First question was WHAT WOULD YOU DO ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION?
Jason: I don't believe in keeping a second class of citizens. It's immoral to allow it because "it's good for business."
Seven-Point Plan
1. Fix legal immigration - We have people trying to get in the right way who have to wait over 20 years.
2. I reject amnesty. If you cut in line, you go to the back of the line.
3. I want to build the border fence, get rid of rewards and incentives for people to be here illegally. Tom Tancredo proposed a bill that would require someone applying for Medicaid to prove they were legal. Cannon voted against it. I would get rid of birthright citizenship.
4. We do not enforce the current law. 600,000 fugitive aliens in US.
5. Give business tools they need to hire legally. E-Verify.
6. Insist on assimilation. Saying Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish "just wrong."
7. What do we do with the ones who are here? Fingerprint them, photograph them, target a date where they must leave the country. 12 months? 18 months? If they don't, we jail them then deport them. Enforce Visas.
Local officers made Immigration agents? I'm in favor of some training but it's a mixed bag.
If you get to Congress, most of the people in DC are the ones doing nothing. How will get your program through? I believe there will be more Congressional turnover. There are no Utah congressmen in Immigration Reform Committee (?). Not one Democrat lost in 2006 federally.
What's Cannon's view on immigration; how do you differ? Dec. 2005 - Cannon did not vote for Duncan Hunter border-fence amendment. Other groups donating money to Cannon that'd be pro-illegal immigration (Landscaping union). Cannon voted for bloated budget that raised deficit to 9.3 trillion.
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HEALTH CARE
A woman currently going through chemo for breast caner asked about health care. Jason's mother died from cancer at age 52. Joined Gov. Huntsman team after seeing Huntsman Cancer Institute. (Jason teared up in here somewhere and it felt sincere.)
Bush offered $30 billion to Africa to fight AIDS. We only have $6 billion for NIH, with 1500 a day dying from cancer in USA. Our priorities are screwed up. We only pay disabled vets $1400 a month. That's wrong.
We need private health-care solutions. It's very complex. He knows his end-goal but isn’t sure how to get there.
Same with taxes. Tax reform end-goal - tax consumption but not production.
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GLOBAL WARMING
Jason: I disagree with Gov. Huntman on global warming. I believe it's a farce. I don't buy Al Gore's version. I'm a conservative and I want to conserve our resources, but I want to tap into them. Would never vote for cap-and-trade.
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ENERGY
Estimated 2 billion barrels of oil shale in Utah & Colorado . The time to act was years ago. Should have revisited NEBA when we had a Republican president, Republican House and Republican Senate. Cannon was head of Western Caucus and nothing got done.
Jason is pro-nuclear.
Spent 20 minutes with Pres. of Shell Oil. He said we have no energy policy.
Built win-win coalition with Legacy Highway . Called up Sierra Club, found out they'd never been invited to Governor's office before. They worked out a deal. (One guy in crowd said Legacy Highway was a failure, that it wound up being nothing like they thought it was going to be.)
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Q: How will you stick to your principles? You'll have to deal with Democrats. Seems like many Republicans change when they get there.
A: I will represent Utah to Washington, not Washington to Utah .
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MY FIRST QUESTION. I asked him to address the evolution of his views from when he supported Michael Dukakis in 1988 to being a Republican now.
Dukakis story - Jason's dad's first wife was Kitty who became Kitty Dukakis. Became co-chair of Dukakis for Prez. Went to BYU in 1987 as agnostic Democrat. In 1990, went through spiritual conversion, joined LDS church, realized values were closer to Republican than Democrat. Told story of spending day with Pres. Reagan in 1991. Reagan gave him his autograph, cufflinks, tie clip when done.
MY SECOND QUESTION. You don’t live in the 3rd congressional district. Do you plan to move or gerrymander boundaries later to put your house in 3rd district?
Constitution requires a Rep live in state and be 25. Lives in Alpine, no intention to move. State legislature put us in 2nd district in 2002. Alpine will be in 3rd district in 2010 when Utah gets 4th district.
Somewhere in there I mentioned Chris Cannon’s blog that posted that morning that gave seven issues on which Jason’s “flip-flopped.” He wished I had it up but Hampton doesn’t have free wireless access until you have a room key code. He said he heard there’s a Truth About Jason website out there now that smears that is paid for by Cannon’s campaign.
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IRAQ
We haven't sacrificed enough. On the other hand, why do we have 10,000s of troops in Germany , South Korea , etc? I challenge the notion we need that many around the world.
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One questioner said they heard a Cannon supporter say Chaffetz has no heart.
Jason: I've done everything I said I was going to do. I am specific with voters.
Diedre (volunteer campaign manager): I tesify to Jason's heart. He means what he says, and he believes what he’s doing.
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One old lady, state delegate, said: I've heard nothing new. He's doing things in DC. You're just making promises.
Where do we differ:
- Cannon says he's for balanced budget, but he voted for $2.9 trillion bloated budget that puts the deficit past $9 trillion. The budget has doubled since Cannon’s been in office.
- Go to earmarkpledge.com, he won't ask for earmark until earmark reform happens.
- Cannon voted for Omnibus bill that had 9500 earmarks. One was for golf-course renovation. He got $300,000 to restore Riverton historical building among other things, but that was wrong.
- Refuses to let people know what earmarks he's asking for.
- No Child Left Behind; shouldn't even be for federal Dept. of Education.
(Old lady defended Cannon here, saying NCLB has been twisted around in DC into something unrecognizable; they got into some banter here)
- Cannon was for stimulus package; now says he's against it. Jason said it just increases the deficit.
- Cannon voted for prescription drug bill. It’s another entitlement we can’t afford.
- Voted for Student Adjustment Act. I'm against.
- Natl Defense Authorization Act. Cannon for - Pres can bypass governors in calling up Natl Guard. That’s wrong. (He listed a couple other bills but I didn’t know what they were nor did he explain).
Go to Reagan21.org – “I want to lock arms with them.”
MY THIRD QUESTION
Republicans deserved to lose control in 2006 because they made so many wrong choices, going along with Bush on things when they should not have. Massive increases in spending, therefore increasing deficit, etc. So assuming you win and McCain wins, what are the issues you agree with him on, and what are the issues you disagree with him?
Jason: I support McCain, most importantly for the types of judges he would nominate to the Supreme Court. On the other hand we disagree on whether to drill in ANWR (Jason for, McCain against), Global Warming (McCain acknowledges it; Jason thinks it’s a farce), illegal immigration (Jason would be tougher than McCain.) McCain would better for US than Obama.
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One Guy: I’m sick & tired we don't have energy independence. They’ve been talking about it for 25 years, and they’ve done nothing.
Jason: Loosen regulations. Shell prez said "I know where oil is; I can't get it. I need to set aside $10s of millions for 'the process'." Republicans in Congress should have acted years ago, especially when they had control in DC. Supports oil shale, coal, nuclear, solar, wind, biofuels, whatever. Thought Congress overreached and overreacted on corn ethanol, which only increased cost of food.
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Jason’s question to Cannon supporters: What are the 2 most important he's done?
Old Lady: He wants to get oil shale drilling going.
Jason: No, not what he says he’s working on. What has he accomplished?
Old Lady: Moritorium on internet taxes….
Jason: And if that’s your most important issue, good for him.
Points out he would have voted more than half the time the same way Chris voted.
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