Carolina Politics Online

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Aaron Groen

April 28, 2008
(202) 225-2071

Foxx launches new Congressional web site

New web site features streamlined navigation, videos, RSS

WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx (NC-05) today announced the launch of a completely redesigned Congressional web site at www.foxx.house.gov <http://www.foxx.house.gov/> . The new site
incorporates web video, the latest congressional news, information about constituent services and background on legislation and votes in Congress.

“The Internet is one of the best tools available for communicating with my constituents,” Foxx said. “My new web site uses a variety of technologies to keep constituents informed about the issues before
Congress, including videos, e-mail and online legislative search tools.”

Web-design experts at the non-partisan Congressional Management Foundation recently named Rep. Foxx’s web site one of the best in Congress. The redesigned site builds on the success of the previous web site and introduces new user-friendly features such as RSS feeds and comprehensive sections dedicated to groups like seniors or students.

“I hope my new web site serves as a one-stop-shop for constituents who need information about the federal government, or who want to know what is happening in Congress or who simply want to get in touch with me about the important issues facing North Carolinians,” Foxx said.

The new web site also includes tools to assist constituents in applying for federal grants, resolving issues with federal government agencies or securing a nomination to one of the five Service Academies. In
addition, the site outlines the application process for students who wish to serve as Congressional interns or pages.

Congresswoman Foxx today also reminded constituents to check out her Congressional YouTube <http://www.youtube.com/RepVirginiaFoxx> channel at www.youtube.com/RepVirginiaFoxx. Her channel is updated weekly with her latest floor speeches, committee hearings and web videos on recent issues and legislation.

GREER — Residents will have a chance Friday to hear June 10 primary candidates for the Republican nomination to two state House seats representing eastern Greenville County.

Republican candidates vying for districts 18 and 21 seats will appear at a forum beginning at 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Cottages at Brushy Creek on South Buncombe Road.

District 18 candidates are Greer optometrist Pete Smith and Greer businessman Tommy Stringer of Landrum.

District 21 candidates are six-term incumbent Bob Leach of Greer and challenger Bill Wylie, retired CEO of Stone International and Goodwill Industries, of Simpsonville.

The Greenville News

State governments across the country have stepped in to help families who are facing foreclosure, creating emergency loan funds and designating millions of dollars for counseling efforts. The response stems from a lack of action from federal lawmakers, who have yet to agree on a plan.

However, South Carolina lawmakers have rejected a $3 million request from local nonprofit groups who say they need more money to help families who face foreclosure.

“It’s very disappointing because we count on our politicians to do what’s right for our community, and foreclosure is a very large problem in South Carolina as well as other parts of the country,” said Debbie Kidd, executive director for Family Services Inc., a North Charleston-based nonprofit that provide foreclosure counseling.

The Post and Courier

Kidd’s got it all wrong.  The politicians are doing what’s right for the taxpayers and responsible home owners of South Carolina.  None of these people who are faced with foreclosure are entitled to or deserve a bailout, be it Federal or state.  They knew the terms of their agreements when they signed their mortgage papers and if they didn’t, well that’s natural selection at work.  People need to bare the consequences of their actions.  Providing a taxpayer funded escape will only encourage continued risky behavior down the road.

Thanks to contributions from a group of Republican state senators, businesses and political action committees, incumbent state Sen. Catherine Ceips has a huge campaign cash lead on her opponent, fellow Republican and former governor’s chief of staff Tom Davis, according to campaign finance records filed April 10.

As of March 31, Ceips raised $25,608 with $19,957 on hand. Davis raised $7,638 and took out a $15,000 loan. His campaign had $11,975 on hand as of when the documents were filed.

Ceips had 14 contributors: four individuals (including $5 from herself), three businesses, six special interest groups and $5,000 from the South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus, the maximum political parties can give.

The business donations:

•$1,000 — SCANA Corp., the parent company of South Carolina Electric & Gas

•$1,000 — South Carolina Society of Opthalmology

•$1,000 — Outdoor Advertising Association of South Carolina

•$500 — South Carolina Petroleum Marketers Association

•$500 — South Carolina Bankers Association

•$500 — Philip Morris, the Virginia tobacco giant

•$500 — South Carolina Beverage Association

•$250 — South Carolina Optometric Association

•$100 — Focal Point Vision in Beaufort

The Beaufort Gazette

I am not a big fan of all of the special interests money in political campaigns, but I suppose it’s unavoidable.  The negative of these donations is that you can be assured that the receiving politician is going to vote in their favor, even if it means going against what is best for the majority of constituents in the district and/or the state as a whole.

Benson — A West Johnston High School teacher is accused of exposing herself to students. The teacher, who has been suspended with pay, worked with exceptional students, according to school officials.

The Herald

Where were these teachers when I was in high school?

RALEIGH - A hearing into the firing of a state trooper accused of mistreating his police dog opened today with a video of the officer kicking the dog as it was suspended from the railing of a loading dock.

The 15-second video, taken by another trooper using his cell phone, shows Sgt. Charles L. Jones kicking the dog, Ricoh, five times. The dog was tied to the railing by its leash at the time, with its front paws in the air and its rear paws touching the ground. With each kick, the dog swung about two feet under the dock.

Jones claims the episode on Aug. 8 was not mistreatment. He contends that he was fired summarily without due process and has appealed to get his job back.

The News & Observer

Since Jones feels that kicking the crap out of his police dog is not mistreatment, perhaps he’ll submit to a demonstration. We can string Jones up by his wrists and kick the shit out of him for a few minutes. If he contends afterwards that he wasn’t mistreated, then sure, go ahead and give him his job back.

What a jerk.

For the fourth time, Elmer Floyd is seeking to unseat Mary McAllister, a House member since 1990, in the May 6 Democratic primary. The primary winner will get the seat: no Republicans have filed.

Last week, Floyd began airing radio and television ads that highlight McAllister’s sloppy campaign finance record-keeping and the fact that the state auditor’s office examined the books of Operation Sickle Cell, the nonprofit agency she runs. That examination found that her office had allowed staff to do political work, but the organization was meeting all of the obligations of the public funding it receives.

McAllister was the target of a State Board of Elections investigation that resulted in a $16,294 fine against her campaign committee, in part for making improper payments to herself. She admitted taking payments from her campaign but believed she was being reimbursed.

McAllister said in a prepared statement to The Fayetteville Observer that Floyd’s advertising was unprofessional and “cast a dark shadow over the entire election process.”

The Fayetteville Observer

McAllister calls it a dark shadow.  I call it an honest look at her very shady record.  McAllister is endemic of the self-serving, corrupt interests in Raleigh, part of the wing of the house that needs a thorough spring cleaning.  Maybe this year with the State Auditor’s report, that will be enough to unseat her.  The fact that she has been around as long as she has does not create a real positive impression of the voters of House District 43.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Mike Easley has decided to endorse Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, lending the support of the state’s top elected Democrat to her underdog effort to beat Barack Obama in the state’s May 6 primary.

“I think it’s a tremendous boost to the campaign and its a reaffirmation of the momentum that we have in the state and a reaffirmation of Sen. Clinton’s message and its importance … to the people of North Carolina,” Tom Hendrickson, an adviser to Clinton in North Carolina, told The Associated Press.

The Herald-Sun

I don’t know how much this will really help.  Clinton is trailing Obama in North Carolina by double digits, but it might help trim a couple of points off Obama’s lead.  I don’t think anyone is expecting her to win the state, but if she makes a better than expected showing it will give her momentum to continue forward in the race.

They’ll face off in the May 6 primaries for the N.C. House District 100 seat, but this match between Rep. Tricia Cotham and Lloyd Scher, a former Mecklenburg County commissioner, began over a year ago.

In March 2007, state Democratic Party officials elected Cotham to fill the unexpired term of former Democratic House Speaker Jim Black, who resigned amid corruption charges.

Charlotte Observer

This will actually be Cotham’s first popular election to the House seat.  Regardless of being elected by a committee rather than the voters, she still holds the advantage of incumbency.  However, Scher was a Mecklenburg County Commissioner for eight years so he still has a familiar name to the electorate.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

District Court Judge Nancy Norelli, who was briefly reassigned last year from the criminal bench after police criticized some of her rulings, has announced her resignation.

Chief District Court Judge Fritz Mercer said today Norelli told him she would step down in June.

Charlotte Observer

Norelli was the target last year of several complaints from the CMPD regarding many of her rulings that threw out the cases of several suspects that police claim were more or less a slap in the face.  I have written a few times in past month about the weakness exhibited by many of the county’s judges in sentencing criminals offenders appropriately as well as the lack of aggressive prosecutions by the DA’s office.  Many feel that this is the prime cause behind the rapid rise in crime in Mecklenburg County.

The Media Awareness Project has an archived article from the Charlotte Observer from May 5th, 2007 that lists several of the officers’ complaints.  These stem from Norelli dismissing cases against suspects accused of assaulting police officers to illegally carrying weapons.  It definitely sounds like Norelli was a soft on criminals judge which is what we don’t need in Charlotte.  To have this many police officers come forward and make this kind of exerted effort to get Norelli reassigned out of criminal court leads me to believe they had a legitimate complaint.