Sen. Bob Bennett debates GOP challengers in Utah

[ccharles000]

OREM, Utah – U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, facing a wave of conservative opposition as he seeks a fourth term, squared off with seven GOP challengers in a debate Friday as candidates tried to win over delegates who meet next month to choose the party's nomination.

Most of the resistance to Bennett has centered around his support for the federal bailout of the financial industry. But Bennett's opponents have also criticized him for his unwavering defense of earmarks, which send taxpayer dollars to projects in lawmakers' districts outside the competitive process required for other federal spending.

Bennett, considered a moderate in Utah, told about 130 delegates and more than 100 others at Utah Valley University that eliminating earmarks wouldn't reduce the deficit by one cent. That would only give President Barack Obama, a Democrat, more power to decide which projects get funded, he said.

Bennett added that his earmark requests have always been transparent.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100402/ap_on_re_us/us_bennett_senate

[grantcart]

1. Bennett is a distant cousin of mine and while he wouldn't know me from

a hole in the wall he would know our common ancestor quite well.