Carolina Politics Online

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, along with 28 of her colleagues, urged Senate leadership to fully fund a long-term extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) if a reauthorization of the program is not enacted by Dec. 14, when the current extension will expire.

Asheville Citizen-Times

That’s right, Liddy.  We need to tax the cigarettes all of those kids are buying so we can give them socialist health care.  Someone is pandering because they are up for reelection.

Republican Sen. Robert Pittenger of Charlotte announced Thursday he won’t run for re-election to the state Senate next year, taking what he calls “another step towards running for Lieutenant Governor.”

Pittenger, a three-term incumbent, endorsed former state Sen. Robert Rucho for his seat. His district covers south Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

Charlotte Observer

This will be interesting to see how this plays out. Pittenger has been very outspoken on the illegal immigrant problem in North Carolina and that will be a big issue with voters across the nation next year.

“Hola” is the salutation that parents, students and various employees from Edgecombe County Public Schools would like to greet a new Spanish teacher with at Tarboro High School.

Unfortunately, it is seven weeks later and those at ECPS have had little luck at finding a person to fill the void. They are saying the job is “abierto”– still open.

The Daily Southerner

With all the illegal aliens running around North Carolina it can’t be that hard to find a Spanish teacher.

A racketeering lawsuit filed by Smithfield Foods could deter unions across the nation from criticizing corporations, some legal experts say.After a 15-year struggle to fend off unionization of Smithfield’s giant Bladen County plant — the world’s largest pork slaughterhouse — the company is alleging that the union amounts to a criminal organization.

Smithfield is one of a handful of corporations fighting unions with a federal law often used in mob prosecutions. As a result, the suit has taken one of the Southeast’s largest union fights into new territory.

The News & Observer

This is sadly what too many unions have evolved into today.  Unions had their place in our country’s history and they produced many of the fringe benefits enjoyed by today’s workforce, however they are now an antiquated fixture in the labor market and some of them do more harm than good.  This is a good example.  I hope Smithfield gets awarded a judgment in this suit because these kinds of sleazy activities by strong armed unions have got to stop.  They have outlived their purpose and now they exist only to exist.

“I am disappointed that by bureaucratic decisions our Community College System will reward illegal activity and allow individuals who have broken the law to attend North Carolina’s community colleges. Year after year community college administrators have assured Republican legislators that illegal aliens are not eligible for admission. We now learn that, all along, illegal aliens have been eligible and admitted. I can not decide whether I am more disturbed about the legal opinion or the past purposeful deception. The people of North Carolina have had enough of government officials saying one thing and doing another. They are especially tired of state officials claiming on the one hand that the illegal immigration problem is solely the result of failures at the Federal level while at the same time, by purposeful state action, North Carolina has encouraged illegal immigration with lax rules relating to driver’s licenses and easy access to our already over burdened system of higher education. The current Republican administration in Washington has received justifiable criticism for its failures; it is past time that Democrats, in control of North Carolina’s executive and legislative branches, are likewise held accountable.”

The Lincoln Tribune

South Carolina will be the litmus test of whether star power can deliver votes.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign announced Monday that iconic talk show host Oprah Winfrey will campaign for friend and fellow Chicagoan Sen. Barack Obama at a Dec. 9 rally in Columbia.

South Carolinians and voters in other early primary states will get their chance to see both of the O’s — the media mogul and philanthropist and the Illinois presidential hopeful — during the two-day campaign swing.

Time and location have yet to be announced, but tickets can be reserved online by going to my.barackobama.com/page/s/scoprah.

The State

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., says “support is overwhelming” from most Orangeburg County residents for a Dubai company’s plans to build a logistics hub there.

Clyburn said he has received letters from a few residents opposing the project because of concerns about increased truck traffic.

But “most people think about the future,” said Clyburn, who, as majority whip, is the Democrats’ chief vote-gatherer in the House and its third-ranking member.

Jafza International of Dubai announced plans in September to build a complex of warehouses on a 1,324-acre site on Interstate 95 near Santee that is expected to employ 5,500 people and draw investments worth $600 million by 2015.

The State

Put down another win for South Carolina.  This is great news!

Dr. Walter “Buddy” Witherspoon, a Lexington County orthodontist and Republican National committeeman, said he will challenge U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in next year’s Republican primary.

Witherspoon said he is a constitutional purist, who believes the United States needs to immediately stem illegal immigration. He traveled the state Tuesday, continuing today, to officially kick off his candidacy.

“I see a great deal of unrest around South Carolina,” Witherspoon said of why he decided to run.

“We’ve got to maintain what that document (the U.S. Constitution) stands for.”

The State

Good luck to Witherspoon.  Lindsey Graham has simply become part of the Washington crowd now.  He has snubbed the people of our state that he is supposed to be representing and I hope someone can take him down next year.

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul told students at the College of Charleston Tuesday that many see him as a radical candidate, but it’s mainstream politics that’s really on the fringe.

“It’s an extreme idea to start wars,” said Paul, a Texas congressman who has opposed U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Paul said central economic planning doesn’t make much sense, either, adding that he supports smaller government, states’ rights, and phasing out of the Federal Reserve and safety-net programs including Social Security.

The Post and Courier

I like Ron Paul. He is certainly a little out there on some of his ideas, but if we really get back to a country of lower government and personal responsibility I think he is the strongest candidate in the field.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her first visit to Spartanburg as a candidate, picked up endorsements from several dozen black ministers Tuesday here. She and fellow Democrat Barack Obama have been locked in a tight battle for black voters in South Carolina.

The clergy were drawn to Clinton for her views on health care, jobs and other issues, said a state representative who helped organize the endorsements. “They felt this was the best candidate addressing their concerns,” said state Rep. Harold Mitchell, a Democrat from Spartanburg who announced last month that he was backing the Clinton campaign.

The Herald-Journal

This has got to be the dumbest group of ministers on planet Earth.

An Horry County judge today ruled against a motion by 10 Surfside Beach businesses to place a temporary restraining order against the town so they can allow customers to smoke indoors.Judge Steven John found the businesses did not show enough evidence their profits are suffering because of the town’s ordinance prohibiting smoking inside public buildings.

The Sun News

The hell with their profits, what about their private property rights that got stolen from them when the ban was passed? That’s what the judge should have been focused on.

Most people who win lawsuits don’t challenge the results.Not Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, who said Tuesday the state could save taxpayer money if the South Carolina Supreme Court would reconsider its decision to dismiss a lawsuit against a budget board on which the governor sits.

The lawsuit, filed by the grassroots group Change South Carolina Now, claimed the State Budget and Control Board was unconstitutional because lawmakers elected one of their own as treasurer. It named Sanford as a defendant because he is on the board.

The Greenville News

S.C. Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson issued the following statement today, as U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner for president, visits South Carolina:

“Hillary Clinton is touting herself as the right candidate to change our country, but her idea of change is wrong for America – and wrong for South Carolina.  On the campaign trail, she has repeatedly promised to raise taxes, socialize medicine and surrender in Iraq.  In the U.S. Senate, her idea of change was voting to undercut our troops, saddle working families with higher taxes and fund abortions with federal dollars.  The change Hillary Clinton promises to bring proves she’s out of touch with voters across this State and across America.”

 

The State

It’s not even the issue as much as how Hillary manipulates her views to be on every side of just about every issue.  How can anyone possibly vote for this woman when she simply can’t be trusted?  She’s a shyster.

Monday’s retirement announcement by Republican stalwart Sen. Trent Lott has gotten Sen. Richard Burr to thinking: Should he join the GOP’s Senate leadership team?

If the dominoes fall correctly, Burr could get the chance.

Burr, a freshman senator, will seek the chairmanship of the policy-oriented Republican conference if the job becomes open. It is the No. 3 position in the GOP hierarchy.

News & Observer

A state auditor’s report released today found that the state could have saved more than $32,000 if it had assigned a state car to Howard Lee, the chairman of the state Board of Education, instead of allowing him to rent one for more than $1,500 a month for the past three years.

The investigative report also found that the state Department of Public Instruction improperly reimbursed Lee $9,500 for meals he billed the state. The report said that Lee continued to bill the department for meals after he was appointed to the state Utilities Commission, when he was no longer eligible for state-paid meals.

Officials with the Department of Public Instruction told auditors they continued to reimburse Lee because they did not realize that his position on the Utilities Commission was a state job.

Lee was in a hearing this morning and could not be reached for comment on the report. He is a former state senator from Chapel Hill and was appointed to the state education board by Gov. Mike Easley in May 2003. Board members are not paid a salary but are eligible for mileage reimbursement and other travel expenses.

Two years later, Lee was appointed to the Utilities Commission, where he makes $119,000 a year.

News & Observer

I suppose you can’t really pin the car on him as that was more or less the stupidity that exists within every bureaucracy. As for the meals, being a former State Senator he is sure going to have a hard time spinning that one. “I didn’t know” I don’t think will fly.

Public Instruction officials contend the meal situation isn’t as bad as it sounds.

The officials said Lee has reimbursed them $2,300 for meals. They said the lower amount reflects roughly $7,700 in meal money he properly received before his appointment to the Utilities Commission.

Durham water users — commercial, industrial and residential — will be asked starting Monday to cut their water use from the summer in half.

Water consumption already has dipped about 30 percent, but more stringent water restrictions are aiming for a further 20 percent cut.

Durham leaders announced the decision to go to Stage IV, or severe mandatory conservation, in the face of a drought that threatens to last well into next year. Durham has 59 days of water remaining in its main water supply, and the city is working to tap several alternate sources, including Jordan Lake and a local quarry.

News & Observer

I wonder if this means that Duke will have to stop watering their Asphalt.

With a new state law going into effect Jan. 1 that will require him and other bar and restaurant owners who sell alcohol in Onslow County and elsewhere to recycle all their recyclable beverage containers, Pearce will also be required to recycle glass and plastic alcoholic beverage containers, cardboard boxes and other recyclable materials his bar generates.

Jacksonville Daily News

I think this is a great idea.  Think of all the bottles, cans, and cardboard boxes that bars go through in just one night.

North Carolina’s community colleges must admit illegal immigrants as long as they are 18 years old and high school graduates, a legal decision that reverses a 2004 rule that gave campuses the option to say no.Leaders at 37 of the 58 community college campuses statewide already had agreed to permit these immigrants to enroll in their schools.

But giving colleges the discretion to deny admission based on legal status in August 2004 runs counter to the system’s open-door admissions policy, community college attorney David Sullivan wrote in a memo to all campuses earlier this month. Before 2004, undocumented people weren’t supposed to enroll in degree programs at all.

Fayetteville Observer

I simply don’t understand why it is so hard for some people in government to expect people to follow the law in cases of immigration. If a man robs a bank do we not put him in jail? Why then does an illegal immigrant who trespassed across our border get free public education, some social services, and now the right to attend college while they continue to be illegal?

“Are we telling kids that it’s OK to break the law?” said Robert Luebke, an education policy analyst with the Civitas Institute, a conservative public policy group. “This new policy is asking our community colleges to ignore the fact that these students are here illegally.”

Civitas called on Attorney General Roy Cooper to review the change and determine whether it’s justified. Cooper spokeswoman Noelle Talley said she wasn’t aware of the 1997 letter that Sullivan cited.

Lawyers have reached a settlement agreement with Durham County in the eminent domain case regarding the former U-Haul property on South Mangum Street.

The county has agreed to pay U-Haul $2.825 million for the 2.5-acre site, attorneys for both sides said. The two met in court Tuesday morning for a hearing in the case. However, that hearing was rendered moot because of the settlement.

The county has contended the property is worth $1.375 million. A jury trial on the property’s value had been scheduled for Dec. 10.

The Herald-Sun

I have to wonder why Durham would settle out court to pay U-Haul an amount more than two times as much that they contend the property to be worth.  Did they simply with all the legal fees involved they may as well just give them what they want or were they really trying to pull one over on U-Haul?  You’ve got to wonder in Durham.

During a Monday debate, the two Democratic front runners for the Lt. Governor’s race, State Senator Walter Dalton and Durham lawyer Hampton Dellinger, took shots back and forth concerning several of Dalton’s votes in the State Senate.

Executions and the mentally retarded

Dalton voted in April 2001 against a ban on executing killers who are mentally retarded. Dellinger said he supports the law.Dalton said he opposes executing mentally retarded defendants, but the procedure for determining mental retardation was too loose in the bill passed by the Senate.

I have to say that I would agree with Dalton’s vote in this case. Being that I am a strong advocate for using the death penalty far more than we do, I too would like to see more stringent definitions of who are considered mentally retarded. Look how often the insanity plea is made today, as a good example.

Abortion and exceptions

In a 1998 questionnaire for Project Vote Smart, Dalton said abortion should be legal only during the first trimester or in cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother’s life. Dellinger said the law also should allow an exception for the protection of the mother’s health and criticized Dalton for supporting abortion rights after the first trimester “only in the narrowest of circumstances.”

I disagree with both candidates. I think abortion should be illegal with the exception of cases of rape or incest. Dellinger seems doesn’t seem to have a high respect for life.

Color, gender and law

Dalton also said in the questionnaire that state government should always hire the “best qualified person,” indicating he did not support taking race and gender into account in hiring.”That was the whole intent of the civil rights laws if you were living back in 1964,” he said, “that race should not be taken into consideration nor should gender.”

At the same time, Dalton said, diversity of the work force should be considered but not the determining factor.

Dellinger said he supports affirmative action.

Dalton is 100% correct. Affirmative action is nothing more than institutionalized racism and sexism. You can’t say you believe in equality and yet at the same time support certain people getting preference based on their race or gender.

In the air

Dalton was one of only five senators to vote against the “clean smokestacks” bill in 2001, which would have raised electric rates to pay for pollution controls on coal-fired power plants. Dellinger said he supported the bill.

A later compromise avoided passing on the costs to consumers and was the version that became law. Dalton voted for that bill.

The earlier version “put the cleanup of dirty smokestacks on the consumer,” he said.

Again, I agree with Dalton. Passing this bill would do nothing more than put an increased burden on the poor who already struggle to pay their bills.

Dalton is a good candidate and between he and Dellinger, there is no question in my mind that Dalton would make for a better North Carolina.