Wide-Ranging 7th District Debate Invokes Faith and Politics | Eastern North Carolina Now

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

Barfield, Casteen, and Rouzer discuss wide array of policies and issues

    SMITHFIELD – Who says you shouldn't mix religion and politics? God and government were invoked Thursday night as solutions to the nation's ills during a three-way debate at Johnston County Community College's Great Hall among candidates for the U.S. House District 7 seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre.

    But, as on most issues, the candidates' faith and politics did not converge.

    Libertarian Wesley Casteen, Republican David Rouzer, and Democrat Jonathan Barfield laid out their stances on issues ranging from term limits, minimum wage increases, and tax reform to immigration, education, and Obamacare.

    "The secret to getting out of this mess is to get back to God and common sense. One follows the other, and if we do that we can get this country turned around," Rouzer said. "I personally know, because I feel it in my heart, the Lord's not giving up on us, and neither should you."

    "The ministry is what makes me who I am," and he prays for wisdom and guidance in this race, said Barfield, an assistant pastor, self-employed Realtor, and member of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners. And it's why he believes national programs such as the Affordable Care Act are vital to initiate and maintain.

    "There was one demand that Christ gave. He said you love your neighbor as you love yourself," Barfield said. "There is no way you can love your neighbor as you love yourself if you deny access to affordable health care for the folks who need it most, therefore I stand in solidarity with the Affordable Care Act."

    Casteen, an accountant with a Wilmington law practice, said Obamacare, as the Affordable Care Act is commonly called, is doomed to fail because the revenue will never match spending, and that will lead to an even more disastrous attempt by the federal government to further socialize medicine or go to a government-only, single-payer system.

    "If anything, the federal government has completely proven itself incapable of socialized medicine," Casteen said. As examples, he cited the government's closure of the Army flagship Walter Reed Hospital due to mismanagement, Veterans Administration hospital scandals across the country, Medicare going insolvent, and current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bungling of the Ebola virus response.

    "I've been opposed to Obamacare since day one. In fact, at the state level I led the charge against the individual mandate on the Senate floor" as a two-term state senator, said Rouzer, a small business owner who worked on Capitol Hill with former Republican U.S. Sens. Jesse Helms and Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina.

    "Obamacare is doing nothing except decreasing access, and lowering quality, and providing fewer choices. That is not a prescription for lower costs in health care," Rouzer said.

    On illegal immigration reform, Casteen said the federal government "has failed the country for decades" to provide an efficient immigration system. "It has failed to provide proper checks, and our borders have remained porous."

    It needs to be recognized that children who were brought here without say by their parents and grew up in America know no other country but this one, he said. On the other hand, "I do not agree that there should be a direct path to citizenship" for those who broke the law to get here.

    Rouzer said the border needs to be secured, and he doesn't support a direct pathway to citizenship or amnesty.

    An improved worker visa system needs to be created, he said. Microsoft told him three months ago it is unable to fill 6,000 high-skilled jobs because it can't find domestic workers to match the needs. Tobacco and sweet potato famers can't find workers. Most foreign workers don't want to stay here permanently, so there needs to be a system allowing them to come and go, Rouzer said.

    "We all came here on different ships, but we're in the same boat now," Barfield said. He does not object to a direct pathway to citizenship.

    Too many international students get educated in the United States and take that learning and training back to their home countries when it could be used here. America's original settlers came here seeking freedom, opportunity to create wealth, and to escape tyranny, Barfield said. If that system was good enough for the English, it should be good enough for today's immigrants, he said.

    Rouzer was the only one among the three opposing an increase to the federal minimum wage. Casteen said the minimum wage should be indexed to inflation, and Barfield said raising the minimum wage would create "an infusion into the economy" of new spending.

    "If we do the right things and grow this economy, the minimum wage is a moot issue," Rouzer said, noting McDonald's restaurants are paying their employees $15 to $16 an hour in North Dakota, where there is an energy and jobs boom.

    The United States could become the No. 1 global exporter of energy, but first "We've got to get rid of the rules and regulations that are strangling the economy," Rouzer said.

    "And here's what's going to happen when we tap into this natural resource," Rouzer said. "We can grow this economy in North Carolina in a major way, and we can also drive down the price of a barrel of oil about $75, and knock [Russian President Vladimir] Putin on his tail. It has major foreign policy implications."

    As an example of federal "stupidity," Rouzer said a proposed water regulation by the EPA coming out this year "in essence would classify the entire 7th Congressional District as a wetland. ... That puddle in your front yard would classify your yard as a wetland," and activities such as replanting would require EPA approval. "I'm not joking."

    Barfield said his leadership on the county commission has resulted in vibrant public-private partnerships creating hundreds of jobs and directing tens of millions of investment dollars to New Hanover County.

    "Sometimes we need to have government" to lead and create jobs and new economic opportunities, Barfield said. He pledged, if elected, to steer federal money to the local level to do that.

    If the past six years have proved anything, "it's that Washington is not going to be the savior in this economy" as emerging nations compete with the U.S. for jobs and manufacturing, Casteen said. "The best thing Washington can do is stay out of our way."

    All three oppose term limits. Casteen said he has no intention of becoming a career politician. Rouzer said imposing term limits on politicians "hand[s] the keys of power to the career staff, to the lobbyists, to the career bureaucrats. People would have less of a voice than they do today." Barfield agreed, saying Eastern North Carolina is an example of a region without clout because it does not have enough long-serving representatives.

    Barfield said "a true partnership" of federal, state, and local programs and resources is needed to improve education and expand pre-K learning opportunities. More funding, and restoring pride and classroom control to teachers is essential.

    "It is impossible for the Department of Education or the federal government to mandate education policy from Washington for a country of 300 million citizens," Casteen said. States are quickly moving away from the No Child Left Behind program, and "the common core curriculum has become a running joke."

    "We did quite well for a number of years without the federal Department of Education," whose budget is now about $62 billion, Rouzer said. "I would be pretty much in favor of disbanding much of that and returning the money to states to do with as they see fit" to best promote and improve education.

    Barfield said he would like to see interest rates on student federal loan debt decreased. He said his adopted daughter graduated from North Carolina Central University's law school, and is now working as a public defender for $45,000 a year. "It's going to take a long time to retire a $200,000 debt."

    Casteen said he benefited from the federal student loan program and believes it "is a worthwhile investment." But he said too many young people suffer from financial illiteracy when it comes to paying for a college education.

    "They don't know how to balance a checkbook. They don't know how to do a basic budget," Casteen said. "You don't understand what it means when you're paying back $200,000 on a $40,000 a year income," or when choosing to incur a quarter-million-dollar debt for a private college education in an arts field where "your job prospects are slim."

    Rouzer said "part of being a responsible citizen" is paying back college loan debt. The reason students are struggling with their payments "is because we have an exceptionally stagnant economy" in which too many rules and regulations stifle job creation, and business owners are "not looking to grow their businesses, they're looking for an exit strategy."aying back college loan debt. The reason students are struggling with their payments "is because we have an exceptionally stagnant economy" in which too many rules and regulations stifle job creation, and business owners are "not looking to grow their businesses, they're looking for an exit strategy."