Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Gary Herbert Gets Spun At His Own Spin Meeting

Looks like good GOP intra-party political scrap is brewin' up

Hmmm... it seems that the Weber County Seat "B" race isn't the only one heating up as we we meander into the remaining 48 days prior to the 11/2/10 General Election. For openers, and thanks to a comments section tip from gentle readerhistory tells all, we'll embed this startling Channel 4 video expose concerning the Utah Governor's race:


Ogden "Homeboy" Man of the People Neil Hansen's name is "in the thick of the story," of course.

For additional background on this story, take a look at this eye-opening DNews story link:
Gov. Gary Herbert gets spun at his own spin meeting
Weirdly enough, Utah GOP legislators are already throwing Herbert under the bus and covering their own ass with this:
In wake of $13M payout, lawmakers eye change
We definitely love a good political scrap. Howbout You?

34 comments:

Bob Becker said...

My favorite response was the one from Waddups, reported in this morning's SLTrib. How dare Caroon question our ethics, he fumed. How dare anyone!

Rumor has it Herbert's new campaign slogan is "Pay to Play: It's The Utah Way!"

RBW said...

To quote from "Bulls on Parade" by Rage Against the Machine:

"What we don’t know keeps the contracts alive and movin', they don’t gotta burn the books they just remove ‘em while arms warehouses fill as quick as the cells, rally round the family, pockets full of shells."

Having seen it firsthand, there are few things sleazier than government contracts and the horde of underhanded dealings they entail.

ozboy said...

A big hats off to Neil Hansen, pride of Ogden and perhaps the last honest man in the Utah State Legislature.

Go get em Neil, don't let the bastardos sweep this one under the rug like they have done with so many of their crooked fiascos in the past.

MG said...

Now I know who took the 9th floor playbook

Call me naive said...

MG

By golly I think you are on to something there. And to think I didn't believe those rumors about Herbert studying at Boss Godfrey's alter all last winter!

Ray said...

"Governor's security team defends involvement in son's stalking case Gov. Gary Herbert's security people are talking about their role in an Orem police investigation into the stalking case against the governor's son, Nathan Herbert..."(ksl.com) H'mm nothing unethical about the gov's own security team assisting the investigation of Herberts son. No potential for bias there! This is the gang who couldn't shoot straight. Even if no bias or unethical behavior exists their actions open the door for legitimate questioning.

OneWhoKnows said...

A 13 million dollar payoff for doing nothing but submitting a rejected high bid and writing a few checks to the Governor for petty campaign cash. Sounds like a very good deal. Too bad most of the intelligent people can't stand Herbert, Bell and Whatupps?

Now the Governor's son comes into the spotlight having a special hobby of showing his privates to a couple of sisters that can't stand him.

Timing is everything in politics and if the election was held today, my bet would be Governor Corroon by a landslide if virture and honesty really meant anything to the "Flock of Sheeples" in this State. It will be interesting to see the spin stories developing from the incumbant camp in the next six weeks prior to November 2nd.

I wish Huntsman would come home and straighten things out and send Gary to the woodshed once and for all! One year and old Gary has caused somewhat of a clusterf*&k.

Marion said...

OneWhoKnows

You got most of it right, but I don't think the company that got the $13 million settlement where the ones who made the campaign contributions to the Governor. Had they coughed up some big campaign contributions they might have got the $1.1 Billion dollar job instead of the $13 Million in shut up and go away money. The company that one the big one are the ones who made the big contributions to our most honorable Governor.

Bob Becker said...

Marion:

According to TV news reports out of SLC, both companies donated, but the one that got the contract donated in the neighborhood of 80K I think to Gary "Grease My Palm" Herbert's election campaign, the one that didn't but got the settlement payoff of 13 million donated about 35K. Not a bad return on their front money for either company, I'd say. And it's plain now to all as it's been plain to most of us for a while, that the cash deposit window is open at the Governor's office. 24/7. Even the militantly middle of the road oh-my-stars-and-garters-we-would-never-reach-a-conclusion-in-a-story milquetoast SLC TV news operations are saying straight out that something smells funny in Herbert country.

I've seen legislators like Waddups defending themselves and doing a very unconvincing "I-will-not-dignify-the-suggestion-that-our-ethical-conduct-is-lacking-with-a-reply" on-camera tap dance but I haven't seen many [actually any] rallying on camera to Herbert's defense.

Am I catching the faint hum of the good ol' boys, Waddups & Co., telling the Guv "you stupid greedy SOB, you're going to derail the gravy train for all of us!"

It's all politicans said...

Curmudgeon

No that was Charles Rangle's comment to John Kerry

ozboy said...

Mr. Curmudgeon

Interesting angle you introduce here. For $80 thousand one of the Guv's cronies gets the big enchilada in the form of a $1.7 Billion contract, and for $35 thousand the "loser" crony gets $13 million in walking away money.

As to the Republican "leadership" ditching the Guv, I'm not so sure about that. They did have a joint denial conference on TeeVee yesterday wherein a parade of shell shocked looking naybobs bore their testimony of the honor and integrity of the Guv with the greasy palms. None of them looked or sounded very convincing by the way. They all seemed like they might have had a sudden intestinal bug hit them just before the cameras fired up. Greg Bell looked downright pasty and faint like maybe he just found some bugs in his cozy featherbed, and former Guv Bangeter seemed confused and bumbling like maybe he just found out his water pump fiasco had been exposed after all these years. In fact all the lyin bastards were highly distressed. Made my old jaded heart swell with hope for a new day in Zion.

Dan Schroeder said...

At least our governor seems to have caught up with the times, and now realizes that he was selling himself short when he accepted bribes of only $10k.

Bob Becker said...

Hoooo boy, it's getting stinkier and stinkier. SLTrib reporting tonight that UDOT's contract bid evaluators gave the nod on the project to the company that didn't get the contract.... because UDOT execs "tweaked" the results so that the Provo company got the bid instead by a single point in the ratings. Here's the lede:

An executive team at the Utah Department of Transportation overruled its technical evaluation teams and tweaked the recommended scoring just enough to change the winner of the $1.1 billion Interstate 15 reconstruction contract, the largest in Utah history.

Full story here: here.

UDOT's executive director, John Njord, told a legislative committee Wednesday that changing the scoring on the bids so that the Provo Co. came out higher by a single point “looked bad.” In fact, he told the committee that he reviewed the bid process and is convinced there was no bias shown, that nothing at all was done wrong “but it looked like it." In fact, he said, it "looked weird" to him, which is why he approved settling with the losing company to the tune of $13,000,000 of the taxpayers money.

Ah, Republican Utah. The New Jersey of the West.

AWM said...

Hebert= bought and paid for well in advance of 2 Nov 10

The Saint said...

Sorry Curm but you got it bass ackwards - New Joisy is the Utah of the east. Our crooked politicians are much better than theirs because ours are saints and theirs are only choir boys.

blackrulon said...

I shudder to think of the problems Nathan Herbert(governors son) would be having if he had not graduated from seminary.

Ray said...

BOTTOM LINE: Still a 21 point lead.

Poll:By Keith McCord
SALT LAKE CITY -- "Voters in Utah are starting to make up their minds about the candidates they want to see in office. Dan Jones and Associates has just released results of its latest poll on the governor's race.

Dan Jones and Associates conducted the survey between Sept.7 and Sept 13. In the survey of 600 registered voters, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has 52 percent support; Democrat challenger Peter Corroon has 31 percent; and 13 percent are still undecided." (ksl.com)

Nothing changes in Utah...

OneWhoKnows said...

Why would anyone want former Governor Bangerter endorse your campaign and stand in your corner for support simply because you use public funds unethically for improper payouts on UDOT projects and non-bid pumping projects to your relative. Does anyone remember his fiasco of "Syn-Crete on I-15?" Most politicans are just whores, bought and paid for and your screwing will come later...guaranteed! We desperately need ethics reform and these great leaders need constant accountability to whom they serve. Fire em and get some more.

Danny said...

There is an even darker side to all of this.

If the voters elect a visibly venal (means "bribe taker" for the illiterate Godfrey supporters) Governor like Gary Herbert, it will be a green light, a wide open road, a carte blanche (means "blank check", Godfreyites) to the corrupt political machine in Utah.

This election will be watched by Godfrey. If "Sir Herbert the Dirty" wins this election, it will mean the doors of corruption will swing wide open in Utah, and in Ogden.

Bob Becker said...

Danny:

Herbert will be re elected, baring some hot-tub-with-a-minor type sex scandal breaking before election day. Financial impropriety doesn't matter here in fiscally conservative [ha!] Utah. He has "R" after his name on the ballot. That's all that will matter.

Toole said...

Even if he was arrested on a felony child rape charge, he would still garner more votes than his democratic opponent.

Unless, of course, he also was caught with marijuana/spice in his possession; you have to draw the line somewhere.

???? said...

Here Mr. Herbert. For your consideration and "education".

Public Contracting & Ethical Considerations

Viktor said...

OneWhoKnows

The Syncrete fiasco was brought to us by the same guy who gave us Energy Solutions! And yes, I do believe it was under that other paragon of virtuous Republican Bangeter that it, and the multi million dollar lake pump ripp-off happened. I think those pumps are still lying out there by the lake still unused and most likely rusted away by now.

Danny said...

How come Scott Matheson, a Democrat, could get elected governor in Utah?

If Scott Matheson, why not Peter Corroon?

Corroon seems like a good, honest man.

Herbert looks and acts like a dishonest man.

How can Herbert be in the lead in Utah polling?

The issue here is not the religion or the political affiliation of the voters of this state.

The issue is their intelligence.

Joseph Pulitizer said...

If these stories are being investigated and reported by among others KSL and the Deseret News does this mean they are all part of the evil liberal mainstream media?

Pay to Play in Utah said...

Gary Herbert impliedly admits he takes bribes, and favors those donors who give the biggest contributions. Don't forget though, he'll "stand on his reputation" which seems to indicate that those who donate the biggest bucks to his campaign will "get the biggest bang for the buck!"

Well... he claims to be "honest", no?

How much more honest can a crooked politician get?

Skip The Dog said...

Gurrrrr…

As I read through this story I can conclude four things about this BYU dropout Governor of ours:
1.He may be corrupt.
2. He may be stupid.
3. He is out of touch if he didn’t know where $13m of state revenue went.
4. Or, he is a combination of all three of the above.
At any rate, he will not get my vote this fall.

Arf!

Viktor said...

Danny

Matheson was elected governor in a time before the Democratic party went as far left as they did. Before they became known as the party promoting homosexual, equal rights (including for women - remember the ERA that the church fought so hard against?) and other human rights issues that are hot button items with the Mo's. Bottom line is that it goes against the grain of the dominate religion, and as a consequence their unquestioning adherents, to think that women, darkies, queers and non decaff tea drinkers should be equal to the priests in charge.

AWM said...

I have an optometrist across the street from me that pounded a Herbert sign in his front yard a couple of weeks ago. That basically invalidated his license to practice for me because if he can't see the corruption....

AWM said...

The Standard is running an on-line poll asking if the vote was today, who would be your choice for Gov. of Utah. Corroon is leading 57% to 43% for Herbert with 188 votes cast.

googlegirl said...

SE Poll: If the elections were today, who would you select for governor?

Ozboy said...

It is hard to imagine that integrity could win out over Republican sleaze in the Governors race here in the land of Zion. But we can hope I suppose. After all, Carroon was a real long shot to win over "I did it for the kids" Workman in the SL County mayor race which is the biggest elected office in the state after the Governors.

Workman, like Herbert, was revealed during that race to be a sleaze with some very shaky ethical problems concerning money and self dealing. Her huge lead evaporated in the end and the voters wisely turned her out of office.

Here is hoping for deja vu all over again.

history is true and it can't be changed said...

If you think that Herbert is corrupt, just wait and see what Neil Hansen has uncovered here in Good ole Weber county and the good ole boys of the republican look the other way, I did know about that county commission responsibility.
And to think that Galvez slogan is stand for something.... I bet he would have stood for a standing ovation for a pedophile.

Biker Babe said...

history is true:

I think you should go to bed earlier

just sayin,
BB

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