Congressman Pearce answers questions from the Beat 021718

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 19 February 2018 19 February 2018

By Mary Alice Murphy

Photos of the rest of the visits in Grant County by Deborah Van Tellingen

[Editor's Note: The questions are from this author, but with a bad cold, she had friends ask them and record Congressman Steve Pearce's answers during his visits throughout Grant County on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018.]

The first topic covered was the recent Tax Reform Act. The stories about workers getting bonuses and raises have been in the news, so the first question asked about benefits that people might not know about.

Pearce said he believes one of the lesser known benefits is that small businesses can write off 100 percent of capital investments in the first year the equipment is purchased. He cited the story of a New Mexican who told him he had purchased a new ice cream machine to better the quality of the ice cream he was serving and his purchase would take advantage of the total write-off of the $22,000 he spent on the equipment.

"I think across New Mexico businesses will benefit immediately from this part of the law," Pearce said. He said the attacks on the law result from the Congressional Budget Office estimate of a deficit. "They based their estimate on a snapshot of the economy under President Obama, which showed a growth of about 1.9 percent annually. Obama's choking regulations had kept growth down. If we grow at a 2.6 percent rate, the tax cuts will be break even. When we passed the tax bill, growth was already at 3.3 percent, which is a stunning rate where people can receive the benefits. At that point the CBO estimated a 4.2 percent growth rate, which has been revised to a potential 5 percent growth rate. Everything above 2.6 will be a surplus of $1.5 trillion. With a rate of 5 percent, we could balance the budget."

He said three pieces of the bill will make it easier on individuals and will "juice the economy." Pearce said the corporate tax rate having been lowered to 21 percent will bring manufacturers back to the U.S. Chrysler has already announced that it will move a plant back. "Apple's CEO Tim Cook doesn't like Trump, but he is bringing back 20,000 jobs to this country."

Pearce noted that Trump has gotten rid of about 1,500 regulations that "in my opinion will bring us a lot of growth. In trade, Trump is saying that other countries benefit from deals that do not benefit the U.S. He will renegotiate them and give other countries a fair deal, but give us a fair deal, too."

"I've heard in recent years that some companies have begun to question the advantage to manufacturing some of their parts in China," Pearce said. "Their wages have gone up, so the advantage had lessened. I think we will see growth in manufacturing here."

Another item in the tax bill that has gotten little publicity is doing away with the penalty for those not buying insurance under the Affordable Care Act. "That it was in there was unconstitutional. If we're not going to live by the Constitution, what will happen to us? The poor people have no standing in politics. The rich will always have a way, but the Constitution will always provide a way for those on the bottom to improve themselves. Under Bush, Clinton and Obama, they began walking away from the Constitution."

When asked why the individual tax cuts and on so-called pass through businesses were not made permanent, Peace said the rules of the Senate required that they have a 10-year limit in order to get it passed. "To make them permanent would have required 60 votes. Even though, the Republicans have a slight majority in the Senate, the Democrats would not agree to any of the tax bill, but now they are blaming the Republicans, although the Democrats know full well they would not vote for it and that it required 60 votes. The history of the filibuster is to require 60 votes. Before changes, it required that someone stand there and keep talking during the filibuster, then it was changed to someone could just sign that they agreed to a filibuster and go to dinner or home. It's one of the most egregious rules, because it allows the minority to run the Senate."

He said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell changed it back to having the person filibustering to have to stand there and talk. The senator filibustering can pass it on, but it's not just the sign and leave. "The history of the Senate is being broken down by the minority in order to activate their demands. McConnell already overturned the 60-vote rule for Supreme Court justices. It takes 51 votes in the Senate to pass anything, but 60 votes to get it to the floor. Once a year, a bill can be brought to the floor without the 60 votes. But if it doesn't succeed, it can't come back for a year. The tax bill was that bill this year. The health care reform bill last year was the one time and Senator John McCain killed it by keeping it from coming to the floor."

Pearce said the tax bill was one of the few bills that actually got better as it moved along through the process.

On DACA and the dreamers, Pearce said: "When Obama put it in place, he said it was unconstitutional. Trump has put the issue where it should be, in Congress."

"I put in a bill that I hope will be considered next week," Pearce said. "There are two extremes on the Dreamers issue. One is that they must follow the law to the letter. The second would give them blanket amnesty. My bill says we'll give them permanent legal status. They have 10 years to get the paperwork in and they will have to continue to keep the paperwork updated. Fairness has to be at the core of the bill. Citizenship through amnesty has never been fair to those who sought citizenship the long and legal way. We sent the message to the speaker that we want my bill to come up."

He noted that President Trump wants a wall, and a block to chain migration and the lottery migration.

"My bill allows only the Dreamers to have security," Pearce said. "Yes, we need to secure the border. I think we can put a checkmark by the Dreamers and then work on the other issues. Supporting the Dreamers is not pushing a wall or blocking the lottery or chain migration. I think a wall is not an effective deterrent. They can go over the wall, under the wall or cut holes in it. They just found a tunnel under the wall near El Paso. Recently Trump is saying that the wall is a metaphor for border security. My point is let's look at really securing the border. If you haven't been to the border you don't understand it. I see a lot of money in Washington wasted on things that weren't well understood. Yes, we need to secure the border. And yes, every bill says those illegal immigrants, who are crooks, Dreamers or not, should go home."

He said he could not answer whether it would be possible to get Democrats on board to getting rid of the lottery or chain migration. "I don't know what the Democrats are willing to do. I know they were willing to shut down the government over 800,000 people who are here without documentation."

"Americans were furious, people from both parties were furious, so Schumer changed his mind and opened the government up again on Monday morning after shutting it down Friday night," Pearce said. "I believe they have become more cautious in their actions. Their language is still inflammatory, but their actions are more circumspect. All I'm asking is that we go back to Congress and work on issues and don't forget to deal with the pieces remaining to secure the border. Work on them one at a time. I work with people I disagree with very well. My bill gives the Dreamers a legal way to remain here permanently. It does not presume citizenship. I don't think we could get 218 votes in the House, that is one more than half the membership to send the Dreamers back home or to give them citizenship."

He said it's a difficult situation. He talked to an Albuquerque lawyer who did not sign up as a Dreamer. "He talked to me and helped me write the bill. He came when he was two years old. I don't think it's in the heart of the American people to ignore them. If a Dreamer wants to become a citizen, he or she might have to work hard and maybe go back to where he came from to get citizenship. Fairness is most important of all. The basic situation is asking for mercy. Don't we all at some time have to ask for mercy-on a speeding ticket, for instance?"

Pearce was asked if at the economics class that he spoke to at Western New Mexico University the topic of Dreamers had come up. "I don't take notes when I speak, but I would say to them the same thing I just said to you-how there should be permanent solutions."

On the topic of the governor's race, for which he is the only Republican candidate, he was asked why he was doing it the opposite way from the way most people become governor and then go to Congress.

"It just worked out," Pearce said. "Rep. Joe Skeen was quite ill and not running again, and my wife suggested I run for Skeen's position. I did, and we won. Now the question between my wife, Cynthia and me, was should I go back to Congress or run for governor. My wife and I decided it was time to run for governor. We have the heart for what we know will be a very difficult fight. We have the tools to fix the state. You get a package of Cynthia and me. We felt I have the skills needed for governor. I have 20 years creating jobs, and I have 20 years creating policy. Those things don't always fit well together. You can see Trump is on a steep learning curve. He went from businessman to the top of the policy heap. When I was a New Mexico state representative I got my mistakes chipped off, when they showed up in the Hobbs Sun-News. That was the way life carried me. We discussed a potential run for governor with the state party in 2016. We didn't want a contested primary. I was far ahead in the field for name recognition. We never back off from a fight."

When asked his main priorities as governor, he cited the economy, education, an attack on poverty and a solution to the crime problem.

"On the economic side, we have to diversify," Pearce said. "To start with, if we're getting manufacturing back in this country, let's get some manufacturing in New Mexico. We have copper. Instead of sending it out of the state, let's create our own copper manufacturing here in New Mexico with better paying jobs. We've got trees. The Forest Service's policy seems to be to burn them down. One-hundred twenty-two of our former 123 mills are gone putting many people out of work. I'm working with environmental groups to bring our forests back to health. With healthy forests, the water supplies improve. Instead of 5,000 trees to the acre, we have the more historic 500 trees to the acre. In agriculture, New Mexico should be self-sufficient. Manufacture food from our agriculture right here in the state. Create a pilot project, grow the food in the rural areas and take the food manufacturing jobs to the same rural areas. Build our own refinery here, instead of sending our oil to Houston for their high-paying jobs. Put those jobs here. We should be pursuing opportunities for the Spaceport. We spent $220 million on it. It's too late to take it back. Ask the questions before you put it in. If you invest in it, then you have to fight like heck to get the high-tech jobs here. We have squandered our lead to Texas and Florida. They have to run the launch and recovery over water. It's magnificently simpler to run the launch and recovery over land. Airlines have to divert around White Sands and go to El Paso or Albuquerque. We went to sleep, and we are wringing our hands. Do something. We spent the money, now make it work. I will make the Spaceport work."

To a question about whether he would make marijuana legal, he said: "No. I say I will get people to get off their pot-fueled back and get to work to get out of poverty. You can't put the two together. Colorado has a rich and vibrant economy. They can afford to squander a lot of their youth. I went to Colorado last year, and I was stepping over teenagers asleep in the middle of the street, not the sidewalk, the street. I don't think that's what we want."

"We have people here who are at the bottom of the economic spectrum," Pearce said. "We are much different from Denver. You're going to take your limited resources, take it away from your kids and buy pot? What about your kids going hungry?"

He said he can see lives that played out in the rearview mirror.

To a question about how he would differentiate himself from the present governor, he said: "I'm not a prosecutor. I'm a creator of jobs. I see opportunities and possibilities for jobs all the time. I was in Questa, which is very depressed. I saw possibilities for jobs. People have given up on themselves. We have to bring up new entrepreneurs, especially in millennials. I see them having lots of ideas. I want them to be the new entrepreneurs. It will take three generations to turn around New Mexico. When we solidify the reversal, it will be the millennials who do it and benefit from it."

"I work with people who disagree with me," Pearce repeated. "I'm probably the only Republican who talks to Maxine Waters. We have good discussions. I refuse to show disdain or roll my eyes about the Democrats or liberals or socialists, whatever you want to say. We sit and have very forthright discussions. I refuse to look at their points of view with disdain. As Republicans, Democrats or Independents, we must work together for the state. I've been going to the state Legislature for the past six years, saying the state should be debating the real stuff, not the talking points. I have begun to get nods from them. Let's sit down and figure out where we've gone wrong on mental health. Let's sit down and figure out how to address the opioid epidemic. Let's sit down and figure out about gun violence in schools. Let's sit down and talk about them instead of just pushing money at them. We are the ones elected. We should be coming up with the solutions."

When asked if he wanted to talk about anything else, he brought up the Republican Memo. "I had seen the memo, and I believed the American people should see it. It was released and then the Democrats created their own memo. They fully expected Trump to redact things. He's shrewd. He sent it back and said take out all the secret, classified items."

He said the FBI is deeply compromised. "They didn't cover the kid in Florida who just killed 17 at the high school, even though they had received information showing that he could be a problem."

"I voted against the FISA renewal," Pearce said. "I didn't want them to continue to do surveillance on ordinary citizens. People should know how compromised they are. You can go back to the illegal prosecution of Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. The Department of Justice accused him of things, without allowing witnesses that corroborated his testimony to be heard. The case caused him to lose his re-election by less than two percent.

"It was not about the DOJ's job, but about politics," Pearce said. "You can go back to the Stevens case to see the start. https://www.rollcall.com/news/recalling_the_injustice_done_to_sen_ted_stevens_commentary-237407-1.html .

To a comment, Pearce said: "Yes, the DOJ is deeply part of the swamp."

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Congressman Pearce answers questions from the Beat 021718

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