Candidate Survey – Greg Newman

Name: Greg Newman
Occupation: Attorney
Party affiliation, if any: Republican
Political experience: First Republican mayor of Hendersonville, 2005-09; former criminal prosecutor
Endorsements: Not seeking any except from WNC voters

1) How much money have you raised for your campaign?
Around $40,000.

Who are your top three donors, and how much has each contributed?
Myself with a campaign loan, and my law partners Ron Blanchard and Jason Blackwell, who have contributed several thousand each.

2) What most distinguishes you from your opponent?
Former prosecutor and mayor of Hendersonville with conservative record of fighting crime, cutting spending and opposing tax increases. Will eliminate Education, Energy and Homeland Security departments, reform entitlement spending and taxes, similar to Congressman Paul Ryan's proposal. My opponents, like Shuler, haven't presented a plan to cut spending and debt.

3) What are your top three legislative priorities?
1. Cut spending, including reforming unsustainable entitlement programs;
2. Reduce exploding federal debt;
3. Reform tax system to encourage investment, so businesses can create good-paying jobs, especially by making our manufacturing sector globally competitive.

4) What's your position on the recent health-care reform legislation passed by Congress? What steps should be next in tackling health care?
Will work to repeal the health-care bill recently passed, which will bankrupt us. Doesn't address exploding health-care spending, which is causing increasing levels of federal debt. Support true reform to lower costs, including allowing insurance competition, reforming Medicare/Medicaid to pay providers based on quality not quantity, reform malpractice laws, etc.

5) What steps should be taken to deal with the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site? What's your opinion of the EPA's handling of the cleanup?
The federal government, including EPA and N.C. DENR, have been incompetent in dealing with the contaminated CTS site and have focused more on damage control instead of cleaning up the site. Federal bureaucracy must be reformed, and I will support any efforts to create a change in operation.

6) What's your opinion of the Defense Department's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy?
I support the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and believe that current efforts to repeal are based on political expediency by the president instead of national-security concerns. While our nation is at war, we shouldn't try social experiments.

7) How do you believe the federal government should deal with the immigration situation?
Immigration reform should begin with strong border security, employer verification, elimination of sanctuary cities, temporary-worker program for businesses that can't find Americans to do the job, and visa programs so creative people throughout the world can create businesses here, most recently like Google and Intel.

8) What steps do you favor to deal with the economic downturn?
If we don't cut spending and reduce debt, the public sector will face a crisis similar to the '08 Wall Street crash, and then who will bail America out?  Reforming our tax system to encourage investment and job creation, like the plan presented by Congressman Ryan, will create sustainable jobs.

9) What's your position on abortion?
As a Christian who believes all of God's children are a gift from Him, I oppose abortion except in the cases of rape, incest and life of the mother.

10) What do you believe is the best course for the U.S. to take in Afghanistan and Iraq?
The surge orchestrated by General Petraeus and opposed by Congressman Shuler has been very successful in Iraq, allowing for the substantial reduction of soldiers with improvements in security and political stability.  I support General McChrystal's troop request in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and their al-Qaida supporters.