At the same moment that U.S. senators (including both from Utah) voted in favor of a $700 billion bailout bill for Wall Street, two of the three candidates for Utah's 3rd District House seat decried the move.

At a debate Wednesday night, Republican Jason Chaffetz and Constitutionalist Jim Noorlander said the federal government has no place solving the woes of private industry.

"We need a workout, not a bailout," said Chaffetz, who was replete with one-liners throughout the evening.

Noorlander, who repeatedly invoked a divine founding of the country, added that debt is not an accepted principle of such a nation.

The third candidate, Democrat Bennion Spencer, said something must be done because the situation is no longer about bailing out fat-cat CEOs. Everyone from big businesses down to used-car buyers is finding credit difficult to come across. He said in Utah County there are those with credit scores of 650 who can't get a loan for a car because the market has seized up.

"Wall Street is bleeding into Main Street right now," he said. "We cannot let this go unattended."

(The U.S. Senate passed the bailout bill 74-25. The House, which rejected an earlier version of the bill, is expected to vote again Friday.)

Energy

The debate at Utah Valley University was a cordial event, with candidates answering 10 questions posed by moderators from the Daily Herald.

On energy, the candidates mostly agreed that the country needs to become energy independent. If that means drilling, then drill, Spencer said, as long as the oil stays in the country. The problem with opening up more oil fields is that it will end up on open world markets and not benefit the country it's coming from, he said.

Chaffetz, who touted the free market much of the night, said there is too much regulation and taxes on corporations. The government should also not be in the business of picking winners. Ethanol, for example, has been foisted onto the market by the government, whether it was wanted or not, he said.

Noorlander says the cost of gas isn't high because of demand, but because the federal government continues to overprint money. That in turn devalues the dollar and drives prices up. Both Chaffetz and Noorlander said they are in favor of nuclear energy.

Debt and earmarks

With the country $11 trillion in the red, the candidates were asked how they would reduce the mounting debt.

"We do not have a revenue problem in this country," said Chaffetz, "we have a spending problem in this country."

He said there needs to be across-the-board budget cuts, much like Utah did in a recent special session while axing $200 million. "It's not fun, it's painful, but it's the right thing to do."

Bennion said the government should only spend money it has and cut unnecessary spending, noting that he has found 400 federal programs that could be cut because they duplicate state efforts.

"We should not pass legislation unless there are funds there to pay for it," he said.

Noorlander said that by eliminating all taxes except a 1-percent transaction tax, the country could quickly pay down it's debts.

A question was specifically asked about the use of earmarks. Chaffetz continued his well-publicized assault on the practice and its often-used anonymity. If the system is reformed to include complete transparency, he said he would be open to using them. Spencer contends that without an earmark system, Utah would be left out in the cold when more powerful congressional districts take over the budget process.

Noorlander said earmarks are the symptom of creeping socialism and "its twin sister, communism."

"Earmarking is not used to do good things," he said. "If they were up-front, they would not need to be earmarked."

Immigration

Again, the candidates agreed on many aspects of a hot-button issue in Utah: immigration. Borders need to be tightened and the millions of illegal immigrants already here need to be dealt with, the candidates said.

"If it was easy, it would have been done a long time ago," Chaffetz said. He said the country needs to export the 600,000 criminals and fix legal immigration. "Until we fix legal immigration in this country, we will continue to have this problem."

Spencer expanded on the legal immigration situation, saying that many of the engineering and science graduates from universities are from out of the country. They aren't willing to wait for five years to gain citizenship and instead go back to their country of origin, taking their expertise with them.

"We can create a pathway to citizenship that is more streamlined," he said.

Noorlander claims that 60,000 Americans have been killed by illegal immigrants since Sept. 11, 2001, and recommends militarizing the border. He proposes a "liberty card" that would give illegal immigrants four years to get their affairs in order before they have to leave the country. If they are caught after that, the government would seize all their assets and forcibly send them back.

Presidential predictions

Spencer predicts Barack Obama by seven points in November. Chaffetz says McCain, with the caveat that it's "not the role of the U.S. Congress to be a cheerleader for the president."

Noorlander also predicts McCain, "however, he's a globalist and he will literally destroy the Republican Party."