New Developments in the GOP War on NC Cities

Two measures aimed at micromanaging North Carolina cities from the plush seats in the NC General Assembly are being fast-tracked this week. Those boys believe in "local control" only when "local control" kowtows to their ideology.

The new laws -- one of them tucked into the bill to move fracking along at an accelerated pace -- will very likely decimate municipalities by monkeying with their revenue streams.

Best part of the article is when the reporter gets around to asking Governor McCrory, who was Charlotte mayor for a long time, what he thought about these power grabs, and "a McCrory spokesman said the office was 'still evaluating the impact this proposal would have on local and state government.' ”

You have to be adept at McCrory speak to understand what that meant. It meant, "I'm not saying anything until my bosses in the General Assembly tell me what I think."

Suppressing the "Ignorant"

Hattip to John L. Robinson for directing our attention to an editorial by one Charles Davenport Jr. published a week ago in the Greensboro News & Record in which Mr. Davenport came out four-square for voter suppression, thus putting into print what many Republicans will only say in private:

The ignorant among us — and they are legion — should not be allowed within 100 yards of a polling place. In fact, their votes should be actively suppressed, and until they are, the fewer votes cast, the better.

Riiight!

Considering that most of the conservatives we read on a regular basis libel those who disagree as "libtards" whose "intelligence" is sub-scum, we can guess how they might want to test "intelligence."

Preemptive Strafing of the Right to Protest in Raleigh

In the United States, as the Supreme Court has instructed us, money is speech, and that's certainly been true in North Carolina, especially since Art Pope seized control of the government.

In North Carolina, however, speech is not necessarily free, especially if you're trying to speak through the Moral Monday protests, which will crank up again this coming Monday at the Legislative Building in Raleigh.

Nothing has riled our betters in the General Assembly like thousands of citizens demanding justice, fairness, and logic in the way our government is operated. So yesterday and essentially in secret, an obscure "commission" voted to change the rules on how you can get your ass arrested for protesting at the Legislative Building in Raleigh.

Of greatest concern is the vagueness of undefined terms used in the new rules, and the discretion given to Capitol police (who dangle on Speaker Thom Tillis's strings anyway -- let's be honest) to decide on their own definitions. The new rules prohibit acting in a manner that would “imminently disturb” the General Assembly.

"Disturb"? Some of the Honorables are deeply disturbed at the very thought that there are people who actually disagree with their agenda. So the sight of them alone might excite a good case of the vapors. Republican Senator Thom Goolsby was so disturbed that he generously labeled them "Monday Morons."

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/05/15/4912967/legislature-adopts-new-rules-on.html#storylink=cpy

Starting next Monday, we'll see how Mr. Tillis and his drones define the new language.

Laff of the Day

"Republicans know how to budget."

--Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, the chief budget writer in the NC House, yesterday at a Republican legislative press conference

Yeah, right.

With their masterful budgeting, teachers are leaving both the state and the profession in droves. With their goddamn skillful budgeting, the state faces a $400 million shortfall in revenue, which will be taken out of the already bare hides of the poorest, the hungriest, the sickest among us.

O Lord, protect us from what the Republicans consider their greatest talents!

Will David Blust et al. Run as "Nathan Miller Republicans"?

Reading about County Commission Chair Nathan Miller's vindictiveness toward Watauga County Schools and seeing that Commissioners David Blust and Perry Yates were nothing but bobble-heads in agreement with the Miller agenda raise a question about the November elections in Watauga County.

Does the local GOP intend to run on the Miller record and uphold the Miller philosophy?

Where does Karen Lerch stand on Nathan Millerism? She has been overheard to say that she hasn't even studied the "issues" yet, but a moment of truth approaches for her.

What about Jimmy Hodges?

Commissioner David Blust has departed from Millerism at times, especially (and most recently) on the quickie deal engineered by County Attorney Four Eggers that would have given the town of Beech Mountain access to Watauga River water. And on that other scheme to build a commercial business park on Hwy 194. Political considerations (that is, reality) overruled Blust's usual party-line kowtowing to Miller on those votes. Otherwise, Blust is generally in complete and serene agreement with his chair.

As it's been Nathan Millerism that has dominated actions and attitudes for the last two years on the Watauga County Commission, this upcoming County Commission election is likely to be a referendum on a man who is in the process of being involuntarily sidelined from political office because of his personality, his political philosophy, and his character.

An Independent Strikes Back

An independent candidate, Michael Lentz, is trying to get on the ballot in Wilkes and Alleghany counties (NC House District 94) to run against Republican Jeffrey Elmore, who is otherwise unchallenged for reelection. Lentz needs 1,800 signatures of Wilkes/Alleghany registered voters to make the ballot.

In his roll-out email, Lentz said:

While I have long shared the progressive stances of moderates in both the Democratic and Republican parties, the recent tendency toward extremism and downright incompetence on the part of the spokespersons of both factions in North Carolina has led me to declare my independence of both formal party structures. I offer myself to the voters of the 94th District as an Independent dedicated to a common sense approach to addressing the problems facing the common people of our district and North Carolina.

It's going to be a steep hill to climb, getting those 1,800 signatures, and an even steeper hill if he actually gets on the ballot to overtake Elmore, who's been a safe Republican cog in the Raleigh conservative machine. But we can dream, can't we?

Lentz stakes out positions that will make him anathema to the Republican right-wing base:

I believe in a nonpartisan common sense approach to government that improves the lives of the people and communities in the 94th District. I want to promote respect for our professional educators, a fair system of taxation, protect our beautiful natural resources and seek health care for all citizens.

His website is here.

Woot!

The Appalachian State University claimed the first spot in the Campus Conservation Nationals 2014 contest, an annual spring competition among colleges in the United States and Canada to save energy and water.

The North Carolina University scored top marks in the energy conservation competition for promoting disconnection of unused electronics and switching off lights when not in use in the student community, among other such measures.

"This tangible mobilization of hundreds of thousands of students reducing energy consumption, promoting sustainability and actively mitigating the effects of climate change shows that the next generation is ready for change and is no longer willing to wait for decision makers to address the issues at hand," Hannah Debelius, U.S. Green Building Council Students program manager at the Center for Green Schools, said in a statement.... [University Herald]

Who Sez that Republicans Are Good Money Managers?

Here's Republican civic and financial "management" of North Carolina in a handy nutshell:

"State revenues are lower than expected because of the tax cuts adopted last year." (N&O, today)

Those tax cuts went mainly to the rich and to powerful corporations, not to you, O my brethren.

"Legislative budget writers received a memo from the legislative fiscal office last week that estimated a $62 million to $94 million Medicaid shortfall this year." (ditto)

Ah! The cost of throwing a partisan brickbat at the Affordable Care Act! Republicans in the General Assembly don't pay. We pay. All of us.

ead more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/05/10/3852020/short-session-but-a-busy-agenda.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/05/10/3852020/short-session-but-a-busy-agenda.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

Thom Tillis: Moving Back to the Center Is Gonna Be Mighty Hard

The thing about losing Republican Senate candidate Greg Brannon was that he'd never run for nor held any elective office.

The thing about winning Republican Senate candidate Thom Tillis is that he has and therefore owns a nice, big, juicy public record to prove how far to the right he's been.

The current public approval rating for the NC General Assembly is somewhere around 26%, and Thom Tillis as Speaker of the NC House can be justifiably cited as the author of that dismal dislike by the general public.

"Under Tillis, the GOP passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage, a repeal of the estate tax, laws mandating a photo ID for voting, new abortion restrictions, funding for vouchers and charter schools, looser restrictions for fracking and even cuts to unemployment insurance. Republicans have also declined to take the Obamacare Medicaid expansion and refused to set up a state exchange for the Affordable Care Act. It was a Republican dream." (John D. Nichols)

That's just for starters. Tillis actually recorded a radio ad that bragged that he had rejected health care for some 500,000 poor North Carolinians who might otherwise have been covered by Medicaid:

Female Announcer: Tillis stopped Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion cold. It’s not happening in North Carolina and it’s because of Thom Tillis. He led the conservative revolution in Raleigh.

Now Thom's gonna have to answer for that and for a lot more. His difficulties getting away from that record were deliciously highlighted by this video, which was actually shot at Tillis's victory party last Tuesday night.

Ouch.