Having breakfast with Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) Friday morning.
Update: Sentor Brownback was very in tune to my position on most issues. One phrase he said stuck out in my mind. When speaking of the U.S. and our leadership position in the world he said, “We are a country full of goodness, and that leads to a country full of greatness. If we lose sight of our goodness, we’ll surely lose our greatness.” Some topics we discussed:
Abortion: He agreed with me that the women’s reproductive rights right to kill the unborn issue will be a hot topic as Hillary moves closer to the Democrat nomination for 2008. It will be the chance for the Left to put a “personal” touch on the issue. He introduced the Fetal Pain Bill to open the dialogue and it appears to be working.
He pointed out the irony that the Left’s message is “if you make it into this world” we’ll take full care of you, but we retain the right to prevent you from arriving”. I added the irony that the message could be extended to say, “if you make it into this world and commit a crime, we’ll take even better care of you.”
Immigration: He favors a work-visa program and gave an interesting statistic. He said Social Security reports a full 400,000 people in this country have a Social Security Number of 000-00-000. Four hundred THOUSAND. He asked the rhetorical question, “I wonder how many of those might be fraudulent?” He would like to see the Social Security Administration be able to share data with the Immigration folks.
I asked him which is argument is more of a political liability: 1) to close our borders to future illegals or 2) sending those already here back home. He said #2 is the tough one. The question is whether immigration reform will allow them to register in the U.S. to be part of a program or send them home to register and regulate re-entry.
Government Reform: He discussed the BRAC issue (since it’s a big topic here) and said it was amazingly non-political. In fact, he said something that I think could be a sleeper issue if someone were to run with it (hint, hint Senator) and that’s applying the BRAC process to government as a whole.
BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) is the congressionally authorized process DoD has previously used to reorganize its base structure to more efficiently and effectively support our forces, increase operational readiness and facilitate new ways of doing business. He thinks the BRAC method (which includes a single congressional, non-amendable vote) should be applied to every corner of the federal government. It would certainly be a good way to eliminate the inefficient programs and agencies in favor of more efficient ones that actually serve the people properly. I agree.
Energy: He says ANWR should be moving ahead in the Fall, but thinks the answer lies in alternative fuel sources. While he doesn’t think the technology and infrastructure is in place yet, he does have an idea to bridge the gap. It focuses on the fact that the average American drives less than 20 miles per day. He advocated the hybrid vehicles that allow the driver to use battery power for the first 20 miles of any driving trip before the car switches over to gasoline usage. Sounds like a plausible concept.
Tax Reform: He has a great idea for tax reform. When he started out by saying, “we could leave the current tax code in place…” I was quite skeptical, but then he said he proposes a separate Flat Tax and taxpayers could opt one or the other. (the real pro-choice party strikes again). He discussed converting the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) into an Alternative Maximum Tax for that opt-in program as well. He also thinks the idea of a Consumption Tax is reasonable.
Bloggers: Senator Brownback asked my take on bloggers and our impact on the political process. Obviously my answer is biased, but I told him that bloggers were definitely a big force in 2004 and I predict as blogging gains more momentum as a resource for those seeking information, it will become a bigger factor in 2006 and 2008. I told him I didn’t necessarily see a replacement of MSM happening anytime soon, but blogging certainly gave a voice to those who previously didn’t have a pulpit that could compete with MSM. I said that blogging is sort of the reinvention of what original journalism was all about. It’s about citizens speaking to citizens regarding newsworthy events. It’s no longer top-down force-feeding, but there’s an upward surge of information now as well.
All in all, I’m very impressed with Senator Brownback and sincerely appreciate the privelege and honor to meet him this morning. Keep fighting the good fight.
On a side note, I also got the chance to meet David Wallace, Mayor of Sugarland. I was impressed with him. He’s pro-life, anti-gun control, anti-same sex marriage, and pro-lower taxes. He supports Bush in the war on terrorism and is in favor of tougher border control. My kind of Republican. I think if Tom Delay ever leaves his seat in District 22, Wallace might be a good replacement.
Update 10/06/05: John at RightWingNews posts his new interview with Senator Brownback.
