Date: 6/1/2009
David Asman: As we continue our first night of Red Ink Week, there is no question that for too long, politicians of all stripes have looked at government coffers as a bottomless pit of wealth. Spending other people’s money is always easier than parting with your own and that’s precisely the problem. If we’re ever going to get out of this hole, we keep digging for ourselves or they keep digging for us, the mentality of how we govern has got to change here in Washington and in state capitals all over the country as well.
Our next guest has been on the frontline of that charge to make politicians accountable with the taxpayers, something he did as governor of Minnesota. Joining us now from Minneapolis is the author of “Don’t Start The Revolution Without Me”, and Jesse Ventura, I wouldn’t think of it, because I’m sure you’d be in the front deck all the way. Good to see you again.
Jesse Ventura: Good to see you again. Nice to be here.
David Asman: Well, you know, in just the past couple of months since we’ve seen each other, the folks in the Capitol right behind me have gone out of their way to do exactly what you said they shouldn’t do, which is putting themselves more in charge, spending more of our money and reducing our freedoms. What do we do as a country to combat that?
Jesse Ventura: Well, I think, you know, I’ve harped on it for years and years. We’ve got to stop voting for Democrats and Republicans. I mean, they are in this together. They both spend equally as bad. It seems that the Democrats are more cash and carry. They like to reach directly into your wallet, where the Republicans seem to charge it and put it on the national debt and hope to pay it off later with another generation.
When I was governor of Minnesota, I ran on a unicameral platform, One House, and at the state level, you don’t need two Houses. One House works. Now at the Federal level, of course, you need two; otherwise, California would run the nation and we know what a disaster that could be.
But I couldn’t even get them to take a floor vote on putting it on the ballot, and the reason I bring this up is because the more people you have elected and the larger… like in Minnesota, we have 201 state legislators, which is bigger than California’s, even though their population is 30 million more than ours is, or better. Every time they pass a law, that comes with a price tag. It requires to implement that law, there’s going to have to be funding spent on it.
David Asman: That’s right.
Jesse Ventura: So we’ve got to get these people to stop passing more laws.
David Asman: That’s right. That’s right.
Jesse Ventura: That would be a great start.
David Asman: Well, passing more laws…
Jesse Ventura: Do we really need more laws?
David Asman: Governor, governor. It’s also creating bureaucracies. If it was just a matter of writing a check or cutting a check in order to solve the problem, then fine. You know, cut a check. But they create these huge bureaucracies, each one of which has about two or three buildings in this town of Washington filled with hundreds or thousands of bureaucrats, each one of whom, well, have pensions that last until the day they die.
Jesse Ventura: We also have to pay for the party caucus staffs. In Minnesota, that comes out of the taxpayer’s end. We pay. Now, why should my tax dollars, when I’m a third-party guy, go to support the Democrats and Republicans who I oppose, and yet they take my tax dollars and give it to them.
David Asman: All right, well, specific question then. How do we make it more difficult, because right now it’s pretty easy for them to spend money and for them to create laws, how do we make it more difficult for them to do that?
Jesse Ventura: Well, the only way is at the ballot box. Stop electing them, then they’ll get terrified, you know, because it’s all about getting elected and control. You see, the problem is these two parties have put their parties first and the country second. And in fact, the country is third. Special interest is second. So in the case in point, when George Bush went for a bailout, all the Republicans voted for it.
David Asman: That’s right.
Jesse Ventura: A few months later, when President Obama does it, all the Republicans now don’t vote for it. That clearly shows you that they vote to give power to their parties and they’re not doing what’s necessarily correct for the country.
David Asman: All right. Well, by the way, just a slight correction. Not all Republicans voted for the bailouts, the TARP bailouts. I mean, we’ve got a couple who are coming up right here on the scoreboard that we want you to pay attention to.
Jesse Ventura: Okay, and that’s fine. But as a whole, I’m speaking as a whole.
David Asman: Yeah.
Jesse Ventura: As a whole, Republicans supported the Bush bailout and they opposed the Obama bailout when essentially they were the same things. It shows you how it works.
David Asman: I agree they were essentially the same thing.
Jesse Ventura: There could be a few exceptions, yeah.
David Asman: But, governor, we have to be realistic. There is not a third party right now. I mean, if there was, I think I’d be one of the first persons to pull the lever.
Jesse Ventura: Well, you know why that is, it’s because the media helps the two party system to survive. They won’t give…
David Asman: Well, not this media.
Jesse Ventura: Why was it… wait a minute, why was it when Ross Perot got one out of five votes in 1992 or 20 percent, he wasn’t allowed to debate in 1996. Where was the media on that? Just tell me about it.
David Asman: Well, this particular media wasn’t there at that particular time, but it is now.
Jesse Ventura: But the point of the matter is…
David Asman: And we’d be happy to give coverage to a viable third party candidate. Where is he?
Jesse Ventura: Well, again, you know, we’ve got to climb the ladder again and try to make that available out there. I protest vote. I think that in every election, be it local, statewide or national, they should give you the option of “none of the above”, and people laugh at that. But what that is, that’s a protest vote. It’s a vote of no confidence in your government and I’d be willing to bet there would be certain elections where none of the above would actually win and that’s a start.
David Asman: You know, I think that’s a terrific idea. In fact, they do that. In some cases, they do that in Italy and very often none of the above wins the vote, but what do you then?
Jesse Ventura: Well, wouldn’t that send the message? I mean, imagine if you got elected to office, but you lost to none of the above. Well, that would make me re-think a few positions. It’s a start.
David Asman: Yeah.
Jesse Ventura: You can’t climb a mountain without taking the first step.
David Asman: That’s true. That’s true. That’s true. Well, maybe that’s the place to begin.
Jesse Ventura: And you’ve got to take these small steps in which to achieve what you want to achieve. You can’t just leap over the mountain and say it so, especially when the two parties control everything about the system.
David Asman: Got you. We’ve got to leave it at that. Governor Jesse Ventura. Governor, you’re welcome back any time. Thanks very much.
Jesse Ventura: Well, let me finish by saying this. When I ran for governor, I only raised $300,000.
David Asman: Yeah.
Jesse Ventura: That’s fiscal control. We only had one person paid.
David Asman: Unbelievable.
Jesse Ventura: All the rest were volunteers, but they don’t like you to know that stuff.
David Asman: If you cut the Fed out of this government out of what’s going on behind me, there wouldn’t be a city of Washington, DC.
Jesse Ventura: Thank you. Well, I could do it if you’d elect me president, but unfortunately, I’m not running.
David Asman: I guess your wife won’t let you…
Jesse Ventura: I certain…
David Asman: Some day, you’ve got to talk to your wife into doing that, all right, into letting you run.
Jesse Ventura: Well, my wife has nothing to do it. She has nothing to do with it.
David Asman: All right.
Jesse Ventura: Surfing. Surfing. The ocean don’t lie.
David Asman: You love surfing.
Jesse Ventura: Thanks, guys.
Mr.Ventura, I enjoyed watching your show’s,and have made me aware of the way the people who run are for their selfs.What can the little people do to get the word out that we the people need to stand up and take our rights back.Or are we all to late to change the power,and greed.We need to clean house!We need to take back our country.Where to start.,is the question.