It’s time to say “good bye” to those LEFT LEANING Republicans!

I realize that there are many degrees of Republicans in the Utah Republican party, but those who have leaned so far to the left that they have actually climbed on board of the Democrat express need to turn in their “R’s” for “D’s.”
Two prominent Utah Republican women have recently stepped into the political spotlight by embracing the Democrat party while still claiming to be Republican. One is from Salt Lake and the other is from Bountiful.

A small article appeared on Section B of THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE May 21st 2010 edition by Paul Rolly, titled “Some in GOP see the right turning wrong” I applaud his accurate headline. Former Salt Lake County Republican Chairwoman Tiani Coleman is the campaign manager for Karen Hyer the Democrat candidate for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District seat currently held by Republican Jason Chaffetz.

According to Rolly’s article Coleman claims to be a conservative but doesn’t like the direction the Utah GOP is going. She then lamented what she called the “pandering of politicians to a small group of delegates in order to win the party’s nomination.” Hey Tiani isn’t that the way you won the party’s nomination to be the Salt Lake County Chair? Looks like it worked just fine for you but it’s not fair for anybody else! She says that she is considering becoming unaffiliated. Hey Tiani, I will second the motion for you to become unaffiliated. All in favor say “I”. The motion carries, “Good bye!”

Now let’s look at Bountiful resident Sheryl Allen who first ran for and was elected as a State Representative in House District 19 in 1994 and has maintained her seat for the last 16 years in fact most of her re-elections were unchallenged. She has been noted as one of the most liberal Representatives in the Utah House, yet she serves from the conservative city of Bountiful. How could a “left leaning moderate” continue to be re-elected for seven terms?

Sheryl Allen is the Foundation Director of the Davis County School District, an impressive non-profit organization with the objective of securing “contributions from private sources to help fund enrichment and learning projects not funded through the normal budgetary process” (as stated on its website http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/district/foundation/about.html).

She also served on the Davis County School Board from 1977 to 1989. Could her longevity as a member of the Utah House of Representatives have something to do with her heavily entrenched involvement with the UEA? It never hurts to have a large union backing you for political office and it is a great deterrent to would-be challengers who aren’t up to spending that type of matching funds for a campaign.

I find it interesting that within days of Sheryl’s announcement that she would not run another term that there were four contenders for her seat. Where were these people the last sixteen years? I know that most of them were living in Bountiful at the time and some were very politically active.

Anyway, here is the reason I believe that Sheryl Allen should turn in her Republican motif in exchange for a new “D” next to her name. Sheryl Allen has been named by Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate and current Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon as his running mate for this November's special election. Gee, am I missing something here? Is a long-time “Republican” member of the Utah House of Representatives running as a Democrat for the office of Lt. Governor? And is she doing so while still holding onto her letterman’s jacket from her Republican Alma Mater?

She was quoted as saying; "I really want to preach the gospel of bi-partisanship," and will join Corroon in "getting back to basics" to improve Utah's educational system and our economy.” Is this for real? I know Sheryl personally and she is a likeable and very intelligent person but does she really expect us, her fellow Republicans in her home town to simply smile and yell “Go Sheryl go!” while fighting against the Republican candidate for Utah Governor???

And I have a big issue with someone like Sheryl Allen who has successfully obtained millions and millions of dollars from the Utah tax payers over the years for education to talk about how we need to “get back to basics.” What basics could she be talking about, reading, writing and arithmetic or better pay for teachers and more accountability from the school districts and administration? Or how about smaller class sizes?

While I’m on the subject she also fought against a key point in the Utah Republican platform called a parent’s choice in education. If this is what she means then why did she fight so hard against Charter Schools which have proven to reduce the size of public schools and have higher test scores with smaller class sizes?

It seems to me Sheryl, that the best way to get back to basics in education is to reduce the role of the government and increase the role of the parents in education. Then let’s target the exceptional teachers and give them a raise and ask the tenured and checked out teachers to consider one of two options, an early retirement or an early retirement!

To recap, more schools, smaller class sizes being taught by the best teachers who make the highest pay. Why is this so difficult to do? Yeah, I know, it's called UEA! (Usurped Education Association).

I don’t question that Tiani Coleman and Sheryl Allen have done some good along the way in their respective political offices within the Republican Party. But I do find it interesting that they both think they can simultaneously ride two trains on two tracks heading further and further apart from one another. Even Gumby can only stretch so far before losing a limb. So for your own health and our well being, here’s a boot to help you make your decision. And to make it as clear as possible we’ve added a very prominent letter “D” to the tread. “Good Bye!”