Thom Goolsby, a Wilmington, North Carolina attorney, has thrown his hat into the political ring by announcing his bid for the 9^th District senate seat in the North Carolina General Assembly. Shortly after Mr. Goolsby’s announcement, I contacted him through his web site, http://thomgoolsby.com, and asked to do an email interview with him. Mr. Goolsby graciously accepted my offer. The results, however, have been disappointing, to say the least.

My initial emailed questions seemed a little too general, so I sent a second with more specific questions. The following are the second list of questions I sent:

Q:  Who is Thom Goolsby?

Q:  Who is/was your mentor, hero, inspiration?

Q:  What motivates you?

Q:  How would you describe your personal ideology?

Q:  Why have you thrown your hat into the political ring?

Q:  In your opinion, what are the three most pressing issues facing the residents of the North Carolina’s 9^th Senate District? And, what will you do to face them?

Q:  In your opinion, what are the three most pressing issues facing the residents of North Carolina? And, what will you do to face them?

Q:  It seems as though the government and the justice system are “Bending” the Constitution, in its interpretations, to benefit select groups of individuals instead of all citizens as a whole. As an attorney, do you agree or disagree that this is happening? Do you agree or disagree with this action?

Q:  The issue of Term Limits in Congress has been raised a great deal lately because citizens are tired of “Career Politicians”. Would you support Term Limits at the state level?

Exactly one week later, with thanks for my patience, I received the following response:

I believe that we are all tired of modern-day politics in America, in general, and North Carolina, in particular.  For a state and country founded on individual liberty and self-determination, we have become babies of a Nanny State and she’s not a good surrogate mommy!  I want to help lead the charge to take back North Carolina from the brink of disaster.  The pro-BIG government, anti-personal responsibility, self-dealing cronies have hoodwinked the public for too many decades.  We are $5 billion in the red right now in North Carolina, our state debt has tripled in just the last few years (without voter approval) and we are facing billion dollar tax increases.  The fight won’t be easy, but as a former officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, I don’t require tasks to be “easy” in order to be accomplished.  I hold to the adage, “Fortune favors the brave!”

I find this response disappointing as well as far below my expectations. Mr. Goolsby’s biography, from his law firm’s web site http://goolsbylaw.com, states, “Thom Goolsby is a writer, professor of law and a trial attorney.” I would expect someone with Mr. Goolsby’s background, education and service to be much more articulate. I would also expect more from someone who is running for public office.

I had originally approached Mr. Goolsby in hopes of helping promote his bid for public office and give my readers some insight to the man. Many in the local and area community know Mr. Goolsby for his successful law practice and have listened to him during his regular weekly spot on Curtis Wright’s radio show The Morning Beat on The Big Talker FM 93.7 & 106.3 FM, Wednesdays at 7:30 AM. I have always appreciated Mr. Goolsby’s conservative views, his dissent for the mismanagement and corruption within the local and state governments and his pursuit of justice.

I had hoped to bring a solid and concise interview to these pages and I hope I still can.

Mr. Goolsby, I hope you have followed the link I have sent to you and that you reconsider providing direct answers to the questions I have submitted to you. There are many in the 9^th District who don’t know you and this is your opportunity to shine.

Hopefully, this interview will be continued …

With Congress on their summer break and Town Hall type meetings gearing up around the country, we can’t let the titles given us by the Left deter us.

The double standard is alive and well! The Left/Right battle is on and it’s obvious we, the right, have the upper hand. And how do I conclude this? Just think of all the rhetoric come from the Left. Let’s look at some of their “Catch” phrases – “Right Wing Extremists”, “Manufactured Rage”, “Right Wing Zealots” and “Mobs”. And now, the White House has set up an email address  ( flag@whitehouse.com )so that “Disinformation”, as they call it, about the Health Care Reform bill can be forwarded to them. (I encourage everyone to send off an email to this address with their concerns.) I am a huge believer that information is best gotten right from the horse’s mouth.

My concerns with some attendees of these Town Hall meetings and other rallies have agendas geared to devalue the importance of our participation. There are hundreds of video clips out there showing honest citizens voicing their opinions and asking some tough questions of their elected officials. However, we MUST refrain from violence. To resort to violence would be an enormous slap in the face to those who shed their blood to defend our Freedoms and Liberties.

We must be firm yet respectable. Yes, I do agree that we are shown little or no respect by the administration and many of our elected officials. Violence begets violence. Most of us are very passionate about our beliefs as we support the traditions and values of which this nation was built on. The Founding Documents are close to our hearts. But we must control our passion and conduct ourselves civilly. The 1^st Amendment protects our right to assembly and freedom of speech. However, it does not protect or condone violent acts committed upon another. We MUST be better than that, better than those who wish us harm, better than those how wish to control us.

As I noted above, we have been called “Mobs”. Webster’s dictionary defines Mob:  1. The lower classes of a community; the populace, or the lowest part of it. 2. Hence:  A throng:  a rabble:  esp., an unlawful or riotous assembly; a disorderly crowd. This is what the Political Left is promoting by airing ads which portray us anti-government, anti health care. As one of my daughters regularly writes, “PFFFFTTTTT!

We are only anti-government when our government is anti-citizen. We are only anti health care when our government wants to take control of it, and our personal health and choices. We find it unlawful when OUR government violates the Rule of Law and The Constitution they are sworn to protect. And when we voice our opinions and concerns, we are ignored; we are ridiculed; we are labeled as “Extremists” and “Zealots”. We are accused of being funded by high power, Republican leaders.

WE ARE NONE OF THESE! As our Founding Fathers, we are Patriots, determined in the preservation of our great nation, diligent in our pursuit of a FAIR, REPRESENTITIVE GOVERNMENT, dedicated to returning our country to the fundamental values of a republic. We fight for the good of the nation in whole and not just a few select groups, privileged groups. We are sick of entitlements, handouts and bailouts. We are sick of seeing our hard earned money – our property, our Liberty – go to those who sit at home, without cause, with their hands outstretched. We are sick of seeing OUR government moving into and taking control of private companies. And now, working towards making decisions about who among us live and die based on our individual value to society.

Now, more than ever, is the time to wake up our voices and be heard. Demand from your elected officials their ear; let them know just how important YOUR vote is.

Voice and Vote – Not Violence! Obama is bringing CHANGE. But the CHANGE he is bringing is the awakening of the silent majority, those of us who just wished to be left alone to raise our families in the greatest country on earth, to go about our daily business without our government interfering, dictating how, when and why. Obama has poked his stick, once too often, into the den of “The Sleeping Giant” as many have done before – The British in 1776, the Japanese during WWII, The Taliban, 9/11. He too will fall, as did the others, but by Voice and Vote – Not Violence.

WE ARE AMERICANS! PATRIOTS! We must remember the words as they were written by our Founding Fathers, also Patriots;

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Why am I skeptical? Why do I refer to these opportunists ill informed? Let me explain, in my own opinion.

To start off with, the feds are throwing money at a problem once again. As the initial $1 billion has been exhausted, Congress is working to appropriate another $2 billion in additional funding for the program. That’s another $2 billion of YOUR tax dollars. They just love to spend other people’s money. Let’s stop this out of control spending!

Now let’s look at some specifics. The main promotion of this program is to get the older, gas guzzlers off the roads by luring consumers into the dealerships to buy new, more fuel efficient vehicles. This in itself is a good idea. However, there is much more to this program than meets the eye.

The rules are not that difficult and any dealer will help you through the process. You, your vehicle, qualifies for the program if the new vehicle you are purchasing gets better fuel economy than the clunker you’re trading in. If the difference is 10 mpg or greater, you will receive the full $4500. But what if your trade-in is actually worth more? Sorry Charlie, you’re out of luck, it will still be a max of $4500. With this in mind, make sure you know what your vehicle is worth BEFORE deciding to get into the clunkers program.

For example, I headed to GM’s Cash For Clunkers web page to see what I’d get. I put in my vehicle’s details, 2000 Blazer (that’s the smaller one for those of you who don’t know) and put it up against the purchase of a 2009 Canyon Crew Cab 4X4, something comparable. GM’s calculator gave me an estimated voucher vale of $3500. Not in this lifetime, home boy. The NADA (New Automobile Dealers Association) book value for my buggy is $7200 retail, $5500 trade-in. So if I was to take “Advantage” of the CARS program, I would be losing two grand at a minimum. Not a good deal in my eyes seeing as I look at all this “Tree Hugger” global warming hype as bogus babble. Don’t get me wrong here, I do care about the environment but, common sense must be used.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. So much more if this program lurks beneath the icy political waters. Herein lay the harmful details of program. After caving in to the global warming mongers – although more like caving in to their money (campaign donations), our federal government began their quest to push through the “Cap and Trade” legislation. To their surprise, the citizens of this nation were not so excepting of the huge additional tax burden and power grab Congress attempted to hide in the bill. Thanks to the many conservatives who ventured to actually read the language contained within the some fourteen hundred pages of the bill and expose its contents. So, to circumvent some of this proposed legislation the CARS program was initiated.

To begin, CARS takes older vehicles off the road, good. This increases safety and fuel efficiency. These vehicles are destroyed; engines are drained of oil and filled with some type of corrosive material, then run until they fail. The vehicle is then scrapped as a complete unit, not so good. Let’s look at this portion of the plan. So far, 250,000 are in line to be scrapped. What about the salvageable parts from these vehicles? There won’t be any. So now, the millions of backyard mechanics across the country won’t be able to take advantage this great surplus of available parts to make needed repairs on their own vehicles. They will be forced to pay higher prices for salvage parts or purchase new parts at even higher costs. If you are not the backyard mechanic type and rely on your local garage to do the work, you too will have to pay more because the salvage part option will become very limited. For those not in a position to make a new car purchase, or newer car, and now not have the availability of salvage parts or paying higher costs, their vehicle will not be repaired as needed, possibly making it less safe. So now the safety aspect of the program is a wash.

Now, financially the program looks appealing. The problem is with who it is appealing to. American consumers are notably suckers for a “Deal”. Are we recreating our housing and mortgage problem within the automotive sales industry? How many of these new car consumers, utilizing the CARS program can actually, sensibly afford that new car? I know that taking personal responsibility with your finances should be a given, but have we already forgotten the collapse of the housing and mortgage market. Again, I’m afraid, we will see too many people making poor personal finance decisions based on the “Deal” they can get and not thinking long term. I think I night get into the auto repo industry because in a few months it will be booming. There are very few vehicles available in today’s new car market that one can purchase without seeing monthly payments of four hundred a month or more.

You must be responsible and plan ahead, this is a major purchase! Unemployment is still on the increase, is your job safe? Congress is pushing to pass legislation that will cost you more of your hard earned money; can you take an extra two hundred dollars out of your family’s current monthly budget in addition taxes and still afford that new car payment? And if you fall behind and the repo man shows up late one night, in the dark, and separates you from your new car; wouldn’t you have been better keeping your “Clunker” a little longer, or at least until you could truly afford to upgrade your ride? The result; now you’re walking and having to look for another clunker for transportation – which there will be fewer of; and dealing with a questionable used car “Buy Here Pay Here” dealer. Now, how beneficial was the “Cash For Clunkers” program for you?

Washington says that CARS will stimulate the auto industry by creating the need for more manufacturing, generate additional local income and luxury (if you pay this like I have to) tax intake with the sale and boost income in the form of vehicle registration fees. I agree in principle but at what cost. Of course Washington wants to stimulate and increase manufacturing, they own the industry. However, the only winners here will be Obama’s favorite group of people, union workers. They will continue to be overpaid and receive outrageous benefits. Your local governments will benefit by the additional income, but we have already seen that they, like Washington, have no idea of how to be fiscally responsible so the funds will be squandered; “Monkey See, Monkey Do”. As for increased registration fees, I don’t see where the feds are getting that idea. Swapping a car for a car, the numbers remain the same, no increase in registrations.

We fall to easily prey to government “Programs” because we have become naturally shortsighted. The CARS program is not directed to those who CAN AFFORD that new car, rather, those who CANNOT. For those who can afford that new car will go out and make that purchase, regardless. Our government has no business being involved in selling cars. If manufactures want to sell their products, they need to make whatever changes are needed to assure that they can reduce their costs so that the sticker price is affordable.

Will this decrease our energy dependence? Possibly, but minimally. Will this reduce carbon emissions with any impact? NO!

250,000 Americans may have already made what may become a serious mistake by partaking in the CARS program. Don’t be the next victim of federal meddling. Educate yourself before you take that drive to the new car lot. Don’t get taken for the ride of your life.