Amen.

Financial incentives should be outlawed. They are misappropriation of taxpayer funding. No taxpayer money should be going to private businesses or anything that is not a government responsibility. We should instead eliminate corporate income taxes, as well as personal income taxes. That would benefit all businesses, without giving taxpayer funding to non-government entities. It would get government out of the business of picking winners and losers. Government should also cut unnecessary regulations, as we have been doing, and just get out of the way and let private enterprise take care of itself through free market dynamics.

Ed Goodwin is a good man. Hope people will ser this report and help him.

None of that money has ever come my way. I voted for the Farm Act, and for the override, because I’m looking beyond the Smithfield case, and wanting to protect the small farmers who I believe will be next if something isn’t done to protect their property rights from unfounded, frivolous lawsuits. It didn’t hurt, either, that Rep. Ridell got the raw milk provision added to it. Glen Bradley and I tried to get that done when he was in office. I know there will be an effort to remove it next year, but I had to stand up for it as a matter of personal freedom, and will fight the effort to get rid of it if I am still there. The main thing, though, is that these lawsuits are just one more unscrupulous tactic being applied to the widespread effort to run farmers off of their land. I saw Section 10 of the Farm Act as a way to fight that.

I told Gov. McCrory that we should drill offshore and open refineries in some of our counties with depressed economies, to get some NC citizens employed. Maybe it would help lower our gas prices some if we did. If course, there’s not much chance of that with Cooper in office.

I wanted to run a personhood bill when Skip Stam, supposedly “Mr. Prolife,” was Speaker Pro-tem. He told me in no uncertain terms that it would not be allowed a hearing.

We conservatives will certainly miss John Blust, although I was deeply disappointed when he voted to repeal HB2. Otherwise, he has done a great job. I would offer one clarification about Carl Ford. He is leaving the House, but is running for the Senate. The map that was approved last August unconstitutionally formed the new 83rd District, and double bunked Carl and me in it so that we could cancel out each other and someone else could take it. However, they didn’t count on the friendship and support between Carl and me. Neither of us wanted to run against the other, because each of us wants the other to stay in Raleigh. So I am grateful to Carl for choosing to run for the Senate, instead, and I wholeheartedly support him.

I’ll say it again. Let’s go with reliable, rather than so-called renewable. Not one penny of taxpayer funding should go to any of it.

Thank you for your kind words. They wouldn’t be trying so hard to get rid of me if I just went along with whatever they wanted.

meant to say Dale is as good…

One of the smartest things NC voters ever did was to elect Dale Folwell to be our Treasurer. Dale as good a public servant as you will ever find.

Not quite accurate. John Blust and I both voted against the original bill and the conference report. I don’t know about John, but after that, I heard from a number of people, including Glen Bradley, saying to override the veto just for the sake of the ballot access issue, even after I explained to them how bad the rest of the conference report was. I struggled with what to do for several days, talked with other members about it, and even discussed it with one of my local judges. It was only because we have a chance to fix the bad parts in January that I was able to vote for the override just to get the ballot access piece done for Glen and a lot of other people who have worked so hard for that. I would not have done it otherwise.

Amen! And you know I know about that.

mothers, not morhers

I guess they would have banned my wife and me from speaking because we went to jail years ago for blocking access to abortion mills to give sidewalk counsellors time to offer loving alternatives to morhers in crisis pregnancy situations. But that’s okay. I got to hold a lot of those babies after they were born, and no one can take that away from me. While Dr. King, Rosa Parks and others who stood up against the stupidity of racism and were arrested should be honored for that, taking down the Confederate flag or Confederate monuments does not favorably compare. That’s not what the flag or those monuments represent.

Thank you for your kind words. After spending nearly $200,000 against my $46,000 in the primary last year, the coalition of liberals in both parties who never wanted me in Raleigh will certainly be coming after me again. The gerrymandering of districts that put me in one designed for someone else to win is just the beginning. But I’m not going down without a fight, and my people know I am fighting for them, not just for myself. Committee to Elect Larry Pittman. P. O. Box 6311 Concord, NC 28027, in case anyone is interested in helping.

Well, I am not a former legislator yet, although the establishment folks are doing all they can to get rid of me. But Bob is a friend, and I do not mean to attack him personally, only the issue. I appreciated his strong stand against repealing HB2. We just disagree strongly on this issue. To me the conservative point if view is consistent across many issues and does not make room for government taking this kind of action with taxpayer funding.

I get sick and tired of the word “renewable.” How about emphasizing another word…”reliable.” We need reliable energy sources. We don’t need to invest taxpayer funding in unreliable sources such as wind and solar that make our energy bills go up. I oppose all financial incentives to big corporations that cost the taxpayers. If a company wants to invest in producing wind or solar energy, let them do it on their own dime. If it can’t sustain itself without robbing our taxpaying citizens, maybe it’s not needed. I voted no on HB 589, and I will always vote against such waste, or really, misappropriation, of taxpayer money, as long as I am in Raleigh. That goes for film incentives and other boondoggles, too. It’s funny how I used to hear Republican leaders complain about this kind of corruption, calling it corporate welfare, until we got to be in charge. I can’t understand changing your tune like that, just because someone offers you money or a position you’d like to have or puts pressure on you or gives a lot of money to your opponent. We should not be for sale.

I am really going to miss Chris Millis. He has done a great job. I understand his need to get back to his family and his regular job; but it is a dark day for conservatives. Of course, the maps recently approved by the Legislature were drawn with an intent to get rid of me and other conservatives. So I can’t say I will be back in 2019; but I’m not going down without a fight. I would miss Chris bad enough then, if I do return. I am very sad he is leaving before finishing his current term; but I can’t really blame him. God bless you and your family, Chris. You did a great job while you were in Raleigh. You will be greatly missed.

Right. You can’t reform the party from outside of it. You either have to stay in the GOP and keep working to reform it or go form a valid alternative party. Unaffiliated accomplishes nothing.

Amen, Raphael! I’ve been trying to tell people that myself. You are right on.

You are on the right track. It is intended to get rid of both Carl and me by having us cancel out each other so Linda Johnson’s hand picked rino can take the new seat. Stay tuned.

John Roberts notwithstanding, Obamacare is unconstitutional. The government at any level has no authority to order citizens to buy any product regardless of whether we want to buy it. Obamacare should be repealed, period, and not replaced with any government program. We need to get back to free market solutions, with competition across State lines. The government needs to stay out of it except for requiring honest business practices among private companies and individuals.

Thanks for your concern about me. The establishment never wanted me there in the first place. An attempt to take me out through redistricting would be no surprise. I guess they just can’t tolerate the idea that citizens’ rights, States’ rights and our State and federal Constitutions are more important than the special interests and corporate welfare. If they do manage to take me out this time, at least I will have been there to fight for our people for three and a half terms. Who would ever have thought I would have ever been there at all? But I’m not going down without a fight.

Too bad Laura doesn’t live in North Carolina.

So the answer is not to defect to the Democrats or go unaffiliated. Get involved in your local and State GOP and reclaim it. Help recruit good candidates who will work with those of us who do care about the gun rights and other rights of our citizens, did not cave in on HB 2, and who support President Trump.

Tell me about it. There is an ostensibly conservative businessman in my county who has been asked by friends of mine to contribute to my campaigns. His answer has been something to the effect of, “I would if I thought he could win.” Especially now that I have won three elections in which I have always been very out-funded every time, that makes no sense. Folks, if you believe in your candidate, give him or her some help.

You speak with no knowledge of the facts. My original bill, HB 69, would have included repeal of the pistol purchase permit; but I knew that would never pass the current Legislature. Chris Millis then offered HB 201, virtually identical to my bill, but with the repeal of PPP. leadership asked us to combine our two bills into one bill, which became HB 746. Then we had to present that to our caucus for discussion. It quickly became clear that we could not get the votes to support repealing the PPP, just as I suspected. We were made to put together a “work group” to determine what the caucus would support. Some good things were added to the bill from Michael Speciale’s HB 588 and some ideas from Jay Adams, while the bill did get watered down some from what I intended. That’s why I had the words “Constitutional Carry” removed from the bill, because the changes they forced us to make made it no longer constitutional carry. While the bill ended up being far less than Chris, Michael and I originally intended, it would bring us a good bit closer by making the concealed carry permit optional so law abiding citizens could carry concealed without a permit anywhere they can carry openly. GRNC wanted a much stronger bill, just as I do. But the reality of the Legislature is that is as much of a step forward as we could get even heard for a vote at this time. GRNC supported the stronger bill I offered. But they had the good sense to support what we could get to the floor because it is an improvement, even if it isn’t all we wanted. I appreciate their support of our efforts, and the rally planned for tomorrow, and you should, too. Of course, we have more work to do, like electing more people who support our gun rights. But there is no sense in letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, and there is no justification for attacking GRNC for supporting whatever step forward we can make and facing the reality that we have to continue the struggle for the long haul until we have the necessary number of true conservative constitutionalists in Raleigh to reach our goal.

Our State GOP party platform also calls on us to defend and uphold the Marriage Amendment. When I ran HB 780, that’s what I was challenging my colleagues to do. Naturally, the response will be to try again to take me out in the primary, maybe even by double bunking me in a newly drawn district. We’ll see.

As one who is usually ranked at or near the top of conservatives in Raleigh by Civitas and the American Conservative Union, I find references to our leadership and their agenda as ultraconservative laughable at best.

That is very kind of you, and I need all the prayers I can get, especially with the constant attacks from the left. Chris and I agree on most things. We disagree on the call for an Article V constitutional convention, although we both have the same goal of upholding the Constitution. But we disagree respectfully about that, and I an proud to work with him in most things. He is something special.

Chris Millis is a great and very capable public servant. He does his homework, treats everyone with respect and guards his words carefully. I am proud to be his colleague and his friend.

At the very least, Dan Forrest held firm on HB 2, along with about 34 of us in the House. That carries a lot of weight with me.

I’m not saying Dan Bishop is perfect. He would be the first to correct me if I did. But he is a very good man, and these trolls attacking him are not fit to lick his boots.

For clarification, saying that Dan sending congratulations to John Bell makes me wonder was not meant to be against congratulating John. It was meant in reference to CCA.

I hope you are incorrect. I have wanted Dan Forrest to be Governor ever since I first met him when he came to Cabarrus County when he was just starting to run for Lt. Gov. Sending congratulations to John Bell may have been nothing more than just a social nicety. I don’t know. But it does make me wonder. I have already told Mr. Forrest that I will do anything I can to help him become Governor. I would hate to have to back off from that. Not that Dan necessarily needs my support. I would just hate to have to rethink it.

How right you are!

Very disappointing.

The Beaufort Observer made one mistake in this article. Robin was not in Congress when NAFTA was passed. He was the deciding vote in the passage of CAFTA. He was told that if he voted for CAFTA the feds would crack down on China’s unfair trade practices. He accepted that deal and cast the deciding vote. At least, that’s what he told me back then. I told him that he needed to address that concern during that election, but he just said he didn’t vote for NAFTA. He didn’t seem to understand that the real issue was CAFTA.

Felonies such as assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a police officer are not minor crimes. Yet they are included in the list that will be treated as juvenile acts. There is no common sense in that.

Since you mentioned it, just a quick reminder that Tillis only took 46% in the primary, which means 54% of Republicans did not vote for him, and he took less than 50% in the general election. No wonder he is looking at running for Governor, instead of reelection. RUN, FOREST, RUN!

Run, Forest, Run!

While I never try to tell my congregation how to vote from the pulpit, I do discuss political issues and urge them to get informed, get involved, and vote. I do remind them that, just like everything else in their lives, their vote belongs to Jesus. After all, we call Him King, Lord, and Messiah or Christ. All three of those are political terms. So if we truly believe He is the King over all, we need to act like it. The non-establishment clause in the First Amendment merely means that Congress cannot establish any one denomination as the official Church of the nation. Liberals want to ignore the free exercise clause, which is meant to protect the free speech of believers and non-believers alike.

Unbelievable!

Let’s also remember that Tillis only took 46% in the 2014 primary. That means 54% of Republicans rejected him. Then he failed to get 50% in the general election. Dan Forest is a much better servant of the people and a much better candidate to beat Cooper than anyone who might primary him. RUN, FOREST, RUN!!!

I encourage my parishoners to be armed at church because you never know when someone could shoot up the place, and we have the right to defend ourselves and each other. I know at least one lady who is always armed there.

It is disingenuous to claim Cooper caved in to the NCAA when they both had the same goal of repealing HB2. HB142 is a poor “reset” as our “leadership” likes to call it. It says local governments are preempted from adopting policies not approved by the GA, but it does not define our policy as HB2 did. That is worse than useless. Then it says that this preemption is only in effect until Dec. 1, 2020, just long enough to get through the next two elections. I don’t believe that will play out as intended.

That’s actually section two. Section one is the repeal.

It kills me how people abandoning their professed principles call it the smart thing to do. This was capitulation at its worst, and the timing was not necessary to beat the May 10 anticipated ruling of the fourth circuit. But it was necessary to beat the NCAA deadline. Spin it all you want, but conservatives know when they have been betrayed and by whom.

Amen! If we had a majority like Jesse Helms to work with people like Dan Forest, we could really get back on track.

The issue is perversion and Charlotte City Council’s effort to enforce perversion. In my view, that is a direct attack on the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of God’s Word, to which HB2 was the proper response. That being the case, I will fight the repeal of HB2, if necessary, with my last breath. This new bill would be as vehemently opposed by the left as HB2 has been, anyway. So it is pointless. It fixes nothing.

Amen!

Go Carl!

Dan Forest has stood firm for HB2 all along. He went to Texas to encourage the effort there. As one who will never vote to repeal HB2, I am very proud of him, and will do whatever I can to make him our next Governor.

Supporting a democrat us just cutting off your nose to spite your face. We need some more good champions of the average citizen to run.

The “compromise” in December was not “well on its way to passing.” It faced stiff opposition in the House GOP from the start. It might have passed, but would have depended on a majority democrat vote, until we realized that Charlotte was trying to hoodwink us on the deal. Then even GOP members who favored repeal refused to go forward with it under those conditions. Nothing further needs to be done about HB 2 but to enforce it.

AMEN!!!!

None of these things are legitimate government business. Taxpayer money should never be given to wealthy businessmen to keep them from having to spend their own. Good for Matthew Ridenhour and the others who stood up against crooked dealing.

Brant, I hope you know that with me, and about thirty or so of us in the House, you are preaching to the choir.

Thanks for saying something kind about me first. However, it was not a lack of attention to NC politics on my part. I heard of Brannon shortly after he announced. What I am saying is that Mark had told me he was considering running months before that. So, while it is true that having too many candidates in the primary played to Tillis’ advantage, I don’t believe that is why Mark ran.

Mark Harris was far better than any alternative we had, and all this stuff about him running to stop Brannon for Tillis is nonsense. Mark told me he was thinking of running months before I ever heard of Brannon.

It is actually true that at least Thom Tillis was not given a mandate in 2014. In fact, it bears remembering that he only got 46% in that primary, which means 54% of Republican and unaffiliated voters voted against him. He got less than 50% in the general election, too. I would agree that’s not a mandate. The people did give Congress a clear mandate in 2016, however. It is “WORK WITH TRUMP, NOT WITH THE DEMOCRATS!” As for someone running against Tillis in the primary in 2020, conservatives would have to settle on one candidate with a lot of money and a thick skin.

Hallelujah! I hope this holds. Next year will be soon enough for me to be subjected to the lies and personally abusive attacks from the coalition of liberals in both parties who manage to find someone to come after me in every primary. You would think that after they failed last year in spite of spending nearly $200,000 to my about $46,000.00 in the primary they would have learned by striking out three times that the good people in my district don’t go for that stuff. But I’m sure they are already chomping at the bit to come after me again because I work for the people and not for the special interest cronies. Same goes for a lot of my wonderful colleagues, I’m sure. None of us should be subjected to unconstitutional redistricting nor an unconstitutional election this year. I hope the US Supreme Court will understand and make that clear.

The repeal by the Charlotte City Council is a sham. It is conditional, and therefore, worthless. The Charlotte ordinance is not “no longer on the books” unless we repeal HB 2. How many other unconstitutional acts by local governments are waiting in the wings, counting on the full support of Cooper and Stein? I would never vote to repeal HB 2 under any circumstances; and I am certainly not going to take the bait here. Some are saying we have to repeal because of what the Fourth Circuit Court will do if we don’t. I am not responsible for what the courts do. I am responsible for what I do. I will not betray our people by voting to repeal HB 2. There is a MAJORITY OF ONE who wouldn’t like it if I did. I will not let Him down, especially just before celebrating His birth this coming Sunday.

Really going to miss Sen. Rucho.

If HB 2 had been the problem, we would not have kept our supermajority in the House, and Republicans would not have gained a seat in the Senate. The I-77 tolls lost McCrory a lot of support in that part of the State, cost us an otherwise very good member of the House, and caused some others to face tough races. I can well imagine the scenario you describe on the fisheries issues went hard against McCrory, also. Very unfortunate, but not really surprising. Ever heard of cutting off your nose to spite your face? Looks like there has been some of that going on on both sides of some issues.

If HB 2 had been a serious negative factor, we would not have retained our super majority in the House and gained an extra seat in the Senate. I-77 and some other factors hurt the Governor and caused some problems for Legislators who supported the tolls.

However, John, you were one of the ones in whom Republican did mean conservative, as it should. There are still a number of us there.

Amen.

Fine. Just one more liberal media democrat operative for me to ignore.

Amen! And no Common Core.

A lot of, not a lot if

I’ll accept the redneck label proudly, along with deplorable. I would be really worried about my relationship to Christ if Hillary would not consider me deplorable. HB 2 was a good bill. A lot if lies have been told about it. I stand by it. If that gets me unelected, it will just have to be that way. My integrity will be intact, without which I wouldn’t be worth voting for in the first place.

Amen!

I mean to say “based on,” not “base on.” Sorry for the typo.

You are so right. Rick Glazier was one of the more liberal members of the NC House. My wife compared our records and found that he, a Democrat, voted with the majority more than I did while we were both there. What that tells me is that our leadership has been supporting a liberal Democrat-friendly agenda a lot of the time, which I, as a conservative, could not support. So if you see me not voting with the majority, know it is because I am a conservative who votes that way.

These ratings may tell you something, but maybe not always as accurately as you might think. In 2013, Civitas only ranked me at 13th most conservative in the NC House, mainly because i voted no on the budget. What they didn’t understand, and what I explained to them afterwards, was that I didn’t vote for the budget that year because I didn’t consider it a conservative budget. In 2014, when I did vote for the budget adjustment (too late actually to fix the whole budget, but I supported a lot of the changes made that year), they ranked me as the number one conservative in the House, with a 92% score. The highest in the Senate was David Curtis, with, I believe, a 76% score. I voted for the budget in 2015, only after about 30 of us conservatives banded together to try to get 12 items taken out of the budget and succeeded in removing 8 of them. I was ranked number two conservative. This year, I was one of eleven ranked number one by Civitas. So it is hard to pin down just how accurate these rankings are, especially when they are base on a limited number of votes, and not on one’s total voting record. If our leadership would allow some of my bills to be heard, and if the people who produce these ratings paid attention to that, I don’t doubt I would be the number one conservative most of the time. The rankings are not worthless; but they don’t tell you everything.

Good word from Paul Valone, who calls me the number one gun rights advocate in the State Legislature. You have a God-given right to self defense, with which the government should cooperate. I need to harness the energy of the people to overcome the reluctance of State GOP leadership to hear and pass my Gun Rights Amendment next year. Let Speaker Moore know you demand it.

A mental disorder (although the perversion bullies have gained control of the medical and psychiatric societies and coerced them into removing it from the list) should not be treated as a constutional right. Those people need counseling and therapy, not surgery. We did not tell private companies they had to adopt any particular policy on this matter. We simply told Charlotte and the rest of our municipalities that they couldn’t impose any such policies on private companies, either. I’m not backing down from that. Those who want to pressure me to do so can go pound sand.

No matter whether you always agree or occasionally disagree with Gov. McCrory, he has done his job, and deserves a second term. Roy Cooper has taken your money and refused to do his job. Why would we give him another high position?

Amen to that comment by True Patriot, even though I endorsed Cruz. We simply must stop Hillary, and now that means electing Trump. By the way, in 1968, we held a mock election at New Bern High School. Hubert Humphrey got 190-some votes. Richard Nixon got something over 600. George Wallace got well over 900. We kids knew a real conservative when we saw one back then. I hope my old school mates are ready to make the better choice now–not that Trump is such a great conservative, but Hillary is far worse than we thought old Hubert was way back then.

You can check and see that I am not in the big money, because I can’t be bought; but I disagree with you about members being able to give to each other. If leadership is pushing a primary or general election opponent against a true conservative, it is good for other conservative members to be able to help that one.

Amen! I’ve never watched an NBA game in my life, anyway. I still stand by HB 2.

At least there us some hope that a VP Pence might have a positive influence on a Pres. Trump. There is no chance anything good would come from Hillary and her crowd. I wanted Cruz, but we simply must not have Hillary. So that only leaves us Trump. I don’t doubt your theory of media intent. I just pray they fail this time.

You nailed it on this one. Creating jobs and running the business world are not government responsibilities. Government can create a business-friendly environment by cutting taxes and regulation, but otherwise needs to leave the free enterprise system alone to do its own thing through supply and demand. That’s why I never support targeted financial incentives or subsidies. The taxpayers shouldn’t bear the burden of funding business ventures. If a business can’t make it on its own without taxpayer funding, maybe it isn’t needed.

I supported the original bill all the way through third reading, although somewhat cautiously. However, when it came back from the Senate with this needle provision added, I had to vote no. So much for the claim that the Senate is more conservative.

Buck would be a great AG, and we couldn’t have a better candidate for Treasurer than Dale Folwell. I am also eager to see Michael LaPaglia become our next Secretary of State.

One correction. The election bill was for Asheville, not Asheboro. None of the Buncombe County House members wanted it. Nor did their Senator.

I will not vote to weaken HB 2. As I said today, when you have done the right thing, stand by it.

I am a true Tarheel. I believe in the sovereignty of my State, and of these United States, and of every other nation. Being primarily of Scotch-Irish and English decent, I am very proud of Great Britain today for rejecting further subservience to the European Union, just as we need to reject further subservience to the United Nations. They gave “globalism” a good stiff punch in the nose, and it’s about time we did the same. We can start by electing a President who will stand up for us, rather than going around apologizing to those who want to attack and dominate us. America needs to return to our founding principles and tell those who don’t like it to go pound sand. We need to stop talking about “global” this and “global” that, and revive the word “international.”

You just can’t help telling the truth, can you?

You folks are preaching to the choir with me. I have been telling the caucus the same thing. When you have done the right thing, never back down from it. Don’t show your adversaries any crack in the armour. If there is any actual effort to weaken HB2, there will be a noisy revolt in the caucus.

I hope it doesn’t end up going that far; but this is why we have the Second Amendment. Tyranny is never that far from reality. The more passive, ignorant, uninvolved, and self-centered people become, the closer it gets.

Burr is dead wrong. Charlotte created a problem where none existed is the only thing he said that is right. We did the right thing, and I will not vote for backing down from it in any way.

It is still a good and gutsy move by Chris, and I support him on it, as one who voted no on the bond in the House and again at the polls. I even bought signs against it and put them out around my county and spoke against it at GOP meetings. Chris Millis is great. I’m proud of him.

Spot on!

Trump or Hillary. Arsenic or cyanide.

Amen!

Not attending only leaves the other side free to go unchallenged. They would love for you to do that.

If we would stick to actual government responsibilities and stop giving away money to corporations that don’t need it, and other non-government entities, we could get rid of income taxes a lot more quickly so people could keep more of their income to spend, save, or invest as they see fit. That’s what I keep preaching and why I have such a hard time reconciling myself to voting for the proposed budget every year. It’s more complicated than that sounds, and I was proud to be one of thirty House members who stood up to cut some bad stuff out of the budget last year; but there’s a lot more work to do to get it under control.

The claims these people make about having tried to work with Hasan and finding him unwilling ring pretty hollow in light of the fact that they started working against him before he was even elected. I am undergoing another surgery on April 28, and don’t know if I will be able to travel to the meeting on April 30. But if I can, I will be there to stand with Hasan. Yes, he has made some mistakes. But if these people had worked with him, instead of seeking from before the beginning to undermine him, we would not be in the sad shape as a party that we are now. We must repudiate such behavior, regardless of any of Hasan’s faults and shortcomings, simply because their intentional corruption and deceit are so much worse.

I did not support the effort to oust David Lewis at the Executive Committee meeting because I did not think it was the right way to handle the situation, and I knew it would not work. I always believed that the proper way to handle the situation, if people wanted him out, was to run someone against him at this year’s convention and vote him out. I’m not saying whether I thought it needed to be done. I will just say I am the one who nominated him at the convention in 2012, and I would not do it again. I feel the same way about what is being done to Hasan. Trying to force him out with a no confidence vote or forcing him to resign is not the right way to handle the situation. If people want him out, let them elect someone in his place next year. As for me, I support Hasan, and I believe if he had been given a chance, if the power mongers had really tried to work with him, instead of trying to undermine him from before he was even elected, none of this brawl would be happening now. It is an unfortunate and embarrassing spectacle that is not helping the Party at all. When Claude Pope was elected chairman, I don’t know of any of us treating him with this kind of disrespect and refusal to cooperate with him.

I didn’t see Hasan at our 8th district convention, although I am told he was briefly there. I am not aware of any intent not to recognize him or not to let him speak. It would be a real surprise to me if that were the case, especially since this is his home district and he is one of my constituents. So I hope nothing so disgusting as what has been described here was afoot in our convention. As for the concerns about establishment tampering with delegates favoring Cruz, I feel that I can assure you that if there was such an effort in our district, it failed. Our three delegates are, in order of who got the most votes, Neva Helms, myself, and Carl Ford. The alternates are Justin Burr, Jean Griswold, and Lanny Lancaster. I can tell you for certain that Neva, Carl, Jean, and I are all staunch Cruz supporters. I think Justin and Lanny will be firm for Cruz, as well. I was asked to put my name on the ballot specifically because I will stand up for Cruz to the bitter end, and no one will change my mind by threat, promise, or bribe. Of course, if I am required to cast a vote according to the rules as one of the delegates Trump won in the primary in the first round, I won’t have any choice but to do so. There would be a $10,000.00 fine for doing otherwise, which I certainly can’t afford. However, I hope I will be allowed to be one of the ones Cruz won. If it goes to a second round, I will definitely be voting for Cruz to the end.

Amen to “It needs to die.”

Vote for Buck Newton for Attorney General, so we can finally have one who cares about the People and our Constitution for a change. meanwhile, Cooper should resign. I know. Fat chance of that. It would require character and integrity.

Linda,
The problem here is the central committee defying the will of the people while Hasan tries to uphold it. The $90 fee is a clear effort to keep average citizens such as the majority who elected Hasan and Michele from being able to attend the State Convention. Too bad I can’t afford to pay the fee for a lot of those good people. I would if I could.

I proudly voted for all of your choices here, and want to encourage my fellow constitutional conservatives across the State to do the same. Having led the fight against Common Core, I need Rosemary Stein to help me finish it off at last.

Cruz all the way.

I meant what they are doing to Hasan and Michele

Vallee Bubak is right. I would never run for State GOP Chairman; but I’m sure if I were Chairman, Dallas and His cronies would be doing the same democrat style stuff to me. And these people want us to think they are fair-minded conservatives? What a joke! It is an absolute outrage. Conservative grassroots Republicans must not become discouraged by these despicable tactics. We must be adamant to fill the upcoming conventions with true conservatives and put an end to it. If this kind of garbage is allowed to prevail in the GOP, it will be time for it to go the way of the Whigs. I have always been a Republican because of the values for which it stood. What Woodhouse and the central committee are doing to Dallas and Michele betrays and denies those values.

Amen.

I like Paul personally. But we disagree strongly on incentives. I think I could work with him; but he is supported by the same folks who are putting lies about me on TV and supporting my opponent in the primary. I really feel he should repudiate them.

I absolutely endorse Tammy Covil, as well. There is still work to be done on getting rid of Common Core, and I need Mrs. Covil in Raleigh to help me carry on that fight. Or, in case I don’t come back next term, we need her there to work with Rep. Speciale to get it done. She is a great lady who will be a powerful advocate for worthwhile education and other matters valued by true conservatives.

I guess that depends on what you mean by conservative. For me, disrespect for the Sabbath is not conservative. I’ve seen the pictures of bullet holes in walls inside country churches, which us a problematic thing in itself, and could be even worse on Sunday when people are there. I also heard from farmers who didn’t want people to bother then about gun hunting on their land on Sunday. I just couldn’t see any justification for it.

Buck Newton helped strengthen HB 937 in 2013 by adding to it provisions that had been in my proposed gun bills Thom Tillis would not allow to be heard in committee. For gun rights advocates, Buck Newton is the only choice.

I fully agree with the comments of Rep. Millis, and I wholeheartedly endorse Mrs. Covil to replace Rep. Catlin as he retires from the House. She has worked tirelessly to get rid of Common Core, and I would be very happy to have her as a true conservative ally in the NC House if I am able to return next year.

The only reason I see that they only gave me a 92 is because I voted against the Sunday hunting. I did not consider that a conservative move, but a liberal one, nor did I see it as a property rights issue. As a conservative, Biblical Pastor of a small country church, I just could not vote for that one.

Thanks for the reference. Just for a for instance, if we weren’t giving millions of dollars to big corporations who don’t need it, which I consider a move toward socialism, that money could be spent on things that are actually government responsibilities and help reduce the need for more revenues.

Amen to helping Tammy! We need her in the House. If Speciale and I can stay there, and have Tammy come on board, along with some other good conservatives who are running, we could grow the ability of conservatives in the House to stand up against corruption and for limited government. I really hope she makes it.

Right you are, Richard. Government has no business giving any taxpayer funding to any business concern through subsidies or incentives. Solar farms are wasting many acres of good farm land because solar companies can pay many times more to lease that land than a farmer can. So giving them taxpayer funding to out bid farmers for such leases simply cannot be justified.

Cruz is the real deal. Trump sounds great, but I don’t trust him like I do Cruz. Nikki is a colossal disappointment. I thought well of her before she took down the flag, which turned me away from her. Her idiotic reference to it as the symbol that divides us, or however she put it, along with rejecting the righteous indignation of a betrayed people and her not so veiled tolerance for illegal immigration make her totally unacceptable as a leader in my eyes.

I don’t know where anyone got the idea that I am “spearheading” the opposition to the bond referendum. I am not spearheading the opposition, but I am certainly part of it.

Take a look at my Facebook post about this. I think you will agree with me.

Just so you know, I decided I was a Republican when I was ten years old and Goldwater was running for President. I voted for Helms in 1972 and every time he ran for the US Senate. I supported Reagan in 1976, 1980, and 1984. In 1988, I ended up holding my nose to vote for Bush ’41 when I was left no other choice then and had to do the same in 1992. Along the way, I also supported Pat Buchanan and Alan Keyes. I even returned a fundraising letter from Bush ’43 in 2000, and told him he might make a good Vice-President for Keyes. I’m tired of holding my nose for people like McCain and Romney, too. I want a genuine constitutional conservative patriot in the White House. I also hope we get an influx of such people in the NC Legislature, and that I get to hang around for another term and serve with them. We have to clean up the corruption in DC and in Raleigh, uphold the rights of our citizens, and flush political correctness down the tubes, along with Common Core and “gun control”, or we are done for. Where does all that put me in your estimation?

Don’t know what I did to deserve that, but thanks, I think.

Thanks. I do make mistakes; but I honestly try to put our citizen’s rights and honest government first. My approach is to ask four things about each bill.
1. Does it go against God’s law or is it compatible with it?
2. Will uphold or violate the rrights of our citizens?
3. Is it any of the government’s business in the first place?
4. Can I justify any expense it may require to the taxpayers?

I appreciate your support.

Thanks for asking the question. I wouldn’t have posted this on here otherwise. I don’t think there is any reason I shouldn’t, or I wouldn’t. If the Haymaker does not want to have it on here, I will not be offended if they remove it. Checks can be sent to:

Committee to Elect Larry Pittman
P. O. Box 6311
Concord, NC 28027

I need to have the contributor’s name, address, occupation, and employer for campaign finance reporting purposes, unless the total contributions from that person is $50.00 or less.

I do prefer checks. However, if you prefer Paypal, there is a Paypal button on my website.

Thank you for agreeing with my position. I opposed and voted no on this dog, even when it WAS about roads, as I oppose all bonds. It was called Connect NC in the beginning because of all the transportation improvements it was originally supposed to fund. With all that pushed aside to give the college systems money to burn instead, they should have at least changed the name.

Tammy Covil is the kind of principled conservative, willing to fight corruption, that we need more of in Raleigh.

Been very kind, that is. Sorry for the typo.

Nobody’s perfect. I know that because I have to look in the mirror every day. But Bob Rucho has done some good stuff and will be missed. He has certainly be very kind to me personally, and now that he is not going to be around after 2016 to help, I just hope we can continue on the path of tax reform until all income taxes are eliminated.

Victories for anti-toll candidates are great news, indeed. Good work, patriots!

Too bad John didn’t run in the primary. The write-in was too little too late.

Yes, indeed!

Amen to that!

Just a reminder. 54% of Republicans voted for someone other than Tillis in the primary. He only took 49% in the general election. A lot of folks are getting what we didn’t vote for last year.

Interestingly enough, being one who can’t be bought by special interests, I am targeted with a primary once again, backed by local “Republican” office holders who cater to special interests. I’m sorry. I believe the chamber of commerce has its place, but it is not to run the government. Others also have the right to advocate for their positions. But money will never trump the people’s rights and honest government with me.

Good article. I was in the second grade when they started taking Bible reading and prayer out of public schools. I grew up watching the results as our society slowly began to crumble. It is going at a much faster pace today. If people don’t teach their kids basic decency, morality, and respect, they aren’t going to learn them in school, and the parents shouldn’t be surprised when their kids get into trouble.

Amen! Rosemary all the way!

Kinda makes me glad I can’t afford a consultant. I’ve done fine without paying one so far.

Sorry for all the typo’s. I guess you can figure out what I mean.

There is this. In 2013, I introduced bold gun bills, which Speaker Tillis would not allow a hearing because they were “too controversial and the Senate would never go for them.” A group of House freshmen met with Tillis and insisted they wanted a gun bill and they wanted me on on it. When they held a subsequent meeting to which I was invited, leadership chose to ignore all the input I offered, but wanted me to put my name on their weak, watered-down bill. I refused. So we passed an anemic HB 937 and sent it over to the Senate. What do you think they did? They took some of those things that were in my bills that Tillis said they wouldn’t consider, and them into HB 937, making it a much stronger bill. Buck Newton made that happen. I think that’s a point worth considering in his favor.

Meant in our Republican primary, not I’m our.

They will always primary me. The establishment types never have gotten over me beating out their choice for the appointment in 2011 and beating him in the primary in 2012. Since leadership insisted on moving our Presidential primary to March next year to get more of the candidates to spend time in NC and to make it matter because not so many would have dropped out by then, I was one of many who insisted we should make our State primary on the same day to avoid an estimated extra $8-12 million expense to the taxpayers by not having two primaries. If that keeps RINO’s from counting on democrats registering unaffiliated to vote against conservatives like me I’m our Republican primary, that’s just a good bonus. I appreciate your reference to me as one of your favorites. So if this move helps me, I hope you will be glad. One thing of which I am confident, win or lose, it is laughable for anyone to claim to be running as a conservative against me. If someone wants a real conservative in the seat I hold for the people, why bother to run against me? Now if the democrats also run somebody against me, that will just be redundant.

Mr. Steed, in response to your previous inquiry, my website is http://www.electpittmam.com . There is a PayPal button. My campaign address, for those who want to send checks, is

Committee to Elect Larry Pittman
P.O. Box 6311
Concord, NC. 28027

Thanks for asking. I was a little hesitant to post this here, but since you asked…

You are entitled to honesty. It will not endear me to our leadership, but I was not elected to represent them, and I have no use for these games.

I really don’t know, except I think it was said to have been last November..

Sounds like a good idea to me.

This is a pretty accurate assessment of the situation. The $15,000 payouts were done around Aug. 18. We were hit with HB 373 Sept. 24. It was only after much heated debate that we learned that the concern about the Party dipping into caucus funds was allegedly aroused by Claude Pope doing so to the tune of $2,500 last year. We were then told that it was because of that action that leadership had been considering this provision in HB 373 since well before Hasan and Michele were elected. If that is so, many of us in the House caucus felt we should have been told early on. I was with Hasan and Michele the night they were elected, and they were already being warned of efforts to undermine them. The controversial provision vin HB 373 seemed to fit right in with such an effort. I was one of those who voted against it and urged McCrory to veto it. When SB 119 was being debated, I was texting Hasan, considering our options. I feel certain he was being pressured, but he finally advised me we would just have to take the risk of passing it and hope it would not be abused. So, on his advice, I reluctantly voted for SB 119, even though I considered it only slightly better than the same provision in HB 373. During the debate in caucus over all this, I complained about how it was handled, the timing, and how it looked. I warned them that things like this would fan the flames of those considering forming a third party, and that if they kept doing things like this, they might eventually go the way of the Whigs. But they don’t listen to me. I’m too grassroots.

Of course, part of the problem is that a lot of county parties are run by people who don’t want conservatives in Raleigh. They are certainly trying to get rid of me.

Not ANY legislator. If you don’t know that I’m not one of those, you must not know much about me.

You’re not talking about the same “we” to which I was referring. The “we” of whom I spoke are not yet in control, which is why it was so hard to accomplish as much as we did.

Not a bad idea.

So, in other words, you would probably have castigated the Allied Forces on D-Day because they didn’t make it all the way to Berlin that day. Or maybe I should abandon my Cowboys because they were only 12-4 last year and I wanted them to win the Superbowl. It’s tough enough having to fight this battle on the front lines, without being attacked by the rear guard. It should be pointed out that we got about two thirds of what we were after, plus tax reform beyond what either the House or Senate leadership proposed. Anybody who understands what happens here should recognize the progress we have made and realize we aren’t done yet. It would sure help if we could get more actual conservatives up here to join our efforts, and not more NCLM and chamber of commerce sellouts.

Meant it might have been much worse without him. Uh

If that’s all you know, you’re not paying attention. Mike didn’t write that bill himself. It might have been much worse. His one focus is always protecting the citizens rights by upholding the Constitution.

Amen! I haven’t seen the FB post in question; but I can tell you there is no more honorable gentleman in our State government than Mike Speciale, my good friend. Anyone who can’t tell which one is the true patriot between him and Obama is delusional.

Actually, I had not thought about it that way, but you may have a point. I have been saying for some time that we shouldn’t make the taxpayers pay for two primaries. I was a bit surprised when I heard that it might get changed to one. I’m getting primaried, anyway. The “take it from the people and spend it on our agenda” crowd will always come after me. I don’t think March or May will make much difference about that. I just feel we need to do right by the taxpayers and stop playing all these games at their expense.

I will never vote for Jeb Bush. As the one who started the fight against Common Core in the NC House, how could I? Everybody please stand up for Hassan and Michele as our NC GOP leaders. We can reform the NC GOP if we rally around them.

Just so you know, I spoke against accepting Rep. Tine into our caucus, and I voted “No.” If he had changed directly from democrat to Republican, he would have been a member of the GOP House Caucus automatically, without us having to vote on it. While I have my doubts about this whole situation, I would have much preferred he had done it that way, if at all. I can’t divulge what went on in the caucus meeting, except for what I said and did. I just didn’t want any of your readers thinking I dropped my guard on this one.

It is not just the term I don’t like, it is the content. Common Core is trash and is trashing education. It must be eradicated, not just renamed.