Carolina Politics Online

As reported at WTVD-TV News 11 here in Raleigh, Pat McCrory is considering a run for governor in 2012. He is quoted that he will make a decision sometime next year.

McCrory says he’ll be making a decision on a possible run for governor sometime next year.

Pat McCrory was in Raleigh today trying to raise money to help Renee Ellmers defeat “I have you by the neck” Bob Etheridge- Democrat NC-2.

I have to say that early voting here in NC is critical and that every voter of any political leaning who wants some real change here in NC and nationally had better get to the polls.  Two more years of Obama and or Perdue will be a disaster PERIOD!

RALEIGH, N.C. – Protesters and police scuffled Tuesday at a school board meeting in North Carolina over claims that a new busing system would resegregate schools, roiling racial tensions reminiscent of the 1960s.

Nineteen people were arrested, including the head of state NAACP chapter who was banned from the meeting after a trespassing arrest at a June school board gathering.

The AP

The “arrestees” include Reverend Jelly-Belly.

“We know that our cause is right,” the Rev. William Barber said shortly before police put plastic handcuffs on his wrists before the meeting started.

You can watch the gathering here.  It was more like a parade of self-loathing, attention seeking “victims” and aging hippie liberal douches trying to relive their glory years.

“Hey, hey, ho, ho, resegregation has got to go,” some protesters chanted.

Oh, how original.

At a morning rally that drew 1,000 people, speakers quoted Martin Luther King Jr., remembered the days of segregated water fountains and likened the current situation to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education battle.

And what they fail to mention is that a good chunk of those 1,000 people were from out of town, so who gives a crap?

North Carolina congressional candidate Renee Ellmers has failed to capitalize on last month’s furor over incumbent Democratic Rep. Bobby Etheridge’s physical altercation with a questioner who stopped him on the sidewalk.

Video of Etheridge grabbing the man who stopped him — and demanding to know the man’s identity — spread quickly online and drew attention to the congressman’s long-shot challenger. But a month later, Ellmers, a nurse who heads the Dunn Area Chamber of Commerce, has just $42,000 in the bank and little support from national Republicans.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has yet to add Ellmers to its “Young Guns” program, which supports top recruits. Etheridge, meanwhile, has a war chest of $1.2 million.

Politico

The people that run the NRCC are nitwits.  Same goes with the Democrats’ campaign committee.  These groups are run by career political lackeys who think they are so in tune to what is going on out in the real world, but the fact is these stooges would climb over a glass door to see what’s on the other side.  Time after time the party apparatuses ignore candidates, who either end up pulling off an upset win or come close, simply because they are out of touch with the grassroots.  The DCCC completely ignored Larry Kissell in 2006 when he ran against Robin Hayes and Kissell only lost to him that year by a few hundred votes.  If the DCCC had gotten behind Kissell in ‘06 he could have won instead of having to do a rematch with Hayes in ‘08.

Renee Ellmers can defeat Bob Etheridge.  Yes, the race is in Etheridge’s favor at this point in time, but in years where there are electoral sweeps races in the most unexpected places can have unpredicted outcomes.  Besides, Etheridge’s seat was held by a Republican before him and the district leans slightly to the right of center.  Plus, throw in the fact that they have plenty of ammunition to throw at him this year.  For the NRCC to write this race off is pretty foolish, but again, if these people were intelligent they’d have real jobs where they actually produce something.

RALEIGH — Wake County school board members who discarded the system’s mandated diversity policy face the specter early this week of large-scale protests and civil disobedience, possible mass arrests and broadening resistance from religious and social-justice groups.

Opponents of the move to neighborhood schools plan to hold a mass march in downtown Raleigh on Tuesday, followed by a protest that could disrupt that afternoon’s school board meeting. At the same time, the Northern Wake Republican Club has called for “164 solid conservative people” to attend the meeting “to counter the NAACP’s rally.”

Opponents of the board, boosted by recent endorsements by African-American denominations and the national NAACP, are casting their opposition to changes in Wake Schools as a moral imperative and a replay of the 1960s civil rights movement’s role in integrating schools.

The News and Observer

More hypocrisy and ignorance from the NAACP.  Community based schools make it easier for students to get to school and for parents to be involved.  It’s pure absurdity to bus kids to a school 15 miles away in the name of “diversity” and it’s gross negligence to use children as political pawns to push a failed social agenda.  Furthermore, why is it that people only view diversity as being racial?  There is more to diversity than the tint of someone’s skin.  There is socioeconomic diversity and religious diversity.  There are many factors that make up a diverse society.

As I’ve said before, the NAACP is a completely irrelevant organization in 21st century America and they know it and that is why they have to grasp at any straw they can to keep themselves in the public eye.  If the money stop flowing in the Reverend William Barber won’t have the cash to keep stuffing his jelly-belly with cakes and pies all day.

Oh and to the dismay of the NAACP, it seems that they have been exposed for being the racists that they are.  Get a load of this and imagine if whitey had said this about a black farmer. (Update: It’s sounding like Shirley Sherrod’s comments were distorted by Breitbart by only revealing part of her speech and not the rest of her remarks which changes the context of her words quite a bit.  Believe it or not, she is being defended by Glenn Beck. Regardless, it does not change my opinion of the people leading today’s NAACP as they have a long track record of not practicing what they preach, but I do apologize to Shirley Sherrod for falling for propaganda and mischaracterizing her.)

DURHAM — City Council members voted 6-1 Monday night to suspend any city-funded travel by Durham officials to Arizona, reserving the right to approve exceptions proposed by their top aides.

The vote came in protest of recent moves by Arizona’s government to crack down on illegal immigrants, and answered a request from Durham’s Human Relations Commission.

The vote Monday, though, came on a compromise resolution sponsored by Mayor Bill Bell.

Bell’s draft left open the possibility that council members might OK trips suggested by City Manager Tom Bonfield, City Attorney Patrick Baker or City Clerk Ann Gray.

It also embraced language submitted by Councilman Eugene Brown that called on federal officials to get on with a comprehensive reform of U.S. immigration laws.

It should, members agreed, simultaneously tighten border controls, establish “a path to earned legalization, citizenship and social integration” for immigrants already here and help other countries secure the economic development they need to “reduce the flow of immigrants in the first place.”

Bell said he thought the travel limits would have little effect on city operations or on Arizona’s economy.

The Herald-Sun

Which is exactly what I was thinking as I was reading through this.  How much business does the City of Durham, North Carolina actually do with the State of Arizona?  I’m guessing, not a whole lot.  Yeah, I’ll bet the State of Arizona is just throwing a temper tantrum over this.

On a serious note, I understand some of the concerns people have with Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, but people around this country like the city council in Durham and the city council in Los Angeles instituting these so-called  boycotts really need to grow up.  Arizona has a serious problem with illegal immigration and nobody in Durham, North Carolina can possibly relate to the issues they are dealing with.  If the Federal government had done its job, Arizona wouldn’t have been pushed into doing this.  They ought to take a lesson from Atticus Finch.  “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

According to a Mississippi attorney, the college student in Washington D.C. last week wasn’t the first young man to be the recipient of physical aggression from Congressman Etheridge.  Brandon Leslie, a former resident of Moore County, claims that when he was a senior in high school in 1996 he too had an encounter with Etheridge at a high school football game similar to the incident in D.C.

Brandon Leslie, who moved away seven years ago and is now an attorney in Oxford, Miss., said he had an encounter with the now seven-term Democratic congressman from Lillington almost 14 years ago.

In the fall of 1996, when Leslie was a senior at Pinecrest High School, he said he met Etheridge at a Pinecrest football game. Etheridge – then the state superintendent of public instruction – was challenging incumbent Republican David Funderburk for his congressional seat. At the time, Moore County was part of the 2nd District, which Etheridge now represents.

Leslie said he introduced himself to Etheridge and asked him about his stance on a particular education program. He said Etheridge didn’t answer his question, so he pressed him two more times.

“And that’s when he grabbed me by the shoulders, he shook me, and I’ll never forget it, he said, ‘Son, you need to learn to respect your elders,’” he said by phone on Wednesday. “I was just so taken aback, I think my jaw just dropped, and he walked off.”

Leslie said he was angrier about Etheridge’s attitude and “patronizing” tone than the physical contact.

“It wasn’t to hurt me, it wasn’t to harm me,” he says. “It was that he was irritated and wanted to get my attention.”

The Pilot

According to the article the incident raised some raucous from the locals, but the media never ran with it.  Of course, back then the public Internet was still a new born babe and the alternative media really didn’t exist yet.  Even if Leslie had been able to catch it on tape, there was no such thing as a viral video in those days.  Unfortunately for Etheridge, technology caught up with him this year.

Etheridge’s office has disputed Leslie’s claim, but Etheridge himself won’t address the accusation.

Oh, glory, glory hallelujah! My prayers have been answered!

Recent readers of this blog know the contempt in which I hold the Rev. Racist Piece-of-Shit. His only skill in life, aside from eating, is sowing schism and spreading discord wherever his obtuse ass makes an appearance.

The evidence is overwhelming that the “diversity” policy has done nothing -nothing- to help low-income and minority students and has arguably hurt them instead. If this carnival barker was really concerned about quality education for black kids, why wasn’t he pulling this shit when test scores and minority graduation rates went down ? Oh, because they went down when his friends and supporters of his beloved diversity policy were in power. But now that he sees a chance to do a little race-baiting and get some power for himself by spreading fear and hate, you can’t keep his fat face out of the news.

Police arrested four civil rights protesters, including state NAACP head Rev. William Barber and author Tim Tyson, after they refused to leave tonight’s Wake County school board meeting. The arrests started about an hour-and-a-half after the biracial group disrupted the meeting, speaking and singing to empty seats when the board recessed, then taking over the elective body’s own seats.

The protest began when Margiotta called a recess of the board and Barber, state leader of the NAACP, objected.

“We’d like to finish the public comment period at this time,” Barber said. “We’ve not had an opportunity to speak.”

Margiotta offered Barber and the others a chance to speak after the recess.

“We’re going to do it now,” Barber said. “We are engaging in nonviolent resistance. We will not release the podium.”

Board members have now come back into session and the leaders are being given a chance to speak. Petty is pastor of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, a Raleigh church with a long history of activism.

“Who does benefit from your recent decisions?” Petty asked. “Our entire community? Or selected communities where the wealthiest live?”

The N&O

Holy crap!! All the kid did was ask him a question and Etheridge goes crazy! The pressure must really be getting to these guys.

Renee Ellmers, I think you just found your new 30 second ad.

Update: Etheridge has issued a public apology. It is also being speculated around the blogosphere that he may have been drunk.  Apparently, he was leaving a fund raiser for Nancy Pelosi when this happened.  It would certainly explain his erratic behavior.

RALEIGH — The state Senate is expected to consider today a $450 million bond package that would pay for university and college projects, including a new engineering building at N.C. State University.

A key Senate committee approved the bond package Tuesday. Borrowing the money would not require the approval of voters. The state is facing an $800 million revenue shortfall in its operating budget because of the recession. That same recession means that construction costs could be as much as 30 percent cheaper than they would be during normal times.

The News & Observer

Sen. Phil Berger, an Eden Republican and the chamber’s minority leader, said the state may be facing a $3 billion deficit next year because of taxes and federal stimulus dollars that are set to expire. While the projects are worthwhile, another $18 million debt payment now doesn’t make any sense, he said.

“Would you do that in your personal life?” he asked.

Maybe the State of North Carolina just thinks down the road it can declare bankruptcy like people do when they get in over their head.  Bear in mind that the state legislature is also banking on the Feds providing another half a billion in Medicaid welfare handouts to the state as they present the next fiscal year’s budget.  That money isn’t even guaranteed so if the Feds don’t pony up, add another $500 million to the state deficit.

When the recession created a budget shortfall here in South Carolina our state legislature massively slashed the budget.  As a matter of fact, funding was cut to higher education throughout the state.  I’m a graduate student at Winthrop University.  Guess what.  My tuition went up.  We, the students receiving the educative services, had to pick up the financial slack for our own education and that’s exactly the way it should be.  I wasn’t bitching about it.  If UNC needs a new engineering building that bad then let them pay for it!

In a parting note, I can’t let the words of Republican State Senator Richard Stevens go without special fanfare.  I can always county on big government trough feeders like him to make my case for me when I repeatedly point out that the Republicans are no better at containing the size of government than the Democrats are.

“We can’t afford not to invest in our future,” said Sen. Richard Stevens, a Cary Republican.

Thanks again, Dick.

It’s official- Wake County has done away with the failed, criticized, and parent-unfriendly “diversity” policy and will replace it with a community-based schools approach.

In the interest of bi-partisanship, I now give all our neighborhood liberals an opportunity to mindlessly bitch about “resegragation” in the form of brainless slogans.

Ready… go!

::checks email::
::discovers I’ve won the Irish lotto!::
::returns::

I’m back. Did that make you feel better, liberal readers? That’s nice. I aim to please.

The deeply divided board eliminated diversity as a goal in the assignment policy with a 5-4 vote, making family proximity to schools the priority. The fight about the diversity policy, which depends on the economic status of families, drew national attention as the majority reversed decades of policy.

“It’s terrific for the parents of Wake County,” said Allison Backhouse, a leader of Wake CARES, a parents group that backs the new majority. “We’ve fought for many years to be recognized.”

“Hey hey! Ho ho! Resegregation’s got to go!” about 20 protesters shouted.

The N&O

Republicans Bill Randall and Bernie Reeves are heading into a run off election to decide which one of them will take on Congressman Brad Miller (D) for the 13th Congressional District seat in November.  A debate was held a few days ago, the whole thing of which can be watched on YouTube.  Below are the closing arguments of both candidates.  I have no horse in this race, but I will note that I was not the least bit impressed by Mr. Reeves.  In this clip in particular I don’t like the fact that Reeves spends his time name dropping whereas Randall told the audience why he was qualified to be the next Congressman for District 13.

I’m only doing one endorsement for Tuesday’s primary, and here it is: If you live in State House District 33 (Raleigh), you should vote for Paul Terrell. He’s a great guy, he’s dedicated, he’s concerned with the direction of the state, and his opponent is a whackadoo.

There.

The rest of this post isn’t an “endorsement”, per se. You can go vote however the hell you want. I’m doing this because this is the congressional district in which I live, and I want to explain who I’ll be voting for and why.

There are four candidates in this primary, but only two of them have a chance to win on Tuesday- B.J. Lawson and Frank Roche. Here are the reasons I’m supporting B.J.

1. He ran a great race in 2008. In a terrible Republican year in an even worse Republican district, B.J. managed to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars and gain national exposure. He even made David Price sweat a little bit towards the end.  B.J. ended up with more votes than any Republican challenger had ever received against Price. A rematch, this time with a more experienced B.J., a more favorable national climate, and lower Democrat turnout in an off-year election, and we have an outside chance for a huge upset. In short- he’s earned another shot.

2. If I wanted to listen to Sean Hannity, I’d listen to Sean Hannity. Roche is a standard-issue Republican. Now, the Republican party has a lot of stadard-issue Republicans. But none of them are going to win in N.C. 4. This district is too liberal for any Sean Hannity-lite to win against someone like Price. B.J., however, is a breath of fresh air: a libertarian-oriented Republican who isn’t a down-the-line doctrinaire conservative. It’s those libertarian positions that make people take a second look at him… and get him noticed in places Roche wouldn’t get out of alive, like Durham and Chapel Hill.

3. We need more Ron Paul Types in Congress. I don’t want the entire party to be comprised of Paulites, but a few more of them wouldn’t hurt. In fact, a few more of them would help the party stay true to its (supposed) small government principles and bring forth new issues that need to be addressed (ie. Auditing the Fed). The Republican Party is stale and old. B.J. Lawson can be, as I said earlier, a breathe of fresh air.

4. Frank Roche has Only Lived Here for Three Years. Normally I wouldn’t have a problem with this; the Triangle is full of transplants and transients. Hell, Frank’s lived here longer than me! But I demand an explanation for how someone who has lived here for such a short amount of time can effectively represent the area. I asked that same question to Bill Randall and he provided a very good answer. Roche didn’t even bother responding. Which brings us to…

5. Roche is a Dick. Roche won’t respond to our questionnaire to let you know where he stands on several key issues, or to answer questions about his candidacy. But he WILL use our site to attack B.J. See, Roche’s website linked to our site, specifically to B.J.’s questionnaire answers, and used some his answers against him.

Oh, I see how it is Frank: You can’t be bothered to tell people where you stand, but when someone respects the voters enough to answer a questionnaire that you ignored, you turn it against them to score political points.

Hey, you want to link your website to something else on CPO? Link to this article, dick.

So those are the five main reasons I plan to vote for B.J. Lawson on Tuesday. Maybe you agree; maybe you don’t. But that’s why I’m casting my vote the way I am.

Bill Randall is an old friend to CPO, having also turned in a set of answers to our NCGOP Chairman questionnaire when he ran for that last year. He’s running in the 13th Congressional District against two other Republicans. The winner of Tuesday’s primary will take on Brad Miller, another socialist masquerading as a moderate.

Randall served in the U.S. Navy and retired as a Command Master Chief. As I mentioned, last year he ran for NCGOOP chairman and had a respectable showing against other, more well-known candidates. If you’d like to learn more about him, visit www.randallforcongress.com.

Continue Reading »

My opponent in the NC House District 33 primary has claimed that I have slandered her. She stated this on her UNC-TV candidates page. I would also refer you to her web site but she does not have one. The only thing I will say is we are both public figures and are judged accordingly by our past actions. If she truly feels slandered then she can bring forward anything that has been said about her and refute it publicly. Anyone who knows me knows that I will not state a fact about someone unless I know without a doubt it is true.

 If I may I will refer you to the Independent Weekly’s endorsementof my campaign. It may be a liberal progressive paper, but they are always honest on where they stand. Regardless of what the Indy thinks of my chances in November they feel also that Leventhal is not qualified for anything let alone the N.C. State House. And the 80.2% and 84.9% straw poll wins at two different major Wake County Republican events shows the approval of Republican activists. I will end this by saying that the main difference between the two of us is: That I am not a last second opportunist that has given nothing to the community or the Republican Party.

Dr. William “B.J.” Lawson is running in the Republican primary for the right to take on avowed socialist David Price in N.C.’s 4th District, which covers western Wake , Durham, Orange, and part of Chatham County.

Lawson graduated from Duke medical school and was a neurologist before starting Mercury MD, a medical software company. When he ran for congress in 2008, he recieved more votes than any Republican challenger had ever recieved against Price.

If you’d like to learn more about Lawson, visit www.lawsonforcongress.com.

1. How has your professional, non-political career prepared you to serve  in Congress?
I am a lifelong Republican and 18 year resident of North Carolina’s 4th District who moved to North Carolina to attend Duke University. I received my engineering and medical degrees from Duke, and started neurosurgical residency before leaving practice in 2001 to start a hospital software company. Our company, Mercury MD, was founded to help physicians save time and improve patient safety with mobile access to real-time clinical
information.
Starting this software company was the beginning of a nine-year course of study in business and economics. This practical business education, along with my background studying systems and human behavior in engineering and medicine, have been critical preparation for serving in Congress.
Specifically, the more I learned about the relationship between our political and economic systems, the more concerned I became about the future of our country and economy. We have an economic system that cannot be described as a free market — it is corporatism, where special interests send lobbyists to Washington to erect barriers to competition and regulate innovation out of business.
The ultimate special interest is controlling access to capital — our government’s ability to borrow and print money through the Federal Reserve enables bailouts of the too-big-to-fail, and is driving us off a cliff of debt that our country has no ability repay. We face stark choices between liberty and tyranny in the coming years, and I am deeply concerned about the world we are leaving to our children.
My wife and I have three children, and live in western Wake County. Our focus on family leaves us most concerned about our economic freedom to create our own jobs and businesses, our ability as North Carolinians to improve our own communities, and our ability as Americans to maintain national security when we’re heading towards national insolvency.

2. If elected, which committees would you ask to be assigned to and why?
Financial Services: The lack of transparency, accountability, and honesty in our financial system is dangerous to our financial markets and international financial relationships.
Science and Technology: I am concerned about the federal government’s efforts to regulate the Internet, as well as the impact of regulations on innovation in the science and technology sectors critical for future growth.

3. Will you adhere to self-imposed term limits? How long do you envision yourself serving in Congress? Will you support a constitutional amendment requiring term limits for the U.S. House and Senate? Why or why not?
Yes — I do not envision myself serving in Congress for more than eight years. I would support a term limit amendment for the House and Senate, but caution that more rapid turnover of representatives alone is insufficient to break the political class’ destructive grip on our economy.  We have a “shadow government” in the form of regulators and bureaucrats who are
unelected, and unaccountable. Many of these bureaucrats view themselves as the ultimate authority, as they have a lifetime of job security and are not held accountable through elections. They simply demand their budgetary increases, grow their fiefdoms, and continue looking for more ways to exert
influence regardless of what party or representatives are in power. We must reign in this shadow government of regulators and bureaucrats, and ensure that regulatory bodies are accountable to the people.

4. If elected, will you pledge that you will vote to repeal the entire Health Care “Reform” law? Not part of it. Not most of it. Every. Single. Word.
Yes

5. Have you signed the Club for Growth’s Health Care repeal pledge? If not, why not? (http://www.repealit.org/pledge/candidate)
Yes

6. Who is your choice for the next Speaker of the U.S. House?
Ron Paul (TX), Walter Jones (NC), Paul Ryan (WI), Jeff Flake (AZ) or Tom McClintock (CA) (roughly in order of seniority) would all be excellent House Speakers.

7. What aspects of the existing stimulus, if any, do you support for your District? Are there any tax dollars you would defend or fight to increase coming back to your constituents? What services would you reduce or take  away?
I do not support the stimulus. I will fight to prevent tax dollars from leaving the District in the first place. Presumably, the most valuable funds in the stimulus bill include $86 million for road construction and $49 million for our schools — but we should be funding our roads and schools within North Carolina by ourselves, without the strings attached from the federal government. The money we receive in federal spending should be for funding that is legitimately the role of the federal government, which should primarily consist of funding for military and national defense.

8. How specifically do you plan to create jobs in your District?
If we want more of something, we should tax it less. I would start by eliminating the corporate and individual income taxes, which are specifically taxes on jobs and productivity. I am in favor of replacing the income tax with a consumption tax such as the FairTax, administered by the states, and with the elimination of the IRS. Additionally, I will fight regulations that prevent people from investing their own money in new businesses, and increase costs for entrepreneurs trying to raise money in public and private markets.
Did you know that the government will not allow you to invest money in a private company unless you are an “accredited investor” with a net worth of at least $1 million or annual income of at least $250,000? Did you know that Senator Dodd’s financial reform legislation will raise those limits to $2.3 million, and $450,000? Does it make sense for the government to prevent us from investing in our friends’ and neighbors’ businesses?
We need jobs, but they must be private sector jobs created by entrepreneurs and business owners who do well by doing good, and taking care of their customers. Reducing the regulatory burden for entrepreneurs is the best way to create new jobs, and allow businesses to grow and succeed.

9. What, if anything, should the United States do to decrease its dependence on foreign oil?
We should stop subsidizing our dependence on foreign oil through foreign aid and nation-building, unlock our own domestic reserves to private exploration, and eliminate the central planning in our federal Department of Energy. Ending subsidies that distort our energy markets would encourage
local solutions to our energy needs.
Over time, petroleum fuels will become more expensive. The inexpensive oil is gone — today’s deepwater and shale discoveries are more expensive and time-consuming to develop, and the rates of production expected from new discoveries are insufficient to replace the reserves being depleted from existing fields. Increasing demands by China and India will only increase
global demand for liquid fossil fuels. We need to start adjusting to this new reality. Higher prices from ending all subsidies are the best signal to conserve and develop alternatives. A free and open market for competition and innovation is the best method for developing alternatives.

10.  Do you support some sort of tax reform plan, such as the FairTax or a flat tax? Why or why not? 
Yes, I will support the FairTax to end the economic cancer known as the income tax. The compliance costs of our tax system are huge, and it is as much a vehicle for welfare and social engineering as it is raising revenue.
The other tax we must identify and attack is the inflation tax, caused by the creation of new money by the Federal Reserve. The growth in government spending as the federal government has become the “borrower of last resort” depends on the Federal Reserve creating new money to purchase our government’s debt — thus enabling the unchecked growth of government, and destroying the purchasing power of our money through inflation.
We can protect ourselves from the Fed’s inflation by eliminating capital gains and sales taxes on gold and silver. This simple step will allow gold and silver to enter circulation and savings as alternatives to Federal Reserve Notes, legalizing Constitutional money and providing needed competition to an unhealthy monopoly.

11. On what position do you disagree with the Republican Party the most?
I disagree with the Republican Party’s position on our occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. While we must maintain a strong military and strong national defense and defend ourselves against those who would hurt us, we should not be building nations overseas while we are falling apart at home.
I will support an orderly and immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, and will insist that we take care of the troops who have answered our call to serve.

12. Name one thing that you believe Barack Obama has done well during his presidency.
Planting a White House garden — too bad the Clintons treated the White House lawn with sewage sludge <http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/michelle-obamas-toxic-veggie-nightmare-white-house-organic-gar/19114069/>, leaving elevated lead levels in the soil that renders much of the food unfit for consumption.

13. Name one thing that you believe David Price has done well since his 2008 re-election.
He’s done an admirable job of avoiding public appearances, especially since the bailouts and health care reform vote. When he does venture outside, he has  proven adept at using our municipal law enforcement officers to nurture the illusion that we live in a police state with a government that is completely unaccountable to its citizens.

14. If elected, what is the first bill that you will introduce in the House? Why?
The first bill I will introduce is the Read the Bills Act <http://www.downsizedc.org/etp/campaigns/27>,
followed by the Write the Laws Act <http://www.downsizedc.org/etp/campaigns/51>,
and One Subject at a Time Act <http://www.downsizedc.org/etp/campaigns/83>.
These bills will address the legislative malpractice that characterizes our Congress today, where our elected representatives pass laws without reading them, delegate lawmaking authority to unelected bureaucrats and lobbyists, and stuff favors and unpopular proposals into legislation they know will pass. I will also co-sponsor the Enumerated Powers
Act<http://www.downsizedc.org/etp/campaigns/87>
and Free Competition in Currency Act <http://www.downsizedc.org/etp/campaigns/85>.

15. You are often described as a very libertarian Republican, and some Republicans are uncomfortable supporting you and some of your positions. Do you consider yourself a conservative or a libertarian? What do you say to those Republican voters who may be afraid of your libertarian beliefs?
I remind my Republican colleagues of the words of Ronald Regan who said in a 1975 interview <http://reason.com/archives/1975/07/01/inside-ronald-reagan>, “If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.” In other words, choosing between “libertarianism” and “conservatism” is a false choice — they are both philosophies that should be based upon Thomas
Jefferson’s classical liberalism, limited government, and individual liberty. It is also important to recognize that there is a difference between a libertarian and a Libertarian. I’d also encourage anyone who self-identifies with conservatism to read John Hood’s recent article, Grasping the Libertarian Vote <http://www.carolinajournal.com/jhdailyjournal/display_jhdailyjournal.html?id=6165>.
The challenge for Republicans is that the conservative brand has been polluted by the destructive history neoconservatism. The “Godfather of Neoconservatism”, Irving Kristol <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Kristol>, was actually a radical socialist who moved from the Democratic party to the Republican party to advance a philosophy of government that is pragmatic, elitist, and has continually acted to grow the size and scope of government in misguided efforts to solve problems of government’s own creation.
In short, neoconservatism is not conservative, and is diametrically opposed to the individual liberty and limited government implicit  in true conservatism.
Ultimately, though, I dislike labels and prefer that we discuss issues. My framework, and job description, for all issues surrounding our federal government is a strict constructionist interpretation of our Constitution. I encourage every American, regardless of party, to read and consider the Declaration of Independence as the philosophical foundation for our nation,
and the Constitution as the founders’ best efforts to live up to the ideals of that Declaration — a federal government that recognizes that every individual has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

16. You ran a great race against David Price in 2008, but lost. Why should 4th District Republicans give you a rematch instead of nominating Frank Roche?
We ran a great race because over 500 grassroots volunteers helped us staff every polling place, and over 3,000 donors nationwide helped us raise over $500,000. It was truly a team effort, focused on a transpartisan message of constitutional government, economic freedom, and freedom to create the
District, state, and nation we want our children to inherit. We earned over 153,000 votes in 2008, which is more votes than any other Republican challenger in the 4th District — and we earned those votes while swimming upstream against unfavorable turnout due to the Obama machine.
Fourth District Republicans support our campaign against the other three challengers because they know it takes time to build name recognition, and because they know incumbents are not often replaced in a single campaign.
We gave out 50,000 copies of our Constitution in 2008, and even today I run into people who say, “I remember you — you’re that Republican who gave me the Constitution. I voted for you.” Those Constitutions are more than my job description — they are seeds for a movement that has been growing over the past two years. We started planting them in 2008, and will plant another 50,000 in 2010 to ensure that we reap a harvest in November that sends David Price home to Chapel Hill, and restores prosperity and opportunity with honest, principled government.

Jaime Earp, a Republican candidate for a state House district in Raleigh who has a drunken-driving conviction, withdrew from the race Friday, two days after a GOP legislative leader spoke with him about bowing out.

“After speaking with party officials, I have decided to withdraw my candidacy for House seat 34,” Earp said in a prepared statement. “I am extremely humbled and grateful for the encouragement and support I have received since I began my candidacy. I look forward to another opportunity to serve North Carolina in public service.”

Rep. Thom Tillis, the Cornelius Republican and deputy Republican leader in the House who talked with Earp about withdrawing, commended him in a statement

The N&O

I once worked for a candidate who was caught drunk driving while in office, and he got re-elected! And promoted!

I tell ya, the only thing more entertaining then watching the new school board roll back years of failed policies and ineptitude is watching the liberals have a stroke, twitch madly, and piss all over themselves everytime one of the new board members even steps outside.

Today’s liberal toadstool is one Chase Foster, who obviously just came back from the beach. How else can you explain his acting like he’s got sand in his vagina?

Did Wake County school board member John Tedesco break the board’s code of ethics when he made his speech at last week’s Tea Party rally?

Chase Foster, a registered lobbyist for the liberal N.C. Voters for Clean Elections, was the most vocal of the critics at Tuesday’s board meeting. As you may recall, Foster wrote a post for the liberal N.C. Policy Watch’s Progressive Pulse blog based on on a conversation he overhead Tedesco engaged in.

Foster accused Tedesco of compromising the integrity of the board by speaking to “an extremist and sometimes violent political group.”

Foster said Tedesco should be “professionally punished for using this public office to advance your partisan, political career in such a cheap and repellent way.”

“One thing is for sure, Mr. Tedesco,” Foster said. “By speaking to this fringe group, you have outed yourself… as a right-wing extremist who is set on destroying and balkanizing our school system, as a pawn of Bob Luddy and Art Pope’s school privatization agenda, and as a self-aggrandizing, Palin-esque politician seeking fame off the backs and lives of Wake County’s 140,000 students.”

The N&O

Wow. He insulted the Tea Party, the new school board, Sarah Palin, AND Art Pope all in one speech. That’s gonna win him a toaster at some lib-tard raffle party!

As for being a self-aggrandizing fringe extremist seeking fame off the backs of Wake County’s students… well, let’s just say that if that is Tedesco’s career plan, he’s gonna run into a lot of competition.

From John Hood’s column in the Carolina Journal:

The public-policy case against dumping more taxpayer money in the bottomless pit of rail transit has long been a strong one. But in a new paper for the Cato Institute, Randal O’Toole has summarized it brilliantly.

The most important thing O’Toole does in the new paper, “Defining Success,” is to bring clarity to an issue often characterized by muddy thinking and mushy analysis. Otherwise-sensible people argue, for example, that all forms of transportation are subsidized (a logical impossibility), that most transportation assets are owned and operated by governments (a basic error), and that the only real problem with our transportation system is that it is starved for funds (a premature conclusion).

Rather than allowing rail-transit boosters to remain in their little cozy fantasy world, O’Toole yanks them back into reality by proposing six objective tests of performance.

A few of my local Triangle politicians are obsessed with giving us a new sales tax to pay for a magic choo-choo that will supposedly solve all of our traffic and road funding woes. Unfortunately, that rhythmic “chugga-chugga” doesn’t come cheap, as they’re learning in Charlotte.

• The operation of Charlotte’s light-rail line is heavily subsidized, even by transit standards, with fares covering only 17 percent of operating costs, compared with 29 percent for the average light-rail line and 53 percent for all transit. Taxpayers lose $20 on every ride taken on the Charlotte line, vs. a national average of $7 for light rail and $4 for all rail.

• Rail hasn’t boosted Charlotte’s transit ridership, which continues to fall. By shifting riders from less-expensive buses to more-expensive rail, the Charlotte line has cost taxpayers dearly with no discernible effect on congestion or air quality.

Show me the magic choo-choo that will actually have enough riders to break even, prove to me it can work in Raleigh, and I’ll support it- I really will. I love the idea of mass public transit. But the current reality is that the only place those trains will get you is Debt-ville.