Name: Paul Coble
Party: Republican
Occupation: Insurance Broker, Wake County Commissioner
Years in District: Entire life
Endorsements: Senator Jessie Helms’ wife, Art Pope, Bob Luddy
Amendment 1: For. As chairman of the Wake County Commission we passed a resolution saying that we support the marriage amendment.
What do you think is the central issue for this election?
The central issues are jobs, the economy and the national debt. What we have to do is we have to release the power of the free market. You do that by reducing regulations on business [and] small business in particular. You bring consistency to the market place. One reason, businesses and small businesses aren’t investing in the economy right now, is that the rules keep changing. The federal government keeps changing the rules. For instance, the estate tax; if you happened to have died last year, you have a $5 million exemption. If you die in 2013 it’s only one million. There’s uncertainty there. With Obamacare, there’s uncertainty about what it’s going to cost a business owner to provide health insurance coverage for their employees. So we’ve got to get to where the government is consistent in its policies and we have to reduce regulations so that businesses feel more confident in investing. And when they do, we’ll see the economy come back.
What do you think are the specific issues in your district?
The issues facing 13 are no different than the issues facing the nation. District 13 you’ve got a little bit of variance, because you have some agri-business and you’ve got some more urban areas. The issues are the same. It is still jobs, the economy and concern over the national debt. If we don’t get control over our spending… we are going to be in trouble and it is not only going to impact us but our children and our grandchildren.
Why do you think your constituents should elect you?
I’m the only candidate in this race who has not only over 30 years of personal, private business experience, signing both sides of the paycheck and dealing with government regulation. But I’m also the only candidate in the race who has actually cut a government budget and voted against tax increases and cut taxes.
Looking at the U.S. House of Representatives, what do you think are the biggest accomplishments and the biggest failures during the past two years?
Without any doubt, the biggest failure was the vote on the debt ceiling last August. Congress voted to increase the national debt and at the same time failed to put any constraints on spending that were of any significance. All that has done has lead us further down the path of fiscal failure. That is absolutely the thing that we have to reverse.
What they have done that has been good is, first of all, they’ve actually passed a budget, something the Senate has failed to do for the past three years. They’ve actually put forward concrete plans that address the spending problems that we have. Have they been the best plans possible? We could argue about that all day. But at least they’ve put forward plans to get control over out of control spending, when the Senate has not only continued to fail to do their own budget, but they have failed to act on what the House has sent to them. The House has been acting responsibly. Unfortunately, you’ve got a Senate and a president who have failed to follow up on it.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Chocolate chip cookies and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. And frankly, it’s chocolate chip cookie dough. Combining cookies and ice cream. Is there anything better?
