CD3 Forum Part 2: Big government programs and impeaching Supreme Court justices

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Second in a series. Part 1 is here.

A candidate forum for Congressional District 3 was held in Newberry on July 18, with the following candidates present: Bill Engelbrecht, Joe Dallas Millado, Judson Sapp, Kat Cammack, Ryan Chamberlin, Amy Pope Wells, and Gavin Rollins.

The forum was moderated by Tim Marden and Jennifer Cabrera.

The format allowed the first respondent to the question a minute to answer; the remaining candidates had 40 seconds to either add to or disagree with the first answer.

Question #3: Both parties are selling us big government these days. Establishment Republicans do this in the farm bill, military spending, and foreign aid. Do you support those programs, and what can we expect from you?

Sapp: “My favorite amendment is the 2nd amendment, but other than that, it’s the 10th amendment, that what isn’t in the Constitution should go back down to the states. I support doing some big things like abolishing the Department of Education… the more we can remove from federal government, the absolute better we are. We need home rule, we need things back at the local community. Now, I also believe we need to have a military capable of defending ourselves, and it needs to be the baddest, strongest one out there if that conflict comes, because that’s also a deterrent.”

Cammack: “This is exactly why we need to move toward single-issue bills because everything is a rubber-stamp spending bill that is based on what the baseline was. That’s why we need to return to a zero-based budgeting model, where there is actual funding for the needs, and we can’t couple these items together. The farm bill is not just agricultural programs; it’s the nutritional component that accounts for 80% of that bill, and it is a very, very expensive bill. Once we can get back to single-issue bills, we’ll be able to up-and-down vote for them, based on their merits.”

Chamberlin: “Big government… is wasting hundreds of billions on one side and complaining that we can’t help the elderly with social security … None of us would want to pass these problems on to our children; I certainly am going to Congress to make sure it doesn’t go to mine.”

Wells: “They’re in too much of the business they don’t need to be in, at the federal level. The power needs to be given back to the state… We don’t need to be spending what’s not necessary. There is no business model that this model works… We’re not going to be able to balance this budget until… we need to do a Convention of the States.”

Rollins: “I support what my colleagues said, and I’m unafraid to vote no. I think we have to send people to Congress who are able to vote no. Everyone on this stage is talking about a future hypothetical: it’s easy to sit here and say I’ll vote no. I’ll actually done it. I’ve voted and led the effort to get out of the Regional Planning Council as a county commissioner; the news raked me over the coals, and I stood my ground and saved half a million from that alone. We reeled back entitlements in various other things. Anyone can talk about what they might do; I can talk about what I’ve actually done and taken the heat for.”

Engelbrecht: “One of the things I will say about the federal government having control of our education system: I do support Trump’s vocation and industrial classes that he wants everybody to take. I’m a product of that. In high school, I took air conditioning and heating for 3 years, did air conditioning and heating, decided that 120-degree weather was a little too hot for me, so I went into computer electronics. However, I do believe it’s the responsibility of the states to do education. I support Governor DeSantis’ BEST program, which is Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking.”

Millado: “National security all the way, because if we get that wrong, there is no other things to discuss… a strong military, for sure. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t any waste, fraud, and abuse; there’s waste, fraud, and abuse everywhere, no matter what you think is there. It’s a matter of us actually finding it. And when individuals say they’re going to do these things, it’s apples to frickin’ oranges… There’s amendments off of laws, you have parliamentary procedures, the policies and processes, and I’ve already learned; you don’t have to learn.”

Question #4: Contrary to popular teachings, Supreme Court appointments are not lifetime. They can be impeached and removed. Do you know this, and would you be willing to use this if need arises?

Cammack: “Yes. I think we have seen enough judicial activism in our time to know that the three branches of government are out of balance, and it’s time we exercised the rights that are given to us in Congress and in the legislative branch, and we need to get the balance restored to the three branches.”

Chamberlin: “I do know it now, and I would absolutely enforce that.”

Wells: “I actually knew it, but I didn’t think it would ever be possible, so the bottom line is, I would absolutely support it. We’ve got to get it back in balance.”

Rollins: “Absolutely, and even if you don’t get them out of office, you send a signal that they’re going to be held accountable. And I also think Congress has the ability to control circuits; we need to remove the 9th Judicial Circuit in California. It’s insane; we need to remove it and reassign it to other judicial circuits. Congress has that authority, and I would push to do that.”

Engelbrecht: “In the House of Representatives, we do not confirm any Supreme Court justices; that is done by the Senate. However, I would support any kind of move for the House of Representatives to come in and make any impeachment on any Supreme Court justice that does not follow our Constitution.”

Millado: “I’m going to be the first one on the stage to say I did not know that, and my first point is that we can’t be afraid to say things that we don’t know. You can’t know everything, and that is the biggest mistake. You’ve got to know what you know and what you don’t know… We’re going to skip the middle man. I was already staff; I already did it; we can save time, and I can solve those problems.”

Sapp: “Well, I did know, and if we could do it, that would be great. I’d love to get rid of a couple of judges up there.”