Chris Cannon - running for US House

This morning I got to listen to Chris Cannon. To be fair I was in the back of the room and the music throughout the rest of the restaurant was blaring and I was close to the bar station so sometimes it was hard to hear. He definitely needed a microphone.

Here's what he had to say:

ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE: The economic stimulus package was a bad idea.

ENERGY BILL: He said that when asked what her greatest accomplishment this past year Nancy Pelosi responded the lower energy costs with the democrats "energy bill." He said he took a leading role in trying to stop them.

STRENGTHENING U.S. DOLLAR: We need to strengthen our dollar. He says we are cheating our children and the creditors with the sliding of our dollar. Our sliding dollar is our single most challenge to our leadership worldwide and energy is the single biggest component of the slide. He says that we have more oil shale (make diesel fuel out of it) than the middle east and there are 6 companies here that have the technology to produce oil for less than $25 a barrel.

HEALTH CARE, MEDICARE & SOCIAL SECURITY: We have exploding medical costs. He says that government programs don't work for 3 reasons. 1) Bureaucrats are involved. 2) Whenever bureaucrats are given money to distribute there is almost always corruption. 3) All democrats think that our welfare system is good. He says that the government is going to stifle innovation and that we can't let the government mandate socialized medicine.

INTERNET: He says that our internet policies should never be a decision by the federal courts. He introduced bill that limits the federal government. Utah state has the right to deem content on the internet as illegal and the federal government doesn't have the right to say it's protected by the 1st amendment (in reference to pornography). He also wants to criminalize the misuse of trademarks for websites. See www.fosi.org

WHY RUNNING?: He's a conservative. He wants to stay in as long as his influence is rising.

IMMIGRATION: He says we need to allow the use of border troops. We can't have a country without borders. In 1986 the government stooped requiring people here on visas to report where they were living. He feels this was a mistake. Many people crossing the borders are funding the trip by doing something criminal. He said right now there is a Civil War in Mexico that is not being publicized because of the people fleeing the country. He says that illegals are coming here and doing more illegal things like purchasing false documentation of all kinds, such as ids and car registrations. He says that he never endorsed John McCain's bills on immigration. He says it's a $4.3 trillion issue.

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND: He said he didn't support it, but then President Bush asked him to really look at it. He said that the legislation for it was good, but even the best ideas in government don't work well. He says that in Utah it has not worked well on every level. We should get rid of it. See endfeded.net (I haven't been able to get on this site all week).

MINORS: There is a law in Utah that protects minors from having to see material that is deemed inappropriate (I didn't catch the official name of it). One of the delegates asked what Chris could do to enfore this law in referencing some magazine covers. He said that it's a state law not a federal law and that it should be dwelt with locally. If we are having a problem with it we should contact our city, county or state attorney.

MORTAGE MARKET: He says that the vast majority of wealth is in homes. He says that the worst thing for it would be the passing of the bankruptcy bill that would allow changes in the mortage loan amounts. Allowing the government to reduce the morgage amounts and percentages.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING: He says the government needs to spend less and extend tax cuts. We need 45-50 conservative republicans in office who will vote for less spending. If we are going to grow the war we need to cut domestic spending. He thinks that John McCain will work with congress.

TAXES: He says that if we cut down on government spending that will take care of the consumption tax. The Fair Tax would be higher than stated because you would still have to add in local and state taxes.

LEGISLATION: He would like to have the government become more transparent. He would like the bills to be posted online so that the American people can have free access to them to read them and scrutinize what is in them. Chris said there are only 2 other congressman who have introduced and passed more legislation than he has.

ENGAGED: He says that people are really hungry to be engaged.