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Legislative ethics probe begins on 2 lawmakers

Heads should roll..


Vouchers were and still are a joke funded by out of state money. They were trying to force it down our throats and luckily the people saw them for what they were worth.

Just goes to show the corruption in our legislature.

Draper now is your chance to vote him out. He is worthless. Don't you all remember the gas scandal. Greg Hughes sits on the advisory boards of private schools that would have benefited at our expense for vouchers. Talk about a conflict of interest.

"Usually people give you (campaign) money because you already vote like they like, not that they give you money to vote a certain way," he said."

Riiiiiight.

This is either a very naive position, or intentionally misleading.

I don't know anything about these bribery allegations. What I will say is that I attempted to contact Greg Hughes, my representative, every single day of the 2008 legislative session via phone and several times via e-mail. He never responded. In contrast my senator, who you would think would be much busier, was incredibly responsive and showed real concern.

Greg Hughes needs to go simply because he shows no interest in the people he claims to represent.

This is just like my expectations from the Utah GOP. They know better than us. It really ties into their 'i can' billboards from the state GOP.

They can do anything without accountability. Utahns continue to vote for a few bad GOP apples because they have an 'R' after their name. One should note that Buttars is still the GOP nominee in West Jordan/South Jordan and I simply ask, "Why?"

"Utah law allows legislative candidates to spend their campaign money on anything, even just give it to themselves. Indeed, last year one House member gave himself $6,000 from his campaign account to make up for wages he said he lost by serving in the Legislature"
If this is true, there can be no more blatant undermining of democracy than this. This is sick. Money is corrupting our political process and it must be stopped.

As one who has spent much time watching the proceedings of our legislature ... it is obvious to many that bribery took place on the floor during the voucher vote. Most who have spent any time on the hill have known about it all along. We have heard similar stories from several "R"s who were initially against or were planning to vote against vouchers. Rs were targeted by Curtis and Hughes not the Ds. When it comes to believing either Rep. Hughes' or former Rep. Lawrence's side of this story ... again it is most apparent to anyone who knows them both that Lawrence has the integrity that Hughes woefully lacks.

Questions about ethics can only be solved by a non-partisan commission which can investigate legislators. Let's enact this legislation so there can be no question of who is bought and who is not.

Why can't we vote these clowns out of office?

legislature = corruption


vouchers = joke

Rep. Sheryl Allen wrote that she discovered that a bribery offer such as this was in violation of Utah Code 76-8-103 and is a second degree felon. She then talked to Kirk Torgensen, Criminal Deputy Attorney General who indicated that such an offer was indeed a violation of the law. According to the letter, Rep. Susan Lawrence later did talk with Mr. Torgensen confirming the allegations and was informed that if she chose to file a complaint it would be investigated by the newly elected Republican Salt Lake District Attorney Lohra Miller. It was noted that proof would be difficult becuase the offer was verbal. She declined to persue the matter because of the politicla challenge of a newly elected Republican prosecutor pursing chargest against a Republican member of the the State House, according to Rep. Allen's letter. It is shameful for everyone in Utah. Because of the mere fact of Republicans investigating Republicans, Mark Shurtleff is tarnished, Lohra Miller is tarnished, Reps. Allen and Lawrence are tarnished, Rep. Hughes is tarnished, the Democrats who in the name of collegiality fail to pursue an ethics complaint are tarnished, PCE funders are tarnished.

It's time for Utahns to vote out any legislator who will not support an independent ethics commission and other ethics reforem. Especially limiting how campaigns are spent. If when you retire you can keep all your donations, how is a campaign donation any different than giving money to the personal bank account of a politician? Ask your candidate if they will support this reform and if they won't, know matter who they are, vote them out. This stuff plagues our democracy.

While comment boards like this are nice to read, the most important voice any of us can have is when we vote in November. I plan to clean house!

We keep electing power-hungry idiots who do not represent Utahns. Why?

Mr. Harrison your mistake was not offering Mr. Hughes money...obviously that is how you get legislation in his eyes. He is crook and is a joke as a representative. He is bought by lobbyist and if you dont' play by his rules he has a temper tantrum. Ask Senator Hickman.

Hughes voted against any kind of ethics bill last session and is anti-public schools. The charter school he sits on the board of gets money siphoned from traditional public schools as a result of legislation he helped pass. He is also chairman of the House education committee when he only cares about his own kids' charter schools. His charter school is trying to buy land from Jordan School District "on the cheap" (as his buddy Troy Walker stated) so they can use public land to build their own charter high. He is unethical and uncompromising and is hurting YOUR kids who go to traditional public schools.

Throw out the allegation right (2 1/2 year old conversation) before the election and make it virtually impossible to be investigated before the election. It is NO accident this came out when it did, it has done precisely what it was intended to do. Utah probably deserves to have the Dems control the State top to bottom and see how fast we remain 'best run State in the Country'.

When in doubt vote them out!

Regardless whether the allegations are true or not, the timing is obviously central to this complaint. Weeks before the election, a member of one party issues an ethics complaint against a member of another party about something that happened two years ago. I love the irony. Pot, meet kettle.

And the current philosophy is that if one is a Republican, and most R's are members of the church, then everything must be OK. What a bunch of hooey! We think of ourselves as "above the fray". Well, guess what! How many of these incidences need to occur before the Brethren speak out on moral issues?