Zac Schultz:

Well, two of the major issues in this race are the deficit and the economy. The nation has had a deficit for decades. How closely are the two related?

 

Jeff Fitzgerald:

I think they're definitely related. And when you look at the economy and what's going on right now and, we just saw again this week, tough job numbers nationwide. That is a real problem, because you have to grow your economy, I think, to get yourself out of your deficits, and we've seen that in Wisconsin. So I think the real fundamental problem we're having is we're not growing our economy right now and it's because we're not competitive, and I feel we're not competitive in a global market. I think the two biggest things you have to look at on a national level, the same way we did here in Wisconsin,  is you have to get people back to work. And to do that you have to be competitive. Unfortunately, right now, we're not competitive. You know, we have the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world, after Japan had just lowered theirs, so that's not competitive. I think our regulatory climate here in the United States is something that also is a hindrance. And that's a real problem because I think when you're looking at job production, you want to see tax revenues, you want to see people doing well, income tax and you see those collections come up. That was a lot that we had to do here in Wisconsin. We ran two things really, last election cycle, that we wanted to get people back to work and that we wanted to get our fiscal house in order. I think they absolutely coincide with each other, because if you get a robust economy going, it's going to help you with those deficits that you’re facing on the national level. So what do you have to do? You have to curb your spending, not spend more than you have coming in, and then grow the economy to then get a surplus.

 

Zac Schultz:

If we cut the federal budget and don't raise taxes in order to cut into that deficit, is there a segment of the population that's going to suffer from that loss of federal spending?

 

Jeff Fitzgerald:

Well, I think you have to look at not actually actual cuts, just slowing the growth of government. And if you look at the Paul Ryan's plan and that, and I've said that we should go back to '06/'07 levels of spending. It's not really a cut. You go back to those levels of spending. Are there tough choices to be made? Absolutely. I think when you're talking about at the federal level, to not have the United States senate pass a budget in over three plus years, I think that's a real problem because, you know, that means nobody’s even looking at the federal budget to see where you can step up the growth and, you know, really put it into perspective of what you’re actual spending verse what is coming in the door. And if you don’t go through a budget process, that’s why I’ve advocated for a balanced budget amendment that would say, okay, you have to have a budget in place every year, like the law says you should. Plus, it has to balance, you know. Here in the states, like you know, my time servicing in the legislature, we have to have a balanced budget. We can’t be like the federal government where we just print money and say, yeah, okay, we’re just going to keep continuing on. So I think that’s a big factor with that. But are some difficult choices going to have to be made? Yes, absolutely. And I think we’ve proved that. I think that’s way it’s a simple message for me, of going from, you know, really at the state level, to the federal level, of the message is, you know, there are some tough choices that have to be made just like we did here in Wisconsin, but you're going to have to make those choices. And I think if people understand that there are difficult choices to be made and you tell them the truth, but for the good of the country, the way we did it here in the state of Wisconsin and now we took a $3.6 billion deficit here, turned it into a $150 million surplus, I think people understood that. You made tough choices but you have the state in the right direction. Same thing has to happen on the federal level.

 

Zac Schultz:

There was a hypothetical deal offered to all the Republican candidates in the presidential primary in which they were asked, would you accept $10 in cuts for a $1 tax increase. They all rejected it. Would you accept that deal?

 

Jeff Fitzgerald:

No, I wouldn't either. I don't think we have a taxing problem at the federal level. We have a spending problem. And the problem that we've seen year after year is that, you know,  a lot of the spending cuts have been promised, along with tax increases, and those deals have been struck and raising that debt limit every time. But the problem is, is the tax increase is coming, but the spending cuts never do seem to materialize. I think that's the real problem. So you have to, I think, attack it the way we attacked it. You know, we here in Wisconsin. No tax increases, try and get after the spending and try and bring those levels back to where, you know, it was sustainable. Because right now the problem we have, the same way we had problems here in Wisconsin with collective bargaining, that it was unsustainable, the benefit package we were giving to public employees, the same thing is happening on a national level. When you look at the big drivers and what the cost is, what the spending is. You look at Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the interest on our debt. By the middle of the next every decade, every dollar flowing into the federal government will have to go for just those four things. You have to look at those programs. You have to look at entitlement reform. The same way we looked at collective bargaining reform here in Wisconsin. If you can get to the crux of the problem and go back to those spending levels, you're going to balance your budget. It's tough choices, like I said before, but, you know, I think people are willing to do that. And in a struggling economy that we've seen for a long time that looks like it's not going to get any better anytime soon, people understand you have to make difficult choices.

 

Zac Schultz:

Speaking of entitlement reform, do you support Congressman Paul Ryan's plans to reform Medicare?

 

Jeff Fitzgerald:

Yes, I do. I was probably the first candidate, I think,  in this US senate race that said I would have voted for Paul Ryan's reforms that he's doing on the national level. I do believe that that is the crux of the matter, that, you know, it's unsustainable. You know, look at, you know, when you look at Medicare or you look at Social Security, you know, I think people from my generation right now, if you ask a lot of us, don't believe that Social Security will be there. We know it's on a path where it's unsustainable. So to make some reforms, make some changes and tell them if you want this program to be there, then you're going to have to maybe change the age limit or do whatever. But be truthful with people. Because if I think you just stayed on this course right now, we know it's not sustainable. It simply is a math problem.

 

Zac Schultz:

You support the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, but are there any elements in that bill that you would support putting back in place?

 

Jeff Fitzgerald:

Well, I think you can look at it piece by piece, but I think you have to start over from the get-go. I mentioned entitlements. And really the entitlements are being the problem. I think that now creating, you know, what I believe is to be the largest tax increase on the middle class we've ever seen with the way the supreme court ruled, that, you know, to create a new entitlement right now, that's where we got ourselves into trouble. And I think it will bankrupt America and bankrupt our health care system. You have to get back to a market-driven approach when it comes to health care. And, you know, to have it from the top down, I just don't think is simply is it. I think people in this election have a choice to make I think,  when it comes to the presidential and when it comes to now this US senate race. I think it's going to be nationalized on Obamacare. What type of country are we going to be? Are we going to be a country of limited government, which I believe our forefathers wanted us to be, and have a safety net to catch people when they fall on hard times? Or are we going to be a top-down, government-runs-everything cradle-to-grave society? And I don't believe the majority of people– I don’t believe the majority of the people in Wisconsin or this country want to be that. You don't have to look any further than really looking at what's going on in Europe right now, where there are a lot of programs set up where it is now beginning to flip on them where it's unsustainable. You know, you hear a lot of politicians say this is going to be a very important election this time, but I really think this one is the most meaningful election because it's going to determine what kind of country we are going forward and I don't think we're that far behind Spain or Portugal or Greece when it comes to debt, $16 trillion in debt right now, and just seems to be climbing and nothing that's going to really turn our economy around to help us with that debt..

 

Zac Schultz:

Speaking about deficits, do you think there needs to be more regulation of Wall Street or do you think there could be another financial meltdown in the future?

 

Jeff Fitzgerald:

Well, no. I think the problem is, is that the kind of the reforms that were put in place, some of them aren't working and really didn't work. When it comes to when they talk about banks and Wall Street, Dodd-Frank was a big bill that was passed that was supposed to regulate that. And really what we've seen, though, is that it's really hurting community banks and driving up the cost of lending and hurting with job production. And that's a real problem. If you can't go out and loan that small business that  money to get started and to create jobs, that's going to put a hindrance on it. So Dodd-Frank is one of the things that I said should be repealed and you should look at putting reforms in place that are going to, you know,  have oversight, but not burden the private sector market. I think that's the problem we've seen with some of the over-regulation that's been going on in Washington.

 

Zac Schultz:

Switching to immigration, do you support President Obama's recent plans regarding deportation?

 

Jeff Fitzgerald:

No. I believe that when it comes to immigration, I think, you know, when we look at it, if you're an illegal immigrant, then you're an illegal immigrant. And I think that people should go through the process of becoming a legalized citizen here in the United States, always have believed that. You know, I think that's the avenue that should be taken when it comes to immigration.

 

Zac Schultz:

Campaign Finance Reform, do you support Citizens United and what it's done in the creation of super pacs?

 

Jeff Fitzgerald:

You know what? I think when you look at third parties and their-- the first amendment right, I think we've seen it battled here, I think people have a right to their first amendment rights. And, you know, there are a lot of money in politics. I think when you look at McCain-Feingold, you know, it was set up to do one thing, but I think it did create this atmosphere of third-party money. And here in Wisconsin we know it better than anybody of what we've seen. But when it comes to-- when it comes to outside money and money influence, it does get frustrating as a candidate sometimes because you have no control over it. In the end I agree with-- Wisconsin Right to Life had a lawsuit here as well that they do have that first amendment right to-- you know, to portray or go on behalf of a certain candidate.

 

Zac Schultz:

The topic of foreign policy, would you support US military involvement in Iran to prevent them from becoming a nuclear power?

 

Jeff Fitzgerald:

Yeah, I think when it comes to Iran and when you look at Ahmadinejad and that regime, the statements that have been made and kind of the portrayal of him of being a very dangerous individual, I think that we have to do whatever we can do to stop them from gaining nuclear capabilities. You know, whatever it takes to do that. And I have always thought that, you know, our allies, the Israelis, we should stick with them and obviously have an alliance with them and I think we should continue down that course.

 

Zac Schultz:

So if our generals or president asked for it, you would support troops on the ground in Iran?

 

Jeff Fitzgerald:

We should support that we should do whatever we can to make sure they don't get nuclear capabilities. What that is, I wouldn't micro-manage that situation from this seat here, but we should take whatever steps are necessary.

 

Zac Schultz:

All right. Jeff Fitzgerald, thanks for your time.

 

Jeff Fitzgerald:

Thank you.