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Page 2C The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.net ; October 31, 2012 CANDIDATE Q&A: The Herald sent all candidates for local election a series of questions, to follow are their responses... From page 1C Dalton cont.: public school governor North Carolina needs to ensure that we have a strong workforce well- prepared for the jobs of the future. + 3 Trust. Public service has been central to my life. It provides me a way to give back to my community and state, a lesson | learned from my father, Charles. My fa- ther served in the state Senate in the 1940's, but he de- cided to retire from public office when | was born. Sadly, he died when | was just eight years old. Years later, | found a letter written by a constituent, thanking my father for helping get a road paved, which changed their community. That letter made me realize the true meaning of public service and the ability to make a real difference in people's lives. That's why pub- lic service matters to me and why all public servants should be held to a higher standard, because serving the public is an honor; always has been, always will be. | have a long record in public service of leading by example: from voluntarily cutting my own pay in tough budgetary times to setting a new standard of trans- parency by releasing two years of tax returns. The people of North Carolina know I'm working for their interests and not anyone else's. ahh Leading by example is a legacy that | will uphold if elected Governor. Past scandals from members of both political parties have led the public to lose faith and question the integrity of elected officials. As Governor, | will restore public trust and confidence by increasing openness and ensuring honesty in state government. Question #2: What are the issues in this campaign; dif- ferences in you & your opponents outlook on how to fix the issues I'm running for Governor to move North Carolina for- ward. The Republican leadership has abandoned eco- nomic development, eliminated thousands of teacher jobs, cut financial aid, and slashed edtcation from early childhood programs to the community colleges and uni- versities. Their cuts are putting North Carolina on the wrong path. | developed my values by growing up and then rais- ing my own family in a strong community. As Governor, I will work every day to protect and strengthen commu- nities across North Carolina. | will compete vigorously to recruit new industries to North Carolina and to grow companies already here: | will invest in our schools so that all of our children can have the same opportunities that | have had to seek employment and live the Ameri- can Dream in the greatest state in the country. And I will always lead by example and work to earn the trust of all North Carolinians. I love North Carolina because our people never give up. | have been fortunate to be part of many of the suc- cesses of our great state. And as Governor, | will never quit working to build a brighter future. A response was not received from candidates Pat McCrory (R) or Barbara Howe (L). BlueCross BlueShield 7 13 eA of North Carolina One of the most trusted health insurers in North Carolina’ oy *% hk kv 4 out of 5 stars in overall quality and performance? October 22, 2012 10:00 - 11:00 am The Amos Agency LLC 241 S Battleground Ave Kings Mountain, NC 28086 Medicare Advantage Plans with prescription drug coverage Learn more! Attend an upcoming Medicare Advantage meeting. November 7, 2012 10:00 - 11:00 am The Amos Agency LLC 241 S Battleground Ave Kings Mountain, NC 28086 Candidates for State Senate 46th District Question #1: Name your Top 3 Priorities if elected - be specific 1 — Creating Jobs 2 — Reforming our Tax System 3 — Improving Education Question #2: What are the issues in this campaign; differences in our & your opponents outlook on how to fix the issues For the past two years it has been my privilege to serve in the North Carolina Senate. In 2010 | ran for office because | believed it was time to change the tax and spend culture in Raleigh that was wasting taxpayer dollars, hurting families and businesses, and costing jobs. In six of the eight years leading up to 2010, the General Assembly passed billion dollar tax increases, making North Carolina the highest-taxed state in the southeast. When | learned in the summer of 2011 that Cleveland County was going to be a part of the new Burke/Cleveland Senate district, | immediately began the process of meet- ing and getting to know the elected officials and business leaders of Cleveland County. During the past year, it has been an honor to be a part of the Cleveland County eco- nomic development team. | have enjoyed working to bring new jobs to Cleveland County in cooperation with elected officials and the Cleveland County Economic De- velopment Partnership. Working together we have made remarkable progress, with the announcement of five new companies and six existing business expansions totaling ~ 795 new jobs and a capital investment of $920 million. While I am proud of what we have accomplished so far, we are just getting started. To return Cleveland County to full employment levels, we need to expand our job base by another 3,000 jobs. | have worked hard in Raleigh to balance the budget, streamline state government, and reduce unnecessary reg- ulations that discourage job creation. We bridged a $2.5 billion shortfall, had one of largest tax cuts in North Car- olina history, and provided the first raise to teachers and state employees in five years. Unlike previous legislatures, we fully funded the state retirement health plan and put millions of dollars in the state rainy day fund. North Car- olina is now on the way to economic recovery, and | am running for re-election because we still have much work to do. | will continue to work to improve our education system so that we can empower teachers and parents to give our children the brightest possible future. We need to move forward with an energy plan that includes natural gas exploration in our state and overhaul our state tax sys- tem which is currently ranked 44th nationally in the state Warren Daniel Smart choices for Medicare 00 monthy premium | plan with ~ prescription drug coverage? December 3, 2012 5:00 - 6:00 pm The Amos Agency LLC 241 S Battleground Ave Kings Mountain, NC 28086 An authorized sales representative will be present with information and applications. There is no obligation to enroll. For accommodations for persons with special needs at sales meetings, please call the number below. Authorized Licensed Agency The Amos Agency LLC Suzanne Amos (704) 739-3300, (864) 710-8575 theamosagencyllc@bellsouth.net Calling the Agent/Agency number will direct you to a licensed insurance agent. Monday - Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. After business hours, or for customer service, call: 1-888-310-4110 Monday - Sunday, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. For the hearing and speech impaired (TTY/TDD), call: 1-888-451-9957 Other products offered for Medicare beneficiaries include Blue Medicare Supplement*™ and Blue Medicare Rx*™ (PDP)# Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is a Medicare Advantage organization with a Medicare contract. Benefits, formulary, pharmacy, network, premium and/or copayment/ coinsurance may change on January 1, 2014. Please contact BCBSNC for details. The benefit information provided is a brief summary, but not a complete description of available benefits. Additional information about benefits is available to assist you in making a decision about your coverage. This is an advertisement; for more information contact the plan. 1) FrederickPolls LLC; April 2011. 2) Plan performance summary star ratings are assessed each year and may change from one year to the next, http,/www.medicare.gov/ find-a-plan/tesults/planresults/plan-list.aspx. Accessed Oct. 13, 2011. 3) You must continue to pay your Part B premium. Rate is for Blue Medicare HMO Standard Plan, 2012. 4) BCBSNC is a prescription drug plan sponsor with a Medicare contract. An independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. U6608b, 9/12 Y0079_6008 CMS Accepted 10032012 2 & £ » business tax climate index. While | am proud of what we have accomplished so far, we are just getting started. There are still more reforms to implement in order to get North Carolina back on the right track. | look forward to continuing to serve the peo- ple of Cleveland County in the NC Senate, and | am ex- cited about building a better future for our great state. A response was not received from candidates John McDe- vitt (D) or Richard Evey (L). Candidates for U.S. House 10th District Question #1: Name your Top 3 Priorities if elected - be specific | 1 — My first priority is to rebuild | our economy and create jobs by | investing in our infrastructure and by ending tax loopholes and breaks for corporations who ship | North Carolina jobs overseas. Cur- | rently, 30% of North Carolina's bridges are structurally deficient, | 215 of the state's dams fall short of its safety standards, 27% of our highways are in poor condition and 54% of them are congested. These statistics have a wide-ranging and devastating impact on our economy. Safe roads and uncongested highways would encourage businesses to invest here, would encour- age visitors to spend money here, and would encourage North Carolina residents to become more active in their surrounding communities. Also, closing tax loopholes for companies who ship jobs overseas would help to create jobs right here in North Carolina. Currently, the unem- ployment rate in our state is higher than the national aver- age, so we cannot afford to continue to reward companies who take jobs away from North Carolinians and send them to other countries. Companies know that we have thousands of great workers living right here in Western North Carolina; we need to work harder to encourage those businesses to invest here rather than overseas. 2 — Secondly, we must strengthen public education by investing in our schools, our community colleges, and our student loan and Pell grant programs so that every man, woman, and child in North Carolina can have a chance at a brighter future. We need to invest in teachers, work to keep class sizes small, and work to save early childhood programs like Head Start that have been threatened by Re- publicans in Congress. We need to keep student loan in- terest rates low and ensure that adults who want to go back to school will have that opportunity. Education is the backbone of our economy. We cannot grow our economy in North Carolina unless we are willing to invest in the public schools and community colleges that we are so for- tunate to have in this state. 3 — Finally, if we want to save our election system and ensure that all people have an equal voice, we must work to put an end to the outpouring of corporate money in elections. Elections should be about people, not corpora- tions. It is essentially to our democracy to ensure that Big Money does not have a louder voice than students, veter- ans, seniors, or families. Super PACs have distorted the truth in this election and have flooded our airwaves with negative advertising, and the people of the 10th district deserve better. | will support efforts to overturn Citizens United, which has allowed corporate interests to hijack our election system, and | will support efforts like the DIS- CLOSE Act of 2012 and similar bills that would require candidates to disclose the names of outside groups mak- ing large contributions to their campaigns. If people or corporations want to give large amounts of money to a candidate, voters who are evaluating that candidate's abil- ity to represent them should know about it. | want the - voices of the 10th district to be heard in Washington — not the voices of outside groups supported by unlimited cash flows. 4 Patsy Keever Question #2: What do you see as the issues facing North Carolinians and what would you do to try to fix them? The most important issue facing North Carolinians today is the economy. The people of this district want the confidence of knowing that they can earn a living wage at a good job and then have the chance to send their kids to good public schools and colleges. In order to do this, we need to level the playing field for all Americans. That means that we should pass the Paycheck Fairness Act so that women are not paid less than men for doing the same work. That means that we need to end tax loopholes and breaks for companies that ship good manufacturing jobs overseas. That means that we need to be willing to ask millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes, just like middle class families do, by enacting the Buffett Rule and by ending the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans. We need to support smart regulations so that brokers on Wall Street aren’t making bets with middle class pensions, and we need to make sure that insurance companies aren't overcharging for premiums or refusing to cover people who are sick. Finally, that meags we need to support small businesses in our community by investing in education and infrastructure so that visitors will want to shop and dine in our state, so that goods can be trans- ported throughout the state on uncongested bridges and roads, and so that North Carolina students today will have the opportunity to be the entrepreneurs of the next genera- tion. £8 : 4 A response was not received from candidate Patrick ; McHenry (R). See CANDIDATES, 4C
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