TIME TO CONTRIBUTE! Just to match what McIntyre has in the bank WE WILL HAVE TO RAISE an average of $3000 a day from now until the election! I need your help to get there! Your check today will help establish the base, build the momentum. When you convince a friend, a relative or neighbor to give you multiply what you gave. Please go to our on line donation page at our web site - http://breazeale08.com/support - or write another check and send it to Breazeale for Congress, PO Box 717, Elizabethtown, NC 28337 or host a fundraising reception for the campaign!

Our District is one of just 48 in the country currently held by Democrat Members of Congress where President Bush easily won in 2000 and 2004. The National Republican Party knows that the statistics of this district support a Republican victory. The Democrat led Congress is ineffective and is constantly trying to raise your taxes. We need to win this District and 14 others nationally. Then the House of Representatives will be back in Republican hands!

My refresher training with Airtran Airways on the Boeing 737 is complete! This means that I am back on the campaign trail in NC's District 7! Ashley, our campaign scheduler, is working with WWAY TV in Wilmington for me to appear live on their morning news program. There is a chance I will be on this Tuesday morning, 30 Oct, so please check our website for updates. I am honored to be the keynote speaker at 11am on 7 Nov at the National Guard Armory in Elizabethtown, NC for their Veterans Day service. Come honor the Veterans and you can listen to my speech.

This week a key leader in the Lumbee Tribe based in Robeson County called me, happy that I am challenging McIntyre. The Lumbee Indians are traditionally a key McIntyre base of voters numbering 50,000 people. The Lumbees are a very patriotic tribe with many Veterans. They are taking notice of our campaign and qualifications I have, that McIntyre will never possess, concerning national defense. The Lumbees also realize that it was due to a Republican, Sen. Elizabeth Dole, that their national tribal recognition was advanced. With the support of Veterans, Republicans, Religious Conservatives....it will be GAME OVER for McIntyre's re-election hopes when the Lumbee Tribe gives me their support. I will be working hard on meeting with and convincing tribal leaders in the future.

"Let's bite off more than we can chew...and CHEW IT!" We can win this! Until next week....take care!

Will

PS – a group of Republicans have created a fun way to donate to Republican candidates (including me) at slatecard.com. Not only can you easily donate on line but you can send a message about what issues are most important and you can create your own slate of Republicans you support and share that slate with others.

Breazeale calls for continued payments to wounded warriors

Fayetteville, NC – When a soldier voluntarily re-enlists in the military and receives a bonus for doing so, the government might demand it be repaid if that warrior is wounded in battle and unable to remain in the service. This is the current policy and not everyone agrees it is the right policy.

Congressional Candidate and Iraq Veteran joins NC Rep. Walter Jones and others in calling for an end to the practice. That policy, which also calls for repayment of such bonuses if the service member leaves the service for other reasons prior to the fulfillment of the enlistment term, has no exemption for members unable to continue due to injuries in the line of duty, Breazeale says this should change.

“Say a young soldier re-enlisted, got married and used the bonus to qualify to buy a home for their future family. Then he deploys, is seriously wounded and discharged. Is it then fair for the government to say they are taking back the bonus? I don’t think so!”

Rep. Jones is co-sponsoring HR 3793, also called the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act, to make this change.

Breazeale applauds Michael Yon

Independent Iraq War correspondent Michael Yon applauded by Iraq War veteran and Congressional Candidate Will Breazeale

White Lake, NC – Independent Iraq War correspondent Michael Yon, who embeds with various US Army and Marine units in Iraq and is funded by donations from readers of his web site, was applauded by Iraq War veteran and Congressional Candidate Will Breazeale. Calling Yon’s reports “a breath of fresh air” Breazeale commended his efforts while criticizing the main stream media’s reports.

From Michael’s web site: “Telling soldiers' stories from the frontlines is dangerous work that few do as well as Michael Yon. Risking combat injury, intense heat, sand and dust storms, and jarring explosions: the cost is crushing. Most major news organizations can't afford to keep a footprint here, yet Michael Yon does it without corporate sponsors or advertisers. He receives no funding or financial support from Fox News, or any movie, book or television deal. He is entirely reader supported.”



Yon’s latest report comes after a return trip to the US that coincided with General Petraeus’ testimony before the US Congress. “I was at home in the United States just one day before the magnitude hit me like vertigo:” Yon wrote “America seems to be under a glass dome which allows few hard facts from the field to filter in unless they are attached to a string of false assumptions.”

Breazeale echoed these observations calling the news coming from Iraq “distorted, at best, out right fabrication at worst” referring to the fabricated stories published in The New Republic called “Shock Troops” where a soldier, for his own purposes made up stories of atrocities involving himself and other US troops.

“There is real progress being made in Iraq, the US troops are performing professionally and intelligently as they train the Iraqis to take over their own security” said Breazeale who himself returned from his third tour in Iraq this past June. “Much of the area I was in, north of Baghdad, is pacified enough and the locals trained well enough that the Allied troops could start withdrawing from that area and most areas of Iraq where Iraqi Army Divisions have achieved the required strength to defeat the insurgents.”

Citing the recent report by retired Lt. Gen. Sanchez -who reported “As I assess various media entities, some are unquestionably engaged in political propaganda that is uncontrolled,” - Breazeale agrees with Yon saying “the real story in Iraq, the victories being won, the progress being made there, is not being reported to the people in the US and around the world by the media.” He continued “that is why independent reports like those from Michael Yon are so important.”
Will Breazeale is seeking the NC 7th district seat in Congress which represents southeastern North Carolina from Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville to the outskirts of Camp LeJeune near Wilmington.

Did Pelosi threaten McIntyre on SCHIP?

Cross posted from RobBoyce

The Wilmington Star News had an editorial Wednesday Applauding Rep. Mike McIntyre for flip flopping on the SCHIP bill. This is not at all surprising, since the paper is owned by the NY Times.

They do slip into an interesting point when they ask:

It's interesting to wonder what the Democratic leadership might have offered or threatened to get McIntyre to reverse himself. No doubt other Democrats are feeling similar pressure to vote the party line.

What could they promise? Campaign money? He has a million in the bank. Committee Chairmanship - he has one. What indeed could they promise him?

Now threats? - They could certainly threaten him, losing the committee chairmanship, losing other majority party perks? Or could it be what he probably really fears - an opponent in the Primary election?

Read more here and here and here.

More on McIntyre flip flop

MCINTYRE FLIP FLOPS OWN POSITION ON PROTECTING NC TOBACCO INDUSTRY AND PROVIDING TAXPAYER BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS



RALEIGH—Congressman Mike McIntyre signaled that he is going to flip-flop and vote FOR the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) after having voted AGAINST the EXACT same legislation two weeks ago. North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Linda Daves asked why McIntyre had completely reversed his position on protecting the state’s tobacco industry from new taxes and the American people from providing new benefits to illegal immigrants.



“After telling the people of North Carolina that he couldn’t support a dramatic tax on the state’s tobacco industry and after consistently voting to keep that promise -- Mike McIntyre has decided to vote for the exact same bill he voted against a few days ago,” said Daves. “The same exact bill that contained a tax that he called ‘unfair’ and the same exact bill that would relax eligibility standards for illegal immigrants. “

“All I want to know is what changed? Why was it unfair to pick on tobacco and give new taxpayer health benefits to illegal immigrants two weeks ago, and not now?”

On August 1, 2007, McIntyre voted NO to the SCHIP bill

On September 25, 2007, McIntyre voted NO to the SCHIP bill

Following the September vote, McIntyre defended his vote saying it was an “unfair tax, picking on one crop,” and also saying that it was “not fair to the American people” because “illegal immigrants could qualify under the bill's relaxed eligibility standards.”

“Tobacco is a convenient target,” McIntyre said last week. “Unfortunately, here in Washington , it’s a favorite whipping boy.”

McIntyre, chairman of the Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development and Foreign Agriculture, said he didn’t mind breaking ranks with the Democratic leadership on the tobacco issue.

“This was an unfair tax, picking on one crop,” he said. (“Tobacco supporters oppose health bill” Fayetteville Observer, October 1, 2007)

A spokeswoman for Etheridge said the Congressman objects to paying for the expansion with a 61-cent increase in the tax on a pack of cigarettes, which he says would place a hardship on tobacco growers and their families. She said Etheridge does not support the bill as written and will not vote for an override.



McIntyre said he has the same concerns, and is also worried that illegal immigrants could qualify under the bill's relaxed eligibility standards. "That's not fair to the American people," he said. (“Bush veto threatens insurance for kids” News & Observer, October 4, 2007)

According to today’s Wilmington Star, “In an about-face, U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre said Monday that he will vote later this week to override the president's veto of a $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program.” (“McIntyre reverses insurance position” Wilmington Star, October 16, 2007)

Said Daves, “Upholding this veto would force the Democrats in Congress to compromise with the President and hopefully, we could get a strong SCHIP bill that doesn’t attack North Carolina ’s economy. Why not support that approach?”

McIntyre flip flops

Wilmington, NC – Rep. Mike McIntyre has indicated he will now vote to over ride a Presidential veto on a bill he originally voted against. President Bush vetoed the bill expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for being to expansive and expensive. McIntyre had said he voted against the bill over the funding mechanism, an increase in the tax on tobacco and because it opens up the program to illegal aliens.

McIntyre now says he will vote to over ride that veto. Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said over the weekend "We'll try very hard to override it. But one thing's for sure: We won't rest..."

Congressional Candidate Will Breazeale today criticizes Rep. Mike McIntyre for “flip-flopping” on the SCHIP expansion bill. “It certainly seems like Pelosi is pulling Mike’s strings and making him dance to her tune” said Breazeale. “He said that it was wrong to target tobacco to pay for the program and also was concerned about it covering illegal immigrants, but it seems toeing the Democrat Party line was more important to him in the end.” Breazeale also noted that a donation was made through his web site today from a Wilmington voter with the comment the donor was “about McIntyre flip-flopping on the SCHIP issue!”

The Republicans opposing the expansion have noted that the pressure to enact the bill coincides with Democrat Presidential candidates clamoring to endorse socialized heath care for all. This view was reinforced when Rep. Rangel, Chairman of the Ways and Means committee, said “It hardly matters that the expansion would be expensive or a step toward socialized health care.” This bill would cost taxpayers $35 billion but the Democrat’s original bill would have totaled $50 billion.

The Democrats need to “flip” 24 members who voted against the bill in order to over ride the President’s veto. This pressure had been predicted in an October 3rd story in the Washington Post. That article predicted “the real pressure will likely fall on the eight Democrats who voted against the program,” including McIntyre.

McIntyre has been pressured also by the left wing organizations such and Moveon.org and Daily Kos which said of McIntyre and other Democrats who voted against the bill – there will “be plenty of eyeballs on these votes.” All across the left side of the “blogosphere” there have been negative comments about McIntyre’s vote, even some comments calling for someone to oppose Mike in the primary.

Republicans, such as Breazeale, have been critical of the attempt by Congressional Democrats to expand the SCHIP program beyond the original purpose of providing affordable health insurance for low income families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford health insurance for their children. “The Democrats wanted to expand it to include families earning as much as $82,000 per year” said Breazeale “The Republican plan was to increase funding to allow the plan to continue with the original purpose and focus on lower income families – not middle income families. The bill as proposed by the Democrats, now including McIntyre, is just another step toward their goal of socialized medicine”

From Michael Yon

Michael Yon posts from Iraq as an independent embed. Here is his latest:


Achievements of the Human Heart
October 15, 2007
Achievements of the Human Heart

When the 1-4 CAV first arrived to set up COP Amanche, the neighorbood looked beyond hope.

On April 30, 2007, I published the conclusion of a two-part dispatch, Desires of the Human Heart, about the efforts of the 1-4 CAV to transform an abandoned seminary into COP Amanche, an outpost in a Baghdad neighborhood that had been all but deserted after more than a year of sectarian violence. One of the last photographs, shown below, depicted the 1-4 Commander, LTC James Crider, looking out over the compound which his soldiers had managed to make operational over the course of a single weekend. I captioned the photograph with this modestly optimistic thought:

[Read it all]