Meet Utah Rep. Jim Matheson and NC Rep. Mike McIntyre -- the two Democrats who voted to defund Obamacare

Verne Strickland / Blogmaster / September 21, 2013

 

Politics

Meet the two Democrats who voted to defund Obamacare

12:44 PM 09/20/2013

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Alexis Levinson

Political Reporter

 

 

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Two Democratic members of the House voted with Republicans Friday to defund Obamacare and fund the government until the end of the year: Utah Rep. Jim Matheson and North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre.

Matheson is the sole Democratic member of the Utah delegation, a state that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won with almost 73 percent of the vote. Matheson, on the other hand, eked out a win in 2012, beating former Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love in 2012 by fewer than 3,000 votes.
Love has said she will challenge Matheson again in 2014.

McIntyre’s race was even tighter: he beat Republican state senator David Rouzer by fewer than 700 votes, a margin so slim that McIntyre was only declared the winner after a recount. Rouzer has announced he will challenge McIntyre again in 2014.
In a statement on Facebook, Matheson said he did not support putting the Obamacare provision in the continuing resolution, but that he did not want to shut down the government.

“It is irresponsible to add unrelated provisions to legislation to keep our government running. I have always preferred straightforward legislating that avoids political games. However, I believe we should avoid shutting down the government, and I voted for a continuing resolution to keep the legislative process working toward that end today,” he said.

McIntyre, in a statement, said he supports defunding and wanted to keep the government open:

“Among many other crucial services, it is essential that we honor our senior citizens, veterans, and men and women in uniform by ensuring there is no delay in their monthly retirement checks, health care coverage, or military benefits. Keeping our government operational is vital and today’s vote does that,” he said.

“My record on the health care law has been crystal clear — I voted against it when it was first considered, have voted to repeal it dozens of times, and today voted to defund it. The need for health care reform is clear, but this law is not the right approach for our citizens, communities, and businesses,” he added.
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Tags: Jim Matheson, Mike McIntyre, Obamacare

Atom Bomb Almost Exploded Over North Carolina In 1961, The Guardian Reports

Verne Strickland / September 21, 2014


THE FARO BOMB

Reuters  |  Posted: 09/20/2013 7:06 pm 

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LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. atom bomb nearly exploded in 1961 over North Carolina that would have been 260 times more powerful than the device that devastated Hiroshima, according to a declassified document published in a British newspaper on Friday.

The Guardian newspaper said the document, obtained by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser under the Freedom of Information Act, gave the first conclusive evidence that the United States came close to a disaster in January 1961.

The incident happened when two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs were accidentally dropped over Goldsboro, North Carolina, after a B-52 bomber broke up in midair.

There has been persistent speculation about how serious the incident was and the U.S. government has repeatedly denied its nuclear arsenal put Americans' lives at risk through safety flaws, the newspaper said.

But the newly published document said one of the two bombs behaved exactly in the manner of a nuclear weapon in wartime, with its parachute opening and its trigger mechanisms engaged. Only one low-voltage switch prevented a cataclysm.

Fallout could have spread over Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and even New York City, the paper said, threatening the lives of millions of people.

In the document, Parker Jones, a senior engineer in the Sandia National Laboratories responsible for the mechanical safety of nuclear weapons, concluded that "one simple, dynamo-technology, low-voltage switch stood between the United States and a major catastrophe."

Jones' report, titled "Goldsboro Revisited or: How I Learned to Mistrust the H-Bomb," was written eight years after the accident in which one hydrogen bomb fell into a field near Faro, North Carolina, and the other into a meadow.

He found that three of four safety mechanisms designed to prevent unintended detonation failed to operate properly in the Faro bomb.

When the bomb hit the ground, a firing signal was sent to the nuclear core of the device and it was only the final, highly vulnerable switch that averted a disaster.

"The MK 39 Mod 2 bomb did not possess adequate safety for the airborne alert role in the B-52," Jones concluded.

The Guardian said the document was found by Schlosser as he was researching a new book on the nuclear arms race, "Command and Control." (Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Xavier Briand)

Obamacare Is Going to Come Tumbling Down

Verne Strickland / Blogmaster / September 19, 2013

It is highly unlikely that the new law will ever be fully implemented as its authors and the White House intended.

By Peter Roff

September 17, 2013

The Republicans are at loggerheads over the issue of health care.
Some, believing the party's commitment to "repeal and replace" was written in blood, advocate using the upcoming continuing resolution necessary to keep the government open to "defund" it. Others, sensing that President Obama would regard such a move as leaving him no choice but to allow the government to shut down – and it's  doubtful anyway that such a measure would be approved by the Senate so that it could get to the president's desk – are taking the position that repeal cannot be accomplished in one bold stroke but must instead be done piecemeal.
Even though there is plenty of polling data showing the American people do not support Obamacare in its current form and would like to see it repealed or fundamentally altered, it is the proponents of the gradualist approach that seem to slowly be winning the argument. The reason for this is simple: They have the president on their side.
Not intentionally of course. The president still stands squarely behind his singular – perhaps even his only – legislative accomplishment of any substance. The sad fact is however that his team has made such a hash of the implementation phase of Obamacare that "delay" is already a reality.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, the Obama administration has missed nearly half the statutory implementation deadlines – and not in the way the new kitchen is not ready on the date the contractor promised it would be. The dates that have been missed were set in law – a fact which presents an interesting problem for the White House should anyone choose to pursue it.
Nevertheless, with the administration already in the "delay" phase it seems only natural that Congress should follow along, the difference being the Democrats want to "delay" until they get it right while the Republicans want the "delay" in order to get something else.
That something else, call it a do-over,  may be the Republican Study Committee's "American Health Care Reform Act," which is set to be rolled out by several GOP congressman include RSC Chairman Steve Scalise of Louisiana on Wednesday. It may also be a plan being developed by health care policy experts Peter Ferrara and John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis. Georgia Rep. Tom Price, who is also a medical doctor, also has a bill he has offered repeatedly that contains a number of pro-market-reform incentives that would improve health care in America without raising costs and without having to resort to rationing, as is inevitable under Obamacare.

It is a given that things will not remain as they are. It is highly unlikely that the new law will ever be fully implemented as its authors and the White House intended. Even Warren Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha" and one of the president's best billionaire buddies and staunchest defenders seems to be climbing on the do-over bandwagon.
In between "delay" and "do-over," is "dismantle," taking the new law apart piece by piece in order to accelerate its collapse under its own weight. The Obamacare advocates who say the public will never go for repeal if it means losing the goodies that are being bestowed upon them are probably right. This means the opponents of the new law have to act in such a way as to force hard choices above and beyond the hard choices that reality is already hitting them with. The premium increases, layoffs, and conversion of full time jobs into part time jobs are not coincidental; they are a direct result of the costs Obamacare is already imposing on private insurance and on employers.
[See a collection of political cartoons on Congress.]
The government of course knows nothing about this. They have all those tax dollars to spend so they can insulate themselves from the consequences of what they are imposing on the rest of us in the outside world. Almost. The maneuvering between the White House, congressional Democrats and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to spare legislators and congressional staff the economic costs of Obamacare and the reality of the health care exchanges they have forced most of the rest of us into was too much for Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter and Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis, who have introduced legislation to block the taxpayer subsidies OPM recently okayed.
For their trouble, because they have it in mind to prevent the taxpayers from being stuck with an even bigger bill, Vitter has been viciously and unfairly attacked by his senate colleagues:
"Although Senator Vitter has happily allowed the federal government to pay for a portion of his health insurance for many, many years, as a member of the House of Representatives and as a member of the Senate, now he wants to force these 16,000 congressional workers to cover the full cost of their health insurance," Senate Majority Leader and Obamacare subsidy supporter Harry Reid said recently on the Senate floor. "With this background one must ask, if Senator Vitter opposes the employer contribution to congressional staffers, does he oppose it also for the 150 million other Americans whose employers help pay their health insurance premiums? Does he want to discourage private employers from doing the right thing and providing their employees with affordable health insurance? Is that what he wants? Just to do away with health insurance that 150 million Americans have in America? Millions, I repeat, millions and millions of employers rely on this important benefit to attract the best and brightest and hardest working people they can find."
[See a collection of political cartoons on the Democratic Party.]
Reid may have dressed the argument up nicely and put a bow on it but a pig is still a pig. What he's talking about is what is already happening to millions of Americans whose employers have either cannot comply or have chosen not to comply with what Obamacare requires them to do. Even the unions that make up the once all-powerful AFL-CIO are squirming under its dictates – although all they want, typically, is an exemption for their members and only their members rather than outright repeal.
In the natural order of things, "repeal and replace" is evolving into "delay, dismantle, and do over" and there is little the president can do to stop it. Sometimes the waiting is the hardest part but, in the end, it's going to all come tumbling down.

New Legislation Will Protect Older Adults in North Carolina from Fraud

NC Center for Public Policy Research via T. Jerry Williams

September 18, 2013 — Mebane Rash

Verne Strickland Blogmaster


 

Although schemes to rip off unsuspecting seniors are not new, what is new is the growing population of older adults in North Carolina, the increased sophistication of scams using the Internet, and the international scope of this crime. 

These scams take place statewide.  For example, in Burke County, scam artists based in Jamaica have targeted older adults.  One woman lost $52,000.  A 92-year-old former Army colonel in Raleigh was bilked out of more than $227,000 by home repair con artists.  The caretakers of an elderly man in Clinton took close to $16,000 worth of jewelry, charged more than $14,000 on his credit cards, stole his trailer, and hauled off his computer, refrigerator, and washing machine.

Scammers do not discriminate, targeting elders of all socio-economic brackets, all races, both male and female.  Some risk factors include being homebound, having memory impairments, possessing assets that are easily converted to cash, and the expectation that often seniors are just more polite.

The stories of fraud against the elderly across this state are rampant and appalling.  It is even more tragic when the fraud is carried out by relatives, family friends, or caregivers.

The most recent data from the Federal Trade Commission shows North Carolina already ranks 24^th among the 50 states in the number of fraud complaints per capita and 23^rd in the number of identity theft complaints per capita.  The Federal Trade Commission says that people over 50 account for almost one-half of all consumer fraud complaints, and more than a third of all identify theft complaints.  These figures are likely to go up quickly as the huge Baby Boom generation started turning 65 in 2011.  By 2020, 820,000 more Baby Boomers will turn 65 in North Carolina, so that’s 820,000 more targets for scammers.  The N.C. Center for Public Policy Research conducted research on this important issue and made recommendations to the legislature.

To combat this crime, Senator Stan Bingham (R-Davidson) sponsored Senate Bill 140 (signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory as Session Law 2013-337) to protect against the financial exploitation of older adults.  Representative Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke) shepherded the bill through the House.  The bill passed the Senate 47-0 and the House 111-1.  This legislation will increase the recognition of fraud committed against the elderly and work to prevent it, increase reporting when fraud is suspected, and increase the prosecution of those who would defraud or financially exploit the elderly.  It also continues the work of the Task Force on Fraud Against Older Adults, co-chaired by Senator Bingham and Representative Blackwell.

The Task Force includes representatives from the financial industry such as the N.C. Bankers Association, State Employees Credit Union, and Commissioner of Banks; from state agencies such as the Division of Aging and Adult Services and the State Treasurer’s Office; from advocacy groups for the aging such as AARP and the Senior Tar Heel Legislature; and from law enforcement groups such as the FBI, the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, the N.C. Chiefs of Police; and from the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research.

The Task Force met all last year and came up with a multi-pronged approach that is designed to prevent fraud on the front end with the help of the banking, savings and loan, and credit union community, and to step up prosecution of fraud on the back end with the help of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys and the Attorney General’s office.

So whether it’s fake home and roof repair schemes in Wake, Nash, and Wilson counties, or securities fraud targeting an Alzheimer’s victim in Wake County, or a fake home health aide stealing money and checks in Mecklenburg County, or sweepstakes and lottery scams in Northeastern North Carolina, or a scam in your own hometown, the work of the Task Force will help prevent fraud committed against the elderly and step up the prosecution of fraud all across North Carolina.
September 18, 2013 — Mebane Rash

Although schemes to rip off unsuspecting seniors are not new, what is new is the growing population of older adults in North Carolina, the increased sophistication of scams using the Internet, and the international scope of this crime. 

These scams take place statewide.  For example, in Burke County, scam artists based in Jamaica have targeted older adults.  One woman lost $52,000.  A 92-year-old former Army colonel in Raleigh was bilked out of more than $227,000 by home repair con artists.  The caretakers of an elderly man in Clinton took close to $16,000 worth of jewelry, charged more than $14,000 on his credit cards, stole his trailer, and hauled off his computer, refrigerator, and washing machine.

Scammers do not discriminate, targeting elders of all socio-economic brackets, all races, both male and female.  Some risk factors include being homebound, having memory impairments, possessing assets that are easily converted to cash, and the expectation that often seniors are just more polite.

The stories of fraud against the elderly across this state are rampant and appalling.  It is even more tragic when the fraud is carried out by relatives, family friends, or caregivers.

The most recent data from the Federal Trade Commission shows North Carolina already ranks 24^th among the 50 states in the number of fraud complaints per capita and 23^rd in the number of identity theft complaints per capita.  The Federal Trade Commission says that people over 50 account for almost one-half of all consumer fraud complaints, and more than a third of all identify theft complaints.  These figures are likely to go up quickly as the huge Baby Boom generation started turning 65 in 2011.  By 2020, 820,000 more Baby Boomers will turn 65 in North Carolina, so that’s 820,000 more targets for scammers.  The N.C. Center for Public Policy Research conducted research on this important issue and made recommendations to the legislature.

To combat this crime, Senator Stan Bingham (R-Davidson) sponsored Senate Bill 140 (signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory as Session Law 2013-337) to protect against the financial exploitation of older adults.  Representative Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke) shepherded the bill through the House.  The bill passed the Senate 47-0 and the House 111-1.  This legislation will increase the recognition of fraud committed against the elderly and work to prevent it, increase reporting when fraud is suspected, and increase the prosecution of those who would defraud or financially exploit the elderly.  It also continues the work of the Task Force on Fraud Against Older Adults, co-chaired by Senator Bingham and Representative Blackwell.

The Task Force includes representatives from the financial industry such as the N.C. Bankers Association, State Employees Credit Union, and Commissioner of Banks; from state agencies such as the Division of Aging and Adult Services and the State Treasurer’s Office; from advocacy groups for the aging such as AARP and the Senior Tar Heel Legislature; and from law enforcement groups such as the FBI, the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, the N.C. Chiefs of Police; and from the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research.

The Task Force met all last year and came up with a multi-pronged approach that is designed to prevent fraud on the front end with the help of the banking, savings and loan, and credit union community, and to step up prosecution of fraud on the back end with the help of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys and the Attorney General’s office.

So whether it’s fake home and roof repair schemes in Wake, Nash, and Wilson counties, or securities fraud targeting an Alzheimer’s victim in Wake County, or a fake home health aide stealing money and checks in Mecklenburg County, or sweepstakes and lottery scams in Northeastern North Carolina, or a scam in your own hometown, the work of the Task Force will help prevent fraud committed against the elderly and step up the prosecution of fraud all across North Carolina.
September 18, 2013 — Mebane Rash

Although schemes to rip off unsuspecting seniors are not new, what is new is the growing population of older adults in North Carolina, the increased sophistication of scams using the Internet, and the international scope of this crime. 

These scams take place statewide.  For example, in Burke County, scam artists based in Jamaica have targeted older adults.  One woman lost $52,000.  A 92-year-old former Army colonel in Raleigh was bilked out of more than $227,000 by home repair con artists.  The caretakers of an elderly man in Clinton took close to $16,000 worth of jewelry, charged more than $14,000 on his credit cards, stole his trailer, and hauled off his computer, refrigerator, and washing machine.

Scammers do not discriminate, targeting elders of all socio-economic brackets, all races, both male and female.  Some risk factors include being homebound, having memory impairments, possessing assets that are easily converted to cash, and the expectation that often seniors are just more polite.

The stories of fraud against the elderly across this state are rampant and appalling.  It is even more tragic when the fraud is carried out by relatives, family friends, or caregivers.

The most recent data from the Federal Trade Commission shows North Carolina already ranks 24^th among the 50 states in the number of fraud complaints per capita and 23^rd in the number of identity theft complaints per capita.  The Federal Trade Commission says that people over 50 account for almost one-half of all consumer fraud complaints, and more than a third of all identify theft complaints.  These figures are likely to go up quickly as the huge Baby Boom generation started turning 65 in 2011.  By 2020, 820,000 more Baby Boomers will turn 65 in North Carolina, so that’s 820,000 more targets for scammers.  The N.C. Center for Public Policy Research conducted research on this important issue and made recommendations to the legislature.

To combat this crime, Senator Stan Bingham (R-Davidson) sponsored Senate Bill 140 (signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory as Session Law 2013-337) to protect against the financial exploitation of older adults.  Representative Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke) shepherded the bill through the House.  The bill passed the Senate 47-0 and the House 111-1.  This legislation will increase the recognition of fraud committed against the elderly and work to prevent it, increase reporting when fraud is suspected, and increase the prosecution of those who would defraud or financially exploit the elderly.  It also continues the work of the Task Force on Fraud Against Older Adults, co-chaired by Senator Bingham and Representative Blackwell.

The Task Force includes representatives from the financial industry such as the N.C. Bankers Association, State Employees Credit Union, and Commissioner of Banks; from state agencies such as the Division of Aging and Adult Services and the State Treasurer’s Office; from advocacy groups for the aging such as AARP and the Senior Tar Heel Legislature; and from law enforcement groups such as the FBI, the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, the N.C. Chiefs of Police; and from the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research.

The Task Force met all last year and came up with a multi-pronged approach that is designed to prevent fraud on the front end with the help of the banking, savings and loan, and credit union community, and to step up prosecution of fraud on the back end with the help of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys and the Attorney General’s office.

So whether it’s fake home and roof repair schemes in Wake, Nash, and Wilson counties, or securities fraud targeting an Alzheimer’s victim in Wake County, or a fake home health aide stealing money and checks in Mecklenburg County, or sweepstakes and lottery scams in Northeastern North Carolina, or a scam in your own hometown, the work of the Task Force will help prevent fraud committed against the elderly and step up the prosecution of fraud all across North Carolina.

Belgium Officially Backs Jew Hatred. Official, you say? That sounds pretty final to me.

Verne Strickland / September 16, 2013

September 16, 2013

Belgium Officially Backs Jew Hatred

By Peter Martino

Shockingly, in Belgium, history lessons about Nazism and the Holocaust are currently being used to infuse children with hatred against Israel.
The Belgian Ministry of Education funds an organization, the Special Committee for Remembrance Education (BCH), which provides teachers with ready-made templates for their history lessons. In its September issue, Joods Actueel, the largest Jewish magazine in Belgium, describes this educational material as "perverted." The so-called Remembrance Education, the magazine writes, "has degenerated into an instrument to infect youngsters with hatred of Israel and anti-Semitism."
One of the materials used is the cartoon "Never Again, Over Again." It equates the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israelis today with the treatment of the Jews by the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s.
"Never Again means that what happened under Hitler should never happen again. And Over Again means that what is happening today is the same as in the past with Hitler," the Belgian school teachers are told. "In the past, the concentration camps were fenced off with barbed wire. Today, the border between Israel and Palestine is marked with barbed wire and a wall."
The atrocities committed by the Nazis are linked to the so-called atrocities of Israel. Teachers indoctrinated with teaching material provided by an organization that is sanctioned by the Ministry of Education, in turn indoctrinate the school children in their care.
The material of the Special Committee for Remembrance Education is frequently used by primary school teachers, who seem to have little knowledge of history. Two Belgian researchers, Jan Swerts and Kurt Monten of the Catholic College of Limburg, found that young people studying to become teachers know amazingly little about history. Many of them were unable to tell in which century the Second World War took place. They knew hardly anything about major ideologies such as Socialism and Communism. Ten percent of them even confused Zionism with Fascism. They are easy prey for the anti-Semites who author some of the material provided by the Special Committee for Remembrance Education.
The educational material also includes a "role play," in which children must play Palestinians and Israelis. The Palestinians are invariably good people who are confronted by the Israelis, who are almost always bad people, with the exception of the odd Israeli with many Palestinian friends.
One of the roles assigned to a child is the following: "You have sympathy for the radical group Hamas. You live in Gaza and go to work every day in Israel. It takes you four hours to go to work as you need to pass the border control between Gaza and Israel. You are already on your way at 4 a.m. You have two children in primary school. As a consequence, the death of a Palestinian girl shot by Israeli soldiers in the school playground has shocked you deeply. Israel denies having shot the children, but according to representatives of the United Nations in Gaza everything indicates that she was killed by the Israelis. Hamas has fired six rockets towards Israel. Israel has to stop with its attacks."
The Belgian Ministry of Education and the Special Committee for Remembrance Education fail to provide teachers with the information that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, or that the suffering of the Jews in the Nazi extermination camps is in no way be comparable to the situation in Gaza. It would suffice to point out that the Jews arriving in Auschwitz had only a few hours or a few days to live, while life expectancy for the Palestinians in Gaza and on the West Bank is 72 years.
The cartoon "Never Again, Over Again," is the work of a Brazilian artist of Arab origin, Carlos Latuff, who is known for his anti-Semitic motifs and especially his preposterous claim that the Palestinians are in the same position as the Jews were under Nazi tyranny. He once depicted a Jewish boy in the Warsaw Ghetto as saying, "I am Palestinian." In the 2006 Iranian Holocaust Cartoon Competition, Latuff won a second prize.
What would the 6 million Jews who died in Hitler's extermination camps have said if they had known that 70 years later their deaths would be abused to indoctrinate schoolchildren with anti-Jewish feelings? Surely, they would have felt as if they were being killed twice.
That a Latuff cartoon is used in Belgian schools in lessons that are ostensibly designed to remember the Holocaust, is particularly worrying. They instill Belgian children aged 6 to 12 with a hatred for the Jews that is so deep that one day the "Never Again" may indeed become an "Over Again," and with the same victims as before: the Jews. The authorities, such as the Belgian Ministry of Education, that have facilitated the indoctrination of children with this anti-Semitism, will be directly responsible.

Originally published by the Gatestone Institute. Republished with permission.

Thom and Susan Tillis discuss their hope to bring traditional conservative values to the seat now held by Kay Hagan

By Verne Strickland




John Dismukes talks to crowd during the "Proud to Be Republican"
event at Snow's Cut Park. Looking on are Thom Tillis and David Rouzer,
part of enthusiastic crowd of GOP faithful who turned out.


*Photos by Pamela Lynn Collins


Thom Tillis and his wife Susan hosted a week-end event underneath a canopy of spreading trees, and brilliant white clouds floating in a deep blue autumn sky. It was a perfect setting for a cook-out and picnic attended by Republican faithful from many communities in the Cape Fear Region and beyond.

Thom has been very successful as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, and is now campaigning for the U.S. Senate.

He was in Wilmington for a fund-raiser -- one of many that will be held throughout the State. I asked him how his Wilmington event had gone:

Tillis:

Went very well. We are doing three or four fundraisers a week, most of it in North Carolina. But we’re already receiving support from friends and family of mine, and allies in my professional network across the nation. So we’re getting great reception, we’re optimistic about the Sept. 30 results. Being in a legislative session the week before last was a little bit of a challenge, so we’re very optimistic, and have built strong momentum with a number of  events, but the first quarter is fact. 

Hagan really has just failed to distinguish herself. Except where she can call “run-on” bills, where she can say she filed something, there has just been no evidence at all that she has tried to get out there and work hard on anything in particular to get  a vote and move something forward. Her objective seems to be going out to various areas where she can say “I proposed this or that” but nothing meaningful.



Among guests of honor at "Proud to be Republican" were John Dismukes,
Thom Tillis and Davis Rouzer.

Tillis (cont'd.)

We are going to contrast that with what we’ve done in North Carolina where we’ve balanced the budget, where we’ve cut more than two and a half billion dollars in taxes, where we’ve gotten regulations out of the way of business. We’ve compiled a great record there. Incidentally, what we’re cutting or eliminating are things  that Kay Hagan voted for when she was in the State Senate. So there is a dramatic difference between us there, and I don’t think that will bode well for the Senator.

Verne: Her tenure there comes at a critical, or even awkward time for America, and raises the stakes in the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina. I’m sure you feel that this gives added emphasis to this battle which is shaping up for you. 

Tillis:

We certainly do. It’s unfortunate that Senator Hagan didn’t go to Washington and represent North Carolina. If you take a look at her positions, you would think that she’s a senator from California or a senator from New York. You wouldn’t think that she’s  a senator from the State of North Carolina. She’s not in touch with the citizens here, and we need to put a leader in there who represent the thinking and values of our people here in North Carolina.

I think we need to work to re-establish the United States as the leader in terms of national security. We seem to have taken a step backward as Russia has been able under Obama to take the lead in getting our stature back where it needs to be, because a strong America means a stable world, and we’ve got real problems there. We have got to take a seventeen-trillion-dollar deficit to prove to citizens and businesses that we have a credible way to pay it down, to look at entitlements. Everything has to be on the table so that we can balance our budget, because this is the single greatest emergency we face right now. We have to defund  Obamacare. But then Republicans must come up with alternatives that don’t have the cost and complexity that Obamacare has. 

Verne: Thom also spoke to an enthusiastic audience gathered around one of the covered picnic sites, where he offered additional comments about the vital importance of the pending GOP primary, the general election, and why a victory in his bid will be a key to putting U.S. Senator Kay Hagan, and President Obama, out to pasture before they can continue to take America down the road to a tenuous future under a possible ultra-liberal U.S. government:

TILLIS

Before I get to the U.S. Senate race, I want recognize Ted Davis. His hard work in the Legislature has been just amazing. We’ve got a lot of freshmen who have come in. Ted is one and he’s first among them in my book. 

Also went to recognize one of my favorite people ever in the Legislature, and that’s Carolyn Justice. She was just a wonderful person to serve with during my first time as Speaker, and two terms prior to that as a freshman and a sophomore. She has just been a wonderful influence, and I hope we can continue to have her influence and wisdom in state government and beyond

.

I also have one other person I want to recognize because she’s the only reason I’m serving in the House and now running for the U.S. Senate, and that’s my lovely wife Susan. 

We’re going to have a primary and I personally believe primaries are good. I came into the North Carolina  House after running against a two-term Republican incumbent because we just had a different way of doing business. And I believe that, if you do it in a respectful way that you never lose sight of the fact that what we’re ultimately trying to do is beat one of the most liberal senators in the Senate. So we’ll dispense with the primary and get together after that to beat Kay Hagan. 

The reason we have to beat Kay hagan is that she acts more like a senator from California or New York than from North Carolina. She votes with President Obama 96 percent of the time. 

When you take a look at what we’ve done in North Carolina over the past three years, we’ve cut taxes over two and a half billion, we’ve  cut regulations, respecting property rights, promoting gun rights and second amendment rights, promoting the right of the people to have some say over the amount of money in their wallets, promoting life, promoting traditional family values – those are the kinds of things in which Kay Hagan cannot be more far afield from the traditional beliefs of the people of North Carolina. 

We have to get on board, we have to  work hard. This is going to be one of the most expensive Senate races in  the United States. With a good primary we will come out with a good candidate. That is first and foremost. So we’ve got to work together for a victory in the primary, and move on to the general election because North Carolina is considered vital to our interests and the path to a Republican majority. If we can’t defund Obamacare before then, you can be darn sure that by January 15, 2015, we will put Obama into a lame duck session. The importance of avoiding that should be obvious and can’t be over-emphasized.

Verne:
I was also able to with Thom's lovely wife, Susan, who took a moment for an interview as she talked with some of the many guests and supporters who were on hand at the cook-out in Snow's Cut Park.




Susan with Claire Ledford, daughter of Carmen Cox Ledford.
Her mom says she is Thom Tillis' number one fan!

Susan Tillis (cont'd.)

I resigned from my management position at the end of May to help Thom in his campaign, so I am 120% behind him to help with his duties and assist in any way I can. I often accompany him on his trips to speak to audiences wherever his schedule takes him. 

Verne: The State needs Thom and so does the country. What qualities and experience does he bring to the task?

 Susan:

Well, for me, having been married to him for 26 years, what I want our message to accomplish is to show everyone who he really is. He’s someone with a big heart and integrity who cares deeply about this country, and deeply about North Carolina. After seeing what he has been able to accomplish in North Carolina, I want people to really understand the vision he successfully presented in North Carolina and bring that same vision to Washington.

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*** This is one of a series of stories from the "Proud to Be Republican" event held at Wilmington this week-end. It will accompanies by additional photos from the occasion.