Carolina Politics Online

MORGANTON - As drivers travel north on N.C. 18 toward Morganton, a sign at Foothills Market suggests, “Piss off a gas company. Choke an Arab. Don’t drive. Shop local. Thank You.”

Jeff Griffiths, the owner of the convenience store, said he has only received positive responses to the sign.

Cindy Hildebran says otherwise. She was appalled by the suggestion to “choke an Arab.”

The News Herald

His property.  His sign.  His First Amendment right.  I understand the point of Griffiths’ sign and the message he is trying to relay.  Naturally, those bound by the chains of political correctness will be horrified, but they’ll get over it.  OPEC’s response to the West requesting they bump up production was pretty much “screw you.”  This further reiterates our need for energy independence.

Drill Here.  Drill Now.  Pay Less.

The national Democratic Party began broadcasting radio commercials this week that use high gas prices to criticize U.S. Reps. Robin Hayes and Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, along with 11 other Republicans nationwide.

The ads, which feature a President Bush impersonator thanking the two lawmakers for oil company tax breaks, effectively place Hayes and McHenry in the top ranks of the Democratic Party’s targets this year. Both face challenges from well-funded opponents.

Charlotte Observer

This ad is farcicle.  Are they trying to imply that the tax breaks given to oil companies is what is causing the high prices?  So if Congress removed them the price of gas would drop?  LOL  Actually, it would do the opposite because they would pass on their additional costs to the consumer.  That’s the way the market works.  Furthermore, McHenry has supported overturning the drilling bans and Hayes is pushing legislation to build more refineries.  In fact, Hayes has put out a press release today touting his introducing of the Alternative Energy Advancement Act.

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Robin Hayes (NC-8) recently introduced The Alternative Energy Advancement Act (H.R. 6383), which seeks to use proceeds from domestic oil and gas production to increase the development of new alternative energy technologies by diverting all federal proceeds from future oil and gas leases, on and off shore, into a newly created Alternative Energy Trust Fund.

It would seem to me the two Congressmen are on the right side of the issue here.

Both Hayes and McHenry voted for the 2005 legislation that included tax breaks for fossil fuel production, as well as a variety of incentives to encourage new energy and fuel alternatives. More than 70 House Democrats also supported the bill, including Reps. Bob Etheridge, G.K. Butterfield and Mike McIntyre, all of North Carolina.

Democrats, though, had difficulty explaining how they were implicitly criticizing the Republicans for their vote on a 2005 energy bill when U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee for president, voted for the same legislation.

Uh-huh.  Hypocrites.  This ad is nothing more than a sleazy cheap shot at both Congressmen trying to capitalize on the anger and frustration people have over higher gas prices.  McHenry and Hayes are hardly responsible for that.

Republican governors candidate Pat McCrory says North Carolina should consider allowing offshore drilling as a way to meet its energy needs.

The Charlotte mayor said Monday that drilling would also create jobs and bring new revenue to the state.

Charlotte Observer

Do more than consider it.  McCrory should make a promise to roll with it.  Offshore drilling is a winning issue with gas at $4 a gallon and climbing.  The notion that it will hurt tourism is ridiculous.  Those rigs are so far out you can’t see them from the shore.

While the economic is on a down turn and unemployment is up, South Carolina families are making their sacrifices to cut back on unnecessary expenses to make room for rising costs of living.  If the government truly was of the people, for the people and by the people, we’d see the same kind of belt tightening in Columbia.  Sadly, Americans threw away their responsibility a long time ago and government runs amok.

The Competitive Community Grants Committee doled out $10 million on Friday all over the state to what are more or less legislators’ pet projects.  The Governor has been fighting this process with the legislature for several years but like everyone else the same Republican legislature that continuously lies about being conservative won’t give up their greedy lust for taxpayer pork funded waste in their own districts so they can buy their reelections every two years.  While voters did manage to dump some of the swine in Columbia, plenty of them were given a mandate to continue their waste and abuse for at least another two years.

The Post and Courier has a list of what the allocated funds will be spent on in the greater Charleston area.  A few things on that list are legitimate infrastructure spending, but most of it is unbridled waste.

CHARLESTON

–$100,000 for the Maritime Heritage Foundation

–$85,000 for Middleton Place projects

–$75,000 for Drayton Hall improvements

–$65,000 for Trident Outreach Ministries Inc.

–$40,000 for the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition

–$20,000 for the Charleston Academy of Music

–$15,000 for the National Council of Jewish Women

–$10,508 for School’s Out!

–$5,000 for the Powder Magazine living history program

DORCHESTER COUNTY

–$18,000 for an Upper Dorchester County Historical Society restoration project

GOOSE CREEK

–$20,000 for a hiking and biking trail at the municipal center

JOHNS ISLAND

–$42,000 for Rural Mission Inc.

MONCKS CORNER

–$40,000 for a new sports complex

MOUNT PLEASANT

–$100,000 for Tri-County Project Care Inc.

NORTH CHARLESTON

–$50,000 for Closing the Gap in Health Care Inc.

–$50,000 for Hospice of Charleston

RAVENEL

–$20,000 for a town sewer line and pump station

ST. GEORGE

–$30,000 for upgrades to the Eastport Industrial Park pump station

–$30,000 for Keeper of the Wild

SUMMERVILLE

–$30,000 for Eagle Harbor Children’s Home

–$25,000 for Pine Ridge Fire Department

–$2,975 for the Veterans Affairs office

WALTERBORO

–$50,000 for the Great Swamp Sanctuary Discovery Center

–$38,000 for Colleton Improvement Collaborative.

Host:
Americans for Prosperity - NC
Type:
Causes - Rally
Time and Place
Date:
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Time:
11:30am - 1:00pm
Location:
Halifax Mall (Behind the General Assembly), Raleigh, NC
Street:
Between Wilmington Street, Salisbury Street, and Lane Street
City/Town:
Raleigh, NC

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Contact Info
Phone:
9198391011
Email:
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Bank of America has taken more than $6.5 billion in write-downs of securities linked to shoddy mortgages and has drastically downsized its investment bank and cut more than 3,000 jobs. Wachovia has posted $5.3 billion in market-related write-downs since last summer and is downsizing its own investment bank. It has cut 500 jobs so far and slashed its long sacrosanct dividend.

Since Mr. Thompson’s ouster, rumors have whipped through Wall Street and Charlotte’s Tryon Street - which divides the city’s downtown into unofficial Wachovia and Bank of America territories - that Wachovia was open to a buyer. Charlotte is fretting over whether it can remain the last great U.S. banking center outside of New York.

Santa Barbara News-Press

This really worries me.  I don’t work for either Wachovia or Bank of America, but I do work for a bank in an office on Tryon St just a block away from BOA’s headquarters and another two blocks from Wachovia’s.  What’s going on with these two banks should concern every man, woman, and child in the Greater Charlotte region.  Yes, there is more to Charlotte than Bank of America and Wachovia, but let’s face it.  They made this city what it is.  They started the mass migration to Charlotte by people all over the country.  Other industries in the area have prospered through their success.  What will happen to this area if they collapse?

Well, with taxpayers’ help, he drives an energy-saving hybrid vehicle when he travels around his lightning-bolt shaped district, which stretches from Mecklenburg to Guilford counties.

More than a dozen years ago he was leasing a “great big” sport utility vehicle, and then he went to a van. These days, he’s leasing a Toyota Prius.

“It gets 50 miles per gallon – people find that hard to believe,” he says.

Charlotte Observer

From the first sound of it, Mel Watt appears to be setting a shining example for his district.  He is not just preaching conservation to people, he is practicing it.  It would seem admirable of him, but are things exactly what they seem?

Of course, it does come at a price. According to House spending records, the taxpayers are spending $742.80 a month for him to lease that 2007 Prius from Wilmar Inc., a vehicle leasing company in Charlotte.

Aha!  That’s an awful lot of money for a car lease.  You can lease a BMW for a lot less than that and I guarantee you that this Wilmar Inc. is grossly overcharging on the lease of this vehicle because they know it’s being paid for by all of us.  So when you dig into the details it kind of sours on Watt’s intentions.  I don’t think his vehicle switch was a very economical decision.

Unlike the Republican incumbent, Brooks agrees with the employee groups who have been lobbying the legislature to end a ban on bargaining.

“I think these workers ought to have the freedom that other workers have to participate in collective bargaining,” said Brooks, a former commissioner.

Public workers can join unions, but salaries and benefits depend on their success in lobbying the governor, the General Assembly or local officials.

Donnan is receptive to ending the ban but points out it would be the legislature’s decision, not hers.

“At the same time … I think the fact that North Carolina and Virginia are the only two states that still have a ban on collective bargaining for public sector workers begs the question of, why is that, and a good discussion of, is it something that makes sense?”

If voters re-elect Berry to a third term, she’ll answer an adamant “no” to that question.

“I would never support giving a tool to labor unions that would allow them to hold the taxpayers of N.C. hostage,” Berry said via an e-mail from a spokeswoman.

Asheville Citizen-Times

Berry has the right answer.  That is precisely what public sector unions do and if you look at cities that are in heavily unionized parts of the country their costs of government are through the roof compared to cities that aren’t.  And it’s not just financially that they can hold taxpayers hostage.  Look what happened last year in New York City when the transit workers went on strike.  It created massive chaos throughout the city and what’s more striking about that incident is that their strike was illegal.  It’s in their contracts that they aren’t permitted to strike and they still went and did it anyway.

Brook and Donnan would be aiding the opening of Pandora’s Box in this state if elected to this post.  Voters should stick with Berry in November regardless of which Democrat gets the nomination.

North Carolina was rated by Forbes Magazine in 2007 as the best state for business. Things have been very successful here. The state economy has grown by leaps and bounds. The population is exploding and the state is amass with wealth. Things are good and the reason for that is that the government of North Carolina has gone out of its way to bend over backwards to create a business friendly environment in the state and attract industry. They have succeeded in doing so for a few different reasons.

The state government loves corporate welfare. I am not a big fan of that. I believe there are better ways to bring industry that is less wasteful than using taxpayer dollars, but nonetheless it’s worked for them. Another reason is the growth of industry has attracted workers from all over the U.S. expanding the pool of an educated work force in the state. And another reason for the increase in jobs is that North Carolina is a more profitable state to do business in because of cheaper labor costs. In translation, that means no unions. Hence, it’s not a surprise that the Marxist AFL-CIO and company are seething at the money they aren’t getting out of this cash cow.

North Carolina has one of the most restrictive laws against collective bargaining by public employees in the country.

But a labor coalition is making a concerted effort to change that.

Leading the drive is the 2 million-member Service Employees International Union, the nation’s fastest-growing union. This spring, the State Employees Association of North Carolina — the major advocacy group for state workers — voted to affiliate with the SEIU.

Also pushing to change the collective bargaining law are the N.C. Association of Educators, the AFL-CIO and the Teamsters and the American Federation of Teachers.

To gain clout in the legislature, the SEIU has been plowing money into Tar Heel political campaigns.

But the drive also has powerful opposition. Business groups fear it will lead to a more powerful labor movement in the state. State and local government officials warn it will lead to work disruptions, drawn-out negotiations, time-consuming grievance procedures and higher taxes.

Business groups are correct. Unions are a major pain in the ass for everyone. There was a time when this country needed collective bargaining and the power of the unions. Prior to the 1930s working conditions in this country were very poor, but those time have changed. We have the 40 work week today and the fringe benefits, and OSHA safety criteria, etc. Unions served their purpose and seek continued existence only to stuff lots of dollars into the pockets of the guys at the top to the detriment of the little guy they claim to be protecting at the bottom.

North Carolina has a good thing going for it and the state legislature realizes that. Why on Earth would they want to ruin that by allowing greedy, wealth-sucking parasites like the SEIU and the AFL-CIO in the fray? If you want to see North Carolina’s future under a union influenced lobby in Raleigh then take a look at Pennsylvania and the extinction of the steel industry. Look at Michigan and the implosion of the auto industry. Take a gander over to Ohio and notice the disappearance of the manufacturers. Greedy unions took it too far and played a major role in this desolation. There is a reason that part of the country is now called the Rust Belt.

Sure, America was doing great back in the 1950’s when close to a third of the work force was unionized and the top income tax rate topped 80%. The reason for that was we had no competition. Europe was still in shambles following World War II. Japan was still in the dark ages and most of the rest of the world was still living in third world conditions. That hasn’t been the case over the last few decades. The rest of the world has become more competitive with better products and cheaper labor and lower costs of doing business. The U.S. has the second highest Corporate Income Tax rate in the world. The labor unions still live with a 1950’s mind set in a 21st century global economy. Simply stated, it doesn’t work.

The North Carolina state legislature seems to understand this and there is no indication that they intend to bow to anything the labor unions throw at their feet. They are squarely in the pockets of big business. That also can have its negative side, but for now it’s the right direction for the state.

Democratic Congressional candidate Larry Kissell pumped up his campaign Sunday by selling gas for $1.22 a gallon, highlighting the energy votes of Republican incumbent Rep. Robin Hayes.

Kissell spent almost three hours selling the cheap gas to a few hundred motorists in downtown Biscoe. He used a similar campaign tactic in his narrow loss to Hayes two years ago.

“The people were very appreciative, very patient and appeared very quickly,” Kissell said.

The Herald-Sun

Kissell gets credit for thinking outside the box and being creative.  However, I still see this as vote buying and any voter who would throw their support to any candidate based on that candidate giving them discounted gasoline is a bonehead.  Kissell’s party has been mostly responsible for the high prices of gasoline in this country by their refusal to allow more domestic drilling and their catering to extremists environmentalist groups which has caused higher energy prices.

There is no one solution to energy costs.  There are several.  Alternative fuels are part of the solution as is nuclear power, but so is increasing today’s current supply of oil.  Unless Kissell is prepared to support these solutions, his recent campaign stunt is nothing more than hypocritical.

Oil hedge funds and oil speculators are in part largely responsible for the high prices at the pump. We should not go after the oil companies at this time because taxing them will be simply passed on to the consumers.

The hedge funds and oil speculators do give in a 2 to 1 margin donations to Democrats over Republicans. The far left of the Democratic party is also responsible for preventing the exploration and aquisition of vast amounts of natural resources here in the United States.

The solution is to go after the speculators and oil hedge funds that are artificially inflating the costs to our citizens. While I do appreciate Rep. Kucinich’s efforts, he needs to concentrate on the speculators now and then reevaluate the US economy before going after Oil companies. Cutting subsidies and encouraging oil companies to invest in alternative enegies is needed. It is time to be concerned but not punitive.

How much of an increase did you get this year? When I had my yearly review done, I received a 2% cost of living increase, which amounted to less than $1,000 a year and hardly covers the increased cost of living we’ve experienced. From what I am hearing my story is typical and I may even be one of the luckier ones. While the country is experiencing an economic slowdown in general and a heightened increase in inflation, the Charlotte City Council felt they were deserving of a 27% pay raise yesterday. On a contentious six to five vote, the money grabbers won. How do you feel about this? Let those who voted for it know:

Patsy Kinsey - D

Contact the Council Member
Email: pkinsey@carolina.rr.com
Phone: 704-376-5367
Address: 2334 Greenway Ave.
Charlotte, NC 28204

Warren Turner - D

Contact the Council Member
Email: district3_turner@yahoo.com
Phone: 704-713-0452
Address: P.O. Box 35465
Charlotte, NC 28231

James Mitchell, Jr - D

Contact the Council Member
E-Mail: JamesDistrict2@aol.com
Address: 3425 Valerie Drive
Charlotte, NC 28216
Phone: 704-398-9480
Cell: 704-577-3349
Fax: 704-398-9479

Nancy Carter - D

Contact the Council Member
E-Mail: n3157w@yahoo.com
Address: 1401 Cavendish Court, Charlotte, NC 28211
Phone: 704-336-3431
Fax: 704-770-0189

Michael Barnes - D

Contact the Council Member:
E-mail: barnesdistrict4@aol.com
Address: 1909 J.N. Pease Place, Suite 202, Charlotte, NC 28262
Phone: 704-509-6141
Fax: 704-548-1166

Warren Cooksey - R

Contact the Council Member:
Email: warren@warrencooksey.com
Phone: 704-347-0420
Address: 14025 Dunbritton Lane #607
Charlotte, NC 28277

Cooksey was the only Republican that voted for this budget containing the raise, so he could have stopped this if he wanted to. He claims that the raise was a small part of the budget as a whole and it was more important to get the budget passed. That may be true, but that doesn’t mean it was the best move to make. When your constituents are facing financial setbacks due to rising costs around every corner you don’t go and vote yourself a 27% pay increase. Cooksey says he won’t accept the raise. That’s all fine and dandy, but his vote allowed all the others to have it.

RALEIGH – On a day when grim economic news dominated national headlines, North Carolina consumers got a dose of more bad news on the home front as well, as Progress Energy Corp. asked for permission Friday to increase residential electricity rates in North Carolina by an average of 16.2 percent, largely to recoup rising fuel expenses.

Asheville Citizen-Times

One of the reasons for the requested rate increase is due to the price of coal soaring.  Bear in mind that just a few days ago, State Representative Pricey Harrison introduced legislation that would massively increase the price the costs on Progress Energy due to the banning of a certain type of coal that Progress uses for much of its energy.  That would be on top this already 16.2% increase.  I bet low income North Carolinians would just love her bill.  I guess that’s how the Democratic Party looks out for the poor.

The state House overwhelmingly passed a $21.3 billion budget proposal today that provides modest pay raises for teachers and most state employees, does not raise taxes and borrows roughly $550 million for construction at prisons and public universities.

The proposal raises spending by 3.3 percent over the current budget, or roughly $690 million. House Republicans said they appreciated the modest budget growth and no new taxes.

The News & Observer

I don’t find this budget acceptable.  They borrowed $550 million to make this budget, so that money has to be paid back over the years with interest.  Out of a $21.3 billion budget, there is absolutely no excuse why the legislature could not find significant cuts in wasteful spending, which are definitely there, in order to fund these other initiatives if they felt they were so necessary.

If the economy is slowing, the legislature should also tighten their belt, not increase their debt.  This is an irresponsible budget.

The County Commissioners in Durham have been pushing their representatives in the state legislature to propose and pass a bill that would allow them to implement a 1% sales tax on all restaurant meals and bar tabs.  The purpose of this is for funding cultural amenities, such as the proposed Minor League Baseball museum that has been getting discussion.

As far as I am concerned this is a waste of money.  It’s not the city or county’s place to using taxpayer dollars to fund a baseball museum.  Putting that point aside, however, the response to this by the President of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association isn’t a sensible one.

It believes the tax “would be harmful to Durham County citizens and restaurants because it is highly regressive, hurting lower-income citizens significantly more than higher-income citizens,” association President Paul Stone

That’s just simply not the case.  Lower income individuals are not dining out because they can’t afford it with or without this tax.  Even with those that do, the tax is only 1% of the bill.  On a $50 bill that’s 50 cents.  It’s the same argument Paul Luebke was making initially and I pointed out how absurd it was.

In any  case, this tax isn’t needed and if it does go on the ballot it should be voted down.

The North Carolina State House is rolling out a budget proposal this week that includes a 2.75% raise for state employees, a minimum of $1,100.  Apparently, the State Employees Association of North Carolina is complaining that this isn’t sufficient enough.  Oh boo hoo hoo.  $1,100 is a lot more than what I got for a raise this year so Diana Cope needs to quit her bitching and be grateful that they’re getting anything at all.

Half the coal burned by Progress Energy’s and Duke Energy’s power plants would become illegal in North Carolina under legislation proposed Tuesday by state Rep. Pricey Harrison.

The Guilford County Democrat wants to outlaw importation of coal that has been extracted by a controversial form of strip mining known as mountaintop removal. The process involves blowing up several hundred feet of mountaintop to expose embedded veins of coal.

The state’s power companies say Harrison’s proposal would force utilities to buy more expensive coal and raise the cost of electricity for consumers. Coal mined from mountaintops is the cheapest coal available to Raleigh-based Progress and Charlotte-based Duke. North Carolina relies on coal for about 60 percent of its electricity.

The News & Observer

Now, where is Duke and Progress Energy Companies going to get the resources they need to provide power to the 9 million people in North Carolina? Paige Sheehan of Duke Energy has an answer for that.

Progress and Duke import nearly all their coal from Appalachian coal mines. About half the coal — about 15 million tons a year — comes from mountaintop removal, while the rest comes from underground coal mines. North Carolina is one of the nation’s top users of mountaintop coal.

But banning mountaintop coal would increase demand for other Appalachian coal and drive up prices for customers, utility officials warned.

“You’d basically cut our market in half where we can get our coal,” said Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan. “And you would not stop mountaintop mining because there’s such a global demand for coal.”

So what you would see is an enormous spike in utility bills hitting every income class in the state. Now I have always been told that the Democratic Party is for the little guy, but Pricey Harrison must not buy into that philosophy since her bill would be detrimental to lower and middle income North Carolinians in order to satisfy an extreme environmental lobby.

Harrison said she was prompted to introduce legislation after recently seeing a documentary, “Mountain Top Removal,” released this year by Pittsboro independent filmmaker Michael O’Connell. The documentary tracks two years of the life of a West Virginia family living at the edge of a mountaintop removal site.

So the woman sits down and watches one movie and that’s all she needs to try and make laws that would have a catastrophic financial impact on the people of her district. I guess you get what you vote for.

RALEIGH (AP) — The NAACP and civil rights groups are in Raleigh to urge lawmakers to give public employees bargaining rights and improve workplace conditions.

Ajamu Dillahunt with the Hear Our Public Employees Coalition asked lawmakers Wednesday to remove a collective bargaining ban on state and local employees. He said black workers earn higher wages and receive better workplace protections through bargaining.

North Carolina and Virginia are the only states that have such bans in place. North Carolina’s is almost 50 years old.

The Fayetteville Observer

Absolutely not!  I have no problem with unions in the private sector if the workers so choose and if it’s in a right to work state, but not in the public sector.  Public sector unions hold the taxpayers hostage with their exorbitant demands.  The sky’s the limit when it comes to salaries and benefits when tax dollars are paying for it.   If this ban were to be removed you’ll see the cost of state labor in North Carolina skyrocket over the next few years.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — House Speaker Bobby Harrell has sent a bill that would regulate payday lending to a House committee, essentially killing the proposal.

The Senate amended a House bill last week to include the regulations and sent it back to the House in hopes of forcing floor debate.

The Independent Mail

The free market regulators tried to bring this back from the dead, but it sounds like Harrell has effectively killed it for good this time, as it should be.   Payday lending is a  legitimate service and is needed by people when they are in a financial bind.  Sure, there are people who use it inappropriately and get caught up in debt because of it, but people do that with credit cards, loans, and every other kind of borrowing.  Payday lending services are no different.  Sure the interest rates are high, but people know what they are signing up for.  Legislators need to stop demonizing these legitimate services and start promoting self responsibility.