In Depth: Congressional candidates, Proposition One face Cache Valley
There are a lot more names and issues on the Nov. 4 ballot than John McCain and Barack Obama and if one looks further down the ballot, Utah voters will see candidates for the U.S. Congress, Utah governor, state positions and a fight for local tax dollars.
There is one federal issue on this year’s ballot – the seat for U.S. Congress District 1. The candidates are sitting Republican Congressman Rob Bishop, Democrat Morgan Bowen, Libertarian Joseph Geddes Buchman and Kirk D. Pearson of the Constitution Party.
The four candidates agreed the economy is the number one issue facing USU students, the community and the nation. How they would choose to handle it should they be elected, however, is different.
Bishop said short term, the country has to deal with banks and bailouts but to see success long term, a decent energy policy must be created.
“Energy still drives the economy,” he said. “Energy independence is the most important thing we can do for the long term of the economy.”
To accomplish this, Bishop said he will continue his work with different areas of transportation and USU’s Space Dynamics Lab. He said he will also continue a comprehensive approach with the Americans for American Energy Act, a bill he sponsored that encourages the production of all kinds of energy including nuclear, fossil and biofuels. The bill also focuses on energy conservation.
Bowen said energy is also key to stabilizing the economy in the future and the country should explore domestic oil, solar, wind and hydrogen power. Cutting spending and reform in Washington are also solutions, he said. Bowen said big banks and big organizations in Washington have to change and their influences have to be eliminated.
He said, “Campaign connections get the bulk of the money. We’ve got to get the influence of political money out of the system.”
To help the economy if he becomes a member of Congress, Buchman said he would support no new federal spending on anything.
“By and large, bottom line, the federal government is way too big, spends way too much,” he said, adding, the people in Congress, whom he calls dempublicans, are “both drunken sailors spending money like there’s no tomorrow.”
He also said he would cut the U.S. Department of Education which he said would give the government $80 billion to spend elsewhere. The most important action to take with the economy, Buchman said, is to “try freeing the economy” and just letting it grow. More specifically, Buchman said collecting taxes and then returning portions of that money to tax payers is irresponsible spending.
“Leave it with them to begin with. It’s insanity, I think,” he said.
Pearson agreed the economy is one of the biggest issues for everyone in the country. To help, he said the nation has to get away from debt-based currency money because it is not sustainable. The government has got to stop postponing economic recovery by paying debt with debt.
“We need to bet back to sound money, sound money backed up with value,” Pearson said.
He also agreed with Buchman that cutting the federal education program is a good idea to secure the future of education and save millions of dollars in taxes.
While each candidate agreed the economy is the biggest issue they would have to deal with as members of Congress, they have other issues on which they would like to focus.
Bishop said he would like to see a greater award for innovation and also increase funding in areas of military infrastructure that are lacking. Any more cuts, he said, would be devastating.
“We need to play catch up,” he said.
Bishop said he would work for more local control regarding education and fight against No Child Left Behind.
He said people should vote for him because he has experience and leadership skills. Bishop has served in the state legislature for 16 years and served on a number of committees. He said he wants more decisions to be made on a local level.
“I have an incessant desire to make sure fewer decisions are made in Washington,” Bishop said.
Another issue Bowen said he will focus on is foreign radioactive waste in Utah. He said he does not want to see the state be the “dumping ground of the world.”
Bowen has never been a professional politician and because of that, he said he has a lot more to offer than his opponents.
He said, “I’ve been on the outside. I see things from the outside looking in saying, ‘Wow.'”
He’s also worked in businesses with sustainable and organic agriculture nationally and internationally. He is a seminary teacher for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which he said keeps him in connection with younger generations and their needs.
Voters should support him for their future, he said.
“The number one thing is we have had a Congress and a congressman who have been absolutely reckless. They have mortgaged your future. That is why I am running,” Bowen said. “I am running from my children.”
Bowen said his campaign has made inroads into this “very, very one-sided district” and because of that, he is hopeful about Tuesday.
He said, “With a little luck and a lot of new voters, we may have an upset on Election Day.”
Buchman said as a congressman, he would end the war on drugs because it is not working. He would also fight to get the government out of people’s lives. He said the government has no place defining marriage. Buchman said he would broaden the protection for whistle blowers.
He said the people of District 1 should elect him because he would give everyone an equal shot at the American dream and reward hard work. Another qualification is that he is not a politician. He is an educator that despises politics, what he calls the “business of blood sucking creatures.” He is running because his campaign has offered him a much bigger classroom.
Despite all of this, Buchman said he knows he will only get 2 or 3 percent of the vote.
“I have no hope to be elected,” he said.
He said American people suffer from “battered voter syndrome” and should vote for him because he said he offers something different than the two main parties. Even though he said he will lose, people should still support him and not consider it a wasted vote.
Buchman said, “It’s a vote that sends a very strong message.”
Other areas for concern for Pearson are immigration and restoring America to its founding principles.
“I think that we need to get our immigration problem under control. There are 20,000 suspected terrorists in the country. We have no idea who or where they are,” he said. “We are at war with countries who want to destroy us.”
Pearson said he has a plan for immigration that would require illegal immigrants to fill out what Pearon calls a liberty card within a certain time period, explaining why they are in America and what they are doing here. Depending on the immigrant’s situation, and whether or not they completed the form, appropriate action would follow. He said this would help control the amount of legal immigrants in America and secure the country.
He said, “We want to make sure they want to come to be part of America, not with the intention to destroy America.”
Pearson said the future of the country also depends its restoration.
“I think that America became the greatest country in the world because of our Constitution and following correct principles. We tested it and proved it,” Pearson said. “In the last 60 to 80 years we’ve gotten further and further away from it. My biggest goal would be to get us back on track.”
Pearson said people should vote for him because he can better provide opportunities to take care of families and secure their future. He also said he has the experience of running a business and managing its budget wisely.
“I have the experience and the knowledge of how the government works. I have run a business in the black and that makes me more qualified than 90 percent of our congressmen who don’t know how to balance their checkbook and that’s why I should be elected,” Pearson said.
Another issue on the ballot is Proposition 1. According to information found on www.cachecounty.org, it would allow a bond, not exceeding $10,000,000, for acquiring land to protect, according to the language on the ballot, “open space and/or maintaining air and water quality, scenic views and vistas, wildlife habitat, working farms and ranches, outdoor recreation and trails, and related improvements, and for payment of expenses reasonably incurred in connection with the aquisition and construction of said improvements.”
For taxes, this would mean an increase of $16.50 on a $170,000 county residence and a $30 increase on a $170,000 county business.
Support for the proposition stems from the issues mentioned in the proposition itself – preserving lands and protecting the Cache Valley way of life, according to www.conservationcampaign.org/cachecountylands/.
Lynn Lemon, Cache County executive, is against Proposition 1. He said his main concern is the economy. He said he believes people cannot afford a tax increase at this time, especially for a nonessential governmental issue. And considering that land easements already exist and that people are currently taxed for some of these issues, like trails, he thinks the measures proposed are unnecessary. He said money should be raised for this issue, not taxed.
“I think people will be sorely disappointed,” Lemon said. “I think it’s wrong to borrow the money and go into debt because of it.”
Lemon also said the proposition is too vague. Preservation of these items is great, he said, but no one supporting the proposition has been able to tell him how they are going to achieve these ideals.
He said, “Tell the public what you are going to do about it.”
–arie.k@aggiemail.usu.edu