Category Archives: North Carolina

March 22, 2013 · 8:50 pm

Republicans Consider Closing UNC Campuses

The new- I refuse to say “our”- Governor of NC, Pat McCrory, is shaping up to be the most anti-education Governor North Carolina has ever seen.

One of the things North Carolina is known for is its excellent, affordable public Universities.  McCrory and his GOP friends in the Legislature seem intent on destroying this…

Of course, Republicans barely try to hide how anti-education their programs are….They value ignorance much more highly as educated voters don’t vote Republican.  In fact, they count on ignorance….

And they seem determined to both show it and drive it in North Carolina….

And the NC Democrats can’t seem to run a campaign or get their acts together to oppose them….

Scary times in my adopted home State….

Jesse Helms would be proud of them….

From WRAL Raleigh:

 

Lawmakers are considering the possibility of eliminating one or two campuses in the University of North Carolina system, a top Senate budget-writer said Thursday.

Gov. Pat McCrory called for a $135 million cut in funding for the UNC system in the 2013-14 budget proposal he rolled out on Wednesday.

As lawmakers began reviewing the spending plan Thursday, Sen. Pete Brunstetter, R-Forsyth, co-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he and his colleagues are more concerned about how money for higher education is spent than the actual size of the appropriation.

Lawmakers want to trim duplicative programs across UNC campuses, which Brunstetter said could reduce the overall system’s footprint.

“I think our members definitely envision that there could be some consolidation between campuses, and we might need to go from 16 down to 15, 14, something like that,” he said.

The university campuses in the system include UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University, Fayetteville State University, East Carolina University, UNC-Greensboro, North Carolina A&T State University, Winston-Salem State University, the UNC School of the Arts, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Wilmington, UNC-Pembroke, Elizabeth City State University, Appalachian State University, UNC-Asheville and Western Carolina University.

Brunstetter didn’t elaborate on which campuses might close.

via UNC system could lose campuses :: WRAL.com.

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February 19, 2013 · 7:30 pm

North Carolina Slashes Jobless Benefits

Amazing….

Amazingly heartless, amazingly stupid and amazingly bad public policy….

I just can’t believe the People of North Carolina really want this…..even most of the ones who voted for these idiots.

But, of course, the GOP only cares about Corporations and Corporate welfare. They are the only “people” who matter to the Republicans.

Laura Clawson at DailyKos.com says it best:

Surprising no one, but brutalizing hundreds of thousands of people, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, signed major unemployment insurance cuts into law Tuesday. Under the new law, the maximum unemployment benefit is cut from $535 to $350, and the maximum weeks of eligibility are cut from 26 to 20, which cuts jobless North Carolinians off from the federal emergency unemployment compensation program.

The cutoff from federal benefits alone affects 170,000 people; overall, there are 400,000 unemployed North Carolinians.

The kicker is that this was done to protect businesses from having to pay higher unemployment taxes. But a big part of the reason it needed to be done was that North Carolina went into the recession with an underfunded unemployment insurance trust fund because of cuts to employer unemployment taxes. Now, with an unemployment rate of 9.2 percent, the fifth-highest in the country, the state is cutting the benefits that jobless people use to buy groceries and pay the rent and put gas in their cars to go to any job interviews they may be lucky enough to get.

Republican governance, y’all.

via Daily Kos: North Carolina slashes jobless benefits despite 9.2% unemployment.

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February 16, 2013 · 10:00 am

The North Carolina Nipple Police

North Carolina’s new GOP controlled legislature is living up to all my expectations….

With all the important issues like unemployment, education and infrastructure needs being ignored, they are focusing on ….

Nipples….

Maybe, after all,  we are safer if that’s where they keep their focus.  But sadly  they really are making themselves – and by default the state of North Carolina- a laughingstock to the rest of the country.

These Church Ladies seem intent on dragging us back to the days of Jesse Helms and the Andy Griffith Show.

But, I don’t think even Aunt Bea and Thelma would take too kindly to putting duct tape on their nipples…

Well, Aunt Bea might….

From RawStory.com:

North Carolina Republican state Rep. Tim Moore says that women can protect themselves from a new law that makes baring female breasts illegal by simply applying duct tape to their nipples.

On Wednesday, the state House Judiciary Committee C approved House Bill 34, which makes it a Class H felony to purposefully expose “private parts” for the “purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire.”

The bill expands the state’s definition of “private parts” to include a woman’s “nipple, or any portion of the areola.”

Republican state Rep. Rayne Brown told lawmakers that she was co-sponsoring the bill because activists had held a topless women’s rights rally in Asheville last summer, where as many as a dozen women bared their breasts

Although Brown’s district is 100 miles from Asheville, she felt it was important to act before women tried to assert their rights again by going topless at another rally.

“You’ve got local governments passing ordinances to protect themselves from just this thing,” she explained. “These folks don’t need to be doing that, but they do it because they’re not sure about the law.”

Under the proposed law, women could spend up to six months in jail for a first offense. “Incidental” nipple exposure by breastfeeding mothers would be exempt from the law.

Democratic state Rep. Annie Mobley said she worried that women wearing “questionable fashions” could be prosecuted under the new rules.

But Committee Chairwoman Rep. Sarah Steven (R) suggested that women could use pasties or nipple coverings just to be safe.

“They’d be good to go” with nipple coverings, Stevens said.

“You know what they say, duct tape fixes everything,” Republican state Rep. Tim Moore agreed.

via NC lawmaker: Women should ‘duct tape’ nipples to stay out of jail | The Raw Story.

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January 29, 2013 · 4:49 pm

NC Gov McCrory Takes on UNC- Wants to Focus Higher Ed Funding on Vocational Training, Not Liberal Arts

What an absolute ass….

My experience has been that the best leaders and managers have liberal arts educations.  It teaches you to think broadly, critically and to problem solve.  A Liberal Arts Education has longterm benefits besides making life much more interesting and enjoyable.

Vocational education teaches specific skills that can easily become redundant as the marketplace, automation and industry moves to different phases.  It’s a short term solution to immediate corporate hiring needs.

This fool may lead to my return to blogging on this site on a more regular basis….

From the News and Observer:

 

Gov. Pat McCrory said he would propose legislation to overhaul the way higher education is funded in North Carolina, putting the emphasis on job creation not liberal arts and taking specific aim at the state’s flagship university.

“I think some of the educational elite have taken over our education where we are offering courses that have no chance of getting people jobs,” McCrory told conservative talk show host Bill Bennett, the former education secretary for President Ronald Reagan, during an interview Tuesday morning.

McCrory echoed a crack the radio show host made at gender studies courses at UNC-Chapel Hill, a top tier public university. “That’s a subsidized course,” McCrory said, picking up the argument. “If you want to take gender studies that’s fine, go to a private school and take it. But I don’t want to subsidize that if that’s not going to get someone a job.”

The Republican governor said he instructed his staff Monday to draft legislation that would change how much state money universities and community colleges receive “not based on how many butts in seats but how many of those butts can get jobs.”

 

McCrory wants to revamp higher ed funding — takes aim at UNC-Chapel Hill | newsobserver.com projects.

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July 3, 2012 · 5:24 pm

North Carolina Defunds Planned Parenthood In Midnight Vote, Overriding Veto

I am so sick and tired of these fools in Raleigh….

North Carolina had struggled to put Jesse Helms and the pettiness and ignorance he represented behind us….

Then, people go and elect a Republican-controlled legislature that is starting to make Jesse look moderate and reasonable.

First the fools “outlawed” climate change and the related science…

Now, they are attacking North Carolina’s Women just like the national GOP tells them to do….

Sickening…

And it’s really going to be hard to defeat these idiots since they controlled redistricting….

 

North Carolina’s Republican-controlled state legislature voted Monday night to override Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of a state budget that strips money from Planned Parenthood.

The same lawmakers overrode Perdue’s veto and moved to defund Planned Parenthood last year, but a judge blocked the provision, arguing that a state can’t single out a particular health provider. This time around, lawmakers found a way to sidestep legal challenges by not specifically naming Planned Parenthood in the budget. Instead, the bill prevents the state’s Health and Human Services department from contracting with “private providers” of family planning services — effectively, but not explicitly, singling out Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, one of the state’s two Planned Parenthood providers, estimates that it will lose $200,000 as a result of the new budget. Because no state money is used for abortion services, the funding cuts will affect the clinic’s ability to provide affordable birth control, cancer screenings, pap smears and other services for low-income women in the state.

via North Carolina Defunds Planned Parenthood In Midnight Vote, Overriding Veto.

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May 7, 2012 · 3:33 pm

Greensboro and Guilford County Voter’s Guide

Everyone in North Carolina….

Please remember to go out and vote tomorrow–especially AGAINST Amendment One!

As Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  Of course, that includes Women, too!

For those looking for a good, Progressive voter guide, here is the best one I know of- from Replacements, LTD PAC:

More:  http://www.replacementsltdpac.org/

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February 7, 2012 · 11:11 pm

Greensboro City Council Votes To Oppose North Carolina Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

Sometimes, I really love the city I live in!  Frequently, in fact….

Tonight the Greensboro City Council voted 8-1 to oppose the proposed Constitutional Amendment to the NC State Constitution to ban Gay marriage and pretty much any recognition of any Gay relationship.

I’m so proud of Mayor Robbie Perkins and Councilman Zack Matheny, both Republicans by the way, for leading this effort to support Greensboro’s Gay Families.

The loan dissenter was Councilperson Trudy Wade- a local vet who will never touch our pets!

Thank you to the 8 decent people on the City Council who stood up for Equality!

From DigTriad.com:

The proposed amendment, which will appear on the May primary ballot, would state that “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized” in the state of North Carolina.

Greensboro Mayor Robbie Perkins and councilman Zack Matheny are bringing the resolution in opposition to the council.

The resolution cites the city’s policy of hiring without discrimination and the policy to offer benefits to domestic partners as reasons to oppose the amendment.

“Whereas, This amendment, if approved by voters, would be inconsistent with the City of Greensboro’s goals, commitments, and policies, negatively impacting, among other things, the City’s ability to offer domestic partner benefits and compete as an employer.”

City Councilwoman Trudy Wade intends to vote against the resolution.  She issued her own statement regarding the vote.

“The City Council resolution claims to be a reaffirmation of Greensboro’s commitment to be nondiscriminatory.  In reality, however, it is a frontal assault against the institution of marriage.”

via Greensboro City Council To Vote To Oppose North Carolina Marriage Amendment | digtriad.com.

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February 4, 2012 · 5:16 pm

STOCK Act Opponent NC Senator Richard Burr Stands To Gain From Natural Gas Investments

It’s a real shame we couldn’t get rid of Burr when he was up for re-election a couple of years ago, but I’m afraid Elaine Marshall just wasn’t the right candidate with the right resources to run against him.

And the Democratic Senatorial Committee and Democratic National Committee weren’t much help either…

He is such a corporatist non-entity, he should have been easy pickings if we had had the right candidate with sufficient resources at the right time.

But that was also the height of the Tea Party insanity….

Burr taking positions like this and having this obvious conflicts of interest should make it much easier to retire him next time.  It truly takes guts- and stupidity- to vote AGAINST insider trading laws for Senators!

From the Huffington Post:

Sen. Richard Burr’s vocal opposition to the STOCK Act raised some eyebrows in Washington this week, and with good reason.

Burr, a North Carolina Republican who was one of just three senators to vote against the ban on congressional insider trading Thursday, owns investments in the natural gas industry that would benefit from legislation he co-sponsored offering tax credits for natural gas-fueled vehicles.

Burr has investments in the gas industry valued from $133,298 to $219,337, according to his 2010 filings. His portfolio includes $36,000 worth of stock in Chesapeake Energy Corp., the second-largest U.S. producer of natural gas. He also holds more than $25,000 in shares of Loews Corp., a holding company with subsidiaries engaged in the exploration, production, marketing and transmission of natural gas.

He was on the losing side of Thursday’s 96-3 passage of the STOCK Act, that would tighten rules for lawmakers and their aides using inside information for personal investments. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said he’ll bring the STOCK Act to the House floor next week.

Burr’s investments pose “a very clear conflict of interest,” said Craig Holman of the advocacy group Public Citizen. He said the STOCK Act “will make members of Congress much more cautious in any particular sector, including natural gas.” While the STOCK Act wouldn’t prohibit such investments, “members of Congress will have to think twice about any kind of trading activity they do,” Holman said.

via STOCK Act Opponent Richard Burr Stands To Gain From Natural Gas Investments.

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October 3, 2011 · 8:06 pm

Art Pope, Citizens United, and North Carolina Politics : The New Yorker

Very scary article in this weeks “New Yorker” about Art Pope and how he’s used his money to effect North Carolina politics….

The “Citizens United” decision by the Supreme Court last year is really hurting Democracy in America.  We are only just now starting to see how much….

Here is a brief excerpt from a very long article.  I encourage you to click the link and read it in it’s entirety.

For years, Pope, like several other farsighted conservative corporate activists, has been spending millions in an attempt to change the direction of American politics. According to an analysis of tax records by Democracy NC, a progressive government watchdog group, in the past decade Pope, his family, his family foundation, and his business have spent more than forty million dollars in this effort. Sizable as Pope’s contributions have been, they are negligible in comparison with his fortune. The Pope family foundation—of which Art Pope is the chairman and president, and one of four directors—reportedly has assets of nearly a hundred and fifty million dollars.

This wealth has enabled Pope to participate in the public arena on a scale that few individuals can match. Some have compared him to Charles and David Koch, the conservative oil-and-chemical magnates, whom Pope regards as friends; Pope has at times joined forces with them, attending some of their semi-annual secret planning summits and, through the family foundation, contributing millions to many of the same causes. Pope, in addition to being on the board of Americans for Prosperity—which David Koch founded, in 2004—served on the board of its predecessor, Citizens for a Sound Economy, which Koch co-founded, in 1984. Charles Koch recently praised the Popes, along with other donors, for providing financial support for the 2012 election effort, and tax records show that Pope has given money to at least twenty-seven groups supported by the Kochs, including organizations opposing environmental regulations, tax increases, unions, and campaign-spending limits. Pope, in fact, helped fund the legal center run by James Bopp, the lawyer who made the initial filing in the Citizens United case

More:   Art Pope, Citizens United, and North Carolina Politics : The New Yorker.

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September 20, 2011 · 9:22 pm

Greensboro Voter Guide from Replacements Ltd PAC

NOTE:  Please see the updated guide for today’s General Election here:

https://lostinthe21stcentury.com/2011/11/06/greensboro-voter-guide-for-general-election/

 

I want to share this with my fellow Progressives in Greensboro, NC, Jamestown and Guilford County….

Below is the list of endorsements from Replacements Pac for the October Primary elections.

These candidates are not just supportive of GLBT rights, but are good Progressive choices for City Council and Mayor.

I encourage you to consider supporting these candidates on the Primary Election on October 11th and during early voting starting September 22nd.

PLEASE VOTE!!!!  It does matter.  A lot…..

Unless you are a Republican, then I would suggest just spending the day at the Spa…..

The Candidates in Bold Red Print are the ones I know I will be personally voting for in my District or At-Large.  You may vote for 3 At-Large City Council candidates and I have wish we had the chance to vote for 4 as I really like Marikay Abuzuaiter, too…

Please do NOT vote for Bill Knight for Mayor or Mary Rakestraw in District 4

Early Voting

September 22 – October 8

Primary Election:  Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

2011 LGBT Primary Voter Guide

Guilford County

Greensboro Mayor

(R) Robbie Perkins

Greensboro City Council At-Large

(U) Nancy Barakat Vaughan

Greensboro City Council At-Large

(D) Yvonne J. Johnson

Greensboro City Council At-Large

(D) Wayne Abraham

Greensboro City Council Dist 1

No Primary

Greensboro City Council Dist 2

(D) Jim Kee

Greensboro City Council Dist 3

No Primary

Greensboro City Council Dist 4

(D) Nancy Hoffmann

Greensboro City Council Dist 5

No Endorsement

Jamestown

Jamestown Town Council

(D) Frank Gray

Jamestown Town Council

(R) Brock Thomas

Jamestown Town Council

(U) Robert Wenzel

Jamestown Town Council

(D) Tommy Walls

Our data about candidates is obtained through survey responses, conversations with candidates and a candidate’s public record. Following are primary candidates who returned surveys and are supportive of LGBT issues in varying degrees.

Greensboro

Bradford Cone

(D) Very Supportive

Tom Phillips

(R) Very Supportive

Marikay Abuzuaiter

(D) Very Supportive

Clarence Easter

(D) Very Supportive

Cyndy Hayworth

(D) Somewhat Supportive

Hayden Jesserer

(D) Very Supportive

Chris Lawyer

(R) Very Supportive

Sal Leone

(D) Very Supportive

Christopher McLaughlin

(D) Very Supportive

Dan Fisher

(U) Very Supportive

David Crawford

(D) Very Supportive

Jamestown

(R) John Regis Fete

(R) Somewhat Supportive

via Replacements Ltd PAC.

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