Click below to listen to Congressman Fulcher give his weekly Congressional Update on the Kevin Miller Show. For more on this interview, visit the KIDO website here.
The following transcript was generated using AI and may be subject to mistakes.
Kevin Miller 0:00
And thank you for joining us. Kevin mill, in the morning. KIDO. Talk Radio phone numbers, 580-543-6580, KIDO, We’re joined by our great friend, Congressman Fulcher, Congressman Good
Rep. Fulcher 0:11
morning. Kevin Miller, good morning to you.
Kevin Miller 0:14
How goes the fight? Brother?
Rep. Fulcher 0:17
Well, I tell you what it is. It is indeed have fight between now and November. I think the agenda that we have in the US Congress is going to continue to be abysmal and and this week has been no exception to that. And so it is that from from my perspective, from the Republican perspective, to a large extent, it’s, it’s attempting to mitigate damage control and and that’s what we’re had to we’re doing every now and then we’ll get we’ll get something either stopped, or else something moving forward. But the agenda is, is, is very unfortunate.
Kevin Miller 0:56
Kevin, well, let’s start off with an international story that is really percolating. And to your good friend, the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, saying that she’s going to go to Taiwan, and the Chinese saying, No, you’re not. And even members of the Biden administration warning the Speaker of the House not to go. What’s your perspective?
Rep. Fulcher 1:16
Well, I think that there should be high ranking officials going to Taiwan. And, you know, personally, I wish that it were someone other than the speaker. However, she is the Speaker of the House and and to the Chinese, that sends a signal that we recognize Taiwan as having some independence. She’s not making a statement. As far as I know, that that she recognizes full independence for Taiwan. However, she is a third in line at for the United States of America in terms of leadership, and so the Chinese don’t like that. And I think that in this particular case, it’s a positive instance. We’ve got senior leadership that’s giving them some direct attention.
Kevin Miller 2:04
What is your overall take on our ever developing relationship with the Chinese Joe Biden wants to get rid of the tariffs on the Chinese businesses. Of course, President Trump put those in place to give Americans a fighting chance.
Rep. Fulcher 2:20
Well as somebody who’s dealt directly with with Chinese culture, Chinese people, Chinese leadership in China, I can tell you that I I believe very strongly that they have, they do not have the best entrance interests of America at heart. To the contrary, they are. They are our enemies right now, and I think that’s going to be the case for the foreseeable future. And the this is very similar to what we had with the old Soviet Union once upon a time, with one substantial difference. It’s American money that’s financing them, because it’s American corporations, American business, American government, frankly, that has been funding that regime and enabling that regime. They are absolutely horrifically bad when it comes to anything human rights related. They are horrifically bad on the environment. They don’t take any precautions whatsoever when they harvest the things that we have to buy, because we won’t harvest it in the US. They want to. They want to overtake the United States of America. They’re trying to manipulate our currency on the international stage. They are massively building up their military. I mean, massively building up the military. And quite, quite frankly, right now, I believe they look at the United States of America as being vulnerable, being without a competent leadership, and they’re taking advantage of that on absolutely every front. This is a, this is a very big problem for us, and I’m afraid most, most people, don’t realize that, and I’m concerned that our leadership is not doing the right things with that either.
Kevin Miller 4:10
Well, that is very scary. Let’s move to some news out of the Senate that apparently Joe Manchin has cut a deal with Joe Biden 15% taxes on businesses more on climate change than ever before. Of course, you’re a pro business guy. You’re a small businessman. You worked in the big business world for many, many years. It’s ironic that President Trump, again, allowed our tax rate for businesses to go down because so many of these companies were going taking their headquarters to other places to avoid American taxes. Sorry for the long winded question, and then you have liberal, liberal teachers, pets, if you will. For lack of a better descriptive like Amazon and General Electric during the Obama years, Amazon still doesn’t pay taxes, but GE not not paying. Any taxes as a offshore jobs to China.
Rep. Fulcher 5:04
To your point, Kevin, you know, large corporations are going to be fine. I mean, we need to just keep this in mind. The question is, where are they going to be fine? President Trump recognized that if you keep a low corporate tax rate, or if you put in place a lower corporate tax rate, they’re going to take funds and they’re going to invest them domestically, because it’s easier, generally speaking, it’s easier to do it at home, and it’s easier to to manage those types of things. However, if you penalize performance and you say, No, we’re going to we’re going to collect those taxes, they’re going to respond. They’re just not going to do it in America. And so we will pay as a function of that. It’s inconvenient for large corporations to move or move their money around, but they will do exactly that. They’re going to survive. And the question is, exactly where? Here’s another piece of irony. So yesterday, I’m told I’m we’re going about to go through this in a meeting right after this call, but I’m told that that there was a major incentive plan for semiconductor manufacturers that was passed out of the Senate, which would be a tremendous subsidy there. So on the one hand, the policy is, at least in the Senate so far, let’s subsidize these major corporations, and then, on the other hand, from the same body, no, we’re going to raise the tax, so we’re going to subsidize and we’re going to take it back. We’re going to give it out, then take it back. It’s it doesn’t make sense, not even from a top line. It doesn’t make any sense.
Kevin Miller 6:45
Kevin Congressman Fulcher, joining us. Kevin Miller, K Ido talk radio, let’s continue on with this semiconductor bill that you’ve referenced. I know micron is looking for something like that, where it would help them possibly expand in Boise. Of course, they have a big chip hub in Taiwan. I’m sure they’ve reached out to you as they’ve reached out to a lot of folks. Your thoughts on on that proposal?
Rep. Fulcher 7:12
Well, I haven’t seen what’s in front of the house yet. That is literally what’s next on the on the docket for me today. But if it’s similar or the same as to what the Senate had, it got tremendously inflated. I was talking with our communicating with our senators yesterday and and what happened there was an incremental plus or minus 200 billion with a B got inserted into their piece of legislation that was unrelated, or at least directly unrelated, to to chip manufacturing or the semiconductor manufacturing process, which is so typical, I have to say that is so typical. Take a bill like that that some people would typically support, and then you start adding all these things into it to see what you can get for your pet project. And it would be willing to bet there is some so called green New Deal stuff in there, climate stuff. I mean, that is every other sentence on the Democrat side right now, either green New Deal or climate change something or other that they want to throw billions and billions, if not trillions, at. And so I’m afraid that’s probably what it’s going to look like. That said it will likely pass, you know, and so, and you know, to be perfectly black, Kevin, I have to tell you, as you know, I spent a lot of years with with micron and absolutely fabulous experience, and I have nothing but positive things to say there, unless their criteria has changed significantly. I don’t think Boise or Idaho, for that matter, is likely to be in line for fabrication expansion, there might do something else within Idaho, but fabrication, of course, is where the the silicon wafers are fabricated. It’s already several generations behind within within Idaho’s manufacturing facilities, from what I understand and and and so the best I think that could be realistically hoped for is that they would expand within the US. And so that’s where I would at least steer people’s mindsets. Not likely in Idaho, however, possibly in the US.
Kevin Miller 9:38
You know, Canyon County Sheriff Karen Donahue was on Fox and Friends a couple days ago talking about the border and the Fentanyl crisis, saying that now Idaho is a border state, and we had the governor, what was it? Last week, put a million dollars into fighting fentanyl. I know you’re very concerned about the border, very concerned about the drug cartels controlling the. The illegal drugs undermining public safety. Your thoughts?
Rep. Fulcher 10:05
Well, I think that that those worries are founded. It’s been a couple of months since I’ve looked at the data, but we try to track the data, Kevin on the the amount of fentanyl that that we’re able to to get a hold of that has been brought into the country illegally, and it continues to escalate. It appears that it’s being at least the ingredients are being manufactured in China, exported to to Mexico and or Central America, and then put into final form there, and then export, exported across the southern border. And there is a lot of it, and that is dangerous, dangerous stuff. And so we’re seeing not just the the addictions, but frankly, escalating deaths as a result of that, because it is so incredibly potent, and so this is the type of thing that that comes when you don’t control your border, the the as you know, there’s so many other major problems here, you know, there’s this tendency to think, well, you know, it’s, it’s just the illegal immigration, and we just have to deal with that, that in and of itself, is a massive, massive issue. But you add to it, the fentanyl you add to it, the sex trafficking you add to it, the fact that we have forfeited control of a major border United States of America, from American control to the cartel control, and that’s unthinkable, but cartels control our southern border because we have vacated it. And so, you know, this is, it seems like everything we’ve talked about this morning, and I’m so sorry about this is has been something major negative, but frankly, that is a result of this administration and this leadership, that’s what they have embraced. I can’t believe these things are happening in the United States of America right now, but that is the result of a Biden and Democrat leadership that is in charge in America right now, and it truly is tragic. We we are in some difficult situations. Kevin our great
Kevin Miller 12:25
friend, Congressman Fulcher, joining us. Kevin Miller, K Ido, talk radio, we’ll get you out on this one. Actually, two parter. Your thoughts on the administration selling us that gasoline prices are going down and the Fed hiking interest rates almost a full point yesterday or two days ago?
Rep. Fulcher 12:43
Well, here’s something that many people have don’t think about when they think about the interest rates going up. With the interest rates going up, that means that we, as in as in the US government, the financing for our debt goes up too, and we’re $30 trillion dollars in debt, and the market, the the rates are higher, and so when we when we pay our debt, then there we’re paying that much more. Well, you know, a percentage point on 30 trillion is a big, big number. So that’s just one thing, not not to mention the implications it has on on, say, housing and all those types of things that we’re experiencing in Idaho all across the country. But that’s just one thing that I wanted to point out. Kevin and this administration and its its leadership has caused this. We have directly caused the inflation that we have right now. It’s been our policies that have done that, and so we’re now living with the with the end result of that. Congressman.
Kevin Miller 13:54
Fulcher, anything else you’d like to share with us today, sir,
Rep. Fulcher 13:58
well, there are a few positive things going on. You know, heaven forbid I got a bill that looks like it’s it’s got a good shot at passage. It’s relatively minor, but it’s in the energy sector just might have some relaxed regulations on geothermal exploration, and that’s come out of committee and looks like it’s headed towards the floor. So we’ll maybe just end it on a positive note there that there could be some could be some positive things moving forward with geothermal energy energy,
Kevin Miller 14:30
we need that now more than ever. Congressman Fulcher, we always appreciate you, your dedication to the district, to the state, and your commitment to keep everybody informed. Sir. Thank you very much. I appreciate you, Kevin, thank you so much. Thank you our great friend, Congressman Fulcher, joining us.