Soderberg Sits Down With

Candidate for Governor Mark Todd

by Carl Soderberg
of The Inside Scoop

 

Mark Todd is a 44 year old businessman from Appleton, running for Governor on the GOP ticket.  Married with five sons, Todd is a graduate of Marquette University, with a BS degree in public speaking and interpersonal communications.  After working converting drug houses into housing for the poor and handicapped in Kenosha, Todd became a professional speaker in youth and young adult ministries.  Now he owns and manages three of his own businesses.  He seeks to use his business acumen to improve the business climate in Wisconsin, while lowering the tax burden for both individuals and businesses.  

CS-I understand you have been considering running for office for many years.  What made you decide that this is the right time for your candidacy?

MT- When I announced, I was in a financial situation that enabled me to pursue it.  

CS-You declared your candidacy significantly earlier than the other GOP candidates, in part to build up your "name recognition" among Wisconsin voters.  How has the early campaign activity been going, and what has the response been? 

MT-It started out slow, but now we are building momentum.  My favorite campaign activity is speaking directly with the voters, both publicly and one-on-one, explaining solutions to key Wisconsin issues but also just getting to know them.

CS-How do you respond to the inevitable criticism that you have no previous experience governing as an elected official?  

MT-The state is ranked 48 out of 50 right now in business, according to Forbes.  I think that most people think we need a different kind of "experience" in our state's leadership.  

CS-How important is such experience?

MT-Currently, I think it's a negative to be experienced in inside politics.  I have no "debts to pay" or "axes to grind" if elected.  

CS-What distinguishes you from the other candidates running for Governor?  

MT-First, I am the only candidate that has been actually pro-active in bringing jobs to our state.  I have several Fortune 500 companies interested in either coming to Wisconsin or expanding in Wisconsin if I become Governor and if I pass my business bill.  Second, I am the only candidate that has thought of other streams of income for this State so that we are less reliant on taxes altogether.  Third, I am the only candidate that has announced that is willing to work for free:  no salary, no fringe benefits, no spending account. 

CS-To boost Wisconsin's economy, you have promised to bring several big (Fortune 500) companies to the state, with a business model of your own design, which provides "incentives" to relocate (or remain) in Wisconsin.  I know that you're not revealing the specifics of the model until later in the campaign, but can you give our readers some sense of what philosophy or approach forms the basis of your model?  Do the incentives go beyond lowering the tax and regulation burden on business?

MT-I have announced the general outline and some details of the business bill.  It's a sliding-scale:  for every 100 jobs that a business brings to Wisconsin (including current Wisconsin businesses) after the bill is signed, they will receive 1% off on ALL their state taxes.  For example, if they create 1000 jobs, they will receive 10% off on all their state taxes.  For current businesses in the state of Wisconsin, they will get 5% off for just being a Wisconsin business.    They will receive an additional 1% off for every 10 years that they have been a business in Wisconsin.  

CS-You propose reducing taxes (possibly reducing some altogether) by replacing the state's current revenue source--taxation--with "passive residual income" sources.  What is "passive residual income", and could you give us a few examples?  

MT-Passive income is income that you are not currently actively working for.  Residual income is income that continues to be received on a regular basis.  My first business is involved in the banking business, credit card processing to be exact.  What most people do not realize is that a merchant pays a percentage, not just the consumer with a credit card.  When credit card processing reps sign an account, just like an insurance agent or a realtor, the rep can get a piece of the profit.

We have the capability now of combining a whole mall of stores, and a consumer can have that mall's gift card which can be used at all their stores. We can actually combine retail stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc… to be able to be paid by one type of gift card--the Wisconsin gift card.  It would be primarily used by visitors to Wisconsin, out-of-state parents of Wisconsin college students, and business travelers.  It will be very convenient, and the percentage in the transaction fee would go to the state instead of a rep.  

The second source idea is a debit card for welfare recipients.  Instead of them receiving a check, they can receive a debit card that is loaded.  The transaction fee percentage again would go to the state, not a rep.  Most importantly, though is the development of a Wisconsin state credit card.  With all credit card processing right now, most processing banks are on the east coast, such as Citigroup (New York) and Bank of America (Charlotte).  All our Wisconsin banks do their credit card processing through the largest banks.  If we were to compete, we would not be invading Wisconsin's private sector.  This credit card would be available not only to Wisconsin residents but to every qualified consumer in the U.S., which would bring more profit to Wisconsin through credit card transactions throughout the country.  This stream of income alone could significantly fund our state budget.  There are more income streams that could benefit our state, but lastly I'll mention state bonds sold to individuals in small amounts.  For example, Grandma could buy her grandchild a bond that would mature at his/her time of entering college.   

CS-What taxes do you think you can eliminate, and how much can you reduce other taxes with the passive residual incomes you would design for the State? 

MT-I believe realistically that we could have 1/4 of the state budget paid for by these other streams of income within the first four years in office.  We would go from being one of the highest-taxed groups of people in the U.S. to being one of the least taxed groups.

The jobs that will be brought to the state will bring revenue for the budget from the employee taxes paid, and fewer people will need unemployment income.    After making Wisconsin business-friendly I would like to help the elderly.  I find it wrong that retired individuals lose their homes because they can't afford their property taxes.

CS-Along with improving the business climate, and lowering taxes on individuals and business, supporting family values is the third priority you talk about on the campaign trail.  What legislation would you propose, and what administrative changes (i.e. rules, regulations, etc…) would you make as Governor, to support family values?  

MT-Most importantly, we need to stop the killing of human life through abortion.  

CS-Discussing health care on your Web site, you oppose government-run healthcare, and emphasize the need to consider "competitive options" to finance health care.  What are some of these "competitive options"? 

MT-When we allow and encourage free-market business models in healthcare, providers can bring us more options and better service than the government models could ever hope to achieve.  There are many different examples of this throughout the country, but one of them in Wisconsin right now is the Our Lady of Hope Clinic in Madison.  For an annual contribution, (i.e. $1200 for a single benefactor, $2300 for a couple), that benefactor is able to receive unlimited appointments at no further charge, 24/7 access to a personal physician, same-day scheduling, and extended appointment times with a doctor who knows them and has time to address their concerns.  In addition, this clinic estimates that they will give away more than 3000 clinic visits to those in need--free of charge.  Health care needs sharing co-ops are also working very well for many Americans to significantly help cover their medical costs.

CS-Would Wisconsin's substantial state-level programs which provide health care (like Badger Care, Senior Care, etc.) continue unchanged in your Administration, or would they be significantly modified to be more free-market oriented, or simply reduced?  

MT-I am not interested in reducing needed services to anyone.  I do feel that these programs can be modified to be more free-market oriented and cost effective.  Medical care CAN be more affordable so that fewer individuals and families need these state-level programs.   

We need to place caps on malpractice lawsuits.  That alone can probably reduce healthcare costs by 20%.  Right now 25% of most physicians' incomes go to malpractice insurance coverage to pay ridiculous amounts of money for lawsuits.

There is a medical program being touted in my area in which the patient is seen by a medical team, all at one time:  a doctor, nurse, pharmacist, and possibly others (such as a physical or occupational therapist, etc.).  The room is equipped more extensively than a normal office visit room to further increase efficiency.  The paperwork is reduced from about 8 pages for that visit to 1 page.  I was told this model is saving hospitals about 20%.

CS-Thanks for sharing some of your proposals for our state government with our readers Mark.  Good luck with the campaign.

Mark's campaign Web site can be found at www.marktoddforgovernor.com.