This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Tribune recently published an interesting article about a dust-up between Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the political arm of Koch Industries, and a couple of Utah legislators.
Our state's congressional delegation and most of our state legislators strongly oppose the "overreach" and meddling by the federal government in our state affairs, but they seem to have no problem accepting the bulk of their campaign financing from outside sources, like the Kochs and other billionaires, which in turn gives the Kochs, et al., the tremendous control they have over the political process at both the state and federal levels.
Could there be a link between the anti-federal government attitude of the politicians and the money those politicians receive from the billionaires whose bottom line is enhanced by that attitude and the resulting policies?
Rep. Jason Chaffetz claims that there were paid political operatives at his town hall meeting. He is wrong: The paid political operatives are our congressional delegates and our state Republican legislators. If any of those people think I am wrong, all they need to do is disagree with their out-of-state donors, and their political careers will be over.
Dean Olsen
North Ogden