Monday, December 26, 2005

Better than Monday night Football: McSweeney on Cable/ Web

David McSweeney: [Cong. Bean] took their [the unions'] support; she took their coordinated expenditures. I understand she filled out a questionnaire that said she would oppose NAFTA like agreements, which CAFTA certainly was, and then she voted for it[CAFTA]. That’s what creates skepticism in politics.
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Jeff Berkowitz: And, if it’s ten million people to be deported, you would favor that as a federal program?

Dave McSweeney: Jeff, let’s be realistic. What we need to do is we need to enforce the existing laws, we need to protect the borders, and we should not reward illegal immigrants in this country.
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"Public Affairs," with David McSweeney [R-Barrington Hills, 8th CD Primary Candidate] is airing tonight through-out the City of Chicago at 8:30 pm on [CANTV], Cable Ch. 21.

The show is also available now to be watched as a webcast on the Public Affairs Cinema Complex [See here].

You may also watch a show we did with David McSweeney in August, 2005 at the The Public Affairs Cinema Complex. See here for a partial transcript of tonight’s show, a list of many of the topics discussed tonight and for links to partial transcripts of the August, 2005 show and more about that show, as well as links to the McSweeney campaign site and additional partial transcripts of the previous show with McSweeney.
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Another partial transcript of tonight’s show is included, below.
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Jeff Berkowitz: She [Congresswoman Melissa Bean (D-Barrington, 8th CD)] did support CAFTA, right? The Central America Free Trade Agreement; You support CAFTA, Central America Free Trade Agreement, right? On that, you are the same.

Dave McSweeney: This is an amazing situation. Let me first of all tell you that I do support CAFTA, the Central America Free Trade Agreement. I believe it will help create new jobs and opportunities for exports around the country. Melissa Bean took the unions’ money; she took their support; she took their coordinated expenditures. I understand she filled out a questionnaire that said she would oppose NAFTA like agreements, which CAFTA certainly was, and then she voted for it [CAFTA]. That’s what creates skepticism in politics.

Jeff Berkowitz: To be fair, she said just the other day, on Dick Kay’s City Desk show [NBC-5, Chicago] that she never said that she would vote against CAFTA. We’ll have her on again and she’ll be able to talk about this-she’s scheduled to be on in January- but you just said it is a NAFTA-like agreement. She said it wasn’t NAFTA-like because there were provisions to protect labor standards, and to hold these countries to their own labor standards, to have funds in these countries to enforce their labor standards. She said that made it a very different agreement.

Dave McSweeney: It wasn’t a different agreement. I would have supported CAFTA.

Jeff Berkowitz: It wasn’t different from NAFTA; that’s what you’re saying? Not in that perspective?

Dave McSweeney: Not in that perspective, number one. Number two, this will be a very interesting discussion throughout the entire campaign because of her or [because of] people who say that Melissa Bean gave them her word that she would oppose the CAFTA agreement, and, we’ll see. We’ll see how that plays out during the entire campaign. And, you should ask her that next time she is on the show.

Jeff Berkowitz: She said the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times both supported that, showing different ideological viewpoints came together on CAFTA. That’s her view [on CAFTA]. She’s saying that she’s an independent- [she’s saying that] she’s not a partisan.

Dave McSweeney: Melissa Bean has voted with [Cong.] Jesse Jackson Jr. seventy-seven percent of the time. She was quoted on the Tom Roeser show as saying that the two people she admires most in Congress are Rahm Emanuel, the liberal Chicago Clinton attack dog and Barney Frank from Massachusetts. If that’s mainstream, I don’t define it as that.
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Jeff Berkowitz: Immigration. McCain-Kennedy talks I think about and maybe the President is signing onto this now, not quite officially, but he [President Bush] seems to be coming around [to the position that] we need more border control and we need a guest worker program, and we need a path to citizenship for those illegal people who are undocumented workers, here illegally, probably ten to twelve million in this country, but have no path to citizenship. So, would you favor those three things. Put aside whose legislation it is: Increased border control, a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants—[that is], immigrants who are here illegally.

Dave McSweeney: I oppose a guest worker program because what it does is it implies legal status for illegal immigrants. I do favor increased border security and controls. We need to protect our borders-both the Canadian and Mexican borders-because of national security purposes. Remember the nineteen terrorists with box cutters? Imagine terrorists coming across the borders. But, I do oppose the guest worker program.

Jeff Berkowitz: You do? And that’s the Bush program. So, you differ with President Bush. He wants to have two three-year periods of guest worker status.

Dave McSweeney: I oppose that. I do oppose that.

Jeff Berkowitz: [Have ] you let him know. You expect his support, even though you oppose him on that?

Dave McSweeney: I support the President on many issues, and I do not favor the guest worker program. We’ll see what eventually comes out of Congress, but I would not vote for a program that gives legal work-permit status to illegal immigrants.

Jeff Berkowitz: What do we do with the ten to twelve million immigrants who are here in this country illegally? They’re working. They have families. They’re probably paying taxes. What do we do? Do we try to deport all those individuals?

Dave McSweeney: Well, Jeff, let me tell you. First of all, we are a nation of immigrants. I support LEGAL immigration- so, where we need workers, we should bring in temporary workers, and also bring in individuals, through legal means, who have gone through security checks. But, we should not reward people who are in this country illegally. Without a doubt, that is a focus that we need to make, which is--Let’s allow an increase in legal immigration, but let’s not reward illegal immigration in this country.

Jeff Berkowitz: What do we do with the ones who are here now.

Dave McSweeney: We don’t give them legal status. We don’t
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Jeff Berkowitz: Do we deport them? Do we have a program to try to deport those-

Dave McSweeney: As we find people, we should deport them.

Jeff Berkowitz: And, if it’s ten million people to be deported, you would favor that as a federal program?

Dave McSweeney: Jeff, let’s be realistic. What we need to do is we need to enforce the existing laws, we need to protect the borders, and we should not reward illegal immigrants in this country.
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David McSweeney, candidate in the Republican Primary for the 8th Cong. Dist.nomination, recorded on December 11, 2005 and as is airing on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs tonight, Monday, Dec. 26, at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV].
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Transcript draft prepared by Amy Allen, who also does research for “Public Affairs,” and has her own political blog [See here].
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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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