Congressional candidate Tina Cannon of Mountain Green says that she predicted the current round of hyper-inflation and its associated rising prices in 2020.
MORGAN COUNTY – Congressional candidate Tina Cannon hates to say “I told you so,” but she did.
With the cost of everything skyrocketing, including five-dollar gasoline on the horizon, Cannon can only say that she predicted hyper-inflation when the voters of Utah’s 1st Congressional District sent Blake Moore to Congress in 2020.
“Now, more than ever,” she says, “Washington needs a good accountant.”
Cannon is no stranger to state and local politics. She is a native Utahn, a resident of Morgan County and a graduate of Utah State University.
She has run her own accounting firm specializing in federal and local business taxation for more than a decade. Her introduction to state politics was as a volunteer for former U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop during his first campaign in 2002 and has been involved in Republican Party politics ever since, including a stint as GOP chairperson in Morgan County.
The past two years have proven that Cannon is also something of a prophet.
“We have not heard the end of stimulus,” she said in her speech to the 2020 GOP nominating convention. “It’s absolutely crucial that any future stimulus be limited and targeted to prevent hyper-inflation.
“It is of the utmost importance that any additional federal response use programs and structures already in place to speed aid and limit the cost and growth of the federal bureaucracy.”
When Cannon made that prediction in the summer of 2020, the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act proposed by President Donald Trump had already added $2 trillion to the national debt.
After winning the general election, President Joe Biden boosted the federal deficit by another $1.9 trillion with the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in 2021.
It’s bad enough when inflation is an unintended consequence of government spending, Cannon says, but the spiraling cost of gas in probably intentional.
“When it comes to gas prices,” Biden said in late May, trying to paint a rosy picture of the pain at the pump, “we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place.
“God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels …”
The problem in Washington, Cannon says, is that there are only 11 members of Congress out of 435 representatives in the House and 100 senators who have any kind of training in accounting.
“I am uniquely qualified to address this economic crisis,” she says.
Cannon says that she spent her professional life working with businesses; understanding the needs of Utah’s families and communities; and, acquiring hands-on experience solving economic problems at the local level.
That background has earned Cannon the endorsement of former congressman Rob Bishop.
“I fully support Tina Cannon …” Bishop says. “From managing a business to overseeing county budgets, she understands that we cannot spend our way out of today’s problems. And she has the integrity that Congress is lacking.”
Cannon is scheduled to face off against incumbent U.S. Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) and challenger Andrew Badger in a debate being hosted by the Utah Debate Commission on Thursday, June 2 at 2 p.m. That event will be carried live by KVNU 610 AM / 102.1 FM.
She will also attend a meet and greet with local candidates for elected positions on Saturday, June 11 at noon at Green Canyon High School, according to Cache GOP County Chair Shellie Giddings.