Cooke: Herbert a good man, but also a good salesman

Governor Gary Herbert is a good man according to his Democratic challenger Peter Cooke, who said the governor is also a very good salesman. On KVNU’s Crosstalk show Wednesday, Cooke said Herbert is giving glowing reports about Utah’s economy but the facts don’t bear that out.

“From the I-15 issue,” Cooke said, “of why we paid the losing bidder $13 million, to the problems we have with the Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control with another audit coming out. The biggest problem we’ve had is the 800,000 names we’ve lost in being hacked.”

Cooke said this is going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars before it is resolved.

Cooke also said that Utah needs to do a lot more to help veterans. He said many veterans from Utah are coming back from war unable to find jobs.

“The unemployment rate of those in the veteran community is really a disaster,” Cooke said. “We really need to reach out. I came up with the first program in the United States, I worked it through the Pentagon, and a lot of national companies to find ways to hire our vets and show our respect to those who served our country.”

Cooke says only about .04 percent of the population have participated in the military during the last generation. He says the military seems to be a dying breed and we need to help them all we can.

A graduate of Utah State University, Cooke is a retired two-star general and also a small business owner.

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