By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Just days after June, 3 primary, Gary Palmer was in Trussville speaking to the Republican Women of Trussville.
Gary Palmer said, “I am the guy that everybody thought did not have a chance…I am kind of the policy guy.” The policy guy beat out five other challengers to get in the Republican Party runoff in the Sixth Congressional District on July 15.
Palmer said, “What we do about the EPA?” The reason Obama is trying to impose cap and trade by executive order is that the Supreme Court says that EPA has the authority to regulate carbon is because Congress gave them that authority. Palmer said if Congress can give them that authority then Congress can repeal that authority.
Palmer said that being in public policy for 24 years matters. Palmer said that it gives him the unique experience to go to Congress walk in on day one and not only have standing in Congress but be known in every state in the country. Palmer said if elected, you will be glad to have voted for me.
Palmer said, “I am going to look at every federal program and ask: Is this program relevant? Is this a legitimate function of government? Is this duplicated at any level of the federal government? If programs don’t meet those criteria they need to go.”
Palmer said we should block grant all the Medicaid money back to the states and let them administer the program. Every state has a department of environmental management agency. Get rid of the EPA and let the state’s handle it.
Palmer said that he wanted to focus on economic development so that “…when our kids go to college they can come back to Alabama and get a good job here in Trussville or Oneonta so we won’t have to fly three hours to see our grandkids.”
Palmer said, “We are are an energy superpower. This district should be a hotbed for light manufacturing. 75 percent of the country can be reached through here via railway.”
Palmer said, “I have worked with those guys in Congress for 25 years. There are more conservatives in Congress than at any time since World War II. I have worked closely with Senator Jeff Sessions. When the Republicans win the Senate in November he will be the Senate Budget Chairman and we can introduce reforms in the budget and in how government functions.”
Palmer said, “we are getting things done in the House. The House is passing legislation like the REINS act which restores Congresses authority under the Constitution. Congress routinely delegates its constitutional law making power. The REINS act ends that. We have repealed Obamacare 7 or 8 times. The problem has been the Senate and that will change this year.”
Palmer said that a crime has been committed in the Sgt. Bergdahl prisoner swap. The Constitution has been violated routinely by the Executive branch. President Obama failed to notify Congress when he negotiated this deal with the Taliban. Palmer said that Congress has the power to convene a tribunal. That is different than impeachment. The impeachment of President Clinton did hurt us, but this is different matter. Right now you have Democrats who are outraged by this including Sen. Diane Feinstein.
Palmer said that if Bergdahl was a deserter and if they knew it there was no way we should have traded prisoners for him. State Department is getting calls by American missionaries and medical doctors who are afraid that they are going to be taken hostage because of this.
On his opponent, Rep. Paul DeMarco, Palmer said, “Paul is a good guy, but you can’t vote for a guy because he is younger, dresses nicer, and has legislative experience. If we chose auto mechanics like we choose Congressmen 80% of us would be walking.
Gary Palmer is the co-founder and longtime President of the Alabama Policy Institute, which is Alabama’s top conservative think tank.
The Republican Runoff is July 15.
