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| Interview with Howard Houchen 9-12 Candidate for Congress Oklahoma District 2 |
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part of high school where we carried our weapons to school. Now, we didn’t take them, you know, in the building, but we had them in our
coyotes and snakes or whatever other predators were a nuisance. So understand that my background was, it was natural for us to have arms
for many different reasons. And I kind of got stuck in, I guess, a box or a mindset that I just took the Second Amendment for granted. And so
when we started this campaign, I kind of thought to myself, I said you know I might really need to get out there and explain to people my views
on the Second Amendment. And as a matter of fact, there’s a video, you can click on the YouTube part of my website and go to my Second
Amendment video. And my view is really quite simple on the Second Amendment and I believe the intent and purpose of our founders was
still have our right to keep and bear arms. That guarantees everything else. The purpose was not for hunting, for self-defense and to
preserve our freedoms and our liberties for us who it was intended to be for. The Second Amendment – there can be no compromise in other
words. None.
Host: It appears that there is a push to really do away with the Second Amendment. Why do you think at the core of that, why do you think that
really is?
Candidate: The Left has always wanted to take our weapons away. And this sounds sinister, Danielle. I understand that, and this may shock
a few. But I’m going to tell you what I’ve told everyone else. I’ve got to tell you the truth and it’s just like the Adolph Hitler quote. If we are an
unarmed citizenry, we have no recourse. We have nothing to fall back upon to protect our rights and our freedoms. When we are an
unarmed citizenry, the central planning government can run roughshod over us.
Host: That’s well stated. Let’s go to the next quote. Remember these words from Thomas Jefferson. He said, “A government big enough to
give you everything that you want, is a government big enough to take everything that you have.” Now for a government to give, they must first
take. So who do they take from, we the people. Now how do they do that, through taxation. Are you for or against the bailouts and why? And
secondly, what is your position on the idea of a flat tax?
Candidate: Okay, the bailouts should have never happened. There’s a lot of different stories out there. Rumors of how they actually got that
vote. And a lot of it was scare tactics from the Executive Branch itself and a few other agencies. But the bottom line to it. Even if the gloom
and doom had occurred, that is what is necessary in a free market economy. No one ever said that Laissez-faire capitalism was perfect,
Danielle. I have yet to find a quote, a statement, an article, anything, that claimed it was perfect. What it is though, it is a tried and true method
to sustain and grow economies of scale over long periods of time. Granted, we do have valleys that come along with these peaks of growth.
That is correction in the free-market economy. It’s not perfect, but it works and history has shown us that it works. Centrally planned economy
have basically two possibilities to them. They either leave the citizenry with something that is wholly inadequate or they are abject failures.
And Danielle, I’m here to tell you and you know this from personal experience, that far greater minds have tried centrally planned economies
than the jokers we have attempting this right now. There is no way that it will work for the United States of America. The culture of Americans
is different .
Host: Well I believe that not only will it not work for the United States of America, but will you look at the position of the other countries around
the world right now. They’re actually coming…. They are actually starting to adopt our way of doing things and we are going exactly in the
opposite direction.
Candidate: That is correct. You look at, you look at just the recent elections in several of these democratic social countries in Europe and you
see them tilting to the right.
Host: So what is it we’re not seeing here? Obviously somebody is not getting the memo here.
Candidate: What we’re seeing here is simply a power grab by a true… again this may shock some people, but there are…. What we are
experiencing…. What’s really amazing about our current administration is that there are so many monikers that you can attach to it. And they’
re all correct. You can use collectivism. You can use Marxism, Socialism. You can use Oligarchy. And really what we have is a small group
of people that I will refer to as a oligarchy. That is wanting to garner power and to do that, they are trampling upon our freedoms and our
liberty, our God-given rights as laid out in our Constitution. So the purpose simply is the acquisition and maintenance of power.
Host: Remember these words from Martin Luther King:. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” We the
people have indeed broken the silence by organizing a peaceful revolt, peaceful at least for now. As I’ve interviewed many first time
candidates like yourself, it appears that it is indeed the way you the candidates are breaking your silence. What got you to break your silence
and decide to get involved as you are now?
Candidate: Look, everyone kind of has an arbitrary line in the sand that you draw with respect to what you will accept from different entities that
you’re faced with through our lives. And for me, my line in the sand that I drew with what I, with regards to what I accept relative to government
intrusions on my personal life, my right to life, liberty, property, the pursuit of happiness, and that of my family was actually crossed a couple of
years ago. It was absolutely trampled on by this administration. Now the breaking of the silence deal, it’s…. I’m glad that you brought that
up, because I actually started my last campaign speech that I gave and I intended this for the shock affect. I got up and I said, you know, I
said, “I want to thank the man who currently resides in the oval office that was the elected President of the United States. I want to thank
Barack Hussein Obama.” And people kind of drew a gasp in the crowd. And I said, “Because he is solely responsible as the figurehead of
this central planning mission that this government is on, has caused to arise that patriotism, that love for America, that feeling that you now
see rising up in the citizenry of the United States to take back what is ours and that is our government, because we’re a government of the
people, by the people, for the people. And he has caused those feelings to well up in so many people that had been quiet, had remained
silent for so many years. That is about the only thing that I will thank him for.” But he did, and thank him for that and we will prevail.
Host: Well, it’s kind of funny that you mention patriotism because here’s my last for today, remember these words. This time from President
Theodore Roosevelt. “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President.” Now, let’s replace the word
President in this quote with the word Congress. It is clear that most citizens feel totally let down by those in office who are supposed to
represent us, the people. Each election brings candidates full of promises to the voters, and once voted in, many of these promises go bye-
bye. How will you represent your constituents once elected Mr. Houchen?
Candidate: You know, if you could line up a whole bunch of first things, that would be what we would have to do here. People can talk about
career politicians they can think of. You know, legislation is basically bought and sold. People can speak of transparency. We have so many
things that we have to address first, and I believe that we have to bring back confidence from the people in its government. Again, this is
government that is of the people, by the people, for the people. The citizens have to have confidence and the only way that they’re going to
have confidence is through absolute transparency. And, Danielle, I know that you’ve done this because I have done this. You go to try to find
the voting record of a Representative and yeah, you can find the bill that they voted yeah or nay, but it’s very hard to discover what riders were
attached to that bill. What add-ons were attached to that bill? You know, in fact I wrote an article of sports, politicians and statistics. We know
more at the click of a mouse, at the opening of a newspaper. We know more about the average sports figure in the United States of America,
in fact around the world. We know exactly how they have performed by looking at their statistics. It’s easy to get. For a Representative or a
Senator, a member of government, it is very, very difficult. They play the political gamesmanship and that is because, first of all are these
multitudes of non-germane items added to legislation. We’ve got to get back to single issue legislation. Whatever is added on must remain
germane to that central piece of legislation. Just like cap and trade. You saw it, everyone saw it. They didn’t have enough votes to pass so
what did they do? They actually go and bought votes by adding another 300 pages. You know, Miss Honorable Congresswoman from Ohio
come over here. Here’s another 1.5 billion dollars for you if we can have your vote. That is simply unallowable.
Host: So you favor single issue per single bill?
Candidate: You bet.
Host: And you know, I do want to ask you one last thing and I’m going to use another Remember These Words from, this time Ronald
Reagan. We’ll finish with him. Here’s what he said, “Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.”
How do you feel about our National defense? What would you bring to the table that would help us with that issue?
Candidate: I love Ronald Reagan by the way. Oh gosh, he…. I could talk for hours on him. The United States of America is just like Ronald
Reagan said, former President Ronald Reagan. Because of our strength, we did not cause those wars. The United States of America must
remain the premier military force in the world. Now, really what we’re going to have to do, is we will have to withdraw from what in recent
history has been, you know, involvement in foreign affairs of other countries that we really don’t need to be involved with. However we have to
remain strong and the reason we have to remain the premier military might on the planet is that we are without a doubt, you know, we call it
the big dog on the porch. And any time that there’s the big dog on the porch, somebody is going to want to test that big dog. Somebody is
going to want to knock the king of the mountain off the mountain. That’s human nature, Danielle. History proves that that’s true. If we
completely withdraw and neglect our military force, and we withdraw from the rest of the world, interacting. What we will find ourselves in the
long term is we will be a very vulnerable and weak island amongst enemies, completely surrounded. We cannot allow that to happen.
Host: Well, we will leave it at that. Indeed we cannot allow that to happen. Mr. Houchen, we’re at the tail end of the program. You have a
campaign. You have a website. How can people who would like, citizens and supporters who would like to help you, how may they contact
you or your campaign?
Candidate: I tell you what, just the website is www.HouchenForCongress.com. And that’s all one word, www.HouchenForCongress.com. All of
the contact information, you can follow me on Twitter or Facebook. And all of that’s on there. Danielle, have we got just about a minute here?
Host: Sure, go ahead.
Candidate: I just want to throw something out there and I don’t know…. I know that I haven’t heard any of the interviews with the other
candidates but I know that you spoke with R. J.
Host: R. J. Harris, yes.
Candidate: Jesse Kelly. And you know, I actually read an article the other day by an individual, you know, a good conservative activist out
there that was comparing, you know, some of these war chests that a lot of these liberals and these so-called blue dogs have. And you know,
they’re in the hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars. And you take these candidates that are, you know, wanting, you know, to change
Congress, to change the way government is, to work for the people the way it’s supposed to, to listen to the people. And, you know, I’m not
speaking for myself, I’m speaking in general. We have very little to work with – these candidates. So, you know, every one of them. This is
not a District 2 in Oklahoma. This is not District 4 in Arizona, whatever. This is a National effort, Danielle. One candidate can make a little bit
of a difference, but we have to make a difference as a Nation if we really want to affect the positive change and bring our country back to us.
Host: Well, that is very well said indeed. Mr. Houchen, thank you very much for being on the 912 Project Show today.
Candidate: Danielle, thank you so much. You all have a wonderful day today.
Host: Here’s one more time Mr. Houchen campaign’s website. HouchenForCongress.com.
coyotes and snakes or whatever other predators were a nuisance. So understand that my background was, it was natural for us to have arms
for many different reasons. And I kind of got stuck in, I guess, a box or a mindset that I just took the Second Amendment for granted. And so
when we started this campaign, I kind of thought to myself, I said you know I might really need to get out there and explain to people my views
on the Second Amendment. And as a matter of fact, there’s a video, you can click on the YouTube part of my website and go to my Second
Amendment video. And my view is really quite simple on the Second Amendment and I believe the intent and purpose of our founders was
still have our right to keep and bear arms. That guarantees everything else. The purpose was not for hunting, for self-defense and to
preserve our freedoms and our liberties for us who it was intended to be for. The Second Amendment – there can be no compromise in other
words. None.
Host: It appears that there is a push to really do away with the Second Amendment. Why do you think at the core of that, why do you think that
really is?
Candidate: The Left has always wanted to take our weapons away. And this sounds sinister, Danielle. I understand that, and this may shock
a few. But I’m going to tell you what I’ve told everyone else. I’ve got to tell you the truth and it’s just like the Adolph Hitler quote. If we are an
unarmed citizenry, we have no recourse. We have nothing to fall back upon to protect our rights and our freedoms. When we are an
unarmed citizenry, the central planning government can run roughshod over us.
Host: That’s well stated. Let’s go to the next quote. Remember these words from Thomas Jefferson. He said, “A government big enough to
give you everything that you want, is a government big enough to take everything that you have.” Now for a government to give, they must first
take. So who do they take from, we the people. Now how do they do that, through taxation. Are you for or against the bailouts and why? And
secondly, what is your position on the idea of a flat tax?
Candidate: Okay, the bailouts should have never happened. There’s a lot of different stories out there. Rumors of how they actually got that
vote. And a lot of it was scare tactics from the Executive Branch itself and a few other agencies. But the bottom line to it. Even if the gloom
and doom had occurred, that is what is necessary in a free market economy. No one ever said that Laissez-faire capitalism was perfect,
Danielle. I have yet to find a quote, a statement, an article, anything, that claimed it was perfect. What it is though, it is a tried and true method
to sustain and grow economies of scale over long periods of time. Granted, we do have valleys that come along with these peaks of growth.
That is correction in the free-market economy. It’s not perfect, but it works and history has shown us that it works. Centrally planned economy
have basically two possibilities to them. They either leave the citizenry with something that is wholly inadequate or they are abject failures.
And Danielle, I’m here to tell you and you know this from personal experience, that far greater minds have tried centrally planned economies
than the jokers we have attempting this right now. There is no way that it will work for the United States of America. The culture of Americans
is different .
Host: Well I believe that not only will it not work for the United States of America, but will you look at the position of the other countries around
the world right now. They’re actually coming…. They are actually starting to adopt our way of doing things and we are going exactly in the
opposite direction.
Candidate: That is correct. You look at, you look at just the recent elections in several of these democratic social countries in Europe and you
see them tilting to the right.
Host: So what is it we’re not seeing here? Obviously somebody is not getting the memo here.
Candidate: What we’re seeing here is simply a power grab by a true… again this may shock some people, but there are…. What we are
experiencing…. What’s really amazing about our current administration is that there are so many monikers that you can attach to it. And they’
re all correct. You can use collectivism. You can use Marxism, Socialism. You can use Oligarchy. And really what we have is a small group
of people that I will refer to as a oligarchy. That is wanting to garner power and to do that, they are trampling upon our freedoms and our
liberty, our God-given rights as laid out in our Constitution. So the purpose simply is the acquisition and maintenance of power.
Host: Remember these words from Martin Luther King:. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” We the
people have indeed broken the silence by organizing a peaceful revolt, peaceful at least for now. As I’ve interviewed many first time
candidates like yourself, it appears that it is indeed the way you the candidates are breaking your silence. What got you to break your silence
and decide to get involved as you are now?
Candidate: Look, everyone kind of has an arbitrary line in the sand that you draw with respect to what you will accept from different entities that
you’re faced with through our lives. And for me, my line in the sand that I drew with what I, with regards to what I accept relative to government
intrusions on my personal life, my right to life, liberty, property, the pursuit of happiness, and that of my family was actually crossed a couple of
years ago. It was absolutely trampled on by this administration. Now the breaking of the silence deal, it’s…. I’m glad that you brought that
up, because I actually started my last campaign speech that I gave and I intended this for the shock affect. I got up and I said, you know, I
said, “I want to thank the man who currently resides in the oval office that was the elected President of the United States. I want to thank
Barack Hussein Obama.” And people kind of drew a gasp in the crowd. And I said, “Because he is solely responsible as the figurehead of
this central planning mission that this government is on, has caused to arise that patriotism, that love for America, that feeling that you now
see rising up in the citizenry of the United States to take back what is ours and that is our government, because we’re a government of the
people, by the people, for the people. And he has caused those feelings to well up in so many people that had been quiet, had remained
silent for so many years. That is about the only thing that I will thank him for.” But he did, and thank him for that and we will prevail.
Host: Well, it’s kind of funny that you mention patriotism because here’s my last for today, remember these words. This time from President
Theodore Roosevelt. “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President.” Now, let’s replace the word
President in this quote with the word Congress. It is clear that most citizens feel totally let down by those in office who are supposed to
represent us, the people. Each election brings candidates full of promises to the voters, and once voted in, many of these promises go bye-
bye. How will you represent your constituents once elected Mr. Houchen?
Candidate: You know, if you could line up a whole bunch of first things, that would be what we would have to do here. People can talk about
career politicians they can think of. You know, legislation is basically bought and sold. People can speak of transparency. We have so many
things that we have to address first, and I believe that we have to bring back confidence from the people in its government. Again, this is
government that is of the people, by the people, for the people. The citizens have to have confidence and the only way that they’re going to
have confidence is through absolute transparency. And, Danielle, I know that you’ve done this because I have done this. You go to try to find
the voting record of a Representative and yeah, you can find the bill that they voted yeah or nay, but it’s very hard to discover what riders were
attached to that bill. What add-ons were attached to that bill? You know, in fact I wrote an article of sports, politicians and statistics. We know
more at the click of a mouse, at the opening of a newspaper. We know more about the average sports figure in the United States of America,
in fact around the world. We know exactly how they have performed by looking at their statistics. It’s easy to get. For a Representative or a
Senator, a member of government, it is very, very difficult. They play the political gamesmanship and that is because, first of all are these
multitudes of non-germane items added to legislation. We’ve got to get back to single issue legislation. Whatever is added on must remain
germane to that central piece of legislation. Just like cap and trade. You saw it, everyone saw it. They didn’t have enough votes to pass so
what did they do? They actually go and bought votes by adding another 300 pages. You know, Miss Honorable Congresswoman from Ohio
come over here. Here’s another 1.5 billion dollars for you if we can have your vote. That is simply unallowable.
Host: So you favor single issue per single bill?
Candidate: You bet.
Host: And you know, I do want to ask you one last thing and I’m going to use another Remember These Words from, this time Ronald
Reagan. We’ll finish with him. Here’s what he said, “Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.”
How do you feel about our National defense? What would you bring to the table that would help us with that issue?
Candidate: I love Ronald Reagan by the way. Oh gosh, he…. I could talk for hours on him. The United States of America is just like Ronald
Reagan said, former President Ronald Reagan. Because of our strength, we did not cause those wars. The United States of America must
remain the premier military force in the world. Now, really what we’re going to have to do, is we will have to withdraw from what in recent
history has been, you know, involvement in foreign affairs of other countries that we really don’t need to be involved with. However we have to
remain strong and the reason we have to remain the premier military might on the planet is that we are without a doubt, you know, we call it
the big dog on the porch. And any time that there’s the big dog on the porch, somebody is going to want to test that big dog. Somebody is
going to want to knock the king of the mountain off the mountain. That’s human nature, Danielle. History proves that that’s true. If we
completely withdraw and neglect our military force, and we withdraw from the rest of the world, interacting. What we will find ourselves in the
long term is we will be a very vulnerable and weak island amongst enemies, completely surrounded. We cannot allow that to happen.
Host: Well, we will leave it at that. Indeed we cannot allow that to happen. Mr. Houchen, we’re at the tail end of the program. You have a
campaign. You have a website. How can people who would like, citizens and supporters who would like to help you, how may they contact
you or your campaign?
Candidate: I tell you what, just the website is www.HouchenForCongress.com. And that’s all one word, www.HouchenForCongress.com. All of
the contact information, you can follow me on Twitter or Facebook. And all of that’s on there. Danielle, have we got just about a minute here?
Host: Sure, go ahead.
Candidate: I just want to throw something out there and I don’t know…. I know that I haven’t heard any of the interviews with the other
candidates but I know that you spoke with R. J.
Host: R. J. Harris, yes.
Candidate: Jesse Kelly. And you know, I actually read an article the other day by an individual, you know, a good conservative activist out
there that was comparing, you know, some of these war chests that a lot of these liberals and these so-called blue dogs have. And you know,
they’re in the hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars. And you take these candidates that are, you know, wanting, you know, to change
Congress, to change the way government is, to work for the people the way it’s supposed to, to listen to the people. And, you know, I’m not
speaking for myself, I’m speaking in general. We have very little to work with – these candidates. So, you know, every one of them. This is
not a District 2 in Oklahoma. This is not District 4 in Arizona, whatever. This is a National effort, Danielle. One candidate can make a little bit
of a difference, but we have to make a difference as a Nation if we really want to affect the positive change and bring our country back to us.
Host: Well, that is very well said indeed. Mr. Houchen, thank you very much for being on the 912 Project Show today.
Candidate: Danielle, thank you so much. You all have a wonderful day today.
Host: Here’s one more time Mr. Houchen campaign’s website. HouchenForCongress.com.
Interview Transcript
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