The Morehead City faction of the Crystal Coast Tea Party Patriots held their regular meeting last night.  The agenda was packed, and the meeting room was near full with a couple of dozen members in attendance, all of whom were attentive to each of the scheduled speakers.  Since there was considerable interlocution with all three candidates for office during the meeting, this recapitulation will be broken into three posts, one each to address the policies and performance of each candidate.  

First up was Al Novenic, the third candidate and the second challenger for North Carolina’s 3rd District Congressional seat currently held by Representative Walter Jones.  Mr. Novenic, also known by the nickname “Big Al” (website with several position papers and videos is HERE), is a retired Marine First Sergeant who currently has a real estate operation in the Jacksonville area.  His wife Tina came with him, and assisted his presentation by disseminating a few hand-outs to the members.

Mr. Novenic is a strong speaker with a notably forthright presence, and he did not hesitate to answer all of the questions put to him during the meeting.  Indeed, he and his wife stayed to the end of the meeting in order to discuss his views with interested members.

He characterized himself as a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, and as to the nation’s economy, he favors a flatter tax structure (with a maximum rate of maybe 15%) that would shift business-friendly tax policies away from large corporations and toward small business.  He believes that the federal budget could be significantly reduced if the tax code were to be scrutinized for unjustifiable loopholes, and if our welfare entitlement system was reformed to reduce or eliminate many of the more abused elements.

As a realtor, he strongly favors proactive measures to shore up the housing market, saying that the housing sector is “the number one job creator in the country.”  In addition, when asked what congressional committee assignments he would pursue if elected, he named the Armed Services Committee, the Marine Fisheries Committee, and the Agriculture Committee.

As noted in the preceding paragraph, Novenic has numerous policy position papers, essays, and videos on his website that further detail his views, and I would urge interested viewers to check out the site.  The link is in the second paragraph, above, and HERE.