Partial Transcripts of Oberweis on “Public Affairs.”
This week’s suburban edition of “Public Affairs,” features Jim Oberweis, Candidate for Governor in the 2006 Republican Primary. Oberweis has been an entrepreneur for more than the last three decades, earning an MBA from the University of Chicago and he is currently Chairman of the Board of both Oberweis Asset Management and Oberweis Dairy. A number of people are asking, “Is the third time the charm?” as Jim Oberweis was the runner-up in his 2002 and 2004 Primary runs for the Republican U. S. Senate nomination.
See the end of the blog post, here, for a detailed suburban airing schedule of “Public Affairs,” including a special airing this Thursday night of the show with Jim Oberweis and for more about the topics discussed this week with Jim Oberweis. See here and here and here for partial transcripts of our show earlier this year with Oberweis.
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A partial transcript of this week’s show with Jim Oberweis is included, below.
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Jeff Berkowitz: Education, that is an issue you have been talking about. You are a big believer in school choice, charter schools.
Jim Oberweis: And merit pay for teachers.
Berkowitz: That’s a good point because how does the state legislature do anything about merit pay for teachers, since compensation is negotiated by all these local school boards, negotiated by the City of Chicago in its negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union, that’s not a state issue, is it?
Oberweis: It’s a long issue that I don’t think we have time for if we are at the very end of the show [the host had just announced to the viewers that we would continue to speak as the credits rolled] but I would be more than happy to talk about it next time I come back.
Berkowitz: But, is it something that the Governor can have an impact on?
Oberweis: No question about it. Can Arnold Schwarzenegger have an impact on what’s going on in California? You bet.
Berkowitz: As a matter of inspiration, not as a matter of—because it will be, you agree, local law but the Governor can inspire—
Oberweis: I can tell you what happened at Oberweis Dairy with the Teamsters’ Union.
Berkowitz: …we don’t have time for that [now]. Also, you want to eliminate tenure completely for Kindergarten thru 12th grade.
Oberweis: Of course, that makes no sense. Right now, for teachers who do a good job-
Berkowitz: No tenure at all.
Oberweis: Of course not, it’s ridiculous.
Berkowitz: Gay rights legislation. You oppose that. You say those are special rights and you don’t favor special rights. Distinguish, if you will, how that differs from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with which I assume you agree?
Oberweis: I don’t believe we should discriminate against somebody based on their religion. I don’t believe we should discriminate against somebody based on the color of their skin, or their nationality or their gender. But that is quite different from saying we should give special rights to a group who makes certain choices—lifestyle choices.
Berkowitz: Okay. So, sexual orientation—but they would say that is not making a choice. People are saying, “This is my orientation.” You disagree. You say, “you are making a bad choice.”
Oberweis: I don’t think we should give special rights based on sexual orientation.
Berkowitz: And, you distinguish that from racial [discrimination] because that is their race and you are saying that [race] is not a choice?
Oberweis: Correct.
Berkowitz: Abortion. You would say that you are 100% pro-Life?
Oberweis: Yes.
Berkowitz: You favor a constitutional amendment to ban abortion completely except if the life of the mother is at issue?
Oberweis: Look, realistically, what we can do is work to provide for parental notification in the state. Illinois has become a center for people to come from other states for abortions. To cross our borders and enter this state to have abortions because they have to have parental consent in other states and don’t in Illinois. That’s something [parental notice] that is realistic that I think most people who are pro-life and many people who are pro-choice would favor getting together on-- on that type of an issue. I don’t think a constitutional amendment is something that is likely to happen. Do I think it would be reasonable? Yes.
Berkowitz: CTA, would you have opposed that 54 million dollar subsidy from the state to the CTA?
Oberweis: You know, I think that is something we need to look at much more carefully. I think that funds are being wasted in that area. To the degree that it, in fact, does solve problems and it does solve our congestion problems, and we’ve got a serious problem—[but] I think robbing money from road funds to subsidize other areas doesn’t make sense.
Berkowitz: Can you change the business climate to bring back jobs [to Illinois]?
Oberweis: We can change the business climate like this. [Oberweis snaps his fingers]. The day you’ve got an Oberweis administration, business is going to grow—
Berkowitz: Lower taxes. Is that what you are going to do?
Oberweis: We’ll lower restrictions; We’ll make it easier and friendlier for businesses to want to locate in Illinois and create jobs—
Berkowitz: Has Illinois lost, as [Senator and Republican Primary Gubernatorial candidate] Bill Brady claims, a net loss of 267,000 jobs.
Oberweis: It all depends on what period of time you want to take. But, it is clear—
Berkowitz: It is not going up in the last year; It [number of jobs in Illinois] is going down?
Oberweis: It’s clear that Illinois has lagged far behind the rest of the country in the economic recovery that has occurred in the last couple of years. [show ends]
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Jim Oberweis, candidate in the 2006 Republican Primary for Governor, recorded on June 26, 2005 and as is airing on the Suburban edition of Public Affairs this week [week of July 4] and on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs on Monday night, July 11 at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21.
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Jeff Berkowitz, Host and Producer of Public Affairs and an Executive Recruiter doing Legal Search, can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
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See the end of the blog post, here, for a detailed suburban airing schedule of “Public Affairs,” including a special airing this Thursday night of the show with Jim Oberweis and for more about the topics discussed this week with Jim Oberweis. See here and here and here for partial transcripts of our show earlier this year with Oberweis.
********************************************
A partial transcript of this week’s show with Jim Oberweis is included, below.
********************************************
Jeff Berkowitz: Education, that is an issue you have been talking about. You are a big believer in school choice, charter schools.
Jim Oberweis: And merit pay for teachers.
Berkowitz: That’s a good point because how does the state legislature do anything about merit pay for teachers, since compensation is negotiated by all these local school boards, negotiated by the City of Chicago in its negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union, that’s not a state issue, is it?
Oberweis: It’s a long issue that I don’t think we have time for if we are at the very end of the show [the host had just announced to the viewers that we would continue to speak as the credits rolled] but I would be more than happy to talk about it next time I come back.
Berkowitz: But, is it something that the Governor can have an impact on?
Oberweis: No question about it. Can Arnold Schwarzenegger have an impact on what’s going on in California? You bet.
Berkowitz: As a matter of inspiration, not as a matter of—because it will be, you agree, local law but the Governor can inspire—
Oberweis: I can tell you what happened at Oberweis Dairy with the Teamsters’ Union.
Berkowitz: …we don’t have time for that [now]. Also, you want to eliminate tenure completely for Kindergarten thru 12th grade.
Oberweis: Of course, that makes no sense. Right now, for teachers who do a good job-
Berkowitz: No tenure at all.
Oberweis: Of course not, it’s ridiculous.
Berkowitz: Gay rights legislation. You oppose that. You say those are special rights and you don’t favor special rights. Distinguish, if you will, how that differs from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with which I assume you agree?
Oberweis: I don’t believe we should discriminate against somebody based on their religion. I don’t believe we should discriminate against somebody based on the color of their skin, or their nationality or their gender. But that is quite different from saying we should give special rights to a group who makes certain choices—lifestyle choices.
Berkowitz: Okay. So, sexual orientation—but they would say that is not making a choice. People are saying, “This is my orientation.” You disagree. You say, “you are making a bad choice.”
Oberweis: I don’t think we should give special rights based on sexual orientation.
Berkowitz: And, you distinguish that from racial [discrimination] because that is their race and you are saying that [race] is not a choice?
Oberweis: Correct.
Berkowitz: Abortion. You would say that you are 100% pro-Life?
Oberweis: Yes.
Berkowitz: You favor a constitutional amendment to ban abortion completely except if the life of the mother is at issue?
Oberweis: Look, realistically, what we can do is work to provide for parental notification in the state. Illinois has become a center for people to come from other states for abortions. To cross our borders and enter this state to have abortions because they have to have parental consent in other states and don’t in Illinois. That’s something [parental notice] that is realistic that I think most people who are pro-life and many people who are pro-choice would favor getting together on-- on that type of an issue. I don’t think a constitutional amendment is something that is likely to happen. Do I think it would be reasonable? Yes.
Berkowitz: CTA, would you have opposed that 54 million dollar subsidy from the state to the CTA?
Oberweis: You know, I think that is something we need to look at much more carefully. I think that funds are being wasted in that area. To the degree that it, in fact, does solve problems and it does solve our congestion problems, and we’ve got a serious problem—[but] I think robbing money from road funds to subsidize other areas doesn’t make sense.
Berkowitz: Can you change the business climate to bring back jobs [to Illinois]?
Oberweis: We can change the business climate like this. [Oberweis snaps his fingers]. The day you’ve got an Oberweis administration, business is going to grow—
Berkowitz: Lower taxes. Is that what you are going to do?
Oberweis: We’ll lower restrictions; We’ll make it easier and friendlier for businesses to want to locate in Illinois and create jobs—
Berkowitz: Has Illinois lost, as [Senator and Republican Primary Gubernatorial candidate] Bill Brady claims, a net loss of 267,000 jobs.
Oberweis: It all depends on what period of time you want to take. But, it is clear—
Berkowitz: It is not going up in the last year; It [number of jobs in Illinois] is going down?
Oberweis: It’s clear that Illinois has lagged far behind the rest of the country in the economic recovery that has occurred in the last couple of years. [show ends]
**************************************************
Jim Oberweis, candidate in the 2006 Republican Primary for Governor, recorded on June 26, 2005 and as is airing on the Suburban edition of Public Affairs this week [week of July 4] and on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs on Monday night, July 11 at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21.
*****************************************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Host and Producer of Public Affairs and an Executive Recruiter doing Legal Search, can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
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