoric about principles and gambled with our tax dollars to buy a stadium. Somehow, public welfare seems to be OK for big business.

When it comes to toxic waste, they want us to believe that they had an epiphany in seeing the virtue and integrity of government regulators being the ones best able to protect the public's health by voting to exclude themselves, and the governor, from overseeing such a venture so dangerous to public health. They may claim to be visionary, but they ignore history. Utah families have had to endure pain and suffering from toxic waste that has forever affected their lives. They forget that it was the bureaucratic regulators that allowed the build-up of toxic waste to come into Utah, and that a former state regulator had questionable dealings with a company he was responsible for regulating.

Because Utahns basically live by the rules, respect their leaders and dislike conflict, they have given opportunistic politicians the illusion that voters are not too bright. They then exploit those values. Utahns must face the fact that our state government, more often than not, does not represent the people's interest, and the incumbents have created laws and regulations that insulate them from criticism and secure their position in perpetuity. Some don't seem to bother to campaign and simply wait for the special interest groups' lobbyists to drop off the money to keep them in office. As reported in the Deseret Morning News (Dec. 3, 2006), "For every $100 in donations raised by incoming Utah legislators in their latest races, $95.70 of it came from special interests or members' own pockets."