Carolina Politics Online

Newsobserver.com

Cuts to the mental health system endangered lives, two panels conclude, and reforms should be reversed.

RALEIGH - Two panels appointed by the Easley administration to review North Carolina’s mental health system have filed scathing reports that call for reversing bungled reforms implemented during the last seven years, saying deep cuts to hospital beds and treatment have endangered lives.

Among the key recommendations:

* Adding at least 717 full-time employees at state mental hospitals to meet patient-to-staff ratios needed to ensure safety.

* Adding psychiatric treatment beds to both the state hospital system and private facilities.

* Increasing pay to attract and retain qualified staff at the state hospitals.

* Adding trained investigators with law-enforcement experience to review complaints of abuse and neglect at the hospitals.

Reversing bungled reforms is a nice way to say that the party in control of North Carolina totally screwed up the mental healthcare system in North Carolina. Yes the system needed reforms but the way the Democrats went about it was a total SNAFU.

Harry Taylor, Sue Myrick’s Democratic Congressional opponent has come out criticizing Myrick’s offshore drilling bill as being ineffective.

Taylor, responding to Thursday’s proposal by the GOP congresswoman, said the problem is U.S. consumption. To offset that, he proposed:

A $2,000 tax cut to help “working families” pay for gas or switch to more economical cars.

A $4,000 tax credit for the purchase of hybrid vehicles that get more than 30 miles per gallon.

A requirement that in four years, every car sold in America be a hybrid.

A national pledge to cut gas consumption 10 percent within 30 days.

Charlotte Observer

I’m not opposed to Taylor’s idea of giving tax cuts for buying hybrid cars or for gasoline, but I’d sure like to know who “working families” are. I mean, if you have a job, you’re working, right? A CEO works for a living, doesn’t he?

The rest of his ideas are just a bunch of fluff. You can’t require every car sold four years from now to be a hybrid unless you really want to stick it to the poor and lower income Americans. Hybrid cars are expensive because they are expensive to manufacture. As far as the national pledge he refers to, that will be about as useless and naive as high schools that do the “Prom Promise” to not drink on prom night.

Taylor is in error to say that Myrick’s plan won’t be effective. American consumption of gasoline has already dropped over the past year and gasoline prices have skyrocketed. It’s not just our consumption that is the problem; it’s also the rest of the world, primarily developing nations like China and India that are using more oil. You need to increase the supply to be greater than the demand to bring down the prices and that is what Myrick’s plan helps do.

It’s official!  Glenn McCall was overwhelmingly elected South Carolina’s next RNC committeeman, replacing Buddy Witherspoon who is running against Lindsey Graham in next week’s primary.  I have stated before that McCall is an excellent choice for this position.  He puts principle above politics and that’s hard to come by.

A proposal that passed the House Finance Committee this morning would boost the state earned-income tax credit from 3.5 percent to 5 percent of a similar federal credit.

The state would return an estimated $21 million more to taxpayers per year, for a total of $70 million under the credit.

If the proposal becomes law, legislators drawing up this year’s state budget would have to cut spending or find another way to way to offset that loss of revenue.

The credit is refundable, meaning even workers who don’t earn enough to pay income taxes would receive money.

Asheville Citizen-Times

So it’s a welfare handout.  I’m certainly not opposed to people getting back what they paid, but why are people who haven’t paid any income tax receiving an “earned income tax credit?”  That’s realistically impossible for them to receive a credit on money they haven’t paid so this Marxist transfer of wealth from one class of people to another is wrongly named.

In Congress, there is a tiny glimmer of hope on the horizon. Representative Sue Myrick-R, NC, 9th District has introduced legislation called the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act, or DOER Act, which aims to lift the federal ban on offshore drilling on the states, and put the decision in each individual states’ hands. However, any profits produced will have to be shared with bordering states if the drilling site is within a certain distance of the neighboring state. Another contingency protects the first 50 miles of offshore area from drilling (to appease environmentalists) should the individual states choose to do so. This would ultimately leave the decision to drill for oil, with the allure of producing profits and helping the struggling economy or the side effect of “destroying” the natural environment to the states, as it should be per the Constitution.

Political Lore

That last part about the Constitution is key.  Drilling anywhere should be a state decision, not the Federal Government.  There is no reason why Alaskans should not be able to drill in ANWR on their own accord, nor any reason for North or South Carolina to not be able to drill off our own shores.

With the price of gas skyrocketing I think the push from Republicans in Congress to start drilling domestically is going to being gaining momentum unlike in the past.  With $4 per gallon gas, the angry cries of the American people will begin to overshadow the hold environmental extremists have on many of the D.C. politicians.

The State House voted in a landslide yesterday to agree to the Senate approved version of the illegal immigration bill that Harrell and McConnell worked on together to finally get completed in both chambers. I imagine Sanford will approve the bill and we will soon begin to witness the exodus of these lawbreaking invaders from our state, just as it was seen in Arizona and Oklahoma.

Of course, there were a few objections:

“The trail of probable cause sways toward racial profiling,” said Whipper, whose district includes a large population of immigrants.

Whipper said he is worried that legal Hispanic immigrants, specifically, will face hardships as a result of the legislation.

He also says he does not think legal immigrants were involved enough in the process to have had their voices heard and that they might be unaware of what’s coming down the pike.

Why do legal immigrants need to have more of a voice concerning this legislation? What makes them different than anyone else living in South Carolina?

Whippersnapper’s concern about racial profiling may have some validity to it, but it’s not due to any elements of racism. It’s just a fact that the vast majority of illegal aliens in this country are from south of the border. That’s just the way it is so naturally people are going to suspect Hispanics that don’t speak English as being here illegally. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, you know?

The Post and Courier provides a list of what the bill will do. I’m satisfied:

– Authorizes the State Law Enforcement Division to reach a deal with federal agencies for the enforcement of immigration laws.

– Requires people to prove their lawful presence in the U.S. to receive public benefits, although some exceptions apply, such as for emergency medical treatment.

– Adds additional penalties for ID fraud in connection to an illegal immigrant.

– Requires all businesses to check the legal status of workers by using a state driver’s license, a license from another state that has the same eligibility requirements or E-Verify (a free, online database that lets employers check Social Security numbers).

– Mandates fines for employers between $100 and $1,000 for every time they fail to verify the legal status of a worker, charge employers who knowingly hire an illegal immigrant with a felony and suspend right of businesses to operate when they get caught with illegal workers.

– Allows fired citizens to sue their former bosses if they’re replaced by illegal workers.

– Prohibits illegal immigrants from attending state universities or receiving state-funded college scholarships.

– Outlaws “sanctuary cities.”

– Requires judges to check immigration status when setting bail.

– Expands the state grand jury’s jurisdiction to include immigration fraud.

– Creates an illegal immigration hot line through the state Commission for Minority Affairs.

– Creates a felony for harboring and transporting illegal immigrants.

JESUP, Ga. — Former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel began serving his 10-month prison term Thursday, arriving at the gate just ahead of the noon cutoff.

Ravenel arrived at the Jesup federal prison at 11:32 a.m. and headed behind bars to serve time on his cocaine charge.

The Post and Courier

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley joined a few other “green” South Carolina mayors today to push support for a controversial energy bill with a cap-and-trade for carbon emissions. The bill is due to come up for vote in the U.S. Senate next week.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is the reason for the push. He’s considered a key swing vote in a bill roundly expected to die to a filibuster on the Senate floor, at least until next year, said Katrina Managan, National Wildlife Federation legislative representative.

The Post and Courier

Apparently Joe Riley wants the standard of living for the residents of Charleston to be severely crippled in the coming years because that is exactly what the Lieberman-Warner Climate Bill will do if it is passed.  It will be an economic disaster for the entire country, a knee jerk reaction to satisfy the Chicken Little climate change alarmists.

I don’t suspect that Graham will vote for this bill with his reelection vote coming in less than two weeks.  It could actually cost him the election.  If he votes for it Witherspoon will absolutely seize on that and blast the state with last minute ads nailing him for it.  Conservatives will have a fit and he’ll lose the primary election.  Of course, maybe I shouldn’t be saying any of this.  After all, I want Graham to lose.

County tax records show nearly $1,300 in back taxes are owed on two pieces of land linked to Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member Vilma Leake.

Leake said Thursday she hadn’t received notice of the delinquent tax bills, but will call to check on what may be owed.

Charlotte Observer

Busted! Good ole Vilma owes $787.35 in back taxes on a vacant lot she owns and $509.60 on another in her late husband’s name. There are several delinquent bills totaling in these amount.

She said she doesn’t understand why people are prying into her private business and said she hopes those who are criticizing her have paid their taxes.

That’s because she’s an idiot. She is going to be a County Commissioner responsible for a budget of over a billion dollars. Why wouldn’t the residents of Mecklenburg County want to know about how she handles her own finances? If she can’t manage her own, how can she be trusted to handle an entire county’s?

`I’ve been paying my taxes,” Leake said. “I don’t have a problem paying my taxes.”

Obviously she does have a problem paying her taxes otherwise it wouldn’t be in today’s newspaper and I wouldn’t be writing this post!  I doubt this will effect her candidacy much.  A lot of the district she’s running in encompasses the ghetto fabulous who aren’t exactly up and up on their bills either.

A follow-up to yesterday’s post regarding Sen. Walter Dalton’s rather lavish budget requests-

Jerry Meek says a Republican attack on Sen. Walter Dalton is off-base.

The state Democratic Party chairman told Dome that a criticism from the state Republican chairwoman about the candidate for lieutenant governor’s requested $277 million in state appropriations this year misses the benefits the bills would bring.

“If you look at the appropriations that Senator Dalton has proposed, you’ll see programs that help families protect their homes from foreclosures, help bring jobs and infrastructure to rural North Carolina, improve education and invest in programs that help the developmentally disabled,” he said.

The N&O

Wow. The Democrat Party Chairman is defending the Democrat Lt. Governor candidate. That’s a shocker.

As I said yesterday, precious few of these spending requests actually fall under what should be the government’s purview. If he really cared about N.C., he’d lower taxes and let individuals spend more of their money the way they want. But then he wouldn’t be able to show up at some ribbon cutting and pat himself on the back, would he? Sen. Dalton is simply using your tax money to get himself elected.

Since Sen. Dalton is all about “investing” our money to help N.C., may I offer a similar proposal? If any of you care about investing some of your own money in another program to help North Carolina, may I suggest a donation to the Pittenger for Lt. Governor campaign, and let’s kick this profligate Dalton out of office.

CHARLOTTE - An influential N.C. lawmaker has introduced legislation aimed at better protecting the state’s poultry workers by keeping closer tabs on their employers.

The bill would give state health officials the authority to inspect poultry plants and would require large plants to hire or contract with licensed medical workers. It was introduced this week in response to an Observer series about working conditions in the poultry industry — and to Gov. Mike Easley’s subsequent call for reform.

The N&O

Honestly, stories like this are why I’m a vegetarian. Yup- a conservative/libertarian vegetarian. And y’all thought you had me pegged, didn’t you?

Politically, I’m not sure how I come down on this one. I’m generally opposed to any government interference in private businesses. But when these businesses put food on your table, perhaps a little oversight is necessary. But only a little.

In a series of stories published earlier this year, the Observer detailed the human cost of putting chicken and turkey on America’s dinner tables. Many workers told the newspaper that those hurt on the job are routinely ignored, threatened or fired.

The Observer found that one leading N.C. poultry company, House of Raeford Farms, has hidden the extent of injuries inside its plants.

There’s one key aspect of this story I hope you noticed. It wasn’t great Mommy Government who found these bad working conditions- it was a privately owned newspaper. Honestly, government is so slow, broken, and reactionary, you’d be foolish to rely on it to look out for your interests. It’s private companies like The Observer, Consumer Reports, Underwriters Laboratories, and others that find and report these things.

So what does Mike Easley do?

The legislation would also provide $350,000 more each year for the state Department of Health and Human Services — money that Easley had requested to hire two occupational health nurses and two industrial hygienists to regularly inspect plants. Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Mecklenburg Democrat and a Senate leader, introduced the bill.

Wonderful. Seems to me a better use of that money would be to just split it between the Observer and Consumer Reports, then send them out to spot check these poultry plants instead.

RALEIGH - Those seeking a bachelor’s degree in the state’s public and private colleges and universities would be required to spend 20 hours a semester tutoring or mentoring students in public elementary, middle or high schools if legislation introduced by Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand becomes law.

Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, said the legislation would serve a twofold purpose: to instill a sense of community and responsibility in college students and to provide help to struggling public school students.

The N&O

Volunteering in your community is a great thing.

Being made to volunteer by Mommy Government is smiley-faced fascism. It’s not the government’s job to act like Jiminy Cricket and make sure everyone does their good deed for the day. And it sure as hell isn’t the government’s job to instill anything in anyone- except an appreciation for individual liberty, which is sorely lacking these days precisely because of people like Rand.

Besides, if he’s really that concerned about improving public schools, he ought to support privatising the whole damn thing.

Rand’s legislation seeks to honor two students recently killed by gunfire in the Triangle: UNC-Chapel Hill Student Body President Eve Carson and Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato. The community service program would be named after them.

Great. It seems to me a more appropriate honor would be to fix the piss-awful court and parole system in this state, seeing as how they’d both still be alive today if it worked properly.

Harrell, who opposes spending the $159 million the tax increase would raise on health care for the poor, railed against “entitlement” programs and raising a generation that would expect state-funded health care.

The State

He’s precisely correct. The welfare state in this country has been a complete disaster. We have a few generations of people now who have been raised since birth to believe that it’s the government’s job to wipe their ass for them. This is not a country of collective rights. We are a nation of individual rights and in order to have the freedom and liberty to enjoy those individual rights you have to be able to provide for yourself and your family. You can’t do it addicted to government programs. You aren’t free when you’re being provided to by the government. You’re living in serfdom and you’re handing the control of your life over to bureaucrats.

And I haven’t even gone into the fact that it’s simply immoral to use the government to force your neighbors to pay your way. What happened to the idea that you get what you work for? Working people have their own bills to pay and their own families to take care of. Taking more of their money to throw away at drug addicts, drunks, and unwed babies mamas and their children makes it harder for the working families who are living responsibly to make ends meat. The supporters of the welfare state know this to be true, but they won’t admit it. Enter Gilda Cobb-Hunter:

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, was on the phone talking national Democratic Party politics when Harrell’s words caught her attention and left her stunned.

“It was so hurtful to a lot of people,” she said. “I could not sit there I was so angry. I’ve never heard him use language like that.”

Democrats accused Harrell of using “code words” and speaking with the “privilege” of white skin.

Cobb-Hunter said she and others had come to accept they would lose the vote, after House GOP leadership worked to keep members from overriding Sanford’s veto. But Harrell’s comments felt like “piling on” to her and other black lawmakers.

Tuesday “was so, so sad and so unnecessary,” she said.

What’s so, so sad and so unnecessary is Ms Cobb-Hunter (or Mrs. Terry, what ever she calls herself) to turn into a race baiting bitch because she can’t professionally and honestly address the issue. She knows darn well what Harrell said is the truth and being confronted with it backed her into a corner. Like most Marxists, when she couldn’t defend her position she started ranting on about racism. Such frequent false accusations of discrimination from so-called “black leaders” has dulled the ears of most Americans. Nobody cares about racial accusations anymore. People like Sharpton and Jackson and many black politicians have cried wolf on it so many times that people just roll their eyes now when they hear it and just ignore it. The sad part about that is in the instance of a real incident nobody believes the victim.

But the Medicaid question is not likely to go away. Expanding Medicaid was a key provision to Senate Democrats, and Senate Minority Leader John Land, D-Clarendon, said he would not vote for a bill without it. The money, he said, goes right back to the state economy through doctors, nurses and other health care providers.

Observers noted the landscape for passing a cigarette tax could change between now and January. Most notably, elections in June and November that will change the members of the General Assembly, who again will be faced with making a decision.

Sen. Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, who helped strike a cigarette tax compromise in the Senate, said that despite hurt feelings, he believed the issue could not be ignored.

“If it’s worth doing, if it’s the right thing. It will get done.”

As long as Sanford is in the governor’s seat we’re safe on this for at least the next two years. Whether or not we’ll be able to stave off the legislative Socialists like Tom Alexander, Rex Reed, John Land, and Gilda Cobb-Hunter will depend on how many of these GOP primaries go on June 10th. If they manage to oust many of the RINOs then South Carolina has a positive future ahead of it.

Man, did this guy just get the biggest break of his life. We’ll know in about a week and a half if it’s enough to save his reelection campaign.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — A driving under the influence charge against a state senator has been dropped after a judge discovered there was a one-minute gap in the audio portion of the videotape of the arrest.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reported that magistrate Phillip Newsome said Thursday that state law requires a sworn statement explaining any problems with the videotape of a DUI arrest and authorities did not provide an explanation.

Sen. Randy Scott was set to stand trial when the ruling was issued.

The State

District 3 Incumbent State Representative B.R. Skelton (R - Six Mile) is in a huff over a mailer sent out to the district by the South Carolinians for Responsible Government hitting him on his record of sponsoring a bill to raise the state gas tax by five cents per gallon. Skelton’s response was as follows:

In a recorded telephone message received at Pickens County households on Tuesday, Skelton said that the statements in the mailers are an “absolute lie” and that South Carolinians for Responsible Government is “a shell group set up to ruin our educational system in South Carolina.”

There are a few things to note at this point. One, SCRG is a group with the ultimate goal of school choice. School choice would greatly improve our education system by allowing parents to choose which school their children will attend, including allowing poor families in the inner cities to take their kids out of those failing schools as well as the dangerous ones and sending them to a school with better performance . School choice will breed competition among schools and provide for an improved standard of education. This is what Representative Skelton says will ruin education? I wonder how much money he is receiving from the teachers union.

The second point to be noted is that the claim in the mailer is truthful. Representative Skelton sponsored House Bill H. 3648 that would have increased the gasoline tax by five cents per gallon. It appears that it is Representative Skelton who is the liar. That is further supported by his subsequent statements to The Independent Mail when he said:

Skelton said, “I may have voted to increase the gas tax, but only a nickel a gallon. That was more than offset by reducing the tax on food sales. In addition, the state will bring in $50 million in additional revenues from the gas tax on out-of-state tourists and truckers.”

So now he admits that he did do exactly what they accused him of. He has a flimsy excuse too. How are people helped by lowering one tax if you’re going to turn around and raise another?

Trey Whitehurst who is Skelton’s primary opponent said that Skelton was also part of a plan to raise the retirement benefits of retired state legislators. According to the Independent Mail, Skelton did not comment on that.

As the June 10 South Carolina primaries draw near, the candidates are scheduled to address the Pickens County Republican Party at Liberty Middle School starting at 6:30 p.m. today.

The League of Women Voters will conduct a forum for candidates for elected office Monday starting at 6 p.m. at the Clemson-Central Library, S.C. 93, Central. Skelton and Whitehurst plan to be present to speak and to answer questions.

So to rehash all of this, Skelton thinks our already ruined public education system is just hunky dory and that attempts to improve the joke we call public education will be what actually ruins it. He sponsored a bill to raise taxes. When called out on it he himself lied about it by claiming the accusation was a lie, but then he later admitted that he did indeed do it. He also refuses to answer a question on his actions to sweeten his own pot after he retires from the legislature, which may end up being this year pending the results of June 10th.

The verdict is clear to me. B.R. Skelton is a RINO scumbag who needs to be given the boot.

Sen. Walter Dalton is seeking more than $277 million in state spending.

The Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor has sponsored nine bills and co-sponsored 18 bills seeking appropriations in the upcoming state budget. A longtime state senator, he is serving an advisory role on the budget in the short session.

The N&O

What the hell could you possibly spend $277 million dollars on???

Dalton is the primary sponsor on bills totaling $208 million: $135 million for grants for local water and sewer projects, $20 million for the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, $16 million for stem cell research, $14 million for the Cleveland Correctional Center, $10 million to provide services for the developmentally disabled, $5.8 million to help provide high-speed Internet access, $3 million for biotechnology training, $2.5 million for construction at historically black colleges and $2 million for small business entrepeneurship initiatives.

Among the larger appropriations bills he is cosponsoring: $44.7 million for Smart Start early childhood intiatives, $9.5 million for 4-H camps, $3 million for home foreclosure prevention, $3 million for loans for biotechnology start-ups, $1.6 million for a dropout prevention program in Durham and Vance counties, $1.4 million for water resource management and $1.25 million for biotechnology education.

It’s so easy to spend money when it belongs to someone else, isn’t it? This sort of waste is so God-awful disgraceful, it ought to disqualify Dalton from running for Lt. Governor of Drunken Sailor-Land, let alone North Carolina. Maybe, maybe, there are some legitimate government expenditures in there, like the $2.5 million for construction at historically black colleges (if they’re state schools). But how many of these projects can be accomplished through the private sector or personal initiative- especially if we had to pay fewer state taxes?

Here’s the scoop on Dalton’s opponent, State Senator Robert Pittenger-

Former Sen. Robert Pittenger sought $1.9 million in state spending.

The Republican nominee for lieutenant governor cosponsored three bills seeking appropriations in the upcoming state budget before resigning his seat.

Pittenger sought $1.5 million for three pilot career and technical high schools, $385,000 for Kids Voting and $100,000 for a study of the effectiveness of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

The N&O

DURHAM - County officials are considering raising the property tax rate by about 2.7 cents next year to keep the county running at about its current levels and meet debt, cost-of-living and energy increases, according to a proposal Tuesday night by County Manager Mike Ruffin.

If county commissioners accept Ruffin’s proposed property tax rate of 71.6 cents per $100 of property value, the owner of a $186,000 home — the median home value in Durham County — would pay $1,331 in property taxes to the county. That is about $51 more than if the county doesn’t raise the tax rate.

The N&O

Yes, I realize my headline contains a redundancy. Here’s the story-

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand has put forward another option to free up space in the state’s overcrowded prison system: Release some nonviolent illegal immigrants to U.S. immigration officials for deportation.

Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, estimates the move would save the prison system 100 to 150 beds a year. That translates into about $250,000 to $375,000 in savings a year.

The N&O

Eventually, we’re just going to have to suck it up and build more prisons, though Rand’s idea isn’t a bad one. Personally, I’m for releasing every non-violent criminal from prison. And non-violent illegals ought to be sent back to Mexico… with a stern warning not to come back.

The majority of illegal immigrants in North Carolina prisons would not be eligible for release under Rand’s plan. Correction Department spokesman Keith Acree said there are about 1,800 inmates in state prisons who do not claim U.S. citizenship; U.S. immigration officials want to deport 1,400 of them.

Why they remain in state prisons has to do with a larger debate about punishment and public safety. Some have committed violent crimes; others have killed people through drunken driving. Allowing them to be deported to their home countries would raise serious public policy questions.

During his gubernatorial campaign, Bob Orr suggested suing the federal government for the costs incurred by these criminals. I wonder if we can sue the Mexican government too? God knows something’s gotta compel them to start cracking down.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Several small business owners have complained to state senators about what they call unfair treatment by North Carolina’s tax office.

Local bakers, interior designers and a cabinet accessory maker told the Senate Finance Committee that the Department of Revenue has been giving conflicting information about when they collect sales and use taxes from consumers. It’s caused them to receive bills of tens of thousands of dollars from the department seeking uncollected back taxes.

Curtis Grindstaff of Gaston County said Wednesday he had to open two lines of credit to pay off a tax bill of more than $100,000. Grindstaff said honest people shouldn’t be penalized for the bad information the department gave out.

The committee is looking at changes to the law. It also approved a measure Wednesday designed to make the sales tax law clearer for interior designers.

The N&O

Sigh. Government of the people, for the people…

RALEIGH — A judge has upheld North Carolina’s high standard requiring tens of thousands of signatures to be collected before a group is officially recognized as a political party, ruling there’s no fundamental right for the party of a voter’s choice to be on the ballot.

The Libertarian Party sued the state in 2005, arguing requirements to get on the ballot and stay on it are too onerous, violating party members’ rights to freedom of speech and association. The Green Party of North Carolina later joined the lawsuit.

Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood, who heard the case in a non-jury trial earlier this month in Wake County, ruled late Tuesday that the “state has a compelling interest in requiring a preliminary modicum of support before recognizing a political party and placing its candidates on the ballot.”

The N&O

No, the Democrat and Republican duopoly have a “compelling interest” to keep other parties of the ballot. And give a break with this “modicum of support” nonsense.  Should we require a couple hundred signatures? Sure, that’s fair. But it took the Libertarians 70,000 signatures and $140,000 just to get on the ballot. That’s absurd, and so is this judge.