Indivisible Ogden Meeting: Cathy Callow-Heusser CD1 Candidate for Congress
Discussion, Q&A 5/14/17
Cathy’s Background
Extensive career in software engineering, education, mathematics, Utah State University, State Office of Education
Previously ran for school board in Park City
Decision to run for CD 1 based on the election of Donald Trump and the potentially better probability of winning against Rob Bishop
Not able to campaign yet due to present employment situation, but will be ready in June
She is a moderate Republican
Need to engage millennials
Doesn’t not support free college because the educational system is faulty; math is a barrier class that needs to be fixed before free college can be cost effective
Lives in Park City since 2016; Logan for over 32 years prior to that
Immigration reform
Many DACA students live in fear; yet they are allowed to attend school and are seeking paths to citizenship
Park City is 33% Spanish-speaking students in schools, many of whom were born in US
Does not support tearing families apart
We need worker permits and a path to citizenship
We need immigrant labor, service industry, agriculture, STEM
Not sure how to best accomplish immigration reform, but needed
Undocumented immigrants and taxes
Discussion on undocumented immigrants and taxes
Outreach to Hispanic voters
Cathy is looking for statistics on the number of undocumented and documented Hispanic people are in CD1
Merits of voting in Republican primaries to make the party more moderate
I suspect most Republican delegates support Bishop; he’s not had much competition
Need more moderate delegates to vote in the caucus
If Cathy is not elected in the caucus, she will run a signature campaign for the primary, and if that fails she will run as an Independent in the general election
Caucuses are held in March and April, and the convention is in June
Must be registered as a republican to attend the caucus or vote in the primary election
Cathy’s stance on public lands
Bishop supports state management of public lands, and that a study conducted by USU researchers suggests that lands cannot be self-sustaining
Loves southern Utah’s public lands, which includes Bears ears
Worked with Native Americans, many of whom support Bears Ears
Native Americans voices aren’t being honored by our legislators
Cathy wants to know more about: What do ranchers think? What about grazing rights?
Most public lands are under federal control, but legislators in Utah want state control
Cathy supports public lands continuing to be managed by the Feds
We need national financial support to maintain public lands, and that financial burden is better shared across populations larger than Utah’s. Otherwise, we would have to sell the land or increase taxpayer support for maintenance.
Use of public land for fossil fuels and solar energy
Wind and solar are taking over and becoming dominate sources of energy
We are moving away from oil
Cathy supports selling pieces of public land for energy development only if they do not include sacred places or other value such as tourism, etc.
How can we get people to pay attention to real vs. fake news, importance of Freedom of the Press?
Cathy reads many types of news sources, left and right-leaning, to understand what people might believe
There is a difference in the reporting on the firing of James Comey between far right and far left
Appalled at the divisiveness in politics
We need to raise children to be media literate, understand civics
Media has changed over the past 20 years as the internet, Facebook and twitter have changed news sources
Discussion ensued, media regulation, censorship, “fake news”
Donald Trump
Cathy is opposed to Trump’s policies and leadership
Supports investigation into collusion with Russia
Does not agree with those who don’t want an investigation
Trump support was strong in Utah and especially CD1 in the poll last month
Donald Trump was elected by the lowest percentage of voters in Utah than in any other state. A larger percentage went to other candidates.
Abortion and Planned Parenthood
Cathy shared her personal experience with miscarriage and adoption
As someone who grew up in poverty, she has relied on Planned Parenthood in the past
No Federal funds are used by Planned Parenthood for abortions; it’s against Federal law
Debate is too partisan, there’s no middle ground--what definitions are we operating under?
Cathy supports the “right to life”, which is one of the reasons she adopted kids
NRA/Gun Rights
Discussion on the effect of guns in domestic violence
Cathy owns a handgun and has previously had a conceal carry permit
Cathy opposes fully automatic weapons; doesn’t see a reason non-military citizens should need them
Climate Change
Cathy says science shows that climate change is real
The changes from the 2008 Republican platform to the 2016 Republican platform are concerning—their acknowledgement of climate change has changed over time
Big issue among younger voters
State Park Bear River Dam Project
Needs to investigate the issues
American Healthcare Act (AHCA), Universal Healthcare
Cathy’s sons don’t have healthcare without the ACA
Cathy believes Republicans in the house passed the AHCA to get the ball out of their court
House republicans wanted to avoid responsibility and kick the can to the Senate
Cathy used to be a small business owner and was unable to obtain health insurance before the Affordable Care Act; this forced her back into a salaried position
Medicare for all?
It seems numerous house republicans didn’t even read the AHCA prior to passing it
Social security and Medicare/Medicaid will fail soon if something different isn’t implemented (between 2030 and 2040)
Cathy needs to investigate the issue more to better understand the complexities of Medicaid, Medicare, single payer systems, and other possibilities
Other first-world countries spend 10-12% of their GDP on healthcare; US spends 17%. What are the other countries doing to spend less and provide universal care?
We need tax reform about every 25 years to get rid of the junk individual representatives manage to get into tax laws; we are at that 25 year mark.
Why do we pay more money for worse healthcare outcomes?
What happened to the American dream?
Technology has certainly influence our ability to achieve the American dream
An Indivisible member gave Cathy a book by Hendrix Smith, Who Stole the American Dream
Tax reform, revenue neutral, no tax increase pledge
We cannot have universal healthcare, schools, libraries, roads, etc. without taxes. What things should everyone contribute to having?
It’s problematic to say we don’t want taxes but want schools, libraries, roads, etc.
Keeping taxes low means we rely on the philanthropy of wealthy people for many of the things people want
Closing tax loop holes is crucial
Republicans, in general, want lower taxes
Citizens United, corporations are people, money is speech, income inequality, tax shelters
Out of state funding given to Utah incumbent politicians makes them very hard to beat
We need change
Cathy questions Citizens United, which allows corporations to potentially have a large influence on elections
Need tax reform to keep funds in the country; our corporate tax rate encourages off-shore business
Cathy supports equal pay for equal work
Republican Party
Cathy is fiscally conservative, but more socially liberal, especially regarding education
Racial profiling, policing people of color
Hate crime rate has increased, even in Utah
We need to ensure all are treated fairly and respectfully
We need better ways to prevent racial profiling and hate crimes.
Rob Bishop
We need more meetings with Rob Bishop in CD1
Bishop does not attend, and did not let people know how he would vote on the AHCA
Why hasn’t anyone run against Bishop?
He has a lot of out of state funding; 93% of his more than a million in funding during the last election came from out of state