My answers to the Asheville Citizen-Times candidate questionnaire are up. Their 100 word-limit sure helps to focus the mind :-)) 1. What would your top priorities be if you are elected? Frankly, I’m the only one protecting the hard-working, regular folks of Buncombe County from the extremists running Asheville — radicals like Cecil Bothwell and his cronies. Progressive activists have taken over city council, county commission, the Register of Deeds — and soon, the District Attorney’s office. The lunatics are running the asylum. These people do not share our values — someone needs to keep them on a short leash to provide balance. My record demonstrates that I’m not afraid to stand up to the progressive bullies in the city — and if I’m re-elected, that will continue to be my top priority. 2. How do you view the way the General Assembly has dealt with education issues? What should happen next? Im proud of my record on education. But I’m also very disappointed in how these left-wing activists have gotten away with rewriting history. Education funding has increased every year since I’ve been in office — but those who hate our fiscally conservative approach still continue to tell outright lies about our efforts. They’re shameless. And it’s worth noting that the last Democrat-controlled budget resulted in an 11% cut to education and included teacher furloughs. What should happen next? As a parent, I think activist teachers should stop politicizing our classrooms and start doing a better job educating our children. 3. Should the state spend more on transportation and, if so, how should that spending be funded? Last year we reformed the way transportation projects are funded with our Strategic Transportation Investments Act. This reform largely takes politics out of the equation and gives priority to those regionally-focused projects with objective economic development merit. That’s why you’ve seen so much movement on the I-26 project now after so many years of neglect. Funding these projects should include a healthy mix of public/private partnerships and revenue bonds. I support the governor’s plan to focus infrastructure projects — rail, port, transit and highways — on our more rural areas of the state, including here in Western North Carolina. 4. Should the state accept the federal governments offer to pay for an expansion of Medicaid in North Carolina? Drug pushers always tell you that the first hit’s free — the same goes for big-government progressives who want more and more able-bodied voters addicted to taxpayer-funded “freebies.” So, no — I would resist any such efforts to expand Obamacare. I agree with the professionals of the North Carolina Hospital Association and the doctors of the North Carolina Medical Society. Expanding a fundamentally broken system would massively increase costs, crowd-out services for the neediest recipients, and — despite hollow promises by the Obama administration — put hardworking taxpayers on the hook for an escalating cost burden. Let’s fix it first. citizen-times/story/news/2014/10/18/meet-the-candidates/17495661/
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 15:53:38 +0000
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