Saturday, July 28, 2012

Congressman Mike McIntyre D/NC7 PROJECT VOTE SMART: McIntyre refused to tell where he stands on the issues!

Verne Strickland Blogmaster July 29, 2012
PROJECT VOTE SMART: In which Congressman Mike McIntyre is caught wide-eyed like a deer caught in the voters' headlights! 

Douglas 'Mike' Carmichael McIntyre

Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)

Representative Douglas 'Mike' Carmichael McIntyre's Political Positions

Biographical

Douglas 'Mike' Carmichael McIntyre
Full Name: Douglas 'Mike' Carmichael McIntyre
Current Office: U.S. House - District 7, Democratic
First Elected: 11/05/1996
Last Elected: 11/02/2010
Next Election: 2012
On The Ballot: Running, Democratic for U.S. House - District 7
General Nov. 6, 2012
Gender: Male
Family: Wife: Dee; 2 Children: Joshua, Stephen
Birth Date: 08/06/1956
Birth Place: Lumberton, NC
Home City: Lumberton, NC
Religion: Presbyterian
Project Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.
Mike McIntyre refused to tell citizens where he stands on any of the issues addressed in the 2012 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart, national media, and prominent political leaders.
What is the Political Courage Test?
This candidate has demonstrated 0% courage during the test.
*Note: This percentage is calculated based on the number of issue areas addressed by the candidate on the Political Courage Test at the conclusion of the testing period. It does not indicate support or lack of support by Project Vote Smart.

Issue Positions

In response to the increasing unwillingness of candidates to answer issue questions, Project Vote Smart has researched Presidential and Congressional candidates' public records to determine candidates' likely responses on certain key issues. These are provided below as a courtesy to voters.
Pro-life Inferred Answer Abortion: Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? View Citations
Yes Inferred Answer Afghanistan: Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? View Citations
No Inferred Answer Budget: In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? View Citations
No Inferred Answer Budget: In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? View Citations
Yes Inferred Answer Economy: Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? View Citations
Yes Inferred Answer Economy: Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? View Citations
Unknown Position Unknown Answer Education: Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? View Citations
Yes Inferred Answer Energy: Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? View Citations
Unknown Position Unknown Answer Environment: Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? View Citations
No Inferred Answer Guns: Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? View Citations
Yes Inferred Answer Health Care: Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? View Citations
Yes Inferred Answer Immigration: Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? View Citations
No Inferred Answer Marriage: Do you support same-sex marriage? View Citations
Unknown Position Unknown Answer National Security: Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? View Citations
No Inferred Answer Social Security: Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? View Citations

Key

Candidate Answer
Official Position: Candidate had the Political Courage to address this issue directly.
Inferred Answer
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue directly, but Project Vote Smart inferred this issue position based on the candidate's public statements, voting record, and evaluations from special interest groups.
Unknown Answer
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue.
Project Vote Smart's Research: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position.

http://votesmart.org/candidate/political-courage-test/153/mike-mcintyre/

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Mitt Romney takes on NBC liberal Brian Williams -- and wins hands down!

Verne Strickland Blogmaster / July 26, 2012

I thoroughly enjoyed Brian Williams' interview with GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Know why? Because Romney beat the liberal NBC news troublemaker at his own game -- on every topic and on every nuanced question that Williams threw at him. The biggest and most satisfying score was when Brian Williams tried to pressure Romney into making a premature announcement of his 2012 running mate. Romney deftly turned the tables on the NBC glamour boy and sent him away empty-handed. It's well-known that what the interviewer really wants is to corner the subject and embarrass him. Williams came nowhere close. Romney beat him hands-down.

VIDEO: Entire Brian Williams interview with Mitt Romney

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Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Romney on NBC: Changing gun laws won't 'make all bad things go away'

NBC's Brian Williams spoke with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on a wide range of topics including the Olympics, gun control, education, taxes and religion.
LONDON-- Mitt Romney said Wednesday that more restrictive gun laws would likely not have prevented last week's deadly mass shooting at a Colorado Cineplex, and argued that it would take Americans changing their hearts, not their legislation, to prevent similar future attacks.
"Political implications, legal implications are something which will be sorted out down the road," Romney told NBC's Brian Williams during an exclusive interview here in London. "But I don't happen to believe that America needs new gun laws. A lot of what this young man did was clearly against the law. But the fact that it was against the law did not prevent it from happening."
Romney, who enacted an assault weapons ban as governor of Massachusetts (with the support of a Democratic legislature) would not say whether he still believes that weapons like the AR-15 assault rifle used in the Colorado shooting were "instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people," as he described them during the bill signing ceremony in 2002.
When Williams followed up later in the interview on the Aurora attack, Romney argued that it would take a change in heart, not laws, to stop future violence.
"Well, this person shouldn't have had any kind of weapons and bombs and other devices and it was illegal for him to have many of those things already. But he had them," Romney said, although the guns used in the shooting were all purchased legally.
"And so we can sometimes hope that just changing the law will make all bad things go away. It won't. Changing the heart of the American people may well be what's essential, to improve the lots of the American people."
NBC News
NBC's Brian Williams interviews Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in London on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Romney used the interview to shore up several policy and strategic positions laid out by his campaign in recent weeks, reiterating that he would only release two years of tax returns so as not to provide fodder for Democratic operatives to " twist and distort and to turn in different directions and try and make a big deal out of." He also repeated the major planks of his economic plan, which he says differentiates him from the last Republican president, George W. Bush.
Williams also asked the candidate about controversial comments on the front page of a British newspaper, reportedly given by an unnamed Romney adviser, who called President Barack Obama a "novice" in foreign affairs, and said the Democrat did not fully value the "Anglo-Saxon" nature of the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.
“We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and he feels that the special relationship is special. The White House didn’t fully appreciate the shared history we have,” the adviser is quoted telling the Daily Telegraph.
Earlier today, Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul flatly denied the comments came from anyone inside the Romney camp, or that those views were shared by the former Massachusetts governor. Romney said he was generally "not enthusiastic" about adopting the comments of unnamed advisers in newspaper stories, and pointed out he gets "advice" every day along rope lines and on the street.
“But I can tell you that we have a very special relationship between the United States and Great Britain," Romney said. "It goes back to our very beginnings, cultural … and historical. But I also believe the president understands that. So I don't know agree with whoever that advisor might be. But do agree that we have a very common bond between ourselves and Great Britain."
When it comes to selecting a vice presidential nominee to join him on the Republican ticket, Romney told Williams he has still not made a final decision, and confirmed that he would not be announcing his pick until at least next week, after he returns from his week-long trip abroad.
"While I'm overseas, I'm not gonna announce my vice presidential running mate. But when the decision is made, I'll make that announcement. It's not made yet," Romney said. "I can't tell you when it's gonna be. That's … that's something which we'll decide down the road."
This visit was timed to coincide with the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics, where Ann Romney’s horse, Rafalca, is competing in the equestrian sport of dressage. Will the presumptive GOP nominee be cheering it on?
"I have to tell you, this is Ann's sport. I'm not even sure which day the sport goes on," Romney said. "She will get the chance to see it, I will not be watching  the event.  I hope her horse does well.  But just the honor of being here and representing our country and seeing the other Olympians is something which I'm sure the people that are associated with this are looking forward to."