Here at RedState we believe strong conservative candidates deserve our support, especially in deep blue states like California. On June 3rd, in California’s 45th Congressional District, retired Marine Colonel Greg Raths will face off in a primary against State Sen. Mimi Walters and Pat Maciariello to replace U.S. Rep. John Campbell, who is retiring. Not only does Col. Raths stand for traditional conservative values, such as small government and fiscal responsibility, but he has also been endorsed by the organization Combat Veterans for Congress.
Col. Raths was at the California Republican Party Convention with conservative icon and former Congressman Barry Goldwater, Jr., who is a Director for Combat Veterans for Congress. Former Congressman Goldwater spoke enthusiastically about Col. Raths and the fact that his combat experience gives him an advantage over the competition. I spoke with Col. Raths about the top issues facing our country and what he plans to bring to the table.
Col Raths, the biggest issues facing the country right now are ones that we all know has plagued California for some time: Budgets and debt. How do you suggest America move towards a balanced budget and reducing her debt?
RATHS: This goes back to leadership. First of all, Americans like you and me are starved for leadership in Washington. People just want someone to lead in the current crisis that’s going on today. There’s one man who’s in charge and that’s President Obama. His job is not just to be leader of the Democrats, he’s supposed to be the leader of the whole country. He needed to get these people together, meaning the Majority Leader of the House and Senate and other leadership a long time ago to stop this from happening. He knew, if he had any sense, what was going to happen on October 17th and October 1st. So how to get the debt reduced? We need conservative candidates to run for Congress and we need conservatives in state government and local government. The only way we can reduce the deficit is to have a majority in both houses and hopefully the presidency; right now we don’t, so we have to work with what we have. I feel that it’s the President’s job and his responsibility as a leader to ensure that we don’t spend more money than we bring in. This year alone, the American taxpayers have sent to Washington more money than they ever have in any specific year. And they are still seven or eight hundred thousand short. So, it has to come from the top, it has to come from the leader, and I tell my constituents where I’m running that in order to get these goals passed, we need the leadership in Washington that will do it; currently I don’t think we have it. So we have to look at 2014 to see what we can do to bring in some good conservative candidates into Congress.
