Carolina Politics Online

Students, faculty and staff at Winthrop University held posters, chanted and gave speeches on the steps of Byrnes Auditorium today to protest the ongoing war in Iraq.This month marks the five-year anniversary since the United States first invaded Iraq.

Participants in the anti-war rally said the conflict has gone on too long and that it’s time to bring American troops home.

The Herald

U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis plans to vote for legislation mandating a one-year moratorium on congressional earmarks, you know, those little spending add-ons that helped Republicans go from the majority to the minority in 2006, forcibly retiring a bunch of them along the way.

But, the Travelers Rest Republican says if the bill fails, he won ‘t be joining fellow Republican Joe Wilson of Lexington in swearing off earmarks for a year anyway.

“I’m very supportive of the earmark moratorium and will vote for it,” Inglis says, describing the plan as a needed reform on the road to abolishing the practice.

“But in the meantime, there will be some requests this year from South Carolina” that need to be addressed if they meet his criteria of economic development, local matching funds and serving the national interest.

The Greenville News

What I read here is political posturing in an election year. How can Inglis expect anyone to take him seriously as a fiscal reformer when he says he’ll still stick his hand in the cookie jar if the rules don’t change? Yeah, we hear you, Bob. Earmarks are bad and all, but you’re going to make sure you still get your share of slop from the community trough. Apparently some Republicans are adapting to life in the Minority rather well.

Cross Posted at SaveTheGOP

COLUMBIA — Anyone registering to vote in South Carolina would have to show a passport, birth certificate or naturalization documents under a bill being pushed by Republican lawmakers.

Supporters of the bill say it will protect elections by ensuring illegal immigrants or other noncitizens cant cast a ballot. Critics say its just a GOP move to hassle people who might vote for Democrats.

The measure would apply only to people registering after it becomes law, not voters already on the rolls.
“The only people stifled from voting are those who cant legally vote,” said Rep. Alan Clemmons, who leads a subcommittee that approved the measure earlier this year.

By law, only citizens can vote. Clemmons said requiring residents to verify what they put on their voter application form is not a burden.

“Its a simple matter to produce a birth certificate,” the Myrtle Beach Republican said, adding hell volunteer to help secure one for any South Carolinian without it.

But Democrats contend poor and rural residents are less likely to have a birth certificate, much less a passport, and that getting one takes time and money.

Aiken Standard

I have never understood the argument against this.  After the 2000 election people were screaming about voter fraud.  These kinds of very sensible guidelines as proposed by South Carolina and a handful of other states will cut down on that tremendously.  The idea that this oppresses the voting capability of poor people or minorities is laughable at best.  Additionally it’s insulting to those people because others that espouse that view are basically saying that lower income folks and ethic minorities are too incapable or too stupid to provide proof of citizenship.

Gov. Mike Easley on Tuesday called a special session to consider removing Wright from office for ethical misconduct. The session will be held at 10 a.m. March 20, as House Speaker Joe Hackney requested earlier.

Last week a six-member committee of Wright’s fellow legislators unanimously recommended his expulsion after finding “clear and convincing” evidence that the Wilmington Democrat had acted fraudulently and unethically.

If expelled, Wright would become the first sitting lawmaker thrown out of the General Assembly since 1880.

The Wilmington Star

I can’t think of anyone better than Thomas Wright to be the first expelled legislator in 128 years.

Push him out!  Shove him out! Waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy out!

Push him out!  Shove him out! Waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy out!

RALEIGH - Tempted to use Junior’s bath water to quench the thirst of your pansies this spring?State officials now say go ahead.

For months, officials cautioned against using “gray water,” the murky mess that’s left after you bathe or wash dishes, calling this recycling illegal and a threat to public safety.

But Tuesday, as Gov. Mike Easley introduced a legislative proposal aimed at beefing up water-conservation efforts in North Carolina, officials said dumping buckets of leftover bath water on your trees is just fine.

“If water’s clean enough to bathe your child in or wash your dishes in, it should be clean enough to put on your flowers,” said Bill Ross, secretary of the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The News & Observer

To think how much money my mother could have saved on her water bill when I was a kid.  Add up all the baths I took until I began taking showers as a teenager and that’s quite a pretty penny she would have saved not using the garden hose.

HIGH POINT — A man was refused service at a local bar, so he made his own drive-thru window, police said.

Roy Allen Marrs Jr. went to Stumble Inn at 1100 Prospect St. but was not allowed to stay because he was severely intoxicated, according to High Point police.

Morris became angry, cursed the staff and left, police said.

He got into his Mitsubishi Montero, backed it up, then drove forward, ramming the SUV into the exterior wall of business, according to police.

The News-Record

DURHAM — Key legislators and at least some local officials are welcoming Gov. Mike Easley’s announcement that he’d push the General Assembly to enact measures that would improve the state’s ability to cope with droughts.

Easley’s three-plank proposal asks legislators to give him expanded powers to counter supply shortages, to beef up state conservation mandates and to take steps to encourage the modernization of public water systems.

The governor announced his plan during a Tuesday news conference.

“We really have a 19th-century water system in place in the 21st century,” Easley said. “We want to make North Carolina drought-proof so if we have an additional two years like this somewhere down the road, we won’t run into the problems that we’re running into this time.”

Reaction on Tuesday from legislative leaders was favorable.

The Herald Sun

Something is definitely going to have to change.  There were times within the past six months since this drought started that certain areas of the state were within two to three months of running out of water completely.  The state should have more power in regards of controlling water consumption in a situation like that.  Additionally, North Carolina is one of the fastest growing states in the nation.  Obviously additional population is only going to exacerbate the problem of limited resources down the road.  Technological renovations are inevitable.  I think we should move to something along the lines of a desalinization plant to use ocean water.

Dozens of students urged the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board to pass a new policy Tuesday to protect them from bullies.Christian conservatives urged the board not to, voicing concerns that the policy will promote homosexuality.But after more than two hours of impassioned arguments from more than 40 speakers, the board approved the policy on a 6-3 vote. Kaye McGarry, Ken Gjertsen and Larry Gavreau opposed it.

Students in the audience greeted passage of the policy with cheers and a standing ovation.

“We’ve needed this policy for a long time,” board member Tom Tate said. “Bullying is not going to be tolerated at all at any time in CMS.”

Charlotte Observer

I have to throw a jab in here at the author of the Observer article who felt the need to frame the opposition as being “Christian conservatives.” I didn’t realize that every single person who was opposed to the way this new policy was written was doing so on the basis of Christian beliefs. Actually, I don’t recall any of the people opposing this policy claiming to be doing so in the name of Christian conservatism. That one sentence tells us a lot about Mr. Frazier.

Now getting to the point, I do feel that some of those opposing the new anti-bullying regulations were a bit over dramatic. I don’t see any pushed homosexual agenda here simply because it names homosexuality as one of the forbidden categories of bullying. In addition to sexual orientation, many other factors were written into the language as well, including height, weight, race, religion, etc., but for some reason the opposition was focusing explicitly on the verbiage of homosexuality.

Having said that, I do agree with some of the opposition who pointed out that CMS already has regulations forbidding bullying of any type within the schools. So, why does an additional policy need to be written and passed naming specific classes of victims? That certainly does give the appearance of an agenda, whether there is or not. Furthermore, CMS hasn’t bothered to enforce the current anti-bullying policies on the books so why is anyone to believe they will enforce this new set of rules? Some of the speakers at last night’s meeting in support of the new policy spoke as if passage of the new language was equivalent to a magic button being pushed and that suddenly today every child enrolled at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools would attend class bully free.

I think over reaction was present on both sides of this policy and turned it into a three ring media circus that it never needed to be.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Heath Shuler’s immigration bill could get a vote on the House floor soon courtesy of Republican lawmakers.

The Republican leadership supports a discharge petition to force a vote on Shuler’s legislation that would strengthen border security and tighten requirements on employers to verify workers’ legal status. The move tries to force Democrats to take up the immigration issue.

“For far too long, the Democratic majority has failed to deal with internal divisions within their caucus on border security and blocked a vote on this important issue,” said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, House minority leader. “House Republicans will now give our colleagues — on both sides of the aisle — the chance to force a vote on this long-overdue legislation.”

Shuler, D-Waynesville, voted for the discharge petition Tuesday.

Asheville Citizen-Times

Nancy Pelosi claims to object to this legislation because it lacks provisions to make it easier for the family of a legal immigrant to come here along with them.  Her decision isn’t about caring for these people; it’s about gaining additional voters for her party.  She is playing politics with our nation’s security.  Illegal immigration has become a monumental problem in this country and it has to be dealt with.  Shuler’s bill will go a long way in correcting the problem.