Our nation is under serious threat from dishonest politicians, and we've got our share right here in Beaufort County | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    Our nation is under serious threat from dishonest politicians, and we've got our share right here in Beaufort County

    Have you ever wondered whether the people who pay good money to go to professional wrestling matches also vote on election day? If not, read this and then ponder that question a bit.

    A thorough understanding of what this article says can best be achieved by reading this article as background. That earlier article addresses Barack Obama's being "honesty challenged."

    The thesis of this piece is that we have an abundance of "honesty challenged" local politicians and wannabe politicians.

    We would contend that the problem of honesty and transparency (what the real truth is) has become so pervasive that most people just shrug it off as "that's politics." If you think that is not a big deal we would suggest you ponder this: It is the most serious threat our republic faces.

    Here's why. A republic is a form of government in which the people do not govern themselves as they do in a democracy. Rather they elect representatives who govern them. The very essence of this system of government is that the people must have knowledge of those who seek to represent them and they must know how those elected perform. If not, the entire system breaks down. It is rather like going into business with a group of partners. Before you invest your economic security in the venture you surely want to know about the character, competence, commitment and abilities of your partners upon whom you will be dependent. You really don't want to go into business with partners who are try to deceive you. Such is the case with the relationship between the voters and their elected representatives.

    Having said that, we would suggest, as we did about Barack Obama, that there are some local candidates that are unfit to serve as elected representatives because of their lack of character.

    We'll be specific.

    Jay McRoy is running his campaign as a conservative. He says he is fiscally conservative. He says he voted against tax increases. But his record shows otherwise.

    We're not talking about disagreement in interpreting facts. We are talking about absolute facts. For example, he says that in his first term in office he discovered and "error" that resulted in a two cent decrease in the property tax rate. Yet the N. C. Department of Revenue shows no decrease in the tax rate.

    But it gets worse. The nuances of Jay's record are obvious. He makes up the infamous Gang of Five. That euphemism comes from a long series of 5 to 2 votes. Those 5/2 votes include all the budgets adopted in recent years. They also include all of the votes that resulted in budget overruns in school construction projects that drained $6.4 million from what was billed as "Phase II" of the bond issue which was sold to voters. Those 5/2 votes included votes that resulted in spending over six million on economic development projects that have been dismal failures by any objective measure. Yet Jay's ads claim he worked to create new jobs. But what is most significant is the dishonesty inherent in the 5/2 framework. The simple, absolute truth is that the Jay voted with the Democrats in every single 5/2 vote. So either he is not a "conservative Republican" as his ads say or the Democrats are conservatives. Both cannot be true. And that is an absolute fact. But Jay tries to have it both ways. He claims he is conservative but he votes with the liberals.

    And if that is not enough to convince you of dishonesty, here's another. Jay claims he voted to "hold the line on the tax rate" for the last seven years. But what he does not tell you is how the Gang of Five did that. The fact is that they did it by spending our reserves. When the fund balance got so low it could not sustain the cash flow the county could have defaulted on its checks had not Potash Corp. not paid its taxes early, or the county would have had to borrow money for current operations--a real no-no in local government. Yet Jay claims he help maintain a good bond rating. But that is only because the county had not tried to float any bonds recently, which would have provoked a review of its current financial standing. So the truth is Jay does not know what the bond rating would be.
Jay campaigning in Beaufort County as if the truth is never at issue: Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage
    Then there is Jerry Evans. Jerry recently switched parties to run as a Republican. He too is campaigning as a conservative, yet he has taken liberal positions on several key issues. Apart from what little record he has, the truth is that the voters don't really know whether he is a Democrat or a Republican. What they do know is that he is not committed to either party, and apparently to the values and beliefs of either party. So how can a voter know what they are voting for when a candidate flip flops back and forth?

    But worse than the flip-flopping, in a recent debate with his conservative opponent, Bill Cook, he claimed that Cook had introduced only one bill last session. In fact a quick check of the General Assembly's website shows that Cook sponsored or co-sponsored over 145 bills. One particularly egregious distortion by Evans was claiming that Cook voted to support ObamaCare. The truth is Cook voted for HB 2 which was North Carolina's attempt to block ObamaCare from being implemented in the state. But Evans accused Cook falsely because he voted for HB 115, which was actually a bill that would have had the effect of keeping North Carolina in charge of a Federally mandated health insurance exchange that is required by Federal law.

    Then, of course, there is Arthur Williams. Arthur is also running a "conservative campaign." Yet most of the people who are supporting him (giving him money) are the same people who gave him money when he was a Democrat and had one of the most liberal voting records in the House. But beyond his voting record, what is obvious in his campaign reports is that not only does he raise a lot of money from big donors (over $250), he donates money given to him for his campaign to non-campaign recipients, such as other politicians and organizations.

    Then there is "our Congressman, Walter Jones." He's running ads claiming to be a conservative, but his voting record makes him one of the most liberal members of the GOP in Washington. He claims he is a fiscal conservative, yet several national budget watchdog groups rank him as one of the least conservative spenders in the House.

    And there's this story about one of Obama's czars who's running for the Senate who clamed she was a Native American so she could "meet more tribal people."

    We could go on. The point is to offer some examples of what we believe is dishonesty in American politics, both in Washington, DC, Raleigh and Beaufort County. And the root cause of the problem is dishonest candidates who, surprise, surprise, one they get elected are still dishonest.

    It has gotten so bad that most people don't even finish reading an article such as this one. They don't want more documentation of what they already know to be a disgusting and revolting situation.

    This election (both in May and November) will present clear choices between candidates of character and those who will flow with whatever way the wind is blowing right then.

    If we are going to save this nation we are going to have to replace the political chameleons with honest people. We would rather see a person of principles run on those principles and get elected, then vote according to those principles even if we disagree with how they vote, than to see someone run on one set of principles and then vote the opposite more often than not.

    Honesty. That is what we are talking about. We need honesty in politics. Without it they voters are deceived and their votes bastardized. And that is a serious threat to the American system of government.

    Think about it next Tuesday and on November 6, 2012.