David Price, born in 1940, is part of the leading edge of the Boomer generation and has chosen to identify himself with the portion of his generation that turned its back on the success and sacrifice of the greatest generation. To that end David Price has governed America toward lost liberty, poverty, dependency, moral decay, and has strained the common bonds that bind us together as a nation.
Where once we had a melting pot we now have cultural balkanization.
Where once churches and community helped the down trodden we now funnel that help through a soulless government.
Where we once had the crisp suit of moral certitude we now have the tie-dye of moral relativism.
BJ Lawson and David Price spoke to the issue if illegal immigration last month.
BJ Lawson recognizes the importance of the common bonds that made America great.
In contrast, David Price, like his increasingly doddering generation, continues to reject the ingredients of American strength that he enjoyed the fruits of.
It can be interesting to compare our experiences to those of others. HillBuzz provides just that sort of informative joy with their well vetted State by State Ground Reports.
The following is a roundup of links to HillBuzz's North Carolina Ground Reports with the first being the most recent.
Have you ever wanted to take a peek at your life through the eyes of another? When it comes to national politics, that is possible. We have a variety of nations and fortunately many speak our language; fewer ideas are lost in translation, while cultural differences can highlight interesting differences.
If you have a moment this Saturday, take a peek at your country from outside the window; below are some excerpts from an article by the UK's MailOnline:
It was clear from the start of our conversation that BJ Lawson was no Tea Party lunatic. A youthful looking 36-year-old, he studied medicine and then started his own medical software company. What, I asked, had brought a businessman into politics?
...
Lawson has the kind of anti-establishment attitude that the Tea Party cherishes. He is a libertarian who seeks to rekindle the values of the American Revolution, and has already handed out 50,000 copies of the Declaration of Independence and of the American Constitution.
Crucially, BJ struck me as the kind of Tea Party Republican who does not frighten the horses and can make inroads into the vital centre ground of uncommitted voters. If others in his movement can project themselves as well has he does, then the Tea Party could become a lasting force.
...
What really sticks in their craw is that, while Middle America struggles to make ends meet, profligate and incompetent banks, insurance companies and car manufacturers have all been rescued from their folly and greed with taxpayers’ money.
The U.S. is built on the power of ideas: the Land of the Free, the Shining City on the Hill, the Beacon of Liberty. Undermine these ideas, and you undermine the country itself.
For the Tea Partiers, the bankers and politicians have committed the most heinous crime of all. They have besmirched America’s cherished idea that each generation should be able to pass onto the next a legacy more prosperous than the one it inherited.
But then there is nonsense like this:
But some Tea Party candidates have brought with them a whole battery of extreme religious, cultural and social beliefs. It is these which give the movement its reputation for weirdness and eccentricity.
Witchcraft, anti-masturbation views, denial of evolution, opposition to gays and ‘sexually active single women’ becoming teachers — all have been injected into political debate by Tea Partiers.
There is more than a hint of racism in their hostility to Obama and his expensive healthcare reforms (aimed at helping the 40 million people without health insurance), which are seen as ‘European’ and ‘socialist’, two of the most damning adjectives that you can throw at an American politician.
BJ Lawson, Constitional Conservative runs an excellent campaign ad against extremist Rep. David Price...
David Price? David Price voted in support of:
--Cap & Trade --- ignoring conservative input and attempting to force poverty on the nation through higher energy prices. Immoral.
--ObamaCare --- ignoring the input of the citizenry and conservatives and breaking the bond between consumer and health care producer. Immoral.
--$13 trillion financial bailout --- ignoring the input of the citizenry and conservatives and passing the costs of bailing out current failure to unborn generations. Immoral.
--Failed Stimulus --- ignoring the input of the citizenry and conservatives and wasting tax dollars by running them through a soulless government. Immoral.
But voted against the Balanced Budget Amendment. Immoral.
We are all familiar with the formal "straitjacket" style of presidential debates which often devolve into stump-speech time for each candidate. They are frequently boring affairs devoid of the vitality that conversational give and take can provide.
Not so for local debates. It is pleasing to see candidates pleasantly and respectfully joust with one another over differing opinions and approaches to governance. This past Saturday evening debate between David Price (NC-4) and BJ Lawson via WRAL was just such a debate. This debate came across as a round-table discussion rather than a formal rule leaden affair and if there were any debate rules, I was not made aware of them in the opening comments by the moderator. Excellent! Kudos to David Price for agreeing to such a format.
Is this election nationalized? The first question centered on whether the current election had been nationalized or not and David Price stumbled out of the gate with an unsuccessful attempt to redefine the terms of the question. It is not in Price's interest for the election to be decided on national issues and his wishy-washy answer on the question indicated that while he understood that the election has indeed been nationalized he did not want to admit that it had been.
It would have been nice had BJ Lawson answered "yes, the election has become extremely nationalized", but perhaps he understands the need to not impart a feeling of disaffection to those who vote on local issues. He did, however, explore the out of control process in Washington that no longer works for us.
Is the Dept of Education needed? During David Price's rebuttal he turned the conversation toward an attack on Lawson's support for abolishing the Dept. of Education. I truly enjoy a debate in which the candidates are able to insert topics of their own choosing as it gives further insight in the mind of the candidate. In this case Price clearly believes he has a winning argument. Price argues that abolishing the Dept of Education would remove $4 billion dollars of funding from NC schools, but he avoids commenting on how those dollars originate as taxes on NC citizens. More importantly, though, is that Price seems unaware that his constituency, which has become intimately aware of Washington spending, is under no illusion that the dollars DC seems so generous with are actually our tax dollars and that when those dollars are returned to us through the Dept. of Education that they come with strings attached.
Lawson makes the point that we were sending more money up to Washington to fund the Dept. of Education than we got back in educational grants until the recent deficit spending splurge kicked in. He went on to argue that we need to keep our resources local so that NC dollars can educate NC children.
Lawson then turned to the student loan system which he argues is another government incentivized (with low interest rates) debt bubble much like the deflating housing bubble we are currently suffering under once was. In return Price charged "this is an absurd view", with no explanation as to how it is absurd.
Bush Tax Cuts.. The last interesting exchange was over the Bush tax cuts and congress' childish decision to leave Washington before deciding whether to extend them or not.
David Price's position was interesting in that he has been in congress and should know full well who controls the nation's purse. Congress. Yet he argues that credit for the 90's economic expansion should go to Bill Clinton when, in fact, it was the Gingrich congress that forced budgetary control on the Federal government at the time. He then argues that the "Bush Tax Cuts " increased the deficit when, in fact, the deficit was decreasing until he and Pelosi took control of congress in Bush's last two years. It was in these last two years of Bush's presidency that the deficit exploded.
David Price seems to be arguing that Clinton gave us an economic expansion and Bush gave us deficit when the reality is that these matters are under the purview of congress. David Price should know better. The TeaParty does. Th fact that he makes the argument, though, leads me to believe Price is not fully aware of how much his electorate has evolved.
Summery Taken as a whole this debate defines David Price as a politician who's power is dependent on what Washington does for the citizenry. Never have I seen a man create so much fear over losing what Washington gives us. I truly believe that when Price voted for all the Washington spending of the last 2 years that he believed that spending would translate into votes, hence the incessant references to our dependency on Washington money which we all know is really our money.
BJ Lawson, by contrast, is a man arguing for reliance on self and community but most importantly liberty. These are the qualities of a politician who is truly a man of the people rather than a man of Washington DC.
Public may submit questions to the candidates at the event or in advance by e-mailing editors@indyweek.com. The 4th Congressional District includes Durham, Orange & parts of Chatham & Western Wake (Cary, Fuquay, Holly Springs, New Hill, Morrisville) counties.
Just as alcoholics don't take their first drink intent on becoming alcoholics, politicians don't enter office intent on loosing themselves in immoral governance. How does one then inoculate themself from the enticing nature of immoral governance?
BJ Lawson has settled on one way; limiting his exposure to the seducing nature of government power and influence and at the same time forcing himself to live as a private citizen subjected to the laws he would create.
Open seats are typically more competitive, so legally required rotation in office tends to give voters a greater opportunity to influence the composition of their elected bodies and reduce the excessive accumulation of political power, as designers of republican forms of government have recognized since the days of ancient Rome.
An innovative approach has helped elevate the issue in some congressional districts this year, however. It’s called bonded term limits. Rather than simply pledging to serve three or four terms and asking for the support of skeptical voters (who, polls show, still favor term limits by wide margins), 13 candidates have signed notes under the auspices of the Alliance for Bonded Term Limits that obligate them to make large donations to charity — $1 million, in some cases — if they violate their term-limits pledge.
The 14th candidate to announce his intention to make a bonded-term-limit pledge is Republican B.J. Lawson, a physician and entrepreneur who is challenging longtime incumbent Democrat David Price in North Carolina’s Fourth District.
David Price who has been in office for 22 years and 12 terms has become infused with immoral governance, supporting ObamaCare, Cap & Trade, TARP, Auto Bailouts, and Stimulus while at the same time rejecting the Balanced Budget Amendment.
Alternatively, BJ Lawson seems to be a man with virtue enough to not only impose term limits on himself, but to back that promise with his pocket book. It is interesting that if he were elected his electorate would eventually loose him to his own virtue. BJ Lawson, has distinguished himself as a true Cincinnatus.
ABC 11 is sponsoring four congressional debates. The first, between Butterfield and Woolard is already available for viewing.
Monday, October 4 at 10 a.m. - NC 1st District Congressional Debate: Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D) and Ashley Woolard (R) - airs: 10/24/10 at 12:30 p.m. Click to watch the Butterfield/Woolard debate
Monday, October 11 at 10 a.m. - NC 2nd District Congressional Debate: Rep. Bob Etheridge (D), Renee Ellmers (R) and Tom Rose (L) - airs: 10/24/10 at 12:00 p.m.
Monday, October 11 at 2 p.m. - NC 4th District Congressional Debate: Rep. David Price (D) and Dr. B.J. Lawson (R) - airs: 10/24/10 at 11:00 a.m.
Monday, October 18 at 7 p.m. – NC 13th District Congressional Debate: Rep. Brad Miller (D) and Bill Randall (R) - airs: 10/24/10 at 11:30 a.m.
Public may submit questions to the candidates at the event or in advance by e-mailing editors@indyweek.com. The 4th Congressional District includes Durham, Orange & parts of Chatham & Western Wake (Cary, Fuquay, Holly Springs, New Hill, Morrisville) counties.
David Price, born in 1940, is part of the leading edge of the Boomer generation and has chosen to identify himself with the portion of his generation that turned its back on the success and sacrifice of the greatest generation. To that end David Price has governed America toward lost liberty, poverty, dependency, moral decay, and has strained the common bonds that bind us together as a nation.
Where once we had a melting pot we now have cultural balkanization.
Where once churches and community helped the down trodden we now funnel that help through a soulless government.
Where we once had the crisp suit of moral certitude we now have the tie-dye of moral relativism.
BJ Lawson and David Price spoke to the issue if illegal immigration last month.
BJ Lawson recognizes the importance of the common bonds that made America great.
In contrast, David Price, like his increasingly doddering generation, continues to reject the ingredients of American strength that he enjoyed the fruits of.
