So, I've been seeing signs up all over the place for Chris Cannon's reelection and I'm wondering who his opponent is.
I can't find anyone who seems to be running against him (outside of his own party, that is).
That being said, I'll do it.
There's no way we can let a guy like Chris Cannon run un-opposed. Does anybody know what procedures I'd have to go through to run as a Democrat against him? I'm assuming the local Democratic party office would have some who'd know.
It's not like I'd be a great candidate, but I'd certainly be great for the position. I'm not a BYU Law grad like his last opponent, Christian Burridge (who should run again), but I'm smart, know my politics and care way more about the people of Utah's 3rd Congressional than he does. He understands big business and lobbyists, but I understand people.
I also understand that domestic oil and shale drilling isn't a solution to our dependency on oil. Shifting where we get the oil isn't going to lessen our dependency on oil, it's just going to ruin our own natural resources to sate our unquenchable thirst for oil for a short time. The solutions that Cannon has been proposing are both short-sighted and ignore the problem. We need tax credits to make hybrid cars, electric cars and solar powered cars more affordable for everyone. And his solution to the problem doesn't really help Utahns. If there's one thing in Utah we have an abundance of, it's sunshine. Why not harness some of that to fix our problems instead of destroy national parks?
So... Seriously. Anybody want to step up? Or are we really going to make me do this?
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I think you should do it. I'll be your Reverend Wright.
Chris Cannon's opponent is Jason Chaffetz. Jason is a highly principled individual and quite frankly he has Cannon against the ropes right now. You can find out more about Jason by going to his website at www.jasonforcongress.com or send me an email at mb@batemanaviation.com and I'll hook you up with all the links you'll need to find out who Jason is and what he represents. I can tell you for certain that he is committed to representing Utah to Washington DC, rather than the other way around which is what Chris Cannon is best known for.
The thing is, this is just another Republican and Republicans ARE the problem.
We need someone for a more progressive party to stand up for ACTUAL values that represent our neighborhoods.
As an independent ordinarily I would agree with you - to a degree. Neo-con republicans are the problem. True Reagan Republicans (of which there are very few anymore) and Taft Republicans are committed to the original values espoused by the original GOP platform. Jason is closer to being a Reagan Republican than a Taft Republican and while I don't agree with him on every single issue, we have enough beliefs in common that I have actively been supporting and working on his campaign to get him elected. Trust me, he will beat
The thing with Reagen Republicans is that they are the ones (Reagen especially) who started a lot of the problems the current neo-cons are making worse.
So, if this Chaffetz character is willing to roll back the Bush tax-cuts, vote to get us out of the War, regulate the corporations and energy companies like Roosevelt did in the New Deal and vote for single-payer, government run healthcare, I'd vote for him.
I just don't think a Republican, Reagan or Neo-con or otherwise espouses those types of values that will, indeed, help families in the 3rd congressional.
I'd be more than happy to hear otherwise though.
Dude, Roosevelt is the one that started the mess that got us into the deep doo doo we're in right now. Government was never meant to create a socialistic system where the government takes care of us from cradle to grave. You have to steal money out of the pockets of hardworking American's to support those programs. Smaller government and more private industry solutions are what our fore fathers meant for us to have. Our current Government (GOP & Dems) are selling us down the river and shipping us to hell in a handbasket with their spend, spend, spend attitude. It's got to stop or nothings going to get fixed!
Well, I'm not exactly sure which version of the history books you're getting your "facts" out of, but why don't we start with just a couple of examples of how FDR pulled out our fat out of the fryer and Republicans have worked tirelessly to undo that and make the world a less good place:
1) Energy and Utility regulation: One of the reasons we were in the Great Depression was the price gouging going on with energy companies. FDR stepped in with the New Deal and gave them price caps so that all American's could afford vital services and set laws in place that forbade lobbying and political activities on behalf of these companies to make sure it stayed that way. Bush stripped as much of this as he could under the guise of his "deregulation" and now we have rolling blackouts, Enron and a recession on the rise because of these cuts in Roosevelt's policies.
2) The framers intended the Constitution to best serve the people of this country, not industry. At the point where private industry solutions damage our people in the name of free markets and profit, I doubt that even the most conservative of our nations founders would argue with regulation and New Deal programs because it directly increases the quality of life of our nation's citizens.
3) Here's a policy of Reagan's that came back to bite us in the ass: Reagan gave Osama bin Laden billions of dollars and CIA training to fight Russia in Afghanistan. He also propped up Sadamm in Iraq. I wonder what happened with both of those problems... Could it be the costliest attack on our country since Pearl Harbor and the costliest war we've ever known because of idiotic foreign policy? The answer is a big yes.
I can go on and on and on about how wrong things are going because of this attitude that guys like Chris Cannon and Jason Chaffetz are hoping to secure. And anything that protects or adds to the rights of industry over the individual is business as usual in the halls of Washington and what has caused this recession on about a dozen different levels.
Also, the government paying for vital programs by levying taxes among the people isn't "stealing."
Social Security is vital. Government run healthcare is vital. National defense is vital. A robust federal works program to maintain our infrastructure is vital.
The founders understood that need and provided mechanisms to do so. As our needs for government services have evolved, so too have our methods of raising those funds.
Want to know what is stealing? Levying taxes to pay for an illegal war and awarding no-bid contracts flush with tax-dollars to companies like Halliburton and Blackwater who criminally under perform, overcharge and commit grievous sins and crimes in the countries they're sent to. That's stealing.
But paying taxes isn't being robbed. It's contributing to the greater good.
You wouldn't call tithing robbery, why taxes? Especially if you're one of the people who believe in American exceptionalism and that our country was somehow guided by the hand of a God?
The reason that you are seeing Chris Cannon signs, as well as a few for him Primary challenger is that they have an election on June 24. It would be foolishness for the Democrat in the race, Bennion Spencer, to go to the expense of putting up signs 5 months before the election. (Plus, some municipalities have laws about this).
Also, even if the Dems didn't have a name on the ballot, it is about 3 months too late to do so.
-Bob
Thanks for bursting my bubble Mr. Aagard.
That's good to hear though. Where can I get more info about this Spencer fellow so I can start boosting him?
http://www.bennionspencerforcongress.com/
Well, here I've found a site I can appreciate. It is refreshing to see somebody stick to their guns...in this case more government involvement in "helping out" the citizens. Too bad you are just about completely wrong in your understanding of the proper role of government. I'll stick with the founding fathers, you can stick with Marx.
P.S. One rebuttal I've heard to the New Deal (and how it made America's depression recovery take much longer than the rest of the world) is in The Forgotten Man.
Side note...while I'm against the leftist politics, one place I strongly agree with you is energy. I think we ought to be able to use our own coal and oil in this country, but our focus really ought to be on solar, wind, and the capacity to store energy. If we can commit to the next generation of energy and get to the good technology first it will prevent MANY problems in the near future.
For another interesting book ref (this one on energy) see The Coming Economic Collapse. A "sky is falling" book, and not always spot on, but it has some interesting points about depending on oil.
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