Deseret News candidate questionnaire: U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 21, 2008

"1. All earmarks requested by members of Congress should be made available, online, weeks before they are voted on. The only true disinfectant is sunshine.

"2. All earmarks requested by members of Congress should be open for public comment and should receive an up or down vote.

"3. All spending done by federal agencies, with the exception of classified spending, should be available, online, in near real-time so the American taxpayer can see what is being spent and where the money is going.

"4. All earmarks requested by members of Congress should identify who requested the earmark, what relationship, if any, they have with the member, and the member should have to sign off that they have no financial interest in the earmark whatsoever.

"Lastly, because of the way the federal budget works, eliminating all earmarks tomorrow will have ZERO affect on the size of the budget. Thought of another way, eliminating earmarks is like cutting a pizza into 7 pieces instead of 8. The size of the pizza, like the size of the budget and the size of government, will not shrink one cent if we eliminate earmarks. Shrinking the budget, the size of government and addressing entitlement spending is vastly more important to our future budget discipline than earmarks."

9 -- Congress has not adopted a balanced budget in years. Do you believe it is desirable, or even possible, to have a balanced federal budget? What would you do as a congressman to get a balanced budget?

"I have voted for and support:

"1. The Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution

"2. A Constitutional amendment requiring 2/3 majorities of both Houses of Congress to pass any tax increase.

"3. And, giving the President a line-item veto.

"I believe a balanced budget amendment as well as the line-item veto will do more to balance the budget than anything else. Giving the President a line-item veto is vital because, regardless of whether the President is a Democrat or a Republican, a line-item veto can only REMOVE money from the budget, and that is rarely, if ever, a bad thing.

"Congress should also look into budgeting every two years instead of every year. This will have the effect of limiting the yearly process of budget begging, in which each agency comes to Congress with need after need. Congress should also look into incentivizing cost savings and budget cutting at executive agencies as the private sector does."

10 -- This past spring there were a number of critics complaining about how the Utah Republican Party selected delegates and oversaw intra-party challenges, including convention fights. Do you believe the party properly handled its internal nominating process? If not, what kind of improvements do you think the party should undertake to make the candidate nominating process better?

"Intraparty challenges and disagreements are natural consequences of having a robust Republican Party in Utah. As an elected official, I try to avoid interfering with the long and important tradition of the Party managing its own affairs and determining the manner in which candidates are nominated. As with government, I believe many of the disagreements we see within the Party could be avoided with greater transparency and open discussion. It is when individuals feel left out of the process that many disagreements and complaints arise. Our political parties are the bedrock of the democratic process, and they must conduct themselves accordingly. As a Republican, my overriding concern is that we not allow internal disputes to distract us from the fundamental goal of electing Republicans."