How will you address the federal budget deficit?
Reprioritize the budget, work for racial equality so you get more people participating in the economy and [promote] education with better outcomes. Restore families and traditional values to drive population growth to replace people in the workplace and also support people in retirement … repeal âÄòObamacareâÄô and also repeal some of the unused stimulus money …
Finally, increase revenue by driving private-sector job growth and economic growth.
How would you work with members of the other party to reduce the gridlock in Congress?
IâÄôve got a lot of experience at the University of Minnesota, in politics there, and I also work with people from all sides. I am Mr. Inclusive. I listen to what everybody has to say, I find out what we need to do, what the problem is and how we have to solve it and move things forward.
Would you support a second stimulus bill?
I donâÄôt think Keynesian economics has worked. If you look at all the other countries in the world, theyâÄôre going in the opposite direction, theyâÄôre cutting back, theyâÄôre getting back to economic efficiency âÄî you look at Germany, you look at England. What we need to do is really drive economic growth from the ground up. Now, definitely, I would not support any stimulus efforts.
What should federal immigration reform look like?
I would divide it into two sectors, and it would be not be legal and illegal, it would be Mexican and non-Mexican âĦ
What I would purpose for that is an international border zone. … We would put factories there, build jobs at the border [and] bring jobs back from China and Asia. For the rest of the people I think those programs are working pretty good.
The DonâÄôt Ask, DonâÄôt Tell policy was recently overturned by a federal judge. Do you agree with that ruling, and what would you do for gay rights on the national level?
I agree with DonâÄôt Ask, DonâÄôt Tell, and I would definitely not want to repeal it. I think itâÄôs improper for a federal judge to try to order the military around âĦ
You have to focus on the mission, which is to defend America and your specific mission … So I think itâÄôs very, very bad for the military.
However, IâÄôm fully supportive of civil rights for everybody. I would not take any of those away because of somebodyâÄôs sexual preference.
Do you support the health care legislation passed last session, and should there be further federal action on health care?
I am very much against it, but I am in favor of a targeted approach which reduces racial health disparities … I also agree that they should allow insurance companies to try to pool together states so they can get large enough population so they can compete in the marketplace …
I want to selectively defund âÄòObamacare,âÄô and IâÄôm the only person in the country whoâÄôs put this forward. I want to fund some that are going to save lives right now âÄî but I want to do that in return for [President Barack] Obama agreeing not to veto a repeal.
Do you support cap and trade legislation?
No. ItâÄôs going to put industries at risk, as even [Teresa] Collett says, youâÄôve got to have a global approach to it, not just a one-country. Basically it manipulates market forces that we donâÄôt understand. âĦ
What we need to do is make the world energy-independent in stages and in international cooperation by redesigning the consumption and production of energy and marketing those better practices to consumers throughout the world.
Do you agree with the Supreme CourtâÄôs Citizens United decision? Why or why not?
I do agree with that … I donâÄôt think we should play with peopleâÄôs rights to express themselves during an election. I also notice that the unions are spending a lot of money and from what I gather itâÄôs very similar to what the corporations are doing. Secondly, the corporations have important things to say to us that we need to understand.