
{"id":12494,"date":"2010-09-16T08:31:12","date_gmt":"2010-09-16T16:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=12494"},"modified":"2010-09-16T08:44:18","modified_gmt":"2010-09-16T16:44:18","slug":"at-the-confluence-of-economy-and-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2010\/09\/16\/at-the-confluence-of-economy-and-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"At the confluence of economy and elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure id=\"attachment_12674\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12674\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/priceB.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/priceB.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"priceB\" width=\"350\" height=\"237\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/priceB.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/priceB-113x76.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/priceB-150x101.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/priceB-118x80.jpg 118w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12674\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Price at the opening of a Latino Community Credit Union branch in Carrboro last month.<\/figcaption><\/figure><strong>A few moments with  . . .<br \/>\nCongressman David Price<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Kirk Ross<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>CHAPEL HILL  \u00e2\u20ac\u201d The late summer recess of the legislative branch of the federal government is over but like many of his colleagues this election year, Fourth District U.S. Congressman David Price spent a good deal of time back in his district dong things congresspeople do.<\/p>\n<p>In between town halls, meet and greets, ribbon cuttings and conference calls, he had some time for a sit-down conversation at his office on the Vilcom campus.<\/p>\n<p>The Chapel Hill Democrat, now seeking a 12th term, said he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not been treated to quite the same reception as last August, when Congress was at the height of the health care debate and the tea partiers were in full blossom.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are a lot of questions people have, a lot of concern about the direction of the country, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re certainly not all on one side nor are people trading all that much in political slogans \u00e2\u20ac\u201c except maybe some of the candidates. I think most people are looking for a little more serious discussion,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, the number one topic is the economy.<\/p>\n<p>Price said he does not expect something that could be tagged as a second stimulus to come out of Congress when it returns to work later this month. The job for this fall, as he sees it, is to pass a set of small-business tax cuts and investment incentives along with measures to gin up lending.<\/p>\n<p>To do that though, something has to give.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s difficult to get these things past because of partisan polarization,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, expressing frustration about the strategy of the minority party. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I guess they have an idea that in a time when people are anxious and frustrated that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be rewarded for simply standing in the way. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pretty cynical attitude, but it does seem to be one that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re operating on.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Price counts himself among those concerned about balancing spending to stimulate the economy and the growing deficit. The counter-cyclical work is not done, he said, but Congress will have to be ready to make a quick pivot toward long-term fiscal balance. He lays the bulk of the hole the country is in at the feet of the Bush Administration, citing two wars and a massive tax cut.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We came into this recession in a very deep hole, fiscally, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been handicapped ever since,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Price said.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the immediate budget issues, Congress also will deal this fall with its appropriation bills and with laying the groundwork for next year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s major reauthorizations of the national surface-transportation program and No Child Left Behind legislation.<\/p>\n<p>All that, Price said, will likely be shaped by the outcome of the November election. Polling may show a multiple-point edge for the GOP on the generic ballot, Price said, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doubtful that will result in a wholesale change in the North Carolina legislative delegation or the leadership in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrats\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 roster of candidates this year has convinced him for now that his party won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lose the House.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no doubt, he said, that the enthusiasm gap will be a major factor. A good campaign can change that, Price said, and Democrats know exactly where the votes are to win even improbable races:<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re right there on the books from \u00e2\u20ac\u212208,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Price said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The big question of this election in terms of campaign capabilities is to what extent can we bring those voters back to the polls.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The enthusiasm gap is not a fixed quantity in my opinion,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153To be determined.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although it is a contentious year, Congressman David Price, now seeking a 12th term, said was not treated to quite the same reception as last August, when Congress was at the height of the health care debate and the tea partiers were in full blossom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":12674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12494"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12673,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12494\/revisions\/12673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}