To the editor:
When she realized how freely Joe Cannon has been spending on his campaign, Kristie Karren wrote (Forum, Feb. 10), "If . . . we let a man `buy' a Senate seat, we ought to be ashamed." We should be ashamed, not only because Cannon is trying to purchase a Senate seat, but because we have already allowed Orrin Hatch to purchase his Senate seat.In the 1988 election, Hatch's campaign expenditures totaled $4.5 million dollars while his challenger, Brian Moss, spent a mere $153,475. Hatch spent 29 times more than his challenger did - over $2.64 for every man, woman and child in Utah.
This is no isolated case, although Hatch's is an extreme one. All over the country, a large portion of the incumbents in Congress spend many times more than their challengers to assure themselves another term in Congress. It is time such practices stop. These millions can be put to better use than the re-election of a spendthrift Congress.
We need to stop giving money to lawmakers who spend outrageous fortunes to assure their re-election. We need to vote against those who overspend. Their campaign spending habits could be a clue to their spending habits while in office.
Jeremy J. Mayo
Farmington