#ncga: A conservative choice in Cumberland County’s District 44
District 44 has always been interesting. Rick Glazier, a real powerhouse for Cumberland Democrats, has had some tight races here. (He knocked off incumbent Alex Warner, a rather conservative Democrat, in 2002.)
Glazier retired from the House after winning his 2014 race to go work with Blinkin’ Chris and the gang. Local Democrats dug into their closets and hauled out a dinosaur by the name of Billy Richardson to fill out the rest of Glazier’s unexpired term. Richardson had served in the House previously, but “retired” in 1996 after a real scare from Republican Mia Morris.. 
Local Republican Richard Button was the sacrificial lamb against Glazier in the last two election cycles. With little to no help from the local or state party establishment, Button managed to pull 44 percent of the vote against Glazier in the big Democrat year of 2012. He managed 48 percent in 2014.
Instead of getting behind an established candidate with a track record of running respectably in the district, the Raleigh cartel appears to be slithering into the race behind Fayetteville city councilman Jim Arp:
Jim Arp, a Republican member of the Fayetteville City Council, says his experience in public service would make him a good fit in Raleigh.
Arp announced Wednesday night he would run for the N.C. House 44 seat now occupied by Rep. Billy Richardson, a Fayetteville Democrat.
Arp, a 54-year-old retired Army lieutenant colonel, does defense contract work. He has served on the council since December 2010, and he was unopposed for re-election this year in District 9.
“I think this is an opportunity for me to serve Fayetteville in the General Assembly, where things that really impact us the most occur,” Arp said Thursday. “I can work with the leadership teams up there and help do great things for our community.”
[…]
On Wednesday, Arp picked up the political endorsements of Meredith and two other Republicans: Fayetteville Mayor Nat Robertson and state Rep. John Szoka of Cumberland County.
[…] The district includes Massey Hill and neighborhoods near Fayetteville Regional Airport to the south. The Cape Fear River marks the district’s eastern boundary, which stretches north along N.C. 87 and Bragg Boulevard and westward toward Seventy-First High School.
[…]
Charles Jeter, the chairman of the Republican Conference for the state House, said Arp’s views are more consistent with the voters of District 44 in Cumberland County than with Richardson’s record.
“We think Jim is an excellent candidate who comes from a military background and has great experience from his time on the Fayetteville City Council,” said Jeter, a state representative from Mecklenburg County. “He would be a tremendous asset.”
O-Kay. Arp is endorsed by solar goons John Szoka and Charles “Big Boy” Jeter. (Did you know Jeter has a DEMOCRAT lobbyist and campaign consultant working out of his personal business offices in Mecklenburg County?) 
Button appears to be running as a solid constitutional conservative. Arp’s campaign will get the cash and other benefits from the Raleigh cartel. They clearly want to make sure they have one more “soldier” in their camp. Check out Button. Learn all you can. If it feels right, do all you can to help him.
After Saturday’s events at the NCGOP meeting, do we really need to have ONE MORE “soldier” standing with Jason Saine, David Lewis, Nelson Dollar, and Tim Moore?
This is how we progressives get our policies through. It requires progressive Republicans to pass President Obama’s green energy policies. Conservative Republicans are no good because they look out for the taxpayers and the electric ratepayers, not the Polar Bears.
What is the “Conservative” policy for alternative energy other than to pass it on to be the next generations’ problems?
The “Conservative” policy is not to spend your money on schemes that are not financially or operationally viable, as is the case with wind and solar. They simply cannot stand on their own and must have taxpayer dollars to survive. The taxpayers have supported these ‘alternatives’ for years and if they cannot survive on their own, then they need to go out of business like any other business. It is not the next generation’s problem unless we continue to make the taxpayers subsidize an industry that is no yet ready for prime time. Fossil fuels are cheap and plenty, so there is no longer an argument of necessity for these ‘alternatives’ which are anything but acceptable alternatives. Let me know when I can run my car on wind or solar!
Is it time to stop the subsidies the fossil fuel industry and electrical utilities receive?
Another leftwing poster has claimed such ”subsidies” but they have proven to be total BS.
Department of Revenue figures show that the taxpayers of North Carolina will be on the hook for almost a billion dollars for subsidies for solar boondoggles now under construction, and that does not even count the federal taxpayer subsidies, and it does not even get into wind. This is an outrageous taxpayer ripoff that sellout politicians like David Lewis, Nelson Dollar, and Tim Moore are responsible for, and yes John Szoka, too.
Show me where the state is putting similar money to conventional energy or shut your liberal piehole. The fact is that it is NOT!
Both Civitas and Locke have a lot of material on that. I suggest you read it.
Conservatives have policy on ”energy” not the narrow niche of ”alternative energy”. Wind and solar are not ready for prime time because they are way too expensive. Thirty years ago their proponents said that they would be competitive with conventional energy in a few years, but that was 30 years ago and it still is a lot more expensive. Also, wind and solar are intermittent which makes them unreliable and require expensive backup.
While research money to see if wind and solar can be made practical could be justified, prematurely deploying it on a massive level before it is ready is just nuts.
No one is suggesting that alternative energy is going to put the fossil fuel industries out of business overnight. The alternative energy sources can be slowly integrated into our energy needs to replace the imported fossil fuel we rely on from sources who may or may not be our enemies – depending on what day of the week it is.
Wind and solar are INTERMITTENT. They do not work if the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing (or blowing too hard), and that makes them UNRELIABLE. They are overly expensive and cause horrible pollution in building the wind turbines and solar panels. They are also visual pollution, and expensive.
If they ever works the bugs out of wind and solar there will be a market for it, but forcefeeding it to the market while it is still not ready for prime time is just nuts.
Electric consumers should not be forced to pay higher electric bills to subsidize this boondoggle, and taxpayers should not have to have our taxes subsidize this ripoff special interest. Politicians who vote to line the pockets of these special interests by ripping off the taxpayers and electric ratepayers should be hounded out of office and then tarred and feathered.
Would you agree then that consumers should not be forced to pay for coal ash spills?