Philpot or Matheson? You Decide



Morgan Philpot (R Cand. UT)

Facts About Morgan Philpot

I suspect most people in the Utah 2nd Congressional District are quickly learning more about Morgan Philpot.  For those who haven't had a chance yet to learn about him and his positions, I encourage you to visit his website.

• Morgan is a Utah native.  He and his wife Natalie graduated from the University of Utah and lived in Salt Lake County for several years. While there, Morgan represented his neighbors in Utah House district 45.  He now lives in the Utah County portion of Utah's 2nd Congressional District.
• As a young boy, Morgan was raised primarily by his mother who spent several years parenting seven children on her own.  Starting with his first "real” job picking strawberries at age 9, he quickly learned independence and self reliance. He knows the value of balancing a budget and of making decisions based on how much money you actually have, not how much you wish you had.
• At the University of Utah, he earned degrees in Anthropology and Environmental Studies. During that time, he and his wife served internships in Washington D.C., for the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Supreme Court respectively.
• After graduating from college, Morgan took a job as the new account sales manager for a Salt Lake fabrication company. Two years later, Morgan ran in a hotly contested race for State Representative of Utah House District 45 (Sandy, Salt Lake County, Midvale) with the motto "Freedom, Family, Future."  He put together a strong, effective grassroots campaign and in 2000, at the age of 28, he became one of the youngest state legislators in the Utah House.
• As a State Representative, Morgan didn't hesitate to take strong stands on tough issues. He consistently led the fight against wasteful government spending, championed life, second amendment rights and free market principles. He sought creative and innovative ways to improve public education and was the lead sponsor of the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship, a bill that created an educational voucher program. This law has opened new avenues to a better education for Utah's families with special-needs children and now serves over 500 individuals. 
• While in the legislature, Morgan was granted the "Friend of the Taxpayer” award by the Utah Taxpayer's Association and the "Guardian of Small Business" award by the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Morgan was also one of the founding members of the House Conservative Caucus.
• In 2004, Morgan chose to leave the legislature and attend the Ave Maria School of Law, a school dedicated to life, the rule of law, and the U.S. Constitution. While there, he was privileged to learn from such influential minds as Judge Robert Bork and Charles Rice.
• Upon completion of law school Morgan clerked for Utah's Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. Morgan served as the in-house legal counsel for a Utah business for two years and is now a consultant with a private company in Sandy.
• In addition to his legislative service Morgan has also volunteered his time to Scouting, Church, and Utah politics. He has served as a State delegate, County delegate, State Central Committee member, Executive Committee member and most recently as the Vice-chair of the Utah Republican Party.

Morgan has enjoyed sharing his love of ancient history with his children through rock-hounding, camping and hiking in many areas of rural Utah. His family also enjoys gardening and reading together. Morgan currently lives in American Fork with his wife and five children.

Morgan believes his real life struggles and experiences uniquely qualify him to serve the families of Utah as the next Congressman from the Second District.

I encourage voters in the 2nd Congressional District this year to re-think their assumptions about Jim Matheson. I know I have, and I've concluded this race is a no-brainer. Join me in voting for Morgan Philpot, because here are the. . .



Facts About Jim Matheson

Congressman Jim Matheson (D-UT)

 When Democrat Jim Matheson is campaigning in Utah, he talks about being a moderate and fiscal conservative.

Once he is in Washington his voting record looks a little different.

Decide for yourself if Jim Matheson is a fiscal conservative based on his actual voting record.

Is Matheson part of the solution to an out-of-control Federal government or is he part of the problem?

Jim Matheson’s Voting Record:

• Jim Matheson has voted 93% of the time with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic majority. He votes with Republicans 5% of the time and abstains 2% of the time. He has voted for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House every time she has come up for a vote. (1)

• Citizens Against Government Waste rated Jim Matheson as "Hostile To The Taxpayer" giving him their worst rating. (2)

• He has voted for every stimulus bill since Obama took office ($1.2 trillion worth), including the most recent public employee bailout stimulus. (3)

• He recently voted to raise the debt ceiling by $2 Trillion. (4)

• When Jim Matheson took office, the national debt was $5.6 Trillion (in today's dollars). Ten years later it is now $13.4 trillion. That is $43,600 for every man, woman and child in the country. A family of four now owes $174,400 in Federal debt. (5)

• He cast the deciding vote to adjourn Congress until after the election, preventing a vote on the huge tax increase scheduled for January 1, 2011. This could result in the largest tax hike in American history, raising taxes on a family of four by over $2,000 next year. (6)

• He voted "No" on final passage of the Obama health care bill, once he knew it was going to pass without his vote. He voted "Yes" on key procedural votes, including "Deem and Pass" and the "closed rule" that made it impossible to amend the bill. These procedural votes were critical to getting the Obama health care bill passed. He now opposes any effort to defund or repeal Obamacare. (7)

Jim Matheson’s Funding:

• Matheson takes more than 84% of his campaign funds from special interest groups and political action committees (PACs). That percentage is double the Congressional average and ranks him 3rd out of 435 Congressmen. The Salt Lake Tribune recently dubbed Matheson "The PAC Man". (8)

• Nancy Pelosi has given $46,000 to his campaign and Charlie Rangel has given $45,000. (9)

Sources:
1. http://www.opencongress.org/people/show/400255_Jim_Matheson
2. http://ccagwratings.org/?page_id=737
3. http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-01-27-obama-economy_N.htm
4. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll046.xml
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals
6. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700070001/Election-2010-Philpot-criticizes-Matheson-for-adjourning.html
7. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2010-130
8. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/50209672-90/matheson-money-pacpacs.html.csp
9. http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cmte=C00344234&cycle=2006
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cmte=C00302588&cycle=2008

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The truly wonderful thing about America is freedom to choose, to vote, and to enjoy the blessings of liberty.  Matheson's voting record highlights what is wrong with the current members of Congress from both parties -- they just can't help themselves from voting for the status quo.

Let's begin anew in the 2nd District this year -- it's a good year for change and renewal because of the quality of the candidates.