Michael Speciale passes out copies of the Constitution, both state and federal, everywhere he goes. He buys them by the case.
Liberty is Speciale’s top priority and he said passing out the Constitution protects it.
“If people know what they’ve got to lose, they’re more likely to protect it,” he said. “I will look at every bill and ask, ‘How does this infringe upon our liberty?’”
It is hard for Speciale to narrow down his district’s most important issue to just one. He is equally passionate about Cherry Point and unemployment.
Speciale would like to campaign to keep the district from losing Cherry Point to Base Realignment and Closures (BRAC).
“I want to make sure the BRAC committee knows how much we want to keep Cherry Point,” he said.
Speciale is a firm believer of small government and said it is the key to lowering unemployment. He also said local economic development groups should lure large companies to the state by touting all of North Carolina’s attributes, not offering tax incentives.
He said fine arts programs – music, theater, dance and art – should be privately funded and the government should only pay for services people cannot provide for themselves – road maintenance and public safety.
“The best thing the government, state or federal, can do is get out of the way,” Speciale said.
He has spent the last few weeks trying to help a very small café muddle through all of the inspections and regulations imposed on it. Speciale said it is just ridiculous.
“The government needs to do everything we can do to get local businesses to thrive,” he said.
When it comes to schools, Speciale said money is not the issue.
“I think the funding level is fine. I just don’t think it’s being spent properly,” he said.
Speciale wants to see schools get back to teaching core curriculum. He said there are too many students leaving high school unprepared for college.
Teachers’ salaries are also on Speciale’s agenda.
“Teachers should be paid what they are worth. I don’t know how we do that but it is something we need to look at to retain the quality teachers and weed out the others,” he said.