US Rep Dan Burton on Obama Foreign Policy - President Obama "is a Disaster for this Country" (Video Interview)

On September 11th, I had the privilege of sitting down with US Representative Dan Burton (R-IN) in his Washington, DC office. We discussed President Obamas dangerous foreign policy in regards to Egypt and the illegal war with Libya. Burton predicted there would be serious problems in this region because of the amateurish way these countries were handled by Obama. Little did we know that, within the next hour or so, Egypt would erupt in flames and US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other brave Americans would be dead in Libya.

Earlier I had written about Obamas misguided policy on Egypt and on his illegal war in Libya.  

Burton serves as Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia and previously served as the senior Republican on the Subcommittee on the Middle East. I asked Chairman Burton about Obamas experience in this area. In a very candid answer Burton replied, "I think the president, first of all, has no experience. Two years as a state senator, two years as an United States senator and now president of the most powerful country on Earth, what we thought was the most powerful country on Earth, still is, but if he has his way, Im not sure were going to keep that position, and I think its a probably a combination of both incompetence and I think he has a very liberal attitude."

Burton continued explaining, "I think hes always looked at America as a state that tries to control the rest of the world, and hes never liked that. He sent Winston Churchills statue back to England because they had the worldwide organization, and so I think he deliberately wants to diffuse the popularity and strength of the United States, and I think thats by design, and I think its also incompetence. A lot of people would be very upset to hear me say that, but I really mean it. I think he is a disaster for this country, and then if you want to talk about the economy, my goodness."

During the video interview, we began with a discussion of the Delphi pension scandal where the Obama Administration deliberately stole the pensions of salaried retirees and "topped-up" the union retirees pensions. Many of Burtons constituents were directly affected by this massive redistribution of wealth. I will discuss this in another story. We also discussed healthcare and ObamaCare. Here is that interview in its entirety:

Obama took a reckless approach to both Egypt and Libya.  He replaced the leaders of both countries with little regard for who would be replacing them and with what policies.  Burton explained this stating, "You know, theres a lot of bad guys in this world that are tyrants, and we need to take a hard look at them and how it affects our foreign policy, but we should never go in and start replacing tyrants until we know where were going. Muammar Gaddafi, as you mentioned, was bombed by Ronald Reagan after some of the things that happened during Reagans Administration, and Muammar Gaddafi has not been a problem for us ever since.  Now, he was a problem for his people, but that was an interior problem.

"When Obama went in there with the help and accompaniment of the French president, I thought it was a mistake, and whats happened is its now in chaos over there and al-Qaeda and the Taliban are in there, and theyre going to try to use that as a launching place for more terrorist activity."

Within hours of this prediction Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans would be dead.

As for Egypt, Burton stated, "Mubarak was not a good guy. Some people say he was a bastard, but he was one we could live with because he supported the Camp David accords. We went in, and Obama helped replace him. Now, people say he didnt, but he did. He went over there and made a speech and stirred up everything, and Mubarak was replaced. Now we have the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical Muslim group, thats in charge of the government, and they are talking about their new president, theyre talking about modeling their government after Iran."

Burton continued with some very strong comments about Obamas foreign policy, "... this Administration, I know a lot of people arent paying attention to it, and they may not agree with what Im saying, but Im telling you, this Administration has really hurt the United States and our future foreign policy. Its a disaster, and I think its very likely were going to see a major conflict over there because of this Administration."

Burton was certainly correct on this prediction.  With thirty years of experience and having advised every US president since Reagan, Congressman Burton has very powerful insight into our nations foreign policy.  Clearly he knows what he is talking about and is not afraid to say exactly what he thinks of President Obama.

As for what we can do, Burton summed it up by saying, "Well, what can be done is elect a Republican president and Republican Congress. Obamacare, all these other crazy things that are happening, that are affecting our economy now, and in the future, its not going to get better, its going to get much, much worse if we dont get control of Congress and get a Republican president. Now, even with us getting Congress and a Republican president, its not going to be any cakewalk, weve got $16 trillion national debt, were running over a trillion dollars a year in deficits, and if you look at the deficits in Social Security, Medicare, and everything, were up at $70-something trillion dollars in the red, and this country is on the brink of something as bad or worse than Greece, and so its not going to be easy for Romney or a Republican Congress, but it will be a heck of a lot better than if we continue the path were on."

Burton closed the interview with, "Well, all Im going to say is anybody thats watching this, Ive been here for thirty years. Im a conservative, and I hope youre paying attention. This is the most important election in your lifetime, and its not only going to affect you, its going to affect your kids and your grandkids and the future of this country. So if youre paying attention to anybody, I hope youll listen to me. Im not going to be here next year, so I have no ax to grind, but Im telling you, if you give a damn about this country, dont reelect this president."

There is much more information in this debate.  Burton also took us on an office tour and had some very touching stories to share about his experiences with President Ronald Reagan.  I will write more about this in the future.  But for now, lets take Chairman Burtons advice and replace Obama as president, take back the Senate and keep the House Republican!

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW:

Bob Price: Were here with Chairman Dan Burton, Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia and great servant for the people of Indiana for thirty years, and youre retiring after this year I understand. So I want to thank you for your service as a former Hoosier myself. I appreciate you inviting us into talk to you in your office. One of the issues that weve been covering in TexasGOPVote that affects a lot of your constituents is the bankruptcy courts handling of the Delphi salaried retirees and the GM bankruptcy issue, which the president is putting as the shining star on his reelection campaign about saving GM when he really hasnt. Id like to talk to you about the Delphi issue and how does a runaway court like this just take away the pensions of the people who worked hard right alongside their union counterparts. 

Chairman Dan Burton: First of all, the people that worked at Delphi that werent union workers, they really got shafted, and I feel a great deal of concern about them and their quality of life because things they depended on their whole lives has been diminished dramatically, some of them just arent getting anything, and so I think the decisions by the court regarding that case was just wrong. Toward that issue, I wish we could do something about the tenured federal judges. I know the Supreme Court, a constitutionally mandated thats appointed for life, thats one thing, but some of these federal judges have gone off the deep end and made some terrible decisions, and I think thats one of them. 

Bob Price: Yeah, it just seems that in this particular case with the Delphi issue that they were not represented in this process and yet without representation, something they had worked for their entire lives was just stolen from them basically by Secretary Geithner… 

Chairman Dan Burton: Well, you know this Administration and the Secretary and the Treasury and the Fed, they have just done things that I think are unforgivable, and one of the things that they have done is showing support for supporters of the president like union workers and to the detriment of the people who are white collar workers, and I just think thats wrong. The president is a complete politician, I dont think he is a very good president, but hes a politician, and thats why hes going to be tough to beat, but if we ever needed a change, its right now because these decisions that are coming out of the Administration and his friends in the court are just wrong. 

Bob Price: You mentioned earlier the Supreme Court, and one of the things that concerns me the most is if the president were to be reelected, what would the Supreme Court look like after another four years of Barack Obama? 

Chairman Dan Burton: Well I think in the next four years, whoever the president is is going to make one or two Supreme Court appointments. If the Socialist approach, the European Socialist approach   or further to left than that, happens in the White House if the president gets reelected, theres no question that well have an entirely different outlook on what we consider to be our Constitution. Theyll be making decisions that I think will be detrimental to the country in the future, so I think this election is probably the most important election Ive been involved in. Ive been involved in government and politics for 46 years. 

Bob Price: Earlier today, we talked to a group of doctors and I noticed you were talking to some doctors… 

Chairman Dan Burton: Im married to one. 

Bob Price: Youre married to a doctor. The Obamacare, the "Affordable Health Care Act", what happens in the next election if we do succeed or in the next Congress if we do succeed in replacing the president. 

Chairman Dan Burton: Well if we keep the House and we dont get the Senate and Obama gets reelected, Obamacare will go into effect and after a couple of years, itll be almost irreversible. Once another entitlement comes along, like Medicare or Social Security, people become dependent on it, and thatll be the same thing with Obamacare, and once people start depending on it, itll be very difficult to reverse it, and Obamacare is 1/6th of our economy, so we will be well on our way to a socialistic government, so its extremely important that we get the House, the Senate, and the presidency. If we do that, I think we can reverse Obamacare and come up with a realistic approach in dealing with health care problems.  

Bob Price: Now, through your service on the Foreign Affairs Committee, you have a lot of experience in the Middle East. Back in the 80s, an aircraft that I worked on, the F-111Fs out of RAF Lakenheath, England paid a visit to Muammar Gaddafi in Libya… 

Chairman Dan Burton: Under Reagan, yeah… 

Bob Price: Absolutely. And now we see an Administration that is really just out of control in the Middle East with Egypt , probably an illegal war against Libya that we ran back door through NATO, which is really the United States. What are your thoughts on the Middle East at this point? 

Chairman Dan Burton: Well, I was Senior Republican on the Middle East the last two years before I became Chairman of Europe and Eurasia, and Ive been interested in that area for a long, long time. You know, theres a lot of bad guys in this world that are tyrants, and we need to take a hard look at them and how it affects our foreign policy, but we should never go in and start replacing tyrants until we know where were going. Muammar Gaddafi, as you mentioned, was bombed by Ronald Reagan after some of the things that happened during Reagans Administration, and Muammar Gaddafi has not been a problem for us ever since. Now, he was a problem for his people, but that was an interior problem. When Obama went int there with the help and accompaniment of the French president, I thought it was a mistake, and whats happened is its now in chaos over there and al-Qaeda and the Taliban are in there, and theyre going to try to use that as a launching place for more terrorist activity. Egypt, Mubarak was not a good guy. Some people say he was a bastard, but he was one we could live with because he supported the Camp David accords. We went in, and Obama helped replace him. Now, people say he didnt, but he did. He went over there and made a speech and stirred up everything, and Mubarak was replaced. Now we have the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical Muslim group, thats in charge of the government, and they are talking about their new president, theyre talking about modeling their government after Iran. Well thats what we need is another one of those in the Middle East. Garbage is up to rooftop height now, they cant provide services in either Libya or Egypt, and its a tinderbox over there because of it. The Gaza, which is right next to Egypt, Hamas has been elected to run that area, and they are a terrorist organization trying to destroy Israel as is Hezbollah, so this Administration, I know a lot of people arent paying attention to it, and they may not agree with what Im saying, but Im telling you, this Administration has really hurt the United States and our future foreign policy. Its a disaster, and I think its very likely were going to see a major conflict over there because of this Administration. 

Bob Price: Is it possible that theyre that incompetent, or do you think that this is by design?  

Chairman Dan Burton: I think the president, first of all, has no experience. Two years as a state senator, two years as an United States senator and now president of the most powerful country on Earth, what we thought was the most powerful country on Earth, still is, but if he has his way, Im not sure were going to keep that position, and I think its a probably a combination of both incompetence and I think he has a very liberal attitude. I think hes always looked at America as a state that tries to control the rest of the world, and hes never liked that. He sent Winston Churchills statue back to England because they had the world wide organization, and so I think he deliberately wants to diffuse the popularity and strength of the United States, and I think thats by design, and I think its also incompetence. A lot of people would be very upset to hear me say that, but I really mean it. I think he is a disaster for this country, and then if you want to talk about the economy, my goodness. 

Bob Price: Well the economy is certainly a major issue. I know in Indiana, which is one of the battleground states, as the Midwest is through there, jobs are very important. What is the current economic climate in your district?  

Chairman Dan Burton: Well in Indiana, because of Governor Mitch Daniels, Indiana is doing better than many states, but you know, because of the closing down of Delphi and General Motors and some of the other things where they reduced staff, the economy has been hurt, but I dont think weve been hurt as badly as some of the others. 

Bob Price: I know in Kokomo recently, there was a rally for the Delphi and there was a lot of comments back and forth, and I was reading in the Kokomo Tribune about some comments from the union workers and how hateful they were toward people who were working right alongside them their whole lives. It just really seems surprising. 

Chairman Dan Burton: Well, you know Obama is beholden to the unions and the trial lawyers and other special interest groups, and hes not going to lose that, thats part of his political base. He and his Administration have catered to them, and hes done his best to make sure that they prevail on every issue, and they did it in the Delphi case, and thats just wrong. Those salaried workers who worked there their whole life have been screwed, and theyre not living the kind of life they anticipated in retirement. Some are really in bad shape, and I just think its a travesty. 

Bob Price: I completely agree with you. What can the Congress do to protect the rights of people like this. Its not just in this GM case? Weve got cases now where the bankruptcy courts, these lawyers are coming in and suing individual shareholders who did nothing other than buy shares of stock, and theyre holding them personally liable for the actions of the… 

Chairman Dan Burton: Well, what can be done is elect a Republican president and Republican Congress. Obamacare, all these other crazy things that are happening, that are affecting our economy now, and in the future, its not going to get better, its going to get much, much worse if we dont get control of Congress and get a Republican president. Now, even with us getting Congress and a Republican president, its not going to be any cakewalk, weve got $16 trillion national debt, were running over a trillion dollars a year in deficits, and if you look at the deficits in Social Security, Medicare, and everything, were up at $70-something trillion dollars in the red, and this country is on the brink of something as bad or worse than Greece, and so its not going to be easy for Romney or a Republican Congress, but it will be a heck of a lot better than if we continue the path were on. 

Bob Price: Well personally, Im sorry to see you leaving. We need good, solid Conservatives in the House, but hopefully someone will come along behind you and take up the battle. 

Chairman Dan Burton: Well, Im hopeful. I think Susan Brooks is going to probably take my place. I think shell do a good job. The Constitution is so vital to the future of America, and this man is going to try to dissemble it. Hes going to do it piece by piece if he gets his way. Hes circumventing Congress right now with appointments, with regulations, and its just terrible, and so I really fear for the future of America if we dont change this Administration and elect someone that cares about where were going. 

Bob Price: Well Texas is a solid Republican state, and we try to send our conservative message all over.  

Chairman Dan Burton: Thank God. My son is down there. He works in between Dallas and Fort Worth. He works for a pipe company. I cant tell you the name of it, but hes really happy, he likes Texas. 

Bob Price: Is he in Joe Bartons district? 

Chairman Dan Burton: He may be… The only thing he doesnt like is it gets a little hot there in the summer. 

Bob Price: It does indeed. 

Chairman Dan Burton: I hope we make it very hot for the Democrats there in November. 

Bob Price: I think we will. Well Chairman, thank you very much for your service to our country and for giving us the time here at TexasGOPVote. 

Chairman Dan Burton: Is this going to be showing anywhere else besides Texas? 

Bob Price: Oh, it will be showing all over the country. 

Chairman Dan Burton: Well, all Im going to say is anybody thats watching this, Ive been here for thirty years. Im a conservative, and I hope youre paying attention. This is the most important election in your lifetime, and its not only going to affect you, its going to affect your kids and your grandkids and the future of this country. So if youre paying attention to anybody, I hope youll listen to me. Im not going to be here next year, so I have no ax to grind, but Im telling you, if you give a damn about this country, dont reelect this president. 

Bob Price: Thank you Mr. Chairman.