How I would have answered the questions from the debate in Columbia S.C.

I am definitely not running for president and probably never will, but I thought it might be fun to answer some of the same questions from the Republican Primary Debate held in Columbia S.C. from last week.

So…a buddy of mine and I got a stopwatch and a voice recorder. He asked me the questions and gave me the same amount of time the candidates got to answer. Here are my answers, let me know how I did…

Let's start with the war in Iraq.

Q: You say that you are willing to be the last man standing for U.S. involvement in Iraq. But the Iraqi government has failed to meet one political benchmark after another for political reform. Why should Americans continue to fight and die while Iraqi politicians continue to do so little?

COUNTRY BOY: Thank you for the question…Look I know the American people are frustrated with the war in Iraq. I understand your frustration, because I am frustrated with the war in Iraq as well…but just because things are not going well and frustration has set in does not mean you cut and run.

Have there been mistakes made…absolutely. Policy failures you bet…

But we must look at the consequence of leaving… losing the war does not mean we hang our heads, bring the troops home and go on and move on, like post Vietnam. The stakes are much higher.If we leave Iraq attacks from Islamic terrorists will not stop or decrease, but rather will steadily increase.

Prior to 9-11 there were more than 7,500 terrorists attacks throughout the world. Many on U.S. interests…1993 bombing World Trade Center…1996 Khobar Towers…1998 US Embassies in Africa…2000 USS Cole in Yemen. Since the war on terror began there has not been one successful terrorist attack on U.S. interests…If we leave Iraq the terrorists will no doubt follow us to the homeland…

Times up…

We either fight them there or fight them here at home….

Q: In the last debate, Governor Thompson said that you would, quote, "Require the Maliki government to vote on whether or not they want us to continue to stay in Iraq." He said that he would, quote, "Require the 18 provinces to elect governments and that he would split oil revenues." Is this the right approach to Iraq?

COUNTRY BOY: First off, I would not let the Iraqi government decide if we should stay in Iraq or leave. If I was president I would never outsource decisions on national security to the Iraqi government, the U.N. or anyone. That would be a decision left to the Oval Office.

I do agree, that the Iraqi government definitely needs to be held more accountable and needs to take a larger roll in the security of Iraq. Let’s be clear about something though…In the 5 years we have been in Iraq the people of Iraq and Iraqi government has made great strides. They have held free elections…they have built schools…and universities…and infrastructure.

There is no doubt a long way to go…and I am definitely not trying to grow you a rose garden in a pile of manure. Iraq still has many problems…

As far as the 18 provinces and oil reserves….that is up to the Iraqi people and their government…

Q: Can you foresee any circumstances under which you would pull out of Iraq without leaving behind a stable political and security situation?

COUNTRY BOY: Absolutely not…your question would imply that we lose in Iraq…I refuse to accept that premises…We are not going to lose in Iraq…we can not afford to lose in Iraq.

We have to understand that Iraq is a small part of the overall picture. What happens in Iraq has enormous impact on what's going to happen in this global struggle that we face. It will be crucial to what happens with Iran…by pulling out of Iraq before Iraq is stable and able to stand on its own would create a huge power vacuum in the region…Iran would quickly take over the Shi'a south, and set their sights on the rest of the region…giving them control of majority of the Worlds oil supply…and perhaps most frightening, you could have al Qaeda play a dominant role among the Sunnis and then have a setting where you'd have something far far worse than what Afghanistan ever was.

We must and we will provide the stability to allow a central government to survive and thrive in Iraq.

Q: When President Bush announced the troop surge, Sen. Brownback opposed it and said that instead he favored the Iraq Study Group, which has a goal of getting all U.S. combat forces out by March of next year. He said that he wanted to find a way for Republicans and Democrats to work together. Is that any way to fight and win a war, to look for a consensus among the politicians in Washington?

COUNTRY BOY: I completely disagree with just about every aspect of this question. I support Bush’s troop surge and thought it should have been done much earlier. I never felt we had enough troops on the ground in Iraq to begin with it.

If you are going to have an Iraq Study Group wouldn’t it make sense to have at least one military analyst, perhaps a general or someone who has actually partaken in the fight on the ground?

I mean this panel was about as bright as hiring a plumber to do electrical work. If you are going to fight a war let the military fight the war.

If the Generals on the ground ask for something to accomplish their mission then it should be given to them. We need to take a policy where we listen to the commanders and the troops fighting this war. This war will be won by them not in the halls of Congress…however the war could be lost in the halls of Congress if we allow it to be.

Q: Mayor Giuliani said in an interview the other day that congressional Republicans who say they must see progress by September are, quote, "fundamentally irresponsible," and that in effect they are giving a timetable for retreat to our enemies. What do you think?

COUNTRY BOY: No matter how you do it a timetable for withdrawal is the wrong answer in Iraq. The only time table for withdrawal is when the mission has been accomplished…and that will be when Iraq can stand on its own. The Democrats and many Republicans have got this issue fundamentally wrong.

Never in the history of warfare can I recall someone giving a date for withdrawal…before the war was lost…and the war in Iraq has not been lost.

The troop surge is working…We have a new General, General Paterus, with a new policy that is showing signs of success…If anyone can turn Iraq around it is General Paterus, but we must support him by giving him the funds for the equipment that he needs without ridiculous time tables for withdrawal. If you are going to make a time table for withdrawal why wait for a future date…why not just bring all the troops home today….the effect would be the same…

Q: A recent poll found that 77 percent of Republicans disapprove of the idea of setting a timetable for withdrawal. However another poll suggests that less than 50% approve of the way the Bush Administration has handled the war and yet another poll says 45% of Republicans say we should not have invaded Iraq. Was the invasion a mistake and if so why should we stay?

COUNTRY BOY: I am not going to sit here and say that invading Iraq was right or that it was wrong…whether going in to Iraq was the right thing to do or not is no longer up for debate…the fact is that we are there…and the consequences of leaving are to high. Iraq has become the center stage in the fight against al-Qaeda…more so than Afghanistan… We have to fix Iraq…accomplishing the mission is the only choice we have there…bottom line…we either fight them there or fight them here…either way we will be fighting them.

Q: You have talked about standing up the Iraqi military in the past and that at some point they will be able to replace some American troops. Now the Bush administration has been saying this, the same thing for basically four -- more than four years, and we now have as many troops in Iraq, U.S. troops in Iraq, as we did when we invaded the country. Why should we believe that this replacement is going to start happening any time soon?

COUNTRY BOY: …Thank you for the tough question…I appreciate you asking me that…It has been a tough time training the Iraqi forces…no doubt…just as it has been a tough time training the Afghan National Army….the main reason is because of the language barrier…but we are getting better at doing it…

Iraqi forces are getting better…a couple years ago we were having a tough time getting Iraqi forces to actually fight in places like Ar Ramadi and Fallujah…today they are better…with combat experience and continuous training they are now starting to stand up and fight alongside American forces. We must continue to train and rotate these forces into military operations…once they can stand on their own we can begin to rotate our forces out…The Iraqi forces will be one of the major keys to our success in Iraq…

Q: In the last debate Governor Huckabee said that President Bush made a mistake listening too much to civilians in suits and silk ties and not enough to the generals with mud and blood on their boots, especially when it came to how many troops were needed to stabilize the situation in Iraq...a point I know you agree with.

If the generals were to come to you as president and say, we don't have enough troops there; we need, let's say, 300,000, would you be open to significantly increasing our presence in Iraq?

COUNTRY BOY: We need to listen to the commanders and noncomissioned officers on the battlefield and pay attention to what they ask for, plain and simple…they are the ones leading troops in to battle…Yes, the President is the Commander in Chief and has the final decision…which are always tough decisions…but you better get the best advice you can get before making that decision…and the best advice doesn’t come from Washington, it doesn’t come from diplomats…it comes from the people fighting the war… It comes from the generals you have ordered to send his men into battle and if he says we need 300,000 more troops then that’s what we need….

This war will not be won in the halls of congress, but it can very well be lost there…It is time we stop worrying about the budget and how much the war costs…and just get it done right the first time…because right now…where we thought we could cut corners and save money is costing us more…because now we have to do it over again…We should have listened to the boots on the ground and done it right the first time…

Q: We have an internet question for you from Harry from Boston, who says, we should look ahead to the threat from Iran. He asked, quote, "What would you do to resolve this nuclear issue? And will you launch a pre-emptive strike if they were close to achieving a weapon?"

COUNTRY BOY: Well, I appreciate the question about Iran, because I think it is one of the real emerging problems that is facing not only this nation, but the entire world.

Iran is a very dangerous situation that really cannot be explained in a minute…We can not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon…We must use every option on the table and yes to include military force…Let’s be real clear about something in reference to Iran… Iran has already declared acts of war against us and our allies…

They attack our troops who are trying to provide security for the reconstruction in Iraq…they sell insurgents weapons and bomb making materials to be used against coalition forces… they fund Hezbollah in a proxy war against Israel…

They kidnapped British Sailors in Iraqi waters who were performing a U.N. mission…
After all of this the only response anyone in the world can muster is we are greatly concerned….I believe we are beyond

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concerned…it is time for action against Iran.


This question was directed toward Mitt Romney but focused on taxes so Country Boy will take it…
Q: Your critics have called you "flip-flop Mitt" for, among other things, your decision to take the "no new taxes" pledge this year after refusing to do so in 2002. Tell me why your decision to take the pledge shouldn't be seen as a blatant appeal to the party base, sir?

COUNTRY BOY: This question does not apply to me…I have always held my convictions and stood by them…even when they are not the most popular of ideas, of course changing your mind for the right reasons is not what I would consider flip flopping…but let’s talk about taxes…

My whole life I have held the belief that raising taxes… no matter if you raise them on the rich or across the board…hurts working families, reduces growth, and eliminates jobs.

When you raise taxes on the rich…the rich will just figure out away to pass the cost of taxes off to the consumer and the poor. Either through price hikes on goods or cutting jobs….tax hikes just don’t work…never have.

Since the introduction of the 16th amendment it has been rewritten and reformed by politicians and lawyers to many times to count. We have now reached a point where the current tax system is broken… It is time that we eliminate the IRS and start over with the FairTax. We…

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…We need a national sales tax and eliminate the IRS…

You supported President Bush’s 2001 tax cuts that are scheduled to expire. How can you convince Republican voters you will push a Democratic Congress hard enough to make those tax cuts permanent, sir?

COUNTRY BOY: There is no doubt that the Bush tax cuts have sparked the economy. Unemployment is the lowest it has been in 20 years…the stock market is the highest it has ever been and continues to rise.

The Bush tax cuts has increased revenue to the federal reserves as well…so there is no doubt that making the Bush tax cuts permanent would be good…but what would be even better is if we past the FairTax.

It costs the federal government 10 million dollars a year to run the IRS. The FairTax would eliminate the IRS…Estimates claim that it costs businesses up to 450 billion dollars a year just to comply to the tax laws in this country. The FairTax would eliminate that cost.

The FairTax is also good for working families and completely lifts the burden of taxes off of the poor…no more taxes withheld from your paycheck…what you make is what you take home…and a monthly allowance from the government up to the poverty level to guarantee…

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To guarantee that the necessities of life are never tasked.

Q: Gasoline prices headed north again. Should Americans resign themselves to living with $3.50, $4, $5 a gallon gasoline?

COUNTRY BOY: Thanks for asking this question…first off it is not really the governments responsibility to fix gas prices…so I would never support a price cap or price controls…or any type of windfall profit tax on gas companies… We live in a free market based on capitalism…that is based on supply and demand…right now the demand for oil is extremely high on the world market and the supply is having a hard time keeping up…making prices extremely high for oil from places like the Middle East…

There are things the government could do to help increase the supply and decrease our dependency on foreign oil…and that is get out of the way… Open the ANWR, explore off shore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico…get rid of the government red tape and expenses to build new oil refineries…

This would greatly help us to become less dependent on unfriendly dictators like Chavez in Venezuela or Ahmadinejad in Iran. Until then…we will be forced to pay whatever they feel like charging for a barrel of oil…

Q: Brian from Fort Wayne asks this question via the internet, a question about controlling government spending. Tell me three federal programs you consider wasteful and would eliminate.

COUNTRY BOY: Oh my…this is like a dream for me…Where do I start??? Let’s start big… the Department of Homeland Security…that is right eliminate the whole shebang!!!…and put the agencies that existed before the department was created back where they where…If there was anything that we learned after Hurricane Katrina it was how useless this new department was…yes, FEMA gets the blunt of the blame…but FEMA was much more of an efficient program when it was its own independent agency before it fell under Homeland Security…

Next I would eliminate the Immigration and Naturalization Service and make them a division of the Border Patrol Agency and place them under the Department of Defense like the Coast Guard. This would destroy the Bureaucracy between the two and ensure that they share information easier and work better together.

Next I would give education back to the individual states and eliminate the Department of Education…how can politicians in Washington determine…

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determine what schools 1,000's miles away needs…

Q: You would eliminate the Department of Homeland Security in the midst of a war, sir?

COUNTRY BOY: Absolutely, we are not any safer after the creation of the department than what we were before…If anything I would say we are less safe because of the creation of the department… You do not have to look any farther than Hurricane Katrina to see that.

We were spending more than 40 billion on security before 9-11, and they had all the information they needed….but the way they handled the information was inefficient because of the bureaucracy and red tape between the different agencies…

Then we create an even bigger bureaucracy and we are spending at least 3 times as much…and we can not even manage a hurricane…

More bureaucracy is the last thing we need.

Q: In the next president's term, baby boomers will retire, the costs of Social Security and Medicare will soar...

COUNTRY BOY: Yeah..

Q: Tell me whether you'd be willing to reduce benefits even for wealthy Americans in order to avoid raising payroll taxes?

COUNTTRY BOY: Real good question… Social Security is a problem that is not going to fix itself…That is why I supported the Presidents efforts in privatizing social security. I believe things work better when you…the people are in charge of your own future and destiny not the federal government.. Did you know that if a private company tried to set up and offer you a retirement plan equivalent to Social Security they would be put in jail? However the government can get away with it….

There is another solution to Social Security and it does not involve cutting benefits or raising pay roll taxes on anyone…It is the FairTax plan that I keep mentioning…

The FairTax would actually increase revenue to the Federal Government, because it creates more taxpayers…it makes taxpayers out of the multi-billions of dollars underground economy from organized crime and others who escape the current income tax system…There are so many problems that th….

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That the FairTax will fix…

Q: Virtually all U.S. exporters want access to China's huge markets. You have said that you would deal with the enormous trade deficit this country has with that country. Tell me how you'd do it and how fast?

COUNTRY BOY: Yeah, China is not and has not been playing fair on trade. They devalue their currency by 40 percent which undercuts the American markets, wipes American products off the shelf not only here but around the world.

As a result we have lost close to 2 million jobs in the United States to china, mostly high-paying manufacturing jobs. A lot of those jobs were lost in South Carolina...more than 20,000 I think… I would make sure China plays by the trade rules and enforce the law...

The next thing I would propose a no tax on manufacturing for American manufacturers while working on getting the FairTax passed. This would make America the safest tax haven in the world for manufacturing and the FairTax would do it for all sectors of business. Let’s bring outsourced jobs back to America…

There's a lot of talk about the budget deficit and reducing that. But interest on the national debt is $400 billion. That's almost as much as the Defense budget. Do you consider that a problem? Would you reduce it, and how fast?

COUNTRY BOY: Yeah, it's a huge problem…If the average business conducted their business like the Federal Government they would be out of business in approximately 5 days…

We spend to much…and my party is part of the problem…It use to be the democrats that were known for big spending and they still are…but the republicans are not far behind…In fact the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress spent more money than any other administration and Congress in history…and that is after you take the money away spent on the war!!!

We have got to cut spending…got to…Republicans, we have to have some fiscal responsibility.

It amazes me that republicans can say we need to cut spending, but who voted for the No Child Left Behind bill, and the Medicare/prescription drug bill, that is going to cost trillions by the time it is said and done…

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Q: You have stated many times that the front runners in the Party are not conservative and they know they are not conservative. Would you tell us specifically why Mayor Giuliani, Senator McCain and Governor Romney are not conservatives?

COUNTRY BOY: Yeah…let me correct myself…I don’t know if they are not conservative…I know positions they have taken that are different from my own, but many of them were trying to survive in blue states…and sometimes you may have to compromise I suppose…

Here are the positions we do not see eye to eye on…Giuliani says he thinks it is up to the states to decide gun control, but it is the constitution that gives us the right to bear arms not the states…

Mitt Romney and I actually seem to agree on a lot…but he supported a weapons band that I would not have…and he does not support the FairTax…which is my most important issue other than the war and immigration

John McCain and I disagree on a lot…there is the McCain / Feingold act…that I do not even believe to be constitutional…and now he is working on this illegal immigration bill that will basically award those who broke the law with amnesty…

McCain says he is the candidate that will work across the aisle with democrats…I say we have been working across the aisle with democrats for too long now. It is time we bring conservatives to Washington that will stand up for conservative beliefs not compromise them…

Q: You say that you're a full-scale Ronald Reagan Republican, and yet, you support the troop surge and you support comprehensive immigration reform. Are those the stands that Ronald Reagan would take?

COUNTRY BOY: Well, unfortunately Ronald Reagan is not here today to tell us what he would or would not do…I do consider myself a full-scale Ronald Reagan Republican and conservative. I think Ronald Reagan would have a lot of problems with what is going on in the Republican Party today I know I do…

I consider myself a Reagan conservative because I would fight to reduce the size and influence of government while expanding economic freedoms. There is nothing that would promote economic freedom better than the FairTax…

I also believe Reagan would have viewed our Islamic Fascist Terrorist enemies as the greatest threat of our time and would have supported a troop surge because that is what the commanders on the ground asked for…

Would we agree on everything…probably not…no one agrees on everything.

Q: Gentlemen, the right-to-life has been a part of the Republican party platform for more than 20 years, so I want to ask several of you questions about abortion and stem cell research. Some researchers say the lines of embryonic stem cells that President Bush has approved federal funding for are inadequate. Tell me why they're wrong. And more importantly, tell me how you would convince them that they have -- these researchers have all the tools they need.

COUNTRY BOY: Well…first off this question is more about the roll government should take in science research and what kind of government we want as a country… I do not believe it is governments roll to fund scientific research…and here is why…If you are a scientist and you know the majority of your money is going to come from the government then you will come up with research that supports the position of who ever is in power that is funding you…basically scientist become employees of the federal government.

A lot of this research involves serious hypothesis that could have a major impact on our health and lives. I do not care to entrust the federal government with our health and lives…

As far as embryonic stem cell research…I do not support any procedure that destroys embryos.
There are some research I have seen that says there are possibilities adult stem cells, could have the same characteristics as embryonic stem cells…and if this is the case that is good new, but I…

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But I still don’t think government should be involved with the funding.

Q: You have said that you personally hate abortion but support a woman's right to choose. Governor Huckabee says that's like saying, "I hate slavery, but people can go ahead and practice it." Tell me why he's wrong.

COUNTRY BOY: Well…first of all slavery is illegal for good reasons and perhaps abortion should be as well but it is not…and I can’t change it…

This is the only question I will answer on abortion, because one abortion is not a political issue but rather a personal moral issue that government should have no say in either way…and it should not be an issue in this debate…two there are far more serious issues facing this nation…three none of the candidates have the power to change the laws on abortion anyway.

My personal views is that abortion is wrong…I would never condone it or recommend it to anyone in my personal life…

As I said abortion is not and should not be a political issue, however when you take taxpayer money and use it to support abortion then it becomes a political issue…

That is why if I were president I would never sign any piece of paper that came across my desk that would fund abortion in anyway shape or form…

Q: Gentlemen, I have a series of questions on immigration
You have made your positions against illegal immigration well known. Do you think that Senator McCain and Mayor Giuliani and Governor Romney are soft on immigration, and if so, why?

COUNTRY BOY: Yeah…they are soft on immigration because they support amnesty…although they will never call it that themselves…

Since no one can seem to figure out this illegal immigration problem I came with my own plan. It is not rocket science, or revolutionary, just a 3 step common sense approach to what some would say a complex problem…although I will not be able to explain it in detail in 60 seconds here is a brief outline…

Now I know this may sound a little crazy but how about we figure out how to enforce the existing laws that we already have on the books? It is against the law to cross the border into the United States without the proper steps already…so how about enforcing the law.

First let’s take the proper action to secure the border by building up the border patrol and work on deporting illegal immigrants already here.

Second, Increase and strictly enforce the penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Third, stop rewarding illegal behavior and withhold all entitlements to illegal immigrants.

What we do not need is more worthless government legislation that awards the act of illegal immigration because they say it is the best we can do. Sorry I disagree, the laws are already in place to fight illegal immigration

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...lets enforce them.

Q: An Internet question. Royce from Philadelphia asks if South Carolina should be free to fly the Confederate flag from state buildings. (Groans from the audience.) That flag is still flying in front of the Statehouse. Should it come down?

COUNTRY BOY: Well thank you for asking the important questions facing the nation…I mean wow…how will the country ever survive if this issue is not resolved…

When this controversy arose in 2000 I stated that it should be up to the state of South Carolina what to do with the flag…I stand by that decision today.

Many perceive the flag as hatred because they believe the civil war was about slavery…but it was not…it was about economic freedom… Many do not know this but Lincoln even offered to let the South keep its slaves to avoid the South from leaving the Union…

I do not view the flag as a symbol of hate, but rather as a symbol of the confederate states…
however, the flag has been tainted as a symbol of hate by white power extremists.

So, it is really about perception and should be left to the state of South Carolina. I think this is an issue we should put behind us and solve the real problems facing the United States…

Q: The ambassador from the European Union says the United States and Europe bear a special responsibility for global warming because the greenhouse gasses causing the problem have been put there since the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. We put most of the stuff up there. Do you agree? And what should we do to deal with the problem, sir?

COUNTRY BOY: I am not a scientist…I don’t play one on TV…and I definitely didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night…

Look…I don’t know if global warming is the cause of man or if it is a natural phenomenon… and you know what scientists do not seem to know either…This whole issue of global warming is really interesting when you actually begin to look for information on it and not just listen to what the media and Al Gore are saying about it…, for every single scientist that tells you it's happening and that it's our fault -- I can find just as many scientist that say just the opposite.

Isn’t it also interesting that in April of 1975 Newsweek ran a feature story on the effects of global cooling and it was going to be catastrophic…now we have global warming…

From the research I have done I conclude there are natural climate changes that take place on the Earth…the Earth cools the Earth warms…and it is not caused by us…

Q: The questions in this round will be premised on a fictional, but we think plausible scenario involving terrorism and the response to it. Here is the premise: Three shopping centers near major U.S. cities have been hit by suicide bombers. Hundreds are dead, thousands injured. A fourth attack has been averted when the attackers were captured off the Florida coast and taken to Guantanamo Bay, where they are being questioned. U.S. intelligence believes that another larger attack is planned and could come at any time.

First question How aggressively would you interrogate those being held at Guantanamo Bay for information about where the next attack might be?

the former director of Central Intelligence, George Tenet, the current head of the CIA have both said that the most valuable intelligence tool they have had has been the information gained from what are called enhanced interrogation techniques to include, presumably, water-boarding.
What is your view whether such techniques should be applied in a scenario like the one I described?

COUNTRY BOY: First off…let me start by saying we should be focusing on how to prevent an attack like this from happening in the first place…but it is what it is…

So in the situation at hand we know that there is going to be another attack and the ones captured knows information about it… This is clearly a no brainer…I tell the guys doing the interrogating use every method possible within the law and get the information and then let’s act accordingly to stop it…

Q: Water-boarding?

COUNTRY BOY: Whatever methods deemed necessary…yes I would use water boarding…I am trying to save American lives…at that point world opinion is not on the list as high priority…

Q: Let’s enrich the scenario just a little bit. Let's assume for the sake of discussion here that we now also have additional intelligence that indicates with high certainty that the attackers were trained in a West African country hostile to the United States, in camps openly run by the terrorist organization that sent them. What kind of response would you agree to for that and would you involve the U.N. at all?

COUNTRY BOY: First thing I would do is verify the intelligence, make sure it is right…If it is…then I would unleash the gods of war on the hostile country…Send a quick, response, clear strong method of strength…that the U.S. is not one to mess with any longer…and tell the rest of the world this is what happens if you allow terrorist to train in your country…

No…I would not go to the U.N. for authorization. The U.N. does not decide when America protects themselves. I will never allow world opinion threaten the security of the American people.

Q: This kind of attack would pose immediate and obvious problems for the U.S. economy -- they've hit shopping centers. What kind of measures would you take to assure that the U.S. economy continued to grow in the face of an attack of this kind?

COUNTRY BOY: Well…uh…that is tough…excellent question…I think…uh… I think we...uh... already have some of the measures in place to keep a strong economy. After 9-11 the Bush tax cuts softened the blow the attacks left on the economy…and the economy remained strong.

So, if we could pass the FairTax our economy would be even stronger and easier to bounce back from the effects on the attack.

I would also encourage Americans to go back to shopping centers just as President Bush encourage Americans to continue flying after 9-11. However, I would also make a strong reminder that it is not business as usual in America…innocent Americans have been murdered on our own soil. So let's make sure that we do more than simply bring justice to those who did it; but that we ask the American people to join together in a sacrifice, the same kind of sacrifice that we all pulled together and made after Pearl Harbor and during WWII. Let’s realize we are in a fight for our survival against

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against an ideological enemy that wants us dead.

Q: What does it say about the Republican Party? what does it say that there is no woman, no Hispanic, no African- American, no minority in this field of presidential candidates?

COUNTRY BOY: I do not think it really says anything at all about the Republican Party itself. I think it says there were not any woman, Hispanics, African Americans or minorities within the party that wanted to run for President… There are certainly members within the party that are qualified to run. I think Condi Rice would make an excellent candidate…and Mel Martinez from Florida definitely has the credentials to run…

Q: Does it bother you that we see the 10 candidates on the stage, there is not a single minority running for president in your party?

COUNTRY BOY: Why, should it bother me? It doesn’t bother me…just as it wouldn’t bother me if there were all minorities on the stage.

These are the people who have chose to step forward and run for president. They have chose to have their public and in some matters private lives examined…and judged…by the media and people…It’s a tough gig…and a tough decision to make.

I know folks like to make the Republican Party out to be the “rich white boy country club,” but it is just not the case. We are a party of ideas that support freedom and the rights to protect that freedom. A party that stands for a smaller less intrusive, limited government, economical freedom…I don’t believe these ideas to only appeal to a certain class or limited to race.

Although a lot of members have seemed to abandoned those ideas, but that is what the party platform still says and that is what I stand for.

Q: Can you point to an area in which your position is less popular with the Republican base?

COUNTRY BOY: Maybe not so much with the base of the party, but definitely with the majority of the political leaders of the party who have abandoned the base. They have raised spending to uncontrollable measures, increased the size of government to limits we have never seen before…basically the RINOS of the party…which stands for Republican In Name Only…have become borrow and spend liberals rather than their tax and spend democrat counterparts.

I here a whole lot of people saying the Republican Party lost the midterm election because of the handling of Iraq. Well, to a certain extent that may be right, but the real reason they lost the midterm election is because they abandoned the base of the party and the base of the party never voted in the midterm elections. That is the real reason we lost.

I am one of the members from the base of the Party who didn’t vote, because I was so fed up… and I know many, many more who stayed home and did the same last November.

Q: Many people feel that billions of dollars in American debt that China holds is a problem. If the Chinese decide to convert those dollars to euros, the value of the dollar drops. Do you see that as a security threat, and what would you do about it?

COUNTRY BOY: Yeah, this is an important issue that is nowhere on America’s radar at the moment…In fact this is one of those issues I was talking about when I said we should be looking at the real problems facing America…because this is a real problem that has the potential to be a huge security threat if nothing is done about it.

One of the things that had initially concerned me about China was their increased demand for oil…while exploring that I found an even greater concern which is they are buying ships and planes and military equipment with hundreds of billions of American trade dollars coming in.

They've bought missiles from the Russians that were designed during the “Cold War” to destroy American aircraft carriers. So there is already a security threat really… but as we allow China to continue to cheat on trade, they are arming themselves with American trade dollars, lending our own money back to us. Some have said that China has to much of an economical tie to the U.S. to ever be a threat, yeah but for...

TIME

We must enforce trade rules with China, and level out the one way advantage.

Well folks there you have it...a little my two cents worth added to the Republican Primary debate...I wish the debate would have focused on illegal immigration a little more and less on non-important issues like abortion and flags...but overall it was not a bad debate...