Comments about ‘GOP lawmakers formulate their own ethics package’

This is a joke, right?

I'm sure they're patting themselves on the back for making such a twisted, disgusting "ethics reform" bill.

Sorry, I'll be voting for the citizens initiative.

"Putting a five-member panel with two former legislators to oversee legislative ethics complaints 'is a huge joke,' said Irvine."

Are you not a former legislator yourself, sir? Then why should we trust any "ethics initiative" that you propose?

What did you propose when you were in office?

Of course the legislature wants their own commission. That way they can still get away with their unethical ways. Voters need to reject any such constitutional amendment and push for an independent commission. This is legislative smoke and mirrors at its finest.

This sounds like allowing criminals to become jururs while simultaneosly stopping the prosecutors from obtaining any evidence. What government in their right mind would allow such a thing.

Too little too late. And, their motives are not pure. The legislature has only acted because they are concerned about the citizen initiatives.

In other words, the people have acted so the legislature is responding out of concern that their party is over. I thought legislators were supposed to be leaders....in reality they are a bunch of followers.

I seriously hope this backfires on them. This is a weak-kneed response to a real problem, and they're going over the heads of the people to save face.

If this makes it to the ballot, I will vote against it. I plan to vote for the citizen's initiative.

I hope people notice see how a Republican won in a state like Massachusetts that hadn't elected a Republican Senator since 1972. America is tired of lawmakers accepting back-door deals and bribes from lobbyists!

Here in Utah a similar problem with petty bribes and gifts from lobbyists. Utah lawmakers now are trying to write their own ethics bill, but in reality it is ethics smear!

We need to take back our legislators from lobbyists and Special Interest groups and vote for "the People's" initiative!

This so-called ethics reform bill is more like the fox guarding the hen house. Republicans should be ashamed that their legislators are unwilling to adopt real ethics reform.

The legislators have many times introduced such bills and none of them has yet been passed. So why should we citizens believe anything will come of this one by the time it gets butchered through their process?

It's a copy of the UEG initiative with some major changes and a clever ploy. It keeps the powers of enforcement in the hands of the legislators. Enforcement should be in the hands of non legislators or former political advocates. It should be an independent non partisan non committed and completely independent of the legislative body. This ethics committee must have the authority to publicly report all immoral and unethical acts by any legislators. Not only should an ethics committee be monitoring the legislature, it should monitor all state and local government offices, appointed and elected.

I don't see the need for any need of a constitutional amendment. Ethics and a moral government is a responsibility of their job. Legislators just need to read the constitution and it will explain it all to them. First, this legislative body represents the citizens who elect them, not business or special interest groups or illegal foreign nationals.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA That reform is the second biggest joke in Utah, the Legislature itself being the biggest, except they are not funny when they keep turning their back on the needs of the citizens to provide for their own amusements and financial gains.

Is it lost on anyone that Killpack was at a fundraiser for Greg Hughes of all people. Then the Republicans suffer an ethics problem of monumental proportions. Then offer this kind of response.

can our elected leaders be unethical? They just met with the Mormon Church leaders and got their marching orders.

No?

This bill is a cynical, and pathetic, attempt to preempt the ethics initiative that is currently being circulated. Just by glancing at the bill one can see loop holes big enough to drive my '03 Chevy Suburban through.

What a joke - Sign the petition for the independent ethics commission! This is indeed, "too little, too late!"

I have an idea, don't take any kind of incentive from a lobbyist or a special interest group. No Jazz or other sporting/entertainment tickets, no trips, no gift baskets, no lunches/dinners, accept nothing. This would resolve the situation. If a legislator accepts anything, he/she loses their seat.

They get paid that should be enough.

The part that worries me is about the complaints being heard in private and if made public the case is dismissed...so if I witness an unethical act by my representative and I tell my neighbor (because it requires two to file the complaint) and they tell their spouse or neighbor...does the case then become public and thrown out?

Kind of like sending the british troops home for trial for crimes comitted in Boston...

GOP leaders have their own ethics package? Wow, how underwhelming. Can you say ethics and Republican in the same sentence and not be laughed at? Didn't think so.

The ethics reform by the legislators was in the works months before Killpack was arrested.

If you read UEG's 21 page initiative (have any of you?), you will see that this is very similar but it takes care of the unconstitutionality issues in UEG's initiative. It may not include a few things on UEG's ballot but they were self-serving for the people who proposed it anyway (Mr. Irvine, Kim Burningham, et al.).

The tactics UEG has used to push this on people and get them to sign without reading are despicable. I witnessed it just last night at a Bountiful Town Hall Meeting. A gentlemen refused to sign it (he had actually read all 21 pages) and the lady at the desk got in his face about it, trying to tell him he was unethical for not supporting ethics reform. He argued that he IS for ethics reform as well as ethical government but that he disagreed with the way the initiative she was supporting went about it. It was pretty embarrassing for her.

Read the initiative, yes, but you may want a lawyer there to explain it all to you before making a decision.

Lets see .... I got it .... Lets take a couple of our unethical friends and put them on a committee and call it an ethics committee. Then we can continue with our unethical behavior and our friends will take care of us.... What a joke. It reminds me of that old joke about the ethical Utah politician. Have you heard it? It is a real knee slapper.