Tea Party Candidate Rakes in Cash

Rep. Allen West on campaign contributions, entitlement reform

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST OF “YOUR WORLD”: Meanwhile, Democrats are banking on these protests that Herman ended up talking about, the Wall Street protests, while some Tea Party candidates are taking it to the bank literally.

In the battleground state of Florida, the campaign of one Republican Congressman Allen West raking in four times the amount of his Democratic challengers in the very latest quarter.

The congressman joins me right now.

Congressman West, always good to see you, sir.

These are some remarkable numbers in a congressional race, but it says something about how vital this district, your district, is to Democrats, and how they think they have got a chance at beating you. What’s really going on here? What do you make of what’s going on here?

REP. ALLEN WEST, R-FLA.: Well, it’s always a pleasure to be with you, Neil.

And I think the most important thing is, when you take a very pragmatic and principled message to the American people, as well as to the constituents in Congressional District 22, they’re very receptive of that and they want to do what’s necessary to ensure that I can stand and be able to come back here for another term in Washington, D.C., and continue to push for the right type of policies, being it tax, monetary, regulatory policies, that can once again get our small businesses growing, and make sure that we can have a vibrant private sector.

CAVUTO: There’s concern in your state, sir, that going after entitlements and going after the spending in entitlements, that you’re going after granny, that you particularly are going after granny. And that’s been the one thing the Democrats are trying to stick to you.

What do you say?

WEST: Well, they tried that. And, as a matter of fact, they have failed miserably, because, as a matter of fact, in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, it was the Democrats who cut $500 billion from Medicare. And they also put in place the Independent Payment Advisory Board, 15 unelected bureaucrats, which will be making decisions about health care for our seniors and for all Americans.

So what we want to make sure of is exactly as the actuary said, that Medicare in about 13 years will be broken if we continue on this path. So we have to have a solution that sustains Medicare for the seniors that are currently part of that program, that mandatory spending program. But we have to preserve it and protect it for future generations.

We have to move away from a fee-for-service program, which is fraught with fraud, waste and abuse, and move to a defined contribution or premium support plan, which is part of Paul Ryan’s "Path to Prosperity," which is something I support.

And, plus, when you talk to the American people, when you talk to our seniors, not as children, but as adults, and you explain to them the situations we’re in, And you explain to them some of the horrible decisions that politicians have made, such as with Social Security, taking out of the independent trust fund account and spending it up, if we can get Americans back to work, we can replenish that fund, we can get it protected, and then we can move forward.

CAVUTO: All right, we will watch closely.

Congressman, thank you. Good seeing you again.

WEST: Always a pleasure, Neil. Thank you.

CAVUTO: Congressman Allen West of Florida.

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