The Ricochet Podcast - Live From CPAC #6: Texas Congressman Bill Flores

Episode Date: February 27, 2015

At CPAC 2015, Jay Nordlinger interviews Texas Congressman Bill Flores, on his background, the Keystone pipeline, and his position as one of the only CPA’s in Congress. Source

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Terms apply. Bet responsibly. 18plusgamblingcare.ie Well, this is Jay Nordlinger for National Review and Ricochet. And I'm sitting here with a congressman from the great state of Texas, Bill Florence. Welcome, Congressman. Thank you, Jay. Great to be with you at CPAC this year.

Tell me what your hometown is. Where do you live now, and where did you grow up? Well, I live in Bryan, Texas, which is next door to College Station, the home of Texas A&M University. And I grew up in a small town in the Texas panhandle called Stratford. We had about 1,700 people. And you have a Spanish last name. Correct. Flowers. Flowers 1,700 people. And you have a Spanish last name. Correct. Flowers.

Well, flower. That's correct. My family came from Spain in 1725. So they're Texas pilgrims, so to speak. Well, yes. And it was actually before it was Texas. It was more of a Spanish territory at that time. So the Flores family has been under several flags during those nine generations. And you're a Republican. I am. And you're a conservative. I am. Were you always that way, or did you become that way?

Well, I grew up poor, so I was always that way. I mean, I've always worried about whether I was going to get another meal sometimes at night in my early years growing up. And so I just knew that the path for me was not to look to the government, but to look to my family and my community and to my own ambitions to be able to satisfy those needs. I understand that you have been in the oil and gas business. That's correct. You're a CPA, is that true?

That's correct. I'm 100% of the oil and gas CPA caucus in Congress. If you had that imaginary caucus, there's two gold and gas folks that were both CPAs. Terrific. I understand that the CPA exam is extremely difficult. Yes, I don't want to do it again. Yes. The governor of Michigan, Snyder, is a CPA. That's right. And he's other things too. He said the CPA exam is the hardest. There is a certain hostility, certainly in this administration, to oil and gas. There really is.

And I imagine that when you were growing up and starting out in your career, you weren't around much hostility to it because it's normal, oil and gas. Are you surprised that there are really some people in this country, not just in the White House, but people all across the country, who have been taught, as I was taught really, that oil is a bad thing, a bad and dirty thing, and sort of shameful. It's unfortunate that they have that opinion, because if you look at the oil and gas industry today, it is incredibly different than what it was 100 years ago. It's very high-tech.

It involves massive amounts of investment, massive amounts of human brain power, and great amounts of human labor to make it, to be able to produce something that's ultimately going to go into a car at $2 a gallon. People don't appreciate that. They don't appreciate how much cleaner it is today than it was before. And the tight environmental controls that we have, even before those that Barack Obama is trying to impose on the industry. Do you understand the opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline? It's hard to understand. Do you grasp it? I think that, yeah, I have a difficult time understanding it because it's just absurd. I mean, the safest way to transport oil or any,

really, any gaseous or liquid form of anything in this country is by pipeline. I mean, we see what happens when you transport it by train. And so it is the safest way to go. It's the most environmentally friendly. It's the cheapest cost for the consumer, for what will ultimately be a consumer cost. So I am just appalled that special interest groups get in the way of American jobs and paychecks on this issue. Can Republicans make a winning issue out of energy? Or are we, I say we because I am a Republican, are we beaten by the enviros and the green arguments? Well, let's put it this way. When you look at the top issues

that American families are talking about today, the environment and climate change are about in the second ten. They're not in the top ten. And so I think we've already won the argument. Now, that said, I think we need to do a much better job of advocating our position and talk about how far we've come in terms of cleaning up the environment. Look, we're the only major industrialized country in the world that's had a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. And it wasn't because of anything that the government did or Barack Obama

because the seeds for that reduction were sown a decade ago. gas emissions. And it wasn't because of anything that the government did or Barack Obama, because the seeds for that reduction were sown a decade ago. And that's because we're producing more natural gas, we're producing it more cleanly, and it burns more cleanly. And as a result of that, greenhouse gas emissions are lower. That's one of the things we as Republicans don't do very much or do very well. And that's to brag about how free markets work with the right regulatory structure. Everybody wins. You produce jobs. You produce paychecks.

And at the end of the day, a paycheck is the best single social program we've got for mankind. That's how you feed a family, you house a family, you educate that family, you grow the local tax base, and you grow a vibrant middle class. It's not the middle class economics that the president talks about, where he takes from some people, runs it through a big government bureaucratic control program, and tries to sprinkle it around as fairy dust to others. That's well said. I have a couple more for you. Let's talk presidential politics. Okay. There are probably two Texans running for president, Perry and Cruz.

Right. Do you know them both? I do. I know both of them well. Do you like them both? I like both of them well. Do you like them both? I like both of them, yes. So will there come a time when you endorse or are you just going to watch things? I think for now we're going to watch. I will say I do have one generic statement regarding the presidential race. I think it's better to have somebody that's actually been a CEO before to do

this. As someone who has been a CEO and knows the complexities involved in making a decision to lead an organization or, in this case, a country. And so because of that, I'm more inclined to look to the governor, the cadre of governors is running out there today. Because we've got, I'll tell you what, I'd rather have our bench of people that's running for president than the Democrats any day of the week. They're younger, they're more dynamic, and I think they get it. Last question, which is a biographical one. When you were poor, did you believe that you would not be poor, that that was just a temporary condition,

or did you ever think that you were saddled with this for it? No, I never dreamed that. Let me rephrase that. I knew that if I dreamed big enough and work hard enough that i could work out of that and because of that that ability to live that american dream i was able to do very well financially in life and and i want every american to have that of all all stripes and economic did you go to college i did how'd you pay for it myself i worked during I had no government support whatsoever. It's an honor to meet you.

It's an honor to meet you, Jeff. Congressman Bill Flores. Thank you. Thanks. Ricochet. Join the conversation.