Standard-Examiner: Utah GOP Opposes Citizens Initiative on Ethics

Sign the petition and sending a strong citizen message to the fatcats in Utah GOP legislative leadership

The Standard-Examiner carries an Associated Press story this morning, reporting that the Utah Republican Party's "governing committee" passed a resolution on Saturday, opposing the Utahns for Ethical Government UEG citizen legislative ethics initiative, which among other things would establish an independent ethics commission, a code of conduct for state lawmakers, a lobbyist gift ban and limits on campaign contributions:

• Resolved: Utah GOP opposes citizens initiative on ethics

For those readers who are familiar with state GOP politics, this action should come as no surprise at all, inasmuch as party insiders know that the State GOP Central Committee has long served as a lapdog for Utah GOP legislative leadership, who vigorously oppose any serious Utah legislative ethics reform.

This morning's story provides an ideal opportunity, we believe, to remind our readers that petitions are available locally. So for the benefit of those WCF readers who've not yet signed the petition, we'll once again provide the the two centrally-situated Ogden locations where you can sign a petition:

Joyce Wilson (Weber County)
979 27th
Ogden, UT
801-941-1613

Ogden-Weber UniServ (Weber County)
939 25th St
Ogden, UT 84401
801-399-3746

Notably, this morning's story reports that "former Republican Gov. Olene Walker and other former Republican lawmakers are expected to express their support for the initiative during a news conference at the Capitol." Yes gentle readers, there are many Utah Republicans who are fed up with the ethical cesspool which presently exists on Utah's Capitol Hill; and the State GOP Central Committee's attempt to transform ethics reform into a party-partisan issue should not dissuade anyone of any political persuasion from signing the petition and sending a strong citizen message to the fatcats in Utah GOP legislative leadership.

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O Gentle Ones.

Update 11/24/09 10:07 a.m.: Fine article on this topic from The Non Partisan blog, from which we extract this stirring quote:

Wake up people of Utah, this is your GOP and what they stand for. They stand for themselves, their power, their privileges, and their ability to continue to profit from the positions of trust you’ve given them.

Read the full article here:

• Utah’s GOP - Bastion of Corruption:

If this won't get our readers' juices flowing this morning, we frankly don't know what will.

Update 11/24/09 10:44 a.m.: Mark your calenders for 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 30, folks. The Deseret News reports that Weber State University will host a debate on the current citizen legislative ethics initiative at that time and date:

• Weber to host ethics debate

Seems to us that this would be the ideal opportunity for petition promoters to have petitions available for signature at this event.