Posts by Carter Wrenn
Black’s Legal Defense Fund
No one outside of House Speaker Jim Black’s inner circle knows how much money corporations have given to the Speaker’s Legal Defense Fund. But the Charlotte Observer (10-16-06) has reported the name of one donor: The Teamster’s Union. According to the Federal Elections Commission, the Teamster’s PAC gave $5,000 to Black. The union didn’t offer…
Read MoreScandals and Gay Marriages
Last session, State House and Senate Democrats passed legislation to prohibit lobbyists giving money to candidates; then, in a political flim-flam, they proclaimed they’d cleaned up the ‘pay to play’ scandal. The Democrats eliminated the, say, 5% of the money lobbyists, personally, give them. But left in place the 95% lobbyists raise for them (mostly…
Read MoreMayor Meeker and the Garbage Truck
For the last couple of weeks Mayor Meeker’s been meeting with unhappy city garbage workers. Last week, in a show of bonhomie and empathy the Mayor spent the morning riding a garbage truck. He told the News and Observer (10-14-06) he “wanted to learn about the job as sanitation workers protest for better pay and…
Read MoreUn-Audited Billions
The Department of Transportation spends billions, but, in the last three years, its team of nine internal auditors has only produced “one complete report and eight memo’s or letters.” (Charlotte Observer; 10-13-06). The DOT’s chief auditor told investigators that “his staff spent most of 2003 on training and did not produce any new reports after…
Read MoreDouble Amnesia
House Speaker Jim Black was pretty vague at Kevin Geddings’ trial about his meeting with lobbyists for lottery giant Scientific Games the night before he appointed Geddings to the Lottery Commission. But Black wasn’t vague at all about another meeting. He testified lobbyists for G-TECH (another lottery company) “brought an important visitor to his office…
Read MoreEvidence of a Tidal Wave: Foley Scandal Impacts Election?
The Gallop organization has taken a poll about the impact of the Foley scandal on the election. Dick Morris writes on his website Vote.com that it shows “the Republican base…has moved out.” “The Gallup poll of Oct. 6-8 shows that, in the wake of the Foley scandal, the number of “white frequent churchgoers” who are…
Read MoreBrad and Vernon Debate
Vernon Robinson’s been know to stretch a fact when it comes to heated political rhetoric. But the other night at their debate Congressman Brad Miller beat him hands down. Miller said, “Mr. Robinson, most people think I’m most offended by your insinuations about my sexual orientation or your saying my wife and I can’t have…
Read MoreWal-Mart and the City Council
Two of Mayor Meeker’s allies on the City Council, Russ Stephenson and Thomas Crowder, cast the only votes against building a new Wal-Mart in southeast Raleigh. Why? In a sense the answer is ideology. Councilmen Stephenson and Crowder are two politicians who have an ideology. They want to convert Raleigh into a patch-work of neighborhoods…
Read MoreBehind the Curtain
One way to think of the world of politics is as a small, unique universe with rules of its own. One of the rules – in this strange world – is it is legal to say almost anything in a political debate. Under the rules, politicians may paint their virtues a little bigger than they…
Read MoreThe Lottery Trial and the Elections
How will the ‘pay to play’ scandals impact Democratic candidates this election? In most years, the answer would be a lot. But this year, there are several trends that may change that. First, we Republicans have our own foibles to explain. Second, if the polls are correct, nationally, the war in Iraq is the dominant…
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