Congressman-elect Meadows: walking back campaign promises at the speed of light | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: Brant Clifton is an equal opportunity critic in his "bare knuckles" Conservative online publication known as The Daily Haymaker.

    Republican Mark Meadows talked a tough, conservative game in his campaign for the 11th district congressional seat being vacated by Democrat Health Shuler. Now, after the votes have been counted, and he's been guaranteed at least two years in Washington, the congressman-elect is going a little wussy wobbly on us:

    Republican Congressman-elect Mark Meadows said Friday that a chance to vote to repeal Obamacare is unlikely with the president back in office and Democrats controlling the U.S. Senate.

    He said he would focus instead on ways to make the law more palatable to small businesses and industry -- a position much more moderate than his campaign message, which called Obama and his healthcare law job killers.

    "I think from a governance standpoint, we look at the reality that he is the president and the repeal of Obamacare is not going to happen," he said. "With regard to Obamacare, we are looking at how you modify it, how do you get it to where it is not the burden on manufacturing and small businesses."

    That will take, Meadows said, like-minded people across the aisle to agree with him.

    The Affordable Care Act is not the only place he said he might run afoul of the more conservative part of his party.

    He said he would also support broadening the tax base to capture more revenue -- a plan that could mean lowering the corporate tax rate to create jobs. Even if it creates jobs, Meadows acknowledged, broadening the tax base is still considered by some conservatives as growing government revenue.

    And he would accept some part of the revenue from leases on public lands, for operations like logging and mining, going to government research on alternative energy if it means more jobs. [...]