Monthly Archives: February 2014

North Carolina Democrat Party – Disaster

Sinking Ship

North Carolina Democrats Fire Executive Director

They like to say that elections have consequences – and here in North Carolina, Obama in 2008 delivered the republicans in 2010.  And THAT meant the republicans redrew districts that the democrats had gerrymandered for better than 100 years.

The result?  Republican majorities in the senate and the house with a republican governor.

But, if elections have consequences then winning elections have reasons.  Or, in this case, losing elections:

Raleigh, N.C. — After less than a year as executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party, Robert Dempsey was fired Sunday, an attorney for the state party said Sunday night.

“Mr. Dempsey is no longer executive director,” David Harris said, declining to say why other than that the dismissal was a personnel matter.

Dempsey had no comment Sunday night, and state Democratic Party Chairman Randy Voller did not respond to messages seeking comment.

According to multiple sources, some of whom talked to Dempsey, Dempsey said he was informed Sunday that he was being let go.

Local democrats are going nuts:

Dempsey might not be perfect, but he’s the best thing that’s happened to the party since Voller became chair. (I know, I know. That’s not saying much.) Voller’s first months were marked by incompetence and embarrassing revelations. Dempsey began putting the house in order and people began taking North Carolina Democrats seriously again.

It was apparently too much for Voller. He needed to reestablish him self as buffoon-in-chief, since, you know, bad news is better than no news. At a time when Democrats should be rallying around their impressive candidates as the filing period opens, they’re focusing on more drama at the Goodwin House. The timing couldn’t be much worse.

Voller may just be stupid, politically tone deaf and narcissistic. But what if he’s a Republican plant? It’s hard to imagine someone doing more to harm the credibility of the Democratic Party than Voller. 

I’m just being facetious, but given the damage he’s done, what’s the difference?

It’s like having Matt Millen be the GM of the Green Bay Packers!

Obama Deportation Record

ImmigrationPresident Obama Deporting Record Number Of Aliens

The current administration likes to point out that they are strong on immigration enforcement:

Immigration officials announced last week that President Obama has deported more than 1.9 million people since first taking office, more than any other previous administration.

Sounds tough, right?  Nearly 2,000,000 people “gone”.  More than even Bush.

True?

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Minimum Wage – Europe Style

Minimum Wage with without

A quick look at unemployment in Europe with and without minimum wages.

Democrats Support Freedom

Statue of Liberty

What Is Freedom – What Is Liberty

According to democrats, freedom is being able to live off the labor of others:

Democrats aren’t buying a Congressional Budget Office report finding that President Obama’s healthcare overhaul could cost the economy millions of jobs over seven years.

The nonpartisan office said the loss of the equivalent of 2.3 million full-time jobs could result from Americans adjusting their hours and employment in response to new healthcare options.

While Republicans said the findings show Obamacare is damaging the economy, Democrats argue any reduction in jobs would reflect the greater freedom the bill gives Americans.

“What we see is that people are leaving their jobs because they are no longer job-locked,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters after House votes Tuesday afternoon. “They are following their aspirations to be a writer; to be self-employed; to start a business. This is the entrepreneurial piece. So it’s not going to cost jobs. It’s going to shift how people make a living and reach their aspirations.”

Pelosi said she hadn’t “fully” seen the report, but, “this was one of the goals. To give people life, a healthy life, liberty to pursue their happiness. And that liberty is to not be job-locked, but to follow their passion.”

Democrats have jumped the shark.

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Democrats Fail To Allow Amendments

Delta No No No

Senate Defeats Unemployment Benefits Extension

Thus afternoon the senate voted to defeat a bill that would extend the 99 weeks of extended unemployment benefits:

The Senate voted 58-40 Thursday on a proposal that would have continued unemployment insurance for three months, just short of the 60 votes needed to end debate.

“I’m beginning to believe there is nothing that will get Republicans to yes,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said. “It’s a ‘no’ vote because they don’t want to extend unemployment insurance.”

“We’re one Republican vote away from restoring benefits to 1.7 million Americans,” Reid said. “There is one Republican vote standing in the way of a lifeline to these 1.7 million people.”

Reid is, of course, not being totally honest.  There is ONE thing that will get republicans to yes.

Obamacare: Incentive To Remain Poor

Carrot and StickLiberal Policies And Noble Intentions

I don’t buy into the notion that liberals are trying to enact policy that effectively enslaves the very people they mean to help – almost to a person the liberals that I know truly have the best interests of humanity in their heart.

They’re wrong – of course.  But they are well intentioned.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that those policies are, at their core, poisonous to the very segment of the population they mean to help.

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Capitalism Is Evil And Wicked

Capitalism

Capitalism And The Rise Of The One Percent

If you aren’t careful, the only thing going on in the world is the rising wealth of the 1% at the expense of the rest of us.

The rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer.

Don’t believe it.

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Deciding To Make Money Or Not Make Money

Salary

What Do You Want To Make

In many ways it’s perverse – an individual has to make a decision in their late teens – early twenties that will impact the rest of their lives.  But there it is, the decision: What are you going to do with your life.

And for a lot of people, this feathers into which degree they will obtain while attending college.

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Bastiat, Liberty And My Daughter

The Law

I was driving with my daughter tonight and had Jason Lewis on the radio.  Jason was discussing individual liberty, as he often does, and my 11 year old asked me what he was talking about.

Oh yeah!

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North Carolina Employment – The Obama Dilemma

Glass Half FullNorth Carolina Unemployment Falls

The big headlines here in North Carolina, at least if you’re a republican, is that the unemployment rate has fallen further and faster in North Carolina than anywhere else:

“Federal jobs data shows that North Carolina’s unemployment rate dropped further in one year than any other state in the nation,” Tillis said. “We will continue to implement policies that will enable our citizens to get back to work.”

By itself, the news is good news, heck, even GREAT news.  But it rarely is “by itself”:

Economists say the fast drop in the unemployment rate could be because so many people have become discouraged, are giving up on finding a job and are no longer being counted.

The state’s population of working-age adults who are looking for jobs shrank by 111,000 in 2013.

This is, of course, the same phenomenon that nation republicans use to knock Obama.  There the big story is that the national labor force participation rate has plummeted to lows that we haven’t seen in decades.

What Do The Numbers Mean

So, what does it mean?  Are the policies in North Carolina really working?

Well, first, the policies in North Carolina really describe the new laws regarding how benefits are paid out to unemployed workers here in the Old North State.  For example, North Carolina recently revamped the laws that allowed extended benefits to 99 weeks – we now only offer benefits extending up to 20 weeks – much less than the 99 weeks being suggested by the feds.

Now, in my mind, the unemployment insurance is meant as a bridge to sustain an individual during a reasonable job search.  And if that search hasn’t produced fruit after 20 weeks,  5 months, the job search needs to be reconsidered and adjusted.  But the program should come to an end.  The insurance was not created to sustain an out of work individual for perpetuity.

Now, if after the “job search” is over or run its course, that individual in still in need of assistance then other methods should be utilized.  And, in North Carolina, that is the case:

A different federal survey that interviews households instead of businesses found the size of North Carolina’s labor force shrunk by 111,000 in 2013.

Where did all those people go? Some died or retired, others left the state and still others may have found other means of financial support, such as a family member.

More people also sought welfare or disability benefits. The number of people using food stamps in North Carolina, for example,  surged by nearly 50,000 in October, according to the latest federal figures. The 3.2% spike was the biggest in the nation and was at least twice as large as the increase in every other state except for New Jersey.

So yeah, the unemployment picture isn’t all that the republicans would have us believe it; there are people out there that are struggling.  But, BUT, without the extended benefits under the federal version, at least the incentives are in the right place.