Big Morning Show, Cory Gardner, April 14, 2014

Station:   KFTM, 1400 AM

Show:      Big Morning Show

Guests:    Gardner, Cory

Link:        http://www.kftm.net/talk-show-guests.html

Date:       April 14, 2014

Topics:   Tax Day, Tax Rates, Tax Freedom Day, Incumbent Senator Mark Udall, Nomination, Republican Assembly, Voting Record, Pesident Obama, Obamacare, Affordable Care Act (ACA) , Second (2nd) Amendment Rights, Military Pensions, Energy Development, Economic Growth, Cleaner Environment, Common Sense, Washington D.C., Economy, Department of Interior, Western United States, Bundy Ranch, Nevada, Cliven Bundy, Public Lands, Overreach, Prairie Chicken, Endangered Species, Grazing Rights, Energy Rights, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Safe Harbor Provision, Depreciation Schedule, Federal Drug Administration (FDA), Grain, Ethanol Plants, Brewery Operations, Breweries, Fees, Natural Gas Export Bill, Jobs, Ukraine, Russia, Eastern Europe, Keystone XL, Environmental Impact, Geopolitical

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[The following represents notes and transcribed portions from an interview.  All portions, except where identified as transcribed sections, are paraphrased from the questions and responses between the host and the guest.]

HOST JOHN WATERS:  Happy Monday

U.S. CONGRESSMAN & CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE CORY GARDNER:

GARDNER:

  • Happy Day-Before-Tax Day
  • Nice little taxing snow too, but hopefully moisture

WATERS:  Taxes are taking longer and longer to pay

  • GARDNER:
    • Indeed
    • As tax rates grow and people have to reach deeper into pockets
    • Tax freedom Day gets pushed further and further into the year

WATERS:  You must have gotten the Dems attention, and Udall campaign’s in particular, because the flak is coming in hard and fast

GARDNER:

  • You know you’re over the target when you start taking flak
  • I was proud to receive the nomination of the party this past weekend
  • Look forward to debate about ideas
    • Contrasting our plan
    • With an incumbent that’s been in DC for 16 years
    • And who has only made things worse

WATERS:  Talk about some of the main differences

GARDNER:

  • People have to work harder and harder each and every day
  • Only to find their dreams, goals, opportunities slipping further out of reach
  • Udall has let us down – he does nothing about it, in fact, he’s making things worse
    • Voted with Obama 99% of the time
    • Cast deciding vote on Obamacare
    • He voted to restrict our 2nd Amendment rights
    • He voted to cut military pensions
  • He’s done a lot that’s not in the interest of eastern Coloradoans
  • Our plan focuses on ALL of Colorado
    • Energy development
    • Responsible economic growth
    • Cleaner environment in a common sense way
    • Education for the future
  • Working for all of Colorado
  • And fighting against a senator that believes that Washington has all the answers

WATERS:  In your campaign travels,  what are the 2 or 3 top issues

GARDNER:

  • Economy weighs
    • Jobs tougher to come by
    • Working harder and income isn’t increasing as it should or as they’d hoped
  • Obamacare – canceled policies (bakery w/ 6 employees)
  • Responsible energy development in CO
    • Udall is anti energy development
    • He voted for a nominee at the department of Interior
      • Who said greatest threat to western U.S. is energy development
      • Very afraid of our approach to energy development

WATERS:  Standoff at Bundy Ranch in NV… rancher has been running cattle on this parcel for close to 150 years, federal government tried to evict him.  Warmed my heart to see the response of so many who thought that was wrong

GARDNER:

  • I think theres’ a concern about lack of leadership
    • Federal level – dept of interior
    • And local
  • How we are working with the people who wish to use our public lands
  • Any time you have a farmer or a rancher who’s been there for generations, who sees the federal overreach, who is attempting to take away their livelihood and rights, and then uses heavy hand to exert their will,
    • That does get people turned in a wrong direction
    • And in the Crosshairs of government
  • So, I’m very concerned about some of the things that could take place across the west
    • As we see more restrictions on land use
    • Restrictions on freedom to use resources in the way we’ve always been able to
    • It takes leadership
      • Ppl who are willing to communicate with landowners
      • And with the people on the ground
      • To avoid a situation like the one in Nevada

WATERS:  The government stood down, but it sounds temporary

GARDNER:

  • We’ll see what happens going forward
  • Lesser prarie chicken and other species that will restrict how people can use the land
    • Public
    • Private
  • How people can access and continue
    • Grazing rights
    • Energy rights
  • It will be interesting to see how this impacts policy in CO

WATERS:  Makes one wonder if this is the first shot in a much bigger conflict

GARDNER:

  • Let’s hope that cooler heads prevail
  • Requires leadership

WATERS:  In the Hopper:  tax bill you wanted to mention, a provision to protect farmers and ranchers

GARDNER:

  • IRS has come up with the Safe Harbor Provision
    • When it comes to depreciation on equipment or improvement
    • Ex. Payloader into shop, and it costs more than $500
    • You may have to take it as a depreciation item
      • Instead of writing it off today
  • We’re trying to increase the amount of the Safe Harbor provision
    • It doesn’t take much to rack up a $500 cost that didn’t add to the value of the equipment

WATERS:  My pickup in the shop last week for a minor thing – and that was almost $500

GARDNER:

  • We want to make sure people have the chance to write those things off.
  • Instead of having to spend that money over the depreciation schedule
  • When there was clearly no enhanced or increased value to that piece of equipment

WATERS:  FDA bill that you wanted to mention

GARDNER:

  • Government in their infinite wisdom has said there must be a problem with spent grain coming out of ethanol plants or brew operations
  • FDA wants to regulate the spent grain,
    • Even tho it serves as feed for dairy cattle
  • WE introduced a bipartisan bill to get FDA out of this issue
    • There’s no need for the gov. to be involved in this

WATERS:  What is stated purpose in wanting to do that?

GARDNER:

  • Trying to say  we have to regulate this
    • It’s grain
    • It’s food
    • It’s consumption
  • Looking for a solution when there’s never been a problem

WATERS:  Just an opportunity to garner more fees

GARDNER:

  • Exactly right
  • An answer in search of a question [laughs]

WATERS:  And another one you wanted to talk about – a natural gas export bill

GARDNER:

  • CO we’re the 4thlargest NG producer in the country
    • Creates thousands of good paying jobs around the state
    • Lots of opportunity in natural gas
  • If we don’t have ways for that Natural Gas to be utilized, possible result:
    • Shut down of development
    • Loss of those jobs
  • One of the great opportunities we have is to export Natural Gas in the form of LNG
    • We can create good paying CO jobs
    • We can help provide security to allies around the globe
      • If they are relying or dependent on aggressive countries like Russia for energy supplies
      • We could Help them break off of their dependency, like Ukraine
      • Give them greater security from Russia

WATERS:  That will create pushback from Russia, but that’s where leadership comes in

GARDNER:

  • That’s right
  • Eastern Europe, a tremendous percentage of their energy supply comes from Russia
  • We could give them another bargaining chit
  • to help wean themselves off of that energy supply and find a better price
  • At the same time, creating American jobs to do it

WATERS:  Anything new with the Keystone XL pipeline?

GARDNER:

  • We ought to be moving forward with Keystone XL
  • Jobs for CO
  • Great way to help achieve North American energy independence and security
  • But the President and Udall think that Keystone XL pipeline – they voted against it
  • The president has expressed zero desire to move forward with it
    • Frustrating that he’s saying no to
      • Jobs
      • Economic growth
  • Talk about a shovel ready project, but the president and Udall keep saying no

WATERS:  Projects like that and opponents talking about environmental impacts.  They can’t say exactly what those dangers are.  They generalize.

GARDNER:

  • Number of pipelines around the country
  • We ought to have strong regulations to make sure that they’re used and maintained in a safe and responsible manner
  • Opponents just don’t like fossil fuels

WATERS:  Contact information

GARDNER:

  • Facebook
  • CongressmanCoryGarder on the internet