The GOP race to the nomination for president at times has been led by Mitt
Romney,
, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, and some
polling predicts that Barack Obama may have a difficult time squaring off
against any of them.
But former Louisiana Gov.
.
He wants to know why.
"I keep asking why I can't get on stage, and the rules seem to change daily,"
Roemer told WND in an interview. "First I had to reach 1 percent in polling, and
when I reached that, they changed the rule to 2 percent, now they talk about
needing 500,000 donations.
"They're looking for the wrong things. They put a premium on money, but
that's not the important thing.
"They want to see flash and cash. They don't understand that cash is the
problem."
Roemer, 68, served four terms as a Democratic congressman during the Reagan
years but touts a voting record that sided mostly with the Republicans.
He was elected Louisiana governor as a
Democrat, serving from 1988 to 1992.
While in office though, he realized that he aligned more with Republicans and
officially switched parties.
While governor he balanced the state budget despite a large, inherited
deficit, saw unemployment drop from 12 percent to less than 6 percent and
overhauled campaign
finance. He also successfully linked educator pay
to performance, when he enacted "education accountability standards."
Out of office since 1992, Roemer has since built a successful banking
business in Louisiana that he's proud to say has not taken "one penny in bailout
money from the
federal government."
"I'm running for president because someone has to say the things that need to
be said in this country," Roemer told WND. "Barack Obama got elected on 'change'
and yet we get more of the same, while he gets his money from
Wall Street.
"His treasury secretary is from Wall Street."
He said 500 banks have gone belly up since Obama was elected, but none was
from Wall Street.
"They get bailed out with our money," he said. "Goldman-Sachs got $300
billion, interest-free I might add, in bailout money, and then they host
$35,000-a-plate fundraisers for Obama.
"Americans are fed up. They're not stupid. They can see the direct line drawn
between Washington, D.C., and Wall Street," he said. "They can see they didn't
get the change they were promised."
He said his campaign focuses on two primary issues: "Corruption in Washington
and the giving away of American jobs overseas."
"Washington needs a big broom, and it needs to be swept out," he told WND.
"I'm ready to sweep."
He expanded on his qualifications: "I've been a congressman and a governor,
and I'm the only one running who faced a dirty state and cleaned it out.
"The governor I replaced openly bragged about receiving special interest
money. Well, I stepped in and said 'Louisiana is for sale no longer.'"
Roemer identifies himself as a conservative or a traditionalist. He pledges
to take no more than $100 from any single donor.
He estimates he needs to find about 5 million American’s to stand with him to
defeat Barack Obama in 2012.
He also says "no" to special interest money, "no" to PACs and "no" to
super-PACs, or "bundled" money.
"Americans ought to unite together and demand an end to the corruption and
greed that poisons our political and financial systems; tea partiers; and
occupiers; Democrats and Republicans – for this movement is an American movement
and is not going away," says his recent announcement to enter the New Hampshire
primary.
When asked where he feels America went wrong, he doesn't hesitate: "Fifteen
years ago, under Bill Clinton, America gave our jobs away to China."
"It was hidden from us for quite awhile, behind the housing boom. But that's
when the damage was done," he told WND.
"America needs an honest explanation of what happened," he said.. "We gave
your jobs away."
He said he will work to get them
back.
"I'll look them (China) in the eye and say we're not taking your products
built in unfair, inhumane ways, with child labor, any more."
He said he has no doubts Americans will understand.
"You want jobs in America? Stop unfair
trade and jobs will pop up overnight. We'll go
back to seeing 'Made in America' again."
Roemer told WND that no one else is saying what he's saying.
"Why isn't anyone else asking the questions I'm asking," he said. "No one is
asking where the money contributed to politicians is coming from, and more
importantly, why it's being paid."
He said the largest single contributor to Washington, D.C., politics is
Goldman-Sachs, followed closely behind by GE.
"Money in politics has created institutional corruption. Both parties are
guilty of taking the big check and are bought by Wall Street," he said. "My
campaign is the only one that speaks out against this, and I look forward to the
day lobbyists are not allowed to donate to campaigns."
"Here's a fact for WND readers," Roemer emphasized. "More money was given to
both McCain and Obama right in Washington, D.C., from PACs than from 32 states
combined."
The same fault is what supports the current, troubled, tax code, he said.
"Why can't we read our tax code? Because it was written by lobbyists," he
said.
Aside from cleaning up Washington with a big broom and standing up to China
on fair trade, Roemer has many other ideas to get America back on track.
"I'm 68 years old. I'm old enough to see what needs to be done, and young
enough to do it," he said.
Since he's not been allowed into the national debates, he's taking his
message right to the people.
He has a volunteer walk along with him and "tweet" along the way.
"She's got fast fingers, so I can keep up the tweeting," he said.
Roemer says he's the only candidate to actually set foot into the Occupy Wall
Street camps.
"I met some real good people," he said. "I think they should be protesting in
Washington, D.C., too, though," Roemer told WND.
While Roemer identifies with
the tea party, he thinks too much criticism of the
"Occupy" protesters isn't good.
"I think we make a mistake when we don't listen to our youth," he said.
"They're not always right, but who is?
"There's a spirit in those protests of 'questioning' and that’s a good
thing," Roemer said
While walking and talking with protesters last week, Roemer attracted the
attention of Hollywood celebrity Danny DeVito. DeVito "tweeted" that people
should pay attention to Roemer, "He's definitely one to watch."
A "tweeting" conversation ensued between the two, and while Roemer admits to
WND that the two are probably very different ideologically, they find common
ground in their disgust with greed having so much influence in politics.
Roemer told WND that he would tackle
health care right away if elected president. While
admitting that aspects of health care may need addressing, he says he would do
things differently from Obamacare.
"His plan is falling apart," he said of Obama.
He described Obamacare as unfair and too expensive.
He also said America could gain energy independence to a large degree.
"I'm a driller. I'd do it right, though," he said. "There's ways to drill
clean, and have clean air and water at the same time."
Washington has no need for the Department of Energy, and it would be
eliminated, he said. After all, he said, when Obama was elected, gasoline was
$1.85 a gallon, and see what happened since?
On the issue of Iran, he said he would "not allow a single product, from
anywhere in the world that is made with Iranian oil, to come into this country."
"While Iran is making nuclear weapons that they openly declare are for wiping
out our closest ally in the Middle East – Israel, it's crazy for us to import
anything made with their oil," he said.
He's a traditionalist on marriage.
"I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, but I think the states
should have the right to define what marriage is in their own state," he
said.
On homosexuality in the military, he said, "We're in the 21st century now,
and if our generals are telling us that they can still perform their mission
while allowing gays to serve, then I’m going to listen to the generals."
On border security, Roemer says, "We are a nation of laws. The border must be
secured first and businesses that break our immigration laws should be held
accountable."
How about abortion?
"I'm pro-life, always have been," he said. "On many issues, we can have a
debate, but when it comes to a little fetus, who has no say, then we need to
protect them."
He's looking at the long, uphill road to 1600 Pennsylvania and says he's
counting on the common sense of Americans to help.
"The last poll shows me near or above 2 percent, and on top of several other
candidates like (Rick) Santorum, (Jon) Huntsman and (Gary) Johnson," he said.
"Last quarter we raised $126,000, with an average donation of $70. A four-fold
increase over the prior quarter."
Roemer said voters
can find him online
at buddyroemer.com.
Read more:
Why are mainstream media
ignoring this GOP candidate? ... http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=357429#ixzz1bWJ5rTTQ
Who are those people converging on Wall Street? The 'Occupy Wall
Street' (OWS) protesters mannerism and goals are far different than those of the
Tea Party. The Tea Party believes in the rule of law, respecting and honoring of
civil servants (police, fire, government officials) and the military. Those
protesters are clearly willing to violate the rule of law trying to create a
sense of public unrest and thereby throwing a 'monkey wrench' into the
stabilization of our economy.