Siegel: Well, folks, welcome back in. Good to have you with us right here at the BOSS Business Hour. Mike Siegel with you as we cover the gamut of issues affecting small business and what it means to you, and try to expose this to the public in order for there to be maybe some change or advocacy for small business, because that is what we are about, is advocacy for small business, right here.

Basically, in this state we have 461,000 democratic voter, 403,000 republican voters, and 195,000 unemployed residents. Unemployed workers are a, now, special interest group during this election season. It seems to me, with the high unemployment rates and difficulties, the foreclosures, and the problems that we have, that is a major group. They still vote, and maybe vote in even bigger numbers than they normally would. In fact, they have actually a bigger portion of the electorate in this state than the 168,000 nonpartisan voters, the people who vote one way or the other, the independents. So, most of the time, independents decide elections in November, after the primaries are done, typically, but now who knows. Because there is a wild card here, the unemployed. Again, there are 195,000 and the independents make up 168,000. We know, of course, that this state leads the nation in unemployment. 14.3% of residents are out of work. That, of course, is at least that number, because that does not include people that have given up looking for jobs, who ran out of unemployment benefits, who are under employed, all of that. John Wilcox is a spokesperson for the republican state committee and, Mr. Wilcox, thanks for being with us. How are you today?

Wilcox: I am doing great. Thanks for having me on today, Mike.

Siegel: It is a pleasure. This unemployed group, 195,000, that is a wild card in this election, isn't it?

Wilcox: Well, it really is, but if you look at just unemployment, if you look at Harry Reid, when Harry Reid became the majority leader, the so-called most powerful senator in America, unemployment was 4.4%. Over the course of six years, he has spent more time attacking President Bush than focusing on the economy. If he was a little less partisan, maybe there wouldn't be 195,000 unemployed Nevadans. We believe that these unemployed Nevadans know that the only thing left is Sharon Angle, who is committed to creating an environment that is going to create jobs in Nevada and get Nevada working again.

Siegel: Well, let's say this. I hope every one of those 195,000 get back to work, but I would like to add one unemployed, and that one would be Harry Reid. I often say he ought to go back to Search Light and become a meter maid there, handling all the meters in Search Light, giving out parking tickets. How about that?

Wilcox: Absolutely. I mean, this man lives in the Ritz Carlton in Washington D.C., he is a Washington insider, and he cares more about the left wing interest than people in Nevada. Look, we know Nevada is hurting. Unemployment is 14.3%. It is not funny. We need jobs. We need people that are focused on turning Nevada's economy around. Harry Reid just doesn't care about that. He doesn't care about the unemployed Nevadans. He cares more about partisan interest, whether it is attacking the opposition or holding a bill hostage. He consistently takes the partisan route, the more difficult route in Washington D.C. and we need somebody that is going to go to Washington and, you know, look for solutions and work with people.

Siegel: Alright. Let me turn away from there. Let's talk about the unemployed. I understand, and I have made the same points about Harry Reid, but let's talk more about the unemployed. They are important. They need to be working. Small business needs to be supported and vibrant, so they can hire these people back to work in Nevada. In the meantime, there are 195,000 people that are out of work, good decent Americans that want to go to work in Nevada and they want to be part of the productive mainstream. What are they going to be thinking? What has your research shown to this point about Nevada's unemployed in terms of how they are going to vote in November. Do you have any indication on that?

Wilcox: The Republican party is the party of jobs. During the previous administration, you know, we went over 50 months of uninterrupted job growth. And, if we want to get our country back on the right track, if we want our unemployment rate to come down to lower, we need to renew the tax relief congress passed. It has been the law of the land for 10 years. Harry Reid wants to increase people's taxes on everyone. We need small businesses to continue the current tax code, so that they can go out and hire people and get this economy moving again.

Siegel: My question, though, was not that. My question was, where are these people thinking today? Nevada's unemployed, I am sure, are frustrated. Do they agree with you or do they want the democrats on the basis of the fact that they think Democrats will just simply given them entitlement programs where the Republicans will not. What are the unemployed thinking today?

Wilcox: Well, I cannot speak for them, but here is what I do know – if you like the way the country is moving, than Harry Reid is your person. If you like unemployment going up, if you like small businesses being afraid to hire people because of government run health care or higher taxes, than Harry Reid is the right choice for Nevada. But, if unemployed people are thinking, how do we get jobs, how do we get working again, how do we get Nevada moving again, than Sharon Angle, Dean ______ and Joe Heck, they are the right choices for them.

Siegel: Well, the point I would make though follows Professor David Demore at UNLV. He makes the point that the unemployed could decide this election, depending on how well they are mobilized. My question is, is the state republican party mobilizing the unemployed in some way?

Wilcox: Absolutely. We are mobilizing them and everyone else. We are knocking on doors, making phone calls, and reminding them that the only party of jobs is the republican party. We are the party of economic prosperity and we are the party that can lift us out of this recession.

Siegel: Well, the Las Vegas Sun, I will read the sentence from their report. They say democrats are lobbying the unemployed more aggressively than republicans. Labor unions are courting them, urging them to vote democratic. All of the major unions have endorsed democrats. Senator Harry Reid, Representative Dina Titus, and gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid. So, according to that report, the democrats are out there courting the labor unions and thereby the unemployed that are connected to the labor unions.

Wilcox: Well, of course, the big union bosses are doing what they can, you know, to advance the higher spending agenda of the democrats, but let me tell you something. While that may have been reported, I will tell you that on November 3rd I will come on this show and I will tell you exactly what we did and why we beat them. Harry Reid, Barrack Obama and Nancy Pelosi are wrong for America, they are wrong for Nevada, and I cannot wait to come on this program the day after the election and let you know why they were wrong and we were right, and why we won and Harry Reid is no longer a state senator.

Siegel: Fair enough, but let me ask you this then, the polls taken to this point, as you know, show a dead heat between Harry Reid and Sharon Angle. But, polls of unemployed voters show Reid with 48% and Sharon with 39%. What do you make of that? That is the Pete Rusford Center, by the way, which is a very reputable polling center.

Wilcox: Like I said, I cannot wait for November 3rd. Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barrack Obama, they are the reason we have so many unemployed Nevadans and Americans, and we know that on election day, once they are given the ballot box and don't have their union bosses looking over their shoulder, they are going to come and vote republican because we are the party of jobs.

Siegel: The online forums, also that have been done, for unemployed workers, because, you know, the unemployed are looking for guidance, as you well know, and those online forums are showing that unemployed workers have a similar trend toward Reid. There are 40 postings on the Nevada page of unemployedfriends.com and not a single one sided with Sharon Angle or the GOP. That is the report from the Las Vegas Sun.

Wilcox: Again, like I said, we know that we are the party of jobs. We know unemployed Nevadans are looking for a new Nevada and are going to gravitate towards our message of less government, less spending, helping small businesses hire people. I am absolutely confident that on election day we will be sitting in a very good position.

Siegel: The other point I would make is that Ms. Angle talked about the fact that she would not extend unemployment benefits, and I understand that. Senator Jim Bunning held that up for a very long time, a senator from Kentucky, in the senate. I understand her point, and it is a point of principle, but doesn't that resonate rather negatively with the unemployed in the state that would like to have more support with unemployment.

Wilcox: Well, it is interesting that you bring that point up. It is another example, it is a classic example quite frankly, of just how partisan Harry Reid is. Let me remind you that republicans supported the unemployment expenditures, but we asked that it was paid for. President Obama said in November that it should be paid for and then it just got into a partisan game of who is right. The democrats did not want to pay for it. We had money in the stimulus and other programs that paid for this, but the democrats just believed higher spending was the answer, we shouldn't pay for something. We had the money. Why couldn't we pay for it?

Siegel: You know, I remember that and you are absolutely right. Look, my point is this, I support Sharon Angle. I have said on this program repeatedly that Harry Reid has got to go. He is the problem, not the solution. Even this recent jobs bill we talked about earlier in this program is basically a fraud – the small business bill. It does not solve the problem. It does not even begin to solve the problem. It is 30 billion dollars to basically try to say that we have done something about this during an election cycle. So, I understand your point. The reason I am asking these questions, Mr. Wilcox, is because that is how it is being portrayed publically. You know, in politics perception is reality. I would just close with the point that I hope that the republicans become more aggressive in making your case and making your point to the unemployed. They may decide the election. We got 20 seconds, what do you want to say?

Wilcox: I would just remind the people that the republicans want to use the tax law that is currently in set. We believe that tax law will help create jobs. We are here and we understand the pain that Nevadans are feeling and we are doing everything we can to help republicans get elected so that we can turn Nevada's economy around.

Siegel: I appreciate that very much, and I thank you for your time on the program. John Wilcox. Good to have him with us. A spokesperson for the state republican party. My name is Mike Siegel, here at KDWN. Remember, always, be good to yourself and the world and the world will be good to you.