U.S. Senate Candidate Glenn Addison: An Impromptu Interview

    Tonight I got to sit down with U.S. Senate candidate Glenn Addison at the Jalapeno Tree restaurant in Tyler.  He had just finished speaking at a candidate forum and graciously agreed to an interview, on the spot, by this small time blogger.  His campaign slogan is “A Common Man With Common Sense Solutions.”  I found this to be very true.  He’s a very personable  50 year old guy from Magnolia, TX.  He owns two funeral homes, one in Magnolia and one in Spring.  I have to say that he is so charismatic that he just made me feel right at home talking with him.  You don’t see that every day in most people that run for a seat in the Senate.  It was very refreshing to know he wanted to hear what I had to say and answer my questions!

     So let me tell you a little about Glenn Addison. Mr. Addison has been married to his wife Lorie for 28 years and has 2 grown children.  He’s been a small business owner since the age of 26, so he has experienced first hand what it’s like to try to survive in a hostile business environment.  He has dealt with the destructive nature of the Federal Government in the business market as well as their interference in education.  He served on the Magnolia I.S.D. school board for 15 years!  Mr. Addison talks about reigning in our government and how we need to all “get back into the book” better known as the Constitution.  His campaign is centered around just that.  He wants to restore the U.S. Constitution as the supreme law of the land and repeal vast amounts of destructive and unconstitutional Federal legislation.  He doesn’t want to stop there, either! He wants to get rid of all the unconstitutional agencies and departments, too!  He has said if he is elected he will spend ONE 6 year term in Washington and if he has not accomplished what he proposed to do in those 6 years, he needs to be replaced.  If he has done a good job he can come back to Texas with a good feeling of helping this country be a better place to live.  If he is elected he has pledged to close his political campaign fund the day he takes office and accept no further donations.  Because of this, Mr. Addison will not be saddled with the burden of seeking re-election and therefore, will be able to work full time for the people of Texas!  He has also said he will not be signing on for the government pension plan or healthcare that the Senate provides for themselves.  Does this remind you of anyone else? I hear shades of Ron Paul in many areas of Mr. Addison’s platform and in his desire to really work for the people and to adhere to the Constitution.

     The first thing I asked Mr. Addison was if he was endorsing a candidate for President.  He told me he is not endorsing anyone as he is trying to build his own coalition of voters and thinks it could be detrimental to his own campaign if he comes out to endorse anyone.  He did say that he admires Dr. Ron Paul and the work he has done to make people more aware of where our government is overstepping it’s boundaries.  He said he had some serious issues with Romney, Newt, and Santorum, though.  So we’ll suffice it to say he is for whichever candidate is for the Constitution.

     Glenn Addison has some big ideas that he intends to take with him to Washington, D.C. should he be elected.  He is gonna march into Washington with the Constitution in hand and if they want to do something that isn’t in Article 1 section 8, he fully intends to vote against it and to start talking to the other conservatives asking them why they are going against the constitution.  If they don’t change their minds and continue to vote for unconstitutional legislation, he will become an advocate for finding a constitutional conservative (in deed and not just word) to run against them in their home state.  Those are some big words, but you know what?  I believe him and I applaud him!

     We discussed what departments he felt needed to be cut.  He was very much in line with Ron Paul on these.  He listed cutting the EPA, OSHA, National Labor Relations Board, Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, HUD, Interior, Labor, and Transportation.  He believes that all of these departments are unconstitutional as they are not mentioned in Article 1 section 8 of the Constitution.  He said he realizes that people may balk at a few of those, but says that if it was good enough for our founders and worked for over 100 years, then it is good enough for our country, now.  He believes that government has grown well beyond it’s intended purpose and he is ready to start paring it back down to what it needs to be.

     He talked about passing an Omnibus Bill and then letting the government shut down.  In the Omnibus Bill would be provisions so that our troops would still receive their pay and our seniors and others on Social Security would still receive their checks, as well.  He said that there is enough money coming in to pay on our debt so we do not default and to take care of our troops and seniors.  Government could otherwise shut down and maybe that would force some serious meetings across the Senate and Congress about our economy.  We could be headed for another depression that would “make the Great Depression look like a walk in the park”, he said.

     When asked about jobs, he said, “I am convinced the EPA is the biggest job-killer on the face of the earth.  Whenever the Federal government is more concerned with a lizard or snail than the livelihoods of American citizens, we have a major problem.  This happens all over the country as one business after another is negatively affected by some outrageous demand from the Federal Government dealing with issues it has no constitutional authority to be involved with. We have to return those regulatory powers back to the states where the Constitution says they belong.  By getting the regulatory boot of the Federal Government off the necks of the American Economy, people will have a desire to expand their businesses when the opportunity presents itself. ”  He would like to give companies that produce products here in America incentives so that we will see a strong uptick in hiring here.  He wants to lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 10% for companies that will manufacture in the U.S. creating more jobs for Americans in that process.  For companies that have closed their plants and factories int he U.S., he would like to propose an incentive that if they reopen those factories and rehire American workers, they will pay NO corporate tax for 10 years!  Giving these companies strong financial reasons to make their products here in the U.S. will bring jobs back to America.

My next question to Mr. Addison was about the passing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  He said, “I am VEHEMENTLY opposed to the NDAA.  I believe that people have been duped into thinking it’s about security.”  He agreed when I said that although some parts of a bill may be good, if there is one part of it that is unconstitutional it should not be passed.  It should either be redrafted without the unconstitutional portion or killed altogether.  This was great to hear since EVERY  Senator and Congress member from Texas except Ron Paul voted FOR the NDAA.  That is not OK in my book.   This lead to me asking him about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).  Although he had never heard of this ludicrous treaty, he did say if it is unconstitutional, “It should be called out for being unconstitutional.”  I didn’t have a lot of time to inform him on ACTA, but you can be assured that he will research it and if the U.S. has not pulled out of the treaty by the time he gets to Captiol Hill, there will be someone in Washington fighting to get us out of ACTA and any other unconstitutional legislation!

     I wish I’d had more time with Mr. Addison to get into the things he talked about in the forum tonight, but, as you can imagine, his schedule is chocked full of stops along the campaign trail.  So, I will direct you to his website to read more about his stances on the issues.  I can tell you that you will be impressed with his views.  This is the kind of person we need to be putting in office!  He has my glowing endorsement!  I would encourage you to attend one of the events at which  Glenn Addison will be speaking.  Talk to him one-on-one, tell him what you think about the issues in this country, and listen to his responses.  Texas should really pay attention to this candidate.  I believe he will do great things if given the opportunity!

     Glenn Addison is facing Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, a known establishment Republican, and Ted Cruz, a former advisor for the 2000 campaign of Bush/Cheney, and Solicitor General of Texas (read establishment republican) that has been endorsed by the official Tea Party of Texas.   Glenn Addison believes the people of Texas are ready for a grassroots Senator who will work for “we the people”.  Spread the word that Glenn Addison is the constitutional candidate for the U.S. Senate!