Endorsement of Pete Benton by Diane Rufino | Eastern North Carolina Now

Walnut Creek Town Councilman Pete Benton, a Conservative for the People: Above.     Click image to expand.
    These are very troubling times. The federal government shows no allegiance to or understanding of the US Constitution and we, as a nation, are struggling with our political identity and our social identity. The very fabric of our country is coming apart at the seams, forcing us to become strangers and even enemies to one another.

    What has happened to the American family? To our school system? To the treatment of our yet unborn babies?

    We want to believe in government, we want we want to believe that North Carolina values our talents and skills and has jobs so we can take care of ourselves and our families, we want to believe our children are being educated well in the public school system, and we want to believe that babies aren't being slaughtered simply for convenience because we want so badly

    In short, we want to believe that government is on our side and we need to believe there are a few good men out there willing to represent us.

    Pete Benton is such a man. He's an honest, sincere, compassionate, godly, and conservative man. He's a veteran, a patriot, a family man, a true Southern gentleman.

    He gets his strength and moral compass from God, from his deep and profound love for America, from his family, and from the many good and virtuous people in North Carolina.

    Pete Benton is running for NC House district 13.

    Pete is a gem of a human being; you don't often find his kind these days. He is devoutly religious, which I believe is why he is always happy, positive, sociable, and inclined to help and serve. He is a family man, which speaks volumes to his views on the role of the family and on parental rights. And he is veteran with a long time of service, which lets you know how much he loves this country and this state, how much he values the role of the military, and how much he will support and protect our precious veterans.

    Pete volunteered for the US Navy during the Vietnam conflict, serving a three-year tour of duty aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CV-59). He joined the US Air Force in 1983, and served for 30 years, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In the Air Force, Pete completed the Squadron Officers School, the Air Command and Staff College, and the Air War College. During his Air Force career, he was stationed for two years at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina and 21 years at Seymour Johnson Air Force base in North Carolina. In 1986, Pete was named Officer in Charge of the Air Force Presidential Honor Guard at the Reagan White House, where he served until 1989.

    Again, times are very troubling. The federal government in DC has strayed from the restraints of the US Constitution and has become corrupt and dysfunctional. Political ambition has taken the place of honest and robust advocacy for the American people and the 50 individual states and that ambition has overtaken the protection and security of fair and honest elections. That is the reason the Tea Party movement was birthed in 2009 as a means to protest the federal bail-out program. I continue to promote and run the Eastern NC Tea Party as an activist group, as a group committed to education on the issues and committed to finding and fighting for solutions. The Eastern NC Tea Party believes that We the People must put most of our attention be at the state level. Only the states can apply the constitutional pressure and resistance against federal over-reach and abuse.


    Pete and I have spent hours upon hours talking about government, the state and federal Constitutions, and the various issues, and he has happily attended many of my Eastern NC Tea Party meetings. There is no doubt in my mind that he understands the challenge that presents itself and that he understands how very important it is to be a strong, committed, and conservative representative for the people in the state legislature in Raleigh.

    Knowing Pete Benton as I do, I am confident that he will be a valuable voice for all of us.

    We trust his judgement because we know who he is. We know how well-grounded his values are. Over the past two years, we've gotten to know his heart and his head and we like where they are. And so, I, Diane Rufino, as a long-time Tea Party member and political activist, strongly support Pete Benton in his run for the NC House.

    And the Eastern NC Tea Party is honored and privileged to endorse him as well. He is a man worthy of your vote and a man we sorely need to represent us in the state legislature.

    In a nutshell, here is where Pete stands:

• Protecting the Constitution, both state and federal. Constitutions are foundational documents that serve to protect the People from an over-reach and an abuse of government and should always be viewed and interpreted as such.
• Election Integrity. We need meaningful election reform measures to ensure honest, fair, and transparent elections, including most importantly, a strict voter ID law.
• Patriotism and Love of Country. Freedom is a great blessing from God. As then California Governor Ronald Reagan, explained in his January 5, 1867 Inaugural Address: "Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. And those in world history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again." And years later, he repeated a similar message: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
• Law & Order. Efforts are needed to toughen North Carolina's response to crime.
• Traditional Family Values. We need policies that strengthen, rather than weaken, the American family.
• Freedom of Religion. Our country was founded as a Christian nation, with the promise of religious freedom. And North Carolina has a long history of religious liberty and religious values. Religious freedom needs to be respected, defended, and protected.
• Freedom of Speech. Our right to speak freely and openly, without government bullying and censorship, is a fundamental right. We are to be able to express ourselves in "an open marketplace of ideas" and as such, the right must be respected, defended, and protected.
• The Economy. We need less government regulation to allow the free market system in North Carolina to flourish and work in the favor of the People. "The market, not the government, should be picking winners and losers."
• Taxes & Spending. We need to keep both at a minimum.
• Support for Our Military & Veterans. We need to do all we can to support our military bases, the men and women in uniform who serve, protect, and defend us, and our precious veterans.
• Education. North Carolina's public school system is among the lowest in the country and that is unacceptable. We are letting our children down, as well as their parents. We need to get our public schools once more focused on sound and basic education (as the state Constitution instructs) rather than on social, emotional, psychological, and political indoctrination and to once again value the role of and impact of parents.
• Healthcare. We need to cut healthcare costs by forcing hospitals to be more transparent with its services and prices, as well as to repeal the CON laws (Certificate of Need, for important hospital testing instruments) that stifle medical competition and drive up prices.
• Second Amendment. There must be no government gun-control laws and no infringement of the essential right to keep and bear arms for personal safety or for sporting purposes. There should be a constitutional carry provision to ensure North Carolinians can protect themselves.
• Right to Life. Abortion must never be used as a form of birth control. Pregnancies always involve two independent and unique human lives and both must be respected and protected. Adoption laws should be expanded as a way to find loving homes for unwanted babies (and unwanted children as well).
• Welfare. "Our welfare system should be a safety net and not a hammock." It should be a temporary assistance measure and never a way of life, and so there needs to be welfare reform.
• Immigration. We need innovative ways for North Carolina to discourage illegal immigration, which is a huge burden on taxpayers. Immigrants have strong family and religious values, which are needed badly in our society; we just need them to respect our immigration laws.
• Fishing Industry. We need to protect our commercial fishing industry, which is one of the North Carolina's oldest industries, from overzealous environmental groups.
• Environment. We need to have a keen interest in protecting the beautiful and varied environments in North Carolina during the rule-making process.