Carolina Politics Online

North Carolina’s senators are supporting a measure that would make English the national language.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a Republican from Salisbury, said making English the country’s official language would eliminate government waste and “unite all Americans by providing a common form of communication.”

Charlotte Observer

I do think that this is important. One of the specific components of a culture is its language. It’s an important part of unification. Without it, you have the Tower of Babylon

Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill Monday moving Florida’s 2008 presidential primary up to Jan. 29, the same day as South Carolina’s Democratic primary.

The move could dramatically alter the Republican and Democratic presidential nominating campaigns. It puts Florida’s primary, which had been scheduled for March, behind only the Iowa and Nevada caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.

South Carolina Republicans are now considering moving up their primary ahead of its tentatively scheduled Feb. 2 date in order to keep it the first GOP primary in the South.

Charlotte Observer

This is really becoming absurd. We are getting to the point that pretty soon we are just going to have a national primary day all across the country and that will dramatically change the way we choose our President.

Gov. Mike Easley today joined the call for Rep. Thomas Wright, a fellow Democrat, to resign.

Easley also defended House Speaker Joe Hackney, a Chapel Hill Democrat, against a racially tinged scolding from the Legislative Black Caucus for Hackney’s statements Monday urging Wright to step down.

“Speaker Hackney was right and correct,” Easley said, adding his voice to the push to oust Wright, of Wilmington, who faces possible criminal prosecution for his handling of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

Charlotte Observer

Well there you have it. I imagine it is just a matter of time now until Wright caves to the pressure.

Fayetteville Mayor Tony Chavonne will seek a second term.

Chavonne, who is 52, is expected to make an official announcement at a June 7 fundraiser.

Fayetteville Observer

A bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and soon to be considered in the Senate would radically change the rules pertaining to union activity in the workplace and could open South Carolina to union activity like never seen before, a prominent labor attorney in Columbia said.

The Employee Free Choice Act, which passed in the House in a 214-185 vote Feb. 28, would be a “radical change” in the relationship between employer and employee, said William Floyd, an attorney with Nexsen Pruet LLC in Columbia.

SCBIZ

Calling this bill the Employee Free Choice Act grossly distorts what this bill does. It takes away the anonymity of a worker’s decision as to whether or not they care to unionize, thus opening the flood gates to union intimidation, a very common practice back in the mid twentieth century.

South Carolina is currently tied with North Carolina with the lowest proportion of union members in the nation. In 2006, of the 1.8 million workers in South Carolina, only 3.3% were members of unions, according to the AFL-CIO.

And I would argue that is why our two states are quickly growing, as opposed to the heavily unionized North where industry and population are going right down the drain.

The bottom line is unions have been losing membership for years because they are an antiquated cure of yesteryear. They had an important place in shaping workers’ conditions today, but their purpose has been served and it’s time they pat themselves on the back for a job well done and move on. Of course, like every group that pops up they get addicted to the influence and power they achieve and continue finding ways of keeping themselves relevant so they don’t have to let it go.

Despite outside pressure, Democratic colleagues of Rep. Thomas Wright declined to ask for his resignation Wednesday, a day after state elections officials handed his case to prosecutors for possible criminal charges.

The state Republican Party and campaign reform advocates called on Wright to give up his legislative seat after investigators presented evidence showing he may have spent more than $240,000 in campaign donations on personal expenses.

Fayetteville Observer

In all fairness, we are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, so I think it is premature to demand Wright’s resignation until the matter is fully investigated and his guilt can be proved.

City residents who saw their combined property taxes go up last year could get a break this year, albeit a small one.

The City Council has expressed interest in dropping the property tax rate from 42.38 cents to 42 cents per $100 of assessed value. By law, the council must make a final decision on the budget by June 30.

Asheville Citizen-Times

You have to cherish moments like these because there aren’t many of them.

Mecklenburg County’s property tax rate would increase if county commissioners approve the $1.46 billion budget proposed by County Manager Harry Jones Tuesday night.

The proposed budget would raise the tax rate by 3.25 cents for most county taxpayers. That would mean a $65 annual increase in the tax bill for a home with a tax valuation of $200,000.

Charlotte Observer

With Mecklenburg County growing by leaps and bounds you have to wonder why all the new tax revenue coming in from new businesses and residents aren’t enough to meet the county budget.

To prevent school shootings, some South Carolina legislators want more guns on campuses.A House subcommittee approved a measure Wednesday that would allow concealed weapon permit holders to carry guns onto public school campuses, from elementary schools to universities. Supporters say having trained and armed gun owners in schools could prevent massacres like the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech, where one armed student killed 32 people.

Charlotte Observer

I think this is long overdue, all across the nation. Gun free zones are simply a farce and VT proved that one.

Spending is one of those prickly issues that the media has seemed to assign as too boring, the pundits as too complex, and the candidates as too dangerous to really delve into. While that leaves journalists time to focus on the fate of Paris Hilton, this “hear, see and speak no evil” approach to how much government we want in our lives, and how much of it we are really paying for, is extremely dangerous for every one of us who pays taxes.

For the candidates in this crowded field, the spending debate represents a real opportunity. It is a big issue that will make a difference in every American’s life in the years ahead, and it’s an area that has not been graced with leadership. Let’s face it: My party, the Republicans, have been in control, and they have blown it when it comes to government spending. The fine-print disclaimer on the demise of the Republican Congress should read: “We really didn’t want less control of your money — we just wanted to put it toward a few different causes.”

The Politico

Couldn’t have put it better myself.

Durham Mayor Bill Bell says the city’s report on what happened during the Duke lacrosse sexual assault probe lacked answers and that he wants the state to review the matter.

Bell said that the report by Police Chief Steve Chalmers didn’t say whether police or the prosecutor Mike Nifong was in charge of the investigation. In the report, Chalmers admitted botching the photo lineup of suspects for the woman who said she was assaulted at a March 2006 lacrosse team party.

Winston-Salem Journal

Michael Nifong should be publicly hanged by his testicles. He knowingly put these three innocent young men through Hell for no other reason than to further his own political career. Saying this was a travesty of justice doesn’t begin to describe the damage he has done to our justice system.

The public gets a chance to comment at 7 tonight on the $1.6 billion budget proposed by City Manager Pam Syfert. This year’s budget, which doesn’t have a property tax increase, includes:

• About a $3 increase in water and sewer rates and a 7 percent rise in stormwater costs.

• Eleven new jobs in solid waste services

• Continued funding for 70 new police positions, hired mostly in the last year.

• A 3.7 percent raise for police officers, plus an additional 5 percent to bring Charlotte’s salaries in line with what other cities pay.

• An average 3.7 percent raise for all other city employees.

Following the public hearing, the City Council will discuss the budget again at a meeting Wednesday.

The council is expected to adopt the budget June 11

Charlotte Observer

A Clemson track coach told her athletes that becoming pregnant could jeopardize their scholarships, but no students lost their aid and the policy was dropped, the South Carolina school said Monday.

The warnings came to light Sunday when ESPN, citing an anonymous female athlete at the school, reported that at least seven current and former Clemson athletes had abortions for fear of losing their scholarships. The athlete told the sports network that she had an abortion after a school official told her she could lose her scholarship.

Charlotte Observer

I can’t help to wonder how much more stupid our kids and younger adults are going to become with each passing year. I’m sorry, but 7 students? Don’t these people know what the hell is a rubber is?

A number of local festivals are funded partially through competitive grants, Gross said, and those festivals have little lasting impact on the state.

“In my mind,” he said, “festivals are not legitimate economic development.”

After the Senate and House approved their proposed budgets, the S.C. Club for Growth released a “Lard List” of legislative pork that included museums in Lake City and Florence, as well as a pottery degree at Piedmont Technical College. Six festivals across the state that received money through the competitive grant program last year also were on the “Lard List.”

Sanford has been a critic of the budget as well, installing a “clock” outside his office to tabulate new Senate spending at $33 per second.

The Herald

I guess this is why I have to pay a personal property tax on my car every year. Could you imagine the cotton candy shortages at the festivals and lack of culture at PTC from all the pottery hippies migrating away to pick mushrooms in Oregon?

Sanford has argued the state’s new income money could be used to cut income taxes, which would spur investment across the state.

Cooper said the House would push for its $81 million income tax cut, as well as the Senate’s $90 million reduction of the state grocery sales tax to 1 percent from 3 percent.

Mark Sanford is an F’ing rock star!

Republicans from across the country convene in Columbia on Tuesday to watch 10 GOP presidential candidates debate for the second time.

The Herald

South Carolina is an important state that all eyes will be on next year, as it is the third primary following New Hampshire and Iowa. Expect to see a lot of the presidential hopeful over the next year, ad nauseam.

I also hope that this debate actually has some substance. I never heard so many stupid questions at any political debate in my life as I did at the Chris Matthews moderated one last week. It was embarrassing.

Conservatives who paid $55 Thursday night to hear pundit Ann Coulter bad-mouth liberal Democrats and their ideas were not disappointed.

The author of “Godless: The Church of Liberalism” spoke to a crowd of about 400 at Southern Evangelical Seminary in Matthews. She called former President Clinton a “rapist,” referred to the “chubby little legs” of his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and said she likes to refer to Sen. Barrack Obama as “B. Hussein Obama.”

Charlotte Observer

Ann was her usual “eloquent” self. Not even the sanctimonious walls of a holy seminary can apparently put water on her fire.

RALEIGH –
N.C. House Democrats want to extend two temporary taxes set to expire and create a tax credit for low-income working people, according to new budget documents released Monday.

The two taxes — an extra halfpenny on the sales tax and a boost in the income tax bracket for the state’s highest wage earners — were originally approved in 2001. The General Assembly last year began phasing them out by reducing them.

The House plan would stop the phase-out, projected to be completed this year, and keep the taxes on the books another two years.

Charlotte Observer

Democrats raising taxes. Who’d have pegged that one…………