In Business Q and A

Jon Porter
Republican Congressman

Interviewed by Richard N. Velotta / Staff Writer

Congressman Jon Porter, a Republican, is being challenged by Democratic state Sen. Dina Titus for his 3rd Congressional District seat in one of the most compelling political races for businesspeople.

Porter, 53, who has been the district's representative since 2002 when it was formed also served in the Nevada Senate from 1994 to 2002 and was mayor of Boulder City from 1987 to 1991. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the 1st Congressional District seat in 2000 against eventual winner Shelley Berkley.

Four other candidates for the congressional seat will be on the Nov. 4 ballot. They are: Independent American candidate Floyd Fitzgibbons, Green Party candidate Bob Giaquinta, Independent candidate Jeffrey C. Reeves and Libertarian Party candidate Joseph P. Silvestri.

Porter was interviewed by In Business Las Vegas at his campaign headquarters Oct. 13.

What strengths do you bring to the table as a congressman?

I think what's paramount, especially in these economically challenging times, is that we have someone with a business background. I grew up in a family of business. My mom and dad had a small business in Iowa. My dad was an electrical contractor, and we spent the better part of my life sitting around the dinner table talking about the challenges of being in business, from paying taxes to government regulation to accounts receivable, accounts payable, the economy and how it impacted my mom and dad. So I literally grew up in the family business. And I had my own business for 20 years. It was a small family business, and I had it at the same time that I served on the Boulder City Council and as mayor and in the state Senate. So, in all due respect to my opponent who is a professor at the university, I think my experience is critical now. I know what it's like to meet a payroll, I know what it's like to be the first one there in the morning and the last one to leave. I also know what it's like to struggle with families trying to find health insurance for employees. In fairness, my opponent does not have this perspective. She doesn't understand what it's like to walk up to the door in the morning with the key to that business and not know what's going to happen the rest of the day. So I think my experience with local, state and now federal government, but equally important, 20 years of my own business and my family's business.

Who do you blame for the home-mortgage meltdown - the banks who made the subprime loans, the politicians who fostered the lending environment or the consumers who weren't qualified to take on the responsibility?

Well, I think there's a lot of blame to go around and let's start with Wall Street. I had legislation that passed in this relief package to hold (Wall Street firms) accountable. It creates oversight to look at what happened with Wall Street. I believe there was criminal activity to tell you the truth. I think some folks on Wall Street took advantage of people around the world. I think there's blame to go around Congress. I looked back at the history of this, and they started relaxing a lot of the post-Depression era protections for the American people. And I blame the administration. I think the administration dropped the ball. I'm appalled and I'm angry that this happened. But I also think some families made some poor choices as well. There are certain responsibilities when you sign on the dotted line to make sure you know what you're doing. So I'm angry, but I'm also very, very concerned about some of these families that are struggling.

Experts have criticized the lack of regulation in the banking industry. What should Congress do, if anything, to change that?

I think we need to modernize our lending institutions and their practice of lending funds. But I think that right now, we need to take a deep breath so we can provide some calm to the markets and to the world so people will invest again. But at the same time - and my legislation provides for that - we need to find out what went wrong, and we need to find out as soon as possible so we don't have the same mistakes repeated.

In the current economic environment, do you favor any new taxes?

Absolutely (this is) the wrong time to raise taxes. Right now these businesses are struggling. I drive up and down the streets of Vegas and I see businesses with "for sale" signs going up, and I see "for rent" or "going out of business." There's not a business street in Las Vegas where you don't see a sign that says "going out of business." So it's absolutely the wrong time. Businesses should be able to reinvest their money instead of giving to the government so they can create more jobs.

How about new taxes on those making $250,000 or more, as Sen. (Barack) Obama advocates?

That's an example of not understanding what it's like to be in business. I have so many friends who are in business who may show $250,000 in revenue, but they may be taking home $10,000 or $12,000 or $20,000. There's this misconception: If you haven't had your own business, a lot of people look at your revenues and say, "Well that's all profit." I could give you 10 businesses that have revenues over $250,000 that are not taking home more than $10,000 or $20,000. So it's absolutely wrong. The small and ma-and-pa businesses need the ability to create jobs. What's built America is the entrepreneurial spirit, and if we tax that mentality and we tax those revenues, they're going to be out of business.

Do you favor any tax cuts? Why?

Yes, absolutely. I had legislation in this past session, actually, to prevent the Democratic Party from taking away the child tax deduction. (Democrats) actually reduced it from $1,000 per child to $500. That's a specific example. We need to make sure families reap the benefits as well. We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, and what's happening from a global perspective is that these businesses are leaving the country because they can't afford to operate here. And there are folks who want to tax them, and they think that's what will keep the businesses alive. So I think there are a lot of areas that should be reduced.

What are the most pressing federal issues that affect Nevada businesses?

The economic situation is paramount because businesses now are having a hard time getting the normal loan they used to get. I can tell you of dozens of businesses that I've talked to that used to have credit at a particular bank or credit union or lending institution, and they would use that credit to help buy inventory and to pay payroll and flooring up for their retail products. They're not able to get the loans that they used to have available because the money has tightened up so much. So that's pressing.

But also parallel to that is the lack of an energy policy for our country and I'll tell you, prior to the last two weeks' crises, what has been brewing and has not been addressed is the lack of oil and the lack of energy. If you look up and down the Strip in the travel and tour industry and our resorts, people can't get the flights that they used to get. United (Airlines) has cut 150 of their cities. US Airways has cut back on its flights. So from a business perspective, the two most important things are that there needs to be capital available for businesses to borrow money to pay their employees and there needs to be energy and oil so we can fly our planes. We can certainly address both of those, especially oil. There's no excuse for us not exploring for energy here.

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