Reader comments
Hughes denies any wrongdoing
48 comments | Read story
Think about it, those who bully oh so often do not truly know those they call friend. Look around Mr. Huges the people you trust the most are most likely to toss you to the wolves. You do know that you are the designated sacrificial lamb, don't you?
On second thought your friend Curtis is a known good guy, he won't hang you out to dry...
Although the committee seems to have sacrificed rights of Utahns to see for themselves what their state government is up to, Riesen has not forfeited his First Amendment rights.
There obviously are many factors involved in filing the complaint, some completely beyond the control of any single person - such as the availability of information and the coordination of multiple schedules of busy people.
In any event, there's no timing requirement for filing a complaint and it�s not unethical to have a political motivation.
People like you who will vote blindly are becoming very old and tired - even in Utah.
You can't be serious. Based on your philosophy, why bother even having jury trials? The accused are automatically guilty by your standards.
And Bill Keshlear, thanks for admitting that this is political.
It looks like Sheryl Allen and Susan Lawrence consulted with the Attorney General's office concerning the alleged bribe.
So, where is the Legislative General Counsel in all of this? Do they represent anybody? Everybody? Nobody?
Both parties are corrupt. The Republicans always attack public education with policies like No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and private school vouchers, and here in Utah by saying the IB Program is anti-American and that we are idiots for questioning their logic when we disobey. The Democrats have their own sore spots into deviancy. I'll let others elaborate on their evils.
However, it is what we got. It was unethical IF Hughes offered compensation for a Voucher vote. That does not matter if he has a R or D by his name, it is still against the rules for one legislator to offer or intimidate another in order to get a vote.
It is not unethical to report this. Curtis should have done it, not Reisen. However it isn't an ethics question, rather a procedural one.
After all, the "R" is more sacred in Utah than whether a person is ethical, has morals or can do the job he or she is elected to do. Utahns would vote for PeeWee Herman if he had a 'R' next to his name.
Theres no such thing as ethics in the Utah legislature and I thought everyone knew that!
The issue of "ethics reform" has come up time and again in the state legislature and the Republican majority makes sure that it never even makes it out of committee!
"Ethics" violations in Utah - always - anything ever come of it - NEVER!
I live in Draper, home of Greg Hughes, and while I realize this is a state-level situation, I have to say it really isn't much different than what is going on in our city council. Our city council "people," everyone of them, is only interested in their own wealth and benefit. They vote based on how it will impact them personally, not on what is best for the city or a particular neighborhood.
The exact same thing is going on at the state level. They call it "part of the political game" but in truth it is part of "what is best for me and my family."
Don't try to compare this to Govenor Palin. She is unqualified and her campaign rhetoric has been distasteful.
BAAAAAAAAAAA
Well California Democrats took ethics to a new low years ago. And California businesses who care about ethics and don't care about beach, parties and taxes are fleeing in droves. Then there is the Republicrat Terminator who is trying to borrow about 7 billion from the taxpayers of other states.
So Democrats, me thinks to protestest too much.
The don't murmur against your church leaders does NOT apply to your political leaders, they should be questioned by the press, by the people and by each other in a public forum, not behind closed doors with oaths of secrecy. Freedom of the press was another constitutional check and balance.
Whether we like it or not, we need at least two parties controlling Utah. We have not seen any party have a chance except the Ds and Rs in my lifetime. I support the Ds on this one issue alone, until they control at least one house in at least one branch of government.
Hah hah! Sorry dude: Sarah Palin has done this to her self.
And don't forget the Legislature that authorized the investigation, and the investigation committee both have a strong Repub majority.
No, this was her own doing. (but good try!)
Check out the Anchorage Daily News (AK's biggest paper) editorial today.
It sounds like the quid pro quo just goes on and on. When will it ever stop?
We need to make sure we have a around a 45 to 50% mix to keep them honest!
If it was not for Phil Reisen bringing this out into the open you would not have heard anything about it! Thank You Phil!
That is why all meeting should be open to the public to keep from having the good old boy mentality!!
The Republican majority would have sweep it under the rug again!
Come on Utah wake up quit being sheep and following
the republican party over the cliff!!!
Utah has appointed judges from among their own leaders? I've worked around the State legislature for almost 20 years now, can name you almost every legislator, Dept head, county commissioner, etc and cannot name a single one that was appointed a judge. Who are you referring to?
Whether Hughes is guilty or not anytime you have a complaint that is 2 years old, it involves people who have won elections, the timing is political. Period.
And the guilt. How many who have posted here have ever been to the legislature while in session? The halls are literally packed on many days, 90% of them being lobbyists. Look at the donations. Every one of them is a result of how the legislator voted, or the lobbyists hopes they will vote.
And how many times do you guess special interest groups promised election support for a Yes or No vote? Do you think people donate just for fun? Are you naive? And now apparently Greg Hughes has had a similar conversation as that which has gone on for 200 years now, and he is guilty?
Seriousily?
"Vote for a maverick and watch America fall apart," is a compelling campaign slogan.
Democrats and Republicans need to press their legislators to support real ethics reform, if they do not commit to real reform DO NOT VOTE FOR THEM.
Ban Gifts
Limits on contributions from PAC�s, Corporations & individuals
Defined uses of campaign contributions
Independent Non Partisan Ethics Commission
we the utah voters are the stupid ones .. we keep putting incumbents back in office so they can continue their power struggle at our expense
remember .. incumbents out ... challengers in
why the comments on this article ??
the checks and balance system has always been in politics .. got a check ?? put it on my balance
as for the ethics .. money has always been the bottom line for decision making ... money talks regardless the position or concern
we the stupid people of utah keep the insanity alive by continuing to elect the same people over and over
lets get it this time utah .. vote out the current person (incumbent) and vote in the challenger and maybe the cycle has a chance of breaking (notice i havent said anything about party)??
Nationwide there has been several cases, always brushed under the rug, of entities with interests before government agencies to employee elected officials.
I know that Rep Allen worked at the Davis Foundation prior to her election though it would be interesting to see what has taken place while she works both within public education and for the legislature.
Possibly this should be a threshold for all legislators. I remember one legislator who worked for a bank, received very good compensation and was rumored to do little to no actual work. Yet when the banks and credit unions got into a legislative fight this legislator was 110% for the banks.
With a job performance audit with published results voters could see if the legislator happened to work for the entity or if they were simply a way for the entity to buy a vote on capitol hill.
Interesting idea.
This thing gets worse by the date, now alligations comming forward. We all know this is full of ethics and bad tast.
Lets ouster Curtis and Greg Hughes!
Add your comment
Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.
E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.
- People on the move 9:16 p.m.
- Bank of America probe to expand 9:15 p.m.
- Newsday gets new editor-in-chief 9:14 p.m.
- Oil price rally falls 9:14 p.m.
- Investor probed in Madoff case 9:12 p.m.
- Davis eclipses world record in 1500m 9:12 p.m.
- Economic reports raise hopes 9:11 p.m.
- Garage for do-it-yourself repairs 9:10 p.m.
- Woman starts swimwear company 9:09 p.m.
- Care for needy is ongoing charge 9:06 p.m.
- Letters: Global warming a lie
276 - TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
207 - BYU football: Bronco weighs in on Hall
195 - Palin signs books, chats with fans
169 - Andersen apologizes for Jordan hoax
143 - Nude bathers cited for lewdness
138 - Max Hall wants to look ahead
130 - Jazz fall apart late at L.A.
110 - Revive full food tax?
106 - LDS to emphasize helping needy
106
David Rankin, one of Utah's youngest and ablest astrophotographers has...
There was a time when free shipping was rare. This holiday season, you...
Can you tell I just got out of a budget meeting with Gov Gary Herbert?
The seats are only marked for sections, so you can sit anywhere in the...
This is exactly why 38 million people live in California even with all its...
My problem with Reid or any other politician, even Romney is that they drop...
I knew we were in trouble when we didn't leave the house in Orem until 6, but...
As mission President in England, President Derrick admonished us to live our...
UBA was never an option. It is a money machine.
not only did the BCS not do TCU a favor they didn't even do themselves a...
Go Cougs!
This looks an awful lot like the Cleveland at BYU - blaming someone else,...
Cleveland made a lot of excuses - bottom line is Rose is a better coach and...


