Category Archives: Politics: North Carolina

Tarheel Red Favorite

Posted on January 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

I really enjoy reading and listening to Mike Munger.  Mr. Munger is a professor of economics and chair of the Political Science department at Duke University.  He was also the Libertarian candidate for Governor of North Carolina in 2008.  Further, I LOVE reading reason.com.

Mixing the two is always good pleasure:

…will they burn the castle of the Al Franken monster in Congress, or will they join Sarah Palin and her populist following and simply go RINO (Republican In Name Only) hunting? The point is that we could be heading toward 1994 all over again. Or toward 1964. The tea leaves are there for the reading. Either way, it should be interesting.

Interesting indeed.  And a worthy read.

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Posted in Politics: North Carolina

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Government Preventing Entire Class of People From Buying a Home

Posted on December 26, 2009 | 1 comment

The State of North Carolina claims that it is serving the people.  It claims that by relieving my money from, well, from me, they are helping other people in need.  Never mind for a second that I already help people in need through my various charity giving and other activities.  Or that the people I help are people that I think need help.  Or that, in any case, this decision on what to do with my money should be mine to make.  The State is helping an entire class of citizens, or so they claim:

Raleigh, N.C. — A program launched a year ago has helped more than 2,500 North Carolina homeowners avoid foreclosure, officials said Monday.

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Birdsong will now receive mortgage assistance, including payments for property taxes and homeowner’s insurance for at least the next nine months and could benefit for as long as two years.

That’s one way of looking at it.  The other way, of course, is to look at it this way:

Raleigh, N.C. — A program launched a year ago has prevented more than 2,500 potential North Carolina homeowners from attaining affordable housing, officials said Monday.

…

Their goal of home ownership has been prevented because select citizens will now receive mortgage assistance, including payments for property taxes and homeowner’s insurance for at least the next nine months and could benefit for as long as two years.

But serious.  I’m sure that all the people who are in danger of losing their homes are good, hard-working people who almost certainly bought a home that was within their means and needs.  Right?  No?

She said she’s most relieved that her three children will be able to spend the holidays at home.

“Each one of them has their own room. They’re like, ‘It’s mine,'” said Birdsong, a widow. “I wouldn’t want to take that from them. They’ve had enough problems already.”

So, a single mother with one revenue stream over reaches, buys a FOUR BEDROOM HOME surprisingly finds herself in a financial pinch.  And because of that, the government takes my money, thereby preventing me from giving to who I think is deserving, props up this family and keeps what would otherwise become a more affordable home from falling into the hands of more responsible home owners?  Unbelievable.

For the record, I grew up in a house that had TWO bedrooms.  Sure, after a bit we added a bedroom, but that was when my family grew from 3 to 6.  That’s 2 rooms for 4 kids.  If only I could have had my own room.

Merry Christmas.

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Posted in Economics, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina

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Trouble is Brewing

Posted on December 25, 2009 | Leave a comment

I’m not sure how this is gonna end, but it doesn’t look good:

Raleigh, N.C. — Wake County’s school board has a new challenge: reducing classroom sizes during tough budget times.

The Board of Education on Tuesday learned the state did not grant waivers for 329 oversized kindergarten to third-grade classes.

North Carolina law allows for 18 students for every one adult in those grades.

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Principal Lisa Cruz says first-grade classes at Jeffrey’s Grove Elementary School in Raleigh have closer to an average of 29 students this school year.

The State is getting further and further into debt and there is seemingly no way out.  We simply don’t have the money to hire new teachers or assistants and yet we have hay to make.

I’m not sure how we are gonna get to the 18 students to adults ratio in some of these schools, but I know that we have to.  When the classes are as big as they are at the school mentioned above, Jeffery’s Grove, the teacher’s ability to teach is severely limited.  Discipline becomes the order of the day and any real hope of knowledge transfer vanishes.  More than the diversity issue that our board faces, I think that they are going to have to solve this problem first.

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Posted in Education, Politics: North Carolina

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I Never Thought I Would Say This

Posted on December 15, 2009 | Leave a comment

You should have to have a license to be a parent.

There, I said it.  I never, EVER, thought I would say that.

Before I was as conservative as I am today, I was left of center in my college days.  Hell, I even drove to Mexico to build houses for folks who were trying to get into the country.  Though I admit even my liberal self had limits.  The YMCA group I went down there with actually wanted to smuggle an immigrant to Minnesota.  I vetoed that plan.

I digress.

You need a license to drive.  To catch a fish and check out a book.  But anyone can be a parent:

A 22-year-old North Carolina woman who put her toddler in boiling water and burned his foot with a cigarette has been sentenced to prison.

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Prosecutors said Rich put her son in a pan of boiling water in October 2008 as punishment because he was constipated. He was treated for third-degree burns on his bottom. He had a cigarette burn on his left foot and other injuries.

Serious.  Miss Rich has no business being responsible for another life.

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Jerk-Ass Radio Show Host

Posted on December 15, 2009 | 1 comment

Brad and Britt.  Man, ya gotta love ’em.  I mean, even when you hate ’em, you gotta hand it to ’em.

This morning they are talking about health care legislation and Joe Lieberman.  I guess Joe is to the Democrats as Snowe is to the Republicans.  Anyway, that’s what they were talking about.

Then, during a break, Neil Boortz came on and pitched his show; a quick 15 second bit advertising his show at 10:00.  During his bit, he made mention that this health care legislation was “Government takeover of health care.”

Heh.  Brad went nuts.  He lashed out in his typical 2 octaves above normal voice and began ranting and raving.  Finally, he ended with the comment that “this is not government takeover of health care, I don’t care what a jerk-ass radio talk show host says.”

Stay classy guys, stay classy.

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Posted in Health Care, Politics: North Carolina

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The Dangers of the Left

Posted on December 10, 2009 | Leave a comment

Over at The Progressive Pulse Chris is talking about Medicare and how Medicare is playing a role in the Health Care debate.

One of the Republican talking points about the latest health care reform proposal is that it slashes Medicare benefits. It’s not true of course, but that doesn’t matter when you are trying to scare seniors.

I find the irony rich.  The whole point of Chris’ post is how hard it is to keep up with the right and how hard it is to separate truth from fiction.  I think Chris is both right and wrong.  I think he is right when he correctly points out a flaw in the Right’s tactics:

…Tea Party activists shouting “keep government’s hands off my Medicare,”…

However, he is completely wrong when he claims no shenanigans surrounding Medicare.

One of the tricks employed by the Democrats during this whole debate was that one which brought the Heal Care bill in under $1 trillion.  See, the Dems wrote the bill to include reduced Medicare spending.  A reduction such that the entirely of the bill would come in less than the politically unattractive trillion dollar mark.  The way around this?  They then would submit a SEPARATE bill that would delay such spending for 10 years.

So take your pick Chris.  Either the bill is a pig well over what the Dems are advertising or Medicare spending will be slashed.

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Posted in Health Care, Politics: North Carolina

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Getting it Done the Right Way

Posted on December 10, 2009 | 4 comments

I am a firm believer that education dramatically shapes the adult life of a child.  Take two children from similar backgrounds and have one graduate high school and the other drop out–the graduate will see dramatic social and economic benefits.  Further, the society around him will be better off as well.  High school drop-outs cost us, all of us, millions of dollars a year in physical damage and management.

And so, of course, it makes sense to have a system of public education.  What I find interesting is how each side of the political spectrum would explain such an entitlement program.  For example:

  1. The Left.  This one is easy.  The Left clearly feels that wealth and accumulation is something that springs up from the ground and is obtained by the “lucky” or “greedy” by muscling and elbowing out the less fortune or the week.  The Left would gladly take from the rich and distribute to the poor so that everyone had an equal chance.  Predictably, this typically make me lose my belly whenever I think about it.
  2. The Right.  This one is harder.  The Right, you see, is against entitlement programs almost all of the time.  No government provided health insurance.  No government provided mass transit.  No government provided welfare.  All of it.  “Man is free; let him obtain that which he needs” is their mantra.  While acknowledging that the Right could use a marketing approach that vastly improves the tone of their message, I emphatically agree with this take.  It is one of Individual Liberty that necessarily acknowledges Individual Responsibility.  The subtle and yet critical distinction is that in almost ALL cases, children in our society are incapable of expressing their Individual Liberty.  They either are lacking the intellectual capacity to express that Liberty [they are children after all, incapable of crossing the street in many cases] or they lack the legal status to exert that Liberty.  As such, it becomes incumbent upon us to restore to that child a reasonable course of action, which, through no fault of their own, they have been prevented from following.  In other words, just because Johnny’s mommy and daddy are fools who don’t take care of their child by sending him to school, does not make it Johnny’s fault.

And so it is that I agree with both the Left and the Right.  But I feel that the path each takes to their respective positions is wrong and illogical.  Further, because I believe as I do as expressed in #2 above, I do NOT agree with the right that we Ought take public monies meant for Public Education and dispense it in the form of vouchers for private education.  The monies collected and spent is for the general public, not for the individual child or family.

The way to make sure that kids get the education they need?  By doing it the right way:

Durham, N.C. — Family income should not determine a child’s destiny. That’s the premise behind Union Independent School, a new private school that opened this year in Durham.

…

Thanks to private donations and contributions, including $2 million from Union Baptist Church, the school has 74 students in kindergarten through second grade. The students are chosen by lottery and attend for free.

…

Thanks to private donations and contributions, including $2 million from Union Baptist Church, the school has 74 students in kindergarten through second grade. The students are chosen by lottery and attend for free.

This, ladies and gentlegerms, is how things get done in the real world!

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Posted in Education, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina

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Risk Gain

Posted on December 9, 2009 | Leave a comment

I’m not sure that Government understands risk:

State officials said they believe Dell also should give back about $6 million in tax breaks the company received between 2005 and 2007, but a Dell spokesman said the company is entitled to keep the money since it was operating at the time.

…

“Our belief and our understanding is that we met the performance thresholds required for those incentives during those years, and are not obliged to repay those,” spokesman Jess Blackburn said.

The state of North Carolina negotiated with Dell to open a plant here.  To incent the company to do so, we offered them tax breaks and grants, both locally and at the State level.  It was understood that if Dell left or closed, that money would have to be returned.

Well, Dell did leave, the plant did close and:

…the company agreed to repay more than $26 million in local grants and $1.5 million in state grants, acknowledging that it didn’t live up to its end of the deal by not keeping a specified number of jobs in Forsyth County.

So.  What is all the hullabaloo about?

Turns out that the State of North Carolina is in a bit of trouble financially.  And they could use any money they can wrangle out of the evil capitalists.  And why not, the Feds are doing the same thing with great success.  So our good Govna is going out, bad mouthing Dell and demanding that they pay money back:

“I will fight them if they want to fight about this,” Perdue said. “They made some agreements. We offered some incentives. The locals offered some incentives, and they need to live up to their side of the bargain. If that means going to court, I guess we will.”

Turns out, however, that the money she wants to get back is money that Dell “saved” while they were in business and operating.  This isn’t money that we paid to Dell, it was simply money that they didn’t pay to us while they employed our people.

House Minority Leader Paul Stam issued a statement Tuesday saying the dispute could have been resolved long ago. Lawmakers defeated an attempt to include language in the state incentives package that would have required Dell to forfeit all credits it received from the state if it didn’t have at least 1,200 employees at the computer plant within five years, said Stam, R-Wake.

So not only is Purdue going after money that Dell doesn’t really owe us, she is poisoning the well in doing so.   Who in the world is going to wanna open a business here when they get treated like this?

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Poor Form

Posted on December 8, 2009 | Leave a comment

I get why people hate politics and politicians.  Heck, I hate politics and politicians.  We should be able to get to the point where we can disagree and yet still have the class to let someone go to the restroom:

After 75 minutes and 14 split votes Monday, Tony Gurley and the GOP regained the top spot on the Wake County Board of Commissioners – on a tie-breaker achieved only when member Betty Lou Ward took an unexcused bathroom break.

See, the Wake County Board is made up of 7 members.  Right now the Democrats have control of the Board 4-3.  One of the members, a Democrat suffered a stroke and has been unable to attend meetings; that makes it 3-3.  Last night the board was electing a new chairman and after 75 minutes and multiple votes, could get past the 3-3 tie.  That’s when Ms. Ward went to the bathroom.  Because she didn’t officially request an absence, the Board was within it’s right to vote without her, and they did.

Legal?  Yes.  Without class?  Absolutely.

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Barely Legal

Posted on December 3, 2009 | Leave a comment

I was thinking about this last night as I was posting on the “Night is Day” thing:

All eight initiatives were the result of a series of private meetings in the past month between the four new members and the new board chairman, Ron Margiotta. Those meetings also included members of private groups that Margiotta declined to identify. Members of the new majority defended their private meetings, saying they didn’t violate state mandates because they had yet to be sworn in.

Look, I get it.  The old Board did things, and in ways, that some people didn’t like.  Because of that, the election process removed them from their seats and gave new people with new voices the ability to shape things.  That’s ho it’s supposed to work.  I’m very happy that it did work.

But these shenanigans are really really over the top:

Malone said they met before Tuesday because heading into the meeting unprepared would have sent their supporters a bad message.

“It’s not illegal,” Malone said. “We needed to be prepared. I had nightmares about walking into the meeting not being prepared.”

It’ll be fun to continue to watch this.  Fun to see if anything really changes.

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