I recorded the video, but since there’s not really much to see and it’s a pretty large file size I figured I’d post the full audio instead. You’ll notice a few places where the audio cuts out for a split-second. The content of the audio is completely unedited. The cuts in audio simply makes it easier on me in working with the file.

Listen to the 2-part audio below or click here to download the full audio (1 hr 13 min) – and a very special thanks to Anna Vasquez for providing a quick transcription on such short notice. Anna is a self-described “live and let live” American Patriot and a fighter for individual liberty and our founding libertarian principles.

Be sure to click here to share your comments (opens in new window so the audio will continue to play). Tell us what you think about what the candidates have to say.

Part 1 of 2 Steven Palazzo and Joe Tegerdine (34:18)

Part 2 of 2 Steven Palazzo and Joe Tegerdine (38:30)

Listed below are the questions asked of each candidate and a brief overview of their answers. Personally, I was glad to see the issue of the Auditing the Federal Reserve come up first.

Part 1 of 2 Steven Palazzo and Joe Tegerdine

• Opening Statements
  • Tegerdine on his family, deciding to run for Congress, changing the way we elect people, exporting jobs to China, free trade
  • Palazzo on separation of Church and State, firing Nancy Pelosi, his family, taxes and spending
• Audit the Federal Reserve and eliminate central banking (12:30)
  • Palazzo: yes, Federal Reserve is unconstitutional
  • Tegerdine: yes, people want to know how money is being spent and how the monetary system works, will co-sponsor the “Audit the Fed” bill
• Primary responsibility of every member of Congress (15:20)
  • Tegerdine: to uphold  and defend the Constitution
  • Palazzo: to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies both domestic and foreign
• Whats the difference between a right and a privilege (16:40)
  • Palazzo: Not really sure, a right is given to you by God – privilege is something you earn
  • Tegerdine: Rights are given by God – not man, privilege is earned and given by man. Governments are setup to protect God-given rights
• Do you support Gene Taylor’s Multi-Peril Insurance (18:40)
  • Tegerdine: no, at insurance symposium Wicker and Taylor ignored free market solutions, let’s consider free market solutions, Texas Seed Act did not get a bailout
  • Palazzo: no, can’t support flood insurance plan – does not want to encourage people to build homes in flood plains, goes against free market principles, Gene Taylor is fear-mongering after a natural disaster
• Congressional Term Limits (23:45)
  • Palazzo: previously did not but does now because Congress members are entrenched in Lobbyists, supports 6 terms in House/2 terms as Senator
  • Tegerdine: fully supports term limits, self-imposed term limit to 4 terms, will sponsor term limit legislation that will add amendment to US Constitution
• 3 Federal programs you would like to abolish or defund (28:00)
  • Tegerdine: IRS, Department of Education, EPA, Healthcare, 624 government programs duplicate the same thing costing Americans $20 Billion per year, budget is on unsustainable fiscal path, reduce federal budget from 30% to well under 20%
  • Palazzo: keep promises made to seniors and veterans, everything is on the table, Department of Education has to go, EPA over-regulates business and individuals, abolish IRS for the Fair Tax

Part 2 of 2 Steven Palazzo and Joe Tegerdine

• How will candidates handle negative press – Will you cave into pressure from the press or people you represent? General comments on the state of the Media
  • Palazzo: local media should try to print conservative statements, media should print good news, traditional media is dying out and Internet is growing,
  • Tegerdine: if the people of South Mississippi send a person to Congress then he isn’t obligated to answer to the big money that sent you there, God bless the Internet, media gives spin – not always facts.
  • Palazzo: has thick skin, doesn’t answer to bloggers
• How your Religion impacts your political philosophy (7:40)
  • Tegerdine: been a Christian all his life, served a Mormon mission in Taiwan for 2 years preaching Jesus Christ to people that had no concept of Jesus Christ, his Christian faith made him who he is, made commitments as a young man to live by the teachings of Jesus Christ
  • Palazzo: faith is something you live and pray and not boast or brag about, chose the Catholic faith – wife is Southern Baptist, served overseas and in the Airborne division – couldn’t have done it without his faith in Jesus Christ
• Eminent Domain being used more frequently by Government taking private property for the use of private industry (11:00)
  • Palazzo: Eminent Domain is not as simple as not wanting government to take property, 100% in favor of private property, E.D. has been used in America for 200 years and in MS for 175 years, a clear public use is the only time government should take private property – but you take it by giving them fair and reasonable compensation, voted against Eminent Domain bill in MS House last year because it was unconstitutional, bad public policy, and was pure politics, Mississippi has the toughest Eminent Domain laws, Eminent Domain has never been used to take private property to be turned over to private industry and never will happen
  • Tegerdine: 5th Amendment of the US Constitution, Government should pay Just compensation to victim of eminent domain – not reasonable compensation, 118 bipartisan said last year’s Eminent Domain bill was Constitutional, Mississippi has some of the weakest eminent domain laws, eminent domain has been used to take private property and given to private corporations – Nissan and Toyota, eminent domain is a big issues federally in our district, Gene Taylor refuses to meet with eminent domain victim in his own district, look at Palazzo’s record and make up your own mind
• Will you participate in or decline Congressional healthcare and retirement systems (19:50)
  • Tegerdine: I will decline
  • Palazzo: ditto – no brainer
• Palazzo’s wife is President of Harrison County Republicans club – allegations she is using her position, against rules of the party, to promote Palazzo’s campaign. (20:17)
  • Proud of his wife, wife supports him, not gentlemanly to bring wife into things, for the record his wife has stepped down
• Tegerdine was raised in northwest, relocated to Florida, then Mississippi in 2007, voted in Florida elections in 2007. How do you connect with South Mississippi residents on their social, political, moral beliefs? (22:00)
  • voted in Florida in 2007 in order to vote on marriage amendment he had helped to move forward, experienced liberalism in other states, Mississippi represents his Christian families values that transcend geographic boundaries, hopes people adopt him as he has adopted them
• Closing statements (26:54)
  • Palazzo: we have to fire Gene Taylor so we can fire Nancy Pelosi, Gene Taylor is a good guy just ineffective – not a fighter, Gene Taylor “votes and runs”, healthcare bill is unconstitutional, healthcare needs free market reform, stop radical Socialist agenda, trying to foster high-paying jobs and reduce spending in Mississippi, live free or die brave!
  • Tegerdine: wants term limits, one-subject law for legislation – hate crimes and military spending so we know where our Representative stands on each issue, balanced budget amendment, abolish IRS for a FairTax – illegal immigrants, welfare recipients, and the wealthy would have to start paying taxes, China and India prospering with free market solutions, committed to “Patriot Pledge”.

…and we wonder why we have the big government problems we have today. Can we, or should we trust people who spend the majority of their lives in Washington?

For the sake of restoring an ounce of trust in our federal government we desperately need term limits. But until then, WE NEED TO KICK THESE SELFISHLY AMBITOUS PEOPLE OUT IN 2010!!!

Before you can discuss U.S. Congressional term limits intelligently, you must first return to the Constitutional Conventional of 1787, and to the Founding Fathers intentions when writing the U.S. Constitution. In the writings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and most others founders, they believed that they were writing a Constitution for a society of moral and virtues people. John Adams believed this when he wrote:

“Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of another.”

I believe that this statement applies to both the governed and the governors. When self-interest, self-advancement and self-preservation become the motivation of our elected officials or of those who are working to get them elected, than the moral and virtues basis for their service is gone. Yet we still have career politicians at every level of our system catering to special interest, regardless of the repercussions to the whole of society. This shows up in the crazy programs like Cash for Clunkers (your kidding right), non-simulative Stimulus Bills, no-significant pollution reduction Cap and Trade bills and yes-even purposed Coastal Area Flood/Wind Insurance Reform subsidized by good old Uncle Sam. What do all these programs have in common? They all favor some portion or group of society, while penalizing the rest with the cost and no benefit. Yet we continue to re-elect those same politicians, hoping that one-day it will be our turn to receive that special interest project that will benefit us.

Here is just one example: Lets say there are 350 million people in the US today, (that’s an estimate from several sources of what the 2010 census may show) and if we assume that 40% of those folks don’t pay tax’s (purported from both parties all over the news), than that leaves about 210 million folks paying tax’s. Now lets allow that 10% of us pays about 66% of all taxes, that leaves about 33% of all monies spent in congress for the less than $250K crowd.

Now lets take that Cash for Clunkers program. It will likely end up costing $3 billion before it’s done. Some quick math tells us that the less than $250K taxpayers will end up with about one third or about $5 bucks of that bill. Now that doesn’t sound like a lot, but of course that money has to be borrowed from China so there’s going to be some interest on it as well, by the time it gets paid off in 20??.

Now not everyone is going to get the opportunity to use this program and many I suspect don’t want to. So is right or fair for the government to force you to go to your neighbors and give them money so they can buy a new car under the auspices of saving fuel or more likely a second bailout of the GM and Chrysler corporations’. Here’s the rub, if its $5 bucks for a Cash for Clunkers program, what is for say an $800 billion stimulus, or a trillion dollar healthcare bill, etc. etc. etc.  All of these are a penalty on the many for the advancement of a few.

The founders believed that service to our nation was an honor and that unless absolutely necessary a representative should not even draw any pay, except to maintain their family while away serving in congress. That’s right, they were supposed to keep a job back home and provide for their family from that, rather than become career politicians. Where did that spirit go? I believe Pres. Obama is correct, the playing field has to be evened out. The problem is, I believe, they are all on the wrong field.

To effect change in congress we have to be able to remove these career politicians and replace them with honorable folks that are following the intent of the founders when they created this great country out of a wilderness and war. Since you can not legislate morals and virtues, a term limit for all public offices and especially the U.S. Congress has to be established to insure that when the folks fall asleep or let self interest rather than virtue and moral thought guide their voting decisions, politicians can’t capitalize on that and create an oligarchy for themselves and thereby U.S. If you agree please vote accordingly.