By RUSTY PAYN
There is a good deal of optimism in the Chris Cannon for Congress campaign. He is the most well-known of the six candidates in the 3rd District primary race, according to a Daily Herald poll taken in February.
Cannon also has money, and a lot of it. Campaign officials point out that when records are released, Cannon will prove that he can raise as much, or even more money than incumbent Bill Orton. And in politics, money does a lot of talking.
Cannon is a part-owner of Geneva Steel, along with his brother Joe. He is head of Cannon Industries, which invests in companies such as computer technology and businesses that allow people to work out of their homes. Cannon has Washington experience, serving in two high positions in the Interior Department under President Reagan from 1983-86.
States must be returned flexibility, authority and responsibility for many programs and problems left to the federal government, Cannon said. He said he trusts the governor and local leaders to solve the nation’s problems more than Congress.
“I believe state governments can deliver many services more efficiently and effectively than the federal government,” Cannon said. “State governments will also be more accountable to those they serve than the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.”
Cannon suggests three solutions to carrying this out: turn welfare programs to the states with unrestrained block grants; eliminate unfunded federal mandates, and provide funding for regulations Congress imposes on states and local governments; and transfer more authority over public land to the states, and give them more power to decide how the land will be utilized for recreation, environmental protection and resource development.
The tax code must be scrapped, Cannon said. He proposes a $500 per child tax credit for families, a reduction of the capital gains tax from 28 percent to 19.8 percent, and a simpler tax system that eliminates loopholes.
He also supports a constitutional amendment that balances the federal budget.
Officials within the Cannon campaign hope that he can get 70 percent of the delegate vote May 4, which would mean an automatic nomination. That way, they say, money and resources could be spent focusing on Orton, rather than another challenger within the party.
