Steinberg Tries To Knock Off Freshman Pittenger In 9th District | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Challenger says congressional incumbent isn't conservative enough

    RALEIGH     First-term U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger faces a challenge from Michael Steinberg in the Republican primary for the 9th Congressional District.

    The winner of the May 6 primary will have smooth sailing to Washington as no Democrat or Libertarian filed to run in the district. In fact, barring a successful unaffiliated or write-in campaign, the winner Tuesday will represent the 9th District in the U.S. House for the next two years.

    The district includes portions of Union, Mecklenburg, and Iredell counties. The N.C. Free Enterprise Foundation considers it a leaning Republican district.

    Pittenger previously served three terms in the N.C. Senate. Before winning his congressional seat in 2012, he was a real estate investment business owner.

    Steinberg has been in property and capital insurance for 25 years. He's a financial advisor and also created a DVD that teaches people how to teach and understand the Bible. He has written a book on constitutional government.

    Pittenger sees jobs and the economy as the top issue. "I think, without a doubt, what is on everyone's mind is the fact that they need a better job, or they need a job," Pittenger said.

    To Steinberg, Obamacare is the top issue. "I don't feel like it's the role of the federal government to administer health care," Steinberg said. "I'd like to see it fully repealed and not replaced with Republican-care."

    Pittenger also opposes Obamacare . "It's going to be an economic failure," Pittenger said. "You don't have enough young people in it that are healthy." He said taxpayers will end up bailing out the insurance companies. "The insurance companies got a sweetheart deal," he said. Pittenger favors a market-driven approach for health care.

    To help bolster the economy, Steinberg believes a hefty dose of restraint is needed in Washington. "I feel like Obama has fundamentally transformed the economy from a supply-side economics to one where the government borrows trillions of dollars and filters it back to the people through various programs," Steinberg said. "To cure the economy, we need to stop the borrowing and spending cycle in Washington." Steinberg said that businesses and investors need more certainty from their government, and are awaiting that certainty before investing trillions of dollars they have sitting on the sidelines.

    Pittenger and Steinberg differ on the issue of the National Security Agency collecting data on American citizens, such as phone records and email records as revealed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

    "He's a traitor," Pittenger said of Snowden. Pittenger said he has reviewed classified documents and found that 54 attacks (some in other parts of the world) were prevented because of collection of metadata. "The metadata is a bank of emails and phone numbers that is accessed only when a known terrorist outside the U.S. is contacting someone in the U.S.," Pittenger said.

    Steinberg said that the collection of data on American citizens violates their Fourth Amendment privacy rights. Steinberg said he would have supported an amendment to a bill offered by Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., stripping funding from the NSA to collect such data. The amendment failed 205-217. Pittenger voted against the amendment.

    Steinberg said the Amash amendment would have required a court order or a warrant before spying on American citizens.

    Steinberg also chides Pittenger for his backing of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Steinberg said he would support Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., for speaker instead.

    Pittenger counters that Steinberg doesn't understand how to work within divided government in Washington. "Mr. Boehner is a very conservative man," Pittenger said. He compared Pittenger to former President Ronald Reagan, who knew when to take "half a loaf" of bread when he couldn't get the whole loaf. "He also knew when it was time to take half a loaf," Pittenger said of Boehner.

    Both candidates think President Obama is abusing executive orders by using them to circumvent Congress. And both think Congress needs to cut spending to rein in the budget deficit and eventually reduce the national debt.