11:08 AM. The senator is late. He had another meeting in the building and it went over.
11:15 AM. Still no senator. Supposedly he was "on his way" five minutes ago. It's not that big of a building. I'm close enough to the podium that he could easily read my Barrett Firearms shirt. I wonder if he will notice.
11:20 AM. I'm beginning to think the senator stiffed us. But what do you expect from a politician?
11:22 AM. He is being introduced now. He is in the room.
11:23 AM. He says the sound system here is better than in the Senate.
11:25 AM. He is telling stories about the wonders of the Internet.
11:27 AM. The changes going on in America are unique.
11:28 AM. He is telling us how wonderful it is that France likes the changes.
11:30 AM. There is an opening, an opportunity, to reintroduce America to the world.
11:31 AM. Opening the floor to questions. First question is from someone from Vermont who asks, "What is in the stimulas package for Vermonters?"
11:32 AM. Answer is bridge maintance, Internet access in rural areas.
11:33 AM. Someone else is asking if he is going to go forward with the Truth Commission.
11:34 AM. Telling us about previous attorney general being forced out of office. Options for now are 1) Ignore it. 2) Prosecution which could take 15 years. 3) He proposes a middle ground which is offer immunity to those that come forward and tell the truth. He compares it to the Church committee of the 70s.
11:38 AM. I don't jump in quickly enough. Other people start asking the next question before I even realize there is an opening coming up.
11:43 AM. He says Secretary Clinton is good at building bipartisan support. Context was "truth commission".
11:44 AM. Question and answer about judical pay raise. Probably not going to happen in this economic situation.
11:47 AM. Q: What is the exit strategy for getting out of the "business" of nationalizing banks, insurance companies, etc.?
11:49 AM. A: Make them pay back the loans as soon as they are on their feet. Hope we don't nationalize our industries.
11:50 AM. Suggestion for a "postmortum" on what went wrong with some legislation or other government activity. Senator says they do that frequentl but it doesn't get any press coverage.
11:52 AM. Q: What do you think of the anti-trust action against Microsoft by the European Union? A: I hope they get those Microsoft guys! THAT WAS A JOKE! I don't know if there is press in the audience, but that was a joke.
11:55 AM. Continuing on EU answer. He says protectionism benefits never last.
11:56 AM. They ended the meeting early.