Mississippi Gubernatorial Debate

I wanted to share with you some things about the Mississippi gubernatorial debate which was held last night at the Mississippi College School of Law from 7:00 to 9:00 that, if you didn't watch it, you wouldn't know about because the press isn't reporting on it so far.

Each candidate was given two minutes to make his opening remarks. I publicly pledged to ban abortion by Executive Order on Day One as my first official act in office. I pledged to implement a Mississippi FairTax, eliminating 74 of the 75 taxes that our State now collects, leaving only the sales tax, and leaving more of Mississippians' money in their own pockets. I pledged to stop illegal immigration immediately using all means necessary. And I pledged to improve education by issuing school vouchers to parents so they could decide where their own children will go to school, privatizing education in order to create free market competition, and returning the Holy Bible to all of our schools. I also stated that I had kicked off my campaign on the anniversary of Mississippi statehood, December 10th, in order to show my support for our State Constitution as well as our Federal Constitution.

Eight reporters from around the State asked a question, and each candidate got to answer each question, although we had only two minutes to answer, and we had one minute to respond to the final question.

The question was on national health care reform. I stated that I am against Obamacare, and suggested removing the state-to-state restrictions which have been in place since the days of FDR and which prevent state-to-state competition which could lower our health insurance costs. I asked the audience in attendance and those watching by television statewide to imagine paying $300.00 for a CAT scan instead of $4,000.00. Having only two minutes to answer each question, I didn't have time to say that at the federal level, with the FairTax, the people in the top third of the economy would benefit by 4 or 5 percent, those in the middle third would benefit by 7 or 8 percent, and those in the bottom third could benefit by as much as up to 12 percent because of a disproportionate amount of their income paying income and payroll taxes versus paying taxes on new items at the retail level. The FairTax would increase GDP by 10.5 percent, capital stock by 42 percent, labor supply by 4 percent, output by 12 percent, and real wages by 8 percent, and that the same thing would work at the State level. Other States, like Texas and North Dakota, are implementing ideas such as those I'm talking about, an they are experiencing very healthy growth, job creation, a strong State economy, and budget surpluses.

The second question was about whether we would support a State lottery. I opposed it, and said that I would go farther and say that if the people choose me to be our next Governor, then I will close every casino in Mississippi. At that point, there was an audible gasp from about 120 of the 140 people in attendance. But I suspect that there were some people watching at home who were cheering because they know that gambling causes an awful lot of harm, and no good at all.

On the Voter ID question, I stated that I signed the petition to put it on the ballot (I have also signed the petition to put the Personhood Amendment on the ballot, on which the Mississippi Supreme Court has still not decided, and I have signed the petition to stop giving public monies to people who are on drugs and people who are not U.S. citizens), and made the point that it is imperative that we have fair and honest elections because the people who hold public office make decisions that affect real people's lives. I emphasized the point by telling a joke about three fellows who came out of a building and realized that their keys were locked in their car. The first fellow said, "Let's get a coat hanger, put it through the window, and try to unlock the door." The second said, "No, a policeman might come along and think we're trying to steal the car!" The third said, "Well, we'd better do something quick, because it's starting to rain, and the top's down." That drew a good laugh from the crowd. I said that many times in government, the common sense solution is obvious to most of us, but to the people at the top, they just either don't seem to see it, or don't want to implement it, and that we need a Governor with common sense.

The fourth question was about Mississippi being last in the nation - that we're the poorest State and the fattest State, etc. I responded that the solution is a combination of several things: enforcing all of our laws, implementing the Mississippi FairTax, creating a safe and predictable legal environment where entrepreneurs aren't being privolously sued out of business, and providing a quality education to all of our children.

On the question of illegal immigration, I made the point that I married a beautiful lady who was born and raised in foreign country, and that we went through the entire legal process of paying over $800.00 in what I consider another tax to the Government, studying for the citizenship exam, filling out all of the legal paperwork, and her taking and passing the exam, and that in New Orleans in 1999, she was sworn in and became a legal naturalized citizen of the United States. That's the right, legal way to come into our country. I pledged to use all means necessary to stop illegal immigration immediately. I said that our current public officials have only been pretending to do something about illegal immigration and a lot of other things, and I mentioned my book, A New Day in Mississippi: The Corruption In Our Government, and What We Can Do About It In 2011, in which I have detailed much of the corruption, fraud, waste, abuse, harrassment, and persecution that is being committed by State, County, and Municipal employees in our State. (The book is available in some bookstores and online at the websites of Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, amazon.com, and on my publisher's website at http://sbpra.com/jamesbroadwater.)

The sixth question was on how we would do legislative redistricting. I disagreed with the candidates who wanted a third party to draw the district lines rather than elected officials, and I said that the political party who wins the election has the right to draw the lines - that when you win, then you have the right to make the decisions. I did draw a pleasing reaction from the crowd when I said that the federal government has created an unconstitutional law in which they have mandated that we in Mississippi draw a congressional district which ensures the continual re-election of Bennie Thompson.

The seventh question was about what we have done to create jobs, and what we would do about unemployment. Several of the candidates were big business owners who said that they have created many jobs, and I had to say that my family and I started our business only last year and that we have created three jobs for ourselves, but that as we grew and as some of our students became Black Belts, then some of them would likely start their own martial arts studios, creating jobs - and I said that when we order sparring gear and related items, it sure felt like we were keeping the supplier in business and creating jobs for them!

The final question was whether we would support having open primaries. I said that while I have spent most of my life in Mississippi, we lived five years in Louisiana, where they do have open primaries, and that I would support it. I said that while I believe that my party, the Republican Party, has better ideas and ideals, that there are people who have Democrats who are running for local office for whom they want to vote in the Primary, but they would also like to vote for me but they can't because I'm running in the Republican Primary. I told the crowd and those watching at home and elsewhere by television and online that President Reagan made the point that the people should be able to vote for whomever they want.

In my closing statement, I said that this election is about values. We need a Governor who takes seriously the fact that we can save the lives of 3,000 preborn babies every year in Mississippi with a Governor who will sign an Executive Order on Day One as his first official act in office banning abortion statewide, and that's exactly what I pledged to do. We need a Governor who will boost our economy and create jobs by implementing the Mississippi FairTax, which would eliminate every tax but the sales tax, which would tax only new items purchased at the retail level, and I pledged to implement the FairTax. I pledged to stop illegal immigration immediately, and to use all means necessary in order to do that. And I pledged to provide the environment for a quality education for every child by issuing school vouchers, privatizing education, and returning the Bible to our schools. For over 30 years, statistics have proven that home schooled children and children who attend private schools score higher on standardized tests than do children who go to public schools, and private schools and home school families are producing better results for a whole lot less money. I ended by saying, "May God bless you and your family, may God bless Mississippi, and may God bless America!"

While Others Made a Show Out of Their Announcements Yesterday, ...

While others made a big deal out of their politically predictable announcements yesterday that they were running for Governor, I announced back on December 13th - the anniversary of Mississippi statehood - to show my support for
and my respect for our State Constitution, and my intent to uphold it, and yesterday I took my son deer hunting early in the morning, and then he and I spent the afternoon teaching karate to inner-city kids in Jackson, like our family does two days a week. We also teach karate to affluent kids one day a week. We don't care what your skin color is, or how rich you are - or aren't.

According to the Clarion-Ledger, Phil Bryant said in a speech in Pearl today (I'm sure he said the same thing at every one of the many other places where he's stopping yesterday and today) that he "wants to maintain a business-friendly climate in Mississippi by keeping taxes low, developing charter schools, and improving the state budget process." Well, let me tell you that we don't have a business-friendly climate. The Mississippi Department of Revenue collects 75 different taxes. And as far as I know, we don't have a single charter school in the state, and I don't know why he thinks that starting them would be such a big help.

I want to implement what I call the Mississippi "FairTax," which would eliminate 74 of those 75 taxes that we currently collect, keep only the sales tax, lower the sales tax to five percent, and close down the Mississippi Department of Revenue. As a homeschool dad, I don't believe that charter schools will solve every problem. I believe in privatizing education, mandating that the Holy Bible be taught to all children (both the children and all of society suffer because it is not taught in our public schools), giving parents school vouchers to offer real choice in education, and keeping government out of education as much as possible. And "improving the state budget process" is just political talk. As a state employee, I can tell you that what needs to be done is to fire every one of the state employees who is presently getting paid for doing absolutely nothing at all, and reward the rest - who have been carrying the load for entire agencies for far too long. The implementation of the Mississippi FairTax would increase state revenues, solving part of our problem. And I would fight corruption in our state government, which we all know exists, and eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse. That's dealing with the other part of the problem - one that has been allowed to grow and fester because inept and sometimes corrupt leadership on the part of both major political parties.

Bryant also said, "I will be there to veto tax increases." Well, I believe in actual tax decreases, Mr. Lieutenant Governor. I heard Phil Bryant on Saturday, July 3, 2010 at a TEA Party rally in Tupelo that we both spoke at brag about the two-day-a-year "sales tax holiday" that he and the Legislature had given us. Well, whoop-de-do! A fat lot of good that does us. We need real tax reform, and being the poorest state in the union, we need it now.

Also according to the Clarion-Ledger, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Luckett "said he wants to increase educational offerings in day-care centers as a step toward eventually developing a state-funded pre-kindergarten system." Translation: he wants total Communist/Socialist/liberal/Democrat indoctrination of all of our children. He is business partners with Morgan Freeman, the actor who has played in movies and on liberal PBS. I've read that the restaurant and blues club that they own together in Clarksdale only stays afloat because of Freeman infusing his own personal money into it. The only actor I've ever liked who got into politics is Ronald Reagan.

The way I see it, people who work hard for a living and are usually one paycheck away from financial difficulty have a real choice this year, because I have been, and I am, where they are. I share their values. I believe in ending abortion and protecting all innocent human life from conception until natural death. I stand up and speak out for marriage and family, and oppose homosexuality. I believe in bringing in the Mississippi FairTax, and I believe I am the only candidate who will even propose such an agenda item. I believe in enforcing all of our laws. And I believe in a lot of other things which I think are good for all of us, that you can read about on the "Issues" page of my website at http://www.broadwaterforgovernor.com.