Station: KLZ, 560 AM

Show:     Rush to Reason

Guests:  Kochevar

Link:      https://soundcloud.com/rushtoreason

Date:      October 5, 2016

Topics:  House District 29, HD-29, 88 Drive-In, Small Business Owner, Civil Asset Forfeiture, Due Process, Law Enforcement, Regulation, Taxation, Commerce City, Social Media, Amendment 69, Colorado Cares, Single Payer, Unelected Board, Senator Laura Woods, Senate District 19, SD-19, Tracy Kraft-Tharp, Obamacare, Affordable Care Act, ACA, Department of Regulatory Agencies, DORA, Senator Kevin Lundberg, Second Amendment, Wage Garnish, Collection, Medical Marijuana

 

• CO-HOST DAN MUERER (DM): owner of 88 Drive in and candidate for HD29, Susan Kochevar
• CANDIDATE FOR HOUSE DISRICT 29 (HD29), SUSAN KOCHEVAR:
  • Yep
• DM: how many times did you watch “Sausage Party”?  (movie)
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Not my taste in movies
  • Exciting movie coming next summer
    • By Christopher Nolan
    • “Dunkirk”
    • Historical movie about WWII
    • We’re in negotiations
• CO-HOST JOHN RUSH (JR): inside baseball on theater biz…
• KOCHEVAR:
  • [explains the bidding process for chain theaters, smaller ind. Theaters]
  • Studio takes a large majority of Kochevar’s box office
  • Concessions is where theater earns the profit
    • It’s about families
    • Bringing kids
      • I sell cheap toys – like glow-in-the-dark mouth pieces
      • Making memories
• JR: Running for House District 29
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Yep
  • 2^nd time running
  • This time against Tracy Kraft Tharp
  • I have a small business
    • And I understand what small biz goes through in having to comply with
      • Regulations
      • Taxation
    • Individuals living their dreams is where small biz comes from
      • Like people who want to develop the next popular app
• JR: I’ve dealt with small biz owners as a consultant through the years, and I’ve yet to meet anyone who has a business or who is starting a business who didn’t have a dream – most don’t just fall into it.  Some are family businesses where the owner inherits, but most have a passion
• KOCHEVAR:
  • They have a skill or a talent
  • Like the woman who was really good at braiding hair
    • She had to spend $10,000 to go to cosmetology school in order to practice
    • That interrupts her dream
    • Hurts the individual
    • Small biz is the engine of the country
• JR: Yes, we are!  Where is District 29
• KOCHEVAR:
  • [describes district]
  • My district looks like a gun
    • DM: Nice! I like that
  • Well I do support the 2^nd amendment, so…
    • DM: Did the Dems do that inadvertently?  Ha ha
    • JR: Dems wouldn’t do that on purpose
• JR: you brought someone with you.  Please introduce him
• KOCHEVAR:
  • This is Jack Vazquez
    • Volunteer on my campaign
    • He also built my Facebook page for the Drive in up to 40,000 people
• JR & DM: Wow!  Awsome!  What else do you do?
  • SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT FOR KOCHEVAR, JACK VAZQUEZ (JV): I work in social media
  • JV: Consulting with small businesses
  • JV: Consulting with organizations, such as CO Republican Business Coalition
  • JV: Website:  com
  • JV: I manage a bunch of different websites
• JR: [plugs Vazquez’s biz] – give us one tip
  • JV: keep it organic
• JR: Organic is best.  Paid ads may drive up your likes, but not really “Liking” you page
  • JV: you don’t want hundreds of friends doing nothing for you
  • JV: better to have fewer friends who are really engaged
• [commercial – promotion spot]
• JR: you did great work on Susan’s website!
  • JV: Thank you!
  • JV: But I didn’t work on that
  • KOCHEVAR: you can see his work on my FB page – and “Susan for Colorado” FB page
• JR: check out SusanforColorado.com – meet susan, find out “why” susan, donate, volunteer, check out events – what’s coming up?
• KOCHEVAR:
  • We’re having a fundraiser this Saturday
    • At the Drive-in
    • Starting at 2- going to 4:30
    • Take a tour of projection booth
    • Play corn hole
    • Eat snacks
    • Check things out
    • And most importantly, DONATE
      • Takes a lot to reach voters
      • And that’s what we’re working to do
• JR: So, Why Susan?  — instead of your opponent?
• KOCHEVAR:
  • I’m the little biz person who spent time fighting off government
  • City tried to shut me down – I had to fight them off
    • I don’t know why
    • I don’t know if someone wanted my property, or what
  • We’re trying to get scary legislation fixed – like Civil Asset Forfeiture
    • If you’re a business person taking deposits to the bank, you should be worried
    • If you get pulled over, they’ll take you cash
    • And you have to fight to get it back
• JR: explain civil asset forfeiture…. If I’m taking $1500 to the bank…
• KOCHEVAR:
  • It’s all part of the drug war
  • They pull you over for whatever – a broken tail light
    • They see your cash
    • They seize it
    • And you have to prove that you didn’t get it through nefarious means
    • Or doing anything illegal with it
    • And you’ll have to get an attorney to fight to get it back
      • Expensive
      • It could cost you that entire deposit!
    • That’s not due process!
      • You’ve essentially been convicted without a trial
      • It’s happening in CO
• JR: so these laws were intended to stop drug trade, but they’ve taken them too far… now they’re harming the average business owner
• KOCHEVAR:
  • They have incentive – they get to keep the cash
  • Laura Woods ran a bill to stop that practice
    • I testified
    • And various law enforcement juriscitions said they use the money to fund vital projects
    • Lundberg told them to come to the legislature if they need money
      • Don’t take it from citizens
• JR: in a state where marijuana is legal, [with federal banking rules] folks are carrying a lot of cash around – that’s legal in our state — and they run the risk of losing it?
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Absolutely
  • And it’s going to cost you everything to get it back
• JR: should you hide your cash under the seat?  Or in the trunk?
• KOCHEVAR:
  • I wouldn’t keep it out in the open – cuz, you know…
  • Out of sight
  • But if you get pulled over & your car gets searched – then they’ll think you’re hiding something
• JR: another scenario… you get a flat, the trunk is open, the bank bag is in the trunk, cop stops and sees it… they don’t need to search your car
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Yep!
  • Or if you’re in a car accident – money could fly out, and even thought it’s completely legit, you have to prove it
• JR: and how would you prove it’s legitimate business earnings… and think of the officers:  they don’t know if you’re legitimate, or lying… how do you get around that?
• KOCHEVAR:
  • I don’t know
  • But you can’t just take people’s money and property
  • You’ve got to go through due process
• JR: Yeah, they should have probably cause that you’re a drug dealer.
• DM: and that’s where the abuse of the system occurs.  They haven’t been doing that.  They pull people over without probable cause, or search them without probable cause
• JR: in KS, they pull you over for having CO plates
• DM: they have storage warehouses in KS for marijuana confiscated from CO
• JM: Susan, what other concerns do you have, besides civil asset forfeiture?
• KOCHEVAR:
  • All the regulations to set up or run a business
  • It’s impossible to know all the regulations impacting your business
• DM: You’d need a full time compliance person to keep on top of it – and then there are interpretation issues on top of that.
• KOCHEVAR:
  • It’s true
  • For example, the legislature corrected this last year:
    • As biz owners, we fill out I-9 forms for immigration
    • But there was another form for the state that verified you filled out the I-9
    • The problem was that biz owners didn’t know about that state form
      • They were getting audited
      • And they were all found in violation
    • And all those forms take time
• CALLER WALLY:  – a guy back east sent $15,000 (cash)  to a guy in CO  to buy a used limousine.  A drug sniffing dog hit on it.  They got a search warrant to open the package, and they seized the money.  Just because.  They couldn’t prove where the money came from, nor what it was intended for.  I’m a cop, but in a lot of cases, police departments are using civil asset forfeiture to supplement their operating budgets.
• KOCHEVAR:
  • That’s right!
• WALLY: they don’t have to prove that you did something wrong.  And you have to fight like heck to get it back
• JR: we are supporters of our officers in blue.  And I think this misbehavior comes from the direction of higher ups.  Am I right?
• KOCHEVAR:
  • The higher ups were attending the civil asset forfeiture hearing at the capitol
  • And they were supporting civil asset forfeiture
  • And thankfully, Lundberg pointed out how it is unconstitutional
• JR: he didn’t do anything illegal – it might be a little bit stupid to mail that much cash.  Did he get the cash back?
• WALLY: Last I heard, they decided not to fight it, due to difficulty in trying to document the legitimacy of the source of the money.  Another case in Westminster, where a ladies carjacked auto was shot up, and the city didn’t compensate her at all after holding her car for a long time
• KOCHEVAR:
  • [gives details from the case]
  • They charged the lady an impound fee
• JR: George Athanasopoulos knows about this, and he’ll be on the show this Friday.  Let’s ask him about it.  Thanks, Wally!
• KOCHEVAR:
  • There are a lot of good officers
  • But we don’t want to set up situations where people are incentivized to take our money and stuff without due process
  • That’s not the proper way to fund our police departments
• JR: we started a new business venture, where people will need cash to buy our product (cars – or something to do with cars).  It’s a type of business that deals with individuals that typically don’t trust banks nor government – they prefer to deal in cash.  And truthfully, when selling a car, with title work and where the car is paid in full – I wouldn’t want payment in any other form than Cash.  Checks and bank wires can go haywire.  Cash can’t
• KOCHEVAR:
  • That’s right
• JR: There’s nothing illegal about dealing in cash!
• DM: no, but the government is trying to make it harder and harder, cuz they can’t track cash transactions.  And so they want to move away from cash – except, of course, when they send pallets of it to Iran.  We as Americans, however, can’t have cash.  We need to fight back!
• JR: yeah!  400M on a pallet.
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Cash transactions speed up the lines in our industry
  • And it speeds up transactions tremendously
• JR: Cash is King – and there is a reason for that!  We should all have large amounts of cash available to us, cuz the banks could go under.  Times can get tough.  Government would like to see cash go away
• JR: young people don’t know what cash is
• KOCHEVAR:
  • No, they’ve been raised with credit
  • DM: my kid wants all his [allowance] money on a debit card
  • SK: I have a friend that says “credit is the currency of slaves”
• [commercial break]
• JR: 33 days left to election – SusanforColorado.com!
• On the campaign trail…
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Yes!
  • We’re hot on the campaign trail!
  • We’ve got all kinds of stuff coming up
• JR: let’s talk about Amendment 69 – we need people to vote straight Republican down the ticket
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Down ticket is so important
• JR: we all want to see A69 defeated.
• KOCHEVAR:
  • We do.
• JR: What will happen if we don’t gain the House and continue our majority in the Senate, the legislators will push through something like A69, if we don’t control that.  So, if you don’t want A69 coming back, you better vote “R” down the ticket
• KOCHEVAR:
  • We need to hold the senate – our majority is only by one seat
• JR: We’re only behind in the House by 3 seats.  We need to pick up 4 house seats and a couple in the senate
• KOCHEVAR:
  • And SD19 – the seat is currently held by Laura Woods
  • I encourage everyone to please cast your vote for her
  • Otherwise we will see single payer healthcare in this state
• JR: We don’t want that – it will kill businesses across CO, and not just small business
• KOCHEVAR:
  • It will kill individuals too
  • And people will be moving here to suck off the system
• JR: And the rich will leave
• KOCHEVAR:
  • And it’s funded by a 10% income tax – every single person in the state
    • And as an employer in a small, seasonal business, I will have to match that!
    • That floors me!
• JR: as an employer, even if you’re picking up some of your employees’ health insurance cost now, you’ll stop, and you’ll have a 6.67% tax on every dollar of payroll you produce.  Period!  So, if you’re paying someone $10 an hour, it will actually be $16.67
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Yep!
  • And the remaining 4% comes out of their pay
• JR: plus all the other deductions:  unemployment, Social Security, Fica tax, Medicaid, etc
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Costs a lot for employees
  • You’re not making $10 an hour, you’re making much more than that.
• JR: you’re going to push that payroll tax another 6.67% above where it is now.
• KOCHEVAR:
  • That’s right
• JR: for smaller biz, that isn’t paying Obamacare now, they will see an increase of 6.67% immediately, with no off set.
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Yep
  • And prices will go up
  • Everything businesses take in, comes from customers
    • Prices will rise
    • And lots of people will go out of business
• JR: glad you said that… our customers fund our expenses.  As employers, we are the pass-through – the cash broker. I take the cash from my customers, siphon off what I need for expenses and give you your share.  The customer is paying my employees
• KOCHEVAR:
  • You are your own business – even if you don’t own the business.
  • You’re contracting with someone for your time, skills and talent – and they pay you
  • And they are contracting to pay your taxes for you
• JR: That’s right!  they are the collection agency – to make sure you stay straight with the Federal government
• KOCHEVAR:
  • That’s right!
  • So you’re contracting with them to do that for you
• JR: What you do with your tax returns is up to you.  But employer is collecting your payroll tax and sending it off to government for you
• KOCHEVAR:
  • And the employer doesn’t get compensated for that.
  • Sometimes, maybe RTD gives you a little money for deducting their tax from employees.
• JR: It’s peanuts!
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Yeah, it is
• JR: Another beef I have:  being the collector of garnished wages for an employees, without compensation – if you run, I hope you bring it up at the legislature —   If someone is going to garnish wages, and depend on me to deduct it – I should get paid for being the collection agent for garnishing.
• KOCHEVAR:
  • You are court ordered to do that
  • I’m not a fan of garnishments, because then I have to get into my employees personal business.
  • I hate that!
• CALLER GREG: – Out of state interests are trying to have their way with CO. they’re changing the name of our state to “Devil’s Playground”  ha ha
• DM: forget about the southern wall, we need the western wall
• GREG: when I was in high school, there was a group of rich Texans that wanted to buy some land by Divide CO and make it into a TX state park.  That’s just a little bit of an aside.  But now that pot is a medically prescribed substance, would Amendment 69 provide pot to patients who live here?
• JR: Good question!
• DM: why not – if a doctor prescribes it…
• GREG: if we think that’s a ridiculous premise, just look at where we are now!
• KOCHEVAR:
  • I understand that medical marijuana is helping a number of our vets
• JR: Good point, Greg!  I don’t want tax dollars going to buy marijuana for people – even if it is helping some people.
• KOCHEVAR:
  • No,
  • It’s something that –
• DM: the city of Denver has run out of space to store the seized inventory and equipment from the MJ industry
• [commercial and promotional spot]
• JR: com and on Facebook – running for HD29
• CALLER BRAD: I was wondering how much of this money is going to go for interpreters, since there are already 162 languages being taught in our schools.  Also, the tax for A69 will not remain at 10%
• JR: he’s right! won’t stop at 10% — it will be just another out-of-control spending bucket – there are no controls over it – 21 member board, that do whatever they want, take bribes, bribe people, whatever….
• KOCHEVAR:
  • We have no say as citizens as to who is on this board – we can’t get people on it or off of it
  • They elect themselves on and off the board
• JR: it will be a disaster
• KOCHEVAR:
  • It will be.
• DM: I’m trying to get on that board!
• KOCHEVAR:
  • And they’re just estimating the costs and what they’ll be
  • They don’t know how much it will cost.
• JR: they have no clue
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Just look at what they did for RTD transportation up north in my end– still not built and it’s so far over budget that I don’t think it will ever get built.
• JR: I think you’re right
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Private business can build stuff.
  • But not government
• JR: You want something done right, hire a private company and you’ll get a lot further than if government does it.
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Yep
  • Under budget
  • And well done.
• JR: that’s pretty much the way things work.
• JR: What’s one of the first things you want to get done when you’re elected to the House?
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Tough question – so many things
  • I want to look at Department of Regulatory Agencies — DORA
    • I want to get some of that stuff under control
    • You can go on their website and sign up for notifications when new regs come out on Fridays
      • Your email will blow up with all the new regulations
      • There are so many!
      • There’s no way to keep up
• DM: why not just defund them?
• KOCHEVAR:
  • That’s an idea!
• JR: It’s great entertainment, the DORA regulations and permits for any given industry.  Now, do we need SOME regulations?  YES!  Certain things – doctors, for example.  And we need some independent agency to check that
• DM: yeah, but do we really need regulation of beauticians and hairdresser?!?!   I mean, shouldn’t’ the market dictate the quality of service in that industry – if I get a lousy haircut, don’t we all just go find another barber?
• KOCHEVAR:
  • Or a certified yoga instructor!
• JR: Used cars are heavily regulated – I think the free market would dictate whether a dealership stays in business or not – with social media and reviews online that we have today
• CALLER RANDY: — I want to correct your guest:   Obama said that if we have a business, we didn’t build that!
• JR: You’ve got a point!
• KOCHEVAR:
  • All that blood, sweat, and tears!
  • Literally!
  • Up at the crack of dawn everyday – that wasn’t us!
• JR: website, one more time
• KOCHEVAR:
  • SusanForColorado.com
  • And check out my Facebook page
    • We have meet and greets
    • Come on out and meet me!
    • Fundraiser this weekend on Saturday 2:30-4:30 at 88 Drive-In