Reader comments
GOP had 9-1 edge in bills passed

Great comment, It goes to show the people do not matter.
I had one bill that had both the insurance industry and the trial lawyer association in favor of it," said Kiser, an insurance agency by profession. "How often does that happen?"

I hope he does not break his arm patting him self on the back , and I HOPE he is not re-elected for comment like this.

The problem is not that Utah is a one-party state, it is the loss of balance. Balance on both sides. Democrats in the State are far too left for any sort of moderate to consider. And half the time their platform is "We are not Republican"

Early in the Salt Lake mayoral campaign, I saw one of his rallies. When I asked one of his volunteers what his platform was, the only thing she could say was "He is Democrat."

Ummm, okay, that tells me nothing.

It is time to start looking at the issues instead of the party...on both sides. And where are the moderates?

Guaranteed....guaranteed, someone in this post will complain that Utah Republicans follow their party blindly and someone else will talk about the "D" and the "R" words. (as in "Maybe it is time we vote for a D instead of an R" as if that solves anything relating to issues-based problems or adds anything of substance to an issues-based argument. If you want new blood, vote out the incumbent, and do it based on the person, not the party).

This is getting old. Let's look at the bills instead of the parties.

I'm willing to bet big bucks that Deseret News readers voted (R) 9 to 1! Are you proud of yourselves?

This kind of government is not good where nothing is debated. Government needs a continual oversight and constant change. It's time for Utah to give up its one sided government passing bills favoring one group of lobbyist. The people have no voice or representation and the lobbyist have the ears and pockets of all of Utah's representatives. No wonder Utah is such a backward state with no oposition government. Once an official is elected to office their party affiliation and campaign fund accounts abolished. These campign fund accounts are used as hiding places for bribes and fraud from self interest lobbyists. As long as these accounts remain the property of the office holders they are used as an payment account for service rendered in supporting legislation and laws benefiting special interest groups. Voters need to overhaul our government and leave no incumbents in office, including judges holding position of trust. Government laws should not be so easily approved without proper argument and discussion on its merits. This is very unsettling to hear as a citizen and voter. No wonder the illegals have gotten to our government leaders so easily, no one to argue the devastion the illegals have caused.

The Pew Center on States Government Performance Project for 2008 rated Utah as the best State for how the State Government manages information, people, money, and infrastructure. This is a report out of Washington D.C.. If it ain't broke, don't 'fix' it.

RE: Who's to Blame?

Thanks for proving my point.

A few years ago, when the voters got angry enough, the legislature passed a term limits law, but grandfathered themselves in. Then, just before the grandfather clause was about to expire, they quietly repealed the law, thinking the ruckus about term limits was over and nobody would notice.

If you want to fix the government, then establish term limits to get rid of the power-hungry professional politicians.

Anonymous at 8:12, part of how those stats were arrived at is that there are no ethics or conflict of interest laws to be broken in Utah, and the fox guards the hen house so nothing is ever challenged or investigated.

This story is interesting, but does little to inform the public about the damage done this year by the legislature (I sat in most of the meetings monitoring on behalf of a local city). Even as a Republican, I was shocked byt he lack of "quality" bills. For example:
Dan Eastman and SB 46: Took a way a cities right to determine where their garbage goes, and as a result, how much your garbage rate will be. Expect higher rates in the next 12 months. Thanks!
Carleen Walker and SB 71: So Carleen pushes for the school split to benefit the East side, then pushes SB 71 which basically kills off the west side. Then she lets last minute amendments in to her bill which hurt west side schools even more and says "Oh I wasn't aware" (The record shows she was there when it happened to HER bill).
Representative Doug Aagard thinks that cities should allow anyone with a contractors license to become a building inspector - without background checks, drug screens, or protections to protect ctiizens from high rates for inspections.
So, the situation is not just that we passed so many bills, but what have they done?

Duckworth is a D not an R.

Annonymous @ 8:12-

No, the Pew study only stated that the goverment ran efficiently, that is how they managed money. Not how services were provided or how the legislature did business. Are you aware that the Utah Constitution prohibits the State from accumulating debt? Hence the reason for all the information they need to stay within budget.

@An Issue Dialogue-
"The problem is not that Utah is a one-party State, it is a balance."

Do you realize that the last part of your statement contradicts the first part? Of course it is because of a one-party State. You cannot balance in a one-party entity, no matter what that entity is.

But you are correct though that it is a balance problem and being a one-party State is the problem.

The results of this analysis would be the same no matter which party was in the majority; the majority party will ensure that they control which bills are passed (favoring bills offered by party members).

Is there a problem with our Legislature? Our state, unlike most, runs in the black (not a racial comment incidentally), are for the most part, the values that Utahns cherish - freedom of religion, right to bear arms and other individual liberties preserved, family values, great place to live and work, many places you can even get by w/o locking your doors, cars etc., economy strong and growing compared to most places, friendly people for the most part - except for those who bash conservatives on this and Trib blogs - and our Legislature has helped to keep it that way. We are blessed.

So, tumbleweed, are you telling us that conflict of interest and profiteering are conservative Utah values?

I thinkn what Tumbleweed is saying is: Freedom of religion, if you are Mormon: Right to Bear Arms, so you can take them to a University or a Church: Individual Liberities, unless you are gay: Family Values, unless you have a child out of wedlock: Stong Economy, if you are already rich: Friendly, unless you are a member of the teachers union, or a liberal, or think vouchers were wrong. I do agree that it's a great place to live and work but I believe it's that way in spite of the legislature instead of because of the legislature. We could be a better place to live and work and we could open it up for more people to participate. To say we are blessed is to say "All is Well in Zion." I don't think all is well.

As for our legislature, it's so lopsided because it's not about doing what's right, it's about power. As for everyone being one party and for they continually being voted in by Utahans, it's about soundbytes vs. critical thinking about the issues and serious self analysis.

The Gop

So long as the Democrats (and third parties) fail to put forth platforms and candidates that can win, we will be RIGHTLY be a GOP majority State. And while the GOP is far from perfect, it has clearly done a better job of aligning (or at least marketing) itself with the views of the majority of Utah voters than have other parties.

In Massachusetts, it is the Democrat party that holds a super majority. In fact, last time I checked, their legislature is more democrat than ours is GOP. I don't ever see the media complaining about that.

And let us remember, the Utah GOP is hardly monolithic. In fact, about half the elected members of the GOP are "moderate" (read "liberal") enough they could just as easily be democrats.

The Democrat party really needs to drop some of the more liberal planks in their platform--hostility to RKBA, special rights for gays, etc--get over their frequent mormon bashing, and they could be quite competitive.

Until then, no surprise that the GOP (with all its factions) continues to dominate.

I think what Instereo is saying is: If you�re unhappy because you�re poor, gay, have unnatural fear of guns, hate Mormons, are frustrated because the populace doesn�t embrace the UEA�s version of socialism, and have had a child out of wedlock - it�s the Legislature�s fault.

To all those that took me to task for not choosing to participate in caucuses...the headline says it all.

"In major league baseball, a batting average of .300 or above can make a player an All-Star. Legislative Republicans more than doubled that."

In fruit stands, grapes that are two inches around are very good, while watermelons that are twice that size are a little underwhelming.

The comparisons, in both cases, make absolutely no sense.