The popularity of this Web site has grown more than I ever imagined it would and I would like to keep that momentum going, but I don’t think I can do it alone anymore. I have a busy schedule. I have a full time job, am in the process of looking for a second part-time job for the extra cash, and I am starting graduate school in a few weeks. That will reduce a lot of the time I will have to keep this blog updated enough to keep people engaged and coming back for more.

That being the case, I am looking for writers! Republican, Democrat, conservative, liberal, it really doesn’t matter to me. I am an independent, myself, with a libertarian view so I at times side , and at other time butt heads, with both sides of the aisle. Also, the addition of more authors will allow more local politics to be discussed. I generally only have enough eyes to deal with state government level and above unless some largely publicized scandal hits in some small town somewhere.

Furthermore, additional writers will be able to contribute more eyes on the ground. I am fairly attune to what goes on in the Charlotte metropolitan area because that is where I live, but once I get outside those boundaries my knowledge of the people and local players elsewhere becomes limited to what I read and what research I can do.

If you are interested please email me at admin@carolinapoliticsonline.com

A candidate running for a House seat in Richland and Kershaw counties has asked his opponent to sever her ties with a third-party group that advocates using tax credits to pay for private schools.

In a letter to his opponent, Sheri Few, David Herndon said he has concerns about the campaign tactics of South Carolinians for Responsible Government. In the past, Herndon wrote, the group has attacked candidates with which it has disagreed.

In 2006 the group sent out numerous mail pieces critical of Rep. Bill Cotty, the retiring Republican who now represents the district.

The State

If Herndon can’t take the heat he ought to get out of the kitchen. Of course a group is going to run ads against a candidate whose positions they don’t support. That doesn’t make it an attack ad. Too many candidates seem to think that when they are called on their record they are being attacked. In Herndon’s case, they haven’t run anything against him so why is he making an issue out of something that hasn’t even happened?

I am not going to support nor condemn SCRG’s tactics, but it seems to me they are about the only ones trying to seriously fix the failure of public education in this state.

State lawmakers may have a fatter budget surplus than they originally thought, though it remains far less than in previous years.

Economic analysts for the state legislature now estimate that North Carolina will have a budget surplus of about $150 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Last month, the budget surplus estimate had dropped to as low as $15 million as economists feared the slowing economy was leading to a significant drop in tax collections.

The News & Observer

So with a $150 million surplus will the North Carolina State Legislature do the responsible thing and return that money to the taxpayers in the form of an income tax cut, or will they frivolously spend it away?

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said he will propose suspending the federal tax of 18.4 cents a gallon for the summer in a measure on the Senate floor as early as next week.

“On a very short-term basis, I think Sen. (John) McCain’s got a really good idea — relieve that tax,” said Graham, R-S.C.

The idea also has been widely touted by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. Democratic candidate Barack Obama has dismissed it as a political gimmick that will not solve the real problems of soaring demand and dwindling supply.

The Greenville News

This is an entirely stupid idea.  The Federal Gas tax is needed to maintain the transportation infrastructure in this country.  By suspending it we are taking money out of that pool and creating an even larger deficit that the government is already running for this fiscal year.  Barack Obama is correct in saying that this is nothing more than a political gimmick.  It’s pandering to the worst degree and will not solve the gas price crisis.

The days of $1.50 per gallon gas are behind us and it’s fine time that Americans get that through their heads.  The developing world, mainly China and India, are consuming more of the oil resources than in previous years.  That combined with instability in the Middle East due to the Iraq War and the unwillingness of many of our own elected officials to allow us to drill within our own freaking borders are all contributing to the skyrocketing prices.

John William Ingram V has been named the new sheriff of Brunswick County to replace Ronald Hewett, who resigned after he was suspended and charged with embezzlement and obstructing justice.

The Wilmington Star-News reported that Ingram was selected Saturday in a secret ballot by the county Democratic Party to serve the rest of Hewett’s term that ends in 2010.

The Fayetteville Observer

Under the N.C. Public Records Act, the Observer obtained more than 1,100 pages of e-mails, letters and other previously confidential documents. Those records and interviews with key players detail what happened behind the scenes:

• Concord City Council underestimated how Smith would react when, under pressure from homeowners near the proposed drag strip, they voted to block the project.

• Even after they realized their miscalculation, weeks slipped by before they developed a pitch to convince Smith to stay.

• Smith dispatched two old friends to negotiate for him, and they brainstormed the deal with public officials.

• To woo Smith, leaders sent him an overflowing fruit basket with pineapple and chocolates shaped like tiny race cars.

• And a last-minute decision cost taxpayers millions more than officials had expected.

Ultimately, leaders concluded that losing the speedway would be too big of an economic blow. So they agreed to a deal they still don’t know how to pay for.

Charlotte Observer

In other words, the City Council screwed the pooch, which we already knew. They underestimated their town’s cash cow and realized it too late. They panicked and handled it about as well as using bubble gum to plug holes in a leaking dam. Now the taxpayers may be getting the bill.

Smith isn’t innocent either, mind you.  He played his hand too.  The Observer has the whole date by date breakdown in detail.  Take a few minutes to read it all.  It’s enlightening.

Rasmussen Reports, which I have always felt are the most accurate of all pollsters, has released a survey from May 8th showing Democratic nominee Kay Hagan leading incumbent Elizabeth Dole by one percentage point. For obvious reasons, this is not good news for Dole. Whenever an incumbent falls below 50% in a poll it is a sign of vulnerability, more so when they are trailing the challenger.

Former Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph, whose departure last fall triggered a bitter Democratic Party clash over his replacement, formally switched parties Friday.

Pendergraph went to the board of elections and became a Republican.

“It’s something I’ve been debating for years,” he told the Source. “They said I was nothing but a Republican in Democratic clothing anyway….

“I just can’t be a part of what’s going on anymore. My grandparents were blue-dog Democrats and my parents were. I’ve got to tell you, I haven’t changed. The party left me.”

Charlotte Observer

Oh, I hear you Jim.  It is shameful what has become of the Democratic Party.  It has become a party of Socialists and Marxists, a harbor for the immoral, a home for those who despise the idea that America is a great nation, and a crutch for everyone who wants to weasel out of their responsibilities.  I too made the change to the Republican Party several years ago, but eventually left them as well and became independent.  The GOP has its own set of issues too.  Independent is the best way to be, in my opinion.

Dan Blue has received most of his campaign money from special interest PAC’s to include ElectriCities $1000 and Time Warner Cable $250. You can go to the State Board of Elections site and look under Campaign Finance. One has to wonder where his interests really are. There is a nice multi-page post on ElectriCities and all of the corruption and mismanagement allegations surrounding it on the blog Talking about Politics. And I am glad to see that Dan is receiving support from another multi-billion dollar conglomerate. Will Dan Blue also vote to give millions in tax exemptions to TWC as he has done with Google, Bridgestone, and Goodyear?

RALEIGH — Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory, in his first attack of the general election, slammed his Democratic rival Friday for supporting a policy that allows illegal immigrants to attend the state’s community colleges.

But Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue shares McCrory’s opinion.

Perdue has made it clear that she opposes a community college policy — supported by Gov. Mike Easley — that orders all 58 campuses to admit illegal immigrants who are 18 years old and high school graduates.

“I think the policy is ill-conceived for North Carolina, although I’m very respectful of it,” Perdue said in April.

Charlotte Observer

It would seem that the claim is a stretch, however the McCrory campaign has a response to this.

When asked Friday about the discrepancy, McCrory’s political strategist, Jack Hawke, said Perdue had failed to take action as president pro tem of the Senate or a community college board member to reverse the policy.

“If she took a stand today, it’s a stand that appears to be in conflict with all of the actions she’s taken up until this point,” he said.

The Lieutenant Governor has little power to really do anything other than break ties in the Senate so I don’t think Perdue can honestly be criticized for taking no action in that capacity.  However, it is fair to point out a lack of action on her behalf as a member of the state community college board.  All and all, I think the McCrory campaign could better spend their money on policy differences that aren’t a bait and switch.  I don’t think this one will have much legs.

“I got a call from the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) earlier today,” Mumpower said Thursday afternoon. “And I told them we were not interested in their money. I believe that organization has passively supported our leadership in abandoning their principles, and I have no interest in aligning myself with a self-serving organization.”

Mumpower said the caller was “a little stunned.”

“But I’m not interested in the tail wagging the dog,” he said. “I’m going to run an authentic maverick campaign.”

Asheville Citizen-Times

Haha! I’ll bet the caller was stunned! I don’t really have an opinion on Mumpower. All I know about him is what I have read in the media, but this just upped him in my book.

He is right, though. The Republican Party is a joke today. They threw away everything that made them appeal to Americans. The leadership is incompetent at the national level and the party as a whole even at the state level in many cases has become self-serving. People aren’t falling for their red herrings any more, but that message has yet to sink through to them. George Bush’s legacy will be the downfall of his own party.

President Bush has nominated Walt Wilkins to serve as the next U.S. attorney for South Carolina., U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint announced Wednesday.

Wilkins is an assistant U.S. attorney in Greenville, where he has prosecuted cases involving mortgage fraud, large-scale gambling and human trafficking. He has a degree from USC’s School of Law.

The State

Gov. Mark Sanford today said he would veto the Senate’s cigarette tax hike if it comes to his desk in its current form.

Sanford said the state should not raise any tax without an offsetting tax cut.

He criticized the Senate plan as a “double tax increase” for the way it increases taxes immediately, but will also mean having to raise taxes later on to cover future growth in the programs it seeks to expand.

The State

Praise God for Mark Sanford and his fiscal sanity.  It’s unfortunate it doesn’t rub off on the rest of his party.  I just pointed out these same criticisms in a post of my own the other day.   This will inevitably lead to a larger tax increase down the road.  Every member of the Senate who voted for this voted for a future tax increase as well.

The bill would eliminate the state’s Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test and replace it with a test that would give teachers more timely feedback, require a review of the state’s accountability system every five years and restructure the annual school report cards so they are shorter.

Some lawmakers say state law doesn’t need to be changed for ideas in the bill to become a reality. Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, circulated a letter Thursday that said state law gives Rex authority to develop the state’s assessment program.

The Post and Courier

Spending resources on developing another version of the aptitude test is just a waste of time.  The only thing that is going to improve the failure we call public education is competition and allowing teacher to actually teach instead of teaching students to pass a test.  It’s amazing to me how awful the education system is in this country and the educative establishment across the nation just keeps modifying the same failing approaches.

Democrats believe winning is a higher priority than the children and citizens in North Carolina. Please refer to communist China, Soviet Union, and North Korea when talking about one party states. They don’t work there and they are certainly not working here.

Your win by all costs attitude just emboldens me more to fight for the people of this state. Failed mental health programs, revolving door prisons, crumbling roads, exponentially expanding state budgets, corrupt and secretive government, state appointments by how much you contribute, and being the highest tax state in the south. Should I go on? It could take a few pages.

My positions would be:

1)Education: Reduce the administrative costs in our schools and increase the instructive materials budget and vocational programs. Remove teachers from non-teaching positions and place them in the classrooms to act as mentors and to help lower the student to teacher ratios.

2)Taxes and budget: Eliminate the millions given to billion dollar corporations. Eliminate earmarks altogether and require ANY spending bill to be voted on as it’s own bill. Require any entity or agency that receives state money to show where every cent is spent. Eliminate once and for all the temporary taxes that are in place. Turn the Department of Transportation into a elected body with only the chairman appointed by the Governor.

3)Crime: Require the state prison system to come up with a new comprehensive building plan for new prisons. Released habitual offenders cost us more than just money. Ensure that the state creates a comprehensive records system that all law enforcement agencies can link to and receive instant results. It should include computer programs that alert the proper authorities when needed.

4)Illegal aliens: Ensure that all efforts are used to capture, detain, and deport all persons of any nationality back to their home country. Pass a law in North Carolina that makes it a felony with six figure fines for any business and owner who knowingly hires illegal aliens.

I have positions on more issues. Please contact me with any questions.

Paul Terrell III

Terrell III for State House

Republican nominee for the 33rd district-North Carolina State House

4549 Tollington Drive

Raleigh, NC 27604

919-523-0304 Cell

http://www.wakegop.org/paul-terrell.htm

Paul Terrell III is a conservative blue collar worker who will do things in Raleigh for House district 33’s citizens.

Easley’s staff introduced proposals for $31 million for programs to benefit uninsured children, farm and poultry plant workers and sexual assault victims.

“One of the most important roles of government is to look after and protect the basic human rights of those who cannot stand up for themselves,” Easley said in a news release.

The News & Observer

Yes, government should protect the peoples’ rights, but that does not include engaging in wealth redistribution from the productive to the lesser or non-productive.  Health insurance is not a right  Easley’s statement is nothing more than Socialist gibberish.

The proposals Easley announced Thursday included $10.4 million for expanded child health insurance coverage. The federal government would triple the state’s commitment, and Easley’s staff figures that amount would pay for health insurance for an additional 10,683 children. Currently more than 120,000 children are covered by the state’s program, said Dan Gerlach, a senior budget adviser to Easley.

By expanding this program the Easley administration is allowing more parents to shirk their responsibility of providing for their own children.  This leads to more of the same behavior down the road.  These parents need to own up and take care of their own kids like the rest of society.

Easley also proposed spending $600,000 so that uninsured women do not have to pay for the cost of a rape kit examination, a medical procedure necessary to find evidence for a sexual assault prosecution.

Now this I agree with.  No victim of sexual assault should have to pay for the cost of the examination to prove it.  This is a crime and should be paid for by the state just like any other judicial or legal state expense.

It’s good news if you’re a Cary tax payer. The Fiscal Year 2009 proposed budget lowers the property tax rate to 33 cents.

The rate is currently 42 cents.

Town Manager Bill Coleman presented the approximately $306 million proposed budget to council at the May 8 council meeting.

The budget, which is 20 percent lower than the current year’s adopted budget, includes $166,324,973 in proposed operations spending—a seven percent increase over the current year’s adopted operating budget; the $139,403,714 in proposed capital project spending is a 38 percent decrease from the current year’s adopted capital budget, according to town documents.

Cary News

Most properties in Cary have increased in value so the city is able to lower the property tax rate while maintaining revenue neutrality. This is how a responsible government operates.

The treasurer for Andy Dulin’s N.C. Senate campaign said Thursday that a campaign finance complaint filed against the campaign amounted to “political hijinks.”

Mike Ellison, the treasurer, also said he had no explanation for why the State Board of Elections has not received a disclosure form that was required to be postmarked by April 28 and that Ellison said he mailed May 1.

Charlotte Observer

Dulin Campaign Financing in Question

South Carolina House members delayed taking action on amendments to a $7 billion state budget that would restore money to college research and tourism programs.

A mix-up in the 180-page amendment’s drafting and extended debate on an immigration bill left House members saying Wednesday they wanted more time to review changes to the Senate version of the spending plan.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dan Cooper told members the biggest changes included restoring $10 million for research programs and $10 million for tourism promotion the Senate dropped as it cut $180 million from the budget last month.

The State

I would really like to know who the gluttons are that put forth these amendments.  This is just incredible.  The state is trying to make responsible cuts across the board to avoid a budget deficit and yet you still have a handful of jack asses that won’t take no for an answer.

SUMMERVILLE — The continuing drama of a state senator demanding a trial after spending a night in jail on a DUI charge enters a new chapter.

State Sen. Randy Scott, R-Summerville, who was arrested April 19 and released the next morning on a personal recognizance bond, will face the Spartanburg solicitor’s office when he goes before a jury to fight the charges.

Calling in the solicitor’s office for a driving under the influence charge is an unprecedented development for Dorchester County that shows the political stakes of the case, according to Scott’s attorney, Reese Joye of North Charleston.

The audio clips of the phone calls as well as the arrest video are back on the Post and Courier’s Web site.  You can view and listen to them there.