(Nancy Dallas) – Republican Michele Fiore is running for Nevada’s 1st Congressional District seat currently held by Rep. Shelley Berkley (D). You can learn more about Michele on her website: www.votefiore.com
Please write a brief summary of your professional and political history. Define your political philosophy.
I am Michele Fiore, a true conservative Nevada business woman, a single mom whose daughters are now young adults, and a woman who knows what it means to struggle. My family-owned and operated Home Health Care business has provided over a 1,000 jobs to Nevadans. Together we have provided home care to over 1,500 sick and disabled Nevadans.
Every political candidate tells us they want to make a difference and create jobs. Some may even say they feel a responsibility toward the people whose lives they affect. They tell us that our nation is headed in the wrong direction and must be turned around. I agree, but with a difference.
The difference is that I speak from results, not just easy campaign rhetoric. I fight the government bureaucracy on a daily basis and win. For the past three years I have given my community over 100 volunteer hours a month. When Nevadans are faced with the most tragic incidents in their life involving the death of a loved one, I’m there supporting them through the TIP (Trauma Intervention Program). I hold our Metro police officers accountable when they use excessive force against our citizens. I’m a solid conservative who believes in our Constitution.
As with so many other small business owners and entrepreneurs who have worked hard to create jobs and take care of their people, I have watched excessive government regulations, taxes and spending destroy so many hard-won jobs. Unless Nevadans stand with me and say “Enough!” my business and others will join the growing list of those that must cut jobs we have worked so long and hard to create.
Let those with dreams for their families and futures rise up and live! Stand with me to rid Washington of a career politician that has consistently voted to increase our taxes and drive jobs into extinction. We must repeal the laws that hinder economic recovery and take away our freedoms. The “Washington, DC Syndrome” affecting our nation cannot continue. Their plans for recovery are not working!
I don’t just talk the talk; I walk the walk. Having personally created more than 1,000 jobs on my own initiative, imagine how much more I can do for all of us. What other candidate or Congressperson can you name that has created over 1,000 jobs lately?
This is what I stand for:
• STOP Spending
• Lower Taxes
• Write bills in terms we can all understand and make them available for everyone to read (we need to know and understand what our law makers are trying to put over on us)
• Improve financial accountability and transparency of government entities
• Simplify our tax structure
• Simplify our business regulations
• Reduce the role of government in our lives
• Protect all our constitutional freedoms
• Defend National Security without encroaching on individual liberties
• Defend Second Amendment Rights
When it comes to our government “More is NOT Better.”
Why are you running for a political office? Do you have a campaign team in place? Will you be using your own money to fund your campaign? If so, to what degree?
I am running for office because if REAL PEOPLE with REAL SOLUTIONS don’t step up America as we know it will fail. To my dismay, the current crop of politicians and bureaucrats are destroying jobs at a time when we need them most. I’m one of those grassroots people who has said “Enough!” and decided to do something about it.
I have a solid team of talented, smart, experienced people who share my values.
My tenacity and chutzpah along with my checkbook earned the recognition from the people and the party to take Shelley Berkley’s seat, and with this came an array of donors who agree with the Take Back America mission.
In fact, one of the reasons I switched from a State Senate race to the Congressional race is because I will garner the widespread support of the private sector in order to finance a run against Berkley in the General Election. Contrary to popular belief, the private sector will not give to just any candidate that wins the primary. I will contribute and invest as much as I can afford to take our country back for We the People, but funding my own campaign would require millions. Therefore, I will earn the widespread support of the private sector in order to effectively finance a run against Berkley.
Quite a bit has been written in regards to your last minute switch from the Nevada Senate District 9 race to the Nevada U.S. Congressional District 1 race. Some say you were “used” by party officials in order to allow Dennis Nolan an easier time in his effort to win re-election to the SD-9 seat. What is your response to these assertions? Why did you switch races and at such a late date?
First my comment in response to being “used” comes from a friend who knows and has worked with me, Pat Kerby.
“Have the poles shifted? Has hell begun to freeze over? The republican leadership is supporting a real conservative in the CD-1 congressional race? There must be some mistake! Or could there be some other agenda?
Granted, I have not taken the time to vet the other candidates in the CD-1 race, (not my district) but I know Michele Fiore, and she will represent the Constitution and conservative values extremely well, (careful, I might scare off the endorsement) if elected. Maybe they think they can control her? Again I know Michele, because I directed a movie that she produced and starred in. The only reason I had any control over her was because she hired me to do so (which is weird, my boss hired me to be her boss.??) So if they swindled her to save Nolan’s seat, or think that they can pull her strings, they just might be surprised to find a new Congressperson in Berkley’s seat come November in spite of their wishes.” -Pat Kerby
In the months that I walked and knocked on doors and spoke with the people face-to-face the issues they had were national: over-spending, healthcare, and jobs. When I was approached to take down a bigger opponent I looked at the opportunity first as an American and second as a business woman. First, as an American I knew I had to step up and go toe-to-toe with Shelley Berkley and take her out of a seat being used to dismantle our America. Second, as a business woman I secured my backing with the people, the party, and my financial private sector.
Repealing laws that hinder our rights and freedoms on a national scale will be my primary legislative objective. My message stays the same…help me stop the bureaucrats and over-ambitious legislators from spending our hard-earned money on frivolous projects. Let’s make our government accountable, let’s make our government transparent, and let’s force our government to stop running up trillions of dollars of debt.
My top priority in office will be to protect you, the American People, from the heavy-hand of government. You have my pledge that my switch in candidacy will be to your benefit, and of all Americans. Right now, our nation needs A Real Person with Real Solutions.
How do you respond to those who assert you are a pawn of the Nevada Republican Party establishment? Are they offering you financial support?
If someone says I am a “Pawn” I will respond that I don’t play chess, I shoot guns. And the Republican Party sees that I am their Top Gun! I’m taking undeserved heat for a gracious gift of support. I consider the support of the Republican Party through the Rule 11 letter as an important credential in a candidate and I am honored that I have garnered this type of rare support. A Rule 11 letter does not exclude any candidate on the primary ballot, nor is it a pin code to the Nevada Republican Party bank account.
How do you respond to those who assert you do not have the political experience and/or credentials to be running for the CD-1 seat?
Politics is another form of business and I’m a successful business woman. I believe that the politicians that haven’t walked 100 miles in each of the people’s shoes are not qualified. Have you looked at the resumes of the people in office? One qualifying marker I have is that I sign the front of checks not the back! I would offend my supporters if I claimed to be a career politician. Look where they’ve taken us.
Our society has had plenty of examples of people who rose from obscurity to meet the challenges of the times. This is no different. This election will be remembered for the grassroots uprising and for the new faces who stepped up to the plate. The latest was Scott Brown. I’m the next one.
You have seven (7) opponents in the Republican Primary. Why do you feel you are the best candidate and, considering the demographics of CD-1, that you have a realistic chance of defeating Shelley Berkley?
I’m the best candidate because I am constantly doing battle. People call it experience, but I call it being bloodied by the government for challenging it to serve the people, and winning every time. People say I can’t win in my district because it is a “Democrat District.” What they are saying is that because people are a certain economic class or race they will vote a certain way. I say that what unites us all is that we are Americans; and Americans believe in freedom for all people. People who immigrated to this country, with the intent of living the American dream, didn’t come to see this nation turn into the nation they left, where out-of-control government interferes in every aspect of their lives. They came for the opportunity to be free and build a better life for their families. So, if you believe in freedom support me, Michele Fiore. Together we can get this country back on track as the beacon of freedom and opportunity to the world.
What do you feel are the most pressing issues facing residents within this Congressional district? How do you intend addressing these issues? Specifically, what federal regulations would you address?
There are three huge issues: JOBS, JOBS and JOBS! Nevada must become more attractive to business to create jobs. High taxes, expensive regulations, and an educational system that does not support economic diversification have to go! At the federal level, I can work to repeal the federal regulations that prevent us Nevadans from using our own native productivity. I will first go after the burdensome environmental regulations that prevent us from being able to meet our own energy needs while creating thousands of high paying jobs.
Should individuals be allowed to contribute unlimited amounts of money to Federal candidates? Would you support a law requiring immediate disclosure of large contributions via the internet?
Yes, we should be able to contribute as much as we want…it is called freedom…something that we’ve lost in the past decade with too many federal mandates. I support a law requiring immediate disclosure of large contributions via the internet. I support transparency in campaign finance, including traceability of all donations to their source.
Our national debt is growing at an astronomical rate (to $1.4 trillion this past year). Do you support a ‘balanced budget’ amendment to the Constitution? If so, specify your plan to create an annual balanced budget.
Absolutely! But that’s not enough. The government could set up economy killing programs and then tax the daylights out of us to “balance” the budget! They’re already trying to do just that! First we cap and reduce spending. We get rid of the recent “porkzilla” legislation that is killing our future. And then we balance the budget that remains.
There’s no single silver bullet. This problem has to be attacked at what created it in the first place:
1. No more riders. Limit each bill to its central topic and fund only that. Weigh each bill in the context of all the other bills and do a nip-and-tuck based on priorities and solid cost/benefit ratio comparisons.
2. No more bailouts. If a business is too poorly run to survive, let it restructure itself on its own. If it still can’t survive, let new, better-run businesses spring up and replace them. Why would you, as a taxpayer, want to pay for incompetence?
3. Move Social Security back to where it was before: in its own fund, not the general fund. Doing so will make it more visible and will inhibit wasting what there is in the program.
4. Reduce business taxes. The private sector produces wealth. Help it grow. The government consumes wealth; it doesn’t create it. If you think otherwise, tell me when was the last time the government taxed itself?
5. Begin by determining what legislation has had the greatest negative impact on private sector job creation and repeal it.
Do you support the current U.S. military rules of engagement in Afghanistan? Explain.
NO! Vietnam was micromanaged by politicians. We saw what happened there. An entire SEAL team in Afghanistan was wiped out because they were afraid of the political consequences of doing what they had to do to survive. Troops under heavy enemy fire cannot get the air and artillery support they need and then die needlessly because they have to wait for a political analysis and approval from higher headquarters, who are afraid of what some ignorant politician might think. War is not a boxing match that has to be done without hitting in certain ways.
Nevada’s unemployment rate is one of the highest in the nation. What, if any, steps should be taken by the Federal government to specifically address the state’s unemployment concerns?
We need a two-pronged attack here: short-term remedies and long-term solutions. Any other approach will either fail right now or fail later. Again, the problem is jobs. Business makes jobs. Lower taxes and less expensive, less complex regulation makes business.
In the short term, give tax incentives to create jobs and businesses. Lower government-caused overhead costs. Clean up existing government assistance programs so the money gets to those who need it.
In the long term, the people’s power to make and manage their own money must be returned to us. The Federal Reserve is costing us too much. We must focus on strengthening the Dollar, not devaluing it with artificial inflation. Monopoly money will impoverish us. We must make the cost of doing business attractive so we can bring our industry back to our own shores. We must restructure our priorities.
What would be your priorities in resolving the concerns related to the increasing dependency of the United States on foreign oil? What measures would you propose at the Federal level to help alleviate Nevada’s high energy costs? Do you support nuclear energy? How do you propose we resolve the dilemma of dealing with nuclear waste?
I support all forms of responsible energy consumption and creation. It is insane to continue a wealth transfer process that is draining our balance of trade to where we are forced to become a debtor nation. Let’s begin by developing our own resources. That’s how we became a great nation in the first place.
With that said, excessive regulations based on disputed science remain a chief obstacle to, not only energy independence, but maintaining basic energy subsistence. My energy priority will be to resist Cap and Trade policies crafted to destroy our already struggling economy. We must repeal unnecessary burdensome environmental regulations thereby increasing our energy supply while creating high paying jobs in the United States. Let’s invest in research for the long term and rely on proven technology now.
One proven technology is nuclear. New nuclear technologies, such as pebble bed reactors, can meet our energy needs for generations, disperse our power grid and reduce its vulnerabilities. France derives 85% of its energy from nuclear power without a nuclear waste problem. They reprocess and re-use their materials. Even with Yucca Mountain off the table, Nevada remains uniquely situated to become the nation’s leader in nuclear reprocessing, technology and research.
Is there a Federal department/cabinet position you would support eliminating? Explain.
There isn’t a single federal agency other than Defense or Intelligence that cannot stand trimming. But the first department to eliminate is the U.S. Dept. of Education. Based on results, they have done more harm than good. The Fed has no business dictating education policy. Educating our children is best left to local communities.
The whole concept of “czars” in a free country is offensive. A political appointee who has vast, undefined and unrestricted power to bully federal agencies is unconstitutional.
Should the Federal government be involved in the regulation of our nation’s public school education system? If so, to what degree? Are you satisfied with the “No Child Left Behind” law? Explain.
“No Child Left” behind has been a disaster. Just ask any teacher. This is another example of warm fuzzy feelings leading to legislation that does not work. Every good teacher knows talented students need encouragement, recognition and challenge. Poor students need coaching. Only the teacher knows his or her students and their needs. Get the bureaucrats out of the classroom and restore the content and conduct of our classrooms to those who are on the front line of making a difference. This is how it worked when a high school diploma actually meant something.
The inclusion of apparently wasteful, foolish “pork” and “earmarks” in Federal legislation is a historical practice – the public and many elected officials decry this practice, but with no one wanting to leave off the gravy train, it seems impossible to curtail. As a U.S. Congressman, what will you do in regards to this issue?
Regardless of the benefit to one’s own district, slipping earmarks into unrelated bills is an unethical practice. I would support legislation to assure that all bills are: 1) limited to a central subject and written so not to obscure its intent with elaborate legalese; 2) put through a scrutiny process with regard to priorities and spending; 3) published online for public review and comment with a reasonable review time; and 4) read completely before a straight up-and-down vote and voting records posted online.
Should the United States support Israel in their efforts to protect their nation’s security and safety of its citizens?
Henry Kissinger once said, “Nations do not have friends, they have interests.” How is it in our interests to fail to support the only true ally and stabilizing force we have in the Middle East? I believe if we turn our backs on Israel, the inevitable consequences will be highly destabilizing and greatly to our regret. We would have established an irrevocable connection to the ultimate Holocaust. We cannot do this and retain our national character.
How would you propose to reform the Social Security program?
First, I would like to distinguish Social Security from a government entitlement program in the modern sense of the word. There is a lot of fuzzy thinking on this subject.
A retirement program into which a person pays all their life is not a government freebee. That the politicians in Congress should raid this fund for their own pork smells just like when the Mob raids the union pension funds. Restore the Social Security fund to its own, separate fund just as it was in the beginning. Now find ways to grow it.
Social Security does not need reform, Congress does!
Is there an issue I failed to address that you would like to comment on? Go for it…..
Lots, however, Nancy, you’re the longest interview yet and most engaging. I look forward to corresponding some more in the future; however, for now I have to knock on my voters doors and earn their, trust, respect and vote. Thank you again.
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