Sometimes we agree with Gary Pearce.
Sometimes we don't.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
The Thom Tillis Tantrum Watch
We mistakenly thought that once NC House Speaker Thom Tillis had compared his hometown paper to "road kill" that maybe he had gotten it out of his system. Generally, when you start blaming press coverage for all your problems, you're on the way down as a politician, and it gets kind of embarrassing to be in the same precinct with such whining, or in the same state.
But here he goes again. Over the weekend, Tillis sent out an e-mail message with this in the subject line: "For IMMEDIATE Release: My letter of Resignation." Another tantrum about the liberal media.
To which editorial writer for the Greensboro News & Record Doug Clark had the logical and bestest response:
Ruthless antics indeed
"The continued partisan and sometimes ruthless antics of the left aided by some in the mainstream press, will continue to threaten or stifle legitimate efforts to improve the situation in North Carolina for all involved" -- state House Speaker Thom Tillis in an email....
The lies have become so vicious that the left-wing biased liberal media actually reported -- as if it were fact -- that Tillis called a 1 a.m. session of the House, without giving proper advanced notice, to hold a veto override vote.Tillis is absolutely right.
This was the most scurrilous reporting ever seen in North Carolina. One could only hope that the public simply would not believe that a fair-minded leader such as Mr. Tillis, committed to the cause of legitimate efforts to improve the situation in North Carolina for all involved, could possibly conceive such a dead-of-night political maneuver to accomplish what could not be done in the light of day.
A past-midnight session, called with scarcely an hour's notice, would afford no opportunity for the people of North Carolina to attend or to communicate their views to their elected representatives. It's unthinkable that a fair-minded leader such as Mr. Tillis, who wants nothing but what's best for the state, would ever initiate such legislative shenanigans. We can only blame an ultra-partisan elitist, biased media for concocting such a ridiculous and disingenuous mishmash of disinformation.
Such conniving would of course comport with the "ruthless antics of the left," but Mr. Tillis and his followers have renounced such murky deeds, pledging nothing but openness and light. It is an insult to common decency and the principles of democracy to which Mr. Tillis has dedicated his life of public service, therefore, that the manipulative and deceitful liberal, anti-American unholy media has concocted this horrible smear campaign built around the absurd untruth of midnight machinations at the General Assembly.
The good people of North Carolina should believe nothing of what they hear about the work of their legislature that does not issue directly from Mr. Tillis, who, it is well known, is always home in bed by 10 p.m.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
"We Should Not Put Civil Rights Issues To a Popular Vote"
Wow.
Why don't we have more Democrats who can speak this clearly and this directly?
Friday, January 27, 2012
NC Republicans Alienating Their Young
An article in the Carolina Review, "UNC's Conservative Journal," suggests that young Republicans are not unanimously eager to follow their theocratic elders over the cliff.
The author, Peter McClelland, argues that true conservatives ought to vote against that notorious bit of church-before-state constitutional over-reach known as "Amendment One," which would in effect hang a pink star around the necks of North Carolina's gay citizens.
Amendment One appears "to threaten individual liberty," writes McClelland, "and exemplifies a government overstepping its bounds, which should trouble any conservative that prizes freedom and limited government."
We feel McClelland's pain over the stubborn obtuseness of his elders in the NC Republican Party:
McClelland goes on at some length about this "abomination" (yes, he uses that word), and his outcry might be a warning shot that the old bigots warming those seats in the NC General Assembly have lost touch with their own offspring.
Meanwhile ... the beat goes on, with another new Republican member of the General Assembly calling for the public hanging of abortion doctors.
The author, Peter McClelland, argues that true conservatives ought to vote against that notorious bit of church-before-state constitutional over-reach known as "Amendment One," which would in effect hang a pink star around the necks of North Carolina's gay citizens.
Amendment One appears "to threaten individual liberty," writes McClelland, "and exemplifies a government overstepping its bounds, which should trouble any conservative that prizes freedom and limited government."
We feel McClelland's pain over the stubborn obtuseness of his elders in the NC Republican Party:
It is a bit shocking how conservative politicians portray themselves as ardent defenders and proponents of the United States’ Federal Constitution only to betray its principles when it is politically popular with their [religious] base. The simplest Constitutional argument against this change to our state’s constitution is that the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the US guarantees that, “No State shall… deny to any person within its jurisdiction equal protection of the laws.”
McClelland goes on at some length about this "abomination" (yes, he uses that word), and his outcry might be a warning shot that the old bigots warming those seats in the NC General Assembly have lost touch with their own offspring.
Meanwhile ... the beat goes on, with another new Republican member of the General Assembly calling for the public hanging of abortion doctors.
Watauga County and Recreation Development
This morning at 8 a.m., the Watauga County Commission held a special called meeting to consider supporting the Tourism Development Authority's (TDA) plan and grant application for two river-access points on the New River at Pine Run Road and at the Green Valley Park. This special meeting of the Commission followed close on a special public hearing last night conducted by the TDA to gather public comment on the plan to improve recreation infrastructure in Watauga County.
At the public hearing last night, we heard 95% support for the two river access developments. We would score that at 100% support, except that a couple of adjacent property-owners at the Pine Run Road access expressed some reservations -- worries -- about parking, obstructions to their properties, and the prospect of more litter ... all of which the TDA promised to deal with. And the property-owners appeared placated.
At the Commission meeting this morning, with two commissioners absent, the remaining three commissioners voted unanimously to support and endorse the TDA grant application for some $75,000 in outside funding for the projects, with about $18,000 in "matching" funds from the TDA.
End of story?
Not really. Why these special called meetings? Because the new Republican majority on the County Commission insisted on them, and their coolness to continued development of recreation infrastructure in the county is a matter of record. As soon as the new majority took charge in December of 2010, they began quietly replacing members of the TDA board with people who vote consistently to shut down Watauga County for recreational development.
Case in point: At their Nov. 15, 2011, meeting, with a couple of progressive votes on the TDA absent, the remaining members of the TDA board voted not to reauthorize TDA matching funds for another grant application to the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund to acquire conservation easements for extending the greenway from Brookshire Park further down the New River toward Todd. The new appointees to the TDA Board didn't even want to apply for outside funding in the form of a grant.
TDA matching funds: To date, the planners at TDA have been very successful at applying for and receiving over $900,000 in grants for infrastructure, most of which require some "cash match," usually a small fraction of the total, from the grantee (for example, the $18,000 "match" from the TDA reference above). These many successful grants are behind the development of the new Rocky Knob bike-and-hiking park, as well as many other improvements.
The TDA raises its money from an occupancy tax on visitor lodging -- motels, beds-and-breakfast establishments, etc., so it's non-residents who have really funded the "match" for our recreation development. Little comes from the regular Watauga County budget.
But that "little" is under assault, and the vision of improving the local economy by making Watauga County an outdoor recreation destination is imperiled. Though we passed through a gauntlet this morning, reappointments of key persons on the TDA board are upcoming, and the future is very much in doubt.
At the public hearing last night, we heard 95% support for the two river access developments. We would score that at 100% support, except that a couple of adjacent property-owners at the Pine Run Road access expressed some reservations -- worries -- about parking, obstructions to their properties, and the prospect of more litter ... all of which the TDA promised to deal with. And the property-owners appeared placated.
At the Commission meeting this morning, with two commissioners absent, the remaining three commissioners voted unanimously to support and endorse the TDA grant application for some $75,000 in outside funding for the projects, with about $18,000 in "matching" funds from the TDA.
End of story?
Not really. Why these special called meetings? Because the new Republican majority on the County Commission insisted on them, and their coolness to continued development of recreation infrastructure in the county is a matter of record. As soon as the new majority took charge in December of 2010, they began quietly replacing members of the TDA board with people who vote consistently to shut down Watauga County for recreational development.
Case in point: At their Nov. 15, 2011, meeting, with a couple of progressive votes on the TDA absent, the remaining members of the TDA board voted not to reauthorize TDA matching funds for another grant application to the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund to acquire conservation easements for extending the greenway from Brookshire Park further down the New River toward Todd. The new appointees to the TDA Board didn't even want to apply for outside funding in the form of a grant.
TDA matching funds: To date, the planners at TDA have been very successful at applying for and receiving over $900,000 in grants for infrastructure, most of which require some "cash match," usually a small fraction of the total, from the grantee (for example, the $18,000 "match" from the TDA reference above). These many successful grants are behind the development of the new Rocky Knob bike-and-hiking park, as well as many other improvements.
The TDA raises its money from an occupancy tax on visitor lodging -- motels, beds-and-breakfast establishments, etc., so it's non-residents who have really funded the "match" for our recreation development. Little comes from the regular Watauga County budget.
But that "little" is under assault, and the vision of improving the local economy by making Watauga County an outdoor recreation destination is imperiled. Though we passed through a gauntlet this morning, reappointments of key persons on the TDA board are upcoming, and the future is very much in doubt.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Guv Floods the Lido Deck
Coming completely out of the blue, right at 9 a.m. this morning, was the rumor of an announcement that Gov. Beverly Perdue would not be running for reelection. That rumor was confirmed as fact about an hour or so later.
The scramble among Democrats with state-wide ambitions was palpable, and we could hear through our Twitter feed the scraping of chairs on hardwood, the slamming of doors, the crashing of china all the way up here in Boone. And smell the sweat of ambition.
The downside is pretty obvious: we're two weeks away from candidate filing with the top job in the state suddenly an open seat. Who gets trampled in the stampede?
The upside is also perhaps pretty obvious: with a consistently unpopular governor out of the picture, the fall elections become a referendum on the Republican-dominated General Assembly rather than a referendum on Perdue, a shift in focus that might give Pat McCrory a pause or a little acid reflux, depending on how self-aware he is.
Several strong Democrats will emerge to challenge one another in a primary. Several weak Democrats will also probably jump in. A hot primary is guaranteed, which produces another obvious upside: the passage of North Carolina's notorious, unnecessary, and wholly discriminatory anti-gay Amendment One becomes a lot less certain. (There was even a suggestion on Twitter this morning that Perdue had deliberately out-foxed the Republicans by making a deal to put the amendment on the primary ballot, knowing that there would be a hot race to replace her. Not likely, but cool if true.)
There has to be some sort of Prophet of the Year plaque made up for presentation to Rep. Bill Faison, who's been saying for months that The Guv would step aside rather than run for reelection. Most people poo-pooed that prediction, including Yours Truly, for which I now repent, apologize, and ask for forgiveness.
Conspiracy Theory of the Day: Floating out there in Punditstan is the suggestion that it was the Obama White House that showed Gov. Perdue the door and that her exit from the scene increases Obama's chances of taking North Carolina again. That's clear-thinking, IMO. But the theory goes on to suggest that Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx has been groomed by the same White House to now run for governor, a theory that will have a mercifully short shelf-life, given that candidate filing starts on February 13.
Teacher's Pet
News of the day:
Civitas Institute Campaign Training Session
Date: February 11, 2012, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
The Civitas Institute is coming to Boone for a training session for candidates, campaign workers, or anyone interested in politics and grassroots activism. The class will be held February 11 at the Daniel Boone Inn in Boone, NC from 9:00am - 4:00pm.
The cost is $20.00 and includes lunch.
Verified student ID price of $12 is underwritten by the Boone Tea Party.
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