Carolina Politics Online

Raleigh, NC – Wake Community PAC calls for the resignation of Wake County Commissioner Stan Norwalk for comments made concerning elective abortion insurance coverage for Wake County employees.

In an interview with David Bass of Carolina Journal, Wake County Commissioner Stan Norwalk stated:

Keeping the abortion coverage in the plan actually saves taxpayer dollars, Norwalk said, since bringing a child to term “would cost 10 times as much.”Wake Community PAC Director Joey Stansbury stated:

“Wake County Commissioner Stan Norwalk’s comments go beyond the pale of offensive. Stan Norwalk’s statements are so grossly offensive on so many levels. Mr. Norwalk’s statements lay bare the old argument of eugenicists who put a dollar value on the cost of life. Mr. Norwalk simply evaluates expectant children as an economic commodity – noting that economically it would cost taxpayers less if these children were disposed of before birth.

Mr. Norwalk’s comments are a slap in the face to single mothers and struggling families in Wake County’s socially economic disadvantaged community. He has reduced their children to a cost benefit analysis.

Stan Norwalk owes them and all of Wake County his apology. And his resignation.”

Meet Susie — the poster dog for animal rights in North Carolina.

You might remember her as the badly burned and beaten puppy found in a south Greensboro park last summer. The pit bull-shepherd mix captured the hearts of many, and they rallied to save her.

Now Susie’s supporters will gather Sunday to rally again — this time to advocate for tougher animal cruelty laws in North Carolina. They’re going door-to-door in Guilford County with information on the state’s laws, which allowed Susie’s abuser to get off with what they say is a light sentence.

Earlier this month, a judge sentenced Lashawn Whitehead to probation for felony animal cruelty, a judgment that followed the state’s structured sentencing laws. Whitehead, 21 , also received six to eight months in prison for setting personal property on fire. That personal property was Susie.

The News-Record

I’m in favor of a little “eye-for-an-eye” in cases like this. Forget the six-to-eight months in the clink; let’s pour some gasoline on this son of a bitch and light a match. Let’s see how he likes it. Maybe we’ll add a little something extra and douse the fire with vinegar instead of water.

“We want everybody to understand how minimal the penalties are for cruelty to animals,” said Roberta Wall , a Greensboro real estate agent who fostered Susie until she was placed in a permanent home with Donna Lawrence .

Under structured sentencing, the judge did not have the option to give Whitehead prison time on the cruelty charge, which is a Class I felony, the lowest level.

Under what has been dubbed “Susie’s Law,” that charge would be bumped up to a Class F felony, which allows a judge to hand out an active prison sentence.

Catherine Welborn, the Executive Director of Change the Congress in 2010, is putting together a “Meet the Candidates” forum in Charleston next month.

Change the Congress in 2010, a Federal PAC, is sponsoring this event that is free and open to the public.  Since many people never get to meet the candidates, this is a great opportunity to get ‘up close and personal’ and ask the candidates questions that may be important to you.

Candidates for any race and from any party are welcome to attend and Meet the Public.  Candidates must provide whatever they may need and are expected to take leftover campaign materials with them.  Contact Catherine Welborn at 843.270.1650 or by email at CWelborn@ChangetheCongressin2010.com (email preferred) for further information.

The forum will be held at the Custom House Steps on East Bay Street in Charleston on April 10th from 11am to 2pm.

The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing some of the nation’s oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.

This announcement comes at the time when the situation supposedly still is “fluid” and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force still hasn’t issued its final report on zoning uses of these waters.

That’s a disappointment, but not really a surprise for fishing industry insiders who have negotiated for months with officials at the Council on Environmental Quality and bureaucrats on the task force. These angling advocates have come to suspect that public input into the process was a charade from the beginning.

ESPN

Of course it was a charade. Obama doesn’t give a damn about what the public thinks about anything. He’s demonstrated that pretty consistently throughout the past year.

So what is the point of this? The states have been managing the use of their waterways with little to no problem for over 200 years. Well, it turns out that this whole unconstitutional power grab is being orchestrated by the radical left environmental movement.

As ESPN previously reported, WWF, Greenpeace, Defenders of Wildlife, Pew Environment Group and others produced a document entitled “Transition Green” shortly after Obama was elected in 2008. What has happened since suggests that the task force has been in lockstep with that position paper.

Then in late summer, just after he created the task force, these groups produced “Recommendations for the Adoption and Implementation of an Oceans, Coasts, and Great Lakes National Policy.” This document makes repeated references to “overfishing,” but doesn’t once reference recreational angling, its importance, and its benefits, both to participants and the resource.

Additionally, some of these same organizations have revealed their anti-fishing bias by playing fast and loose with “facts,” in attempts to ban tackle containing lead in the United States and Canada.

That same tunnel vision, in which recreational angling and commercial fishing are indiscriminately lumped together as harmful to the resource, has persisted with the task force, despite protests by the angling industry.

As more evidence of collusion, the green groups began clamoring for an Executive Order to implement the task force’s recommendations even before the public comment period ended in February. Fishing advocates had no idea that this was coming.

The commercial and recreational fishing industries have already been taking a big hit in both North and South Carolina and the last thing we need is further encroachment by the Federal government.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already exhibited plenty of incompetence in the way it enforces U.S. fisheries laws such to the effect that Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC-03) has called for a halt to all prosecutions of fishermen by the NOAA and a complete overhaul of how the laws are enforced.

Morlock fears that “what we’re seeing coming at us is an attempted dismantling of the science-based fish and wildlife model that has served us so well. There’s no basis in science for the agendas of these groups who are trying to push the public out of being able to fish and recreate.

“Conflicts (user) are overstated and problems are manufactured. It’s all just an excuse to put us off the water.”

In the wake of the task force’s framework document, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and its partners in the U.S. Recreational Fishing & Boating Coalition against voiced their concerns to the administration.

“Some of the potential policy implications of this interim framework have the potential to be a real threat to recreational anglers who not only contribute billions of dollars to the economy and millions of dollars in tax revenues to support fisheries conservation, but who are also the backbone of the American fish and wildlife conservation ethic,” said CSF President Jeff Crane.

Morlock, a member of the CSF board, added, “There are over one million jobs in America supported coast to coast by recreational fishing. The task force has not included any accountability requirements in their reports for evaluating or mitigating how the new policies they are drafting will impact the fishing industry or related economies.

“Given that the scope of this process appears to include a new set of policies for all coastal and inland waters of the United States, the omission of economic considerations is inexcusable.”

This is not the only access issue threatening the public’s right to fish, but it definitely is the most serious, according to Chris Horton, national conservation director for BASS.

“With what’s being created, the same principles could apply inland as apply to the oceans,” he said. “Under the guise of ‘marine spatial planning’ entire watersheds could be shut down, even 2,000 miles up a river drainage from the ocean.

“Every angler needs to be aware because if it’s not happening in your backyard today or tomorrow, it will be eventually.

This is what happens when you put an out of touch ideologue beholden to radical special interests in the highest office in the land. The fact that Obama intends to implement this with an Executive Order completely bypassing Congress gives credence to the accusation that he is becoming an elected dictator, much like Hugo Chavez.

This won’t be used to just regulate fishing either. Rest assured that the bureaucratic entities created to manage all of this will also be used to thwart any oil or natural gas exploration off our coastal waters, thus effectively reinstating the Federal drilling ban that just expired less than two years ago.

There is already talk of a ban on bottom fishing all the way down the North and South Carolina coasts to Georgia.  Thousands of jobs in these states can potentially be effected by this at a time when they are experiencing double digit unemployment rates. That aside, there is also the element of this being yet another chipping away at the block of individual freedom and liberty that Americans have enjoyed for over two centuries and that the President and this Congress spit on daily.

If this is put into place it seems like El Presidente will get to decide when and where you go fishing. With the industry being so large I am hoping this will end up in the Supreme Court with a Constitutional challenge if Obama makes good on this move.

The newly elected majority on the Wake County School Board made their first vote amidst a heated meeting with the community last night and moved in favor of ending the diversity busing program that has been in place for about ten years.  They’ll need to do so two more times in order to officially approve the resolution.  This is just a common sense issue to me, but I’ve always known that I’m incredibly smarter than most people.  There is no logic whatsoever in taking a child, plopping him on a bus for an hour and a half one way each morning and evening to a school 20 miles away when there are three within just a few miles of his home.  Diversity busing, whether race based or economically based, doesn’t work and studies have concluded as much.

Overall student performance in Wake County actually dropped after the program began and it makes perfect sense.  Primarily, the schools aren’t the problem.  The parents are the problem and it doesn’t matter what school the kid goes to.  If the parent doesn’t care about the child’s education, the child isn’t going to care either.  Furthermore, I guarantee you that after the busing policy began there were less parents participating in school activities because having to get involved with a school 15 miles away makes it much less accommodating.  That will certainly cause a drop in student achievement.

The cold hard facts are on the side of the good folks who want to end this asinine policy, but facts didn’t matter to the Reverends William Barber and Curtis Gatewood, two race baiting blowhards who could do nothing but pathetically echo cries of segregation and racial discrimination.  I guess they are only following through with what has worked for them in the past. Fortunately, we’ve been evolving.

“If you expect to go to hell, don’t take our children with you,” said the Rev. Curtis Gatewood, who was gaveled out of order by school board chairman Ron Margiotta.

Gatewood, who called Margiotta a “white racist,” refused to stop speaking after his time ran out, prompting security to confront him. After a 10-minute recess, Margiotta allowed Gatewood, the second vice president of the state NAACP, to finish speaking.

“In the words of George Wallace, do you want your legacy to be segregation now, segregation forever?” said Samuel Greene, a retired Wake principal.

The Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, led supporters of the diversity policy in singing “We Shall Overcome,” a song associated with the civil rights movement.

Barber, who has previously threatened to sue the school board over resegregation, said he’s putting the board on notice that he considered the resolution to be a violation of the constitutional rights of African American children.

”Your plan is wrong. It’s wayward. It will make things worse and you know it,” Barber said. “Data doesn’t support it. Morality doesn’t support it.”

The News & Observer

Sorry Willie, but the data does support it, which you would admit if you were an honest man.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit into the social justice plan of Barber and his ilk.  If Barber is so concerned about black kids receiving a poor education by moving back to a community based school model then why isn’t he out in the community encouraging black parents to spend more time and involvement in their childrens’ educations and schools so that they won’t turn into ill-disciplined war zones?  This is 2010 for God’s sake.  It’s time to stop blaming whitey and start taking responsibility.

This decision should be made because it is what is best for the kids of Wake County, but sadly it is the kids who are the ones getting lost in all of this nonsense.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 24, 2010

Contact: Aaron Groen

202-225-2071

WASHINGTON—The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) today awarded Foxx an “A” grade for her record of consistently voting to reduce spending and keep taxes low.  In NTU’s detailed rating of more than 300 House votes in 2009 Foxx scored a 94 percent, giving her the highest score out of North Carolina’s congressional delegation.

“Working hard to keep federal government spending in check and to keep North Carolina families’ taxes low is one of my top priorities,” Foxx said.  “So I’m pleased that NTU recognized my commitment to fiscal responsibility and limited government in their 2009 vote ratings.”

NTU’s rating of members of Congress’ votes covers 333 House votes in 2009 that had a significant affect on taxes, spending or debt.  Foxx’s “A” grade reflects her voting record on these 333 votes and also earns her the NTU’s “Taxpayers’ Friend Award”.

For more information on NTU’s congressional ratings, how the ratings are calculated and what roll call votes are used please visit www.ntu.org.

The organizers at Freedom Works, like most of us in South Carolina, are rightly peeved with Senator Grahamnesty over his support of Cap and Trade which would not be in the best interest of our state and which he is supposed to be representing first and foremost.  This rolls right along with what I wrote about just a few days ago.  They are organizing a protest this Saturday in Greenville.

South Carolinians are tired of Senator Lindsey Graham’s support for “cap and trade.” For some reason Sen. Graham thinks that imposing a massive tax increase on our energy supply is a good idea. He has been partnering with left-wing senators to come up with a plan that would be devastating to our economy and would increase the cost of energy for all consumers. If you are like us, you have had enough of Sen. Graham’s position on cap and trade.

Please join us as we gather together this Saturday, Feb. 27th to send a message to him that we dissapprove of his stance on this important issue. We will be gathering to write letters to Sen. Graham, and then we will hand deliver them to his district office in Greenville. After that, we will protest his support of cap and trade outside his office.

Here are the details of the events:

9:00am FreedomWorks breakfast and letter-writing at Soby’s restaurant
22 East Court St, Greenville, SC 29601
Map

10:30am Protest outside Sen. Graham’s downtown office
130 South Main St., 7th Floor, Greenville, SC 29601
Map

To rsvp for this event, please contact FreedomWorks regional director Allen Page at a.page@mindspring.com or 336-213-1167. You can also click here to rsvp online. We hope you can join us this weekend on the first anniversary of the tea party protests!

Erick Erickson from the conservative organization RedState wrote a piece this morning explaining why it’s futile for grassroots conservatives within the Republican Party to depend on conservative party “leaders” to make the first move in getting behind a quality candidate.  He cites Nikki Haley’s candidacy as an example.

In Pennsylvania, again Jim DeMint showed real leadership. He came out for Pat Toomey when everybody else went with Specter. Now it looks like Toomey has a serious shot at winning. Conservatives took real risks in going with Toomey. But with that great risk is coming a great reward.

That’s not happening so much any more.

In South Carolina, Nikki Haley struggles to get momentum. Republicans like Sarah Palin and others could come in and endorse her. But then if she loses these potential 2012 Presidential candidates might have to face a South Carolina Governor who they didn’t endorse. But Haley is the one who is most right on the most issues. She is the dream candidate with the compelling narrative.

RedState

I don’t know that I’d consider Sarah Palin to be a grassroots conservative leader considering that she required a $100,000 fee to be a speaker at the recent national tea party event in Nashville, but conservatives around the country seem to have an infatuation with her.  Her example aside, I do agree with Erickson when it comes to Nikki Haley.  Of all candidates on both sides of the aisle Haley is the one I am most confident in when it comes to bringing this state forward and achieving positive results.  The fact that RedState has endorsed her candidacy tells me that she should be the ideal candidate for most conservatives as well, yet leaders of the conservative movement are MIA when it comes to getting out in public and pushing her candidacy to Republican primary voters.  Is Erickson correct in his assessment that Republican presidential wannabees are reluctant to weigh in on the gubernatorial race due to a fear of not backing the eventual winning candidate and losing support of the future governor of the first in the south primary come 2012?  After all, historically the Republican candidate that has won the South Carolina presidential primary has gone on to win the party nomination at the convention.

A true principled leader would certainly not let politics sway their voice.  As Erickson pointed out, political convenience did not stop Senator DeMint from publicly stating that he would not back the reelection of an incumbent seeking reelection in his own party.  That, my friends, is true leadership, so where are the movement “leaders” for Haley?

A few weeks back I wrote about how Change the Congress in 2010 came out against Patrick McHenry’s reelection bid and instead endorsed one of his primary opponents, Iredell County Commissioner Scott Keadle. Keadle’s endorsement was based on the idea that he will not be a career politician and has experience as the average working man, something sorely lacking in the halls of D.C.

Keadle’s campaign have responded to the endorsement.

“Scott is always pleased to have the endorsement of true conservatives who want to take our government back from career politicians. It takes guts to challenge the powerful Washington establishment, and Scott shares that quality with Mrs. Wellborn. Obviously she recognizes that before we can clean out the Democrats in the fall elections, we must first nominate authentic Republicans. Scott is the real deal–no politics, no bull, just a dentist and a family man who has had enough of the same lousy people getting the same lousy results. He’s tired of watching his team lose and he thinks we need new players on the field.”

“Conservatives across the country are demanding a return to citizen-legislators who truly represent the intent of our Founding Fathers. It is time for an end to Washington insiders ruining our country. Change The Congress 2010 members from here in Western North Carolina have given Scott financial and volunteer support, and are excited about his candidacy.”

Some of the more pro-business and conservative groups in North Carolina have gotten their feathers ruffled over Governor Perdue’s decision to expand talks with the SEANC and other union advocacy groups of state employees.  Currently, North Carolina, along with Virginia, has a ban on public employees unionizing and some interest groups throughout the state want it to stay that way.  They feel this move by Perdue is a way to slowly sneak this in the back door and pave the way for public sector unionization in North Carolina.  There is nothing wrong with groups like Civitas and others being vigiliant, but I’m not sure this is as alarming as they make it out to be.  The law is still the law and it still has to be changed.

When it comes to the private sector, I am not opposed to unionization.  I think if a group of employees want to be represented by a union then that is their right as an American.  I do not support compulsory unionization, however, which was the way of things back in my native northeast, because nobody should be forced to join one.  Up north if 50% plus one of the employees in your shop vote to unionize, everyone has to unionize, including the 49.9% of those who voted no.  I think most sensible people would agree that is just plain wrong, but many union folks are not all that sensible and the leaders of these unions see more dollar signs by forcing it on those who don’t want it.  Hence, I prefer Right to Work states, like most here in the south, where people have the right to unionize, but can’t be forced to.

Regarding the public sector, however, I am vehemently opposed to unionization.  When dealing with employees who are paid for with tax dollars and have their wages and benefits negotiated by politicians you are opening yourself up for a total economic disaster.  California is sadly an excellent example of this.  Public sector unions in California are bankrupting the state.  Steven Greenhut of the City Journal wrote an article just a few months ago revealing how firefighters in Orange County, California make an average of $175,000 a year with a gold plated pension package that provides them with 90% of their salary for the rest of their lives during retirement and that of their spouse.  This is typical compensation for a public employee in California.  This is a stark reversal of the past in which public employees would typically make less than private sector employees, but would be balanced out by more job security and better retirement benefits.  Today, they are instead turning into a special elite class of citizens in the state.  California is on the verge of true, blue bankruptcy and the state unions have so far successfully done their damndest to keep from having to make the same sacrifices that everyone else in the state has.

This is what North Carolina needs to be mindful of.  Public sector unions and the politicians that pander to them think that the taxpayers can provide an endless flow of cash to meet every demand they want and they hold the taxpayers and city government hostage in order to get it.  Need I remind you of the Air Traffic Controllers Strike of 1981?  Fortunately, President Reagan was prepared for that, but it still caused plenty of chaos.

Evidently public employees in North Carolina are feeling a bit disenfranchised right now.

“If you are anti-union this waves a red flag at you,” he said. “But from another perspective, state employees are feeling downtrodden. They have not had raises in two years and salaries are falling behind the private sector and there is no indication of any improvement in the near future.”

The Daily Reflector

Oh waaaaaaahhh!!!!  The poor babies.  A lot of private sector employees haven’t gotten raises in the past two years.  I work with people who haven’t gotten raises in the past two years.  A lot of people haven’t had a job in the past two years.  We’re in a recession people!

Now imagine if they had the power of a California public sector union.  Scary, huh?

A few months back I wrote about an organization that sprouted up out of Charleston called Change the Congress in 2010, the brain child of a Ms Catherine Welborn with the explicit intent of removing as many incumbents from Congress as possible.  The group has crossed the border into North Carolina and now has their eyes set on Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry.

Late last week, the group came out and publicly endorsed one of McHenry’s Republican primary opponents, Iredell County Commissioner Scott Keadle.  I exchanged emails with Ms Welborn and she cited her motivation being a great many grievances with the current sitting Congressman.  Among them were several improprieties that have shown up in the media over the past few years.  These include the 2007 indictment of one of McHenry’s campaign aids, his 2005 appearance on “ABC World News Tonight” in which he defended then House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s Congressional ethics violations, and a voting scandal in which McHenry claimed a owner occupied tax deduction on a Washington D.C. home, while still voting in North Carolina.

What seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, however, was the recent release of an article by the John Locke Foundation.

Fighting the pay raise

A few lawmakers have consistently fought automatic pay raises. Among them is Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, who, according a recent Deseret News article, has tried vainly every year since he was first elected to Congress in 2000 to force a straight up-or-down vote. With the economic downturn, Matheson predicted lawmakers in the new 111th Congress might be more interested in forcing the issue to a vote.

Early in 2009, three bills were introduced in the House and one in the Senate to deal with this issue. All members of the N.C. delegation were contacted. Of those who responded, most added they would likely support any bill to stop pay raises, should one come up for a vote.

The first bill, H.R. 156, would prevent members of Congress from receiving any automatic pay adjustment in 2010. N.C. delegation cosponsors are Reps. Walter Jones, R-3rd, Howard Coble, R-6th; Sue Myrick, R-9; Larry Kissell, D-8th; and Heath Shuler, D-11th. Rep. David Price, D-4th, plans to cosponsor the bill, according to his spokesperson, and added the decision was made prior to being contacted about his position on this issue.

Rep. Virginia Foxx , R-5th, is a cosponsor of H.R. 346, which would repeal the law that provides automatic pay adjustments for members of Congress.

Coble is also a cosponsor of H.R. 201, which would prevent automatic pay raises for members of Congress in the year following a fiscal year in which there was a federal budget deficit.

S.B. 102 would repeal the law that provides automatic pay adjustments for members of Congress. Deputy Press Secretary David Ward said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has voted against automatic pay increases in the past and would do so again. Colleen Flanagan, a spokesperson for Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., said Hagan is opposed to any automatic pay adjustments, given these economic times.

Something is glaringly missing here.  Patrick McHenry.  Every member of the North Carolina Republican Congressional delegation has co-sponsored one of these bills, including a few Democrats, seemingly except for Patrick McHenry whose name is no where to be found.  I too found this somewhat curious and I emailed his press secretary last evening, whom I get frequent press releases from each week, asking about this.  At this point I have not received a response regarding my question, although I did receive a new press release this afternoon.

Regarding Mr. Keadle’s candidacy and her endorsement of him over McHenry, Welborn based her support upon Keadle’s promise to not be a career politician, but to serve no more than three terms in the House.  He has also pledged to oppose Congressional pay raises and to not accept the Congressional pension upon leaving Congress.

Welborn also stated, “Scott Keadle is not a career politician.  He is not in anyone’s debt, not beholden to any group or organization except the people of NC-10.  He believes that it’s time to take back our country.  He believes that it’s time to replace career politicians with people who have real experience working at real jobs.  He believes that it’s time to send real people to Washington, people with real experience dealing with families and the emergencies involved with families.”

I have to say, it’s difficult to argue with her logic.

James Protzman, the administrator of BlueNC has decided to branch out into the Internet radio gig and give it a try.  I will say those folks at BlueNC are definitely resourceful and innovative.  The first broadcast was this evening at 6:30 and according to Protzman this will be regular weekly spot every Monday, same time.

BlueNC Radio

“Get Out of Our House” or GOOOH (pronounced Go) is a movement started up by Texas business Tim Cox which aims to replace every member of Congress with a true citizen legislature.  The group’s goal is to get 500,000 people to sign up and answer a candidate questionnaire.  Based on these questionnaires people in each Congressional district will vote multiple times and gradually whittle down the pool until they ultimately select a nominee to run for Congress in each district.  When the nominees are picked, the group is requesting that each member who signed up donate $100 to the GOOOH campaign that can be used to help elect the selected members.  Here is a more detailed explanation from the GOOOH Web site:

Members will have until some time in March to declare their candidacy by completing the six Candidate Selection Session registration steps. Once the deadline has been reached, all candidates will follow the process summarized below, with one person in each of the 435 congressional districts ultimately bubbling to the top of the system as their district’s nominee.

1. Candidates will be randomly assigned into pools of 10 participants within their congressional district. There will be as many pools as are needed in each district.

2. Pools will meet simultaneously at predetermined locations across the country on consecutive Saturday mornings. Sessions start at 9 AM and will last approximately 5 hours.

3. Each pool of participants will select two candidates to advance to the next round, via the GOOOH Selection Session process outlined in the book.

4. Advancing candidates will be randomly assigned into a new pool within their district. Steps 2 and 3 will repeat until there are only ten candidates remaining in each district.

5. If there are 1,250 participants, there will be four rounds. The actual number will be determined based upon the number of participants in each district. There will be a maximum of eight rounds, though four to six are more likely.

6. Before the final round, we are considering having the 4,350 finalists participate in a weekend retreat to ensure they fully understand how the final selection round will work and to ensure they are committed to representing their district if selected. Details will be determined as the time nears.

7. The final ten candidates in each of the districts will select a single nominee to represent their district.

8. The 435 nominees will be placed on the November ballot, in their respective districts, to compete against the Republican and Democratic politicians.

9. The campaign for each of the candidates will be orchestrated by the system, which will provide all necessary funding.

I give them props for coming up with a pretty clever system to do this.  I’ve been hoping for years to have a third party break through in the Federal Government.  I’d consider filling out one of these questionnaires myself, but I actually like the Republican candidate that is running against my Congressman this year so I don’t intend on supporting a third party in this year’s House race as I normally have in the past.

Here is the information regarding the meeting in Charlotte tomorrow evening, courtesy of the Charlotte Observer:

The group GOOOH will hold a rally and mock selection event at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Palmer Building, 2601 E. Seventh St.

To register, Google “GOOOH Charlotte.” Registration is free but space is limited.

For information, go to www.goooh.com or contact Don Rosenberg at donrosenberg@gmail.com or 704-910-6498.

I was just walking down to the bank during my lunch hour and came upon a crowd of about 100 people or so protesting abortion on the corner of Trade and Tryon in uptown Charlotte.  I would have liked to have gotten some pictures, but my camera is broken and I didn’t have my cell phone on me.  There were several signs saying “Women Regret Abortion”, “Pray to End Abortion” and some in Spanish as well.  In the middle of the crowd someone was holding up a statue of the Blessed Mother.   They were on all four corners of the intersection and I didn’t see any counter protest going on or any hecklers.

Event: Rally Finale at Spratt’s Office
What: Rally
Start Time: Today, January 15 at 4:00pm
End Time: Today, January 15 at 6:00pm
Where: 201 East Main Street in Rock Hill

About 80 or so people showed up at Jack Spratt’s Rock Hill office yesterday in protest of his transformation into becoming a lapdog of Nancy Pelosi.  In fact, it eerily reminds me of this scene from Ghostbusters.  You can see Nancy Pelosi at the top of the stairs with Spratt, having been turned into a dog, to her left.

This is why I really do believe that Spratt is going to lose reelection this year.  This has never happened before.  This is really the first election cycle where the folks have stood up and displayed their disgust with his lack of representation of this district.  This gathering yesterday isn’t the first time.  I’ve put up videos on this site of the town hall meetings where Spratt was met with a barrage of dissatisfied constituents.  The fact that all of this activism is taking place tells me that people have had enough and they want a new face representing the Fifth District.

Call To Action: Citizens Health Care Rally – Tuesday, January 12th at Noon

Congressman John Spratt Health Care Rally

Please come join three conservative organizations as we unite to oppose the Leftist Government takeover of our Health Care System supported by Congressman Spratt.

What:
Citizens Health Care Rally

When:
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 12:00 Noon

Where:
Congressman John Spratt Rock Hill Office
201 E. Main Street
Rock Hill, SC 29730

Event Sponsors:
We The People / SC District 5 Patriots / 5th District Republican Parties

There was a bit of suspense in Asheville, N.C., Tuesday morning about whether newly-elected city council member Cecil Bothwell should or would be sworn into office. Bothwell, who was elected last month, is an atheist. The North Carolina constitution still bars atheists from holding elected office.

“I’m not saying that Cecil Bothwell is not a good man, but if he’s an atheist, he’s not eligible to serve in public office, according to the state constitution,” said H.K. Edgerton, a former Asheville NAACP president told the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Article 6, section 8 of the North Carolina constitution states: “The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God.”

The Washington Post

These threats against Bothwell are completely unacceptable.  This is precisely what the Establishment Clause was placed in the Constitution to prevent.  Neither the Federal nor any state government has the legal authority to apply a religious litmus test to any public office holder.  In a free society we do not bully other people based on their religious beliefs or lack thereof.

Article VI Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution reads: ” The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

That’s pretty cut and dry and trumps whatever language still survives in the North Carolina State Constitution.  Mr. Edgerton certainly has the right to be upset about Councilman Bothwell’s beliefs, but he does not have the right to have him expelled from office based on those beliefs.  That’s an issue to be settled in the future between Bothwell and God.

You might remember a month ago after the Republicans swept the Wake County School Board elections that Clay Aiken came out and publicly denounced their plans to do away with “diversity” busing.  His words caused him a minor controversy of his own as he was outed (yet again) as still being a registered voter in Wake County even though he no longer lives there.  His vote in the election was then challenged.  He announced before the Wake County Board of Elections that he intends to change his registration now to Chatham County, but he still knows more about what is better for Wake County children than their own parents do.

RALEIGH — Pop singer Clay Aiken announced Tuesday that he plans to change his voter registration but still speak out against the new Wake County school board’s plans to eliminate the current diversity policy.

Aiken made the announcement before the preliminary hearing today before the WakeCounty Board of Elections into whether he is qualified to vote under his mother’s Raleigh address even though he has a home in Chatham County. Aiken said he still considers Raleigh to be his home but wrote that he’ll change his voter registration “rather than get into a technical dispute.”

“I may not be able to effect change through my vote, but I will join other concerned citizens in speaking truth to those who would reverse decades of progress in Wake County schools,” Aiken said on his blog. “I stand by my opposition to policies that threaten to resegregate schools and eliminate diversity. These policies will not prepare children for the larger world.”

The News & Observer

What the hell would Clay Aiken know about the larger world?  He barely lived in it before shooting to stardom, a world where reality is masked by breakfast  mimosas and limousines.  Can Aiken name one, just one city that has shown undeniable benefits to having children spend three hours a day on a school bus as they are bussed clear across the county to a school 15 miles from their house?  Just name one, Clay.  It shouldn’t be that hard if it’s such an overwhelming success.  Aiken’s time would be better spent worrying about his own child rather than butting into the parenting of others.

Pope says his challenge to Aiken’s vote on Oct. 6 was based on a News & Observer story about the blog post, in which a conservative activist was quoted saying that Aiken did not live in Wake County.

Aiken responded to Pope’s challenge.

“It just goes to show the lengths to which some folks will go to silence an opposing view,” Aiken said on his blog.  “I’ve remained registered at the permanent address that I’ve long used here in Wake County because I consider Raleigh home.”

No, it just goes to show that you have to follow the damn law.  The election law is pretty clear.  You vote based on where you live, period.  You don’t get to choose to vote in a city you no longer reside in just because you grew up there.  Talk about being a selfish idiot.  It’s really not that hard to understand.  He, himself, must be a product of that phenomenal diversity busing program.

Furthermore, the Charlotte Observer is reporting that Democrat Party leaders in the Eighth Congressional District have had their phones ringing off the hook from angry party faithful pissed off over Kissell’s decision to vote no. There are already talks of primary challenges, which if successful would probably hand the seat back to the GOP. Nobody to the left of Kissell will be able to hold that seat.