Category Archives: Politics: North Carolina

I am My Neighbor’s Keeper

Posted on February 22, 2009 | Leave a comment

North Carolina is somewhat unique in the region, heck, the country, as it relates to annexation laws.  North Carolina allows it’s cities to annex neighborhoods and developments without having to obtain the permission of those residents.  Further, there are no guidelines that the city must adhere to that could possibly allow this practice to help those folks who could really use it.  For example, when the city looks out over it’s borders and sees a new development being built, it can–and does–look into the nature of that development.  What is the mean value of the property?  What type of infrastructure facilities are being built into the development?  The roads and street that serve the development; are they being built in such a manner that would allow the city to assume them without additional cost?

And so it goes, each development has next to it’s name a score, or value.  If and when the city feels that it requores to expand it’s tax base, it just opens that dirty little black book and find the best fit.  And this best fit is the one that brings the most money into the city with the lowest political cost.  How do we know this is true?  Just look at the types of properties and neighborhoods that get annexed, and then look at those who don’t.  In fact, it’s these low value neighborhoods that aren’t brought into the fold even when they WANT to be annexed.

Proponents of this type of annexation will claim that the State’s cities are free of blight, that the services offered by the cities can expand and that, in general, the cities are much more “healthy”.  While it’s certainly true that more programs can be initiated when the tax base is in growth, it’s also true that many of those programs are unnecessary and grossly inefficient.  It’s always better to have less government than government thinks it needs.  So, if that government looks to increase it’s tax revenue, either through tax rate hikes or just more people paying taxes…beware.

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Posted in Politics: North Carolina

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In Related News

Posted on February 17, 2009 | Leave a comment

This is just the kind of reporting that makes me upset.  How are people to understand what is really going on when our press and our broadcasters continue to deliver this type of information to people.  I have quoted the entire article below:

New jobs part of stimulus package for N.C.

North Carolina could gain 105,000 new jobs as a result of the economic stimulus package, according to a White House estimate released this morning.

The White House said the figure for each state was compiled by analyzing “detailed estimates of the working age population, employment, and industrial composition of each state.”

The release does not provide any details on what sort of jobs would be created.

And in related news, I plan to date Britney Spears.

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

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Wake County Schools

Posted on February 9, 2009 | Leave a comment

So, North Carolina has two very large school districts.  The way it works in Carolina, see, is that our schools districts are made up along the county lines; not by the cities.  This forces allows districts to be very very large.  For example, Raleigh is about the 48th largest city in the nation, and yet Wake County Public School  [WCPSS] is one of the top 10 in terms of student population.

The other thing that makes WCPSS unique is that it is one of the nation’s leading districts in how it is handling it’s student assignment.  Unlike many, if not most, districts across the country, WCPSS assigns students by financial status.  In this case, the district is using F&R [free and reduced lunches] as a proxy for income.  As a result, the policy that has been in place for a number of years is that the district planners are trying to keep all schools at no more than 40% F&R population.

The idea, according to district officials, is that as the ratio of low income students at a specific school increases, achievement decreases;for all students.   Therefore,  assignment by income, taccdording to the theory, increases achievement for all students as well as minimizing the chance that a school degenerates into an inner city horror show so prevalent among many of the nation’s districts.

Anyway, I was reading this weekend.  One story chronicled the difference in the assignment approach in Raleigh and Charlotte.  The other describes one local Charlotte school that has changed dramatically since that district abandoned busing in favor of local or neighborhood schools.

I am a big believer in education.  I firmly believe that the higher the education of the individual, the higher the income, the lower rate of incarceration and in general, the higher return to society.  Further, I am a strong supporter of public education.  While I typically am not in favor of entitlement programs, I find that educating our youth is not only helping them, but, from a national perspective, investing in ourselves.  Unlike perpetual welfare or the minimum wage, I find that our society is actually improved by providing public education to all children.

However, in time, I do come back to my data driven roots.  And in this case, I am finding that the studies showing the increase achievement not only to be sound, but compelling.  I do not claim that a poor child sitting next to a rich child will help both of them learn.  But what I am saying is this.  Schools in affluent neighborhoods are going to have parents that are involved in the school.  They are going to volunteer.  They are going to donate to the PTA.  They are going to make sure that the computer lab has, you know, computers.  Further, these parents are not going to accept that when there is violence in the halls, nothing be done.  They will demand action, and, because they have a demonstrable successful trajectory in life, they will get that action.  In short, the schools will be safer, cleaner and better equipped.  The exact thing, by the way, that will bring in the best teachers, or at least not have them running for the doors.

Folks on the other side, well, they see it another way.  They claim that busing takes away from the neighborhood feel.  They claim that busing takes away time for a child to study.  They claim that they moved into a certain neighborhood to go to a certain school.  In some ways, I empathize.  In most, I don’t.  My take, is that when data and studies show that a particular method works, and integration of economic societies helps, you go with the data.  Every time.

Just look again at that Charlotte school.  Its only been 7-8 years and the schools has fell back to old times and ways.  Sure the Charlotte district will say that they are keeping up with Wake, but, I don’t think they are.  The schools themselves certainly are not.  And, as older sentimental teachers retire or just give up, the scores will show it too….

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Posted in Education, Politics: North Carolina

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State Run Health Care

Posted on February 9, 2009 | 2 comments

Was reading an article last night regarding North Carolina’s State Health Care system.  This is a program that offers employees health insurance.  What caught my eye was the headline:

State health plan wants the young, healthy

That’s awesome.  Another way of reading that headline would be this way:

State health plan wants the people who don’t have health problems to pay for health care.

I get where the State is coming from, I really do.  They have found that they are $138 million short in their fiscal planning.  And that’s a lot of money.  But the problem I have with this really became apparent to me as I was reading the article and mentally comparing it to my life in corporate America.  You see, I have a wife and some kiddos, so I can relate to the manipulation of pricing when trying to cover the family.

The problem, you see, is that the State was $138 million short in their goals.  That is, they are losing about $138 million.  In other words, the plan that they operate is not profiting.  What?  How can that be?  Is it possible that a business, run by the government, competing directly with private corporations is losing money?  Are you KIDDING me?  And then it REALLY came home and began to sink in.  Why in the world is the government in the business of selling health insurance?

The rest of the article talks about ways that the government is going to have to manipulate their model to become profitable.  The problem with this, however, is that the hard decisions required to do that will not be allowed to be made.  You see, it would require that some people won’t be able to afford the care that the government thinks that they need.  And the reason government thinks that certain people need certain coverage is because, well, because they were voted in by those people.  In short, it is NOT the goal of this government to run a profitable health insurance company, or even to provide the care they think they should.  The goal of these government folks is to stay in government.  There is no way the government can turn a profit here.

Now, I work for a Big Ugly Company [BUC] and I have health insurance through that BUC.  But guess what?  The insurance that I have through the BUC is not BUC’s Health Insurance.  Rather, BUC has negotiated with several different  other health insurance providers and found, what I hope, to be the best deal for me, or at least for the BUC.

Why can’t the State of North Carolina do the same thing?  Why is it that the State feels that they have to offer their own insurance?  If they would contract with a private firm, they would be able to set up SLA’s, minimums and yes, perhaps maximums as well.  There would be contractual expectations that would need to be met, and if they weren’t, the State could take their business elsewhere.  And in this economy, even the mean insurance companies don’t want that!

Now, the State could even offer to pay 100% of the cost if they wanted to.  This isn’t to say that they should, but they could.  If they want to feel that they are competitive in the field, attract and retain the best employees, it may very well be in the State’s interest to do this.  If, on the other hand, the State finds that they can obtain very skilled labor, say 85% of the best while only paying half the premium, they should do that.  It’s called open market.  And it works.

The State of North Carolina should be getting back to the business of the State.  After all, the State doesn’t manufacture their own paper clips, right?


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Posted in Economics, Health Care, Politics: North Carolina

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Disheartening Change of Ideals

Posted on January 23, 2009 | Leave a comment

So, I was talking to a friend yesterday regarding the new administration; Obama’s plans and goals.  Now, in the past, this friend of mine has been consistently further left than me, but only barely.  However, in several cases, namely that of the ability of the government to take money from us, he was slightly to the right.  Yesterday he shared with me that, yes, in fact, it is the “right thing to do” when we were discussing the transfer of money from those that have to those that simply have less.  When I prodded him further, he claimed “It’s the right thing to do.”

I couldn’t talk.

I shook my head, looked down for a second and then lifted my eyes back up to meet his, hoping, really really hoping that I would see the beginnings of a smile.  See the familiar wrinkle in the eyes that would signal the beginning of the joke.

Nothing.  He looked at me dead in the eye.  And just blinked.

As a friend, of course, I couldn’t lambaste him, but I did gently bring up old discussions, debates that we shared over coffee, bourbon and beer.  He admitted that, in fact, he does remember saying and feeling those things and yes, doesn’t deny, that he has now changed his mind.

I got the feeling as a walked away, that he may be on the fence.  That somehow,even he himself knew that he wasn’t sure if he was saying these things because they were the result of bedrock principles well thought out or, if, perhaps, it’s because he somehow wanted to feel that way.  That somehow, society has lost it’s way and we have forgotten those less fortunate.  And in so doing, we have perhaps ceded our rights, certain rights, to the government in regard to the tending of the poor.

Of course, before I left I recounted how this country’s poor are not really so poor, as a whole.  That in fact, not only are the bottom 25% much much better off than even 30 years ago, they are living in conditions that would be considered very well off with respect to the rest of the world.  I insisted that I find it hard to classify someone as poor when they had a satellite TV and PlayStation, but couldn’t afford health care for their kids.

I almost saw a tear as he nodded in agreement, but then shrugged it off, as if to say “I can’t explain it, but I am at peace with my newfound place.”

At least for now.

So the question is this.  How did the paradigm get changed?  How did we lose what was once a rock solid foundation of right and wrong [or at least right and not right]?  And then, how do we communicate that in such a way so as to win the hearts and minds of those lost converts, and, perhaps, even win back some from the other side to boot?

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Posted in Politics: North Carolina

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I Can’t Put My Finger On It

Posted on January 19, 2009 | Leave a comment

I am a big big believer in people helping people.  In a community coming together to help their neighbors in need.  In is through thiese efforts that our society is to help each other; not through taxation and government programs.

And so it is that I really admire and respect the work that Habitat for Humanity does.  They gather volunteers from the community, obtain donated money and build homes for people that are unable to afford them in the conventional manner.  These homes are provided in the form of interest free loans.  Further, because the materials and time are often donated, the actual cost of the home is reduced even further; sometimes half.

However, I can’t shake the feeling that organizations like these are just beside themselves at the prospect of an Obama Presidency.  And so it is that I have to chuckle at this:

Paragraphs rendered

To qualify for a Habitat home, a family of two must earn between $28,000 and $30,000 annually. For a family of three, earnings must be between $31,000 and $33,000. A family of five would have to earn between $35,000 and $37,000.

“These people clearly demonstrate a need for having a house built for them,” Hoke County Habitat board member Daphne Graham-Dudley said. “They do not meet the income levels.”

Habitat offers interest-free loans to the homeowners, who in turn make payments back to Habitat. The group relies on homeowners making payments so they can have funds to build other homes.

“Those people have to pay those loans back, because it won’t work if they don’t,” Hoke County Habitat President Bill Evans said.

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Posted in Economy, Politics: North Carolina

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Universal Health Care vs. Government Offered Health Insurance

Posted on January 17, 2009 | Leave a comment

I have been sitting on this one for awhile now.  It’s a tough one.  Something that no one wants to see and few have the answers to.  From the right, we all know the responses, but do we really know the reasons?  And, to be honest, do we really believe what it is we are saying?  I am talking about health care.  And, specifically, the availability, or lack thereof, of that care.

I think that when you ask the right about this topic, they picture people who refuse to work, refuse to better themselves or refuse to create for themselves a situation where they can obtain basic medical care.  Or, at the very least, purchase catastrophic health insurance.

Similarly, if you ask the left about health care or medical care they are envisioning individuals suffering due to tragic life threatening illnesses.  Situations where the individual has little or no control and the result is complete and utter financial ruin.

In short, I think that we are talking about two different things.  On one hand, we are discussing health or medical care as an industry; something that is in the macro sense.  On the other, we are discussing that same care on a deeply individual and tragic level.  And so, lost in conversation, the left and the right have no hope of compromise, no hope of a shared or common understanding.  How could they?  They’re not even talking about the same things.

And so it is when I discuss health care.  Coming from the right, I shudder at the thought of Nationalized Health Care.  Or Socialized Medicine.  Or Single Payer Insurance.  Or anything that is called whatever that means everyone is able to seek any medical care and not receive a bill.  And yet, these same opponents of mine will lash out at me as in separate conversations as being part of the Religious Right.  I don’t get it.  At the same time I am someone who is deeply religious and yet I am able to turn a blind [and greedy] eye to the grandmother suffering in pain, struggling to stay alive and knowing that she is going to bankrupt her family?  I just shake my head.

I don’t understand how anyone could possibly hear such a story and walk away untouched, unmoved; certainly not me.  But again, we are reading from two different scripts here.

And so it is that I continue to support what I know to be true.  Medical Care is a service.  And as such, it creates a certain demand or need or want.  And there is more of that want that there is supply of the service.  And so, as we all know, that service, that medical care, has to be rationed in some way.  However you want to close your eyes and sing lalalalalalala and not believe it, there is simply NOT enough supply to satiate all of thedemand.

There are many ways to solve this problem.  I’m not going to list them here.  But my favorite method to resolving this delta in supply and demand is …… price.  It is by price that we SELF ration the demand and come to a equilibrium where the supply is in harmony with the demand. [Cue Disney Hummingbirds].

However, I also am a big BIG believer in Role of Government.  That is to say that at each level of government, there are certain and appropriate roles and expectations.  For example, I do NOT thin that it is the role of the Federal Government to mandate or assume management of Health Insurance.  However, as we get more and more local, in fact, if we even just jump from Federal to State, we find that the role or expectation of the Government changes.  I think that this is true for the case involving abortion and I think that it is tru here; for Health Care.

And so it is that I find this development, not an attack on Conservatism, but as example [could it be better?  Sure.] of what can happen when members of a community State gather together, discuss what is important to them as people, and vote that they want to offer this type of service where they live.  That they want to offer care to those that are less fortunate.  This, THIS I believe is the role of the State.  Not, however, of the Nation.

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Posted in Health Care, Politics: North Carolina

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Congrats Kay Hagan

Posted on January 17, 2009 | 1 comment

Kay Hagan had her first speech on the Senate floor this week.  I am sure that it was a proud moment for her and for her family.  Well done and good luck.

In part:

“When someone is discriminated against in the workplace or anywhere else, surely they feel the impact of that discrimination far longer than 180 days,” she said.

They may, in fact, feel the impact for the rest of their life.  But at some point, ya gotta bring your case or—or not.

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Posted in Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina

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Update on Transportation

Posted on January 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

Update to an earlier post.

This is exactly what I am talking about when it comes to this whole transportation thing:

Here Durham is guilty:

DATA was supposed to open its $17.6 million Durham Station Transportation Center in February. But now, the new center, located at the old Heart of Durham Hotel site on Chapel Hill Street, will not be open until the middle of March, according Ieshia Robertson, a city spokeswoman.

And to clarify any b lame:

Robertson said the actual facility will be completed on time, but N.C. Department of Transportation is requiring the city to do some work on the surrounding streets.

Look, I know that we want mass transit to succeed.  But it won’t.  Not here, not now.

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Posted in Politics: North Carolina, Transportation

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Too Rich for Words

Posted on January 15, 2009 | Leave a comment

So, this morning we had a group of Acorn activists gather at the court house.  Their purpose?  To lobby on behalf of people who are facing foreclosure.  Their desire?  Well, according to this article, they are hoping to raise awareness of Barack Obama’s call for a 90 day moratorium on foreclosure.

This is awesome.

ACORN lobbing to delay home foreclosure proceedings on the very folks that they lobbied to get the loans in the first place.  Only in America.

Michael Delossantos, N.C. ACORN’s legislative director, said this morning that their effort across the country today was to “help save the American Dream of home ownership.”

It was ACORN’s involvement that helped contribute to the situation that we are in today.  Exactly why should anyone pay attention to this organization?

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Posted in Economy, Lobby/PAC, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina

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