Taxes issue in 1st District

The primary disagreements between Rep. Rob Bishop and his Democratic challenger in the 1st Congressional District, Steve Olsen, can be found on the nation's balance sheet.

Based on the candidates' responses to a Deseret Morning News questionnaire, distinctions between the two are almost non-existent on moral issues and separated only by shades of gray when it comes to major issues like the Iraq war or immigration.

Deseret Morning News graphic Candidate Q & A: Rob Bishop Requires Adobe Acrobat.

Only when discussing the tax cuts passed by Congress in 2001 does a genuine chasm appear between their stances.

Olsen, in fact, stresses repeatedly in his answers that there have not actually been tax cuts. Instead, the so-called cuts, he says, are actually a "grandchild tax" because future generations will have to spend more of their tax dollars to fix the deficits incurred during the previous six years.

Bishop, R-Utah, argues that the tax cuts need to be made permanent because it helps the economy when people "keep more of their hard-earned dollars." The deficits and tax cuts are not "inherently connected," and by letting people control their money the economy will eventually prosper.

Both candidates agree that a part of the problem is that the government continues to spend money beyond its budget.

Deseret Morning News graphic Candidate Q & A: Steve Olsen Requires Adobe Acrobat.

Those reductions will not happen, however, if Democrats take control of Congress, Bishop said. They will raise taxes — or at least suspend the current tax cuts — to bring in more money, which will not force the federal government to reduce their spending, but encourage spending, Bishop said.

Actually, a Congress with Democrats in the majority would help reduce the deficit because they would no longer budget using "fantasy math," Olsen said. They would also work to immediately fix the problems caused by the "reckless" spending of Republicans.

On moral issues, Bishop and Olsen both reflect the majority opinions of their very conservative district and each other. For abortion, they both essentially quote the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both oppose human cloning and gay marriage, although Olsen does say he would like some sort of legal, civil arrangement for unmarried people to have joint property rights and hospital visitations.

Solving the immigration problem needs to be done for security reasons, and it needs to address not only the illegal-entry issues but employment challenges, both candidates agree.