TK, I'm going to start from the back and work forward: Campaigns need volunteers in order to be successful and that goes double for us since we are looking to win a steeply uphill fight against an incumbent with a million bucks in the bank.  So first off, thank you for your consideration. Time doesn't permit me to answer your questions as fully as I would like, but I assure you that detailed information will be forthcoming to your satisfaction. I will be posting my official positions on issues quite soon.  What follows is merely an acknowledgemnet of your concerns and some wave tops:

1. We are still in the process of marshalling our team, both online and on the ground, which means kinks in the pipeline are still getting fixed. We will be posting events shortly although it is unlikely that we will be telegraphing businesses in advance. We prefer to do drop-ins depending  on the schedule as events dictate. We are working very hard to capture the full range of industry in the district and if you have any suggestions or contacts please fwd them!

2. I am a pro-business, pro-defense conservative who has pledged my life in the defense of our Constituion on three different occasions. I believe that government is not the solution to our economic problems. Washington's special interest culture and the ballooning federal spending IS THE PROBLEM.  Being bribed with our own money, being fed our own guts and told it's steak, IS THE PROBLEM.  My positions will be rolling out as part of an upcoming initiative and will be tied to some specific efforts, not just platitudes. As you have seen from our series "100 Days of Work", I like to roll up my sleeves and do things, not just talk about things.

3. My plan to re-energize the small business sector isn't based soley on my experience in large and small buinesses. Since our number one problem is job creation, I have spent time with asset managers, captains of industry and professional recruiters. Why recruiters? Because of their unique vantage point, sitting on a phone for 60 hours a week talking about jobs, and job creation, and what it will take for companies to start hiring again. The number one response?  Get rid of the uncertainties around this looming healthcare bill because companies are afraid to hire if it's going to be too expensive for them to do so with this staggering Pelosi-bill.  No business person is surprised by such a response, but sadly very few of the Washington political class have business experience anymore.  But hey, there are plenty of lawyers!

The approach must be multi-pronged and include a combination of tax breaks and incentives that will serve both existing companies and also spur growth in new sectors. In the 100 Days episode:12 we talked about "incubators" and in Day 13, you'll hear about businesses "struggling to get financing despite the billion dollar bailouts to banks that in turn are refusing to lend to the small companies." Those are the same companies that employ almost two thirds of the Cape Fear work force.  Government can't plan for innovation, but it can create business-favorable conditions and then get out of the way.  Excessive taxation, regulation and litigation restrict businesses to a degree that domestic operations become unprofitable, driving them out of the district, out of the state and overseas.  While a number of the economic factors are domestically driven, there is a root problem here assoicated with globalization, TK, which you rightly identified.

Globalization only works when the playing field is leveled. But when a player is stacking the deck and manipulating the cards, then one side is cheating their way to victory. In this case, I'm talking about the US and China and the undeclared trade war they have been waging on us for almost a decade. As if the predatory monetary and trade policies weren't enough, there are  grave environmental costs for China's rise combined with the tremendous bill our taxpayers carry in order to keep the international sea lanes open for Chinese trade.    These are all topics on which I could delve in for days, and if you come by the office, I'll be glad to do it.  But my bottom line is that all the talk about "job creation" must be rooted in some honest and ugly truth about where the jobs have gone (China, etc.) and why (taxes, trade policy, monetary policy, intellectual piracy and espionage).  What we need to do to get them back: not be afraid to roll up our sleeves, step on some toes, and level the playing field.

I remain Semper Fidelis,

Ilario Pantano