From
coverage of North Carolina's latest wild lurch to the right:
...The N.C.A.A., which is planning to hold tournament events in North Carolina in 2017 and 2018, said in a statement that it would “continue to monitor current events, which include issues surrounding diversity, in all cities bidding on N.C.A.A. championships and events, as well as cities that have already been named as future host sites.”
And on Twitter, a new account calling for a boycott of the state emerged in response to the law. Chris Sacca, a Silicon Valley investor, implied he would no longer invest in businesses in the state.
In Charlotte, Mayor Jennifer Roberts said she was “appalled at the speed of the law being passed” without consideration of the ramifications for the business community. “The fallout is just starting,“ she said, adding, “We are very concerned about the ripple effects and I do believe that discrimination is not good for business.”
Some political observers noted that the state legislation, which deprives local municipalities of control over their own laws, seemed antithetical to conservative values. “This doesn’t seem conservative to me,” said Mac McCorkle, a former Democratic consultant and an associate professor of public policy at Duke University. “This seems authoritarian.”
The word
authoritarian has special resonance, in this year of the T-Rump.
In recent news, Silicon Valley based PayPal brings 400 high paying jobs to Charlotte:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article66843117.html
The Republicans in North Carolina are NOT acting as Republicans. They are acting as members of a Soviet Politburo - eager to centralize control, rather than promote "small" gov't. You can see that with the Boone ETJ hearing, to be heard in NC Supreme Court soon - of all the ETJs in NC, the NCGA abolishes just one, the one in Boone, without ever holding a public hearing about it so ETJ residents could express their thoughts. AFTER Soucek's bill passed, the Commissioners held a hearing - and the only people who wanted the ETJ abolished were developers - and they were a very small fraction of those who spoke at the hearing.
ReplyDeleteToday, the Republican Commissioners are spending Watauga County tax dollars supporting the state's move to abolish the ETJ. Apparently, they think voters WANT to their homes to be at the mercy of asphalt producers and developers. Who needs to protect home owner value when you can screw them over instead?
I have no idea why NCGOP has moved so far away from true Republican ideas - but it's at a huge cost to the state and its residents. Vote them all out in November!
The answer is sheer GREED.
ReplyDeleteWhat the Governor should have said based on my understanding of him being against the Charlotte law. "I disagree with the law passed in Charlotte, but I firmly believe local law makers should have the power to enact laws they feel that are in the best interest of their community." People of both parties would have respected this.
ReplyDeleteThe GOP says they are about small government and pushing power down to the local communities then strike down a local law and institute another for the whole state.
The GOP says they are about transparency then they rush a bill through without time for NC residents to talk to their representatives on how they feel about it.
The GOP says they are fiscally conservative then call an emergency session that costs the state thousands of dollars.
Where has my party gone?
Lew Hendricks
Holy Cow Lew, haven't you figured it out yet? The deep end and looking for votes in the short term.
ReplyDeleteTime to find a new party, Lew. I think in a bit you'll have at least two to choose from.
ReplyDeleteLew, "your party" has "gone" conservative. Maybe you should too before you again undertake to defeat a conservative GOP state rep in a Republican primary. Those liberals in Watauga County can't help you. Most all are registered Democrats. Of course, you can always change your party affiliation and try to defeat one of their left wingers in the next Democrat primary. Good luck with that!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - no they haven't. Spending money you don't have is not conservative. Pulling power up to the state level instead of pushing it down is not conservative. If the Democrats would have used the same tactics as the GOP is now the GOP would be yelling as loud as they could. I believe in a consistent approach to every issue.
ReplyDeleteThe current GOP is doing damage to themselves and unfortunately are putting the Governor's mansion, state house, and state senate in jeopardy.
Lew Hendricks
Lew, As a longtime conservative activist in NC, I am sure glad you lost badly to a moderate conservative in the recent GOP primary. With RINOS like you, who needs Democrats?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteSince you know me so well, what are my positions that would lead you to believe I am a RINO? Please be specific.
Lew Hendricks
Regularly posting here and not so much on the Watauga Conservative is a strong indicator of your political leanings. Criticizing the Republican General Assembly for reigning in a very liberal city council from enforcing a radical LGBT-backed public bathroom ordinance is another indicator.
ReplyDeleteAnd complaining about the cost of a special legislative is absurd. The state ran a $445 million revenue surplus the past fiscal year and a larger surplus is projected for this year. So the GOP-controlled NCGA is not spending money it doesn't have. There was an exigent need to act as the ordinance was scheduled to take effect April 1. You are just parroting liberal and Democrat criticism of Republicans in the General Assembly. This is another obvious sign of a RINO politician.
BTW, you need to familiarize yourself with the NC State Constitution. NC is not a "home rule" state, along with 37 other states. All powers and functions of local governments are granted by the state, which means the General Assembly is the ultimate arbitrator of what powers local governments can exercise. In the case of the Charlotte bathroom ordinance, the General Assembly decided that the City overstepped its state-granted regulatory authority and steed in to void the its action.
As a avid conservative, I support this state action. I would hope you would too if you were truly a conservative Republican.
I post here more than the Watauga Conservative due to this blog talking more about local and state issues and the Conservative blog talking more about national issues. I was running for state house and this blog talks more about issues I would be dealing with. And, obviously there are some conservatives that read this blog.
ReplyDeleteMy comment on "spending money they don't have" was in regard to the $2 billion bond fund. Not the cost of the special session.
I understand the state constitution. I understand they are allowed to do what they are doing. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
I did not take a stance on the actual law in Charlotte. I took a stance on the process and defending local communities making their own laws. I took a stance on shifting governmental power from the Federal to the state to the local. Last time I checked this is a conservative principle. One our General Assembly violated. It's easy to say you have these principles. It's another thing to adhere to them when you disagree with the actions of a local government and you have the ability to change it.
Lew Hendricks
One other action that might suggest a RINO. Challenging a three term, popular, mildly conservative state representative in a GOP primary and apparently running to his left. Or did you claim to be more conservative than Rep. Jordan?
ReplyDeleteBTW, Lew, what is your position on the Boone ETJ issue. Do you support the Town's regulation in the ETJ even though those residents are unable to have a say in Boone elections, or do you support Sen, Soucek's bill to protect individual property rights by removing ETJ jurisidiction from the Town?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering why you keep saying I was running to his left. Here are the main issues I ran on. The differences I had with Rep Jordan and the reasons I ran:
Education - We are not where we need to be. We need to start acting like it is the #1 priority instead of just talking about it. Prioritize public education and make tough decisions at the bottom of the budget. On this issue I was to the left of Rep. Jordan.
Bond Issue - I was against it for two main reasons. 1. I don't like spending money we don't have because I feel it puts the state in a weak position. (See the federal debt). 2. The items in the bond aren't bad, but I feel there are things higher on the priority list to spend money on. At the Ashe County GOP convention I spoke against it. Rep. Jordan and Rep. Arp spoke for it. Most of the people in the room agreed with me. On this issue I was to the right of Rep. Jordan.
Being a true representative - I did not take money from special interests and big money from outside the district. Rep. Jordan has taken massive amounts of money from these groups. Most of his campaigns including the one against me were funded by them. I cannot be bought. On this issue I wasn't to the right or left of Rep. Jordan. I was just right.
Anonymous - I am not a lawyer like Rep Jordan. I don't do nuance very well. I was an Army Officer and an Iraq war veteran. I do blunt force trauma. I am trained to fight for what is right. I don't let special interests or a political party tell me what right is. They haven't proven they put what is right before their own interests. Both parties are at fault in this regard.
Much like a lot of citizens I am tired of politics as usual. I knew it was bad. But, this campaign made me realize it is worse than I even thought.
Lew Hendricks
Lew: You think politics is worse that you thought? That's where you and I have a fundamental disagreement. The cynical criticism of our political system and our politicians is what is really bad for our system of representative democracy. Cynics on all sides of the political spectrum bitch and moan about how bad our politics are (is?), but no one comes up with a better alternative. That's because there is none.
ReplyDeleteI want a conservative with an optimistic, positive view of American democracy, not someone who is bashing our system but cannot offer a better alternative other than to "elect me."
BTW, I voted against the bond issue, too, but not for the same reasons you cited. I though there were way too many pork barrel projects included, but was ok with bond financing. This is the way state and local governments have traditionally financed long-term capital improvement project. It allows the costs to be spread among several generations who benefit from the improvements.
With regard to public education funding, I have posted many comments on other sites trying to show that the GOP has done a good job in increasing public education funding and proposing and adopting educational reforms. I don't want to get bogged down again here with those arguments. I would just encourage you to look at some objective data and analysis put out on web sites like Civitas and Carolina Journal, instead of falling for the the lies and distortions on this subject that are promoted by the liberal press, the teachers' union, the public education bureaucracy and the Democrat Party.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI feel like we might be boring the blog readers, so this will be my last post on this thread. Feel free to have the last word.
Our political system is great. The increased money into this system and the pulling of power up rather than pushing it down is taking us away from how it was designed. If I could do two things I would reform campaign finance and have term limits.
Education - I will give you the fact "increasing public education funding" if you give me the fact of population growth. I will give you the fact of "educational reforms" if you give me "school choice" isn't a thing in our rural communities like Watauga and Ashe. I sat in on a candidate forum at the John Locke Foundation (conservative think tank) and they didn't disagree with my point of view and set of facts. Both the right and left have twisted statistics like you assert. That's not what I purvey. I simply state we are not where we need to be and are moving too slowly in the public education realm.
Enjoyed the back and forth. I always learn something and approach all topics with an open mind. Feel free to email me at lew@hendricks4nchouse.com - It would be fun to get together and solve the world's problems over a beer. I'll even buy.
Lew Hendricks
Educational reform is much more than school choice. Ending teacher tenure is important as is a system of merit pay. Opening up the teaching profession to experienced professionals other than college education school graduates is also essential. But school choice is at the heart of educational reform. Without intense competition, the public schools will remain in a bureaucratic rut with little hope for change.
ReplyDeleteYou might enjoy the political debate at PoliticsNC It is a liberal dominated blog, but conservatives post there if they are not thin skinned and can laugh off the personal insults and invective.