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The Ole’ Buzzard was poking around in some roadkill and guess what he uncovered?
LDS Legislators, the LDS Utah Attorney General … some who were or are LDS Bishops …
… “On the Take” from Big Tobacco.
| Elected Office Holder | Line Items | Follow the Money | Religion | Religious Office |
| Senate President ADAMS, J STUART | 11 | $23,100 | LDS | Bishop |
| Utah AG REYES, SEAN | 5 | $21,500 | LDS | Bishop |
| DEE, BRAD | 10 | $12,150 | LDS | Bishop |
| VALENTINE, JOHN L | 8 | $6,650 | LDS | Bishop |
| VICKERS, EVAN J | 6 | $6,000 | LDS | Bishop |
| NOEL, MIKE | 3 | $1,100 | LDS | Bishop |
| WEILER, TODD | 1 | $1,000 | LDS | Bishop |
| HANDY, STEPHEN G | 1 | $500 | LDS | Bishop & Stake President |
| GROVER, KEITH | 11 | $5,800 | LDS | Bishopric |
| DAW, BRAD | 1 | $400 | LDS | Bishopric |
| BRAMBLE, CURT | 18 | $27,850 | LDS | A Top 10 Taker |
| HUGHES, GREG | 13 | $20,200 | LDS | |
| NIEDERHAUSER, WAYNE | 10 | $20,000 | LDS | |
| SHURTLEFF, MARK | 9 | $18,000 | LDS | |
| WILSON, BRAD R | 9 | $13,500 | LDS | |
| GIBSON, FRANCIS D | 7 | $11,500 | LDS | |
| KNOTWELL, JOHN | 6 | $10,500 | LDS |
You ask, “So what’s the big deal?”
So here’s the big deal …
Type 1: Overt Procurers …
Yes … Procurers … leaders and legislators who for personal advantage and prestige procure the participation of their peers and the public on behalf of special interests … special interests that work to subvert the rule of law and good governance in the legislative process.
In the case of Utah’s Attorneys General from the past caught offering up access for a price, Reyes will likely protest, “Not me!” We ask him, however, “If the following donors were to lineup at your office door, who goes to the front … Big Tobacco (Altria) to the tune of $21,500.00 or PayDay Lenders to the tune of $22,000.00 or Energy Solutions to the tune of $62,500.00, or Fieler to the tune of $80,000.00, or Merit Medical to the tune of $95,000.00, Et. al. … or … this Ole’ Buzzard with nothing in hand but a list of tacky, shameful, political problems for your Rap’n Rambo self to sort out?”
Type 2: Overt Panderers …
Yes … Panderers … Top10Takers … a few significant leaders and legislators are, like panderers, willing and anxious to sell themselves and their votes for money. For some, the only way they can maintain their power, prestige and perpetualize themselves is through the votes and influence that special interest money can buy.
Type 3: Careless Procrastinators …
Yes … Procrastinators … leaders and legislators who are mindlessly and blithely 
careless. They have chosen the low road by accepting and sharing contributions that are tainted. However, they could have awakened to the shame and chosen the “higher way” … rejecting and denouncing the blight that is associated with their peers … the “Overt Procurers and Panderers.”
Please answer this question you Bishops. If your Ward’s youth knew you were “on the take” from Big Tobacco, how would or could you in good conscience counsel them about health, honesty and integrity? Being “On the Take” for anything let alone from Big Tobacco imperils the ethics of the calling and shames a revered, religious institution.
We have invested power and purse strings in the Heads, Hearts and Hands that are listed above. Who is to be trusted?
The foregoing legislators exemplify all 3 types. Please note that “Big Tobacco” disguises itself as “Altria.” Whenever and wherever special interests like Big Tobacco spend, they envision, anticipate, expect something in return. The “ask” may come much later. But the “ask” is always lurking. That’s the name of the game for special interests that are inimical to the Rule of Law and Good Governance. There is no special interest more evil, insidious and pernicious than Big Tobacco. For an ecclesiastical and State leader to have been “on the take,” is unconscionable. We discuss “Big Tobacco here.”
Let’s pause for a moment and do a “walk about” with the “Top 10 Takers” from Big Tobacco and Energy Solutions and PayDay Lenders.
If bright lights were shined on these issues, the resultant volatility would be difficult to contain. However, Utah’s Goodfellas always seem to cover their tracks. They are repeatedly beneficiary to propaganda that’s pushed out by Goodfella media like The Deseret News and its Pusillanimous Pup … Utah Policy.
[pdf-embedder url=”https://justice4all.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/zBigTand-ESTop-10-Takers-Master.pdf” title=”zBigTand ESTop 10 Takers – Master”]
And here’s a look at PayDay loans. Note the names that are repeated on all lists.
[pdf-embedder url=”https://justice4all.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/zPayDayTakersf.pdf”%5D
“Leadership by Example?”
For Utah’s “Takers,” we suggest paying it back by paying it forward …
… For Utah’s Goodfellas and all others on the take, we suggest a pay it forward plan! We suggest paying it back by paying the take from Big Tobacco, Energy Solutions and others forward. One could simply make a donation in the total amount of the “take” to a charity of choice. May we suggest Military Veterans or First Responders service organizations or the Primary Children’s Hospital as choices?
Unfortunately an endemic sociopathology will continue to enshroud “Overt Takers” among Utah’s leaders and legislators. A disproportionate number Of US Politicians Are Actual Sociopaths!
According to DR. Martha Stout, Clinical Psychologist and former instructor at Harvard Medical school, “Yes, politicians are more likely than people in the general population to be sociopaths. I think you would find no expert in the field of sociopathy/psychopathy/antisocial personality disorder who would dispute this… That a small minority of human beings literally have no conscience was and is a bitter pill for our society to swallow — but it does explain a great many things, shamelessly deceitful political behavior being one.”
Integrity …
UTAH GETS D- GRADE IN 2015 STATE INTEGRITY INVESTIGATION
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- “F” Political Financing
- “F” Executive Accountability
- “F” Judicial Accountability
- “F” State Civil Service Management
- “F” Lobbying Disclosure
- “F” Ethics Enforcement Agencies
- “F” State Pension Fund Management
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Click “Here” for an interactive drill down into the details.
The Ole’ Buzzard
