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Entries for June 2012
Carter Wrenn posted on June 21, 2012 09:51
It came as a surprise to open the newspaper and read that the United Nations, dead set on one world government, is on the verge of taking away our ‘property rights’ here in North Carolina through a cabal called ‘Agenda 21’ – which, as soon as unsuspecting local officials are done implementing it, will let the UN dictate our zoning laws.
But there’s good news: Pat McCrory’s wise to what the UN rascals are up to – while attending the Republican State Convention he ‘tweeted’ he means to stop Agenda 21 dead in its tracks.
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Gary Pearce posted on June 21, 2012 08:42
Republicans are determined to define themselves as hard-hearted – and hypocritical.
They give two explanations for cutting out $10 million to compensate people who were forcibly sterilized by the state.
The first is: We can’ afford it. Let’s figure here. The budget is $20 billion. $200 million is 1 percent of that. So $10 million is one-half of one-tenth of a percent of the budget.
The other explanation came from Senator Don East: "You just can't rewrite history. It was a sorry time in this country. I'm so sorry it happened, but throwing money don't (sic) change it, don't make it go away. It still happened."
Well, we do have a precedent in America for compensating victims. It’s called the civil courts, where you can sue for damages when you’ve been hurt or wronged. And North Carolina once had, and maybe still does, a fund to compensate crime victims. The wrong still happened, the money don’t change it and don’t make it go away, but we do “throw money” at wrong.
In the end, the Republicans can’t escape the perception that they cut the money because it would go to the kind of people who don’t vote for them.
Then there’s the hypocrisy. Fox News commentators rail endlessly about how President Obama is trying to take away our freedoms as Americans. North Carolina took away a significant amount of these Americans’ freedoms. Wasn’t that wrong, and isn’t $10 million a reasonable effort to right a wrong?
Thom Tillis thinks so.
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Gary Pearce posted on June 20, 2012 16:21
House Speaker Thom Tillis is not exactly this legislature’s MVP. First came his staff “play to play” scandal. Then came news of his costly town-hall entourage. Today he said that his inability to get $10 million in eugenics-victim compensation is “a personal failure.”
Here’s some free political advice, Mr. Speaker: Never admit you failed. In fact, you haven’t failed until you give up. Instead, say you’re disappointed that the Senate blocked the money. Or that the House took an important first step and you’ll keep fighting. Anything but calling yourself a “failure.”
By all reports, Tillis wants to run against Senator Kay Hagan in 2-14. Will he promise to bring Washington the same leadership he brought to Raleigh?
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Carter Wrenn posted on June 20, 2012 10:47
It’s a sad fact but there’re not many farmers left these days and even back in the old days when I was a boy I don’t recall ever meeting a Jewish farmer and if I’d ever needed to go looking for one (or any other kind of farmer for that matter) the last place on earth I’d have expected to find him was in Raleigh.
But in case anyone missed the fact that President Obama’s determined to have the best organized, grassroots community organized, campaign on earth and in all of history there was this headline in the News and Observer last week: White House Outreach to Jewish Farmers in Raleigh? A top U.S. Department of Agriculture official held a ‘Jewish Roundtable’ on Monday at Beth Meyer Synagogue.
You have got to say this for Obama – when it comes to getting reelected he’s leaving no stone unturned.
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Carter Wrenn posted on June 20, 2012 10:42
Politico the Washington super-blog reports that on the sixth floor of an office building in Chicago there’re ‘150 techies’ working night and day to reelect President Obama by doing ‘data mining’ which may sound as stimulating as watching paint dry but consider two facts:
President Obama now has 27 million ‘Facebook Followers’ (to Mitt Romney’s 1.8 million).
And the President has 16 million ‘Twitter Followers’ (to Governor Romney’s 500,000).
Think about that a moment: There’re 27 million people on Facebook following President Obama’s every word, everyday, and talking to them costs the President’s campaign less than buying one ad on the news on WRAL.
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Gary Pearce posted on June 20, 2012 09:23
The story referred repeatedly to “false letters.” What was false? Apparently, this sentence: “Funds are needed in this budget cycle” for two highway projects.
Members of Governor Perdue’s staff inserted that line. Jim Trogdon of DOT, whose signature was added to the letters electronically, didn’t agree with it.
Question, then: Is the statement “funds are needed in this budget cycle” demonstrably false – that is, a lie? Or is it a matter of opinion?
Was this a nefarious scheme by the Governor’s staff to deceive legislators? Or was it typical political/bureaucratic bungling?
The N&O’s big headline referred to “altered letters.” Or were they “edited,” “rewritten,” “changed.”?
According to the story, “Trogdon told the N&O said Monday that the revisions added by the governor’s office amounted to wishful thinking and a desire to reassure legislators.”
“This is the most irresponsible example of journalism I've seen by the News & Observer and Charlotte Observer in a while. The writers set the piece up to make it look like Perdue and her staff intentionally inserted words into a signed letter without following any protocol to secure permission for the change.”
Re the “false letters,” Muse mused:
“No boys, the letters were quite real. They weren't false at all. Contrary to what it seems you wish to suggest, the letters were written by Jim Trogdan, sent to Perdue's staff by Trogdan's assistant who asked if the language was acceptable to the Governor. Perdue's staff edited the letters so the language was acceptable and then took the letters to the DOT requesting approval and a signature. A DOT deputy secretary approved the requested edits to letters originally drafted by Jim Trogdon and his signature was electronically applied to the letters by his department after the approval was granted.
“At no time does Susan Coward, the above mentioned deputy secretary, accuse Governor Perdue or her staff of deceiving her into approving the edits. Jim Trogdon does not accuse Perdue or her staff of wrongdoing.”
Now, of course, we can look forward to the Republican legislature conducting a fair and impartial inquiry into this brouhaha.
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Carter Wrenn posted on June 19, 2012 17:26
Sometime awhile back the State appointed a Commission of Scientists who set to work to figure out how much the seas are rising and last week the commission announced its conclusion: Science proves the Atlantic Ocean is going to rise exactly 39 inches (over the next century) and if the folks in Morehead City and Wilmington know what’s good for them they’ll get busy and pass new zoning laws to require building new homes on high land.
Well, naturally, that set off an uproar among the folks who make their living building (and selling) beachfront homes – they promptly denounced the scientists then sent to Raleigh for help so next the politicians got into the act, promptly passing a bill that said the scientists were all wet writing in stone (or at least in state law) that no commission anywhere in North Carolina could ever again say the sea will rise 39 inches.
But the basic question seems even simpler: Why on earth do we have state appointed scientists and state paid politicians arguing over the sea’s rising? Wouldn’t it just be simpler, if some fool wants to build a million dollar home on a low lying beach, to not just let him do it and take his chances?
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Gary Pearce posted on June 19, 2012 10:07
Political reporters are like flocks of birds. One bird flies to a wire, and every bird flies to the same wire. One national political reporter writes a story about Obama’s problems in North Carolina, and every national political reporter writes the same story.
It’s a familiar litany: unions complain about holding the convention in Charlotte, gay-marriage amendment passes, Governor Perdue is unpopular, the legislature went Republican, N.C. Democratic Party is in turmoil, John Edwards is John Edwards and – the money shot – “pundits have become increasingly skeptical about President Barack Obama's Tarheel (sic) State prospects.”
The story digs through the numbers from 2008: Obama carried the state by only 14,000 votes, African-American turnout was high, Obama did well with independents and white women, but now the excitement has faded, hope and change seem far away and can he do it again?
But there’s one thing all these birds miss. Suppose the Obama campaign goes out and gets 100,000 new voters: young people, Hispanics and African-Americans. Suppose, in other words, his team does again what it did in 2008: expands – and reshapes – the electorate.
Nobody thought they could do it then. Don’t sell them short now.
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Carter Wrenn posted on June 19, 2012 09:50
Open the newspaper most any day and you’ll read some politician somewhere saying the government’s flat broke.
Washington’s out of money.
Raleigh’s destitute.
Money’s tight at City Hall.
The County’s cut its budget.
But the other morning I opened the newspaper and one story sounded a different note: Amid all the government destitution and teeth rattling budget cuts the same politicians who can’t find enough money to pay teachers found a boatload of cold hard cash for the Triangle Greenways Council so it could spend $330,000 to buy 120 acres to build new greenways in Raleigh.
How do you figure that?
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Carter Wrenn posted on June 18, 2012 17:25
For a year Phil Berger the Leader of the State Senate’s been looking the Governor in the eye and telling her, ‘No,’ and now as if wrestling a Governor isn’t enough trouble for one man he’s told the State House ‘No’ too.
Governor Perdue and the Democrats have been pummeling House Speaker Thom Tillis for not spending more on education so now with the election coming on Speaker Tillis and the House Republicans are spending more – $250 million more.
But the minute their budget got over to the Senate Phil Berger took one look at it and, election or no election, said, No.
Then, with politicians in the legislature changing directions like weathervanes, I reckon just to be sure no one missed his point, Berger said, ‘No,’ to Speaker Tillis’ pet bill to pay compensation to eugenics victims, and to House Republican Leader Skip Stam’s pet bill to give corporations tax credits if they’ll donate to scholarships to send poor children to private schools.
When the smoke cleared the House and Senate leaders set down to negotiate a ‘budget compromise’ and next I reckon we’re going to find out how much backbone those No’s have.
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