Fred Karger is a candidate for the Republican nomination for the 2012 US Presidential election.  Mr. Karger has been involved in politics for three decades and served as a senior consultant to the campaigns of President Reagan, President George H Bush and President Ford.

Over the course of this three part interview we will reveal how Mr. Karger is making waves around the country on issues besides his Presidential run.  It is my honor to welcome Mr. Karger to The Global Townhall.

Fred Karger:  I want to talk about how to bring back the Reagan spirit and talk about how great this country is, inject some optimism.  All my opponents are so negative and that is not what the country needs right now. "

Gabrielle Reilly:  Talking about President Reagan.  What is your view on raising taxes and cutting spending.  I know there is a myth that Reagan didn't raise taxes, but he actually raised them 11 times (here is some information on Bloomberg regarding those increases.)   What is your view on raising taxes in this current economy?

Fred Karger:  Well you know this current time is very difficult.  It is politics at its worst.  All they will do is cut taxes and raise spending because they have one goal and that is to get elected or re-elected.   They are not putting the country first and we need to do that.  That might include additional revenues. 

I am looking closely at the Bowles Simpson Deficit Commission recommendation which includes both.  We can no longer continue along this path of spending more money and cutting taxes.  It doesn't take an economist to figure out that is a bad formula.  We need to put this country back to work.  We need to balance our budget. 

I was the Chief Financial Officer of a small business and when times were good we would hire people and when times were not, we would lay people off and cut our own salaries.  That is how the government needs to operate, it cannot continue along this path.  Some tough decisions need to be made and yes revenue needs to be increased in a sensible way considering the fragile state of the economy.   We need more revenue.

Gabrielle Reilly:  Actually I did an interview with the former US Comptroller General, David Walker recently and he was alarmed to watch both political parties reduce taxes AND increase spending for a decade which put us in the economic crisis the country is in today.  He said there needs to be a new word in Washington, "maths."  

Fred Karger:  We need to bring to back the American spirit.   I want to bring back the undying spirit of optimism of Ronald Reagan.   I was a little skeptical of Obama, but I hoped he had some of the Reagan spirit that would rub off.   I saw a lot of that on the campaign but he is a complete bust!  We need to excite this country. 

I was very involved in Reagan's political operations and his team.  We worked very closely with his political action committee.   I used to put together press conferences to help support his tax cuts and his Economic Recovery Act of 1981.  The country was in dire straits back then.   He just had that spirit and attitude of optimism and the ability to get along with Democrats.    

President Reagan had very close relationships with Tip O'Neill, the Liberal Democrat Speaker of the House during that time.  They forged an alliance to do what was best for the country and sometimes that included tax increases.  So that is what is missing.  We need someone who is upbeat, positive and optimistic to encourage Americans to get back to work. To understand what a wonderful country this is.  We are the envy of the world.  There is a line of people trying to come here. 

We need to realize how fortunate we are how much potential there is.  Instead of the doom and gloom we hear from my opponents who spend their time attacking each other and the President.   Let's talk about great things for our country.  That is what Fred Karger can bring to this campaign.

Thanks so much Fred!  Stayed tuned for Part 2 of our 3 part interview with US Presidential candidate for the Republican nomination, Mr. Fred Karger.