1st District hopefuls spar
By Brady Snyder
Deseret News staff writer
A trio of 1st Congressional District candidates met Saturday to debate issues ranging from Social Security and Medicare to the potential of war in Iraq. Democrat Dave Thomas painted himself as a regular guy, unattached from special interests. The candidate promised to represent moderate Utahns.
"When it makes sense I'll be with the Republicans. When it makes sense I'll be with the Democrats," he said.
Republican Rob Bishop pointed to his experience as former speaker of Utah's House of Representatives. That background will prove crucial for organizing and rallying support in Congress, he said.
Green Party candidate Craig Axford vowed to be a voice for campaign finance reform. Axford said he would also work to federally designate some 9.1 million Utah acres as wilderness.
The debate, held at Salt Lake County Council chambers, was sponsored in part by AARP, so Medicare and prescription drug benefits, especially for seniors, took first billing.
The three candidates agreed that Medicare's prescription drug plan is broken. Bishop said he would work to add prescription drugs to Medicare's current coverage. Additionally, he supports decreasing the 15-year patent pharmaceutical companies can place on new drugs. That way, he said, the drugs wouldn't have a single manufacturer for so long and the free market competition would drive down prices.
Thomas said he would seek a system where consumers in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada could purchase the same drugs for the same price. Currently, prescription drugs in Mexico and Canada are much cheaper, but they don't have to be, Thomas said.
Axford favors a uniform health care system managed by the federal government, similar to the Canadian plan. Like Medicare, all three candidates said that Social Security was a broken system.
Thomas said he supports the "lock box" system in which Social Security money could not be used to patch up the nation's general fund. Also, there should be a mechanism where people who don't want to participate in Social Security could opt out and gain a tax break, he said.
Axford said rich people, who don't need Social Security for retirement, shouldn't get the money. Instead, all social security dollars should be distributed among the middle and lower classes. Bishop pointed to his experience in reorganizing the state retirement system and said similar principles could be used for Social Security.
All three said they don't favor privatized Social Security, but Bishop said people should have a say in how some of their funds are invested, similar to a 401K retirement plan.
As for war, Axford stood staunchly opposed to President Bush's push for war on Iraq. The Green Party candidate called Bush's plan "pre-emption" and said there wasn't enough evidence Iraq is a direct threat to the U.S.
Bishop and Thomas said they want to believe and support President Bush.
