How bad is the Republican corruption here in Utah? Well, the following list of conflicted, contemptuous, and criminal acts only netted these Legislators runner-up status in the Salt Lake City Weekly's "Piggy Awards."
There were plenty of contenders who didn’t make the cut. Like the legislator/boxing manager who tried to disband Utah’s athletic commission after the body sanctioned his trainer. The legislator/insurance broker who ran a bill for an insurance company, after that company forgave his old debt. The legislator/pediatric dentist who proposed boosting Medicaid payments—but only for pediatric dentists. The legislator/lobbyist who runs a donation-funded lobbying group for big business.
Yea, it's bad.
There are five big winners of the awards, but I'll only quote my personal favorite here. Please check out the article, it's great.
Best Original Plot:
Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville
Frank Capra couldn’t have written a script this hokey. It’s a sort of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in which a mild-mannered Viagra salesman gets himself elected to the Legislature and quickly lands seats on committees that will decide Utah’s future energy policy. Then, surprising everyone, the committees recommend going nuclear. In the last act, we learn Tilton is in the nuclear power-plant business.
Past Credits
The Utah County native ran for the state House of Representatives in 2004 after trying his hand at short-lived careers in restaurant operation, real estate, construction and online Viagra sales. He swept into office unchallenged after news surfaced that Tilton’s only opponent had been nabbed in a State Street prostitution sting in Salt Lake City. A member of the Conservative Caucus, Tilton is known for last year’s bill aimed at stamping out gay student clubs and a failed attempt to lower the legal age for riding ATVs—to 6.
Lights, Camera, Conflict
Long before anyone knew Tilton had started Transition Power Development for the sole purpose of permitting nuclear power plants in Utah, Tilton was framing state energy policy. In 2006, he authored three bills requiring environmental groups to post pricey bonds before filing lawsuits against power plants. One Tilton bill specifically aimed to slow protests to the Radiation Control Board.
Tilton landed an appointment to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.’s Blue-Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change, a group charged with reducing Utah’s carbon output. Although a subcommittee had largely dismissed nuclear power as a low-carbon alternative, noting problems disposing of waste, the group’s final report gave nuclear the thumbs up. The change followed a vote participants say included one-on-one lobbying from Tilton.
In the Legislature, Tilton was named vice-chairman of the Public Utilities and Technology Committee overseeing power companies and pressed for financial incentives to attract a nuclear power plant to Utah.
In October, Tilton amended his official conflict-of-interest form to note the nuclear-power business he had formed eight months before. Unabashed, he testified in front of his own public utilities committee—as CEO of Transition Power.
What a piece of work. He and all the other money grubbing, self serving scum that get elected appointed as Republican Lawmakers are exactly what you get in one party rule. They don't give a damn about governing or the rule of law, and they certainly aren't interested in what the people want. The worst part of this is that, except for a handful of bloggers and some independent media, no one is officially watching these guys anymore.
Former legislative watchdog Claire Geddes calls conflict of interest the No. 1 problem in Utah’s Legislature. It’s not just that lawmakers get rich, she says, but that state policy gets written only to suit the narrow interests of individual elected officials. And no one is watching, says Geddes who folded her Utah Legislative Watch organization three years ago. Utah’s last surviving good government group, Common Cause of Utah, closed its doors last year.
One good thing though, is that as a progressive blogger, there's never a dull moment. You can always find something to write about in such a target-rich environment.
Cheers from inside the belly of the beast.
Wasatchwatcher