DEMOCRATS & TEACHERS UNIONS ARE LOWERING SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS, PROFICIENCY LEVELS AT AN ALL TIME LOW
Episode Stats
Summary
Kelly Cooper is a family man, Marine veteran, and entrepreneur who worked his way up from dishwasher to owning three restaurants. He s now running for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 4th District in Arizona.
Transcript
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Hello everybody, I'm Lou Dobbs. Welcome to the Great America Show and great to have you with us
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as the most important midterm elections in our lifetimes wind down. Three days till election
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day and it looks like it's going our way, the way of truth and justice and of course the American
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way. We've been highlighting some of the great Republican candidates out there this year and
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today we're talking with a great American, Kelly Cooper. Kelly is a family man, Marine veteran,
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a terrific entrepreneur who worked his way up from dishwasher to owning three restaurants and
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he's now running for the U.S. Congress from the 4th District in Arizona. Here with us now is Kelly
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Cooper. Welcome to the Great America Show, Kelly. Congratulations on your campaign. You're in a
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battle but you've pulled ahead now. Give us a sense of where your campaign is and your outlook in these
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final days leading up to election day. Man, everything, first of all, thanks for having me.
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It's such a great day. It's such a great week. America has such a bright future if we continue
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to do the things that we're doing in this election cycle. You know, for me, the campaign is looking
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amazing. It's been a long, hard, uphill battle. I was told from day one that I couldn't do any of this,
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but I think the people here in my district recognize the need for change. They see a
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businessman with military background that wants to come in here and fix the issues that we're facing,
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and so we're tied right now. And I think when the voting is all said and done that we're going to be
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up convincingly and we're going to move into a position here where we get to make some real
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positive change for not only just Arizona but for America as well. The numbers look amazing right
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now nationwide in Arizona. Every contest, including several that the Republicans weren't supposed to
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have a chance at all, are, as the saying used to go, tighter than a tick. I love what's happening in
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the country. It's looking now. Real clear politics looks like we're going to see as many as 50 seats
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in the House if these projections are right by real clear politics. 50 seats gained in the House
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and as many as four seats in the Senate. And of course, I would love to see that number doubled,
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but we'll see what happens and we'll all obviously take what comes our way. Give us, I mean, you're in one
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of the toughest places in Arizona that you could be, Maricopa County. It is a very complicated
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little county because you've got a Republican establishment and you've got leftist Dems
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driving politics there. Give us an idea of how you are navigating that extraordinarily tricky channel.
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Well, that's a great question. I think a couple of things. My opponent's helping out a lot. You know,
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Greg Stanton is so out of touch. He literally has on his campaign website that his singular focus in
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Congress is to make your life better and the results speak for themselves. Now, that's a quote
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from his campaign website. And so what I do is I talk to people. I said, really,
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is your life better than it was two years ago? Is your life better than it was four years ago?
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And frankly, if that was my speech on my business pages, anybody that I was responsible to would
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expect me to quit. They would expect me to step down from my position. And frankly, I expect the
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same thing from Greg Stanton. With the results speaking for themselves, 13% inflation and unemployment
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going through the roof. Security is a massive problem, a wide open southern border. It's time
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for him to step down. It's time for him to drop out of this race. But navigating it, you know, I'm
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talking to the people in the district. I talk to people that are struggling and they see the problems.
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We're not talking about division. We're not talking about the issues that people want to divide us on.
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We're talking about the issues that 80 to 90% of us all see as the same as the major problems that need
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to be addressed. I mean, I run into people that are seeing 30% of their 401k going away that want
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to retire and can't. I'm seeing people that are on Social Security that can't pay their bills. I'm
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seeing people at the lower end of the income bracket that can't make it to the end of the month without
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having to borrow or take out payday loans or taking out any savings they might have. This environment
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is awful for the people in my district. Whether you're a Democrat or Republican or establishment,
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it doesn't matter. The issues facing all of us are the same and we have to come together now. We've got to
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stop calling each other names, come together for the common good and move our country forward.
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I like your spirit and I like your perspective. I run into, however, a rather harsh reality.
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I listen to a president talk about Republicans as extremists. I hear him talk about a threat
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to the nation. In fact, I heard the president of the United States yesterday accuse Republicans of
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No, you're, you're, listen, you're, you're absolutely right. And at the same time, while that's
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going on with Joe Biden and the mega mega new branding, because they do evolve, but it's only
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evolving and calling people names, that at the same time here in Arizona yesterday, you had a former
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President Obama talking about cutting down the rhetoric, talking about coming together.
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You know, here's what I would say. It's what I said before, and I think it's true here as well.
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We don't have to bring the division or the divisiveness of Joe Biden because the people that
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voted for him see what his policies have brought. They see where we're at today. So the majority or a good
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portion of the Democrat party and the establishment Republicans and the mainstream conservatives,
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we all see the same issues. So there's, there's this group of far leftist communists with the
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megaphone that are trying to scream and call everybody else names and divide us. But the fact
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is, is that the majority of Americans, regardless of party affiliation, see the issues. And if we speak
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to them, we can come together. We don't have to fall for the rhetoric on the left. We don't have to fall
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for, we aren't really all together because we are, at least the majority of us are. Now there, there are
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some to your exact point that continue to persecute former presidents that continue to try to divide us
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as if we all hate each other. But I think that most of us, most of us are facing the real world and
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the real world. And I don't mean that as if it's not happening. I mean that as the people on the far
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left, the divisive left is talking in their own bubble. The rest of us out here, see what's really
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happening. We can't pay our bills. We can't buy gas. We're about to run out of diesel fuel. The
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supply chain is about to collapse if the, if the rail workers strike. I mean, these are real problems.
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And I think Democrats are seeing them. I think independents are seeing them. I think
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establishment Republicans are seeing them. And my campaign and my candidacy has really been about
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stitching all of that together moving forward and not falling for the shiny object over here,
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calling us all bigots and racists, because frankly, my opponent's done that. I'm, I'm dangerous.
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I'm too extreme. I mean, he puts it out on kids YouTube. I have to wake up to my third grade
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daughter coming in and asking me why I'm a, I'm a mega mega extremist and why I'm too dangerous for
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Arizona. We want to talk about not having division. How about we follow that through on the left and
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not be divisive? Let's talk about moving things forward. Let's talk about what we can do in
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lowering gas prices, in reigning and reckless spending. Okay, let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it.
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Kelly, what are you going to do about lowering gas prices? Lowering gas prices is really all about
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lowering regulations. It takes five to seven years just to permit for a new refinery. So we have to go
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back to drilling and exploration and becoming energy independents in this nation. Absolutely,
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brother. And, and I look over here at the Democrats and I don't see any dinos. Do you know what that is?
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Democrats in name only? They're, they're locked solid together marching. And I mean, they're in
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goose step on the left. These people are authoritarian, totalitarian. And you watched the
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president of the United States last night talk like a fascist in 1935. Pick Italy, pick Germany,
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you name it. That's who he was. And he was calling, I, I mean, it was the most, I shuddered. I thought
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his previous speech was one of the worst I'd ever heard a president utter. This was the granddaddy
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of them all. And he has, I think, just added to the margin of victory for the Republicans in 22
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in these midterm elections. So, I mean, I understand what you're saying, but this is all stuff that can
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be done. And if the Democrats want to follow that kind of leader, if radical dim Marxists are putting
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people like, I mean, my Lord, you're talking about Barack Obama coming to Phoenix. Here you have
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next up Kamala Harris lining up with Hillary Clinton to go to New York to campaign with Kathy
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Hochul. I mean, she hasn't even been in office, you know, time to really get the paint dry on the
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door to the governor's office. And she's one of the most corrupt ever. It's just amazing to me that
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you're able to, well, I just, I admire your spirit of cooperation and bipartisan. I don't think it's
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going to be reciprocated. Well, I totally agree with you. I don't think that it is, but I'm not
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talking about the legislature. I'm talking about voters. And we see this on a grand scale right now.
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People are abandoning the Democrat Party. People are going from independent to Republican,
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and they're all voting conservative. They're voting for the movement that we are pushing forward.
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And so no matter what Joe Biden wants to say, and I'm happy that he's doing it because frankly,
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he's dividing his own party. He's sending voters our way. He's sending people to us because of the
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way that he's doing this. And I think that you would be a magnet for these folks because you've
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got a, you are embracing voters and citizens who really want the best for themselves, their
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families, and this country. The latter. You're absolutely right. The latter aspiration seems to
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be absent on the left part of the Democratic Party. But that is of no, to your point, it's of no matter
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if there are Democrats who will come to the center and think intelligently and passionately about
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this great nation and our interest as a nation and as a people. I'd like to talk to you about some
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of your issues here that you've been talking about, including the real issue of education,
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the very real issue of turning this economy around and get your thinking from your perspective there
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in the fourth district. Well, yeah, absolutely. So educational freedom is a massive, massive issue.
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issue. It's the longer term issue that has to be addressed right now. It's not talked about as
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frequently as it should be. But the fact that we have children coming out of K-12 that can't tell
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you who the president is, they can't tell you how many Supreme Court justices there are, that's a failure
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on our K-12 system. Not on the individual teachers, but the system. And it's why here in Arizona we have
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the most progressive, I know that's a dirty word in most circles, but we have the most forward-thinking
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educational system where the money follows the kid. They can go to a public charter school like
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mine. They can go to a private school. They can go to homeschooling. They can go to a religious-based
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education system. And they come out of those schools with the knowledge and the information
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to be good citizens in this country. Right now, you don't see that coming out of K-12
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in many cases. And that's being demonstrated in the reports that just came out. Most of our
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proficiency levels are in the 25 to 30 percent range. That's unacceptable. And instead of addressing
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that and making our education system stronger and better, most of the time we're lowering score
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requirements. So it looks like our students are doing better. But point of fact is they're failing on a
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global scale compared to other educations in other nations. And if we don't fix that,
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all of the rest of it is going to fall by the wayside because we're being overtaken
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by stronger education systems in other nations. And we will become a relic if we don't address that
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issue right now. From my standpoint, I don't care about the competition with other countries
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because without an informed citizenry, an educated citizenry, we don't have an economy and we don't
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have a great republic that can sustain it. Absolutely. And that's precisely why the left
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and these two leading teachers unions are trying to destroy this great public education system. And I
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love the fact that you're supporting school choice. I love the fact that you are wired in
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to the community and what is necessary for the folks. Well, my kids are second and third grade
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in charter school. I mean, my daughter, starting in second grade, is reciting the preamble of the
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Constitution at different campaign events. I mean, that's the way that our education system should
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be. You should have your children coming home from school and knowing, reading, writing, math,
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and how our country was built and the founding documents of our nation. In most cases,
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though, that's just not where we are. And to your point, the teachers' unions, if you will,
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not the teachers, but the unions have a completely opposite view, an opposing view, where they want
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to be able to be in control. And it's a long-term, been going on for a long period of time, but we're
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faced with the cliff today. And if we don't address it now, I fear that we're going to have a longer,
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more challenging struggle to come out of it. But that leads us into the economic struggle that
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we're having, too. Sure. And this economic struggle is created by none other than Joe Biden.
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It's the compliments of Joe Biden, his Marxist, dim, destructive, devastating economic policies,
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and also leaving that border wide open. He has turned over the southern border of the United States.
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On both sides of that border, he has ceded control to the Mexican drug cartels.
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Well, as a Marine Corps veteran that's been all over the world,
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I was an infantry Marine that's been all over South and Central America, Cuba, South Korea, Okinawa.
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I'm also a businessman. I own three restaurants here in Arizona, two of them in my district.
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It's why people see my campaign as the one to get behind. Because when we talk about the economic
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issues, when we talk about reckless spending, inflation, overregulation, those are the issues
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that I recognize and will address. The southern border being wide open. Oh, my God. As a Marine
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Corps veteran, I've seen it. I've stood on lines. I've had to protect walls, if you will.
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Now, what we have at our southern border right now is a complete dereliction of duty.
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The reckless abandon of what they've done at our southern border is out of control. We have
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fentanyl pouring across the southern border at rates unheard of. We have unchecked migration,
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illegal migration coming across our southern border at rates unheard of. They are very unhelpful.
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And they are costing our social infrastructure massively. Our education system here in Arizona
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is struggling and really around the country. Healthcare systems are being wrecked as a result.
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And really, the migrants, the illegal immigrants that are coming are being put in a humanitarian
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crisis themselves. They're being trafficked by the Mexican drug lords, if you will, the cartels.
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And all we're doing is enriching them and China. We really have to be responsible to the citizenry
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in this country. And that's why I'm looking forward to some real changes in our representation
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and our leadership. Because if we don't close this border, the rest of it isn't going to matter.
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We are poisoning our citizenry with the irresponsibility at our southern border.
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Absolutely. And that switch on that border is obviously under the control of Joe Biden.
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You know, I just love talking with you, Kelly Cooper. I like your approach. I like your
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program. And I like your perspective. I wish you the very best. We always give our guests the last word
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on this podcast. And with that, if you would, Kelly, your concluding thoughts.
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Yeah, absolutely, Lou. Thank you for having me on. There's a couple of things. One, we are in
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what is a true toss-up seat. It is a fight all the way to the finish. So if you go to my website,
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KellyCooperArizona.com, you can contribute. You can volunteer. We are trying to get our last little
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bit of commercials up to make sure our messaging gets out there. And then I would say, you know,
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it's time for the Democrats and the independents and the establishment to see the true path forward
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in America and come on board and help support these races. Because there's one side talking
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about solutions, and then there's one side talking about division. And it's pretty clear which one's
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which. So it's time to move forward, America. Semper Fi, and God bless.
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Thanks, everybody. Tomorrow, we'll be talking with a candidate for attorney general in Michigan.
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Our guest will be Matt DiPerno, who's running against the incumbent Democrat for attorney general.
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That's here tomorrow. Please be with us. Till then, God bless you, and may God bless America.