Casey Chlebek, U.S. Senate Republican candidate profile

Candidate profile

Casey Chlebek

Running for: U.S. Sentate

Campaign website: https://caseyforsenate.com/

Please tell us about your civic work in the last two years, whether it’s legislation you have sponsored or other paid or volunteer work to improve your community.

No previous political experience, but during the last decade I served in the key leadership positions of several civic organizations such as the Commodore of the Chicago Yachting Association – umbrella organization for all Chicago major yacht clubs and maritime organizations, Secretary of the PAL-PAC(Polish American Leadership - Political Action Committee), President of the Polish American Congress of the Illinois Division and the Commodore of the Joseph Conrad Yacht Club

What are your views on the decision by the U.S. House to impeach President Donald Trump? Has the impeachment process been fair or not? How so? If, in your view, the president should not have been impeached, would you have supported censure? Please explain.

I am very disappointed with this process since instead of giving the president a chance to execute his responsibilities he was elected to perform by the people, he is now being dragged to the political combat with the democratically controlled Congress. From the Russian collusion to the impeachment dilution. Where does it end?. Trump is in the last year of his term and if people have serious concerns about his governess, let the people themselves express it in the November elections. Do the legislators realize that the U.S. perception of the world has been severely undermined. The president of China Xi Jinping, last year literally elected himself to be the emperor for life and is anybody in China complaining? Before it can get worse, maybe someone should realize that to be a successful country today, we need adopt a totally different, “common sense” approach, to our current course of the self- destructive democratic practices.

How would you reduce the federal budget deficit, which now stands at about $1 trillion for 2020? What changes, if any, to the U.S. tax code do you support and why?

During the Obama presidency for the first time in over 200 hundred years, the national deficit had doubled from 10 trillion to nearly 20 trillion and no one was or is now complaining. How many of his progressive reforms have created a permanent annual debt to our fiscal wellbeing. Let me just give you one example, Obama has doubled the number of people relying on the public assistance, from about 24 million to nearly 50 million. I ask - what is the annual cost of such a program, and how long such free lunch money will last?

To address seriously our national debt we must examine all past programs and their contributions to the annual national debt. If one trillion dollars is a concern, than somebody should ask where the additional trillions of dollars will come from when one of the democratic challengers will be elected as the next president?

What changes would you like to see made to our nation’s healthcare system? Would you shore up the Affordable Care Act or work to repeal it in full? What’s your view on Medicare for All? And what should be done, if anything, to bring down the cost of prescription drugs?

The biggest health care threat to our nation is the constant drive toward the single payer system run under the total control of the government. Such practices create very expensive administrative and distribution of services. The government role must be limited and it we desire the health system to be under a fiscal control, we must have it managed by the private industries which are engage in the competitive bidding for the most cost effective services. Irrespective of the name of the health program, to remain solvent we must very, very carefully examine them all for the benefit of future generations. Let’s do not spend the money we do not have! Please do remember that governments are not good at creating money, they excellent at spending and distributing someone’s money.

The Trump administration is awaiting a ruling from the Supreme Court as to whether it can end the DACA program — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — which shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation. Do you support or oppose DACA and why? Should a path to citizenship be created for the so-called DREAMers? Please explain.

In principle I support the need for child programs which ultimately lead to the citizenship status. The broader question is – how the parents are treated since I do not subscribe to separating of children from parent. It must be remembered that we are dealing many a times with illegal entries to the country and although it is highly desirable to settle a closure with the illegal entry issues, but me may have also address the issues of modernizing the immigration system to offer only the legal immigration entry into the country. The children’s programs by themselves will not address the issue without addressing their own parents’ immigration status first.

What are the three most important issues in your district on which the federal government can and should act?

Jobs, more jobs, more very good jobs. As the US Illinois Senator I will fight for the best jobs in Illinois. I will strive to designate special economic zones in the State of Illinois with the most advanced technologies such as 5G, AI, quantum computing, robotics and automation. As for the country, I will fight to restore and rebuild 8 million industrial jobs and 50,000 factories which we exported overseas during the last 40 years.

Creating a robust job market will definitely stop the massive exodus from the State but also help to improve the highest state debt status in the country.

What is the biggest difference between you and your opponent(s)?

First of all, since I was raised in the socialist Poland, I can educate people about the perilous outcome of the socialist policies. I can convince the young generation of Americans that the utopian world everything free for all and the world of plenty is just a dream vision which ends in the collapse of the society or worse in the mass killings.

Secondly, as an immigrant I came to this country by following the immigration rules for 50 years to achieve my family dream of life in a free world. I know that we can improve or even overhaul the immigration system, but the system must always work for the economic benefit of the country. I could advance the argument that immigrants should achieve success by their own bootstraps, and not by government handouts. My family achieved success in the free enterprise society by hard work and their passion to succeed.

What action should Congress take, if any, to reduce gun violence?

During my signature campaign I went to several gun shows and the issue of gun violence always was raised. I was surprised to hear from the very young audience that we not addressing the issue correctly since we are failing to educate at school level about the guns. Just as we give classes on driving, much the same way we should at some point provide adequate school training on the use of guns before the permit is granted to use the gun. Furthermore, we should implement a very aggressive permit fee structure based on the gun the permit is issued for. Above all, let’s leave the 2^nd Amendment alone!

Is climate change real? Is it significantly man-made? Is it a threat to humankind? What if anything should Congress and the federal government do about it?

I consider all climate concerns very seriously and we owe it to the next generations to be a good stewards of our planet. Although, the environment protection is a serious issue, but it must be a jobs builder not the jobs killer. By the example of the Western Europe, implementation of environmental policies should not be disruptive to the workforce.

I totally find it unacceptable that today a teenager that is cutting classes to preach the world about the climate change. She should be in a classroom to learn about the weather and the climate differences to find that many a times in the human history we went thru severe climate cycles without the human intervention involved.

We must be very careful and cautious when addressing the issue since there is no magic bullet. Principally and under no circumstances we should not jeopardize our own job markets to solve the problems of the entire world. Moreover, let’s be realistic and look at the real culprits, e.g. China annually emitting nearly 10,000 tons of CO2 whereas the US emits half of that. And let’s be blunt, China has no desire to curb their jobs in their own polluting industries. In fact, when we ourselves eliminate environment sensitive jobs, China quickly moves in to fill the gap and create new jobs in their air polluting industries. Oh yes, they will quickly sign each and every international agreement calling for reductions of the emission levels. That is China for you – preaching the world one thing and doing yet something totally different.

If we are seriously concerned about our environment, instead of concentration on some unrealistic climate solutions we should clean up our water systems first and again let’s start with China and India being the world worst water polluters. During my travels to both countries a was able to see for myself the extent devastation and in China I was told by the villagers that the Yangtze river is now literally a sewer.

330 million of us will not save the entire world from pollution created by the 6 billion of others. Let them stop it first, and then lead the world in the clean-up!

What should Congress do to ensure the solvency of Social Security and Medicare?

For many decades the people of the United States and, for that matter, of the entire World have worked very hard to adopt social programs which all of us benefit today. As a country, the USA, has provided examples for many others to follow, and to be fair, we have learnt from others as well. It is therefore our responsibility, to make every reasonable effort to maintain such high social standards. To continue our social net, we must be very careful not to overspend our appetite to live beyond our limited capacities. After all as the popular adage says – “the money does not grow on trees”. Currently, we are on board of a runaway train that is accelerating at a rapid pace when it comes to living beyond our means. We are generating the unstoppable national debt to live today at the cost of our future generations. We must make every effort in our powers to reverse this dangerous trend by overhauling, re-examining of many a program to eliminate wasteful spending, duplication and sometimes squander or even outright fraud. I think that it is almost criminal when our Senior Citizens and/or Veterans are left in neglect and without sufficient social support. We should vigilant and proactive to check on their well-being before it reaches scandalous levels.

What should Congress do to address the student loan crisis? Would you use the word “crisis”?

We should not permit that our new generation of workforce who just earned their college or university degrees and who are the most able and most eager to start their professional careers, but they are forced immediately to pay back for their college costs at the time when they need the money the most, to establish themselves and to establish their own families. Initially, just to jump start their new professional life I am a proponent of differing the repayments for at least 3-5 years and reducing the interest expense to nearly zero. But ultimately, we must look very seriously engage in a debate for alternatives of the unbearable 1.5 trillion student loan debt before a very serious “crises” unfolds. The necessary preventive measures must be dealt with on priority basis with by the new Congress.

I consider far more dangerous to be is a 10 trillion dollar of corporate debt now revealed which may have a serious impact on our future economic wellbeing.

What should our nation’s relationship be with Russia?

We conduct our relationship with Russia on many levels and their impact has stabilized over the years and it appears to be under control. I would be far more concerned today about China which acts very aggressively on many a front, starting from economic world ambitions and end on their militaristic pursuit to become the dominant world player as well.

What’s your view on the use of tariffs in international commerce? Has President Trump imposed tariffs properly and effectively? Please explain.

It is the responsibility of the government to create suitable economic conditions for all to prosper, therefore, we must revamp the obsolete tariff system from 1816 to benefit primary the U.S. This should remain our priority in order to give our nation a chance to succeed in the world of so called “fair trade”. For that very reason it is unfair to criticize today President Trump for his tariff policies since he has one clear goal- to bring the jobs back to America and today, he has no option but use what is available. During the recent interview with the Apple CEO Tim Cook, when asked – please give us a pass on the tariffs, he promptly responded: bring the jobs back – no tariffs. President Trump is forced to use the obsolete and still available old system for modern times. Does anyone see that?

Does the United States have a responsibility to promote democracy in other countries? Please explain.

I think The United Stated should seriously back-off of the issue of promotion the democracies around the world. It is evident that the President Trump understands this well. Long ago we should have stopped preaching the world how to run their own countries since their leaders operate under the accepted norms and many a times religious influences if not under the control mandated by the state. Let’s leave them alone and let them learn by our own example instead since many times our democratic exports turned into dismal disasters. To be truthful, the China’s or Russia’s handling of this delicate issue is more effective than ours.

What should Congress do to limit the proliferation of nuclear arms?

In honesty, very little and most likely – none. A sensible President can be far more effective in that regard that the Congress in the state of constant confusion. The question to ask is this – where was the Congress when there were only two nuclear superpowers in check with each other, the USA and USRR? That was the time to stop it nuclear proliferation. Today, there many countries which are in possession of nuclear arms and the situation may quickly become uncontrollable.

Please list all relatives on public or campaign payrolls and their jobs on those payrolls.

Claudia Chlebek is a Director of GSP and works for the Executive Office of the President in Washington, DC as the U.S. Trade Representative.

What historical figure from Illinois, other than Abraham Lincoln (because everybody’s big on Abe), do you most admire or draw inspiration from? Please explain.

Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois and his policies in many respects are the keys which I follow for advancing of my own political agenda.

What’s your favorite TV, streaming or web-based show of all time. Why?

As a teenager in Poland, I enjoyed watching TV serials of Sign of Zorro and the Robin Hood for obvious reasons. Once I arrived in the United Stated, I was far more pre-occupied with advancing of my career pursuits, thus, I did not have much of extensive leisure time dedicated to watching TV shows. The success comes with a hard work and as a result it has its own costs!