{"id":847,"date":"2008-05-22T12:59:51","date_gmt":"2008-05-22T16:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/?p=847"},"modified":"2008-05-22T12:59:51","modified_gmt":"2008-05-22T16:59:51","slug":"interview-with-candidate-mark-ellmore-8th-cd-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/05\/22\/interview-with-candidate-mark-ellmore-8th-cd-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Candidate Mark Ellmore (8th CD) – Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the second part of multi-part interview with Mark Ellmore<\/a>, candidate in the GOP primary, where he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s facing Amit Singh<\/a> (also interviewed at Blacknell.net<\/a>). The winner of the June 10th primary will face long time incumbent Rep. Jim Moran<\/a> (D) this fall.\u00c2\u00a0 Part I is here<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 I apologize to my readers for the long delay in getting this done.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I think I’ve learned a lesson about committing to interview transcripts (instead of summaries).<\/em><\/p>\n

MB (Mark Blacknell): So then taking that health care issue and turning it towards the General Election, and the public here in Arlington \u00e2\u20ac\u201c what is the role of the Federal government in health care? That there is a problem is a point of universal agreement, I think, but how you solve it, well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a different issue, no?<\/p>\n

ME (Mark Ellmore): Yes.<\/p>\n

MB: So we have this huge issue where the market doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t appear to have solved the issue . . .<\/p>\n

ME: Right.<\/p>\n

MB: We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a semi-free market out there. A giant mess. So what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Federal government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role in solving that?<\/p>\n

ME: Well, I think we need to keep the Federal government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role limited. I do not support Hillarycare or the plan Barack Obama would have. I do support the Republican version of the S-CHIP initiative. And people say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, [Mark Ellmore] supports S-CHIP\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

MB: S-CHIP didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work out so well for Republicans.<\/p>\n

[more after the break]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

ME: Well, no. It did not. But I support the Republican version, that would only be for children that are maybe two or three hundred percent below the poverty level. So while we have to understand that there are people in this country suffering \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there are real needs in this country \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hand it over and say, oh, by the way, the government is going to take it over and have a socialized program. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t support that. But what I do support are the health savings plans, I support [providing access to association-based health care plans]. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that insurance isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t available to everybody, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford it.<\/p>\n

MB: But what if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a waiter, making $20k a year, tops? Does the government have no role in making sure that I have health care?<\/p>\n

ME: No. And again, because we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to make it that government tells you . . .<\/p>\n

MB: Or making [health care] available. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not taking about making it required, but making it available in a meaningful way. If I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just making $20k a year, I simply can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford health insurance, access or not.<\/p>\n

ME: Right, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m saying \u00e2\u20ac\u201c doing the health savings accounts or [getting access through some waiter-based association is the solution.]. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no quick fix answer. I know a lot of young people, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to spend $200-300 a month on health care. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role to make them have it. You can have the choice of having it, but a lot of young people, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to waste money on it. They choose. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where we have to protect individual liberty.<\/p>\n

[ . . . ]<\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some seniors that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to pay into it. And I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to get to a point where we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re forcing it on them. Once you start forcing something \u00e2\u20ac\u201c when they can go, what they can do, what procedures they can get, what medicine you can take [etc.] \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that is a slippery slope I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to tangle with. [ . . . ]<\/p>\n

I agree that there are people hurting in this country. And for those that cannot take care of themselves, like the least of us \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the children in this country, this guy that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 105 years old who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just with nothing? C\u00e2\u20ac\u2122mon, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to have a heart, and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to understand that that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where the human sacrifice that we need to consider the bigger good.<\/p>\n

MB: So the sacrifice there comes from individuals,<\/p>\n

ME: Absolutely<\/p>\n

MB instead of say, a state solution?<\/p>\n

ME: Right. And the states \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the state of Virginia could have a solution. But the Federal government, when you go down that slippery slope, the Federal government starts wanting to talk about a nationalized health care program, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just something we just could never manage. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never be able to get our arms around that. And the amount of money it would cost to fund that, support it, and then, would it consider getting into the individual liberties or the free market society of our medical professionals? So you can do tort reform, stop these crazy lawsuits. Yes, people do need to be properly compensated for that, but some of these are off the charts. Make it so we can focus on getting the medicine to people at a cheaper price. That, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what we can do with all these big major pharmaceutical firms? Why can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the pharmaceutical firms help out with that cost? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like oil prices, gas prices \u00e2\u20ac\u201c when an oil company makes 10 billion dollars, yes, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a free market, but at what point can we get them to say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, by the way, can we help?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

MB: But hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the free market led us to exactly what the pharmaceutical firms are doing now? They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing very well. But the free market says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hey, our only obligation is to our shareholders. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any obligation to society, or doing the right thing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

ME: You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re exactly right. They are unpersonal. They are not a people organization. They are there to create a profit. To make money. And again, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where it comes down to that fine line, and we either go one way or the other. And some way you have to be able to meet in the middle of that, with responsibility. I think that once you open the door to the Federal government, saying that we are going to take – whether it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s with S-CHIP, Medicaid, Medicare \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and taking them beyond their original intent, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just where, you know what, there is no canned answer saying what I would do. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all philosophical, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all . . . . because as one person out of 435 members of Congress, you alone are not going to go out and say, oh by the way, this is my plan and this is what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to do. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work like that. Especially not your first few terms in office. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just not going to be able to get something like that done. But come time to vote for something like that, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where you say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hey, this is what I would support, this is what I would not support.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And I would definitely support something that would be more along the lines of (what I think is) S 2193, the Republican bill. And I think we could take a look at that, and have a deeper inspection of that. And I just think people as a whole need to take a deeper look at that. There is no answer I can sit with you right here and say that Mark Ellmore says this is what needs to be done.<\/p>\n

MB: Sure.<\/p>\n

ME: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be a liar and a fraud. [ . . . ] There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no use to try and BS anybody.<\/p>\n

MB: Speaking of fraud, you have some experience with Countrywide [Mortgage] , which has come to be pretty famous \u00e2\u20ac\u201c infamous \u00e2\u20ac\u201c of late. So I imagine that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a lot of personal insight as to what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on with the mortgage industry.<\/p>\n

ME: I have a great deal of insight into the mortgage side of things.<\/p>\n

MB: So what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the role of the Federal government in addressing the problem?<\/p>\n

ME: I think the Federal government should not get over-involved in the mortgage piece to the standpoint that they start paying people off. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re already offering tax credits to companies and that type of thing. You take losses on loans. So that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the plan. And again, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bigger than me, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bigger than you, it going to go down the way. But in theory, we need to get to the crux of the issue \u00e2\u20ac\u201c what took place. In the boom, when people started buying homes (and you can take a look here in Northern Virginia) right? A home was maybe a $250k bungalow over here in a low to moderate income area. Well, the people who were renting those homes and paying rent, all of a sudden started seeing those values go up, and the news was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re making money, homes selling left and right.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d So here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what happened? There got to be so much pressure on financial institutions to let everybody live the American dream. So then they had to open up the lending programs to low to moderate income borrowers of all backgrounds. So then you came up with 100% financing. So then you went away from what you or I or anyone else when you bought a home had to do. Now, no downpayment, no responsibility, no accountability \u00e2\u20ac\u201c let it ride.<\/p>\n

MB: Where did that pressure come from? The people or the lenders?<\/p>\n

ME: Well, it came from all over. It came from the people. Not from the lenders. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that the lenders \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the lenders responded because there became a market for it on Wall Street. See there became a way to unload those securities. But the pressure came from the people and from the government. And not only just the Federal government as they came down with a mandate, but in general there was a lot of pressure to say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hey, how do you open up? Will Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac buy these loans? Will they loosen up the guidelines at HUD and say will you not only buy a loan at 3%, but use a subsidiary financing package to get them the other 3%?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d So they came up with a way to sell the note \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and when you do that in a free market society, you give them a place to unload a piece of material, the market will create a tool to get it done. Therefore, you had no money down, no PMI, stated income, stated asset, you had investors investing with no money down. That was crazy.<\/p>\n

So we need to do this. Shut down the subprime lending aspect of it, banks have gone back into \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not necessarily a complete kneejerk reaction \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve gone back to where now, there are different guidelines for buying a home and the money you need to put down, credit score related issues. If you want a home equity line of credit on your house now, some places are not going past 80% of the appraised value. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an equity issue. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not an interest rate issue. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simply an equity position issue. And the equity position we have now, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to take years to work through it. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be flooded over the next 12 months to 2 years with foreclosures, and REOs, buy-backs. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a cyclical thing. I lived through the gas-crisis of the 70s, I lived through the stock market wreck we went through in the late 80s, I lived through the S&L crisis \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I was employed in one when all that got absorbed. Had they not come through and rescued Bear Stearns, we would have had a mess on our hands like you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never seen.<\/p>\n

MB: So the Federal government did <\/em>have a role in rescuing Bear Stearns?<\/p>\n

ME: Absolutely.<\/p>\n

MB: And the S&L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s?<\/p>\n

ME: Absolutely. Had they not stepped up, we would have been out. So there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a time and a place. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kinda like, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a time when you need a ride to the hospital \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you need an ambulance \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the backstop. But only in those situations, where you need that backstop. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why, you know, we have the system that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s set up the way it is. Otherwise, it would have led to complete and utter financial collapse.<\/p>\n

MB: Do you see any parallels between this, and \u00e2\u20ac\u201c going back to health care \u00e2\u20ac\u201c where somebody needs an actual<\/em> ride to the hospital, needs some treatment at the hospital?<\/p>\n

ME: Well . .<\/p>\n

MB: I mean, you see a role for the Federal government in stopping the collapse of a financial system, but what about healthcare?<\/p>\n

ME: Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already got S-CHIP coming forward, in whatever form. And those are pretty strong entitlements. So those are things the Federal government is stepping up to do. Because nowadays it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like when I got into business. When I got intot he system \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I started as a teller in, I believe, 76 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you know, you had a retirement account, and you were [expecting a pension]. All of that is out the window.<\/p>\n

Now you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got your 401(k). They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve let the horse out of the barn so now, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve come to say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wow, I better have some social security. And God forbid, if Medicare\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not available for me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d See, you can be young and [say] \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shut it all down!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to look at the monster that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been created and the dependency on those programs.<\/p>\n

MB: Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s make sure I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m understanding you correctly. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re saying that there is a role for Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare?<\/p>\n

ME: As is. I do not support expanding those. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to see maybe our senior citizens that get Social Security, maybe we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Federally tax them. And help out seniors so they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got more money so they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re less of a burden. They can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford their medications. They can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford to eat.<\/p>\n

MB: Okay, say I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m 35 years old and looking forward \u00e2\u20ac\u201c should I be able to rely on Social Security and Medicare?<\/p>\n

ME: Well, I see it as a backstop that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not sure is going to be there. I think that there are, over the next 10 to 20 years, going to have to be some drastic measures taken to fund that, or it will run out. But the other thing we can do, is \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I believe, not the whole thing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I support privatizing a portion of your Social Security. If you, as a young professional, choose to take your social security money and privatize and invest it a way that you . . .<\/p>\n

MB: Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kinda risky, no?<\/p>\n

ME: Well, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean the whole thing, but . . .<\/p>\n

MB: Looking at the past 8 years, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really want my Social Security \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which I regard as a bedrock \u00e2\u20ac\u201c<\/p>\n

ME: Right.<\/p>\n

MB: in a market like that.<\/p>\n

ME: Right, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your choice. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re an individual who can respond . . . I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not saying [privatize] all of it. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what the portion is \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it could be $10 or $10,000 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. But I think we need to take a look at what the President proposed, because it puts people in charge of their own destiny. And I do believe that government has a role. And then our taxes, too. Obviously, we couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have roads, we couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have streets, you couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sit here today if we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have police, fire, rescue, law and order, structure, a port system. But again, we want to keep individual freedom at its highest level. So that people can operate within that framework. But should you choose to do that, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what the beauty of it is. Otherwise, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re saying that government knows what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best for you, and the government is going to tell you how and what to do with the money you put into the system.<\/p>\n

MB: Ok.\u00c2\u00a0 Going back to you being a Republican running in a Democratic district \u00e2\u20ac\u201c do you approach the job of Congressman as somebody who has to represent the people that elected him, or everybody in the district?<\/p>\n

ME: Everybody in the district.<\/p>\n

MB: That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little tough, because \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re 100 percent pro-life, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fairly sure that [the district is majority pro-choice].<\/p>\n

ME: But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a secondary issue. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s settled law. And I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t had one person come up to me [and ask me about getting involved in overturning the law]. My point on the life issue is \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with that in place, it is settled law, and for someone to try and run in this district and say [he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to work to overturn it] \u00e2\u20ac\u201c no. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going to water down who I am. But we can do is say hey, why don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we stop using as much money as we do to pay for abortion, and use it for prevention. See, because the problem \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the consequence of a poor choice or irresponsibility is an unwanted pregnancy. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the problem. See what I mean? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a way to articulate that message[.]. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t support abortion in any way, shape, or form. But you have to be responsible and understand that there are people that say they do. And that you can stand on your moral conscience . . . but [this issue is like] a hypothetical. [Discussing the state of the law is like saying] what if we were going to build a nuclear power plan in Springfield? I mean, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking about a hypothetical.<\/p>\n

MB: Sure. But I can give you a couple of less hypothetical topics. Say, stem cell research, which is something a lot of people around here care a lot about.<\/p>\n

ME: Absolutely. Here we go. I fully support stem cell research because the science shows that stem cell research \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as long as it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not embryonic stem cells \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you see, I support skin cell research. Blood cord research. Embryonic stem cells are going to be like the 64 Impala. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re proving that skin cells are more productive, and more effective.<\/p>\n

MB: [here, he notices my rather skeptical look]<\/p>\n

ME: Well, again, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proven in science. And in this age of scientific enlightenment, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proven . . .<\/p>\n

MB: I have to stop you here. [Skin stem cells and blood cord research] is interesting science, so let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pursue it. But blocking off this entire area that seems to be the core of stem cell research \u00e2\u20ac\u201c embryonic stem cells \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just because it involves embryonic cells, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something that a lot of people have a problem with.<\/p>\n

ME: That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fine. But I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t water down who I am. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m for 99.5% of what [researchers] do, obviously, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much done. So it would be somebody who just wants to pick and debate and say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, Ellmore doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t support stem cell research . . . .\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but no, I do. I can show you scientists that say skin stems cells are better than the embryonic stem cells. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t water down who I am and then say I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to jump over here. No, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the whole thing, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just who I am. But I think that we can articulate that message and those others, [that say] an embryo needs to be used, I can show you a scientist that says no, skin cells and blood cord stem cells are just as productive.<\/p>\n

[The remainder of the interview will be posted in the near future.]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the second part of multi-part interview with Mark Ellmore, candidate in the GOP primary, where he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s facing Amit Singh (also interviewed at Blacknell.net). The winner of the June 10th primary will face long time incumbent Rep. Jim Moran (D) this fall.\u00c2\u00a0 Part I is here.\u00c2\u00a0 I apologize to my readers for the long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-virginia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}