Ethics reform battle heats up
Related News
- 01/22/10 — Property group calls off initiative
- 01/22/10 — Deadline For Colo. “Personhood” Amendment Moved Up
- 01/20/10 — Legislator targets public employees for pay cuts in constitutional amendment
- 01/19/10 — Bill in Mich. Senate could revise stem cell research
- 01/18/10 — Earnings tax in St. Louis, Kansas City could be challenged in statewide ballot initiative
The Salt Lake Tribune: A Capitol-steps news conference to unveil a ballot initiative drive for legislative ethics reform has been bumped a week, but some political insiders already have begun to push back against the grass-roots effort. In a blog Tuesday, "Red Meat Radio" producer Aaron Rennaker took one initiative organizer, David Irvine, to task for allegedly using the ethics groundswell to advance his own political ends.
Since September 2008, two Draper Republicans -- Sen. Howard Stephenson and Rep. Greg Hughes -- have co-hosted the conservative "Red Meat" talk show on K-TALK (AM 630) each Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m. "David Irvine is keenly aware that there is a healthy dose of skepticism attached to politics and politicians," Rennaker wrote. "He exploits this sentiment by attacking and accusing his political opponents. He pursues an agenda that looks to discredit those who disagree with him." Rennaker, 27, is in his senior year at the University of Utah. As a Hinckley Institute of Politics intern, he started working on the radio program and got to know Hughes but has never met Irvine. Irvine, an attorney and also a Republican, served in the Utah House in the 1970s. In 2007, Irvine got crosswise with Utah's Conservative Caucus -- which Hughes co-founded -- when he launched a successful referendum to repeal the state's controversial school-voucher legislation. Then, in October 2008, Irvine helped compile an ethics complaint against Hughes and did pro bono work for two lawmakers who participated in the complaint. Rennaker's blog also notes Irvine donated to Democrat Barack Obama's run for president.
"So what?" Irvine responded. "I also contribute to Republicans."
To read more, click here.
Comments
There are no comments for this entry.
