Utah U.S. Senate candidates discuss higher education

Julian Hatch said he knows he's not going to be elected, nor or the other four candidates running against incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch. He said his goal in this campaign is not so much to be elected, but rather instigate election reform by giving people a real alternative from the two-party monopoly that is predominantly funded through corporate contributions. "Special interest and lobbyists." Julian Hatch said. "That's what's running our country right now, not the voice of the people. It's about the big money; the wealthy, big corporations that have this influence." Another problem Hatch has faced in his campaign has been getting media attention, which he said only focuses on democrats and republicans. He said neither he nor the three other third-party candidates in this race were invited to debate with Democrat Pete Ashdown and Republican Orrin Hatch. "When you vote for a green or a third-party candidate," Julian Hatch said," that sends a strong message to the republicans and democrats that they can no longer take your vote for granted." He said the political and governmental system is broken and to fix it would require caps on how much a person can spend such as other states have done and reinstituting the fairness doctrine requiring all candidates to be given equal coverage on radio and TV. On tuition, Hatch said, public education all the way up to universities should be free to all students - "It's going to help our country, make it a better place for all of us and make it so these students can have better jobs and better lives." He said a fraction of the nearly $600 billion going to defense and the Iraq war each year could be spent to make education free. On taxes, Hatch said he supports the concept of FairTax, which would eliminate the federal income tax and replace it with increased sales taxes. The measure, he said, would dissolve the IRS, and rich people and companies would not be able to hire specialists to write off all of their expenses and not pay any taxes. He recommended those interested to go to www.fairtax.org for more information. For more information on Hatch's campaign, visit www.hatchforsenate.org.