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Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association is hosting a meeting this weekend. And guess who one of nine is in the running? The chairman of the RWCA himself Bruce Lightner. The man who is of a single minded interest group that has NO interest in representing every citizen of ANY district. The elevation of this man would be further proof of the pay to play and corruption in North Carolina.

Bruce Lightner, 61, president of Lightner Funeral Home

Would it be tacky if me to say that if he is appointed to the State Senate 14 seat, he will bury us all in taxes and spending?

Honestly, do they not think they have enough of them already?  State House District 30 in Blacksburg has flipped.  Republican Steve Moss won the seat yesterday in a special election to fill the vacancy created when former Democrat State Representative Olin Phillips passed away a few months back.  So for all of you Republicans who are feeling down and out because the Democrats got a brand new, sleak, state of the art Obama for Christmas, bummed out about Snarlin’ Arlen in Pennsylvania, and thinks the whole world hates your Republican party (and they do), just remember, South Carolina was there to pick you up off of your feet and carry you home, leaving only a set of footprints in the sand.

Yes, that’s right.  This bit of legislation is compliments of Senator Thomas Alexander (R-Walhalla), a long time authoritarian sack of monkey shit who has been soiling our state from the Capitol for over 20 years now.  Let’s be very clear.  Alexander thinks you are too stupid to parent your child so he is going to do it for you.

But if Columbia is going to start playing nanny to our children, why stop here?  I think they need to ban the sale bleach and all other household cleaners and laundry detergents sold in our state because children could get their hands on them and drink them.  I think Alexander needs to introduce a bill to ban the installation of all electrical outlets in all homes because children can stick their fingers in them and get shocked like my older sister did when we were kids.  We most definitely need to ban all kitchen utensils.  Those forks and knives are too sharp to risk keeping them in the same domicile as our children.

What do you say Tommy?  Are you up to the challenge?  Don’t disappoint us now.

His quote in The State is what got me more than anything:

“I had no idea these type of lighters existed out there,” said Sen. Thomas Alexander.

He doesn’t know they exist, doesn’t know what they are, but by golly, he knows they’re dangerous and it’s up to him to save us from ourselves.

Kenny Lewis got at least half of his comeuppance this afternoon.  I swear, I should be a consultant.  This is exactly what said was going to happen today.  I work in the building next door to Bank of America’s headquarters and I was talking to a lady outside this afternoon and I said I figured they would probably keep him as CEO, but appoint a new Chairman of the Board.  He should have been fired altogether, but shareholders of companies seem to be as reliable as voters when it comes to holding leaders accountable.  It was quite a spectable this afternoon.  The media was camped out on Tryon St all day waiting for the news.

This isn’t Carolina related, but since most readers here are presumably politically savvy, I thought you’d be interested to know that Republican U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has switched parties and is now a Democrat.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Senior Republican Senator Arlen Specter announced Tuesday that he was becoming a Democrat, boosting President Barack Obama’s ability to drive his audacious agenda through the US Congress.

“I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary,” the senator from Pennyslvania said on his campaign website,

AP

The State Employees Association of North Carolina — the closest thing state employees have to a union — plans to start airing a radio advertisement on Tuesday that criticizes Rep. Margaret Dickson of Fayetteville.

It is to run on WFNC, the city’s only news-talk radio station.

The association is mad at Dickson because she (along with most of the other Democrats in the General Assembly) voted to increase the deductibles and co-pays that North Carolina’s state employees will have to pay on their health insurance starting July 1.

Click here to see the legislation’s history and download the version that was signed into law. Gary Robertson of the Associated Press summarized it here.

A similar ad targets Rep. Hugh Holliman of Davidson County, who is the state House majority leader.

The Fayetteville Observer

What a bunch of damn cry babies.  State employees only pay premiums for insuring their dependents.  They don’t pay anything for themselves and this bill that passed keeps that intact.  How many people in the private sector get a deal like that?  Oh boo hoo hoo!  It’s not fair!  How would you all like to be laid off instead like tens of thousands of others around the country, huh?

The economy is in the crapper and everyone has to make sacrifices, but apparently SEANC thinks they are above having to make the same sacrifices you and your family do.

This is exactly why state employees should never be unionized.  They’ll have you picking up their tab for everything.

Our friends at Americans for Prosperity have alerted me to an interesting event on Tuesday, April 28th- the FIRST EVER Public Hearing on the State Budget.

From 6pm to 9pm, members of the public are invited to offer suggestions and comments about the budget. This will take place at the auditorium of the N.C. Museum of History at 5 Edenton St, Raleigh. Go to www.ncleg.net for more details.

If you go, be sure to ask why N.C. has issued more than $7 billion in new debt since 2000. If someone asks that before you, you can ask what the state government will do once the $2.9 billion of federal funds they’re relying on disappear in two years. If that question gets asked early, be sure to find out why (inflation adjusted) per person state spending is up 25% over 15 years, why the last four years have seen annual spending increases of 8.6%, and why N.C.’s corporate tax rate (6.9%) is the highest in the Southeast.

Sometimes I forget that there is a Democrat Party in South Carolina, but the legends are true.  They do exist and Carol Folwer has been reelected their State Chairman.  She was unopposed for the office so surprise, surprise.  I don’t know that she has been terribly effective, but then you almost can’t blame her.  Being a Democrat in South Carolina is a lot like being a Republican in Massachusetts I imagine.

Four competitors for the GOP nomination for governor were applauded repeatedly Saturday at the biennial convention of the Greenville County Republican Party, but only one, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, walked away with a quantifiable prize.

Barrett, 3rd District representative, won a straw poll with 253 votes, topping the 183 votes that went to Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and 110 for Attorney General Henry McMaster.

Furman University political science professor Brent Nelsen’s name wasn’t on ballots, but he garnered 37 write-in votes.

The Greenville News

Not surprising.  Barrett’s name ID is high I am sure being that he represents a district just next to Greenville.  Plus, neither McMaster nor Bauer have officially declared.  I don’t know why Nelsen was left off the ballot.  Is it because he’s not a political insider?

Party straw polls are pretty much meaningless.  I’ve seen status quo candidates get their party’s nod time after time to end up either losing the election or come close to it.  I don’t know how Barrett’s bailout vote is going to affect his campaign.  His challengers are sure to bring it up every chance they get, but people may not care by next year’s primary.

Senator Larry Grooms (R-Bonneau) is exploring a possible run for the governorship next year citing that no candidates so far who have presented themselves are true practicioners of limited government and fiscal responsibility.  He gets no argument from me.  I have been awaiting a candidate who will swoop in and take the libertarian reins our forefathers envisioned for our nation and state.  So far, I’m disappointed.

Right now, I’m leaning in the direction of Senator Robert Ford (D-Charleston).  He has been pushing school choice, the only one bringing forth a real plan to get children out of bad schools and make our state more competitive education wise.

Thank God the Isle of Palms PD was on their game this weekend to stop all those grown men enrolled at The Citadel from drinking a beer or two.  48 people were ticketed at two house parties that involved cadets from The Citadel completing their freshman year.  They are old enough to take up an uzi and blast away Al-Qaida terrorists half way around the world, but I guess the horror of them tossing back a beer at a party is just too much.  Ironically, they’re old enough to drink in every other country in the world except for the “freest” of them all.

Really, when will people wake up to these kinds of inane laws?  Weren’t there more important things our law enforcement could have been doing rather than collecting revenue for the Isle of Palms this weekend?  Although, we are in a recession after all.

The only positive thing to come out of Nick Mackey going to Raleigh is that he’ll keep the newspapers busy. Anybody think they won’t actually find something?

A Wake County judge has ordered the N.C. Revenue Department to turn over 11 years worth of tax records for Rep. Nick Mackey, part of a more than yearlong probe by the N.C. State Bar.

Mackey, a Charlotte Democrat, said he supports the move in order to resolve the investigation.

The judge acted Thursday after the N.C. State Bar, with Mackey’s consent, sought tax returns from 1997-2007 and other records.

State Bar officials would not disclose what prompted the request or if the court order was obtained in connection with a complaint against the lawmaker. Bar counsel Katherine Jean said Friday that any grievance is confidential unless it results in disciplinary action.

Charlotte Observer

Civitas uncovers another lefty plan to indoctrinate the next generation:

Unfortunately, North Carolina has not escaped this tidal wave of environmental activism. Last week, Reps.  Tricia Cotham (D-Mecklenburg),  Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford), Lucy Allen (D-Franklin) and Becky Carney (D-Mecklenburg) introduced  HB 1075, titled the “Teach ‘Green Science’ in High Schools”  bill.

This is bad legislation for several reasons. First, “Green Science,” as much as you want to dress up the term, still lacks a clear and accepted definition. Ask three people what “green” means, you’ll get three different answers. Science refers to a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular subject. The fact is, “green” is a nebulous, gauzy term. If definitions are still evolving, how is it even possible to teach about a fixed body of knowledge?  

Regrettably, most of what is taught in school under green or environmental education classes is not based on science, but is based on a particular philosophy or political viewpoint. That said, lacking definition and agreed upon content, HB 1075 merely serves as another vehicle for environmentalists to put advocacy into the curriculum. According to Environment North Carolina, one of North Carolina’s most active liberal advocacy groups for environmental concerns, the main sponsors of HB 1075 all have environmental scorecard rankings of between 70 and 100 percent.

Aside from questions on environmental activism, concerns also exist about the wisdom of the Legislature micromanaging school curricula   The State Board of Education is charged with broad authority over what our schools teach.  Legislating what is to be taught in our schools only serves to undercut the board’s authority and s to politicize the classroom.

I had the opportunity this spring to talk to Chad Adams, his supporters, and many grassroots conservative Republicans. We all agree on many of the same things. That it will take hard work to meet the common goal of bringing the Republican Party back to prominence.

We have to start this process by returning to a grassroots organization that identifies with all Conservatives. A lot of Conservatives want to have faith in the Republican Party and we must restore it. Our core values are what makes us, not any particular issue. To clarify, we as Conservatives will always make the right decision on any issue by sticking to our core values.

Some of the steps that Chad Adams will take are restoring financial integrity in the North Carolina Republican Party. He will do this with a strong team of people that will be accountable not only to Chad Adams as NCGOP Chairman, but also EVERY Republican Party member. And to make the most of our donations he will ensure the party is using the latest technology to reach out to voters and activists throughout the state.

I was at both Tea Party events in Raleigh and I am proud to say so. At the Wake County Republican booth I talked to many “former” Republicans and Libertarians. And after listening to their issues with the GOP in general, I made them each a promise. That I will do everything that I can to return the Republican Party back to its rightful place that all Conservatives can be proud of. 

The election of Claude Pope was the best step forward we could take at the County level for Wake. And I wholeheartedly believe that the election of Chad Adams is the “Conservatives” choice. I am a delegate to the State Convention being held in Raleigh June 12th-14th, 2009 and I intend to vote for Chad Adams. I hope that every Republican going to the North Carolina State Convention does also.

Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association

The Raleigh Wake Citizens Association is a community organization dedicated to helping the African American people of Wake County improve their quality of life through advocacy in the areas of business, education, health and politics.  We welcome you to our website and invite you to join us at our regular meetings on the third Thursday’s at Roberts Park Community Center.

The above quoted group will be deciding who the next North Carolina State Senator for district 14 will be. This person will be serving almost the entire term of the Senator Malone.

I have many issues with the groups goals and their inability to interact with me during the last election when I ran against Dan Blue for State House 33. I also take issue with Mr Lightner’s letters and quotes in the News and Observer. Mr. Lightner has only his own special interest at heart and in no way wants to represent the people of District 14 or the state of North Carolina.

I need to brush up election law but if the RWCA is holding such weigth in this election, they need to be monitored by the State Board of Elections. Does this make the RWCA a lobbying group or a special interest type of group?

At first glance, it looked as though state Sen. Austin Allran brought a cute toy fish to the Senate on Thursday.

Then Allran showed his colleagues how the fish, which resembled “Nemo” of Disney fame, belches fire.

The fish was a cigarette lighter.

Allran, a Hickory Republican, brought the fish and a box full of other novelty cigarette lighters to persuade the Senate that North Carolina needs to prohibit the sale of such devices.

The N&O

Once upon a time, boys and girls, the North Carolina State Senate did important things, like find ways to deal with double-digit unemployment and a crap-poor government school system that can’t graduate 30% of its students. But that was a long time ago…

In 2006, a North Carolina child suffered second-degree burns while playing with a lighter that looked like a cell phone, Allran said.

Oh my God!!! One kid, probably without parental supervision, did something stupid. Quick! Someone pass a law!

Sen. David Hoyle, a Gastonia Democrat, said the bill would leave convenience stores stuck with boxes of lighters they could no longer sell. Ultimately, he said, parents need to be responsible for keeping lighters away from children.

“Somewhere along the way, somebody’s got to take some personal responsibility,” Hoyle said.

Not anymore. Personal responsibility is so antiquated these days, anyways.

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, said the lighters have no benefit.

Well that settles it! If Tony Rand sees no benefit to these things, there’s no point in keeping them legal. You know what? I bet we can find a lot of things that Tony Rand doesn’t see a benefit to. Let’s ban those as well. It’s not like we live a free country or anything.

Every single Republican state senator but two voted for this joke bill. Don East was absent and, interestingly, Stan Bingham voted ‘no’ despite co-sponsoring it. That means that every single Republican senator but the absent Don East, at some point in the process, said the following:

1) Parents are too stupid to do this for themselves.
2) It’s the government’s job to ban novelty items that may possibly might perhaps rarely hurt some kid whose parents aren’t doing their job.
3) Private enterprise can eat it.
4) We have nothing more important to do here in the senate than to pass this.

For that, every ‘yes’ voter just made it into round two of “Dead Republican Walking”:

Gary Coates at The Conservativist posted a list of all 22 members of the South Carolina State House who signed a “No New Tax Pledge” in 2008, yet voted for the cigarette tax increase earlier this month.  And Republicans wonder why everyone thinks their party is full of shit.

Here are the 22 liars:

Gee, look who’s on the list! Our buddy Rex Rice who wants to be the next Congressman from the Third District. The same Rex Rice who expects us to believe we can trust him to be a reformer in Washington D.C., yet can’t hold himself to a simple promise he made. The same Rex Rice that a commentator named “Jim” said I don’t know what I’m talking about. Now isn’t that uncanny.

I swear, this guy should have his own news cycle.  What a piece of work.  He’s had a bazillion DUIs, still drove around anyway, somehow managed to get reelected last year despite that, and now he has his wife arrested for slapping him in the face.  This is starting to morph into an upscale Jerry Springer episode.

What the woman ought to be arrested for is trespassing, not for her husband being too much of a wuss to deal with being slapped by his wife.

A York County councilman’s wife faces up to 30 days in jail after police said she slapped her husband during a confrontation at another Fort Mill woman’s house.

Authorities charged Jennifer Ann Lindemann, 29, of 1080 Isom Road in Fort Mill with criminal domestic violence, according to a report from the Fort Mill Police Department.

Fort Mill Times

Domestic violence my ass.