The Fremont Tribune - Ricketts Wants A More Business-Like Washington

Sunday, January 01, 2006 - Fremont Tribune

Ricketts Wants A More Business-Like Washington

By Tracy Buffington/Executive Editor

Listening to him talk about the issues, you learn a lot about Pete Ricketts' background.

The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate doesn't talk about past political offices that he held or the numerous campaigns he's worked on. Instead, he talks business and his experiences in the working world.

"I think one of the reasons why voters in Nebraska ought to send me to Washington is because I've had the background in business. We've made the hard decisions at Ameritrade," Ricketts said during an exclusive interview with the Fremont Tribune.

"We need more people who have that experience going to Washington to help change that culture in Washington so that we're not doing business as usual."

Ricketts officially joined the race for the Republican nomination for Senate in August. That's when he left his post as chief operating officer at Ameritrade, the company his father founded.

Ricketts decided to run for Ben Nelson's Senate seat after getting involved in the anti-gambling group Gambling with the Good Life and listening to Carl Rover speak about Social Security reform.

Working to defeat last year's casino initiatives taught the candidate a couple of things.

"It really opened my eyes to two things," Ricketts said. "One, that bad things can happen if you don't get involved. And two, ordinary people getting involved make a huge difference."

The early part of his campaign is about meeting people and building a grassroots organization. When he talks to people, he discusses topics like Social Security, economic opportunities, trade issues and what sets him apart from his Republican opponents - David Kramer and Don Stenberg.

"Social Security is probably one of the most successful programs we've every had," he said. "But it's just math that it's going to run out of money, and we have the opportunity now to be able to make changes so that we can keep our promises to our seniors who are retiring today and reset the expectations of the folks who are going to retire 30 years from now. The longer we wait, the harder it's going to be to change the program."

He has no "silver bullet" answer for Social Security.

"I think there are a lot of ideas out there, for instance private accounts. I think that's a good idea. Do I think that's the total solution? No, that's not the total solution," Ricketts said. "What I think I bring to the table is that at Ameritrade I facilitated solving problems. ... We need to get smart people from both sides of the aisle to sit down and say, ‘Here's the things we agree on; we have common ground, and here's how we're going to solve the problem.'"

Ricketts also would like to see increased opportunities for entrepreneurs.

"The first thing we have to do is create the environment where you can allow entrepreneurs and small businesses to succeed," he said. "That has to do with your tax structure. That has to do with your regulatory structure. But you start with creating that environment. That's where the economic engine for this country comes from."

The fourth-generation Nebraskan also said opening additional markets to the state's agriculture products is important.

"Trade is one of the things that creates wealth, generates wealth. The more trade interaction you have between nations and around the world, the better off you're going to be," Ricketts said. "We ought to be looking for ways that we can open up markets for farmers and ranchers to sell their products."

While he speaks well of his two Republican opponents, Ricketts said there is one big difference.

"Dave and Don are both good men," he said. "Don has contributed a lot to the state as attorney general and Dave has (contributed to) the Republican Party in his role. However, neither of those gentlemen have had the experience that I've had in the real world.

"I'm not a lawyer or a professional politician," he added. "I'm a businessman and a problem solver. And we need more of that in Washington. We need more people who have actually had to live with the laws that were written and not just people who are good at writing the laws."

http://www.petericketts.com/full_article.asp?article_id=33