Dan Burton releases in an interview his intentions of victory in 2010.
By BRIAN A. HOWEY
KOKOMO - U.S. Rep. Dan Burton left little doubt what his plans are for 2010. In an HPI Interview in Kokomo after attending the town hall meeting of Gov. Mitch Daniels and former Gov. Joe Kernan, Burton confirmed that he will seek a 15th term in Congress. Sitting in on this interview at Pastariffic was Howard County Republican Chairman Craig Dunn, who quickly endorsed Burton.
In Brose McVey, Burton already has one Republican primary opponent with an established exploratory committee, and former State Rep. Luke Messer, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi and State Rep. Mike Murphy are pondering bids. Some suggested that Burton might not run, but the India¬napolis Republican slammed the door on that notion.
HPI: Are you definitely going to seek re-election in 2010?
Burton: Yes, I am planning to run again. I’m very healthy. How old do you think I am?
HPI: Oh, 63?
Burton: I’m 70. I run and I exercise. I’m in pretty good shape physically. My wife is a doctor, so if I have a little chest pain in the middle of the night I can just roll over and say, “Doc, I need a little help?”
Dunn: And I will say that since that is the first initial announcement I will offer the first official endorsement.
HPI: You’re 100 percent committed to running?
Burton: Yes. Unless something unforeseen happens, like a heart attack or something. But I don’t anticipate that. I just had a complete physical and if you want to hear something positive, when they looked at my aorta they said it was that of an 18-year-old. It was clean as a whistle, so I don’t anticipate any health problems.
HPI: How long do you see yourself in Congress? Will this be the last term if you win?
Burton: I’m not going to make any comment beyond the next election. One of the reasons I want to run again is President Obama is coming up with many revolutionary approaches to government and I think those of us who have been there awhile can be more effective than a new person coming in; knowing how to deal with him from a procedures standpoint. Also, I am a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. I am chairman of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee, I was a NATO delegate. I have been on the Asia/Pacific Committee and I am ranking on the Middle East, which is a hot point in the world. So in terms of our foreign policy, which is extremely important, I think I will have a very strong voice there. I’m looking forward to sticking around for awhile to work on that.
HPI: Several of your potential primary challengers in 2010 told me they’ve talked with you. How did those conversations go? What do you tell them?
Burton: I’m very nice to everybody. Very respect¬ful. I said, “It’s your right to run,” and I would never tell anybody that they can’t run. I plan to run again, but if you do run I hope it will be a gentlemanly thing; no nastiness. But I intend to win.
HPI: Dr. John McGoff came surprisingly close to you in the 2008 primary. What did you learn from that challenge?
Burton: It was very interesting. We did three polls in the last three weeks of the campaign. Every one of our polls in the last three weeks showed me up 25 to 30 percent. So we thought it was going to be a walkaway. But my friend Rush Limbaugh was telling everybody to go over and vote for Hillary and if you look at the turnout, that had a bad impact on us. We won by about 7 percent, which was OK, but it wasn’t anything like we anticipated. The other thing that was interesting was that Obama brought out a number of voters. If you look at Pence’s race, Buyer’s and Souder’s, the number of Democrats as opposed to Republicans was unbelievably different than what it had been in the past.
As a matter of fact, in my primary I usually get 2 to 3 to 1 Republicans voting over Democrats. There were 10,000 more Democratic votes in that primary than Republicans. So it showed there was a huge amount of new people voting and there were a lot of Republicans who were voting for Obama that hadn’t voted that way before.
HPI: So you see the 2010 primary snapping back into a more predictable mode?
Burton: I believe if I do my job and take care of my constituents and I stay in touch, I think we’ll be fine.
HPI: President Obama came before your caucus. What impression did he leave with you?
Burton: Obama and Bill Clinton are two of the smoothest people I have ever met. I thought when I met Bill Clinton - and I did the investigation of him for four years - I thought I had never met a better politician. Ever. I mean, I didn’t care for the guy and I didn’t agree with him, but he was so good. I’ll give you a quick example. I was at a bill signing at the White House - it was the Helms-Burton law regarding Cuba. He didn’t like me because I was doing the investigations. He introduced me last, which is not the way you do it. And then when he hands out the pens - mine last - he shook hands with me like this (Burton demonstrates a very limp handshake with the interviewer). And then when the TV lights came on, and I have a golf tie on, and as we’re walking out the door Bill presses my hand like this (now a very firm, masculine handshake). He said, “Oh you play golf? We’ll have to play golf sometime.” The point I’m trying to make is he is really smooth. Now Obama is every bit as good. He is so likable. So down to earth. So smooth. You can’t help but like the guy. But as far as his programs go and what he is trying to do to the country, I have real reservations about his approach to government. I am really concerned about his move to bigger, socialistic government. I don’t think this is what this country wants.
HPI: I was amused that Bill Clinton spent so much time campaigning in your congressional district for Hillary in the primary. Did you enjoy watching that?
Burton: It was interesting. I can I tell you something else that is going to be interesting? As a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I am going to have the opportunity to discuss foreign policy with Hillary. She and I weren’t the best of pals. So it’s going to be an interesting time.
HPI: You’ve raised the “socialism” alarms during the auto bailout and TARP, which occurred under President Bush, the Republican. Last weekend we watched Sen. Lindsey Graham say, somewhat stunningly, that he can’t rule out nationalizing the banks. These are things I thought I’d never see.
Burton: Lindsey and I do not agree. I think nationalization of any part of our industry in this country is not good. Leave it to the free enterprise system. That’s our best way to work out of this situation we’re in. I don’t agree nationalizing the banks is a good thing.
HPI: Where do you think things will stand this April or May?
Burton: They are only going to spend about 7 percent of the bailout money between now and the end of the year. The president has already said things will get worse before they get better. There’s not going to be any real movement that an across the board tax cut would create. I guarantee that in the next months, they are going to come back for a supplemental that’s going to be another $400 to $500 billion. We spent $700 billion on TARP, we spent with interest a trillion dollars on this one. That’s close to two trillion. And then they’re going to put another $400 billion in there. Geithner today said he thought the fed would have to put another one to two trillion in the banking industry to get everything moving ahead. Our kids and grandkids are going to be biting off a heck of a lot. China has about $700 billion of our debt. Japan has about $600 billion. There’s a limit as to how much these other countries are going to lend us. They are owning more and more of America. The interest is going to have to be paid, so at some point we are going to have to monetize some of this debt. When this happens, you’re going to see what happened in the ‘70s under Jimmy Carter. We had double-digit inflation, about 14 percent, and then they brought Volker in to put the hammer on and interest rates went to 21 percent. I think you’re going to see something like that down the road, I don’t know when.
HPI: Was your vote on President Obama’s stimulus package tough for you to make?
Burton: Not really. When I looked at the so-called stimulus package I was very disappointed because I was convinced, and still am convinced, that the way to stimulate quick economic recovery is by cutting taxes across the board. I was one who advocated dispensing with the capital gains tax maybe for a year and have a two-month holiday for income tax. That would get more money in the system a lot more rapidly. Money getting into the system in 2009 according to the experts we talked to was about 7 percent of the $789 billion. I don’t think it’s going to make a big difference this year.
HPI: How does a tax cut help somebody who doesn’t have a job?
Burton: About 40 percent of the people don’t pay taxes. So you know obviously that’s not going to have a huge impact on them. I believe you want to stimulate economic growth and the people who are going to do that and provide a mechanism for economic growth are the people who are paying or buying products who are going to expand economic recovery. If we cut capital gains, it will create an atmosphere for investment and will bring money back into the country that has gone overseas. The 60 percent who pay taxes will spend that money and buy products and that will create more jobs. The people below the poverty line there’s assistance programs for them already. We have food stamps, welfare programs and there will be some expansion of them. I’m not in favor of giving them tax rebates. A tax rebate is a welfare check.
HPI: We’ve got the deadline today for the Detroit 3 and the second on March 31. What’s your take on that?
Burton: Sen. (Bob) Corker had what I thought was a pretty viable plan. He was talking about 30 cents on the dollar via a salaries become more competitive. I thought Corker’s plan has some real merit to it. Had the Big 3 accepted that I probably would have supported it. But what happened was when we had the $14 billion come before Congress, there was no plan. It was just giving them the money and then come around at the first of March and give us a long-term plan. I didn’t favor giving anybody any amount of money unless we knew what they were going to do with it. I feel the same way about the economic stimulus plan. I just don’t think it’s really going to get the job done.
HPI: What are you hearing on the Chrysler and GM restructuring plans?
Burton: I have not yet heard. By the time we get back to the office there will be a response. GM says they won’t respond until after the stock market closes. I don’t know what that means.
HPI: You took a lot of heat from Marion Mayor Seybold on your vote last December on the Detroit 3. You have many GM and Chrysler workers either working or living in your district.
Burton: I certainly want to help the auto industry do well and flourish in America, particularly in the 5th Congressional District. The mayor of Marion came down with some GM executives from the factories in that area and we talked. I told them that if there was a plan that was reasonable, I would support it. But I wanted to see it first. I did say that I don’t think there’s any chance whatsoever that we’re not going to pass something that keeps things afloat. Now, that didn’t indicate I wasn’t going to vote for it because I didn’t know what it was going to be. I was convinced the (Bush) administration was going to do whatever needed to keep things on track for awhile. And they did.
HPI: Congressman Pence believes GM and Chrysler should reorganize in a prepackaged bankruptcy with all the players in front of a judge. Do you agree?
Burton: Mike may be right. Corker was talking essentially that. He was talking about the bondholders agreeing to 30 cents on the dollar and having the wages and benefits being more competitive. The things that Corker talked about I thought would be almost as good as a bankruptcy. Almost a prebankruptcy. If they continue the way they have been, I think they will end up with a bankruptcy plan.
HPI: Can GM survive a bankruptcy? Will people buy a Chevy or a Cadillac if the company is bankrupt?
Burton: I would continue to buy GM products. I always have. I think people will by GM cars if the car is a product they like. Just like they buy Toyotas and Hondas. I don’t think bankruptcy precludes people buying a GM product. Bankruptcy doesn’t mean they are going to go completely out of business. It’s reorganization and I think people will understand that.
Recent Comments