CYInterview » CY Politics

Former Congressman Bob Ney Speaks Candidly about His Conviction, Congress, Corruption and His New Book, Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill

Chris Yandek — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:00:35 +0000

Though it has been at least seven years since the scandal involving high powered lobbyist Jack Abramoff shook Washington, D.C., there are still pieces to the story being revealed. There seems to be a consensus in America that today’s political leadership leaves a lot to be desired. Many believe there is an unhealthy mix of lobbyists and money with self-interested politicians all too open to being influenced on issues based on who curries favor with them.

Former Republican Congressman and House Administration Committee Chairman Bob Ney of Ohio was entangled in the Abramoff lobbying scandal and ended up serving 17 months in prison. In his new book, Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill the former Congressman offers a candid portrayal of the conflicts of interest and corruption currently damaging America’s political system.

In a 50 minute CYInterview with former Congressman Ney, featured columnist Jay Bildstein and I spoke with him about what can be done to fix the system in Washington. He provided some interesting insight on the state of America’s politics.

You can listen to the entire CYInterview or read the highlights below:

Listen to the entire Bob Ney CYInterview:

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Former Congressman Ney provides solutions – some that he claims could be done in a matter of hours – to decrease the corruption and conflicts of interest in Congress:

“There are some things that can actually, literally be done in a matter of hours. Not days, but a matter of hours and that could be done by John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi together as the Democrat and the Republican. And what can be done immediately, first of all, internally the Congress and this happens with both parties, I’m only familiar with my party, the Republican Party I was in, but they will assess you know if you want to be a chairman of a committee, it is no secret that you will raise a certain amount of money.

My task was $150,000 to go into the Republican Caucus for elections. Some people have to raise half a million, a million. People who don’t comply with that really don’t usually succeed. So internally, they can just say, ‘Look, we’re not gonna assess people for positions anymore.’ I mean that’s the selling of positions. Let’s put it right out where it is. The other thing that could be done is to uncodified what they have done into law when it came to people like Jack Abramoff and I. All of the meals I had with Jack, the travel, any of the alcohol I drank, whatever Jack Abramoff and I did has now been put into law…

If I’m a lobbyist, you’re a Congressman, I can take you to Alaska, we can hunt, we can have a $3000 dinner, not Jack Abramoff’s $50 sushi. We could have a $3000 dinner, I could raise you a $100,000, take you then to Las Vegas, take a member of your family, some staff, have a $2000 dinner, raise you $50,000, that’s all legal. Everything I just talked about is done. That again can be stopped.

The constant practice of taking federally paid staff members, which happens, taking them across the street to the Democrat or Republican war rooms as I call them and raising money on federal time can instantly be stopped and the internal money raising machines. You know good people are in D.C., there’s some really good people in Congress, but the system itself is so money geared that good people that want to do their job are gonna find it quite impossible because the system’s corrupt.”

Congressman Ney is candid about his challenges with alcohol abuse in his book. In Swideswiped, he calls himself a functioning alcoholic. Asked whether poor lifestyle choices by members of Congress were commonplace – things like drinking, smoking and overeating – and if it impacted their ability to do their jobs, Ney said it was not the norm, but it did exist. He also notes that damage to one’s mental health exists in America’s political landscape through such things as intimidation:

“I don’t think every member, you know, is smoking cigarettes, drinking and gaining pounds. I think most of them are gaining pounds because their habits and their lifestyle right now out there. It’s just fast paced, lot of receptions, lot of different food and some bad living habits I think. So that in general is out there. … I not only think physically some people have gotten themselves into bad situations out there in the high lifestyle, which is not a good lifestyle, but also I think mentally the attitude is you know shut up or you’re gonna get run over.”

Former Congressman Bob Ney

Over the last year and half, Jay has put forward propositions to various members of America’s political elite on how to get the nation back on track. He has proposed that the president, vice president and Congress take a 50 percent pay cut to demonstrate leadership at this time of fiscal distress. He also proposes that there needs to be a lifetime ban on lobbying by all former elected officials and that lobbyists should have their meetings with members of Congress logged, videotaped and posted on the Internet. Last but not least, there should be term limits. Bob agreed with Jay’s propositions and had some extra things to add on:

“I like what you said first of all. It’s dramatic, it’s aggressive, it may be called radical, but it’s a wonderful, wonderful beginning and you could add in there no staffer can go through the revolving door. You gonna be a staffer on the hill, you don’t take a lobby job like a member of Congress doesn’t do it either. You can do that. On top of it, when members of Congress take trips, this is a little secret, they get a per diem, so much spending money per day that’s unaccounted for. It still happens today. That can be eliminated.

If you take a trip where you’re going for some public process reason overseas, you can take three extra days and do what you want to do. Eliminate that type of thing so the trips are purely of substance. So yes there’s other little caveats that people could really dig into the bowels of the government for all the excesses, leased cars, you know on and on and on that can be done that would be I think not just trite. I think what you’re saying is very good and it’s a point of substance that can help make a dramatic change.”

With millions of Americans still unemployed and the country going through challenging economic times, including things like an enormous federal deficit, some have questioned whether or not President Obama has gone on too many vacations and, thus, not shown true leadership. The former congressman gives his thoughts:

“He [President Obama] shut down the White House tours and at that time I told friends of mine that was the worst one. He shuts down the White House tours, almost shuts down the Easter egg hunt, but he continues to take multiple vacations. That’s not leading by example. Don’t shut down the tours of the once in a lifetime for the kids coming to Washington. You know instead of 17 vacations, take three, how about three instead of 17.”

In his book he makes numerous claims about current Speaker of the House John Bohner. One of those claims was that the Speaker had lobbyists pay for his bar tabs and golf games. Beyond that, former Congressman Ney also alleges that Mr. Bohner offered him a job and assistance on his legal bills if he would resign from Congress back in 2006. Bob would end up resigning from Congress because he claims he accepted Speaker Bohner’s deal. He states the current Speaker of House never kept up his part of the deal. He tells us his side of the story below:

“The amount of people that have seen John Boehner over the years sitting there at the Republican club drinking every night and eating it’s, you’d have to have a line if somebody decided to call them in. It’s just one of those things. It’s never been pursued. … I mentioned these things with Boehner not to pick on him, but in the context that he had a staffer Barry Jackson who went to work for Karl Rove, they wanted the appointment of Alice Fisher and that all tied into me because once I did my idiocy and my criminal behavior, they saw a way to go over my back to get Alice Fisher her appointment.

She had covered up the torture when the FBI came to her and she had worked in the criminal division of the justice department. Senator Levin was after her because she was close to Tom Delay’s defense team. Alice Fisher was also being yelled at because she wasn’t doing anything about Abramoff and along I came committing my crimes, but a very convenient tool so she could get her appointment. Now that was all inside baseball. Nobody pursued that because the justice department didn’t want to pursue it. So you know it’s whoever’s guarding the hen house decides which hen’s gonna be round up and have their head chopped off. …

I mentioned that part because at the time again if we want to talk about anger, you better believe I was angry and I was also drinking at that time and that fueled the self-pity and the anger and the resentments at that time. Now at the end of the day he probably did me a favor by crossing me over because I got into a rehab program so I kind of look at the bright side of what he did. But the fact remains John Boehner did nothing different than Rod Blagojevich who is sitting in prison for 14 years right now. John Boehner said to me, ‘If you stop running’ and he said, ‘You only have 24 hours and the deals off. If you stop running.’ I’d stay in Congress for a while, but I would pull out of the election.

He said, ‘I will find you a comparable job to what you make.’ He said, ‘I know you don’t have a lot of money.’ And he said, ‘I will raise you money to help with your legal defense fund to help you put this stuff behind you.’ He offered me money to leave just as Blagojevich was offering money for seats. He offered me money to leave. He did it. That can be backed up. There’s people that know this happened, people that we’re involved in trying to secure a job and he just went back on his word. So I don’t know what, if that doesn’t smell bad, I would think it’s surely illegal, but again it depends on who wants to pursue that.”

You can find more information and purchase a copy of Bob Ney’s book here

You can follow Bob Ney on Twitter here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

A Man of Reason: Reason’s Editor in Chief Nick Gillespie Weighs in on Some of the Nation’s Most Vexing Issues with Fairness, Facts and Food for Thought

Chris Yandek — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 05:00:26 +0000

2013 has kicked off with two main political conversations in the United States. One concerns the nation’s finances – the so called fiscal cliff – and the other focuses on gun rights/gun control.

Many people are displeased with the nation’s trajectory. With that in mind, CYInterview welcomes back the always compelling, Reason.com/Reason.tv Editor in Chief Nick Gillespie, to talk about a variety of pressing political topics. Featured columnist Jay Bildstein joins me for this important, independent-minded discussion about the state of America.

You can read the highlights and listen to the entire CYInterview below:

Listen to the entire Nick Gillespie CYInterview:

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Summing up how the fiscal cliff was dealt with and what it says about the state of American governance, Nick says this:

“Sadly I think what they revealed is exactly what’s been happening for the past four years, basically as well as the next four years; which is a virtual, complete inability of Congress and the president to actually get together and do their job. And you know, what I think job number one for the federal government is probably come together and say, ‘Ok, this is what we plan to spend in the coming year.’ We have not had a federal budget in over three years.

We have not had a federal budget in over three years primarily because of the Democrats who run the Senate have failed to produce a document that even they can discuss, much less actually vote on. But all three branches, rather all three parts, the House, the Senate and the president – the head of the Democratic Party – all deserve a lot of blame for not coming up with an actual budget. This was, it’s inexcusable. It’s the type of thing that should be the source of massive outrage.”

The Editor in Chief of Reason.com and Reason.tv argues that both the Democrats and Republicans are not truly interested in solving the real challenges faced by the nation. He makes the case that both parties continue to kick the can down the road:

“There were many clarifying episodes throughout the whole fiscal cliff discussion and for the Republicans, it was that you know the pants wetting that went on in party about cutting relatively minor amounts of money from the defense budget, for one year essentially, because after that the rate of increase spending in the defense budget under the sequester rules actually starts going back up again. But you know it showed that the Republican Party is not actually serious about cutting spending. … The fiscal cliff showed in the Republican response and the hysteria about possibly ever cutting one dollar from a defense budget that has gone up 75 percent since 2001. It showed that they’re not serious about cutting spending.

On the flip side, what Barack Obama’s posturing and the Democratic legislature that went along with this by massive numbers, what it showed is that they are fundamentally not serious about raising the revenue necessary to pay for the government they say people are demanding. You simply, the idea, Obama first off was saying, ‘Oh I’m just gonna hit up people making $200,000 as individuals or $250,000 as a couple.’ He immediately swatted that away and went with this $400,000 and $450,000 threshold.

And you know what? That doesn’t raise any serious money. It raises maybe 60 billion dollars a year for each of the next 10 years, when we’re talking about trillion dollar deficits under Obama each year that he’s been in office, we’ve cracked the trillion dollar mark. You know, if the Democrats and if Obama seriously thought that people were behind this, they would’ve been pushing for return to Clinton level taxation at the very least where everybody at every level from the poorest American to the middle American to the wealthiest Americans were paying higher taxes.”

Nick agreed that, in a way, the United States already has a form of Universal Health Care. It is a broken system, inequitable and inefficient, within which people end up going to an emergency room for medical treatment, when they do not have money or health insurance. Mr. Gillespie reflects on this and the state of the Affordable Health Care Act, better known as Obamacare:

“You’re right that people could always walk in and get coverage in emergency hospital rooms. You know that’s not the best way to obviously get health care, but it was there and you know emergency room coverage took up something like two percent of all health care dollars spent. So it wasn’t exactly bankrupting the system to begin with. … Obamacare is gonna cover 30 million people and it’s going to cost a massive amount of money that we now know is not going to be deficit neutral, but in fact will drive up the long term deficit for the United States. And when you start to think about it, was there a way, you know, short of spending trillions and trillions of dollars in taxes and fees and mandates and regulations that we still don’t know exactly what, was there a cheaper way to give 30 million people health insurance and there has got to be a way that is less complicated, more efficient and less costly than Obamacare.”

In an article last year on Reason.com titled, The Southern Poverty Law Center Is Now Writing About Pickup Artists as Hate Groups, Reason.com writer Matt Riggs wrote about how a civil rights organization included a new category titled the “Manosphere” in its intelligence report. That report focused, among other things, on so called pickup artists – men discussing and practicing skills for the purpose of meeting women.

Nick weighed in on the issue:

“The SPLC is actually a victim in many ways of the success and the change in America from a country that had a lot of hate groups to very little hate group. And so now, they are casting about for just anything that nobody in their right mind, you know, would equate the Ku Klux Klan or you know Aryan nation groups with people who are writing about trying to pick up Icelandic women, which is one of the things. …

I think by every possible indication and every possible statistic and data, you know if you are gay, if you are black, if you are, you know, a foreigner in this country, if you are a woman, if you have an ideological point of view that is not favored, it’s a better time to be in America than it ever has been. But at the same time many people are unwilling to let go on the rhetoric that this is always a country that is, you know, constantly getting worse and worse in terms of race relations and gender relations and ethnic hate and closed mindedness.”

After the tragedy in Newtown, there has been a wide ranging discussion on the issue of gun control. Last week, controversial, nationally syndicated radio host Alex Jones appeared on Piers Morgan’s CNN show. Mr. Morgan has been vocal about his support of gun control. Mr. Gillespie gives his thoughts on the gun control issue and the segment with Jones and Morgan:

“Without minimizing the issues of the Newtown shooting, this is not an issue of you know fundamental national importance. The fact of the matter is over the past 20 years, gun violence has been going down, violent crime has been going down, schools have been getting safer. All of this has happened against the background of concealed carried weapons being liberalized, gun control being liberalized so that more people are able to carry more guns in more circumstances. The fact of the matter is that every trend related to violent crime and gun violence are going in the right direction, which is way, way down. You know there are fewer homicides than there were 20 years ago or 40 years ago. …

If the best way to feel good about your own argument is to bring on somebody who will discredit your opponent, and I don’t think Alex Jones is the best spokesman for why gun control legislation, increased gun control legislation, is not a relevant answer to the Newtown massacre. I do think without even talking about him, that the clips I saw of Piers Morgan you know just yelling at guests, calling them stupid without engaging any arguments or any data or any trends of activity, I mean it shows not a person who is in command of the facts and knows what he’s talking about, but rather somebody who is absolutely terrified of engaging something that comes close to documentable reality.”

You can find Nick Gillespie’s work on Reason at Reason.com and Reason.tv

You can purchase a copy of Nick Gillespie’s book The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong with America here.

You can follow Nick Gillespie on Twitter here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

2012 Libertarian Candidate for President, Gary Johnson on the Real Fiscal Cliff: We’re Printing 43 Cents of Every Dollar We’re Spending; We’re Going to Have Inflation; Buy Today, it Will Cost a Lot Less; Medicare in Current Form Not Sustainable, More

Jay Bildstein — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 18:30:33 +0000

It’s been more than a month since the 2012 presidential election. Having garnered third place in the election, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson joins us for his third CYInterview appearance, to discuss where America is headed post election. You can see/listen to the Governor’s past discussions with us here and here.

You can listen to the entire CYInterview and read some of the highlights below:

Listen to the entire Gary Johnson CYInterview:

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When it comes to the fiscal cliff, the Governor says this:

“When it came to Obama and Romney when both of them are arguing over who should spend more money on Medicare, when Medicare as an example of the fiscal cliff that we’ve gone over, Medicare is a system that we put $30 into and we get $100 benefit. Whatever we put into Medicare we get back three times what we put in and that’s fundamentally what’s wrong with this country. So we have, we had an opportunity with this last election to actually, you know, pose a real fundamental question. Do we want to engage in this process of mutual sacrifice where all of us are going to have to give to see the system survive or are we just gonna bury our heads in the sand. Well the choice was burying our heads in the sand regardless of which candidate got elected. …

Haven’t we gone over the cliff? Yes we have. And the only way that we had a chance of surviving is to balance the federal budget now, reform taxes so that I think you end up with real growth and the real growth could theoretically then be applied to the 16 trillion dollars in debt that we do have.”

Focusing on the current state of the economy, Gary Johnson has this advice for Americans:

“One real practical piece of advice is that whatever you’re contemplating buying, whatever it is, whether that’s a home or a car or home improvement, whatever, by buying it today, it will be cheaper today than at any time moving forward. So one practical piece of advice is that we are going to have inflation, I think in a really big way to go along with the fact we’re printing money to the tune of 43 cents out of every dollar that we’re spending. On a very practical level, whatever you’re planning on buying, buy it now because it will cost a lot less.”

Though there may be many who are displeased with the results of this election, Governor Johnson says there were some positives that came out of it:

“A couple things happened during this last election, marijuana was legalized in Washington State and Colorado and we had gay marriage initiatives that passed in states where it was on the ballot. So really, some terrific things did happen.”

The Governor agrees that most Americans aren’t given the correct information about what the state of the nation truly is:

“I think we’re just not given the information and I get back to how you could actually implement fairness in election cycles and that would be just give parties or give candidates the credit that they’re do. In this case, if I’m at one percent of the vote, shouldn’t I be given one times mention for every 100 times that Obama is mentioned as opposed to a thousand times. It’s all about information and if the information is not there for people to digest, then it doesn’t go anywhere.”

For the better of the country, he says we need to have a level playing field:

“What government can do is provide a level playing field for everybody. And I think that what everybody is seeing is that it’s not a level playing field, that both parties have their hands out for contributions. They’re selling loopholes. Both parties are selling loopholes, individuals, groups, corporations are paying for those loopholes. That’s what I think people really despise. Level playing field, give me a level playing field every day and that’s all that government can provide, but it’s something that they’re not providing today. It’s not a fair system.”

Gary Johnson’s official website iswww.garyjohnson2012.com

Gary Johnson’s official Facebook page is here.

Gary Johnson’s official Twitter is here.

You can purchase a copy of Gary Johnson’s new book Seven Principles of Good Government: Gary Johnson on Politics, People and Freedom here

You can reach Jay with your questions and comments at Jay@CYinterview.com

Fox News’s Liberal Lion, Alan Colmes Discusses His New Book, Thank The Liberals For Saving America (And Why You Should), Along with a Host of Other Compelling Political Topics

Chris Yandek — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:55:56 +0000

As, arguably, the leading liberal voice on Fox News’s media platforms, Alan Colmes is probably best known as one half of Fox News TV’s Hannity & Colmes, which ended in 2009 after an over 12 year run. Subsequently, Alan moved to the Fox News Radio Network to host a daily program. He still appears frequently on Fox News TV shows, including The O’Reilly Factor, hosted by Bill O’Reilly.

Mr. Colmes has a new book out titled, Thank The Liberals For Saving America (And Why You Should). He was kind enough to join us recently for a CYInterview, in order to discuss his book in addition to a variety of political topics. Featured columnist Jay Bildstein joined me for this conversation. Jay and Alan did some spirited debating that makes for must listening.

You can read the highlights and listen to the entire CYInterview below:

Listen to the Alan Colmes CYInterview:

Have trouble listening to the audio? Listen here

Browse CYInterview.com while you listen – Click here

One of Alan’s messages, in his book, is that conservatives change their views on an issue when it impacts them personally. For example, former vice president Dick Cheney has a daughter who is a lesbian. Though Mr. Cheney is a conservative, he supports same sex marriage which is something many Republicans do not support because they believe marriage should be between a man and a woman (Jay pointed out that this type of behavior is not particular to conservatives.):

“Actual life experience changes your views very often when you’re confronted with some of the real issues that we talk about ideologically, which is why Dick Cheney, who’s more progressive on gay marriage than Barack Obama because he had a gay daughter, who would’ve thought that. When Dan Quayle was on Larry King years ago when he was running for vice president, Larry King said to him, ‘What would you do if your daughter needed an abortion?’ And the answer was, well I’d support whatever decision she would make. And the right went crazy. Here was supposed to be an anti-abortion ticket. He gave a human answer of any father who would love their child and accept them.”

When it comes to fiscal responsibility and dealing with elicit drug use in America, Alan cites Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson on how, the former Governor of New Mexico dealt with these issues. See Gary Johnson’s two CYInterviews with us [here] and [here].

“With Gary Johnson, he did a cost benefit analysis and just purely from an economic standpoint, incarcerating people and having the so called war on drugs, which has never been successful, costs more money. If you’re a fiscal conservative, you would want to do what meets the cost benefit analysis and treatment is a much more sane way, economically, to go about dealing with the drug issue than just running after people and locking them up. So a true conservative, I would think, and certainly a fiscal conservative, would look at it that way.”

When it comes to being a voice for liberals on Fox News’s media platforms, Colmes says some liberals will not give him the time of day because he works for News Corporation:

“I get criticized because I work for Fox News. If I were really a good liberal I wouldn’t be taking Rupert Murdoch’s money. But am I a bad liberal because I happen to speak sometimes to a conservative audience. You know, I mean, there are liberals who won’t give me the time of day because they don’t like who my employer is.”

Alan says many progressives are unhappy about a variety of President Obama’s policies and that the president is far from being the socialist many conservatives claim he is:

“This notion that President Obama is some wild eyed, leftist, Marxist socialist who is taking us down the road of leftism is ridiculous because he’s certainly not governing as, he’s really governing as a centrist and has many progressives upset that he hasn’t been more aggressive and progressive on a variety of issues. I think he’s really done quite well in general, but certainly a lot of progressives don’t feel he is as progressive as the right would like to paint him.”

On the front cover of the Fox News Radio host’s book Thank the Liberals for Saving America, Alan has an endorsement from former President Bill Clinton. He states what today’s politicians can learn from Mr. Clinton:

“How to, number one, be likable, how to be relatable to the average person and how to work with the other political party when necessary, and don’t forget he’s the guy who triangulated, he’s the guy who ended welfare as we know it and he’s able to do it with a very hostile Congress that impeached him. So he certainly has, he’s a great politician and he knows how to work with all sides.”

When I asked Alan a wildcard, pop-culture question about whether or not he would be willing to appear on Dancing with the Stars, like other media personalities including: Tucker Carlson, Ricki Lake, Jerry Springer, Leeza Gibbons and past CYInterview subject Kenny Mayne [see here], the pundit says he will never appear on that show:

“No. Number one I’m not a star. Number two I don’t dance. The only word that fits in that whole sentence is ‘with.’ So I don’t think I’d be appropriate for that show.”

You can find more information and purchase a copy of Alan Colmes’s Thank The Liberals For Saving America clicking here

You can check out Alan’s official website at www.alan.com

Alan’s Twitter is here.

Alan’s Facebook page is here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris and Jay are available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

CYInterview Exclusive: Famed Attorney/Elected Delegate to Democratic National Convention, Gloria Allred Supports Inclusion of Libertarian Party Candidate, Former Two Term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, in Upcoming Presidential Debates; Johnson to be on Ballot in all 50 States, Thanks Allred for Speaking Up

Jay Bildstein — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:30:55 +0000

The mainstream media is focused on two candidates contending for the presidency, President Barack Obama and former Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney. There are, however, two other candidates who could garner enough electoral votes to win the presidency. They are former Governor Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Neither Governor Johnson nor Dr. Stein are slated to participate in the presidential debates. They are being kept out.

Gary Johnson will be on the ballot in all 50 states. He is being precluded from participating in the debates because the Democrats and Republicans – duopoly that they are – have seen fit to stack the deck against candidates from outside their two parties.

We at CYInterview find it outrageous that a candidate for president – any candidate for president who has a mathematical chance of winning – be excluded from the presidential debates. In the case of Gary Johnson, he has done the work and garnered the support of enough Americans to be included on the ballots of all states. He should be allowed to participate in the debates. His exclusion shocks the conscience.

Accordingly, we invited Governor Gary Johnson – who we have previously CYInterviewed [see here] – to discuss his exclusion from the debates and what can be done about it. Additionally, we thought it would be important to gain a broader perspective on the situation from someone who has spent her life in the pursuit of fairness and protecting the rights of individuals who have been marginalized. Consequently, we invited our friend, famed attorney Gloria Allred, to participate in a panel discussion about the matter along with myself and CYInterview editor-in-chief Chris Yandek.

You can read the transcript of our discussion and/or listen to it in its entirety below:

Listen to the entire CYInterview with Gary Johnson and Gloria Allred:

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Listen here

Browse CYInterview.com while you listen – Click here

Jay Bildstein: I’m Jay Bildstein. With us today on CYInterview is the Libertarian Candidate for President of the United States – he’s been with us previously on CYInterview – former two term governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson. Governor, good to have you with us.

Gary Johnson: “Jay, great to be on. Thank you for having me on.”

Jay Bildstein: Also joining us is one of the most well known attorneys in the United States today. She’s a tireless fighter for the rights of people she believes have been taken advantage of or marginalized by society, she’s a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, a television star and a good friend of CYInterview, Attorney Gloria Allred. Gloria, great to have you back with us.

Gloria Allred: “Well, thanks very much for having me with you. It’s an honor to be on with Governor Johnson.”

Jay Bildstein: And rounding out today’s panel, a man who needs no introduction, the editor-in-chief of CYInterview, Chris Yandek. Chris, why don’t we get started?

Chris Yandek: Governor Johnson, Attorney Allred, good morning. Thank you so much for being with us again. Governor, you’ve recently sent out a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates, seeking the opportunity to be included in the debates, along with President Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney. Could you please tell us about the letter?

Gary Johnson: “Well, just that I will be on the ballot in all 50 states. I think that there is a bias against any third party. I will tell you getting on the ballot in all 50 states is almost a superhuman task, the obstacles that are thrown up and that Americans really deserve to just hear alternatives to what have become in my opinion really no choices, but let the American people hear that and make their choices. All I’m asking is for fairness in a process that I’m gonna argue is anything but. It’s very, very exclusionary and it’s exclusionary in ways that we don’t even, we can’t even comprehend.”

Chris Yandek: Jay.

Jay Bildstein: Gloria, isn’t it only fair that Governor Johnson, who is on the ballots in all 50 states – as well as anyone who is on enough ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning the presidency – be included in the presidential debates?

Gloria Allred: “Well, I think as a matter of fairness if he has gone to the trouble and been successful in appearing on the ballot in all 50 states, I think that that is enough or should be enough as a matter of fairness to include him in the debate. After all, what is the point of the debate? The point of the debate should be to help the American people to be able to look at the candidates for whom they may be voting because their names are on the ballot and then they can make an evaluation, hopefully an informed decision about their choice to be President of the United States and if they can’t see or hear in a way that is significant, all serious candidates, serious defined by they’re on the ballot in all 50 states, then I don’t think they’re in a position to make an informed decision.

So even though I’m an elected Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention next week, elected from my congressional district and even though I support President Obama for reelection, still I think as a matter of fairness we should be able to hear from Governor Johnson.”

Jay Bildstein: I kind of hear as you’re speaking Gloria the, have to kind of access my memory from school days, but Voltaire saying something to the effect of he may disagree, but he’d defend to the rights, somebody’s ability to get out there and say something. Are you saying really the same thing really that this is not a question of necessarily agreeing or disagreeing with someone’s politics, but the only way that the American voter can make an informed decision is if they hear from the serious candidates?

And the Litmus test of being serious, if you will, is if you’re on the ballots of all 50 states, obviously enough people have spoken to say we want to have this choice and then, axiomatically, the people should be allowed to hear this interchange of ideas, hopefully of robust interchange between the president, President Obama and former Governor Romney and of course Governor Gary Johnson.

Gloria Allred: “Yes. I definitely think that his politics, his stand on the issues, what he’s advocating and suggesting that he would do if as and when he would become President of the United States are really irrelevant to the issue. Whether we agree with his politics or his public policy positions or not or his past record or not, whether we praise or criticize, it’s just irrelevant. He’s on the ballot in all 50 states, a herculean task to have achieved. He should be on the stage, considered a serious candidate and be able to have that bully pulpit to be heard and to allow the American people to judge for themselves whether or not they would wish to vote for him.”

Jay Bildstein: As the system stands now, a candidate for president has to achieve certain polling numbers in order to be included in the debates. I’ve come to call this process, self-fulfilling prophecy polls. The mainstream media focuses on the candidates they believe will be likely to win the presidency. They give the lion share of their coverage to those candidates. Consumers of that media – who comprise the majority of voters – form their opinions based on that coverage. It isn’t any surprise then – that when these people are polled, they give opinions based on what they have already been fed by the media. Governor, how can voters truly be free to make a choice if they are not given a real opportunity to hear what all the candidates have to say?

Gary Johsnon: “Well, echoing really what both of you have said so eloquently is just how about the notion of giving the choice, how about the notion of offering up an alternative and I’m not suggesting this ends up selling, I’m just believing that Americans are smart, they’re capable of making decisions for themselves, but that this is a process that excludes other issues or other viewpoints that are outside of what they have determined should be the viewpoints that one holds and that would be the two parties.

Now whether or not anything comes of my being included in the debates, that’s secondary I think to just the fairness of being able to present a viewpoint that is way different. Leave the American people to decide whether or not that’s something they want to embrace or not, but give them that opportunity. “

Jay Bildstein: Gloria, in your opinion, how might as I term it this self-fulfilling prophecy pattern be broken?

Gloria Allred: “Well, I think it’s difficult to break. I think you know, you start in the court of public opinion, which is here. You can, you know, then you proceed to see what legal options you have if any. Apparently you know I don’t think that the Congress which is essentially representatives of the two major political parties is going to do anything because they have a vested interest from their point of view in making sure that the spotlight is on their particular political choice and their political leader and so even though they may give other rationales for why they don’t think that a third person should be included in the debate, I mean we all know that it’s a political decision.

So I don’t expect any movement there, but I think that if there were enough human cry and public discussion about it that could help to move you know, move the issue forward and maybe accomplish some change. Other than that, the Governor would need to explore his legal options with those who have expertise in this area and then decide which options if any he wishes to exercise and so really what you have is you have media options to discuss it, you have possibly legal options, you have political options. But I think having this discussion is a good start because it is a question of fairness and I think he is being treated unfairly.”

Jay Bildstein: Gloria, would you in the future, I’m not talking about in this election cycle and you’re already lending your very, very strong voice to fairness right now, but would you in the future consider that if a group of citizens coalesced to simply say that there should be either some law put in place or some kind of change to make the system more equitable, would you take any active role in that, whatsoever, in trying to see that, hey, If somebody’s on the ballots in all 50 states, we come down to this very important national discussion called a debate that these individuals would be included in that debate?

Gloria Allred: “You know, I don’t know. I’d have to see as if and when, what is being proposed and you know the devil’s always in the details and to look and see what role they would ask me to play if any and what my other commitments are at that time because I’ve a lot of, a lot of clients and cases who in my office and many, many clients depending on me to make them a priority. Having said that, you know I’m always open to you know to looking at new proposals and seeing what if any role I should play in those.”

Jay Bildstein: Understood. Governor, do you plan, come what may, whether you’re included in the debates or not, whether you win the presidency or not, do you intend to continue to fight on after this election is over? Will you in effect institutionalize your campaign and continue to strive to bring a sense of equity and fairness to the American voter?

Gary Johnson: “Well, I’ll do that and I’ll do that if I consider my voice to be relevant. I think one of the successes in any of, to one of the determiners of success in our lives is determining whether or not what we say actually does have relevance and at this point I believe it does. Looking forward I hope that’s the case that I hope I’ll be the first one to recognize that if it’s not, if it’s genuinely not that I’ll realize that and step aside and let somebody else take that on. But as long as I’m in this role which I think is relevant and a spokesperson for what I consider to be the fastest growing segment of American politics today, that whole liberty and freedom movement, that I’ll continue to be that spokesperson.”

Jay Bildstein: Chris?

Chris Yandek: Governor, you are going to be on the ballot in all 50 states yet you probably won’t be given the chance to debate the other two major presidential candidates. What do you think it says that, in America, we do not give a fair hearing to voices outside of the Democrat and Republican parties, especially when it comes to something as important as the presidency and what can we do to insure the future presidential elections are open to those who can win by virtue of being on the ballots?

Gary Johnson: “Well, you all are stepping up here and pointing out the inequity. I think when people are made aware of the inequity that they’re overwhelmingly in support of equity, they’re overwhelmingly in support of fairness. It’s just the issue of getting them informed and that’s really a herculean task that is not being fulfilled by the powers that be the media, the major media. They’re not doing it.”

Chris Yandek: Jay?

Jay Bildstein: Governor Gary Johnson, Attorney Gloria Allred thank you both for being with us today on CYInterview.

Gloria Allred: “Well, thank you very much. I think that Gary Johnson getting on the ballot in all 50 states is very, very impressive and I wish him the best of success in having his voice heard.”

Gary Johnson’s campaign website for 2012 President of the United States is at www.garyjohnson2012.com

Gary Johnson’s official Facebook page is here.

Gary Johnson’s official Twitter is here.

You can purchase a copy of Gary Johnson’s new book Seven Principles of Good Government: Gary Johnson on Politics, People and Freedom here

You can find more information about Gloria Allred at http://www.amglaw.com and http://www.gloriaallred.com/

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

A Man of Reason: Nick Gillespie, Editor-in-Chief of Reason.com and ReasonTV and Author, with Matt Welch, of The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong with America, Talks the Future and Allure of Small “L” Libertarianism, the State of the Nation and What America Needs to do to Get on the Right Track

Chris Yandek — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 01:22:08 +0000

For those who believe the Obama/Biden and Romney/Ryan presidential tickets are far left and far right, the question to be asked is, “What do you do if you’re an independent, libertarian or someone who is simply dissatisfied with these two choices?”

There are lots of independent voters who probably will hold their noses this election cycle, when they choose either President Barack Obama or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to fill the position of national CEO. But some of those individuals might decide to vote for a third option in this presidential cycle, namely Libertarian party candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson.

To discuss the state of American electoral politics, libertarianism and other compelling topics, CYInterview welcomes Nick Gillespie, the editor-in-chief of Reason.com and ReasonTV and one of the most respected voices in independent media today. Mr. Gillespie is an individual with a strong voice and keen intellect who speaks, not surprisingly, from a vantage point of reason and logic rather than the passion and mindless fury so often found on today’s political scene.

Nick has appeared on shows such as Real Time with Bill Maher. Along with CYInterview featured columnist Jay Bildsten, we enjoyed an in depth conversation about the role of independent and libertarian voters – as well as all those individuals whose beliefs are not aligned with the today’s Democrats or Republicans.

You can read the highlights and listen to the entire CYInterview below:

Listen to the entire Nick Gillespie CYInterview:

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To those who think the Democrats and Republicans differ significantly on fiscal issues, Mr. Gillespie explains how they simply do not, particularly when it comes to government spending and the ever mounting debt that both parties are incurring and plan to continue incurring. Nick made mention of this on Melissa Harris’s Perry’s MSNBC show a few months back and elaborates further with us. You might recall Melissa visited with CYInterview last year [see here].

“What I was talking about were the two budget proposals that Barack Obama had laid out earlier this year. We’re currently spending about 3.8 trillion dollars annually for the federal government. In 10 years according to his budget plan we’d be spending 5.9 trillion dollars a year if he got everything he wanted. The Republican plan which is supposedly the austerity plan, of course, by Paul Ryan and passed by the House of Representatives, they would take us from 3.8 trillion dollars now to about 4.9 trillion dollars in 10 years.

So that’s what we’re talking about, but it’s the same point is what you’re making is that each party, both parties envision a federal government that is going to be spending vastly more money in a decade if they get their dream scenario. So this I think is a serious problem especially when you look back 10 years and you realize or 12 years or so when you look at the last budget that Bill Clinton passed it was under 2 trillion dollars. So we have been on a spending bender for all of the 21st century and both parties are now committing to spending even more going forward.

I think it’s a problem because first off it shows they’re very similar, they’re more similar than they’re different and we already know the spending is unsustainable. There is no way under any possible scenario that we can raise tax revenues reliably to pay for that new spending and we’re already in a situation where we’re borrowing about forty cents on the dollar. This is no way to run a country.”

When it comes to Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson’s campaign as an alternative choice for President of the United States in 2012, Nick says there are already Democrats and Republicans in Congress who share many of the former New Mexico Governor’s positions. See Gary Johnson’s CYInterview [here].

“His [Gary Johnson’s] views are represented by a number of people in, you know, in Congress right now. Particularly people like Rand Paul, the senator from Kentucky. To a certain degree somebody like Senator Mike Lee of Utah. Certainly Ron Paul, Rand Paul’s father and the second place runner up I guess in the Republican Party presidential campaign. He’s retiring at the end of this congressional session. And on the Democratic side you actually have some people who are interested in fiscal responsibility, there’s people in the Senate like Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Going back when you look at people like Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton is an interesting guy who you know the Democratic Party doesn’t really resemble what he was doing in office. He actually reduced spending or reduced the weight of growth of spending more than any other recent president. He did usher in an era of balanced budgets and you know there’s a lot there that we can learn from him. But what I’m trying to say though is the ideas that Johnson is talking about are gaining traction in the actual parties as they exist.”

As far as those who want a smaller government in Washington D.C., Mr. Gillespie says the first thing people need to do is stop voting for any political party who is not for true limited government.

“Nothing will change among the plurality or majority of Americans who consistently say they want a government that spends less and does less, nothing will make that happen if your vote is constantly being taken for granted by the Republican Party or by conservatives. Libertarians and actual small government people are constantly told that you know what? Your ideas are great, we agree with them wholeheartedly. Now is not the time to do this for X, Y or Z reason…I think what small government has to do is stand up to the parties they believe in, that they belong to and say, ‘You know what? The future starts yesterday and if you do not sign on to a limited government and a limited government spending plan, we’re done. You’re not getting our vote.’ And that’s the first and most important thing we can do.”

Nick Gillespie is the author of the book The Declaration of Independence: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong with America. He explains why Libertarianism is on the rise:

“Libertarian ideology, the idea of a consistent principled approach to governance is on the rise because after the, you know, just the disaster of George Bush and compassionate conservatism and big government conservatism and then that segueing into Barack Obama’s resurgence big government Liberalism and more and more people recognizing the essential continuity between Bush and Obama when you look at things like foreign affairs and diplomacy and absolute disinterest in civil liberties, an unwillingness to go to the mat for all sorts of body sovereignty issues whether we’re talking about the drug war or about gay marriage.

I mean Obama’s recent conversion not withstanding, he has done nothing to advance a gay or lesbian and I don’t even want to say gay or lesbian agenda, but an actual agenda of true individual equality before the law. You know more and more people are seeing this and their recognizing ok, these two sides are played out, they are not offering anything for the way the world works. They start looking around for Libertarianism and I think that’s why people like Ron Paul.”

Mr. Gillespie believes more people are coming to the realization that the American federal government is essentially broke and, consequently, significant change will have to occur going forward:

“The other way that people are starting to look around for new ideas is because we are broke and I think people are unfortunately only in the early stages of fully kind of grokking what that means to be broke and being broke doesn’t mean that ten years from now we can be spending 33 percent or 50 percent more than we’re spending now. Being broke means that next year we have to spend less money out of government revenue than we’re taking in and people are starting to get there and social change comes because of ideology and it also comes because of material conditions and right now we’re not gonna be able to spend the way that we have been. It is impossible. It is unsustainable and as a result people, government is going to have to change what it does and I think libertarians have a lot of answers that more people, more and more people, are taking a listen to.”

When it comes to reforming entitlement programs, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which are a large segment of the budget, Nick believes the problem is not with America’s truly impoverished receiving government benefits, but people in the middle and upper middle class who are receiving a lot of government benefits, who do not necessarily need them:

“The vast overwhelming amount of entitlement spending in America does not go to poor people and it doesn’t go to unproductive people and this makes it much more difficult to reform. It goes to middle and upper middle class people and it goes to old people who are generally of a class wealthier than the other parts of American society and it goes there through things like Social Security, like Medicare including the Medicare prescription drug plan which gives free and reduced cost drugs to people for being old, not because they need money but because they’re old. When you, Social Security, at currently now, if you’ve retired, if you were an average income earner and you retired in 2010 or any time since 2010 going into the future, you will be getting less out of Social Security than you put into it, but you’re gonna be getting a lot of it…

This is an even more difficult situation where it’s people who are producers who could get by without these government payouts are the ones who are getting so many of them and then it becomes very, very difficult to say to these people who have paid a lot of taxes, ‘You know what? You’re gonna get less.’ And part of the problem is that politicians haven’t been honest and said, ‘Look, we need to get to a place where the government spends less money and it taxes you less. It brings in less money and it spends less money and there are a bunch of things we’ve just gotta get rid of.’”

In focusing on Jay’s three point plan – a plan which he has introduced to a variety of political personalities – calling for the president, vice president and Congress to take a 50 percent pay cut, having a lifetime embargo on lobbying and term limits on members of Congress, Nick would like to see Jay’s proposals put into motion:

“I think these are ideas that need a wide discussion and you know I say that because I think it’s important to you know foreground the problems. People like Tom Daschle, I was thinking about when you were talking, about losers who go onto make millions of dollars, Tom Daschle is you know the senate minority leader and I guess majority leader for a while at some point. His loss, he lost in an upset election and he ends up becoming a lobbyist who you know does better than he ever was gonna do as a senator. There’s something wrong about that you know I think. Barack Obama who promised that he wouldn’t have you know lobbyists hired and what not is one of the worst malefactors…I would love to see it aired more fully and I’d love to see it implemented. Let’s run trial experiments with this stuff.”

You can find Nick Gillespie’s work on Reason at Reason.com and Reason.TV

You can purchase a copy of Nick Gillespie’s book The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong with America here.

You can follow Nick Gillespie on Twitter here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes CYInterviewed: Talks About His New Book, Twilight of the Elites, Discusses His Statement on American Service-people and His Consequent Apology, More

Chris Yandek — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:47:38 +0000

As one of cable television’s rising stars, Chris Hayes has been presenting his perspective on the state of America. Mr. Hayes hosts MSNBC’s weekend program, Up with Chris Hayes and is the editor-at-large for The Nation. In his first book titled Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy, he claims a growing distrust by Americans with the various institutions that impact their lives, economically, politically and socially.

You can read the highlights below, as well as listen to the entire CYInterview of this compelling conversation about America’s state, with Chris Hayes:

Listen to the entire Chris Hayes CYInterview:

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One of the messages in Mr. Hayes’s book is that, in America, we reward bad behavior. One of the examples he uses in highlighting this bad behavior, is how certain Major League Baseball players got bigger contracts while using performance enhancing drugs; players like Jose Canesco, over athletes who were playing the game clean.

“One of the themes of what’s in the book I refer to as the failed decade, which is the last 10 years of this sort of, this cascade of institutional failures where you see everything from you know the army core of engineers to Major League Baseball to Wall Street banks to Congress to the media you know imploding in waves of scandal and corruption and incompetence and it’s left people feeling a lot of distrust towards the traditional sources of authority, the institutional pillars in our society and a lot of anger and betrayal.

And the reason I think people feel anger and betrayal is there doesn’t seem to be accountability for people at the top when they mess up…For bankers that have brought the world economy to its knees, to politicians that were able to sell a the nation on a war based on what turned out to be a fiction, for the people that botched New Orleans’ levy system, for the people in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, there just doesn’t seem to be accountability for people at the top.”

When it comes to people like Bernard Madoff – who will be spending the rest of his life in jail after committing one of history’s biggest Ponzi schemes – Hayes believes that his is a rare example of what goes around comes goes around, after having indulged in bad behavior. He makes the case of others who seem to have gotten away scot-free:

“I think those are the exceptions by far…In some ways baseball has had more accountability than the financial system. I mean you know, how many bankers have had to face genuine criminal sanctions for what we know was essentially systemic fraud that ran through the system, very few, you can count them on one hand. Angelo Mozilo who ran Countrywide, which was the biggest purveyor of toxic loans wrote in emails to his own subordinates that we’re basically selling people toxic products.

He said of one kind of mortgage that they were selling that there could be nothing more toxic. Well he cashed in his stock options and made off before the whole thing crashed and has not had to face any criminal sanctions. So I think that the people who do face accountability are far, far rarer than those who have been able to escape accountability.”

When it comes to the future of America’s economy, Mr. Hayes believes healthcare will be America’s biggest long term challenge going forward:

“We have a long term problem in this country with the growth of healthcare spending, both private and public sector. The way it shows up on the U.S. government balance sheet is through Medicare and if nothing changes, yes, we will be in a lot of fiscal trouble, but we’ll be in much broader trouble than just the government unable to pay its bills. We’ll be in trouble because we will essentially be paying 80 cents of every dollar generally in the economy to deal with health care. So health care costs care has to change and there’s a whole long story I can go into about what I think the best way to do that is, but fundamentally I don’t think it’s about the promises we’ve made in terms of our social contract. I think it’s about the way that we pay for and deliver health care.”

The MSNBC host agreed that the media has not been doing their job when it comes to holding people in power accountable:

“I agree in terms of accountability. I think that there’s been crucial moments when the press failed to live up to that. Obviously there was an insufficient skepticism about the housing bubble. There’s been an insufficient accountability for people that talk about that. People forget Ben Bernanke was saying as late as 2007 that there’s no housing bubble and the problems of subprime are gonna be contained and he hasn’t had to pay a price for it.

I mean the guy, it’s not like his reputation is in tatters. He was reappointed by a Democratic president to head the Fed chair board. So yes, I mean, I think that it is important for the press to hold people accountable and to hold beliefs accountable and just accountable for their job for the basic contours of competence and I think that there’s a lot of instances in which the press has failed to do that.”

Back in May, Mr. Hayes faced some controversy over a conversation on his MSNBC show in which he said he felt uncomfortable calling deceased American service-people heroes. Chris explains why he apologized:

“I wouldn’t have apologized if I didn’t mean it and I apologized specifically in response to people sending me genuinely anguished emails in which, look, I’m very lucky to have a platform I have and I believe that you need to both be responsible with the platform you have and not shy away from difficult topics and you know in the next weekend we talked about the topic again and not shy away from the possibility of offense or controversy because there’s no point in having a press if it’s cowed by the possibility of offense and controversy, but at the same time to take care, to be careful, to be cognizant of the power that you wield and you’ve been invested with and I think on a sensitive topic I failed to live up to my own standards of care and empathy and that’s why I apologized…

It’s the nature of speaking unscripted for four hours more or less every week as I do particularly speaking unscripted for four hours every week sometimes about topics that are very sensitive or very charged or very loaded…At a certain level you’re going to make mistakes. You’re gonna say things in ways that you’re gonna have thoughts that are not fully formed that in their not fully formedness provoke anger or upset in people and you know that is, part of that comes with the territory and you know and you just have to be better, you have to be careful and yet not be cowed. I think that’s what we aim for on the show…I think talking about difficult topics is still what we’re charged to do and what we’re still gonna keep doing.”

You can purchase a copy and find out more information about Chris Hayes’s book Twilight of the Elites here.

You can follow Chris Hayes on Twitter here.

You can find more information about Chris Hayes’s MSNBC show here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

Mayor Mia Love of Saratoga Springs, Utah Running for House of Representatives; Would Become First African American, Female Republican in Congressional History; Daughter of Haitian Immigrants/Member of Mormon Faith Like Mitt Romney, Speaks on Campaign, Issues and More

Chris Yandek — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 05:35:38 +0000

As Mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, Mia Love is receiving national attention this election cycle. As one of the GOP’s rising stars, Ms. Love is running to unseat six term, incumbent Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson. The mayor will be facing the Congressman in Utah’s newly created fourth district. Promoting self-reliance and fiscal conservatism, the congressional hopeful says she is hoping to bring those principles to Washington. Though she has stated she is not interested in making history or achieving firsts, this daughter of Haitian Immigrants would be the first African American, Republican female in Congress if she wins election.

Featured columnist Jay Bildstein joins me for this CYInterview. You can read the highlights or listen to the entire conversation below:

Listen to the entire Mia Love CYInterview:

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In focusing on what she hopes to bring to Congress if elected, the Mayor offers the following:

“What we’re going to focus on is fiscal discipline, limited government personal responsibility. We’re going to see what we can do to try and get our fiscal house in order…I am a Mayor and I believe that the best solutions are found at the most local level and you know we don’t have, in Saratoga Springs, we’re bipartisan. We don’t have Rs and Ds stamped on our foreheads yet we’re able to make decisions and we’re able to take our city from the brink of bankruptcy to being financially stable, to having the highest bond rating available.

We don’t have the option of kicking the can down the road. When we have problems we have to find solutions to those problems and make something happen and there’s no reason why Washington can’t be that way…The greatest thing I’ve been able to do is step out of the way and allow people to make decisions for themselves. That’s how we’ve been able to right the ship. “

The Republican nominee for Congress has stated her concerns about the rising debt and how it will impact future generations. She believes Washington needs to live within its means and make cuts to prevent potential fiscal Armageddon:

“I do believe that we’ve got debt increases without any way of cutting spending on the other end. If we are going to, this is one message I want to make sure we get out there, it’s important for us to get this out there, if we’re going to provide everything for everyone from cradle to grave, there will never be enough money. We are facing a potential fiscal Armageddon at the end of the year. We are so close to being Europe that we’ve got to do something. We’ve got a narrow window. I do believe that we can, but we’ve gotta tighten our belts. Here in Utah we are tightening up our belts. We’re doing everything we can to live within our means and we believe that Washington should do the same thing.”

Ms. Love believes there are other ways for Americans to solve problems instead of looking to the federal government to provide all possible solutions:

“Do I believe we have an obligation to care for our neighbors? I do. If we can end our fellow Americans suffering and we have the means to do that do I believe that we should as human beings? Absolutely. But the day that we decide that we need federal government to force us to do that, I believe that’s a day we’ve decided to decline as a society. We have missed all these steps in the middle when we’re trying to solve a problem, we go straight to federal government to try and solve the problem for us instead seeing what steps we can do.”

Commenting on Jay Bildstein’s three part plan – which he has been introducing to a variety of political figures – that members of Congress, the president and vice president take a 50 percent pay cut and give up their rich after office benefits, accept a lifetime ban on lobbying and that members of Congress be subject to term limits, all in order to create a culture of leadership, Ms. Love states she has no problem taking a pay cut, while offering a two sided perspective on term limits:

“Well on behalf of the people of my district, the pay means nothing to me. My husband provides a great living for all of us and you know I’m obviously not doing this because I need a job. You know I have to tell you, this is going to be a sacrifice for myself and my family and I’m only doing this because I realize that the situation that my children are facing and my potential grandchildren will be facing in this country.

So when it comes to standing behind something like that, I have no problem with having a pay cut. That’s certainly not an issue to me and certainly not why I’m doing it. As long as I can go to and from work and it doesn’t create a heavy financial burden, I’m perfectly fine with a pay cut. That’s not a big deal…

There are arguments on both sides when it comes to term limits and one is you know, the more, the higher, the longer you stay there the more seniority we have, which that to me I feel that it’s broken because what it does is it has people stay in office for way too long and that’s when they become effective and I think that’s absolutely out of control. However, the other argument is if we want to keep somebody in office, we should vote. We should have the ability to vote to keep them in office.

As far as I’m concerned, I’m not staying in Washington for more than four, I’m not staying in this job for more than four years, I really believe that. I need to get home and live a life. I’m certainly not looking for a career in Washington. I’m just trying to do what I can to get it back on its feet.”

Though Ms. Love would make history as the first African American, Republican female ever elected to Congress, making history is not a priority for her. I asked the Mayor if she believed her political accomplishments in Utah provided a good example of a post racial America, a society where people are judged on their work and what they have to offer, rather than race. Ms. Love offered the following:

“What I’ve accomplished in Utah has nothing to do with my race or my gender. What we’ve been able to accomplish all has to do with policies and working together and making sure that we’re fiscally responsible. Again, when we had a 3.5 million dollar shortfall, we had to make sure that we cut spending and we cut a lot. I mean we cut 67 percent at the highest levels, 30 percent at the lowest levels and we made sure that our property tax paid for nothing but public safety. Everything else had to be sustainable. That had nothing to do with race.

I was elected 60 percent of the vote after that and Utah doesn’t focus on those things. Utah focuses on the person’s ability to get a job done and you know those are the things that we’re going to accomplish. I’ve said in the past that I’m not interested in making history as the first black, Republican female in the House, I’m interested in making history as being part of a group of service men and women that have made our country sustainable and it’s gotten us back on firm financial setting.”

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is likely to have more attention focused on his Mormon faith as we get closer to elections. As a Mormon herself, Mia tells us what everyone should know about the religion:

“I just think that people should know that the Mormon faith, we’re just like everyone else. You know, we’ve got, this is the same thing with Mitt. I always say this, he’s a great husband, very much in love with his wife. He’s a dedicated father, terrific with kids and he’s extremely successful in his business and a great member of his community and I think that those are the things that we need to understand.

We get involved in our communities, we try and do what we can to help our neighbors out personally without anybody forcing us to do it without federal government forcing us to do it. We try and care for each other and care for our fellow neighbors and I think that’s what’s great. We, it’s no different than any other religion in terms of some ideas that we believe that we’re capable of making decisions and we believe in choice and accountability.”

Mayor Love agrees with Jay that the United States of America is not immune to the kinds of things that have diminished other empires throughout history:

“We are not immune. As a matter of fact, when I talk about the potential fiscal Armageddon, I believe that we’ve got a narrow window to preserve the things that have made this country so great and we all have to come to the table to do that. We are not immune to being laid down. I mean that is what we need. We need to get that message out. So I’m glad you actually brought that up because we’re not immuned to having this nation fall apart and that’s exactly what we’re going to try and prevent from happening.”

You can check out Mia Love’s official site at www.love4utah.com

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

Former Governor, Frogman, Pro Wrestler, Actor, Biker Jesse Ventura on His Latest Book: Democrips and Rebloodicans; Supports Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson’s Libertarian Presidential Bid; Talks Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, His Relationship with Vince McMahon After Not Endorsing Linda, Expendables II, More

Chris Yandek — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:55:30 +0000

CYInterview began focusing on politics – along with entertainment, sports, books, pop culture, etc. – four years ago when we spoke with former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura. Today, in our fourth go round with him, the independent minded former pro wrestler takes on the two party duopoly, discussing his latest book titled, Democrips and Rebloodicans: No More Gangs in Government.

You can listen to the entire 50 plus minute CYInterview below. Featured columnist Jay Bildstein joins me for a conversation you do not want to miss:

Listen to the entire Jesse Ventura CYInterview:

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Former Governor Ventura tells us he supports third party candidate Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, in the 2012 presidential elections. Johnson, the former two term Governor of New Mexico joined us recently on CYInterview [see here]. Ventura said the following:

“Absolutely. If Ron Paul’s out of it after the Republican Convention, if Congressman Paul goes home and retires and doesn’t leave the Republican Party and even if he does, I will still support Governor Johnson. He, I will tell you this, the Libertarians got a hold of me in Mexico and wanted to know if I wanted to run with him. And unfortunately I don’t leave Mexico for any reason early because I don’t fly, I have to drive it. And so I declined. But I told them that anything I can do for Governor Johnson in his campaign I will be happy to do.

And they left the door open. They said, ‘Would you consider 2016?’ I said, ‘Well, will cross that bridge when I get to it.’ But I will fully support Governor Johnson. I know him. We were Governors at the same time. He is a terrific man. He’s left the Republican Party because he sees what a farce they are and I urge everybody that reads this book vote for Gary Johnson for president. Don’t vote for Democrats or Republicans. Vote for Governor Johnson.”

Ventura further stated about his support of Gary Johnson for President of the United States:

“If Ron Paul drops completely out, Gary Johnson will have my complete support, absolutely. And even if Ron Paul, wait, let me say this, even if Ron Paul stays in, Gary Johnson might get my support anyway. You know, totally you can go public and state that I will endorse Gary Johnson for president.”

Commenting on Jay’s three part plan – which we have been discussing with a variety of people across the political spectrum – that members of Congress, the president and vice president take a 50 percent pay cut and give up their rich after office benefits, accept a lifetime ban on lobbying and that members of Congress be subject to term limits, former Governor Ventura gave his thoughts and offered his own suggestions:

“They’re very valid. Let me take the last one first, term limits, I can tell you and it kind of ties into the first two, I can tell you how to get term limits without even getting them, you know how? Take away retirement. Why should you get a retirement for public service?…They spend 20 years there and they get some fat ass retirement, you take away retirement and most of these guys are not gonna serve. Nobody’s gonna put 20 years into something they don’t get a retirement for…No politician should be allowed to go into the lobbying business when they leave office because that’s what they all do too. Once they leave office they become a lobbyist because they know all the ropes, they know how to do the bribery, they know how to manipulate the whole system out there and that’s another way they get rich.”

Speaking of the last time he heard from Vince McMahon [Chairman of the Board of Directors & Chief Executive Officer of World Wrestling Entertainment] Governor Ventura says this:

“I haven’t spoken to Vince since he got mad at me ‘cause I wouldn’t endorse Linda for the senate…He got mad at me because I was on Good Morning America or something and they asked me would you support Linda McMahon? And I said no. But let me explain, I don’t support any Democrats or Republicans. She’s running as a Republican and I don’t support anyone from those two parties no matter who they are and so it was nothing personal against Linda, but Vince got real mad at me that I said that on national TV, but he should’ve known better.”

Speaking of the last time he spoke to former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger:

“I haven’t spoken to Arnold since he became the governor. I did try to visit him once when I was in Sacramento but he was off and gone so I just left him a nice message and said to say hello, but I know how busy you are at those jobs having been a governor that and so no I haven’t spoken to Arnold in a bit. I was very disappointed though of what he did to Maria [Shriver]. I have great respect for his wife Maria Shriver and she did not deserve what she got on that deal…No. I haven’t spoken to Arnold at all ever since he became the Governor of California.”

On Jesse being in The Expendables movies:

“Nobody reached out to me for Expendable[s] 1 and I kind of said to my son who works out there, I said, ‘Gee, I am kind of disappointed.’ And he laughingly said, ‘Don’t worry. Sly always makes sequels. I’m sure he’ll get you in the other one.’ Nobody’s reached out for me for Expendable[s] 2 either.”

As far as acting, Jesse will be in a movie with Tom Sizemore called The Drunk. It’s a little bit of art imitating life for the former Minnesota Governor. Jesse speaks about Sizemore overcoming his past troubles:

“My role is I play the independent Governor of Indiana who’s leaving office. So I think I have a pretty good past for that…Tom seemed right on when I met him. He was fun to work with. He was super professional and I wish him well because he’s a wonderful guy. He’s had some demons in his life which we all have had, but I think Tom has gotten over the hump hopefully and that those demons may not bother him like they did.”

In his latest book, Ventura tells the world he was part of the Mongol Motorcycle Club in the 1970s. Jesse reveals to us a secret.

“I am retired and in good standing with them. In fact I’ll give you another little first, they have a fight song that they sing within the club, ‘We are Mongol raiders, we’re raiders of the night.’ I am the composer of it.”

To sum up the state of America, what with the incredibly high government debt many are concerned about, Jesse says this about today’s politicians:

“It’s beyond belief you know how much in debt we are. In fact let me put it to you this way, if these Democrats and Republicans handled their home finances the way they’ve handled the country’s, they’d be street people pushing carts from the grocery store out on the street if they handled their own personal finances the way they’ve handled the finance of the country.”

You can find more information and purchase a copy of Jesse Ventura’s DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans clicking here

The following are Jesse Ventura’s upcoming book signings:

Monday, June 18th
7 PM
Barnes & Noble
Apache Mall
1201 12th Street SW Suite 425
Rochester, MN 55902
507-281-7950

Thursday, June 21st
7 PM
Barnes & Noble
2100 North Snelling Avenue
Roseville, MN 55113
(651) 639-9256

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

2012 Libertarian Presidential Candidate, Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson Talks to CYInterview: Offers Kind of Candor Candidates Should Offer; Would Cut Federal Budget 43%; Says Inflation Actually Similar to Carter Years; Would Bring Troops Home from Afghanistan; Acknowledges President Obama on Same Sex Marriage, but Says It’s Not Enough; More

Chris Yandek — Thu, 31 May 2012 18:23:16 +0000

For those concerned about America’s debt and deficit, former Republican, two term, New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson has a plan to bring fiscal responsibility to the United States, in addition to standing up for civil liberties. Mr. Johnson, who ran for the Republican nomination for president, yet did not get much exposure, is currently running for president as the Libertarian Party nominee. On Election Day, he will be on the ballot in all 50 states.

Polls have shown Americans are open to voting for a third party candidate for president. The former Governor is currently polling highest among third party candidates.

As New Mexico’s governor from 1995 to 2003, Mr. Johnson vetoed hundreds of spending bills leaving New Mexico with a one billion dollar surplus upon leaving office. In addition to being fiscally responsible, Mr. Johnson is a social liberal who believes the government should stay out of our personal lives. Additionally, he wants to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home.

With a 16 trillion dollar debt and the United States Government borrowing close to half the money it needs to cover annual expenses, action will have to be taken to protect the fiscal solvency and economic sustainability of the nation.

Perhaps, Gary Johnson is one of but a few public officials who understand the inherent, limited abilities of government. And, maybe, it is this understanding that can help create a national dialog on how the U.S. might best deal with the economic challenges it faces.

Below you can read and listen to the highlights of our entire CYInterview. Featured columnist Jay Bildstein joins me in speaking with former Governor Gary Johnson, candidate for President of United States:

Listen to the entire interview with Governor Gary Johnson:

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Browse CYInterview.com while you listen – Click here

A few weeks ago, Ron Paul announced that he would stop campaigning in the states remaining to be contested in the Republican presidential primaries, but that he would continue his quest for delegates. It is a virtual certainty that Mr. Paul will not win the Republican nomination for president. As far as alternatives, Gary Johnson’s fiscal responsibility and social liberality seem closest to Congressman Paul’s views.

Gary Johnson hopes Ron Paul’s supporters will look at him more closely and will vote for him in the general election:

“You’re not handicapping yourself if you don’t have Ron Paul to vote for and that alternative would be me you know having won the Libertarian nomination for President, you know let’s balance the budget, let’s end the wars in Afghanistan, let’s bring the troops home. There’s a difference. There is a third choice.”

Responding to Jay’s three part plan – which he has been introducing to a variety of individuals along the political spectrum – that members of Congress, the president and vice president take a 50 percent pay cut and give up their rich after office benefits, accept a lifetime ban on lobbying and that members of Congress be subject to term limits, the candidate for U.S. President and former Governor of New Mexico gave his thoughts on it and offered his own solutions as well:

“I certainly think term limits would go a long way. I think term limits would improve everything. I, you know the notion of banning a Congress person from lobbying forever after their out of office, I like that idea too. So maybe you ought to increase the pay and with the caveat that with the increased pay you can’t come back and work for the government anymore. I don’t know about the 50 percent reduction in pay. I am proposing a balanced budget to Congress in the year 2013 so included in that would be a 43 percent reduction in government spending which would be a 43 percent reduction for Congress and would be a 43 percent reduction for the administration, the presidential administration.”

Governor Johnson further elaborates on his plan to enact a 43 percent reduction in government spending. He believes a monetary collapse is on the horizon if we don’t balance the budget now and cut federal spending:

“When I talk about a 43 percent reduction in federal spending, I don’t think what people are considering is that a 43 percent reduction in Medicare spending is a whole better than not having any health care for those over 65 at all and that’s the alternative. I do believe that it’s past midnight and that we’re going to suffer a monetary collapse as a result of borrowing and spending money to the tune of 43 cents out of every dollar that we spend. That’s not sustainable and it’s here and it’s now and it has to be dealt with and the first thing on the list of dealing with this is to slash federal spending.

I am promising to submit a balanced budget to Congress in the year 2013. I don’t think any of the other two candidates are talking remotely close to doing that…What I’m proposing needs to be done is that we balance the budget now. Does that do away with what may end up to be a government collapse? No. Because we still have the 16 trillion dollars in debt that we have to deal with and depending on the interest rate that has to be paid on that, you could find ourselves printing up money if we weren’t taking on any new debt at all. But the first step has to be to slash spending

I am promising to submit a balanced budget to Congress in the year 2013. I think spending will be lower with that promise kept and the promise kept to veto any legislation where expenses exceed revenue. I’m willing to pose that spending will be lower in that scenario than any other possible scenario and that if we don’t do this, the alternative is ala Russia, monetary collapse. The money that we have one day is just not worth anything tomorrow…The only way we stand a chance against it not happening [monetary collapse] is to slash spending now.”

Commenting on his principal opponents for the presidency, President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the Libertarian nominee for president says this:

“Who’s gonna slash spending? Obama or Romney? I don’t think so. Who’s gonna get us out of Afghanistan? Who’s gonna bring the troops home? Who’s gonna end the war on drugs? Both of them, how about repealing the Patriot Act? Both of them support The Patriot Act. Both of them want to bomb Iran. Let’s not bomb Iran…You can’t balance the federal budget if you’re not going to cut Medicaid and Medicare and military spending, the big three…But you can’t balance the budget without significantly cutting entitlement spending. And if we don’t cut entitlement spending, we’re gonna be left with nothing. The alternative is nothing as opposed to a system that I think can be implemented that will genuinely take care of those in need.”

In national polls Gary Johnson stands at around seven percent versus Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. To qualify for the presidential debates, Mr. Johnson will have to be polling at 15 percent by fall. Might Gary Johnson take to the platform like Ross Perot did in 1992, strongly influencing the tone of the debate? Only time will tell. Mr. Johnson could have great impact on this year’s presidential elections, particularly if he is able to participate in those debates. The Governor tells us his strategy to make this happen:

“I think there will be recognition, growing recognition of being on the ballot in all 50 states that there are only gonna be three parties that are going to accomplish that. I don’t think Ron Paul’s candidacy is gonna be successful and for the most part Ron Paul is talking about these same issues and talking about the solutions that go along with the problems, but I don’t think he’s gonna win the Republican nomination. So that’s another kind of key event. Where does all Ron Paul’s support go when that candidacy comes to an end? Well, I think that the Libertarian ticket, me, offers an alternative that’s not a fallback position. It’s not a handicapped decision. It’s a reload if you will.”

Looking at America’s unfunded liabilities, reported to be approximately $56 trillion, in addition to a $16 trillion dollar national debt, one wonders why Democrats and Republicans alike are not speaking out and dealing with this enormous fiscal challenge with greater urgency. Governor Johnson does not understand why they both continue to kick the can down the road:

“I don’t understand the, I don’t understand kicking it down the road because it’s just, there’s not that much room left. You guys recognize that you know so much talk of late has been given of Greece. Well Greece is at 160 percent of Gross National Product. We’re six to eight years away from statistically being in that same place. Now Greece can’t print money. We can. So our outcome is going to be that the dollars we have are so inflated that they virtually become valueless…Because of the change in the way we compute inflation, that really the inflation that we have today rivals that of Jimmy Carter because you know they exclude energy and food prices.”

Speaking about President Obama’s support of same sex marriage, the former New Mexico Governor said the following:

“Ultimately it could lead to legislation, but it’s certainly not, it’s not gonna happen tomorrow given the 40 plus states have said they will not recognize same sex marriage. I think this is a constitutionally guaranteed right and that this will end up being a Supreme Court decision that will be implemented federally, just like civil rights. Look, if civil rights legislation didn’t pass, would we still have segregated public bathrooms in the South? I think so…I believe it is [disingenuous] yet in the same breathe it’s not negative, it’s positive, but it’s removed from actually making it happen.”

With his belief that government has no place in the private lives of Americans and that we need a much smaller government than we currently have, along with fiscal responsibility, Gary Johnson tells us why all Americans should seriously consider voting him. He says he offers the best of both the Republicans and Democrats:

“The notion that Libertarian Party maybe takes the best from both parties, that would be civil liberties from Democrats and fiscal responsibility from Republicans. And by the way, I don’t think either one of those parties does well even in the areas that they’re supposed to do well, but imagine a Libertarian president challenging Congress to repeal The Patriot Act, challenging Congress to end the drug war and I’m talking about the Democrats, challenging them on marriage equality. And then a Libertarian president challenging Republicans to genuinely slash spending, to genuinely shrink government because if we don’t, we’re not gonna have any at all.”

You can find out everything about Libertarian Candidate for President Gary Johnson at www.garyjohnson2012.com

Gary Johnson’s official Facebook page is here.

Gary Johnson’s official Twitter is here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.