Comments about ‘Final push under way to get initiatives on state ballot’

Good! The crooks in the Utah Legislature need to be reigned in. For too long these immoral sleazeballs have answered to those filling their pocketbooks instead of the people who voted them in. I'm glad the people are taking the power back.
I bet a lot of the crooks in power now, quit Utah politics once ethics reform passes.

If I can sign my taxes online then I should be able to sign whatever petition I want online. This is a perfect example of the legislators in power trying to limit the power that the citizens have over their own legislative process.

To all you elected officials: You are my EMPLOYEE elected by me and my fellow citizens and paid using OUR TAX DOLLARS. If I want to sign a petition, then you have no business telling me how I am able to sign that petition or employing means that would allow others to remove my signature without my permission.

I will be voting and campaigning against each and every legislature that has supported these ridiculous roadblocks to citizen initiatives.

Have you even read what this ethics reform will do? It will allow any citizen to file false ethics complaints, over and over again, without cause or proof, and force the legislator to defend themselves.

It will allow sleazeballs who are just trying to win elections, and I mean sleazeballs who believe in the politics of personal destruction, to make false claims just before an election, suffer no consequences for their actions, and then take the election.

Yep, sounds like "ethics".

Petitions are just that, a petition. It is not a final vote, so those legislatures that are deterring the petitions, calm down. Balots are where the final votes come in to play.

When the ballot is taken, the voice of the majority can be heard. The founding fathers believed that everyone including the powerful and powerless people should vote. They believed that the innate intrinsic values that each person has would suffice to govern our great country.

I cheer those groups who are taking the initiative to change the government through petitioning. They are using the values they hold dear to try and uphold our country.

Eventually, though, as our founding fathers agreed the majority should be relied upon to decide what will become a law and what will not.

- A Moderate Republican

Thanks, UEG and Fair Boundaries, for your intensive efforts. The initiative is superior to what the Legislature did in ethics. The Legislature didn't even attempt to improve a very weak Code of Conduct. The initiative does that.

And the Legislature ignored any attempt to make redistricting fair.

Sign the petitions and DO NOT LET YOUR NAME BE REMOVED. These topics needs to be discussed in the fall prior to the November election. That can only happen if you sign and keep your signature there!

Re: “How Convenient”: I disagree with your opening sentence. There is no big incentive to tamper with on-line signatures for tax returns. But for overzealous political activists, there would be a big temptation to tamper with on-line signatures and on-line votes. The sanctity of the vote is too important to take the risk.

"You people are liberal sheep... "

Scare scare scare. That's what this campaign against this initiative will be about. The ethics commission would be overseen to prevent false complaints. What's more, there's nothing to stop someone from filing false complaint with the legislator's version of a commission that was just signed into law. And on top of that, **45** other states have ethics commissions and those states do not have problems with them.

Really, the real reason behind this objection is not against a commission, but against halting the lobbyist gravy train.

to worry, the Legislators can be trusted.

I feel it in my heart, they are good people, chosen to do good among the people.

Forget all the ethics scandals, those are just scare tactics by liberals trying to make our ordained leaders look bad.

Whatever you think about the legislature, this ethics initiative goes too far. Super Czars with lifetime rights to appoint the ethics commission, accusations based on rumor and innuendo, guilty until proven innocent, no checks and balances from other branches of government, prohibitions on many business leaders from serving in the legislature, the ability of political enemies to engage in witch hunts, and on and on and on. Even the ethics initiative sponsors when confronted with the bad stuff in the initiative don't try to defend it. Instead they say that the legislature can change it once it becomes law. Really? So legislators can be accused of going against the will of the people. I don't think so. The initiative goes too far. And takes something we all want in government "ethics" and turns it into a very unethical process.

Remember, signing the petition does not necessarily mean support for the initiative, it is just so that the initiative can go on the ballot, and then voters can decide for themselves if they like it or not.

I am a registered Republican, but I find it distasteful that the Utah Republican Party is discouraging people from signing these petitions. It is fairly elitist of them to claim to know more about these issues than the voters.

Utah has been calling for ethics reform for decades, but instead of getting better, they have made it easier to ignore public input.

For some issues where legislators can receive personal benefit through legislation, the public should decide those issues, such as redistricting, ethics, and term limits, which the legislature conveniently repealed in 2003.

a bad polititian. We can't, because they will do anything in the world to conceal their disgression. It is only when the news media catches hold of something and decides to broadcast it. Then it is save "face" for their party's sake. How can we hold polititians accountable for unethical behavior? We pass an inititative that will set some ground rules so that unethical behavior will not go unpunished!

Sign the petition!

What a mess.

While initiatives can be good, and have good intentions,


they are very dangerous, because they can lead tyranny of the majority.


this is all QUITE counter yto the intents of the founding fathers,

we have a representative republic,

NOT a democracy,

and the founding fathers, WARNED and educated us over and over again about the dangers of a democracy.



IF you truly want to change things,

USE the VOTE,

and eschew parties and special interests,

and eschew anyone who is in the pocket of special interests and parties,

DEMAND your representive listento voice an will of thier constituents,

But most important USE your vote wisely,

and you will restote ethics, civility and all else that is good.

While initiatives can be good, and have good intentions,


they are very dangerous, because they can lead tyranny of the majority.


this is all QUITE counter yto the intents of the founding fathers,

we have a representative republic,

NOT a democracy,

and the founding fathers, WARNED and educated us over and over again about the dangers of a democracy.



IF you truly want to change things,

USE the VOTE,

and eschew parties and special interests,

and eschew anyone who is in the pocket of special interests and parties,

DEMAND your representive listento voice an will of thier constituents,

But most important USE your vote wisely,

and you will restote ethics, civility and all else that is good.

You've got it backward. These initiatives work to defeat the tyranny of the majority, not lead to it. The majority are working to keep them off the ballot because they don't want their power diminished.

Please, everyone -- sign the petitions. That will benefit the people of Utah. Don't let the tyranny of the majority win.