Posted by
Cary Wesberry on Monday, August 20, 2007 11:14:58 PM
Republican for the 14th Congressional District, Andy Mann, is now campaigning full-time to unseat Congressman Ron Paul, who is currently a Republican Presidential candidate. I was able to get an exclusive interview with Andy right here at AFK and Townhall.com:
1. What made you decide to leave your job with a NASA contractor and run for Congress in the 14th District? Also, did the safety and well-being of your children, and other close family members, factor heavily in the decision to take such a huge risk in leaving the private sector?
It is a funny story, actually. One day last year my friend Ryan and I took our kids to McDonalds. While they were playing on the indoor playground, he started talking about how my opponent, Ron Paul, voted against the Defense Appropriations Bill. Having just returned from Iraq, I guess he was feeling particularly passionate about having things like armor and bullets available while fighting a war.
I haven’t followed politics for years, but I found it hard to believe anyone would vote against the troops, so I Googled Dr. Paul when I got home…and I simply couldn’t believe it. I called Ryan and told him we were going to run him. He would be a great candidate. But his wife didn’t think it was such a good idea. We agreed someone needed to stand up for manned space flight and --- not to mention --- reality. I talked to other people in and out of the NASA community, but no one had the time or energy, so I thought someone needed to give the voters an alternative…and not just in the general election where he is nearly unbeatable, but in the primary, where our research indicates he is really weak for the first time in ten years.
2. As many in our state are painfully aware, the Seat you are attempting to get elected to is currently occupied by Presidential candidate Ron Paul, also a Republican; sort-of. The most dangerous threat to our country is Islamic Fundamentalists, such as those who attacked us on 9/11. Your opponent has repeatedly made detailed statements holding the United States directly responsible for the attacks instead of those who flew the planes. What runs through your mind when you see a fellow Republican, elected to the U.S. Congress by the people of your district, making such outrageous remarks?
My first thought was, “Someone has to do something about this.”
Al Qaeda’s actions on 9/11 were so provocative, that stopping to ask “why” is just going to slow one down from addressing their actions in a violent, efficient manner. It is sort of like asking a serial killer why they did it. No answer will justify their actions. Let’s just address the actions…preferably with a lethal injection.
But if you are going to try to answer the question, it would help to have the facts straight. If you do a little reading, you know that Al Qaeda declared war on America because (A) we were “occupying” the holy land between Mecca and Medina, and (B) we are decadent and don’t live under their form of law, the Shariah. We no longer “occupy” Saudi, and I don’t see us switching legal systems anytime soon, so all we can do is address the behavior. Replace “lethal injection” with “cluster bombs.”
3. Dr. Paul, a well-known Libertarian, supports the legalization of marijuana and the industrialized farming of hemp throughout the United States. We’ve gotten along without it so far. Would you cease support of this policy if elected to represent the 14th District as a Republican?
I would have been a huge supporter of that policy in high school, but I am now an adult and a parent. And these are the types of issues that make me wonder, “what in the heck is he doing with our congressional seat?" I am sitting in traffic on I-45 and all he can talk about is hemp and the gold standard? How about some federal funds to get the Interstate straightened out?
4. The illegal immigration debate is a huge issue in our state. Your opponent Dr. Paul has supported the Conservative cause for securing our borders with a couple of letters. Do you plan to show more support for the security of your country than he has?
You see, this goes to a great point. His extreme views make him completely ineffective. Even if he is on the right side of a cause, he is powerless to create a solution primarily due to his isolation. The first thing I will do is head down to the border and get a feel for what they are dealing with. Hopefully we can work on the system WITHOUT GRANTING AMNESTY so we know who is coming across our southern border. Also, let me state for the record that I am a second generation immigrant. My Grandma came from Czechoslovakia at the beginning of the last century. We are a nation of immigrants. I am not opposed to immigration. But I think we need to enforce our current system and get our Mexican brothers and sisters to head for home so we can get an accurate accounting of who is coming across.
5. Will you join other Congressmen in our state like Republicans Ted Poe and John Culberson who stand-up for the rights of their constituents to live in a safe and secure country in a time of War?
There is no doubt we went a bit too far with the Patriot Act. Anyone with a lick of sense knew we were going to overreact to 9-11. But both sides are working together to make adjustments now. The fact that adjustments can be made is proof that we didn’t harm the system. I think Representative Poe and Culberson are on the right side of things. I hope I have the opportunity to be of assistance to them.
6. Do you recognize the damage to our communities caused by massive illegal immigration with no assimilation into our culture and language? If indeed you do recognize the adverse affects, what policies will you support to control it?
There is no doubt there is a cost associated with illegal immigration. The best way to address it is to simply enforce the laws on the books. Last week the Bush administration (finally) proposed a rule change requiring employers to check Social Security numbers to see if they are valid. Enforcement of this common sense rule change will go a long way towards reducing the problem.
As for the question about culture and language, all I can do is share my observations from my own family. My grandma learned English as soon as she got here, but her mom never learned the language…and I am ok with that. We have been an immigrant society from the beginning, and I suppose I have a bit more faith in our culture than some in the party.
I know I should offer up a rant about how there are places in America where no one speaks English, but to be honest, I believe that our culture is the single most powerful and intoxicating element of the American experience. During the Cold War I had the opportunity to hear a former Russian diplomat speak on the subject of who would eventually win. He predicted America would win, and not based on the number of nuclear missiles, but based on our system’s ability to offer freedom, coca cola, and blue jeans to rest of the world. Now I know this is a simplistic view of American culture, but it has survived the Irish, the Poles, the Czechs, the Vietnamese, the Italians and a number of other immigrant groups. I think we will assimilate our Mexican brothers, too.
7. You’ve stated that you don’t just want to talk about abortion; you actually want to reduce the number of abortions for your district. How do you plan to do this specifically?
Abortion is probably the single biggest reason I became a Republican. It isn’t that hard to be a conservative Democrat, but it is darn near impossible to be a pro-life Democrat. I plan to promote faith-based alternatives to abortion throughout CD 14. I think Republican politicians often talk the talk on this issue, but if my campaign goes down in flames, but a single Mom learns about the Gabriel Project or other organizations, I will feel pretty good about what I have done….Gabriel Project URL: www.gabrielproject.com.
8. Tell me about deregulation and our economy. How will your policies on deregulation create more jobs in Southeast Texas?
One of the key ingredients In a free market is competition. Most of the time when governments step into a market, the result is a decrease in competition. If you look at the telecommunications industry, you had decades where nothing changed. As soon as the government broke up AT&T, and then deregulated the baby bells, you suddenly had all of this innovation occurring because the industry was once again exposed to competition.
Last week I had a telephone tech come to work on my phone line. We got to talking about his job, and he told me he was part of a new crew that does nothing but install fiber optic cable to homes. This guy’s job didn’t even exist two years ago. Residential fiber optic cable technician: now that is a mouth full. This type of service simply would not have been offered in the past when the phone companies were protected. But now if they want to stay in the game, they have to innovate.
9. Internet regulation; you touch on this issue somewhat at your website. Obviously, I use the internet to publish my writing so that I have a direct relationship with my readers on a daily basis, while answering only to myself. Conservative news and opinion is what this site is all about. While all Conservatives want to throw the book at internet child-predators, we also fear recent threats from the Democrats like the Fairness Doctrine. This last time, they even threw bloggers into the mix with Conservative talk radio. How do you plan to balance these issues while keeping the internet completely open to Freedom of Speech and the free-flow of information?
The fairness doctrine is pretty whacky stuff. I don’t think the public is ever going to let that fly…and that really wasn’t the direction I was heading. I am more focused on the regulation of Internet Pornography. Right now if a minor wants to buy a Penthouse, they need to have money and they need to convince the person behind the counter that they are not a minor. On the Internet, all they need to do is check a box to “verify” they are 18. I would like to work with credit card companies that work with adult content sites so there is an effective check for a customer’s date of birth. This can be done a number of different ways, and technologically it isn’t that big of a stretch.
Ultimately, it is my responsibility to watch what my kids get into online, but all parents want is the same barriers to this stuff that exist in the real world.
10. What are your thoughts on the internet’s effects upon politics in this country? Do you see our elected officials using news/opinion websites more and more to get their message out directly to the people unfiltered, such as this interview?
Blogs are an interesting phenomenon, but I think we are just scratching the surface. Politics is sort of the “land that time forgot” when it comes to technology. National elections are sophisticated marketing campaigns, but most of the actual processes are still paper-based. Also, most state, city and local elections are still done the old fashion way. I am trying to develop online tools that make it easier for the first-time candidate. If you check out my site, you can sign my petition to get on the ballot in February. Once we get enough people in CD 14 to sign, I am going to use Google Maps to collect the actual signatures. I think online mapping has huge potential. It is sort of like the first time I saw the web or wireless computing. Someone asked me, “what can we use this for?” My answer, “I don’t know, but let’s get it in our customer’s hands ASAP and find out.”
Hopefully we will be able to build online tools for fundraising and organizing eventually. The online petition is sort of a proof of concept application. I think it is a great idea. We will see how it works.
11. You are a true believer in manned space flight and NASA, as am I. Coming from the 14th District it was no surprise; so give my readers your vision for NASA over the next fifty years.
It is going to be a trip. NASA is building the new space system “Orion” as we speak. It is going to take Americans to the Moon, where we are going to build a base. Station has really taught NASA a lot about building and living in space. Once we have a colony on the Moon, the next goal is Mars. I was talking to an engineer the other day, and he said designing for the Moon is more difficult than Mars, primarily due to the Moon dust and the lack of an atmosphere. Then we are going to take a crew to Mars. By then it will be time to hand it over to our kids. Who knows where they will take it.
It is sort of funny, because I came to work for a NASA contractor to do large-scale computer projects. I always thought of Shuttle as sort of a big pork-barrel project. But over the years I have come to appreciate, believe in, and truly love what we do. The team in Clear Lake really is in the business of pushing the envelope for all of humanity. There is almost a spiritual quality to the endeavor. Ultimately, If you think about it, exploration is at the core of what it means to be human.
Follow this link to read Andy's blog.