Lowden backs returning to legislative appointment of U.S. senators; Hutchison defends extending expiring taxes

In lengthy interviews with the Douglas County Republican Party, lieutenant governor candidates Sue Lowden and Mark Hutchison answered some amazing questions, including what they would do if the president signed an executive order to "require that all guns should be turned in."

I kid you not.

Ah, rural Nevada.

You can read both of the interviews here. They are something else.

Most astonishing was Lowden heartily embracing repealing the 17th Amendment and returning to state legislatures the appointment of U.S. senators. The exchange:

When ratified, the Constitution provided that two senators be appoint by their state legislature. That changed in 1913 with the ratification of the seventeenth amendment and provided for those seats to be filled by popular election. Mark Levin, in his book, "The Liberty Amendments", suggests that we repeal the seventeenth amendment and return to appointment by the legislature. Would you support Levin's position, if not why not?

LowdenI would absolutely support it. I supported term limits, for instance, when I was in the State Senate. If we had term limits in the United State Senate we wouldn't have this problem right now. I don't know why the senators wouldn't want it shown in good faith to the American public that this would be a good idea for our country. Instead we have Harry Reid, the Harry Reid's of our country who are there over and over again and have a tremendous amount of money to be re-elected. Yes, I think people are really fed up with bad people in government. If that's a way to change things up in Washington, I would be all for it and do whatever we [need] to do it., but I think term limits is an easier way to do it if there was some way to get that on.

Other highlights:

►Hutchison sued over Obamacare. Not sure you knew that.

►He supports campus carry and would sign the bill as governor. He did not co-sponsor the measure last session, though.

►He agreed to let tax sunsets expire, but hoped it would not last long! (Please don't ask him again!)

►He didn’t quite agree with the nutty notion to repeal the 17th Amendment that created direct election of senators, but he did say: “As I said before, the federal government is out of control. It is overreaching and the states need to assert their sovereignty. One way they could do that is to get a sufficient number of state legislators to pass a constitutional amendment taking away the popular vote by which a U.S. senator is elected and have the state legislators appoint those positions again. But that would be consistent with the process laid out the United States Constitution.”

►The Douglas County folks want to know what Hutchison would do as governor if the president signed an executive order “to require that all guns should be turned in.”  Hutchison said it would “not be valid.” Ya think?

►Lowden was all over the map on film tax breaks, taking a “let’s see if they work” attitude but then declaring, “I'm a believer in if we give tax breaks, we should be giving them to all companies. Why would we pin point one company over another company.” I see.

►She seems sympathetic to the Common Core haters: “ I would have joined with other governors and not voted for that, not implemented that. I would have, if I'm ever governor, take another look at Common Core. I think that that is another area in our education system that more and more people are seeing it as the "dumbing" down of our education system, and again federal government brought some money in and said if you implement this program, this new idea of what they think is good for children, we'll give you federal dollars. And I where; there are other states that are pushing back from that. I see a ground swell from Nevada of people who are just fed up with the "dumbing" down of our education.”

►She loves campus carry, mentioned Hutchison not being a co-sponsor.

►On the sunsets, Lowden said, “ I have a plan to show how the budget can be put together without all those other taxes, all those additional taxes.” Oh? I asked her about that and she had nothing. Let’s see it.

►She is against SJR 15, which would take mining taxation out of the Constitution. Hutchison voted for it.

►Lowden supports returning to legislative appointment of U.S. senators. Wow.

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