Grassroots Radio Colorado , Jon Keyser, August 13, 2013
Station: KLZ, 560 AM
Show: Grassroots Radio Colorado
Guests: Keyser
Link: http://grrc.podomatic.com/profile?p=1
Date: August 13, 2013
Topics: House District 25, Cheri Gerou, Leadership Program of the Rockies, Joe Neville, Lobbyist, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, Principles of Liberty Scorecard, Senator Vicki Marble, Senate District 23, Initiative 22, Senate Bill 213, School Finance Reform, 10th Amendment,
HOST KEN CLARK: @4:20 But I did want to bring into our conversation – we have a candidate who is running for House District 25. For those of you who listen to Grassroots radio you will understand and realize that this gentleman, who was in my 2012 graduating class of Leadership Program of the Rockies, he goes by the name of Jon Keyser and he is going to be challenging Cheri Gerou. And for those of you that don’t remember, Cheri Gerou is the gal that got into that – oh, I don’t know, she was the one that had some expletives to say at Joe Neville, who is a lobbyist for Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. Her Principles of Liberty scores are just slightly better than the Democrats, and I’m going to pull them up right now and I’ll tell you exactly where she comes in. And, uh, let’s see, where did she end up? Where did she end up? Oh, there she is – number 28th! [shouting] Number 28th! Out of thirty! Wait, number 28th out of – 28th! She was at the bottom of the barrel for Republicans. She scored less than five points higher than the best Democrat. Um, ya think that’s somebody screaming out to be primaried? Yeah, I do. Jon, welcome to Grassroots Radio.
CANDIDATE FOR HOUSE DISTRICT 25, JON KEYSER: Thanks a lot, Ken. I really appreciate you having me. And Senator Marble, uh, [I’m] glad to be here with you, as well.
CO STATE SENATOR [SD-23]AND GUEST HOST VICKI MARBLE: Well, thank you. I’m so glad you could make it. It’s a pleasure to have you here.
CLARK: So, Jon, I have to ask you. Um, you’re running against a Democrat in the primaries: one Cheri Gerou.
KEYSER: [laughing] Okay.
CLARK: And so, you know, — and I know that you have a strong foundation because you were in Principles of Liberty and you were in my class, which was arguably the best class ever –
KEYSER: That’s a fact.
CLARK: Yeah, that is a fact. [laughing] And so, tell me, what is basically going to be, — first of all, what made you decide to throw down?
KEYSER: Well, I guess, first of all, Ken, that’s only partially right. I guess I would say that right now I’m not challenging Representative Gerou. She hasn’t filed. You know, and so I don’t know what her intentions are, but I know that she can’t start raising money until she does file for what would be her fourth and final term before she would be termed out in the House. […]
CLARK: All right. Well, you’re running against Cheri “Stump the Chump” Gerou, and those are her words, not mine. Those are her words. She called herself “Stump the Chump” Gerou, so I can only go off of what she says. But, anyway, let’s talk about your platform. Give me your three basic issues that you would consider your platform.
KEYSER: Yeah, I think that it’s pretty clear, when I get out and talk to voters, that we need somebody that’s representing the voters in House District 25, somebody who has strong constitutional conservative principles, somebody who is fiscally conservative, and somebody who really does care deeply about educating our kids. Uh, Ken, you know that – you probably saw on Sunday at the Freedom Festival, my daughter Eleanor, — she was just born, here, recently – a couple months ago. You know, she’s been a huge blessing for my wife, Emma, and I. And we’ve got skin in the game, now, on the education side. And so, you know, there’s this huge tax increase that we’re talking about, you know, voting for – you know, this vote that’s coming up. And you know, so education is always going to be something that I’ll focus on, as well. But, you know, before we look at any issue, I think it’s more important to even say, “The issue doesn’t matter. It’s how you look at the issue”, and if you’re looking at it with constitutionally conservative principles, you’re starting out and you’re saying, “Okay, what’s the – you know, can the government actually even do what this law proposes?” Right? Is this an enumerated right in the Constitution– say if we’re talking about the federal Constitution or the state Constitution, for that matter. If it’s not an enumerated right, okay, well then, is it something that the federal Constitution leaves to the states or to the people, because that’s what the 10th Amendment says? And then after you get through that, then you have to say, “Hey, you know, should the government be doing this?” And the corollary to that, is there a alternative? Is there something in the private market that can take [the] place of this law? So, I think that’s what I really try to tell voters – that you learn a lot more about a candidate when they can tell you how they’re going to process any issue, no matter what it is, rather than just having them give you talking points on something that they read on the internet. So, as a first time candidate, it’s difficult, you know, getting out there and – but, we’re doing it. We’re already up to I think 300 ‘likes’ on our Facebook page, which is great, getting out there on social media, getting out there talking to the precinct committee people, and we really are running a grassroots campaign. And so that’s the way I think we’re going to win this primary.
CLARK: Vicki, how would you respond to that?
MARBLE: Well, I just think that it is a light at the end of the tunnel. I could not be more happy to know that there is a conservative family man who is principled, and lives by those principles, and is in the running. It’s — we need more people like you. I wish there were more people out there who would understand. These elections are not about politicians. It’s about family. It’s about us. It’s about “We, the People” – not we, the politicians. And I will never, ever say I’m a politician. I am still an activist at heart. And I am a “We, the People” ‘till the end.
[commercial break]
CLARK: […] But anyway, tell us a little bit about your background, Jon. Tell us about why you decided to jump into this race.
KEYSER: Absolutely. So, Ken, I’m a second-generation Colorado native. I grew up on the Western Slope, small town. Originally, it was—actually, [I] was born in Salida, and then we moved when I was really young to Durango area, and wound up going to junior high and high school in Montrose. So, you know, grew up in the rural communities, in the mountain communities. And you know, Colorado really is my home. And I was fortunate enough to receive a nomination to attend our United States Air Force Academy down in Colorado Springs, and you know, while I was there, I got to – even had the honor of being on the Air Force’s parachuting team. So, I got to make – I don’t know, 650, 700 jumps as a professional skydiver, and teaching other people how to skydive. So, that was really neat. I got to travel around and be an ambassador for our Air Force Academy. But, after that, I got into intelligence and I’m still an intelligence officer in the Reserves. But I’ve served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a combat veteran, and you know, if elected, I’ll be – believe it or not, the only ground combat veteran to be serving under the [Capitol Dome]. So—
CLARK: Really!
KEYSER: Not too – you know, 500,000 veterans in this state and no ground combat veteran. You know, I was in Iraq and Afghanistan, so –. You know, I think you learn a lot in military service. You learn a lot about leadership, and – you know but I think one of the things that I really take away from my military service is, you know, the core values that they have: Integrity first, service before self, excellence in all you do. And you have to really kind of internalize that, as our military really does, and you know, I hope to run my campaign using those same core values.
[…]
[Discussion: tax increase for School Finance Reform:
At Green mountain High School – is that legal”?
Jefferson County will pay more taxes than they will receive back
This is a huge issue for Keyser’s campaign
This is not for kids, not for teachers, — money will go right to Denver, right to Unions, right to administrators.
Bad laws have bad results. – it’s still tough out there in terms of the economy… The “rebound” is not supported by facts and evidence
Website: jonkeyser.com]
[commercial break]
CLARK: [@22:37] Welcome back! Grassroots Radio Colorado, this is Ken Clark, Senator Vicki Marble is in studio, and so is candidate for House District 25, –did I get that right, Jon?
KEYSER: That’s right.
CLARK: –Jon Keyser. Now, Jon, Vicki and I are going to start lighting up this Initiative 22. I don’t know what else to call it, yet, because right now it is Initiative 22. That’s going to change. And it’s going to be called something else. But it stems from the School Reform Initiative. Before we dive into that, tell our listeners, real fast, about your background again. You’re running against Cheri Gerou. She is the worst Democrat – she is the worst Democrat that has an ‘R’ next to her name, that we have in the state of Colorado. She was bottom of the barrel – 28 out of 28 – in the Principles of Liberty rankings. So, you know what? I’m excited.
KEYSER: Well, we’re excited, too. [Reiterates background in military intelligence, and AF Academy graduate, combat veteran, and active Reserves member] But in my civilian job, Ken, I’m actually a lawyer. So, well, I hope you don’t hold that against me.
CLARK: [inaudible]
KEYSER: Senator Marble is laughing right now. I don’t like lawyers, except for my wife. She’s a lawyer too, but she’s the only one I like. No, but I’m a business lawyer and I think that actually is going to help me also in the Legislature, because, you know, we need – I think we need lawmakers down there that understand the impact that 14,000 pages of new regulations, that you were talking about earlier – the impact that actually has on business in this state,– the business environment. When CEOs are looking at relocating to a different area, I mean, they take a look at that kind of thing. They look at, “Hey, what’s it going to cost us to pick up and move there? What’s our tax structure going to be like? And, by the way, how much is it going to cost us to do business there, and to comply with the laws that are already in place?” So, that’s my background, and I’m really looking forward to this campaign. We’re going to talk about issues. We’re going to talk about the record. And, you know, we’re going to work really hard to try and have some success here, come primary time.
[Senator Marble talks about her experience as a member of the Senate Education Committee in the Colorado State legislature, with SB-213 which enacted School Finance Reform which lead to Initiative 22. Marble maintains it has nothing to do with school reform, that it will not change the education that children receive. Most of the money will go to the City and County of Denver. Senator Marble cites that in the time period of 1992 to 2009, while student population grew 32%, the administration ranks grew by 83%. The savings accrued annually, had administrator positions and pay correlated to student growth, would have been $526,000,000. Keyser points out that he believes that this is not fair to teachers, who are trying to educate children, because this money gets stuck in a bureaucracy of administrators , and teachers wind up having multiple layers and levels of bureaucracy they have to deal with. Marble cites KFKA host and conservative political pundit Amy Oliver: “Raise expectations, not taxes.” Hold these guys accountable.]
