Amicus Candidate Spotlight
Bennion Spencer
Americans deserve the opportunity to realize their dreams by working hard and building a better life for their families. In America today we face unprecedented economic challenges. Middle class families are working harder than ever and receiving less. Foreclosures and fuel prices are skyrocketing. A strong middle class is more essential than ever before to America's prosperity. I am running for Congress because restoring fiscal responsibility in Washington and rewarding America's workers requires experience and strong leadership.
9 comments:
When Spencer talks about fiscal responsibility, does that mean he is going to cut spending or is he going to "stick it to the rich and business?
Catherine - a little girl about age 6, in our neighborhood - told me
that she wanted to be President one day. Both of her parents, liberal
Democrats, were standing there with us - and I asked Catherine - "If you
were President, what would be the first thing you would do?"
Catherine replied - "I would give houses to all the homeless people."
"Wow - what a worthy goal you have there Catherine."
I told her (while both parents beamed), "but, you don't have to wait
until you're President to help the homeless. You can come over to my
house and clean up all the dog poop in the back yard and I will pay you
$5 dollars. Then we can go over to the grocery store where the homeless
guy hangs out, and you can give him the $5 dollars to use for a new
house."
Catherine (who was about 6) thought that over for a second, and then
replied, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and clean up the dog
poop himself, and you can pay him the $5 dollars?"
Welcome to the Republican Party, Catherine.
Republican Jason Chaffetz, the former BYU placekicker and Bennion Spencer's opponent, is on a trip organized by a group lobbying to open the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. He has concluded that “there’s no doubt Democrats are the problem (to high gasoline prices). ... since (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi took over, gas prices have doubled.”
Nancy Pelosi responsible for high gasoline prices? Chaffetz is starting to master Karl Rove’s art of "the character attack," “the rhetoric of diversion,” and “the unsubstantiated talking point.” Both tricks get a free ride from the media nowadays. Both tricks do nothing to help us find solutions to serious problems.
You think maybe the two oil men in the White House might have had something to do with it?
When President Bush (formerly of Arbusto Energy) asked Vice President Dick Cheney (formerly of Halliburton) to come up with our energy policy a few years ago, he met with the environmental groups once, and he met with the renewable energy folks once, and he met with the oil and gas companies 40 times.
Multiple initiatives intended to lower high energy costs have passed the Democratically controlled House only to run into a brick wall in the Senate because they did not receive the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican filibusters.
Or maybe a loophole that allows corporations (such as the defunct Enron run by Bush's friend, the late Ken "Kenny Boy" Lay) to engage in unregulated speculation that ends up artificially driving up the price of oil and contributes to record oil industry profits. Maybe that had something to do with it.
Utah's Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson has introduced legislation to curb the role of excessive speculation in the oil futures trading market. It's not sexy. It didn't grab many headlines. But it could be part of a larger package that could lower gasoline prices. It’s called the Close the London Loophole Act.
“I share the suspicion that something other than the normal law of supply and demand is behind the record run up in oil prices. I think there are actions that we can take to ensure a level playing field so that no one is unfairly ‘gaming the system’ on oil trading exchanges,” said Matheson, testifying before the House Agriculture Committee. “The problem before us today is not black and white. It exists in shades of grey.”
Chaffetz could learn from Matheson. Our nation’s energy problems demand thoughtful consideration of many ideas from both sides of the aisle - not sound bites, platitudes, and accusations based on fantasy that only drive wedges between us and prevent consideration of realistic solutions.
So far, Chaffetz appears unable to meet that standard.
Was that really Rob Bishop? If so, get some new rhetoric, ok. It's old. And that's a narrow and typical Repub definition of Democrats. Of course a Dems definition of Repubs are Repubs won't talk to you unless you have money to line their pockets.
Maybe it IS old, but it is still true. Do you deny that you support social welfare? Then the story is true! It is not Rhetoric if it is true
Bill, did you cut and paste that? I just read that on the Utah Democratic site! I thought that I would do the same with my response!
Okay, so there are two oil men in the White House and they're having a tug-of-war with the Democrats in Congress. No one group is the entire problem, rather they are all part of the problem. I don't think it's fantasy to say that gas prices have risen since the Dems took power, however, that doesn't mean that the problem is unique to them. Just as there is no one person or group to blame for the energy problem, there is no one solution. ANWR should be included in the ideas on the table. It is not located in a pristine wilderness area, but rather a tundra.
Maybe the Dem. party doesn't like Mr. Chaffetz's rhetoric, but he is a place kicker who wants to look at ALL energy possiblities, including ANWR. Matheson's comments start a dialogue, but Chaffetz is stirring the pot and increasing the dialogue.
Seems reasonable to me.
You know, I think fiscal responsibility should start with the campaign. I have been impressed at Chaffetz's ability to run a solvent campaign. It is rare to see that in our political system. To me, that indicates fiscal discipline in a candidate.
Jason Chaffetz is completely wrong on every issue he supports, and would be the worst thing possible for Utah and America right now.
We need someone who is not going to continue the failed strategies of the past. Renewable energy is the only way out of the mess we are in. It is not the easiest thing to do, but it is the wisest thing to do. Even if we drill in ANWR, what happens when we run out of oil there? We all need to change our lifestyles. 100% of our electricity should come from renewable sources in ten years.
Bennion Spencer spent how many years working in the news media, and so far he has barely been able to get the Utah media to give him more than three seconds of air time or two paragraphs of print.
He should be luring Chaffetz into a debate on school vouchers, renewable energy, nuclear waste, global warming, education, healthcare, a humane immigration policy, and other progressive issues that many Utahns (including many republicans). As we saw in the Republican Primaries, Chaffetz loves a fight, so get him fighting on the issues he takes such an extreme position on. Also talking about how your at least 20 points behind without any solid survey data doesn't help either.
I am pulling for you Bennion, but its going to take a lot more than what I've seen so far to keep Chaffetz from pulling the wool over the eyes of Utah voters.
Hey Congressman Bishop: We love you! Keep up the fight!
BTW, good luck on your campaign for re-election. Who's running against you, anyway?
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