Well, as you’re probably aware, I was able to meet up with David Smith, who is running for Congress in the Texas 2nd District against Republican, Ted Poe. We met up in Houston last weekend while I was while talking with Steve Susman. David and Steve are friends and are both passionate about the issues we’re facing as a Country and the specific issues that affect the folks in their districts.
David arrived at the coffee shop near the end of my discussion with Steve, so he didn’t really have a clue what to expect in regards to questions. Steve stuck around until the end of David’s interview to give him moral support, *cough* because I’m such an intimidating person *cough*. Despite that, David did a great job holding his own.
Here’s the interview…
Ron: What are your views on the indoctrination of our society by the media and those behind them.
David: The media to me is a congregation of lobbyists, and I have no use for lobbyists, and any representative that would pick up their agenda just because “oh, well, they’re going to donate to me”, well, first off, they need to be fired. Right on the spot. I think that’s wrong. It’s the People we need to be listening to and not the special interests.
Ron: Another thing we take issue with is the apathy of voters and non-voters alike. How do you feel about apathy in the electorate?
David: I think EVERYONE needs to wake up and vote, or else they need to simply deal with what they get and be quiet. If you don’t vote, you don’t have a say in what’s going on. The two party system is a major problem in creating apathy though. I’d like to see a 10 party system. Tear it all down and rebuild it.
Ron: We take a stand against Big Government and government corruption. All of them talk about ending corruption. All of them talk about ‘reducing the size of government’. You know that and I know that. How would you assure voters that, if elected, you wouldn’t get sucked into the corruption that permeates the government?
David: Well, my 5 kids and my wife would keep me from going that direction. Secondly, I think people need to get these corrupt politicians out of office. Stop voting for them. Stop reelecting them. So, if they see me falling into that trap, get me out of there as well. Of course, I’m not going up there to be a career politician. Two terms, max, but someone has to get in there and stop all this stupidity. Cut the bloated social programs, shrink the government, start bringing our troops home and use them to secure the border. This is going to shrink the government. I worked for the housing authority for ten years, and the first thing that needs to happen is to cut welfare. Sell the units these people are living in. Sell them to them, even, but make them go to work. Quit giving them money. It’s abused. Ya know I don’t mind helping those who really need it, but we have four generation families living on welfare. It’s all they know. Some of them living in the exact same housing units that they grew up in. Some of them don’t even know what work is! We’ve tried “educating” them and that hasn’t worked. Cut their money off. They’re forced to go to work or else starve or else fall back on the churches like it was originally.
Ron: We are in support of radically reducing our debt, and Steve had mentioned something about your proposal for real immigration change and how it would go toward helping reduce spending and the debt.
David: My immigration plan takes 100% of the financial burden of immigration off the American people. And it will actually turn a profit and we’ll still be letting people in the country. We have to secure the border, and we’ll kill all the social programs for illegal immigrants. And just so you know, my wife is Ukrainian. She’s not currently a US Citizen, so no one can jump in my face and call me an immigrant hater. I’m just looking out for my country and not the illegals. Kill their social programs. In my plan, they’ll have 90 days to get into the stream to get legal. Keep in mind, they’re breaking the law and that’s why they’re called “illegal”. Their punishment will be to go back home. If they want to come legally, they’ll need to go through the embassy, and we’ll forgive their illegal entry if they’ve left in that 90 days. However, if they’re here after 90 days, the punishment is stiff and it’ll hurt. They can get up to two years in prison, and they’ll lose all their assets here and they have to go home. I know some libertarians hate the idea of securing the border, but I have my reasons for doing that. Last year, in Arizona alone, 320 young girls were kidnapped and were brought to the other side of the border. Most of the ones found were raped and beaten to death. Not stabbed. Not shot. Beaten… to death. I have daughters. You think I want to see that happen to my daughters? I’m going to secure that border. Another reason, and the Federal Government should be all over this: Over 500 times in the past five years the Mexican military has crossed over the border and fired upon our citizens, neighborhoods, border guards, and our police. When brought up to my Congressman, Ted Poe, who sits on the Immigration and Border Security Commission, all he can say is “I’ll look into it”. Nothing happens. You don’t hear back from him. Now, out on my website, there are news clips of this sort of thing. Now, regarding the securing the border and immigration, I’m wanting to make it easier for people to legally immigrate to America by cutting their paperwork down. For my wife to get into the country, you’ve got to wade through a stack of paperwork an inch and a half thick and jump through all kinds of hoops. I’m going to make it where they can go the embassy and it’ll cost $135 for the visa, $85 for the background check, and that’s what it’ll cost to get into the country. And the embassy can tell you within an hour whether or not you qualify to get in. You can do your interview right then. This will stop the crazy lines at the embassies, and it’ll be no more of this “unwritten rule” about lottery windows at the embassies where windows 1 and 5 are rejecting everyone, while windows 2, 3, and 4 are letting them in. Because of my situation, I’ve done a lot of research on immigration and border security, so it’s my thing.
Ron: We oppose voter fraud. What would you suggest to stop or reduce voter fraud?
David: That actually ties into the immigration thing as well. When I talked about ending social programs for illegals, I consider having a driver’s license as one of those services. In any other country you go to, your passport is your driver’s license, as long as you get a specific stamp from them, and it’s only good as long as your visa is good. Well, no more issuing driver’s licenses to illegals. When they come here and they have a visa, they’ll need to go to DPS or DMV or wherever, and get a stamp on their passport which will expire when their visa does. I had to show my birth certificate, and my proof of address for my license. When you go to vote, you’ll need to show your driver’s license. What’s the big deal? You have to show it when you cash a check or use your credit card. It’s not wanting a national ID. It’s just common sense and doing what you already do. What’s the big deal? People have to have some sort of identification.
Ron: We reject the “isms”, racism, sexism, etc., that divide the American people, which are perpetuated by the government and the media. What are your feelings on this division?
David: Listen, the government is the biggest racist organization there is. They should not be asking what your race is or what religion you are. Those questions need to come off every document we see in society. Loan applications, job applications… all of them.
Ron: We stand for an open audit of the Federal Reserve system, and then a dismantling of that system. What’s your stance on that?
David: The Fed needs to go. Completely. Do away with it. Amen to that, brother! JFK, before he was killed, issued over $400 Billion in gold and silver backed currency. Do you know the day after he died, the government issued a recall on that money. Curious.
Ron: We believe in the decentralization of power from the Federal Government, bringing it back to its Constitutional framework and giving power back to the States and the Individuals. We’re interested in what you think about that.
David: Here’s what I’ve heard from knocking on 80,000 doors in my campaign: People are sick of the government having control over them. They want control over the government. I tell them, “Fine. Let’s do away with the IRS.” Then I hear “oh, but then there’ll be so many people out of work!” No, you don’t understand. Let’s let the states do the taxing. Some of those IRS folks can go to the states the live in. But then the states have the control, but the people can vote on the taxes and what they’re used for. The biggest issue on my platform, even bigger than the immigration issue… The Federal Government needs to let these things go to the states where people would have a greater say in them. The states need to start standing up and pulling things from the Federal Government so the people can vote on them. Nullification is key to that. If you want control of your government, get the libertarians into office because, I’ll tell you what, they WILL have control so they can have that say in how things are run, and you won’t have people like Ted Poe saying “yes” to the patriot act. I couldn’t find one person who was for that thing when I knocked on doors and he still voted yes on it. They can’t figure out why Poe voted on it. People like Poe, cutting all those backroom deals to push this stuff through, need to be gone. Vote them out. That’s a major issue with the two party system. It’s either him or some other guy who’s just like him. I’m making damage in this thing. I’m showing people there is an alternative. I have democrats following me. I have republicans following me. I have 39% of the polls now.
Ron: We support the Constitutional call for a volunteer defense force, as in a militia. How d you feel about that?
David: I agree with that call too, and we already have that in the National Guard. The Federal Government has NO RIGHT to control and dominate each state’s National Guard regiments. They are part of the states’ militias. And they need to have them put back into the hands of the states.
Ron: So, I’m done with the list of questions I had for you. Is there anything you’d like to tell the Undoctrination readers?
David: Wake up! Tell them I yelled that. Wake up and vote!!! End the republican/democrat cycle that’s gotten us to where we are.
As I did with the Steve Susman interview, I’ll leave you with my impressions of David. The guy is sincere. He loves his family as well (some of whom came with him, including his wife, Janie – to whom, I’d like to say “Speceba” for dealing with me taking her husband away from her so long while she waited patiently), I encourage you to go on over to David’s campaign site and check out the information he’s put out there. If you agree with most of what he’s got out there, give the guy a chance.
Bottom line… do something. Get up and do something. End Apathy.
By the way, Houston area folks: Monday, August 16th at 10:30 a.m., David will be on Houston’s PBS KUHT-TV with his opponent, Republican Ted Poe. The show will re-air on Sunday Aug. 22, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. and Thursday Aug 19, 2010 at 11 p.m. The telecast can also be viewed on the internet on KUHT-TV’s YouTube site. Visit http://www.Houstonpbs.org for more info.
