WALK WITH DAN
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One of the first questionnaires that I received was from the Illinois Center Right Coalition, a conservative, statewide group that was founded in 2003. An associated group is the Republican Assembly of Northern Cook Co. I received two letter from Phil Collins in December and January. Here I post the two e-mails and my complete answers.
Dear Mr. Schmitt: Dear Mr. Schmitt: First, let
me tell you about myself. I will be 63 years old on February 2nd. I
have been self-employed for my entire adult life. In the early part of my life,
I was ‘Coffee Dan’, I ran my own coffee truck and I was there as some of the
biggest buildings were built in Chicago. I was also there when Richard J. pushed
through the head tax on all employees in Chicago…Do you remember when Zenith
had 15,000 employees in Chicago? When Motorola had 8,000 employees on Augusta
Blvd? How about Schwinn bicycle? Florsheim
Shoes, U.S. Steel, Tootsie
Toy? IT WAS MAYOR DALEY AND THE DEMOCRATIC MACHINE THAT DESTROYED THE FUTURE OF
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF FAMILIES IN CHICAGO. You have to
remember that back then, in the 70’s and early 80’s, the only political
discussion available was by reading Mike Royko in the Chicago American and then
the Sun-Times. THAT WAS IT. Yes, there were editorials in the newspapers, but
there was not the open political discussions available now with ‘talk-radio’
and cable channels (Fox News, CNN, MSNBC). Royko would uncover some minor
screw-ups from time to time and report on some corruption, but generally he
never went after the big guys. He did write a book called “BOSS” about
Richard J. but never called for any indictments. So this madness in Chicago was
acceptable then just as it is acceptable now. Instead of Richard J. and the
Graylord judges, we now have Mike Madigan, Joseph Berrios and the two Daley
boys, Richard M. and William M. This twosome conspired to rip off billions of
dollars from the citizens of Chicago with the parking meter deal. In 1980, the
beginning of the Reagan era, the discussions and arguments we had around the
coffee truck heated up. The
pro-Reagan arguments were offered by Cathy Baehler. Bob Sansone, my union friend, presented the anti-Reagan side.
I finally saw the light. I was a self-employed businessman and the Democratic
party was out to kill me. More taxes, more inspections, just take care of
someone and everything would be OK. Everything that can be considered wrong and
corrupt was the norm in Chicago. In 1984, I took a closer
look at the voting record of my local Congressman, Frank Annunzio. He was voting
against everything that President Reagan stood for, I decided to run against
this ‘import’ from the 1st Ward. He was very typical, he talked
conservative when he was back here in his district, but voted like a pinko
socialist when he was in Washington. I learned a lot in that
first race. I finished second to Chuck Theusch. He won the Republican Primary
beating me by 1000 votes. But I got double the votes of the third candidate in
that election. I then joined the newly elected 45th Ward Republican
Committeeman, Fred Harmon, and we began to expand the Republican Party on the
Northwest side. An office was established on Milwaukee Avenue and the 41st
Ward Republicans joined us. In 1987, I ran for Alderman
in the 45th Ward and got murdered. I ran as a Republican, although it
was a non-partisan race, and I only got 500 votes. Three-heavyweight Democrats
were in the race and there were no votes left for me. At that point, I decided
never again, I would only enter races that I could win. With Public Access TV in
place in Chicago after 1986, I became Chicago Access’s first producer. First,
I produced a good number of political shows, interviewing Republican candidates.
Then I concentrated on the motorcycle racing and I created ‘TEAM CHICAGO
CHALLENGE’. To make a long story short,
I have been producing that show every week for the last 25 years. I shoot the
show and I get to race some great motorcycles. I have been blessed. I have seen
America from East to West, and North to South, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
And America is a beautiful country, it is worth fighting for. America is GREAT
because the American people are GREAT. Did I mention that I won
two National Titles during this time. Team Chicago won the Middleweight Class
Championship in 1999 and 2002. We were competing in the WERA National Endurance
Series. Over these 25 years, I have produced 1153 one-half hour weekly
television shows. Just a couple of weeks ago, I rode with 10,000 other
motorcyclists in the 34th Annual Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade. We
gathered over 35,000 toys for needy boy and girls in Chicagoland. I will produce
two shows from this event. Would you like a copy of these shows or any other of
the Team Chicago Challenge shows? That was just some of my
background. Now let’s get to your fine questions. First let me state that I
am pro-life. I had two children and
now I have eight grandchildren. The one study that I keep looking for is this.
When a woman reaches her middle ages, what bothers her more? Does she wonder
about the child she may have given up at birth when she knew she was not ready
for parenthood? Or, does she wonder about the child she got rid of through
abortion? Has anyone conducted that
study? How many mental problems come from abortions 10 years down the
line? 20 years? Let me look at immigration
now. We are all immigrants. And we cannot compare the flood of immigrants from
the 19th and 20th centuries to the situation now. This
country was wide open and there was room for all. But even in the early days of
immigration, newcomers still had to registrar with the government. The British
welcomed immigrants and granted land grant. It was the way for them to settle
the growing colonies. After our Independence, immigration was controlled from
Europe. Immigration from the southern border was not controlled, but not many
people traveled through the various southwestern deserts or tackled the Rockies.
The majority of the immigrants in the early history of the USA were looking for
freedom and the possibility to improve their lives. There were no hand-outs from
the states or U.S. Government. There were land grants again, but no guarantees. Immigration regulations
came into being during the latter part of the 19th century and the
beginning of the 20th century. Everyone was required to have some
money and some contact with an American. Health inspections were also part of
the immigration process. Laws were passed to regulate immigration. Immigrants
were not allowed to be a burden on society. I had a long discussion with my
grandmother about her coming to the USA, so I have an intimate knowledge and
understanding. Now, let’s fast forward
to 2011 America. From Central America including Mexico we have a flood of
immigration. Yes, they want to work and improve their lives, but sadly, a good
number of these immigrants believe they have a right to come to the USA, that
they have a claim to a good portion of this country. They are not interested in
becoming an American. They want to keep their identity. Some of these immigrants
want to take back parts of the USA. I believe this is wrong and not in our
interest. We also have thousands more from Europe, Asia and Africa that come on
visas and just stay. I look at the two-fold
problem with the current situation. First, by fleeing their failed countries, no
improvement can be made in those countries. I have yet to hear from any of these
immigrants that they want to go back and improve their governments. I may be the
only candidate for the U.S. Congress that has begun to investigate the problems
in Mexico. I have had a long conversation with a businessman who spent a good
number of years in Mexico. He has given me insights that I cannot receive from
an average Mexican. The entire Central American region suffers from the same
problems. We need to export the U.S. Constitution and our ideal of a free,
democratic-republic form of government. Yes, they have elections in Central
America, but they are still living with third world ideals. Secondly, by allowing
people to overstay their visas or just walk across the border, we have created
an underworld economy that is hurting the average American. Take a look at the
building trades in Chicagoland. Who is fixing the roofs in our neighborhoods,
who is competing for the professional painting jobs and who is taking the
thousands of factory jobs? An average American is competing with people who will
work for less, driving down the value of labor. When you drive around the south
and west sides of Chicago, you will see young men that may never have a job,
young men who spend their entire day trying to game the system. I am willing to expand the
guest worker programs, increase the number of immigrants from each and every
country in the world, but I do not support open borders. We need to establish an
orderly system for immigration, but those that are here illegally, must return
to their own countries. Maybe we need to print the U.S. Constitution in hundreds
of languages and give one to every immigrant as they return to their home
country. If we could get every country in the world to accept our constitution,
join the 21st century and begin to treat their citizens respectfully,
the world would be a better place and we would not have this immigration
problem. Now, let’s begin to talk
about taxes. Let me just state upfront that this plan from President Obama that
has reduced the Social Security tax is an evil plan. Not only is it going to
reduce the amount of money that is paid into Social Security, but if allowed to
continue, it will create another so-called “donut hole” in the system. In
the future, this time will be revisited and maybe some American citizens will
get less or more than their fellow citizens. It could be based on their date of
birth. Or maybe if they were working during this period and their neighbor
wasn’t. A problem similar to this occurred in the past. Now, I don’t know
all of the details, but I do know that retirees that were born in 1919 or so got
a greater amount than their neighbors who were born in 1920 or so. I heard about
this problem when I ran in 1984, but you don’t hear of it much now. Maybe a
good number of those retirees are now dead and the subject doesn’t come up.
Again, President Obama is creating problems that even he just doesn’t
understand. And before I get into
taxes, let’s set the record straight. I will never, let me repeat, I will
never use the term ‘payroll taxes’. It seems that some untruthful
politicians and a good number useful idiots in the media refer to Social
Security tax as payroll tax because they want confuse their audience and/or
readers. Payroll taxes consist of: your federal income tax, your state income
tax (depending on the state), your Social Security tax and your Medicare tax.
Each and every one of these taxes are separate and should be treated so. Now, let’s talk about
income taxes. Without going into the history of income taxes, I believe that
President Reagan had it right. He drew down the top rate to 28%. His second rate
was 15%, I believe. So this would be a good start. Reduce the top rate, so that
more people will pay their fair share. While our President tries to confuse the
public by stating that George Bush’s 35% was an un-fair tax cut, I believe 28%
would be much better. But you have to understand that President Obama never
owned a business, he married well and lived off his wife’s salary. I will state here and now
that to balance the budget, we need a tax structure with a personal income rate
of 28% on incomes over $100,000.00. A 15% tax on incomes $30,000.00 to
99,999.00. Additionally we need a 5% income tax on those between $5,000.00 and
29,999.00. Those earning less than $5,000 will pay no income tax. We need to
tighten up the give-away tax credit plan. Yes, we should help low income earners
with families earning less that $30,000.00, but we need to means test this
program, depending where people live. There is a big variance in the cost of
living as you compare different parts of the country. To balance the budget, we
need to cut the federal government by 10%.
Every department needs to cut 10%, with each Secretary of each Cabinet
position responsible for the 10% cuts. If he or she is not up to the task, they
need to be removed. The EPA presents a special case. This department needs to be
shut down totally, with everyone sent home without pay. They have gone around
Congress in establishing carbon limits. They
need to listen to CONGRESS. ONLY CONGRESS CAN MAKE LAWS.
Cabinet Departments and/or federal agencies can not make law. Now let’s talk about
Afghanistan. When the leader of the Northern Alliance was murdered on September
10, 2001, the fourth world war was declared. The next day, the World Trade
Center was attacked, and we were in this war. I agreed with President Bush to
mount the drive into Afghanistan, to route out both al-Qaeda and their allies,
the Taliban. Was the Liberation of Iraq justified? Yes it was if you
recognize the cease-fire agreements we had after ‘Desert Storm’. You have to
remember, that Saddam Hussein’s generals signed a cease-fire agreement with
the USA after we drove them out of Kuwait. The Iraqis were in violation of this
cease-fire agreement. The real problem with both
of these conflicts is this; we should not fight politically-correct wars. We
should only fight wars to win. We have made bad mistakes in both of these
conflicts. I wrote a letter to
President Bush in 2004 or so. I recommended two solutions to these conflicts.
First, I stated that to find a lasting peace in Iraq, we should institute
‘land-reform’. Seeing that the government control the majority of the land
in Iraq, I proposed that we should have set up land-claims for the average
Iraqi. The millions of acres between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers could be
developed and Iraq could become the ‘breadbasket of Southwest Asia’. By
creating a land ownership society, we would have tamed some of the unrest that
is normal in that part of the world. I proposed that we should
build a railroad in Afghanistan. If you travel our country, like I have, you
will see that there are hundreds of thousands of unused rail cars sitting in
storage. There are plenty of unused locomotives also. President Bush could have
created a public-private group to raise money and begin to plan a rail system in
Afghanistan. Did you know that there is only 18 miles of railroad in the country
now? Instead of dropping bombs, we could have been putting young Afghans to
work. These people deserve to be part of the twenty-first century. By building a
railroad, we would benefit by being able to ship American made products to that
market. I am sure that the average young Afghan would gladly trade in his AK-47
for a Harley-Davidson Sportster or a Corvette. Our Declaration of Independence
states that ‘all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness’. Yes, it states ‘ALL MEN’ not just Americans. Now,
if we could get the rest of the world to understand these rights, the world
would be a better place.
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