Name as it appears on the ballot: Ed George

Age: 62
Party affiliation: Libertarian
Campaign website: Edgeorgefornc.com
Occupation & employer: Biotech industry consultant; Free Market Ventures,
Inc.
Years lived in North Carolina: 27

  1. What in your background qualifies you to represent the people of your North Carolina district effectively? What would you cite as your three biggest career accomplishments? I have lived in NC for 27 years, and about 10 years in my district. I have three kids who attended the public schools. I have been intimately involved in the economic growth through my career as a leader in the construction and management of some of the largest manufacturing facilities throughout the region. I worked my way through engineering college during a time before the government drove the costs out of reach for most people. I was a member of the advisory board at BTEC at NC State for many years through its infancy through becoming a world leader in biotech training.

2. What do you believe to be the three most pressing issues facing the next
General Assembly? What steps do you believe the state should take to address
them?

(1) The government causes constraints on access to affordable healthcare by requiring Certificates of Need for medical facilities and equipment. This drives up costs. Certificates of Need should be abolished. Government should not fund healthcare and nor be involved in anyone’s decisions between them and their healthcare provider. Any laws otherwise are not Constitutional in North Carolina.

(2) A mother’s (and father’s) right to choose are simple parental rights. Parents should have the right to choose the school their child attends. As with any other product or service they purchase, all of the funds associated with that education should follow the student. The school system is heavily burdened by excessive overhead burden and
administration costs, which rob teachers of fair pay. Competition for the
schools would allow the market to solve these problems. I would fight to
improve the schools by assuring a level playing field of competition, just as we
do with all other services and businesses.

(3) Fees for business licenses for harmless activities, like doing hairstyle blowouts, giving advice, opening lemonade stands, and selling retail products should be eliminated. As a small business owner, my biggest concern, and obstacle to success, is compliance with the many fees, rules and laws I must navigate to stay clear of government interaction. I would reduce regulation, eliminate most business fees and taxes, and unleash the potential of all who want to start small businesses.

3. To what extent do you support municipalities exerting local control over
issues such as regulating greenhouse gas emissions, criminal justice reforms
and police oversight, and passing development-regulating ordinances?

As a state level representative, I believe less centralized government is best. However, the NC Constitution allows the State to place restraint on local jurisdictions. Generally, I would work to relax such restraints presuming the local municipalities do not violate the principle that the government should see all people the same. Any law that prefers one group over another should be blocked by the State. Beyond that, the local municipality should be free to do as its voters please.

4. Do you support raising North Carolina’s minimum wage, and if so, by how
much?

No. Systemic racism and interference by the government damages the poor. The roots of the minimum wage are racist; the laws originally were written to discourage hiring of minorities. People should be permitted to work for a wage they are willing to accept. Additionally, the minimum wage incentivizes replacing workers with technology, as we see at so many fast food businesses today. Increasing the wage more would only drive up costs of labor and increase unemployment.

5. What, if anything, should the state legislature do to address the growing
affordability crisis and support low-income families in North Carolina?

Government has never done anything that reduced poverty or addressed affordability. The government causes inflation by using taxes to decide how to spend the dollars earned by workers. This frictional loss of funds used to pay for the government, along with regulations that restrict competition in housing, medical care, and other areas all drive the cost of living up. Reducing regulations on businesses, reducing or eliminating income taxes, and generally reducing the load placed on the market by the government is the solution. Free market capitalism has eliminated poverty for millions of Americans, and billions of others around the globe. Again, the government has never done anything that reduced poverty, and it will not in the future.

6. What is your vision for transit in North Carolina? What kind of regional
transit systems should the state work to implement and what kind of transit
legislation would you support?

I would not interfere with the implementation of a user funded mass transit system.

7. Would you support an independent process for drawing new legislative and
congressional districts?

I am running in a gerrymandered Democrat dominated district. It is almost impossible for anyone else to win. It is unfair and against any reasonable ideals of how a fair government should be constructed. However, giving control of our voting districts to non-elected people would most assuredly end more poorly.

8. Do you support expanding funding for Opportunity Scholarships? Do you
believe the legislature has a role in ensuring that private schools don’t further
raise tuition on families and taxpayers with the infusion of hundreds of
millions of dollars into the private school economy? Please explain your
answer.

The government schools system is horribly inefficient and non-competitive. The “infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars” into the government schools is out of control. The funds provided per student (approximately $12,000 per year) should simply follow the student, no matter where the student is educated. Private schools will charge what parents believe is a fair price for the product. The parents presently pay a high price for a product that has no competition. Competition for schools, as for almost every other product we buy, would be positive for all.

9. North Carolina is one of the lowest-paying states for teachers in the nation. Schools across the state are facing shortages of educators, support staff, and other key personnel. By what percentage should the next budget raise wages for teachers and school employees? What else can the General Assembly do to improve working conditions for teachers and make the teaching profession more attractive to potential future educators?

First, I would advocate for using some of the 80% of school funds currently spent on
administration to increase teacher pay to at least parity with the market without increasing the budget. Next I would unleash the free market to provide competition to the schools. There is a reason why people want their kids out of the public system; it doesn’t currently provide the quality of product they desire. Higher pay and competition would solve the problem of turnover and retention.

10. North Carolina bans abortion after 12 weeks’ gestation. Do you think abortion access in North Carolina should be expanded or further restricted, or do you support the current law?

Government should have no involvement in health care. It should neither decide what care is to be provided, nor pay for any of it. Due to the government’s interference, healthcare costs have skyrocketed while the cost of most goods and services have risen relatively modestly over the past three decades. We need to get the government out of our personal lives and the decisions we make, as well as how we pay for them.

11. Do you support reforming North Carolina’s marijuana laws? Do you
support full legalization? Please explain your position.

Thomas Jefferson once said “If my neighbor has neither broken my leg nor taken money from my pocket, his affairs are his own.” I’m with Thom. All laws that address victimless “crimes” should be abolished.

12. Do you support strengthening gun safety regulations such as expanding background checks, banning bump stocks, and raising the age to buy or otherwise regulating the sales of assault-style weapons? Please explain.

No. I see ownership of guns as having two necessary protections: (1) guns are property; the government generally has no business constraining ownership of property; and (2) as the US Constitution framers well knew and advocated, gun ownership is necessary to resist tyranny of government, and they felt so strongly about it they reinforced this point with the second amendment (without which, guns were protected anyway through the right to own property). Regarding “assault style” – who is to say what that means? Lots of weapons can be used for assault – are you suggesting assault is limited by the tool used? Jeffferson said “The purpose of government is to prevent men from
harming one another.” The best way to prevent someone from harming you is
to let them know you are armed.

13. Are there any issues this questionnaire has not addressed that you would
like to address?

Government should be blind to the differences of the citizenry. Anytime it does something special for a person or group, it by definition does less for all others. Government should treat everyone the same. The special interests’ use of the power of government is a crime against those not benefitted. Our people, educated poorly by our school system in regard to the purpose of government, laws, and economics, too often do not realize the danger and damage of using government to help themselves. Our school system should emphasize these topics and principles more. As Thomas Sowell has said, ”The problem with public schools today is that they emphasize self esteem, but not self esteem based on performance.” While paying more for teachers is very important, the bigger impact on our freedom is the subject matter being taught (and not taught).