Station:   KCOL, 600 AM

Guests:    Mitchell, Victor

Link:        https://600kcol.iheart.com/featured/kcol-morning-s-with-jimmy-lakey/

Date:        February 13, 2018

Topics:

Click Here for Audio

• HOST JIMMY LAKEY: Victor Mitchell was the quickest to respond to my invitation to candidates to appear on my show.  Victor, welcome back to my show!
  • GOP CANDIDATE FOR COLORADO GOVERNOR, VICTOR MITCHELL: it’s great to be back, Jimmy
  • I hope you’re doing well
• JL: Year after year, PERA comes up and TABOR comes up – important issues. But we, as conservatives, need to get some big ideas floated out there.  Like this: states without state income tax do better – could a winning platform include getting rid of state income tax?
  • VM: Absolutely
    • That should be on the table
    • We can’t compete with states like TX and WY (no state income tax)
  • CO’s state income tax rate is 4.63%
    • Makes up a significant portion of our General Fund revenue stream
  • But we want to be as competitive as we can be
    • Denver Chamber of Commerce just last Friday officially supported a tax increase in state income tax
      • To fund CDOT
      • 70% of their budget goes to:
        • Waste and Inefficiency
        • Overhead
        • Studies
  • I’m on the record for opposing any new tax increases
    • And we should include state income tax in that
    • If we can reduce the state rate, we should
    • If we can eliminate state income tax, we should
• JL: CDOT is the “deep state” of CO – a black hole! Overly-bureaucratic.  Down at the Dome of Dummies, they (politicians & bureaucrats), they always want to raise taxes to get more money, but our budget is larger than ever — $30.5B – and going up every year. We have enough money, we just need to manage it better.
  • VM: That’s right!
  • We had an $18B budget when I was a legislator:
    • A representative in the House
    • About a decade ago
    • For Teller and Douglas counties
      • Very conservative m
  • In the past decade, we’ve increased our budget by 40%
    • Population growth has been about 22%
    • We’re growing state government 2:1 over population growth
  • We have enough money
    • We waste too much
    • Like the Government enterprise and the Medicaid industry
      • An enormnously inefficient and bloated bureaucracy
      • 1 in 4 Coloradans are on Medicaid
      • Yet, we have low unemployment
      • High number of people on disability
  • We need an outsider – like ME! A reformer
    • I’ve been a successful businessman
      • In private industry
      • Building companies from nothing
    • I’ve been a job creator
      • Only have signed the front of a paycheck
    • Decisive
    • And good judgement
    • And good values
• JL: The average citizen in CO rarely come in contact with government agents, and those are agencies which are the most offenders of bureaucratic and waste. And then there are the “hidden” bureacrats in government buildings
  • VM: We have people chasing titles
    • Fortunately, in CO we have term limits
    • In Congress, no term limits
  • I think we should support “Resign to Run”
    • In order to run for an office,
    • You must resign from the office you currently hold
  • No campaigning while employed by gov. and getting paid by taxpayers
  • That’s just one step
  • Recently there was a study of people under 30 here in CO
    • Said that this population believes they can do better in a government job than in the private sector
    • We have to change that mindset
    • We’ve got to be more inspirational
    • People need to know that it pays to start a business, and take a risk
    • Modern economy is changing rapidly
      • We have to reform our bureaucracies
      • We have so many mismanaged bureaucracies in state gov.
      • I plan to aggressively challenge the status quo
      • And look at things differently.
• [commercial break]
• JL: Victor, give listeners your website
  • VM: com
  • FB – same handle
  • Twitter – same handle
  • We have over 45,000 FB supporters
    • More than all other candidates combined
    • We’ve worked really hard
    • 450 grassroots events
      • Several a day
  • Listeners are welcome to join me on those events
• JL: Question from Jay in Highlands Ranch: I’ve heard you talk about STEM program, — what’s up with that program, and how are we going to pay for it? …. When we don’t want to raise taxes
  • VM: Thanks for the question
    • That’s my Home District in Doug CO
    • CO has never elected a governor from DougCO
      • So I’m going to change history when I win
  • I’ve put forward a very bold plan on higher education.
    • First, we’re not going to have any tuition increases throughout my term as gov
    • We are now 4^th most expensive state to send a kid to in-state ollege
      • Ridiculous
      • College is becoming more and more out of reach
  • My Plan: I want to take all the state funding for subsidizing higher ed
  • And earmark all that money for STEM
    • STEM degrees are usually the most expensive
      • Engineering disciplines
      • Science disciplines
      • Math disciplines
      • Technology disciplines
    • I want to make STEM degrees the least expensive
      • Cuz they change lives
      • We have 3 to 5 times more STEM jobs than we have qualified kids.
        • Only 1 in 4 graduate with STEM degrees
      • The best way to bridge income inequality is to get at-risk kids into college and graduating with a STEM degree
        • A lot of these jobs have starting income of $80,000
        • They are immediately launched into middle class
        • These jobs are really game changers
  • I’m not calling for any new taxes or fees
    • Our budget is $30B
  • Higher education will be a major priority of my administration
    • I want more girls in STEM careers
• JL: Speaking of education, teacher unions are players in the choice/charter/ DougCO arenas. Where do you stand on school choice?
  • VM: Choice is fundamental
  • 50% of at-risk kids who graduate from HS can’t do college level work
    • Many from rural communities
    • Where they have virtually no school choice
    • And they’re not teaching AP or vocational trades
    • So these kids are really at-risk
  • I believe in all forms of school choice.
  • I’ve been a part of the school choice movement for decades
    • I served on the House Ed committee when I was legislator
    • I served on the CO Commission of Higher Education
    • I taught at two major state universities
  • I think the money should follow the student, wherever they go
  • But I also think that we should take better advantage of online curriculum in the classroom
    • It’s never been a better time
    • You can learn ANYTHING online
    • And embrace the relevant technologies in the classroom
  • Teacher unions are a problem
    • Not teachers – the unions are a big problem
    • We have to come up with ways to encourage them not to join unions
      • Or disavow their membership
  • I’ve talked to a lot of teachers – one last week from Denver
    • He told me that one incentive to join is prepaid legal services
    • They’re worried about getting sued
    • That’s an opportunity for us
  • We need to convince teachers not to join unions, and to embrace the reforms we need
    • Teachers want more control over curriculum
    • Want less testing
  • I’m bullish – and I know there’s lot we can do – to reduce our rate of delinquency
    • In terms of not being college –ready
    • And encouraging vocational training programs
• JL: I don’t want a GOP civil war. But how do you distinguish yourself from other GOP candidates in the issue of education – both k12 and university?
  • VM: I’m an outsider
    • Not beholden to special interests
    • I won’t be persuaded or bullied by:
      • Teacher unions
      • Or other special interest group
      • You know I’m running against a Bush family member
        • He’s taking millions from the Bush family network
  • I think track records matter
    • I’m different
      • I’ve been an entrepreneur and biz owner since age 21
    • I think executive experience matters
      • We’re electing a CEO of the state, after all
      • That experience matters on public education
      • It matters around transportation
      • And exploiting all the opportunities that are available to us
    • I’ll ask the right questions of our current bureaucracies
    • I’ll help figure out how to do more with less
• [commercial break]
• HOST JIMMY LAKEY: This is Livermore, Colorado. We go to Jay – lots of Jays calling us up today.  Jay, how are you? Welcome in. You’re on with Victor Mitchell.
• LISTENER JAY, FROM LIVERMORE,CO: “Good morning, Jimmy. Good morning, Victor. How are you, sir?
  • GOP CANDIDATE FOR COLORADO GOVERNOR, VICTOR MITCHELL: Hi, Jay! How are you doing?
• JAY: I’m doing just good. Over the last several years, Mr. Douglas Bruce has been the subject of false prosecutions within the state of Colorado.  Uh, it’s my belief that this was done because of the fact that he had authored TABOR [Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights].  False prosecution [inaudible, and interrupted by Victor Mitchell].
  • MITCHELL: Jimmy, I can’t hear his question! I –.
• LAKEY: He – he’s asking – okay.  He can’t hear it. Sorry about that – maybe a little issue. I believe, Jay, you’re asking – you think that Douglas Bruce has been attacked by prosecutors across the state because he authored TABOR, and you wanted to get Victor’s take on that?  Am I reading this question correctly?
• JAY: I have a little bit more.
• LAKEY: Go quick, because he can’t hear you! So, you’re going to–.
• JAY: Okay. Yeah. And basically, what it amounts to, is they have prosecuted him under nonexistent laws. We’ve had the courts, we’ve had the Attorney General’s office, and–
• LAKEY: Gotcha! What’s the question?
• JAY: –we’ve had the Colorado Department of Revenue all going after Douglas Bruce for laws that don’t exist.
• LAKEY: Hey! What’s – Yeah, give me the question.
• JAY: The question is: What will this candidate do?
• !LAKEY: Okay
• JAY: — to try and create justice out of this situation.
• LAKEY: Okay. Let me pass that question on.  [We have] gotta move quick, and you’ve got to get to the question.  If it takes a while to run the premise, that may be –. If you’ve got to lay a premise to a question, that’s oftentimes too long of a question. Victor, he says that Douglas Bruce has been prosecuted for laws that don’t exist and made up out of whole cloth. Is there something that the Governor should do, can do, will do to right the wrongs that have been given to Douglas Bruce? I guess that’s the summation of the question.
  • MITCHELL: And the answer is that I don’t know all the particulars about Doug Bruce. I actually – believe it or not – I served with him in state legislature a decade ago. And, you know, he’s a character. He’s a colorful guy. But he has actually done a lot of good things for Colorado, most especially authoring the TABOR bill.  Um, make no mis—your premise is, you know, the Deep State – can they indict you for political purposes, and possibly even gain a conviction?  And the answer is yes!  I mean, that’s very possible! I mean, we have a very crazy system, where, you know, District Attorneys and Attorney Generals are very partisan and political, which is unfortunate. I don’t think Attorney Generals or District Attorneys should be –.  It should be run as a nonpartisan race.  The law is the law, and it should be applied evenly and equitably for all people. And is it possible that Doug Bruce was a political conviction?  That is very possible. And that is something I would look at, and possibly even grant a par–. Or, certainly — I don’t know if I would go as far as guaranteeing we would grant him a pardon. But we would certainly consider it, if in fact it was a political prosecution. But these are the kinds of things that we really have to look at the way we’re doing things.  We have school boards, for example, that are nonpartisan, which I think should be partisan.  Republicans and conservatives, such as myself, think that school choice is very critical.  And our values are very, very different than Democrats that believe in, you know, a large bureaucracy to run our public education system. So, I think people who run for school board should either be a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent, or what have you.  But as far as people that are upholding our laws – that are in the judicial branch of government – no. I don’t think so.  I think that those people should run as nonpartisans, so that we can avoid any potential conflict of political prosecutions
• LAKEY:  Let me ask you – back to TABOR.  Douglas Bruce obviously authored that.  And there has been a lot of talk about TABOR is a problem in Colorado. The Democrats don’t like it. And there has even been some squishiness on the part of Republicans.  There’s legislation now — working it through – that Republicans even supported, about instead of calling something a tax that has to get voter approval, it’s going to be called a premium.
• JL: Back to TABOR. Lot of talk about repealing – even among Rs!  Calling things a fee or a premium to get around TABOR.  Give me your thoughts on TABOR
  • VM: You are so right, Jimmy!
  • Here’s an example:
    • As a result of GOP tax cuts, the state of CO is going to get up to $1B in surplus revenue
    • At a Gubernatorial forum, Walker Stapleton said that ALL of that extra money will go into transportation & CDOT
      • No money back to taxpayers
      • No refunds
    • Doug Robinson suggested giving HALF back to taxpayers and letting the state government keep half
    • That’s wrong!
      • It’s found money
      • That money absolutely falls under the guidelines of TABOR
      • It should all go back to taxpayers and small biz owners
        • IT”S THEIR MONEY!
        • It’s the people’s money
        • It’s not the government’s money
        • And politicians think it belongs to government
        • They don’t understand the pressures acting on the private sector
          • Heavy hand of government
          • How over-regulated we are
          • How over-taxed we are
        • They are constantly trying new end-runs around TABOR
• JL: What is an example of a “GOOD tax” in CO and an example of “BAD tax”? What should we spend more on?  What should we spend less on?
  • VM: I would increase taxes pornography – online.  That makes sense.
  • We’re overspending on Medicaid
    • We’ve had a $650M increase in Medicaid expansion since the Unaffordable Care Act was adopted in CO
    • Since 2010
    • Make no mistake, Medicaid is rationed, low-quality care
    • 1 in 4 Coloradans are on Medicaid
    • I would put forward a bold plan of reform:
      • A bold and substantive plan to get us out of the exchange
      • Provide block grants –
      • Adopt entrepreneurial network of nurse practioner and physician assistant and mental health professional clinics
        • Where every Coloradan can access primary care
        • WITHOUT the need for insurance
        • And insurance goes back to its fundamental purpose and issues
• JL: Another listener wants to talk more about CDOT: CDOT drives me crazy!  We have the worst road stripes and traffic striping ever!  They fade away, they’re never reflective enough.  Just drive through any other state, and you’ll realize we have a safety hazard on every CO highway, and CDOT doesn’t pay attention do it
  • VM: It’s a bloated bureaucracy
  • I spoke with the former director of CDOT
    • His whole career was in government bureaucracies
    • Going from one department to another
    • That is the WRONG person to run CDOT
  • I plan on hiring someone who:
    • Is from the private sector, with experience in development
    • Who is an outsider
    • With a deep love and appreciation for Colorado
      • Ruggedness
      • Individualism
      • And someone who wants to give back and serve the state
    • Someone who will commit to bringing overhead down to 20% in CDOT
    • The remaining 80% will go directly to contractors for modernizing our transportation system
      • Striping
      • Bridges
      • Repair
      • Modernizing infrastructure in every way
    • Often takes 12 years to green-light a project!!
  • It will take a reformer to challenge these bureaucracies to do more with less
    • We want more people starting small biz
      • Now, only 8% of new biz in the state are small businesses
      • That’s down from 13%
      • People have lost confidence and trust in our institutions
  • I want to show people that competent, ethical, and visionary leadership CAN get elected in CO and make a difference in people’s lives.
• JL: You claim outsider status. Why didn’t you support Donald Trump in the last election?
  • VM: Everybody calls me, “the NICE Donald Trump!”
  • I completely support the President. I think he’s doing a lot of good things
    • The tax cuts were incredibly important
    • He’s on the right track to get Comprehensive Immigration Reform
      • Good chance it will be successful
    • His bold move to transfer the American embassy to Jerusalem
    • Great judicial appointments
    • And deregulation
  • I do support the President
  • I didn’t vote for Trump – but not because of policy positions.
    • But because of his style and temperament
    • But that’s in the past
    • And I want him to be successful
      • I’ve never made a disparaging comment about him.
  • But we have to be honest — in CO, our next governor must:
    • Reform Medicaid system
    • Roll back 100,000 pages of regulations
    • Reform transportation system
    • And none of those things can be fixed by Donald Trump
    • It’s up to the next governor of CO
      • We are CO
      • We have our own states’ rights
      • We have unique challenges and opportunities
  • No, I didn’t vote for Trump
    • First time in my life I voted 3^rd party
    • My opponents in this race love to beat me up with the fact that I didn’t vote for Trump
    • But his temperament gave me concern
      • Having a son in the military
      • And having been raised by a single mother
    • But since his election, I’ve been mostly supportive of what he’s done.
• JL: From the chatroom: “Knowing what you know now, would you vote for Trump NOW?”
  • VM: I probably would
    • I’d want to think about that some more
    • But I probably would
  • I just wish he wasn’t —
    • His style is different from mine
    • I believe that relationships matter
      • All my past colleagues support my candidacy
      • As governor, you have to work with the Legislative branch and get things done
      • I’ve followed the “relationships matter” creed my entire career
        • In 30 years, 6 companies, we’ve never had
          • An employee labor dispute
          • Never an adversarial judgement against me nor my companies
          • Never a single bankruptcy
  • Relationships and track record matter
    • And I think we should expect more from our elected officials
• JL: We’ll be back with more questions – and I want to talk about marijuana and federal enforcement of federal laws.
• [commercial break]
• JL: Rapid Fire: a listener wants to know what you’d do with Nathan Dunlap? Hick kicked the can down the road…
  • VM: I don’t believe the death penalty should be politicized
    • It’s a matter of life and death
    • Determination of whether to use capital punishment comes down to:
      • Is the person guilty beyond any reasonable doubt
      • Can DP act as a deterrent in future crimes, for criminals
      • What do victims’ families want?
  • Nathan Dunlap case hits all these determining factors, so I think we probably would pursue the death penalty – should be considered, and very possible that we would go forward with the death penalty in that case
  • But shouldn’t be politicized
    • It’s a matter of life and death
• JL: Listener: “is Victor going caucus?  Or petition?
  • VM: Petition
  • So we can reach more people
• JL: Cory Gardner vs Jeff Sessions at the DOJ over CO’s recreational pot laws: where are we at?  What needs to be to be fixed with our pot laws? And how do we handle the federal government if they want to clamp down on what we’ve chosen to do as a state?
  • VM: I don’t think the federal government should have any say in what CO does with legalization
    • This is clearly a states’ rights issue
    • I was opposed to A64
    • But I would take any and all measures to stop them from overturning what is now in our state constitution
  • The big challenge: the revenues are being ripped off
    • We need:
      • Transparency
      • Accountability
      • Public scrutiny
        • With the money that’s coming in
        • And where it’s going
      • I propose a live website that tracks the money in real time
      • I’ve talked to more than a dozen superintendents around the state, and they all agree: the money is being ripped off!
        • It has been a bait and switch
        • And I hope to fix that
• JL: Everyone wonders, “What about the marijuana money?” We keep having to vote to fund our schools, when mj money was supposed to go to schools, in part.
  • VM: Yeah
  • Absolutely
  • It ends up in the general fund
  • And gets ripped off
  • That’s why we need the website
    • To prevent siphoning off of that money
    • They report record sale after record sale
    • And superintendents agree
      • Can’t afford vocational programs
      • Teacher salaries are some of the lowest in the country
      • We need to do things differently
  • 100 % of pot taxes should go to our public schools
• JL: What distinguishes you from other GOP candidates? Why should people choose you?:
  • VM: I’m the only non-politician outsider in the race
  • I’ve got the resources to beat Jared Polis
    • Who wants to turn CO into a smaller CA
  • I’m a family man
  • I’ve been a life-long entrepreneur and business man
  • We’re a military family
    • My son is in his 3^rd year at West Point
  • I bring a totally unique perspective to this race
    • Raised by a single mother
      • Nearly completely blind and deaf
      • We were nearly homeless when I was young
    • I know what it is to overcome great adversity
      • But I also know what it is to rise up and become successful
  • We can show that competent, ethical, visionary leaders can get elected
  • I care deeply about CO
  • I can make people’s lives better
  • I plan to serve the people
  • I think I could do a terrific job
• JL: God Bless ya!