GOP House candidate Morgan Philpot aims to cut federal spending

SALT LAKE CITY — Former state legislator Morgan Philpot says the nation's spending is out of control.

"We've got to reboot America," he said during a news conference Wednesday, in which he outlined his plans for cutting federal spending if he's elected to Congress this year.

Philpot is the Republican nominee running against Democratic incumbent Rep. Jim Matheson.

"As patriotic citizens, we are in an economic war with our own government," he said. "It's a war we have to win."

He said a number of things can be done in the short, medium and long terms to reign in federal spending.

In the short term, Philpot said, Congress can adopt a budget, rescind any unspent stimulus money and apply it to the budget deficit and stop funding the federal health care law.

Philpot acknowledged that some of his plans, such as eliminating funding for the health care law, won't work unless enough fiscally conservative Republicans are elected to have a majority in Congress.

In the medium term, Philpot said he would like a two-year moratorium on earmarks while Congress considers reforms. He also would support a two-year budget cycle, with the nonbudget year dedicated to oversight of existing spending.

In the long term, Philpot would like to fix entitlement programs, such as Medicare and Social Security, to continue funding current participants while creating a plan for people who aren't participants to invest their allocation privately in the future. He would also support increasing the age threshold for participation in the programs.

He said he would support a constitutional amendment to require federal balanced budgets. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, recently introduced such an amendment. Matheson also supports a balanced-budget amendment, said his spokeswoman, Alyson Heyrend.

Philpot criticized Matheson for his vote Tuesday to spend $26 billion on Medicaid and teacher salaries and for previous votes for stimulus-type spending.

Heyrend said Matheson has voted for many spending cuts, such as eliminating the Department of Energy's $2.2 billion program to build Yucca Mountain and eliminating $5.16 billion in subsidies for corn-based ethanol.

Matheson also voted for a bill that has now been signed into law the eliminates $105 billion in government waste by holding federal agencies accountable to not overpay or pay twice for goods and services, she said.

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