Though the Fourth of July celebrates America’s declaration of our quest for independence from the king’s oppression, it is appropriate to remember that it was through our dependence on each other that we achieved our freedom. Independence Day is, then, a celebration of the spirit of community, of the caring for the needs of our neighbors that truly makes America the greatest nation the world has ever known.
The men and women who founded our country risked everything because of their belief that all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When they laid the foundation of American government, our founders were explicit that they did so “in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”
I am deeply concerned that the storm now raging over our land with its darkening clouds of lies, flashing sheets of bitter rhetoric and deafening thunder of media is hiding from our sight the values of our founders, so clearly and forcefully stated in the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution. Yet I believe, as they did, that human goodness will ultimately prevail because our government derives its just powers from the consent of ourselves, the governed.
So does Phillip Price. That is why he is running to represent the 750,000 citizens of the 16 counties comprising North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District. He reminds me of the village blacksmith who laid aside his hammer and cooled his forge to stand fast with his neighbors against tyranny at Old North Bridge. A small-business man who salvages lumber from old structures and restores it for use by those who build anew, he is truly a working man for working people.
Mr. Price is one of us. Rather than engaging himself in the cause du jour, he has devoted his life to providing for his family, to raising his children in partnership with his wife, to membership in his church, and to making a little music and doing a little fishing and hunting as time permits. And like so many of us, he is not without human frailty. But unlike many, he has come to grips with his flaws, sought and found redemption, and grown beyond them.
In his campaign. he pledges to strive to secure the same from our government in Washington as we would ask for ourselves and our neighbors: honest jobs with fair pay, good health and long life, the opportunity for our children to learn so their lives may be better than ours, and an environment in which we and the generations who follow us can thrive.
Election Day is months away. In the intervening weeks, you will have the opportunity to meet Mr. Price at numerous fairs and festivals throughout Western North Carolina. You are apt to see his dual-tired pickup parked where we work, where we find treatment for our ills, where we learn and where we gather to have fun. Don’t be shy. Go up to him, tell him who you are and tell him how he can help you, your family, and your neighbors. That’s what he needs to know when we send him to Washington to represent us.
— Graeme McGufficke
Asheville
Editor’s note: McGufficke reports that he is the field director for the Phillip Price for Congress campaign.
LOL fair pay lulz. Don’t work for the wages if you don’t like it. But don’t be mad when an illegal does. After all, you want low wages. Being misled by a bunch of leftist who seek to sell people out for votes is why.
These leftist are the biggest leeches around. Lived their entire lives in the public sector off of the taxpayer. They don’t compete with illegals for jobs and pay. That’s why they assume allowing an open border is good. They are so wrong.
Philip Price is a lumber entrepreneur, lol.
Make that Phillip Price.
Anyone that runs on fair wages is lying to the voters. You cannot set wages to be fair especially when you’re allowing people to stay who will undermine those wages. And even more outrageous, that aren’t even here legally. Can’t have it both ways LIEberals.
You want cheap labor then keep the borders open. But don’t complain because that same cheap labor impacts your wages as well. Especially considering that illegals work harder for much less. 30-40 million illegals in this country is affecting wages.
1. What you have just said has nothing to do with the undisputed fact that Phillip Price is not a government employee. Admit your error, if you dare.
2. While your comment (as usual) has nothing to do with the letter to the editor on which you purport to be commenting, it may be true that undocumented immigrants depress wages (because employers can take advantage of them). But the majority of undocumented immigrants enter the country legally and then overstay their visas. Spending more on border security will do nothing to stop that. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/visa-overstays-outnumber-illegal-border-crossings-trend-expected-continue-n730216.
3. Did you know that immigration policy is primarily an executive, not a legislative, function?
Speaking of depressing wages, I’m guessing this outrage really burns your biscuits: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-mar-a-lago-club-in-florida-seeks-to-hire-40-foreign-workers/2018/07/05/5ef094b8-8099-11e8-bb6b-c1cb691f1402_story.html?.
LOL you leave out the pregnant women taken across the Rio Grand on jet skis to ensure they arrive before the baby pops out. Again LIEberal lie.
Funny how these people come up with the money for payment to be taken to the border and dropped off. And yet their own countries are 3rd world. It’s as if leftist want to make America a 3rd world hellhole while bellyaching about fair wages to keep lying to the working class for the votes.
Peter — Re: immigration policy being executive more than legislative. I’m not sure how the difference between set-policy [executive] and laws-enacted [congress] plays out. From what I could find, Congress has the major role in immigration laws. And BTW, they are just as likely to grandstand for votes as the executive branch is. [ex: they enact a law, but don’t fund it.]
This might be a good question to ask candidates at meet & greet gatherings. Since most new congressmen have a lot to learn about how to be effective, it might be important to know how experienced an individual is at learning new tasks. And having said that, I don’t know how you would ascertain that ability. Except maybe a willingness to say “I don’t know ….YET”
Now that’s a good suggestion. I was at a forum in Hendersonville where Mark Meadows took a dim view of accepting refugees from Syria, but that was some time ago. I’m not sure what Phillip Price’s views are. He spoke at the recent rally in Asheville’s Pit of Despair (long story about how it got its name; you don’t want to know about it, trust me) and I assume he took the side that people were cheering for, but you couldn’t actually hear him because the rally didn’t have a mic permit. It’s certainly a question that the local press should put to the candidates.
Peter — I’ve got some NERVE chiming in on a purely local issue …. but nevertheless.
Short of a full-out brain-scan, assessing an individual’s qualification to serve elected office [in my experience] is a spin of the wheel. And while asking questions is as good a way as any, how they answer questions is also telling. Too agreeable, too eager to be liked, habit of going along to get along, confusing fence-sitting with compromise. How they deal with GOTCHA questions and trying to avoid those that you ask. well, enough … good luck to you all in electing an honest [& will STAY honest] effective representative. [true story – one of my former Congressman [Navy air ace, medal winner] that I worked for, and met with in DC … is now serving jail time for fraud]
Meanwhile Mark Meadows is wasting tax dollars chasing his wacky conspiracy theories about the FBI and Hillary. Meadows is a billionaire-backed right-wing ideologue from Florida, who won the usually competitive 11th District because of gerrymandering. He could give a F about the people of this region. Contrast that with Price, who is from the region, wants to represent the needs of people in the region.
You can follow Mark Meadow’s shady activities at http://www.trademarkmeadows.com
Charles Taylor was a staunch conservative who managed to bring lots of pork to WNC. Patrick McHenry is a staunch conservative but has gone from being a young bomb-thrower to gain seniority and influence in his party. Meadows is a rich property developer who spends more time gabbing to the idiot in the White House or on Fox News spouting conspiratorial nonsense than serving his district. He represents a lot of poor working-class communities and wants to take away their access to healthcare. I understand the campaign script, but I really want to see lots of negative ads reminding voters in the 11th that Meadows is a waste of space.