{"id":41727,"date":"2012-08-29T20:46:03","date_gmt":"2012-08-30T02:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=41727"},"modified":"2012-09-03T21:09:15","modified_gmt":"2012-09-04T03:09:15","slug":"pearce-wants-to-return-to-constitutional-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/08\/pearce-wants-to-return-to-constitutional-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearce wants to return to constitutional \u2018truth\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018People are looking for certainty in their lives,\u2019 the congressman says, and, as he seeks re-election, Pearce says he is reaching across party lines to try to \u2018bring widely divergent groups together\u2019 to focus on policy and \u2018the common good\u2019 instead of politics.<\/h4>\n

\u201cThe truth doesn\u2019t change across time,\u201d says U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a>. \u201cMajor troubles occur when we don\u2019t follow the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was the congressman\u2019s reply to my question about whether the United States needs another constitutional convention to update this important document. Although not spoken, his answer was a definite \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pearce believes strongly that the United States has taken a turn away from the intent of the U.S. Constitution. He wants to see a more literal use of it as a guide for government and the people. He cited Article 1, Section 8, which lays out the powers given to Congress.<\/p>\n

Among those powers are still-relevant things such as the ability \u201cto borrow money on the credit of the United States\u201d and citations that involve the military and post offices. Perhaps less-relevant is the power to grant letters of marquee \u2013 a document that lets a nation hire mercenaries to retaliate for it against another nation.<\/p>\n

As for a constitutional convention, Pearce simply doesn\u2019t seem to believe one is necessary. All that\u2019s necessary is a return to a more literal reading of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u2018100 percent focused on the current job\u2019<\/h3>\n

My 30-minute conversation with Pearce covered a lot of other areas, mostly in brief, and often he cited examples of the work he has done or is doing to help get the nation back on course.<\/p>\n

Pearce, who faces a challenge from Democrat Evelyn Madrid Erhard<\/a> this year, was first elected to the N.M. House of Representatives in 1996. A native of Hobbs, his background is in the oil business, where his father worked as a roustabout. Roustabouts are general maintenance or construction workers, and Pearce said he came from a working-class background.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in the oil business, I found that there were so many regulations that they were choking off the oil business,\u201d Pearce said. \u201cI could see that my kids and grandkids were not going to have the same benefits that I have had, and that is when I decided to run for state Legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pearce said he quickly realized the state Legislature was not the place to try to change the laws and regulations he felt were inappropriate, so he began thinking about running for Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were on a trip to France. My wife had just come back to our hotel. She spoke about Joe Skeen (former congressman) retiring due to illness, so we decided to run for that office,\u201d Pearce said. \u201cIn 2002, I won a five-way primary and then started to try and work for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pearce is no longer in the oil tool business, and says he is \u201c100 percent focused on the current job.\u201d<\/p>\n

It appears he will try and stay with that job for a while, and has no interest, at least at this time, in running for higher office, such as U.S. Senate, an office he sought unsuccessfully in 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not thinking much beyond this election right now,\u201d Pearce said. \u201cIt is one day at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trying to \u2018bring widely divergent groups together\u2019<\/h3>\n

Pearce has received a lot of attention, good and bad, for his support of the Tea Party. He is a member of the Tea Party Caucus<\/a>, a group of about 60 representatives and senators whose group is \u201cdedicated to promoting what it considers fiscal responsibility, adherence to the (Tea Party) movement’s<\/a>\u00a0interpretation of the Constitution<\/a> and limited government.\u201d Groups such as these are sometimes seen as a move by the Republican Party (all caucus members are Republicans) to hijack the Tea Party movement, according to an article in Politico<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And perhaps it is just coincidence, but the oil and gas industry has been financially supportive of those involved with this caucus, according to the Center for Responsive Politics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pearce said he believes Tea Party activists and their supporters share a lot of the same views held by everyone else. He mentioned his work with others in district besides Tea Party members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent two years out speaking to a lot of other groups, all for the common good, about two strong points,\u201d Pearce said. \u201cThe first is about retirees and how their money is disappearing, and the second is about young mothers who are worried about their kid\u2019s futures. Things are getting much harder for them because of Washington\u2019s politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing we\u2019re trying to do is bring widely divergent groups together, and trying to be more rational. Not all of those we are working with are Republicans,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on is hard on both parties. We\u2019re more interested in policy rather than party policies. People say that the two parties don\u2019t work together, that we (Americans) elect people who look like us, and that we don\u2019t sit down to talk to neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pearce said such thinking is inaccurate and perhaps myopic. He thinks it will change over time.<\/p>\n

One of the other things Pearce feels might help bring Congress back together is a small group of representatives who meet quarterly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re reaching across party lines, doing things such as working on a new tax return bill and other objectives,\u201d Pearce said. \u201cIt might be a model for the country, something that could really work.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued \u2013 \u201cWe\u2019re working across the aisle for immigration reform, looking for the best ideas for the country, and trying to prove that through our actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked, Pearce noted Massachusetts Congressman Michael Capuano<\/a>, a Democrat, as one of the first to get on board with the new group.<\/p>\n

Economy, environment<\/h3>\n

My conversation with Pearce turned to the troubles at hand, most especially, of course, the economy and jobs. Over the last year or so, Pearce has sponsored several job fairs in towns around the district, something of which he said he is very proud.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"'One<\/a><\/dt>\n

‘One thing we\u2019re trying to do is bring widely divergent groups together, and trying to be more rational. Not all of those we are working with are Republicans. What\u2019s going on is hard on both parties.’ – Steve Pearce<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to establish a working base, and the job fairs have jobs that are available that day. We keep hearing that there are no jobs available, and the truth is that there are some,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to do the job fairs, as they have been successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pearce has been seen by the left as one of the most environmentally unfriendly congressman in the country, but he seemed unfazed by this and noted his efforts to keep the dunes sagebrush lizard off the federal endangered species list, which put him at odds with many environmentalists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pearce said such protection for the lizard \u201cwould have killed jobs.\u201d Keeping the lizard off the list was also supported by Democratic U.S. Sens. Tom Udall<\/a> and Jeff Bingaman<\/a>, who generally pride themselves on their environmental work and votes. About 90 percent of the lizard\u2019s habitat does remain protected through other agreements<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pearce also spoke of his participation in a widely publicized and mostly symbolic tree-cutting ceremony in Cloudcroft last fall, which some said was illegal<\/a> but Pearce said was done to \u201crestore commonsense forest management to New Mexico\u201d and bring power back to local governments. Otero County commissioners said their efforts were to \u201cshow the world what an acre of forest land should look like.\u201d The tree-cutting ceremony focused on the possible devastation of the area by wildfire.<\/p>\n

Pearce, who has criticized the Forest Service lately for its handling of wildfires, said he wants to continue working with the agency to \u201cmake forests healthier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still talking about issues related to the environment, Pearce said he attempts to work for alternative energy, not as main source of power, but as one to enhance the current sources \u2014 gas, oil and nuclear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have 5 million acres in New Mexico that could be used for wind energy, but we still have to have oil and gas. We should be energy independent, but the regulations are shutting us off from that,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need a commonsense balance, and we just need to start that right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taxes were another brief subject, with Pearce noting that the United States has the second-highest corporate tax rate in the world. It\u2019s 38 percent, and it\u2019s actually the third highest<\/a> behind Japan and Cameroon. When weighted, the U.S. figure falls to about 27 percent, which is on par with much of the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

Still, Pearce said the corporate tax rate is one reason the United States loses jobs to other countries.<\/p>\n

Taking a break<\/h3>\n

Although he has little time for himself, Pearce does take a break now and then and enjoys walking in the desert, traveling, reading and baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read a lot when I shut off the phone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pearce is a member of the congressional baseball team, and he said he likes to help teach young people when he is at the batting cages.<\/p>\n

Pearce laughs heartily when I note that there is a Major League Baseball player of the same name. Baseball Pearce had been batting .254 for the Baltimore Orioles but was released from that team. He now plays for the Houston Astros.<\/p>\n

Congressman Pearce quipped \u2013 \u201cHe is probably getting more hits online than I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018People are looking for certainty in their lives\u2019<\/h3>\n

Pearce said he is still not giving up on repealing \u201cObamacare\u201d and is working to get a balanced budget amendment passed. Both remain on his to-do list if he wins re-election. He said he wants to provide some certainty in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are looking for certainty in their lives, Pearce said. \u201cIf they had more \u2018certains\u2019 about what was going to happen, it would surely improve things dramatically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff Berg is a Santa Fe based freelance\u00a0writer who would like to thank the people who donated to\u00a0NMPolitics.net\u00a0for making this article happen!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018People are looking for certainty in their lives,\u2019 the congressman says, and, as he seeks re-election, Steve Pearce says he is reaching across party lines to try to \u2018bring widely divergent groups together\u2019 to focus on policy and \u2018the common good\u2019 instead of politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2800,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[156,229,116],"class_list":["post-41727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2012-election","tag-2nd-congressional-district-race","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2800"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41727\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}