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| Interview with Dave Funk 9-12 Candidate for Congress Iowa District 3 |
Host: Now let’s touch on taxes. In 2001, Russia converted from an old 3-tier income tax to a 13% flat rate. It has since created huge
increases in revenue for the Russian government. The Ukraine followed suit and also a number of other formerly known Eastern European
countries and former Soviet Republics. And even China! Now the communists of all people are making what I would consider to be a smart
Candidate: They absolutely did the right thing. Taxes need to be paid equally by everybody and they need to be fair, otherwise you wind up
with a large underground economy. And the very people that came up with the progressive heavy income tax, the communists, realized that it
doesn’t work. Tax and spend liberalism never works no matter how pretty you try and make it. And they figured out early on, the late 90’s,
early 2000s as you said, they converted in 2001. And right now, the Chinese, the Russians, the former Soviet Republics, are the ones leading
the world’s economic recovery and the United States is going in just the opposite direction. We have 85,000 pages of tax code. We could
have one page of tax code, everybody pays a fixed flat rate amount. And the flat tax to me makes an awful lot of sense. We don’t waste a lot of
time and stress over paying it or preparing our taxes every year. We don’t waste all of the effort to buy and sell politicians in the lobbying
efforts to get my tax break for my business. Can I get a better deal than somebody else? The fact is, everybody pays the same – It’s flat. We
know what it is. We can get on with life. And not just for private individuals. We need to look at our corporate tax rates which are the second
highest in the world, and that’s one reason many of our jobs are going offshore. The cost of capital is the same around the world. The cost of
the raw materials is the same. American workers are far more productive. I’m a former union guy, I know that. When we’re allowed to do what
we do best, bingo, we’re the most productive workers in the world. Let’s give our corporations, our small businesses, our sole proprietors the
opportunity to compete on the world stage and not just nationally, by reducing tax rates across the board and go into a flat tax rate system in
the United States.
Host: Now do you think that Washington, specifically Congress, just does not get the memo, or have they gotten the memo but they’re digging
their foot in the ground for a particular agenda?
Candidate: I think they’re signed up for a particular agenda. Once you get the power to tax people as the Supreme Court said a long time ago,
you have the power to destroy someone through taxes. And it’s time that Congress reign its own spending in and quit selling itself out to this
special interest or that special interest. Let’s start thinking about the American people and the America producers and the workers in our
corporations and give us the opportunity. There’s a lot of power in the tax law. You can help people or you can destroy them. The framers
never intended for any of us to have that kind of power over other people in our economy or in our society.
Host: But you know, I think that that kind of behavior, I don’t mean to be philosophical here, but eventually is self-destructive, because if you
destroy the very people that represent your tax base, you’re eventually going to shoot yourself in the foot.
Candidate: Exactly. You know the old kid’s story about the parable of killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Right up until the moment it
was strangled to death, it was producing and Congress literally right now today is trying to do the same thing. We’ll let’s tax the rich. I’m sorry
folks, in the eyes of this Congress, the left in this country, the current administration, the current leadership in the House and the Senate,
everybody is a golden egg. Not just people that make more than a set figure of $250,000 a year. You look at what the actual tax increases
are across the boar, and the middle class once again is being hit harder than anyplace else. Meanwhile the rest of the world is expanding its
middle class and we’re shrinking ours.
Host: We certainly are. Let’s go to national defense. The Federal Government is constitutionally mandated to defend its country and its
citizens. You are a retired Iowa Army National Guard helicopter pilot. How do you see the current state and trend of our national defense and
what do you plan to do about it should you be elected?
Candidate: Well, you know, if you look at the President who has the constitutional authority, he is the Commander In Chief. When he’s going
around the world, like our current President is, and basically apologizing for whatever wrongs that someone might think that America has
committed in the past. That’s not being a Commander In Chief, that’s being an Apologist In Chief. We need a Commander In Chief that
realizes the world is ruled by the aggressive use of force, or being prepared to aggressively use force. And Ronald Reagan defeated the
Soviet Union without firing a shot by basically building up our defenses to the point where they could no longer compete with us – the Soviets
couldn’t, and it destroyed their economy. And in the process, the West was relieved of that nightmare of the Soviet expansionism. Today we
don’t need to destroy anyone but we do need to defend ourselves from radical Islam and we need to protect America’s interests around the
world and be ready, like a United States Marine. If I made one mistake in life, it’s maybe I should have been a Marine instead of an Army
pilot. You know, a Marine, a U. S. Marine, could be your best friend or your worst enemy. It’s your choice. And for freedom loving people of
the world, the United States needs to be ready to protect and defend them, not just here, but anywhere in the world we need to be able to
protect and defend our interests. And we do that by having a fully armed, fully equipped military, including our National Guard and Reserve.
And then we look around the world and see who are our allies, and things that they need, like the Japanese and the Israelis, to protect
themselves like the F22 Fighter, we should be producing an export version of that aircraft. The Australians want it also. These are some of our
best friends in the world. We need to be able to defend them and also to allow them to defend themselves.
Host: So, I gather that you espouse the idea of talking soft but carrying a big stick?
Candidate: Absolutely.
Host: You said, and I quote: “George Washington did not use his right to free speech to defeat the British, he shot them.” Am I correct to say
that the Second Amendment does indeed have your full support and if so, specifically why?
Candidate: You know, the framers of our Constitution recognize our God-given right, as every animal has on this planet, to defend itself. It’s a
natural right. And they articulated it in The Bill Of Rights for a reason, so government would never, ever, have a monopoly on power. In your
precise you’re (???). I’d love to tell you I was smart enough to come up with that line. I saw it that George Washington didn’t negotiate with the
British, he shot them because the British would not negotiate. And when you’re walking down the street and a mugger is about to attack you,
you can try and negotiate with them, or if he’s more afraid of the fact that you might be armed, he’s probably going to pass. Let’s not forget
millions of crimes are prevented every year. It’s a quantifiable number by regular citizens through the criminal’s fear have guns or display
guns to the criminals or you know, firearms, and they’re able to protect themselves. We don’t read about those in the crime statistics because
the bad guys run away and the good guys just call the cops and says the bad guy just took off. Let’s face it folks, an armed society is a ( ???)
society, the framers knew what they were doing.
Host: Let’s go to immigration because that of course remains a hot topic everywhere. Many illegal immigrants come here because they want
a better future for their children, and many of whom of course end up being born on U.S. soil. Those children, now born here, automatically
are born U.S. citizens. Now this significantly contributes to the continued increase in the number of illegal immigrants, because those who
illegally cross our borders know that once their children are born here, they’re pretty much home free. You support a “reasonable” legal
immigration policy. Would you support legislation that would remove birth-right citizenship for illegal immigrants? Just the illegals, I’m not
talking about the legals. Why or why not?
Candidate: Why? Because I don’t believe that when the 14th Amendment was written and we’ve had this extended to what they call the term is
“anchor babies” where if the child can be born on U.S. soil, it makes the child a U.S. citizen. I don’t believe that the folks that wrote the 14th
Amendment ever intended for that to be the case. It’s not been tested through our court systems and Congress quite frankly could institute a
law and make it not subject to judicial review that allows that that be the law of the land, that that be the case. Anchor babies are not anchor
babies if you happen to be here illegally, everything you’ve done after that would cause you to be rejected. Sorry if your child was born here.
You have to take him back to home country.
Host: You know, I kind of agree with you because when you go back two, three hundred years when the country was formed, the main concern
at that time was of course to build this country, to have more and more citizens in this country since there were hardly any at that time
compared to today, of course. And that type of law also existed in Europe. And even in Europe, in some of those countries, they eventually
changed those laws because they no longer needed those additional bodies to make their citizenship base so it would be very easy for the
law to simply be changed and to just bring it to legal immigrants.
Candidate: Sure. You know the future of the American economy is not in the hands or is not dependent upon uneducated illegal aliens. If you’
re educated and you want to come here and be a contributor to our society, we should welcome you with open arms. If you are here to
become a burden upon our society, well we don’t need you. And quite frankly in nations where we have large amounts of illegal immigration
from, they’ve got some structural problems. These are folks that are basically seeking out freedom and economic opportunity. Let’s get those
policies changed in other countries. If we institute more freedom whether it’s in Mexico or in other parts of Central America or over in East
Africa where a lot of our illegal immigrants are coming from, or even China for that matter, where they have some very onerous policies, we
can change those policies in the long term by working with those governments and fixing their structural problems. You just don’t get to dump
your citizens off on us, the ones you don’t want, that then are really not participants in our society as much as they are a drain. And then they
send many of the resources that we’ve developed or we provide to them off-shore or overseas through wealth transfer from our country to
others. So let’s face it folks, legal immigration good, illegal immigration bad. It is illegal for a reason.
Host: Well I always say that you know, what part of illegal don’t you understand?
Candidate: Exactly!
Host: We have laws and the laws are meant to be followed, otherwise the society as a whole just falls apart.
Candidate: You know, a nation without secure borders is no longer a nation and I don’t know who said that, but you know a truism is a truism
and its principle it’s hard to argue with. We need to defend our borders. We need to provide sufficient manpower, sufficient technology and
physical barriers along our borders with Mexico to protect this country from the illegals that are entering through that portion of the country. If
they want to come in by sea, they will be caught by the Coast Guard. If they come in by land, we need to build a fence. Good fences make
good neighbors, folks. We all know that’s true. Pay attention to reality here and not let it get clouded with double-speak and fancy words from
the left. The fact is we know it’s illegal. As you said, what part of illegal don’t you understand?
Host: Well, we’ll leave it at that for today and I invite you to come back maybe in six months down the road as we get a little closer to the
election. I would love to have a follow up interview with you if that is something that you are open to.
Candidate: I’m more than happy to and I look forward to doing it, Danielle. Thank you very much for having me today and like you said,
CongressNeedsFunk.com. That will get you there. Thanks a lot.
Host: Well actually, you kind of preempted my next question. I was going to ask you, I presume you want people to contact your campaign, so
again give us that website.
Candidate: Sure, it’s CongressNeedsFunk.com
Host: Okay, wonderful. Mr. Funk, thank you very much for being on the 912 Project Show today.
Candidate: Thank you, Danielle.
increases in revenue for the Russian government. The Ukraine followed suit and also a number of other formerly known Eastern European
countries and former Soviet Republics. And even China! Now the communists of all people are making what I would consider to be a smart
Candidate: They absolutely did the right thing. Taxes need to be paid equally by everybody and they need to be fair, otherwise you wind up
with a large underground economy. And the very people that came up with the progressive heavy income tax, the communists, realized that it
doesn’t work. Tax and spend liberalism never works no matter how pretty you try and make it. And they figured out early on, the late 90’s,
early 2000s as you said, they converted in 2001. And right now, the Chinese, the Russians, the former Soviet Republics, are the ones leading
the world’s economic recovery and the United States is going in just the opposite direction. We have 85,000 pages of tax code. We could
have one page of tax code, everybody pays a fixed flat rate amount. And the flat tax to me makes an awful lot of sense. We don’t waste a lot of
time and stress over paying it or preparing our taxes every year. We don’t waste all of the effort to buy and sell politicians in the lobbying
efforts to get my tax break for my business. Can I get a better deal than somebody else? The fact is, everybody pays the same – It’s flat. We
know what it is. We can get on with life. And not just for private individuals. We need to look at our corporate tax rates which are the second
highest in the world, and that’s one reason many of our jobs are going offshore. The cost of capital is the same around the world. The cost of
the raw materials is the same. American workers are far more productive. I’m a former union guy, I know that. When we’re allowed to do what
we do best, bingo, we’re the most productive workers in the world. Let’s give our corporations, our small businesses, our sole proprietors the
opportunity to compete on the world stage and not just nationally, by reducing tax rates across the board and go into a flat tax rate system in
the United States.
Host: Now do you think that Washington, specifically Congress, just does not get the memo, or have they gotten the memo but they’re digging
their foot in the ground for a particular agenda?
Candidate: I think they’re signed up for a particular agenda. Once you get the power to tax people as the Supreme Court said a long time ago,
you have the power to destroy someone through taxes. And it’s time that Congress reign its own spending in and quit selling itself out to this
special interest or that special interest. Let’s start thinking about the American people and the America producers and the workers in our
corporations and give us the opportunity. There’s a lot of power in the tax law. You can help people or you can destroy them. The framers
never intended for any of us to have that kind of power over other people in our economy or in our society.
Host: But you know, I think that that kind of behavior, I don’t mean to be philosophical here, but eventually is self-destructive, because if you
destroy the very people that represent your tax base, you’re eventually going to shoot yourself in the foot.
Candidate: Exactly. You know the old kid’s story about the parable of killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Right up until the moment it
was strangled to death, it was producing and Congress literally right now today is trying to do the same thing. We’ll let’s tax the rich. I’m sorry
folks, in the eyes of this Congress, the left in this country, the current administration, the current leadership in the House and the Senate,
everybody is a golden egg. Not just people that make more than a set figure of $250,000 a year. You look at what the actual tax increases
are across the boar, and the middle class once again is being hit harder than anyplace else. Meanwhile the rest of the world is expanding its
middle class and we’re shrinking ours.
Host: We certainly are. Let’s go to national defense. The Federal Government is constitutionally mandated to defend its country and its
citizens. You are a retired Iowa Army National Guard helicopter pilot. How do you see the current state and trend of our national defense and
what do you plan to do about it should you be elected?
Candidate: Well, you know, if you look at the President who has the constitutional authority, he is the Commander In Chief. When he’s going
around the world, like our current President is, and basically apologizing for whatever wrongs that someone might think that America has
committed in the past. That’s not being a Commander In Chief, that’s being an Apologist In Chief. We need a Commander In Chief that
realizes the world is ruled by the aggressive use of force, or being prepared to aggressively use force. And Ronald Reagan defeated the
Soviet Union without firing a shot by basically building up our defenses to the point where they could no longer compete with us – the Soviets
couldn’t, and it destroyed their economy. And in the process, the West was relieved of that nightmare of the Soviet expansionism. Today we
don’t need to destroy anyone but we do need to defend ourselves from radical Islam and we need to protect America’s interests around the
world and be ready, like a United States Marine. If I made one mistake in life, it’s maybe I should have been a Marine instead of an Army
pilot. You know, a Marine, a U. S. Marine, could be your best friend or your worst enemy. It’s your choice. And for freedom loving people of
the world, the United States needs to be ready to protect and defend them, not just here, but anywhere in the world we need to be able to
protect and defend our interests. And we do that by having a fully armed, fully equipped military, including our National Guard and Reserve.
And then we look around the world and see who are our allies, and things that they need, like the Japanese and the Israelis, to protect
themselves like the F22 Fighter, we should be producing an export version of that aircraft. The Australians want it also. These are some of our
best friends in the world. We need to be able to defend them and also to allow them to defend themselves.
Host: So, I gather that you espouse the idea of talking soft but carrying a big stick?
Candidate: Absolutely.
Host: You said, and I quote: “George Washington did not use his right to free speech to defeat the British, he shot them.” Am I correct to say
that the Second Amendment does indeed have your full support and if so, specifically why?
Candidate: You know, the framers of our Constitution recognize our God-given right, as every animal has on this planet, to defend itself. It’s a
natural right. And they articulated it in The Bill Of Rights for a reason, so government would never, ever, have a monopoly on power. In your
precise you’re (???). I’d love to tell you I was smart enough to come up with that line. I saw it that George Washington didn’t negotiate with the
British, he shot them because the British would not negotiate. And when you’re walking down the street and a mugger is about to attack you,
you can try and negotiate with them, or if he’s more afraid of the fact that you might be armed, he’s probably going to pass. Let’s not forget
millions of crimes are prevented every year. It’s a quantifiable number by regular citizens through the criminal’s fear have guns or display
guns to the criminals or you know, firearms, and they’re able to protect themselves. We don’t read about those in the crime statistics because
the bad guys run away and the good guys just call the cops and says the bad guy just took off. Let’s face it folks, an armed society is a ( ???)
society, the framers knew what they were doing.
Host: Let’s go to immigration because that of course remains a hot topic everywhere. Many illegal immigrants come here because they want
a better future for their children, and many of whom of course end up being born on U.S. soil. Those children, now born here, automatically
are born U.S. citizens. Now this significantly contributes to the continued increase in the number of illegal immigrants, because those who
illegally cross our borders know that once their children are born here, they’re pretty much home free. You support a “reasonable” legal
immigration policy. Would you support legislation that would remove birth-right citizenship for illegal immigrants? Just the illegals, I’m not
talking about the legals. Why or why not?
Candidate: Why? Because I don’t believe that when the 14th Amendment was written and we’ve had this extended to what they call the term is
“anchor babies” where if the child can be born on U.S. soil, it makes the child a U.S. citizen. I don’t believe that the folks that wrote the 14th
Amendment ever intended for that to be the case. It’s not been tested through our court systems and Congress quite frankly could institute a
law and make it not subject to judicial review that allows that that be the law of the land, that that be the case. Anchor babies are not anchor
babies if you happen to be here illegally, everything you’ve done after that would cause you to be rejected. Sorry if your child was born here.
You have to take him back to home country.
Host: You know, I kind of agree with you because when you go back two, three hundred years when the country was formed, the main concern
at that time was of course to build this country, to have more and more citizens in this country since there were hardly any at that time
compared to today, of course. And that type of law also existed in Europe. And even in Europe, in some of those countries, they eventually
changed those laws because they no longer needed those additional bodies to make their citizenship base so it would be very easy for the
law to simply be changed and to just bring it to legal immigrants.
Candidate: Sure. You know the future of the American economy is not in the hands or is not dependent upon uneducated illegal aliens. If you’
re educated and you want to come here and be a contributor to our society, we should welcome you with open arms. If you are here to
become a burden upon our society, well we don’t need you. And quite frankly in nations where we have large amounts of illegal immigration
from, they’ve got some structural problems. These are folks that are basically seeking out freedom and economic opportunity. Let’s get those
policies changed in other countries. If we institute more freedom whether it’s in Mexico or in other parts of Central America or over in East
Africa where a lot of our illegal immigrants are coming from, or even China for that matter, where they have some very onerous policies, we
can change those policies in the long term by working with those governments and fixing their structural problems. You just don’t get to dump
your citizens off on us, the ones you don’t want, that then are really not participants in our society as much as they are a drain. And then they
send many of the resources that we’ve developed or we provide to them off-shore or overseas through wealth transfer from our country to
others. So let’s face it folks, legal immigration good, illegal immigration bad. It is illegal for a reason.
Host: Well I always say that you know, what part of illegal don’t you understand?
Candidate: Exactly!
Host: We have laws and the laws are meant to be followed, otherwise the society as a whole just falls apart.
Candidate: You know, a nation without secure borders is no longer a nation and I don’t know who said that, but you know a truism is a truism
and its principle it’s hard to argue with. We need to defend our borders. We need to provide sufficient manpower, sufficient technology and
physical barriers along our borders with Mexico to protect this country from the illegals that are entering through that portion of the country. If
they want to come in by sea, they will be caught by the Coast Guard. If they come in by land, we need to build a fence. Good fences make
good neighbors, folks. We all know that’s true. Pay attention to reality here and not let it get clouded with double-speak and fancy words from
the left. The fact is we know it’s illegal. As you said, what part of illegal don’t you understand?
Host: Well, we’ll leave it at that for today and I invite you to come back maybe in six months down the road as we get a little closer to the
election. I would love to have a follow up interview with you if that is something that you are open to.
Candidate: I’m more than happy to and I look forward to doing it, Danielle. Thank you very much for having me today and like you said,
CongressNeedsFunk.com. That will get you there. Thanks a lot.
Host: Well actually, you kind of preempted my next question. I was going to ask you, I presume you want people to contact your campaign, so
again give us that website.
Candidate: Sure, it’s CongressNeedsFunk.com
Host: Okay, wonderful. Mr. Funk, thank you very much for being on the 912 Project Show today.
Candidate: Thank you, Danielle.
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Interview Transcript
| Click arrow to listen to interview |
these issues: taxes, national defense, the Second Amendment, and immigration. But before even
addressing those, I’ve always wondered why candidates decide to run, especially when it’s their first
time, as it is yours. And you’ve already kind of answered the question before I even ask it, as you’ve
stated that you don’t want to face your son in twenty years when he asks you: “Dad, in 2010 when there
was still time to save this country, why didn’t you do something?” Well, that comes from the heart and
really goes deep. Could you elaborate for us on this a little bit?
Candidate: Yes, you know it’s interesting. A friend of mine asked me the same question. And he
phrased it in a way that, you know: “Dave, you realize what this is going to do to your kid?” And at the
time I didn’t have a good answer for him. This was a few months back. And the more I got to thinking
about it, and I’m playing with my 4-year-old twins, the more I realized that God prepared me for this
moment. He prepares us for everything in our lives and he put me in a position where today I’m just
free enough because of being a disabled pilot. But I’m still mobile, I can still think and walk, despite
the fact that I can’t fly any more. He put me in a position where I could do this full time for the next year
and a half. And I think he did that for a reason. And I’m not going to question his judgment or his plan
for me. I’m just going to just accept it as my responsibility at this time to step up to the plate to help save
America, just like our founding fathers did over 200 years ago. Great men, I’m not in that league but I’m
certainly capable of stepping up to the plate and fighting for America.
Host: Well, I wish a lot more people would think that way. I know a lot of people do, but I wish even a lot
more would. So it’s very commendable. When I read that statement that you put out, I was really taken
by that, because I think that is a reflection of a lot of fathers out there. They may not voice it as well as
you have, but they think about it, I’m sure.
Candidate: I’m sure they do.
addressing those, I’ve always wondered why candidates decide to run, especially when it’s their first
time, as it is yours. And you’ve already kind of answered the question before I even ask it, as you’ve
stated that you don’t want to face your son in twenty years when he asks you: “Dad, in 2010 when there
was still time to save this country, why didn’t you do something?” Well, that comes from the heart and
really goes deep. Could you elaborate for us on this a little bit?
Candidate: Yes, you know it’s interesting. A friend of mine asked me the same question. And he
phrased it in a way that, you know: “Dave, you realize what this is going to do to your kid?” And at the
time I didn’t have a good answer for him. This was a few months back. And the more I got to thinking
about it, and I’m playing with my 4-year-old twins, the more I realized that God prepared me for this
moment. He prepares us for everything in our lives and he put me in a position where today I’m just
free enough because of being a disabled pilot. But I’m still mobile, I can still think and walk, despite
the fact that I can’t fly any more. He put me in a position where I could do this full time for the next year
and a half. And I think he did that for a reason. And I’m not going to question his judgment or his plan
for me. I’m just going to just accept it as my responsibility at this time to step up to the plate to help save
America, just like our founding fathers did over 200 years ago. Great men, I’m not in that league but I’m
certainly capable of stepping up to the plate and fighting for America.
Host: Well, I wish a lot more people would think that way. I know a lot of people do, but I wish even a lot
more would. So it’s very commendable. When I read that statement that you put out, I was really taken
by that, because I think that is a reflection of a lot of fathers out there. They may not voice it as well as
you have, but they think about it, I’m sure.
Candidate: I’m sure they do.
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