Strong support for Cawthorn outside NC-11 debates

DEBATE, CONTINUED FROM 7 akin to the GI Bill for first responders and law enforcement to help them further their education and training.

For his part, Cawthorn said that, “of course, I believe that Black lives matter,” and that he was “unhappy” about the “lack of empathy” with which President Donald Trump treated the death of George Floyd. However, Cawthorn said he has a “hard time believing” that Davis stands against defunding the police when Democratic leaders have released press statements advocating for exactly that position. He pointed out that 14 of the district’s 17 sheriffs have endorsed his campaign.

“When you are dealing with your ex-husband, and you dial 911 and he’s pounding at the door, they (Democrats) want on the other end of that phone to be a social workers, not someone who’s put a bulletproof vest on and wants to protect your life,” he said.

Based on your experience, what can you tell us specifically about what needs to be done to ensure all North Carolinians get the health care they deserve?

Cawthorn said that the current system is “antiquated and outdated,” and that he wants to be “the face of health care reform for the Republicans.” For too long, he said, the Republican Party has been the party of “no” on health care without offering any clear strategy of its own. Medicare for all is not the answer, he said, because competition is key in the healthcare sector just as in other sectors of the economy.

“I’ll tell you what I genuinely believe is that the problem with health care is that the free market has never been allowed to actually work in it,” he said. “You know in North Carolina, as many of you know, we have a virtual monopoly from Blue Cross Blue Shield, which inhibits any of us from actually being able to choose our own system. We’re forced into this area where they have a monopoly, which creates artificially high prices.”

Davis took the opposite tack, stating his support for a government-funded public option that would allow “everyone from cradle to grave” to go to the doctor without being bankrupted by an accident or illness.

“Here in North Carolina there are over a million North Carolinians that don’t have health care coverage today,” said Davis. “That’s up over 250,000 since COVID-19 hit. So we’ve got to decouple health care from employment, and we can do it at a much lower cost and cover everyone and have better outcomes than we’re currently doing right now.”

What are your positions on gun control, and why?

Davis said that he supports Second Amendment rights — within reason. He owns multiple guns, grew up hunting and carried a gun on the job while working as a bail bondsman, not to mention his 25 years in the military.

“I’m not gonna take your guns. I’ve got my own,” he said. “What I do support is guns and Cawthorn greets his supporters following the conclusion of the second debate Sept. 5. Holly Kays photo

sense. So I do support strict background checks and red flag laws.”

The Second Amendment is something “I’m very passionate about,” said Cawthorn, and his passion stems not from a love of guns but from a love of freedom.

“The Second Amendment was not written so that we could go hunting or have a sporting rifle,” he said. “It was so that we could be able to defend our families and defend ourselves from a tyrannical government. And that’s something that the founders were very wise to include.”

It might be reasonable to have a debate about the legality of automatic weapons, but removing silencers from the market “just makes people lose their hearing more often.”

First, do you plan to support the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act when it comes before Congress again and secondly, how does the protection of missing and murdered indigenous women fit into your police reform agenda?

Cawthorn said that he would be “more than willing” to reauthorize VAWA because it is the duty of the government to protect the weak. In general, he’d like to see local sheriff ’s departments make wellness checks a higher priority.

“If there is a woman, or a man for that matter, who is facing a situation when they’re facing domestic abuse or violence of any kind, I believe it’s the role of the government to step in and protect them,” he said. “When it comes to police reform, I would like to see a higher level of intervention when it comes to these domestic violence issues.”

Davis questioned Cawthorn’s level of concern for women in light of the sexual misconduct allegations against him but said that for his part he supports the Violence Against Women Act. Davis pointed out that Republicans had previously been opposed to the Obama-era legislation.

“Unlike my opponent, I lived, and I’ve got a record. You can look at it,” said Davis. “I was a judge at the Department of Labor, and I’ve got a record of standing up for people and for their rights and making sure that they’re treated fairly. And I’m proud.”

What will you do for college students, and how do you plan to assist them with the burden of paying off their student loans, especially in the middle of a global pandemic?

Davis said that, because “most folks aren’t multimillionaires like my opponent who can pay for college and buy a house to live in while he’s there,” student debt is a big problem that is holding young people back. If elected, he would support the U.S. Department of Education buying up all $1.6 trillion in existing student loan debt, taking it on as a government debt and charging 0 percent interest — with an option for debtors to pay it back through military or public service.

“I think that’s a fair compromise,” he said. “Some have proposed eliminating student debt, and I think that’s a slap in the face to those that work hard to make sure they didn’t have student loan debt.”

Cawthorn criticized this plan, saying that it would do nothing but add significantly to an already record-high national debt with the 0 percent interest rate encouraging people to default on their loans. Instead, he would focus on creating a better job market hinging on lower taxes and less regulation so that people can find good jobs right out of college.

“I do believe it’s imperative that we make the cost of college tuition cheaper, though,” he said. “That is something that absolutely has to be accomplished because right now it’s unattainable for the vast majority of Americans, and one reason is because the job market is so poor, and that’s because of democratic policies, which I will fight to reverse.”

How would both of you go about protecting the federal lands in Western North Carolina while in Washington?

Cawthorn said he would focus on increasing funding for Payment in Lieu of Taxes, monies that are dispersed to counties that contain federal lands not subject to property tax. It’s a big issue in Western North Carolina — for example, in Swain County only 13 percent of the land base is taxable, largely due to the presence of federal lands.

“We know that when places have financial burdens, they tend to be less clean environmentally,” said Cawthorn. “And so that’s something that I would like to have happen where we can bring more PILT money back into Western North Carolina so we can pay for these public lands that make our areas so unique and so beautiful.”

Davis criticized Trump administration funding cuts to the national parks and national forests and said he was “really proud of ” the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act that passed recently to address deferred maintenance needs on federal lands. If elected, he said, he’d want to sit on the Natural Resources Committee so as to have continued input on those issues.

“I’d like to be on the National (sic) Resource Committee, because they’re responsible for our national parks and national forests, which are so important to our economy here in Western North Carolina,” he said. “It’s the lifeblood of our economy. It’s what brings people here.”