Bring a Patriot and Public Servant to Office

NC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM SELECTION PROCESS IS ANTIQUATED

North Carolina, and particularly our neighborhoods have suffered historically from poor roads, heavy congestion and inadequate planning for future growth. In Onslow County, as we all know, the Highway 17 ByPass never really by-passed very much. A recent study on North Carolina's roads system estimates residents WASTE $5.7 BILLION per year in lost time, fuel and vehicle repairs. Congestion relief alone could offer positive economic impact of as much as $850 million.

Yesterday, April 6th, Joseph Coletti, Director of the John Locke Health and Fiscal Policy Studies team presented recommendations to improve funding allocations and stop wasteful spending on non-productive State Roads Projects. Road-related economic losses could be dramatically changed by changing the weay NC funds transportation I endorse these recommendations:

• Remove geography from funding allocations and replace it with a formula that evaluates projects, comparing every individual project head-to-head across the state.
• Refocus on Stewardship rather than Ribbon-Cutting ceremonies: Maintaining roads needs to be our first priority, not the last. New construction with very low cost effectiveness like Marc Basnight's Road to Nowhere have stolen our tax dollars that should have been used to maintain bridges like our own Phillips Bridge, plus many other more cost-effective projects.
• Do NOT seek new revenue sources for additional funding. Currently, NC has one of the highest fuel taxes in a 5-state region and if we consider additional user taxes, industry will search other states to take their business.
• Road funding has increased almost 20% since 2002, yet maintenance and repairs have fallen behind. Because we have neglected maintenance, the roads system now has deficient bridges and poor road surfaces, forcing local users to detour from current systems and waste valuable time. We need to "live with less" for a while .
•  Transportation Improvement Program should be more closely managed  to avoid over-optimistic projects, adding too many projects, and undedrstqating costs of projects.
• Prevent DOT from using existing fund formulas for too restrictiv ely blocking worthwhile projects.
• Restructure the Board of Transportation so that it becomes a Policy-Setting group with fewer members. The members should be charged with setting the vision for the State's transportation system, but not with approiving individual projects.

As Coletti so wel states; "More money is not the only issue, or even the most important issue. Spending what we have wisely is the key, by acting to delay or delete funding for those most cost-inefficient projects and moving that money into maintenance needs.

."Hey, did anyone see the great new video about ACT for America being the largest grassroots national security movement in America? It will knock your socks off! 5 stars for me." Here is the link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk4E-B5LDkw

Better Priorities for America

• Health Care Reform: Instead of introducing a massive government-run health care plan, Congress should consider alternatives that give families control of their health care by making insurance plans portable, reform the tax system to allow the same tax incentives for all insurance purchasers, and deliver real competition through innovative state-based solutions.
• Budget Reform: Instead of higher taxes and a second stimulus, President Obama should embrace real tax and entitlement reform by lowering business taxes, permanently repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, reducing individual tax rates, and introducing serious Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security reform so future generations aren't buried in excessive debt.
• Our Nation's Defense: The world remains a dangerous place, populated with rogue states and terrorist organizations that pose an imminent threat to our nation. Instead of cutting defense spending, the Administration should restore missile defense funding and maintain a minimum defense budget of 4% of GDP for the next 10 years, not including war funding.

Talking points acqired from the Heritage Foundation

Pro-life, I stand for the Christian principles of marriage for one man and one woman and I concur with our need for a "fetal homicide law" in this state to protect unborn innocents from crime. I will keep the Constitution  as my foundation for all law and our Bible the foundation for all moral decisions.

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Email me at tracey@Tracey-Miller.com