Ok, I'm irked. Our local newpaper, The Laurinburg Exchange (www.laurinburgexchange.com), ran an article on Saturday concerning an upcoming election for the NC State Senate and our district. The two candidates are the incumbent, Dr. Bill Purcell and his challenger, Jason Phibbs.
Well, here's the article:
Phibbs: Purcell pushing gay agenda
by Matthew Hensley
State Senate candidate Jason Phibbs took issue with Sen. Bill Purcell's legislative history, asserting that the Laurinburg Democrat was "promoting homosexuality" with his votes in the North Carolina General Assembly.
Speaking to about 13 people at a town hall meeting this week, Phibbs said his opponent's "aye" votes on the state's anti-bullying act and the Healthy Youth Act as evidence that Purcell supports "the homosexual agenda".
"What they are pushing for is legitimacy and special rights," the Albemarle Republican said.
The anti-bullying act – the School Violence Prevention Act – legitimizes homosexuality in the Tar Heel state, he said, as it identifies sexual orientation and gender identity on a list of criteria for differentiating characteristics in defining bullying.
The Healthy Youth Act, which eliminated abstinence-only education, opens the door to schools teaching anything sex-related, he said.
"Now school systems can teach whatever they want," Phibbs said. "... If they want, they can teach homosexual sexuality. They can do that."
He also criticized Purcell for not supporting an amendment that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman.
"His (Purcell's) legislation is promoting homosexuality."
Purcell defends record
Purcell took issue with Phibb's characterization of his record.
The long-time senator said his support of the anti-bullying act was not in support of homosexuality, but rather a recognition that gays and lesbians are in the school system and have the same right to be protected as others.
"It does not promote homosexuality," Purcell said. "I believe no child should be bullied in schools."
He said sexual orientation and gender identity are on a long list of possible differences for which a child could be bullied.
Purcell was a cosponsor of the bill.
He also disagreed with Phibbs assertion that supporting the Healthy Youth Act will somehow promote homosexuality, saying the act was necessary to curb teen pregnancy rates.
"Abstinence-only education just has not worked," Purcell said pointing to comments from a prominent member of the Bush Administration that denied the effectiveness of the program.
With the Healthy Youth Act, Purcell said schools must still teach abstinence as a form of contraceptive, but systems may chose to teach other forms of contraceptive alongside it.
The local legislator added that parents may opt out of classroom instruction on the topic through a waiver form.
As for the marriage amendment, Purcell felt it was not needed as state law already prohibits non-heterosexual marriage.
Other crimes, such as murder, are not enumerated in the state constitution, Purcell said, so it would not make sense to add this measure to the constitution.
Fiscal conservatism
Social issues are what attracted Phibbs to politics –he is the Stanley County coordinator for NC4Marriage, an advocacy group promoting an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as being between a man and a woman – but he says economic issues are his current priority as the state and the nation are in unprecedented levels of economic recession, with the state unemployment the highest on record.
He hopes that reigning in taxes, which Phibbs believes is exceptionally high, will help improve the economic fortunes of the Tar Heel state.
"Our state budget has increased 300 percent over the past 30 years," he said, while the population has only increased by 60 percent.
"If you feel you are paying a lot of taxes, it's because you are."
North Carolina has the highest personal income tax in the Southeast and the eighth highest sales tax in the nation, Phibbs said.
The Republican candidate said taxing comes naturally to current legislators as they raised taxes by $1.1 billion – the largest tax hike in state history – to deal with budget shortfalls.
The issue, Phibbs said, is that current state leaders are trapped in a cycle of tax and spend. When the economy improves and tax revenues increase, the state spends more money instead of saving the surplus or cutting taxes. Then, when the state sees a drop in revenues as it did this past year, legislators raise taxes instead of cutting spending.
Taxes are slowing economic growth, the candidate said.
He proposed eliminating the corporate income tax, cutting $1 billion in wasteful spending to make up for the lost revenue.
This spending includes reducing some of the $694 million in grants for nonprofits that Phibbs says is not being used correctly, funds from Golden Leaf and consolidating state agencies.
He also wants to look at selling nonessential state assets and privatizing the sale of alcohol for a one-time revenue source.
Phibbs also wants to remove regulations and mandates that restrict free enterprise to promote job creation. Among the current laws he hopes to change are laws requiring power companies to generate a portion of their electricity from renewable energy sources, mandates that insurance companies offer services and restrictions on purchasing out-of-state insurance.
States rights
Phibbs says he wants to protect "state sovereignty and personal liberties" by pushing back on the federal government and instituting tougher laws.
"I am not talking about secession, or anything crazy like that," Phibbs said.
Instead, the Albermarle Republican opposes unfunded mandates that require states to pay for federally-required programs.
He gave the current healthcare bill as an example.
"It will add $600 million in additional costs to our state," he said.
Phibbs took issue with the current system of incarceration.
"We don't punish them (convicted criminals) based on their crime, we punish them based on what we can afford."
He accused current legislators of reducing prison sentences to save money while closing prisons, something he felt was counterintuitive to good government.
Electability
Phibbs told the audience his odds look long – about 60 percent of registered voters in the district are registered Democrat – but his chances are better this year because of state and national discontent with present leadership.
"The reason I believe I can win is there are a lot of things going on that weren't going on before."
His biggest hurdle in November won't be his party affiliation, Phibbs said, but rather the overcoming the perception voters have of Purcell.
People don't see the Laurinburg Democrat by his liberal leanings but by his life-long work as a pediatrician, according to Phibbs.
He told his fellow Republicans that if he had a penny for every time someone referred to the Laurinburg Democrat as a "sweet old man," he wouldn't have to worry about campaign cash.
Phibbs believes his path to victory is on educating voters on Purcell's legislative history, which he believes is out of line with the values of the state's 25th Senate District.
(Credit: www.LaurinburgExchange.com)
So I decided to write a letter to the editor. And here it is...
I have read and re-read the article from Saturday's paper, "Phibbs: Sen. Purcell pushing gay agenda" and it's hard to believe that such nonsense is still being used by a candidate in 2010. What exactly is the dreaded "homosexual agenda" that Jason Phibbs claims that Senator Purcell is pushing? What exactly is the "homosexual agenda" anyhow?
I'm not a big fan of Senator Purcell and quite frankly, I personally feel that he's not been as strong an advocate for Laurinburg and Scotland County as he could be while serving in the North Carolina State Senate.
But in the two votes that Mr. Phibbs has cited as "pushing the homosexual agenda", Senator Purcell used common sense and made smart decisions that are in the best interests of all North Carolina residents - helping to attempt to cut down and hopefully end the harassment of persons who are targeted by bullies and predators for whatever reason. And the Healthy Youth Act which will allow the school systems to tackle the problems of STD's, teen pregnancy, and real life problems and situations head on rather than forcing the students to depend upon each others and unreliable and often wrong sources for their knowledge and information.
These might not be ideal solutions and bills, but they're proactive steps to confronting the issues our youth (both gay and straight) confront every single day. And Senator Purcell should be commended, not condemned, for having the foresight and courage to address these kind of situations rather than just sitting on his hands and leaving things, which clearly are not working, as they have been for far too long.
As for Mr. Phibbs criticism about Senator Purcell's lack of support for the constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, well, the last time I checked, same-sex marriage is already illegal in North Carolina. So if it's already on the books as illegal and covered by state law, what's the whole point of passing another law saying essentially the same thing? Just more government legislation, litigation and red tape that we don't need when there are far more important things (such as education, jobs, the economy) that need to be addressed.
And lastly, what exactly is the "homosexual agenda"? Maybe I just didn't get the e-mail in my inbox or my notice in the mail, but there is no such monster as a "homosexual agenda", at least not on any major national level. No more than there is such a thing as a "heterosexual agenda". Yes, there are groups and persons that are to the extreme, but they only represent the smallest portion of their target audience, just as other extreme groups (on both the right and left) may claim to represent everyone, but generally only represent the smallest fractions of persons with their radical ideas as well.
The majority of homosexuals are no different than the majority of heterosexuals. All any of us want is the chance to live our lives to the best of our abilities, be with our friends and families, be a part of our community and be happy. It's just that simple. In response to Mr. Phibbs comments about pushing for "legitimacy and special rights", equal rights are not special rights. We want nothing more than the same things in our lives, no more and no less, than anyone else is allowed. To be with the person we love, to live in peace, raise our families and live the American dream. Is that really too much to ask for?
Mr. Phibbs is probably a decent person and a smart man, but he shouldn't be playing these dirty political games. There is more than enough bigotry and ignorance out there in this world as it is and we don't need politicians playing on it to attempt to scare potential voters. If Mr. Phibbs wants to be elected to the North Carolina State Senate, he should focus on issues that matter and affect people such as those I mentioned above, and not on trying to drive people apart with bigotry, hatred and prejudice. Hopefully, this will be the last of the dirty politics and scare-tactics. I truly hope so. But I doubt it.
Thank you.
Douglas Maynard
Laurinburg, NC
So am I wrong? Was I too nice? Will it even get published? Who knows? But this guy (Phibbs) and his playing politics with people's fears and ignorance is just freakin' wrong. I don't much like Dr. Purcell, but I definitely don't like Mr. Phibbs.
Later gators..
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