(video interview)

California State Rep Chuck DeVore on government spending sprees, tea parties, industrial hemp, and running for Barbara Boxer's Senate seat.

Recently, Reason.tv's Ted Balaker sat down with California State assemblyman and U.S. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore.

While the Republican is aiming to Democratic incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer, Devore discusses bipartisan state and federal spending sprees. California remains mired in permanent fiscal crisis because the state spends "every last penny and then some," say DeVore, while noting "the unprecedented increases in state spending under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger."

The novelist and former soldier addresses the historic Bush-era spending binge, but says the "big thing is the order of magnitude shift" under President Obama. "So instead of a multi-billion dollar program, now we're on to trillions."

Other topics include: ObamaCare, foreign policy, California's lax welfare-to-work rules, why the tea party movement is here to stay, and what it's like being a pro-hemp politician in conservative Orange County, California.

Producer is Ted Balaker, director of photography is Alex Manning, field producer is Hawk Jensen, and associate producer is Paul Detrick.

Approximately 8.30 minutes.