Interview with Bernie DeCastro 9-12 Candidate for U.S. Senate State of Florida
|

Host: I want to address today five points: the criminal justice system, term limit, tax, and the government takeover of the health care system as
well as the financial system and even businesses, and finally, immigration.
Candidate: Okay.
Host: So let’s start with the criminal justice system. You openly speak about the fact that you spent time in prison for some serious offense.
Candidate: Right.
Host: Now I dare to say that of course this puts you in a somewhat privileged position to understand the present system. You include in your
platform reforming the criminal justice system. What are some of the changes that you envision?
Candidate: Well, if you look across the United States, you see that every state has their budget strained by the criminal justice system. And that’
s because for the last two or three decades, we’ve gone on a building binge and done nothing but build, build, build more prisons. And we
have focused absolutely very little attention on the things that change people. You’re not going to change everybody, but the scientific data is
in, it’s empirical, it’s unquestionable, that there are certain things that do work, like education, vocational skills, substance abuse. And we’re
doing very, very little of that. And we’re doing very little to prepare men and women for re-entry. Now most people don’t like the idea of
criminals, and I don’t either even though I was one at one time, but the fact is that 95% of the people that we incarcerate are coming back into
our community. And so it behooves us to be smart on crime rather than tough on crime which those two are not mutually exclusive. We got to
reform our system so that we know what it’s going to take to reduce recidivism and therefore enhance public safety.
Host: Now since you have spent some time behind bars, do you see any specific item that you would like, that for example should you be
elected that you would like to address right away?
Candidate: Yeah, one thing that I would like to see. I would like to see us stop using prison as a sanctioned so much for non-violent substance
abusers. There are many other sanctions that we could use, but like in Florida, it’s $20,000 a year to lock up somebody for smoking reefer. I
mean, does that make sense? That’s just insane. We spend the same amount of money to lock up a first degree murderer or rapist and you’re
going to spend the same amount of money to lock up somebody for smoking reefer as you are for rape and robbery? Hello?
Host: You make a good point. Let’s go to term limits for Congress. It is a very hot button right now. A lot of people are starting to say, you
know, we really need to put some strategy together to really get that going. You favor that. How many terms and why?
Candidate: Well, you know, I’ve looked at both sides of this. I know the pros and cons of term limits. I know that when somebody leaves, you
lose all the experience of that person and I know what ends up happening is the people, the staffers, end up with a lot more power. But I still
think overall, it’s a better idea. Because when you look at the people that are up there, I mean so many of those people you listen to them
speak and you watch their attitude, I mean the arrogance is just unbelievable. Because I think in their own minds, they’re legends in their own
minds. They don’t have term limits. They’re entitled to all these privileges that other Americans are not entitled to, and they bring home all the
pork so they know how to get the vote and people just keep electing them and so they believe they’re like gods. And I think it just breeds just
absolute arrogance and corruption up there. So I think overall that the best thing is to have term limits and I think that for a Senator it should
be two term limits of six years – that would be twelve years total. And for a Representative, I would say probably eight years at the most - four
terms.
Host: Part of your platform, you also indicate, and you touched on it a few seconds ago, that Congress should not be passing any legislation
that does not affect them as well.
Candidate: Exactly. Exactly. Everything that affects us should apply to them as well. They should not be above the law. They should not be
any better than any other. They’re an American citizen just like you are and just like I am. They’re not any better than we are and they are not
entitled to anything else. All of this money that they’re paid for the rest of their life, that’s ridiculous. I mean, especially in times like this when we’
re in such bad shape financially. And, I don’t mean to segue in to health care. We can do that whenever you want to, but you keep hearing at
these town hall meetings, people after people are standing up and saying, “Are you going to put yourself under the same health care as you’re
asking us to be under?” You know and they always wiggle out of that question.
Host: Yes they do. Now, let’s go to the tax problem. You want to repel the 16th Amendment and pass the Fair Tax. Who will benefit the most
and to what extend would you want to go?
Candidate: Well, let me just say this, Danielle, that I am not a Fair Tax expert. In fact, Neal Boortz’ book is one of the books on my list to read.
Because I want to really get up to speed on this before the election. I want to be able to speak very intelligently about it. Right now I just got
through Glenn Beck’s book. I’m reading Dick Morris’ book, Catastrophe. Michelle Malking’s book is next. But I think what Neal Boortz
suggested is a 27% tax on everything we buy that’s new. So if you buy a used car, you don’t pay taxes. And everything that I’ve heard so far
about the Fair Tax is absolutely a tremendous idea. And what it does also, is remove a lot of the corruption from Congress and it simplifies a
system that is just out of control and nobody understands. Nobody understands. I mean you’ve got Tim Geithner, the head of the Treasury,
that supposedly doesn’t understand it, so he doesn’t pay his taxes, you know. I mean we could go on naming names, you know what I mean?
So why don’t we just simplify it? It’s not that they don’t want to simplify it, they just don’t want to lose the power that goes along with the system
that it currently is.
Host: So you are proposing a whatever the percentage would be, we don’t even need to go there yet but that would be let’s call it a flat tax that
would be…
Candidate: And it would affect everybody.
Host: But it would be a tax that is uniform across the board across the United States and that would replace then the Federal Income Tax?
Candidate: That’s right. So all those people who do not pay Federal Income Taxes now, they would be equal with everybody else. Everybody
would pay. You go to buy a new shirt, you pay the tax, a little higher tax on it. But you don’t have any income tax. You have more money to
spend at the end of the week.
Host: And you have a fair point as well because when you think and look at the statistics of how many people in this country do not pay any tax
at all. I believe the number is over 50%
Candidate: That’s exactly right. That was one of my other points. Now you get all of that income into the system that’s not in there now. So yes,
by all means, I believe. Then once we can pass the Fair Tax, then the next thing is to move to repeal the 16th Amendment.
Host: Let’s move on to the government takeover of our health care and other sectors. What’s your position on that and why?
Candidate: Well, I just really believe that it’s the wrong thing to do because everything the government touches they mess up anyway. This is
not…. You know I heard somebody this morning on one of the talk shows. They say, “Well, the government runs the military and the
government run this.” Yeah, that’s true. But we’re talking about services now. We’re not talking about the armed forces. That’s one of the
reasons why we have a government. But when we talk about health care. What first beef I have is they keep throwing this 47 million number
out there that are uninsured. Well, they fail to tell you that about 10 million of those are immigrants, legal or illegal. They’re not American
citizens, don’t deserve those privileges of American citizenry. The other thing they fail to tell you is about probably another 20 million of those
are young people who can afford to have it. They make enough money to where they can afford insurance. They choose not to. So you and I
have to subsidize somebody that chooses not to get their own insurance? Hello? And then you have a lot of people that already have
Medicare, Medicade but just haven’t signed up for it. So what you’re left with is about maybe five, six, seven million people and they’re going to
make a huge national crisis out of this. And then all of the other things that go along with it, the end of life stuff that people are calling death
panels. I mean there’s just so many bad things about this. And eventually it will end up a one payer system. And it’s going to be just like
Canada, just like England. I mean you’re going to have to wait just unbelievable amounts of time for something and then you may not get it
anyway. They’re going to look at your age. They’re going to say, “Well you know, you’ve lived a long life.” And everything’s going to boil down
to dollars and cents. They’re going to say, “ Well you’ve got maybe two or three years of productivity left and you’re wanting an operation that
costs $75,000, but you’re only going to produce about $30, $40 thousand so, no I don’t think so.”
Host: No therefore we’re going to write you off.
Candidate: Yeah, and you’re going to have a government bureaucrat, not a doctor determining whether or not you get health care. It’s insane.
Host: Let’s go to immigration. The Center for Immigration has often reported that amnesty does not solve the problem of illegal immigration.
And for example, with the passage of the Immigration Reform And Control Act of 1986, approximately close to 3 million, I think it was 2.7 million
people received lawful permanent residence aka the Green Card. Now in the late 80’s and early 90’s, the INS figures show that by early 1997,
all these people that had gotten the green cards, they had been replaced by new illegal aliens. What would you propose to fix the immigration
problem our country is facing today?
Candidate: Very first thing I would do would be to get, and of course this is contingent upon getting a Congress with a spine. The main reason
we don’t have an immigration that’s strong and effective immigration policy is because of all the Congress men and women who don’t want to
offend the Hispanic vote. We all understand that. So if in 2010, we get some people in Congress that with a backbone and are not playing the
political games of the Democratic and Republican Party, then the first thing I would do is say, “Let’s build a fence, finish the fence and get it up
there. Get that fence up. One of the first things I would do. And then you would determine how many people do you need to man the fence.
Now I know they can dig under the fence. I know all those things but still you’ve got to have something. The way it is now, it’s, you know, it’s just
like a sieve. They’re pouring over our borders. And so I would build the fence and then work with the Congress to develop… The people who
are here illegally, I would send them right back. What does it look like when we have a policy that says to the rest of the world these are the
rules you play by to become an American citizen, but to the Mexicans we’re going to say, “Well we’re going to give you a pass”? You know, it’s
call the rule of law and no one is above that. And so, I would send everybody back. And then if they want to come back in legally, then they
get on a list just like everybody else. Now the Green Card system, if we feel like that that’s something they can work? I’m not sure that it is.
Then we can look at utilizing that, but again I’m not real sure that that’s even a workable situation. Just like you said, It started off with good
intensions and look where we’re at now.
Host: Now you have run in the past, although not for the Senate. What are the steps that you are putting in place to insure that you will indeed
win this election?
Candidate: Before I say that, Danielle, let me just say quickly that, you know, all of these things that are happening with the banking industry,
with the automotive industry, with the health care industry, all this stuff as far as I’m concerned, and I think it’s pretty much what Dick Morris says
in his book. I’m only at about the third chapter is that Obama and the Democrats have an agenda and that’s total takeover, to totally takeover
the political system. And so to me that’s the larger picture and it’s so dangerous. We are so close to losing our constitutional republic and
moving into a socialist form of government its’ pathetic! I just want to make sure I got that out there. Right, as far as my campaign goes, the
only chance that somebody like me has, and what I mean by that is not necessarily my checkered past but the fact that, unlike Governor Chris
who is leading the pack in Florida, I don’t have millions of dollars. I don’t have a huge war chest. So because I don’t have a large war chest,
my plan is to do exactly the same thing that Governor Law Chiles did in 1970, which is to walk the entire length of the State of Florida. He
walked over a thousand miles. I believe it was 1,033 miles and I’m going to beat him by at least a mile, go the extra mile and that will get me
on the radar screen, I guarantee you.
Host: Hold on a second. Are you going to do that physically or are you talking metaphor?
Candidate: No. No. I am actually going to start the walk on January the 25th, 2010. I’ll start in Miami because that’s where I got my life started
in Miami. That’s where I grew up in right in front of the first house I ever lived in. And I’m going to walk all the way to Escambia County which is
the very tip, western-most tip of Florida.
Host: I hope somebody is going to sponsor your shoes.
Candidate: Hah! Yeah, I’ve got to get a hold of Nike and see if they’ll sponsor some shoes for me. Or one of the big companies, you know. But
yes, I think we’ll be able to get some shoes, at the very least anyway. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a little bit more than that.
Host: Okay, wonderful. One last question I want to end up with. Should you be elected, what is the first thing that you really would like to do that
would help your constituents?
Candidate: Well the first thing I’d like to do is I’d like to see something in the area of finances and reducing taxes and limiting government. You
know the government is just growing out of control. I want us to get back to where we started from over 200 years ago - to be a constitutional
republic and respecting the Constitution of America. To me that’s the most important thing. If you don’t do that, then eventually it’s just going to
end up right back to where we are today. We’ve got to start respecting the Constitution and living by what it says.
Host: Mr. DeCastro, how may citizens contact you or your campaign?
Candidate: My website is www.ElectBernie.com. Very simple – ElectBernie.com. You can go on the website, you can click the button “Walk
With Bernie” and it will ask you right there, do you want to walk a block, five blocks, a mile, ten miles, and they can contact me that way. They
can call me, email me or they can make a contribution to my campaign.
Host: Mr. DeCastro, thank you very much for being on the show today.
Candidate: Thank you very much, Danielle, for the opportunity and God bless you.
Click arrow to listen to interview
|
Interview Transcript
Welcome to The 9-12 Show...
Show Host Danielle Hampson
|
Support the 9-12 movement Join our email list
|
TRANSCRIPTS available by clicking on links below
|
Members of the media
may use this transcript
in whole or part under
the following
conditions:
1. Prior to copying the
transcript, you must
email us:
a- the name of the
publication where the
transcript is to be used,
as well as its web
address;
b- the title of your article;
c- reporter/writer's full
name & contact
information.
2. Your article must
make reference to this
website as the source
of information.
Bloggers and all other
parties:
Permission may or may
not be granted. Email
your request with your
full name and phone #
for review.