Self reflection. An uncommon ability, to be sure.
I make my way in society by working hard. I contribute. I like to think that I go above and beyond. I give and I give back. Often.
I understand that even as I benefit from my hard work and sacrifice, I want people to step up and do the same. If you wanna enjoy the rewards of success, then by gawd, partake of the hardships of the work.
This is the story of the 53%.
And it is delicious irony that the Occupy is just now discovering it.
Posted in Economy, Idiots on Parade, Liberty, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged Occupy Raleigh
Occupy in general and Occupy Raleigh continues to struggle. The message has been lost, the momentum has been dramatically reduced. The reasonable folks making up the movement have left; we’re left with the rest.
Across the nation we hear of vandalism, rape, murder, trespassing and theft. The movement is dead.
And here in Raleigh, there are two examples:
Posted in Economy, Idiots on Parade, Liberty, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged Occupy Raleigh, OWS
I just posted that the 2012 elections are looking good for Republicans. Most folks feel that the the Senate could swap, and if it doesn’t would turn more red than blue. And only the most partisan individuals in the democrat party feel that the House would turn. But the state elections are looking great.
And here in North Carolina? The news is looking even better. Our sitting 1 term governor isn’t looking to run for her 2nd term:
RALEIGH, N.C. — Facing a tough fight for a second term, Gov. Beverly Perdue said Thursday that she will not seek re-election so she can focus her energy on fighting for a sales tax increase to fund education.
This is garbage by the way. Purdue has a horrible approval rating here in Carolina and she knows she doesn’t have Obama’s momentum to carry her through this year. She’ll lose, she knows it, so she’s dropping out.
Another win for Republicans in 2012.
More and more the election of 2010 is proving to beneficial to the Republicans. Not only did it take away the 60 vote majority that allowed the Democrats to pass any political agenda they desired, but it also gave the House of Representatives to the Republicans. Suddenly the Democrats were faced with having to compromise if they wanted to pass an agenda.
Gone were the antagonistic and obnoxious divisive attitudes of the new President and his lieutenants. Gone were the days of Obama snidely remarking:
“Well, we won.”
Yes, the 2010 elections were great just because of that. But now were seeing even more. We’re seeing a nation with more Republican governors. We’re seeing the awesome work that Scott Walker is doing in Wisconsin. We’re seeing the similar work that Ohio is doing, and Florida. Further, the state elected officials were impacted as well. Gone were the days of a North Carolina State House being dominated by Democrats. For the first time in 140 years the Senate and the House are controlled by Republicans.
And now, in the election of 2012, we’re seeing the benefit of that. We’re seeing congressman decline to run:
Washington — Thirteenth District Congressman Brad Miller said Thursday that he will not run for re-election.
The five-term member of the U.S. House said North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature “dismantled” his district when they redrew voting maps in July.
The new maps put Miller into the 4th District with political ally and fellow Democrat David Price. Miller said he didn’t want to run against Price.
Republicans are drawing election maps. And those maps no longer favor generations of democrats. They are now favoring Republicans. And high time.
How quickly 100 days come and then go. Occupy Raleigh has been downtown at our state’s capital since October 15th, 2011. They’ve been fighting what some might call a noble fight. The idea that the American Dream has been taken from us, or that t has been somehow diminished by a subset of people with incredible wealth. At some level, that rings true; and is noble.
However, from a classic leftist playbook, the Occupy crowd continued to diminish it’s credibility while showing the world it is still nothing more than a fringe group of malcontents:
Raleigh, N.C. — Two Occupy Raleigh protesters were arrested Sunday as the movement marked the 100th day since it began in October.
The group held a march around the State Capitol called “100 Reasons to Demonstrate.”
Two men were taken into custody after they refused to get out of Fayetteville Street, police said. Nicholas Alan Warren Johnson, 25, and John Christopher Pearson, 33, were both charged with impeding the flow of traffic.
March. Demonstrate. Say what needs to be said. But let the world go about its business for the sake of all that’s holy.
There is simply no reason to walk in traffic just to be an ass.
But they do. And they continue to get arrested. And they continue to lose the dialogue. And they continue to just not matter.
Posted in Economy, Idiots on Parade, Lobby/PAC, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged North Carolina, Occupy Raleigh
What a few month’s time will do.
As the end of 2011 drew near, the Occupy Wall Street movement was in full swing. Cities across America were host to Occupy camps full of protesters willing to make the case that the greed and corporate influence in America had reached the point that they could influence legislation. The rich and powerful would be able to craft laws that benefited themselves at the expense of everyone else.
The system was broken. And it needed to change.
The Democrats, facing an election year of better organized Tea Party grassroots organizations, were only too anxious to look at the Occupy movement as a method to garner support. Support and sympathy:
“I understand the frustrations being expressed in those protests,” Obama told ABC News senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper…
The President goes on to compare the Occupy movement with the Tea Party, and then expresses the need to reach out to the Occupy protester:
“The most important thing we can do right now is those of us in leadership letting people know that we understand their struggles and we are on their side, and that we want to set up a system in which hard work, responsibility, doing what you’re supposed to do, is rewarded,” Obama said. “And that people who are irresponsible, who are reckless, who don’t feel a sense of obligation to their communities and their companies and their workers that those folks aren’t rewarded.”
Similarly, Nancy Pelosi expressed her approval of the movement like this:
During a press conference Thursday afternoon, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi praised those participating in the “Occupy Wall Street” protests. “God bless them,” Pelosi said, “for their spontaneity. It’s independent … it’s young, it’s spontaneous, and it’s focused. And it’s going to be effective.”
“The message of the protesters is a message for the establishment everyplace,” said the House Democrats’ leader. “No longer will the recklessness of some on Wall Street cause massive joblessness on Main Street.”
To be sure, each side is entitled to its foot soldiers, its partisans. And they should be expected to pander to ’em all they want. To think otherwise is rather foolish. But it’s interesting to see how quickly the shine has wore off:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte, which is hosting this year’s Democratic National Convention, may ban camping on city property, a move that would end an anti-Wall Street demonstration.
…
The ordinances would essentially end the Occupy Charlotte encampment at the old City Hall, where protesters have had a presence for months.
The Democrats don’t want the Occupy folks at the convention. At the convention where people will be seen on TV. Where questions will be asked and answers demanded. It would appear, for the time being, that the Occupy movement has run its course.
This Sunday’s News And Observer’s Letter To The Editor
This week the featured Letter to the Editor focuses on the Republican’s veto override of a bill that Governor Purdue. If you remember, the Republican controlled House called a special midnight session in order to vote on the override. That veto override was successful and now the bill becomes law. In short, the North Carolin Association of Educators can no longer require that dues be collected straight from the paycheck of teachers.
Our citizen points out, correctly in my opinion, this:
I’m not a public school teacher, and I’m in awe of the job they do with my kids every day. Teaching should be an honored profession.
Very few people I know dispute this fact. However, it’s a common setup for the real point:
House Speaker Thom Tillis and his Republican colleagues are targeting these hard-working public servants. They are punishing the N.C. Association of Educators for standing up against budget cuts to the public schools.
Point of fact, the Republicans are not targeting teachers. Rather, they are working to prevent the state from acting as a private organizations bill collector. Imagine if a church required the state to deduct weekly offerings from the paychecks of public employees. Even if they didn’t belong to the church.
Our citizen continues:
To those of us who want high-quality public schools for our kids, however, this is far from a game. The NCAE stood up against budget cuts to our already underfunded schools, and now they are paying the price. Let’s stick up for the teachers who are sticking up for our schools.
The problem is that teacher’s unions don’t care about educating children. They care about power. They care about taking as much as they can while giving as little as they can. These same unions prevent poor teachers from being fired. They prevent merit pay. They prevent innovation.
We all love excellent, proficient and capable teachers. We do not love poor under performing teachers. And we certainly don’t love organizations that are hell bent on protecting those poor performers.
Posted in Education, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged NCAE, North Carolina, Teacher Unions, Teachers, Unions
The last few days have been interesting ones here in Raleigh. The state House has been called for a special session in order to determine if they could override a governor’s veto of the Racial Justice Act.
They could not.
However, in a very unconventional move last night, house republicans called an extra special session in order to consider overriding the governor’s veto of Senate Bill 727. This bill was designed to prevent the NCAE from collecting teacher’s dues automatically from teacher’s paychecks. In this case, the House did override the veto and the bill became law:
In an unprecedented move early Thursday, the North Carolina General Assembly voted to hold a special legislative session after midnight for veto overrides, prompting a sharp rebuke from Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue.
Perdue said the Republican-controlled legislature’s actions were unconstitutional.
The House voted 69-45 to override the governor’s veto of Senate Bill 727, which stops the North Carolina Association of Educators from collecting dues from teachers’ paychecks via payroll deduction.
I certainly agree with the legislation though I have a certain distaste for the methods involved. There is nothing stopping a teacher from going down the bank and authorizing a payday deduction for the dues to the NCAE. Nothing at all. Further, it is not incumbency upon a school district to handle the administration of the collection of dues to an outside body; that is admin overhead that should be absorber by that organization.
However, there are certainly valid calls of shenanigans concerning the method of the vote. If a body has the votes to override the veto, by all means, call the issue to the floor and vote for it. On the other hand, calling a special session at 11:15 at night in order to get that override passed in the dead of night is disingenuous.
Is this where we are with our political posturing? Is it really the case that this type of maneuvering is how business will get done? I hope not.
In June of last year our North Carolina governor Bev Purdue vetoed a bill that would have required voters present government issued ID at the ballot. In other words, our citizens would have to prove they are who they say they are.
Bev’s comments upon vetoing this bill:
“The right to choose our leaders is among the most precious freedoms we have – both as Americans and North Carolinians. North Carolinians who are eligible to vote have a constitutionally guaranteed right to cast their ballots, and no one should put up obstacles to citizens exercising that right.
“We must always be vigilant in protecting the integrity of our elections. But requiring every voter to present a government-issued photo ID is not the way to do it. This bill, as written, will unnecessarily and unfairly disenfranchise many eligible and legitimate voters. The legislature should pass a less extreme bill that allows for other forms of identification, such as those permitted under federal law.
“There was a time in North Carolina history when the right to vote was enjoyed only by some citizens rather than by all. That time is past, and we should not revisit it.
“Therefore, I veto this bill.”
I read the Constitution of North Carolina, I have to assume that Gov. Purdue was speaking about that state Constitution because she is acting as state Governor AND the United States Constitution has no “Right to Vote” language in it. And this is what the Constitution says:
Section 1. Who may vote.
Every person born in the United States and every person who has been naturalized, 18 years of age, and possessing the qualifications set out in this Article, shall be entitled to vote at any election by the people of the State, except as herein otherwise provided.
Sec. 2. Qualifications of voter.
(1) Residence period for State elections. Any person who has resided in the State of North Carolina for one year and in the precinct, ward, or other election district for 30 days next preceding an election, and possesses the other qualifications set out in this Article, shall be entitled to vote at any election held in this State. Removal from one precinct, ward, or other election district to another in this State shall not operate to deprive any person of the right to vote in the precinct, ward, or other election district from which that person has removed until 30 days after the removal.
(2) Residence period for presidential elections. The General Assembly may reduce the time of residence for persons voting in presidential elections. A person made eligible by reason of a reduction in time of residence shall possess the other qualifications set out in this Article, shall only be entitled to vote for President and Vice President of the United States or for electors for President and Vice President, and shall not thereby become eligible to hold office in this State.
(3) Disqualification of felon. No person adjudged guilty of a felony against this State or the United States, or adjudged guilty of a felony in another state that also would be a felony if it had been committed in this State, shall be permitted to vote unless that person shall be first restored to the rights of citizenship in the manner prescribed by law.
It is pretty clear. You have to be:
It is a reasonable request that an individual representing his desire to vote prove that. Any claim that this is NOT reasonable is based in pure politics. There are those who claim that requiring such proof would disenfranchise voters who, as it turns out, would vote for candidate of a certain political persuasion. It can not be ignored that the desire to create a system that so easily creates conditions where people who are not who they say they are can vote is a system that is inherently and purposely flawed in order to create election day advantages.
I bring this up because the state Republicans were unable to overcome the Governor’s veto and it appears the bill will remain just that, a bill.
In 2009 North Carolina passed the Racial Justice Act. The law allows death-row inmates the ability to appeal their sentence arguing that racial discrimination was a factor in that sentence. I’ve long argued that the death penalty is not a viable tool in our criminal justice system for just that reason. The sentence is not applied uniformly and it disproportionately impacts minorities and the poor.
Because of this I oppose the Death Penalty and I applauded the passing of the law.
Now, however, state Republicans are meeting to discuss how they plan to proceed in overriding a governor’s veto that would have repealed much of this very important law:
RALEIGH, N.C. — When the Republican-led Legislature considers Wednesday whether to cancel Gov. Beverly Perdue’s veto and scrap the Racial Justice Act, the outcome of the override session will depend again on whether a handful of the governor’s fellow Democrats side with the GOP.
The Republicans have it wrong. They were wrong to oppose the bill in 2009, wrong to send it to the Governor’s desk in 2011 and are wrong now.
The idea that the government would discriminate, especially in this matter, is an assault on the senses. Hopefully the Democrats in the House stand firm and do not change their vote to assist the veto override.