Name as it appears on the ballot: Bruce Basson
Campaign website: http://basson.wakeupliberty.org
Phone number: 317 476 5186
Email: bassonfornc@gmail.com
Years lived in the district: 6
1. What do you think are the three biggest issues facing our state? If you are an incumbent, what have you done to address those issues, and what more would you do if given another term? If you are a challenger, what would you do differently to address those issues than the incumbent has done?
Education – We need to allow parents to freely choose between public, private, charter and alternative schools. Public educational funding should follow the student to whichever institution parents choose for their children. Competition for students will rapidly increase education quality.
Healthcare Costs – We have to deregulate the healthcare market by eliminating certificates of need, expanding nurse practitioner's ability to practice, and embracing new technologies like alternative and internet-enabled medicine to bring down healthcare costs. Competition will work to quickly bring down healthcare costs.
Economic opportunity – We have too much crony capitalism in North Carolina (i.e. government protecting established businesses). We need to disband many out-of-date licensing boards and encourage people to start small businesses. We need to make sure innovative technologies like Uber, Airbnb, Bird and Tesla can thrive in our state. We need to make the re-zoning process much easier so that we can re-purpose land easily to satisfy our housing needs. We need to get rid of ABC stores and restrictions on brewers and distillers.
2. It seems hardly a day goes by without news of another mass shooting. On the state level, what changes to gun laws, if any, do you support? If you do not support any changes, please explain why you think the current laws are successful.
Most gun owners are very responsible and keep their weapons locked away from unauthorized use. So to solve gun violence, I believe we have to look at the transfer of weapons to irresponsible parties. I believe that if gun sellers are held partly responsible for gun deaths for a limited period of time after the sale/transfer UNLESS the buyer has gun owner liability insurance, this would effectively eliminate the arming of people who were “bad risks.”
3. In recent years, Duke Energy’s coal ash spilled into the Dan River and Chemours’s GenX leaked into the Cape Fear River. Do you think these companies have been held sufficiently accountable? Do you believe the state has put in place sufficient regulations to prevent these problems from occurring again? If not, what more do you propose doing?
Pollution is never OK. Companies should be held solely accountable for the damages they do to the environment, and shareholders (never rate payers) should be forced to pay for the clean-up - for example with sharply reduced dividends or new stock issues which are then sold to raise money for the clean up. The problem is mainly that our justice system moves too slowly. The state must increase its ability to process liability claims in cases of damage due to pollution much more quickly. Regulations are not as efficient as liability in encouraging companies to adopt responsible behaviors.
4. In the wake of Hurricane Florence, at least six hog-farm lagoons were damaged and more than fifty saw discharges or were inundated with floodwaters as of this writing, according to the DEQ. More than five thousand hogs have died, and right now it’s unclear what the ultimate long-term environmental impacts will be. Since Hurricane Floyd, environmentalists have warned that, in a severe flooding event, the farms’ “anachronistic” waste-disposal techniques could pose a threat to the state’s waterways and public health, while the industry has insisted that its farms utilize best practices and are already heavily regulated. Do you believe these farms, and their lagoons, pose a risk to the environment? If so, do you believe the state has done enough to minimize that risk?
Pollution is never OK. Companies must be held accountable for the damages they do to the environment and their neighbors through liability and the justice system. More regulation is not the way to go because it is a relatively inefficient way to stop pollution. We have to focus on the damage inflicted.
5. This year, Smithfield Foods—the world’s largest pork producer—has lost three verdicts in North Carolina totaling millions of dollars, after juries found that its farms’ methods of waste disposal infringed on the property rights of their neighbors. But in the last two years, the General Assembly has taken steps to make it more difficult for these neighbors to sue or to recover substantial damages, citing the threats these lawsuits pose to the well-being of family farmers. Do you believe the legislature’s actions with regard to these nuisance lawsuits are prudent? Why or why not?
No. It should be easier and quicker to sue over pollution. Then polluters will solve the problem and make improvements instead of looking at fines as a long-term “cost of doing business”.
6. It has been estimated that special sessions of the North Carolina legislature cost about $50,000 per day. Since 2016, the General Assembly has called seven of them to deal with everything from passing HB 2—the so-called bathroom bill—to passing restrictions on the governor’s powers after Roy Cooper defeated Pat McCrory to, most recently, clean up controversial constitutional amendment language so that it complied with a court order. Under what circumstances do you think it’s appropriate to hold a special session?
Governments should pay attention to a very few things and do them well: justice, managing public spaces, and basic charity. The HB2 fiasco was a huge waste of public funds by a political party that was hoping to get themselves re-elected, which then saw the effort backfire. The public should not tolerate such antics on the part of elected officials.
7. What are your thoughts on the six proposed constitutional amendments before voters this November? Please explain which you support and which you don’t support and why. What do you think about the process behind these amendments—what critics have described as a limited public debate, for example, as well as the elimination of amendment numbers and ballot summaries, and the lack of so-called implementing legislation, which could be passed in another special session after the November vote?
I do not believe that the NC Constitution has suddenly become flawed. I believe that one political party is using this sudden flood of amendments as a ploy to turn out their base to vote. I think that is unconscionable and wrong. On merit, the only amendment I would support would be the one improving victim’s rights. The others are unnecessary.
8. In May, thousands of teachers from all over the state marched on the legislature to demand better pay, more resources for students, and more respect. Do you think North Carolina’s schools are being adequately funded? If not, what taxes would you be willing to raise—or what services would you be willing to cut—to fund them better?
While I appreciate teacher’s concerns, my main focus in education will be improving quality through increased competition. Around the country, and in North Carolina, we have seen decades-long increases in education spending, but little better quality as a result. I do not believe that solely continuing to increase public spending on education will result in a better product. Furthermore, in a more competitive system, better teachers will probably command significantly higher salaries than they do at present.
9. Currently, twenty-nine states have minimum wages above the federal minimum. North Carolina is not among them. Do you believe North Carolina should raise its minimum wage?
No. Minimum wage laws are unnecessary as long as there are low licensing requirements for people to find work and a free labor market. That is why I support reduced licensing for most occupations and fewer restrictions on innovation, not a higher minimum wage.
10. Under current law, toward the end of 2020, municipalities will gain the authority to pass nondiscrimination and living wage ordinances—unless the General Assembly intervenes. Since the winner of your race will be in office at that time, do you believe local governments in North Carolina should be allowed to make these decisions for themselves?
Yes. Local governments may not always make the right decisions, but they should still be free to act according to what they believe.
11. Over the last couple of years in Wake County, county commissioners and school board members have battled over local school funding. Recently, some commissioners have made moves to petition the legislature to allow for a pilot program in which the Board of Commissioners turns over school-taxing authority to the Board of Education, as is the arrangement in most states. In general, do you believe the state’s elected school boards should have the responsibility to raise taxes for the schools they oversee? Why or why not?
I don’t think higher taxes or different taxes will or who does the taxing will help school quality. Parents being completely free to choose the BEST school for their kids will improve quality.
12. Since Governor Cooper’s election, the legislature has taken a number of steps to assume powers that were previously the executive’s domain, including overhauling the State Board of Elections. Do you believe these decisions were merely power grabs, as Democrats have alleged, or that they were made in the interests of public policy?
I believe that these were largely power grabs. The fact that we have two parties in a bitter “divorce” is a strong argument why people should vote Libertarian – to defuse this situation and return a voice of reason to these discussions.
13. Over the last year, the state has frequently found itself in court over its legislative and congressional districts, which courts have ruled to be unconstitutional racial and partisan gerrymanders. Given this, do you believe the state legislature of that last several years has acted as a legitimate body? If not, what do you propose as a solution? If yes, please tell us why.
Gerrymandering is not OK. Mathematically drawn districts should be created by an expert non-partisan panel and the process should not involve any political party input whatsoever.
14. Give an example of a time, during your political career, when you have changed your position as a result of a discussion with someone who held an opposing view.
When I found the Libertarian Party, I realized right away that I had a lot in common with their ideas. However, on certain topics like eminent domain and the Federal Reserve, listening to the arguments of other libertarians and think tanks like the Cato Institute did convince me to adopt new views.
15. Identify and explain one principled stand you would be willing to take if elected that you suspect might cost you some points with voters.
I am very suspicious of public debt, so I can see myself voting against certain bond issues which might be popular in some quarters.
