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Friday, May 13, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
NCGA and Governor have paid scant attention to the plight of the unemployed
Within a week, as the news and analysis of Osama bin Laden's demise fades, the people of North Carolina will focus once again on the issues that matter most to their daily lives. For most North Carolinians, that includes the jobs market and the state of our economy.
But no one is talking about jobs. Except for North Carolina voters, that is. Does anyone in the NCGA care -- or even know, for that matter -- that jobs and the economy are still the most important issues to voters?
The April...
The NCGA actions thus far this week have been to:
Eliminate thousands of teachers
Ensure that clean water is not necessary
Remove free & low-cost health care through planned parenthood defunding
Stop long term unemployment benefit payments
De-fund Medicaid (because facts hurt)
Raise the cost of public justice for all
Prohibit rape victims that are seeking abortions
Endorse that Cinco de Mayo should become a national holiday.
Seriously? What have I missed here? It is like the campaign commercials for 2012 are being written by themselves....
Friday, May 6, 2011
37,000 are still being held hostage by NC Lawmakers
As of today, 37,000+ North Carolinians who were cut off from their unemployment benefits three weeks ago, because the GOP-led legislature tied extension of their benefits to their disastrous budget, are still being held hostage by Senator Phil Berger and the Republican majority.The Republican majority agreed to extend jobless benefits ONLY if Gov. Bev Perdue would agree to their budget proposal, which isn’t even finished yet.Most of the unemployed rely on those benefits to put food on the table....
Thursday, May 5, 2011
NC Politicians need to wake up and help the unemployed!
A story emailed to ncpundit@gmail.com "I do NOT think politicians are doing enough, or anything to help the thousands of people that are unemployed. I have sent out more resume’s than I can count, of course I have a log of it as required by the state of NC. I first wrote the Governor, Beverly Perdue. I was then advised to write the Senator, Phil Berger. I did both, and have emailed Senator Berger many times, with no reply. I have been unemployed since April 09 and have done an extensive job search. The message states the extension was cut due to an increase in jobs. I would LOVE to know where...
37,000 NC Unemployed Blame Raleigh Lawmakers
Democrats and Republicans in the N.C. Legislature are blaming each other for the political gamesmanship that has cut off unemployment benefits for 37,000 longterm jobless North Carolinians.Meanwhile, the unemployed citizens caught in the middle aren’t interested in keeping a tally of political points. They’re wondering how to pay their bills and avoid falling into an even deeper hole if this standoff doesn’t soon end.It began last month after the U.S. Labor Department notified state officials that...
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
NC State Budget Goes to the Senate After Long Debate
After two long days of debate, the North Carolina House passed House Bill 200 (a.k.a. State Budget Act) in a vote of 72 to 47. It now goes to the Senate where it is expected to pass with some modifications, therefore requiring a conference committee to reconcile the differences before going to the Governor. The vote was along strict party lines except for five Democrats who sided with the 67 Republicans voting for the budget.
The 72 affirmative votes are significant beyond the fact that...
Women: "You're not up to making life altering decisions"
The "Woman's Right to Know Act". What a load of nonsense. Why not call this bill, "Women: you're not up to making life altering decisions"? And as per usual, it's accompanied by the habitual dishonesty of the anti- abortionists. Oh yeah, they want 'time to reflect', that's all, nothing else. Why? Your considered "reflection time" is that it's, in all circumstances, absolutely the wrong thing to do. Admit it. Yet another feeble, disingenuous effort.I hate seeing abortion become the political football...
The House schedules a final vote on NC budget
It will soon be the Senate's turn to consider other options than what House Republicans proposed in their spending plan for North Carolina state government.
The House scheduled a final vote Wednesday on its $19.3 billion budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 after the chamber gave tentative approval to the measure Tuesday night. Five Democrats joined all Republicans presented in backing the measure, giving GOP leaders right now enough votes to withstand a potential veto by Democratic...
The House tentatively approves NC budget
The North Carolina House has completed its work on amendments to the state budget for the next two years.
The House voted on about 40 potential changes during nearly nine hours of debate Tuesday. The House tentatively approved the budget by a 72-47 vote. The third reading on the entire $19 billion-plus spending package is expected Wednesday.
Debate on the amendments came as more than 2,000 teachers and their supporters held a rally across the state from the Legislative Building. They're worried...
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Little interest in cooperation at NCGA
Despite the best intentions of both major political parties, the looming deadline of North Carolina's broken budget will remain North Carolina's insolvable concern unless Republicans and Democrats can agree on the definition of a single term. Cooperation.
Until our state's legislators agree that the only way to place North Carolina's budget on sure footing is to learn how to walk together, there is little doubt that the path this budget process is on will lead to an empty well.
Unfortunately, as...
One Voice Rally at NCGA
(RALEIGH) -- As the North Carolina House plans to vote this week on a $19 billion budget proposal, the state's largest teacher group is planning a rally Tuesday at the General Assembly in Raleigh. Rodney Ellis of the North Carolina Association of Educators says school spending is an important part of the what the state does.
"[Education] is a huge part of the budget, but you have to first ask: why is it a huge part of the budget to begin with? Because of the importance...
Monday, May 2, 2011
GOP signatures absent from Unemployment Petition
Last month, the GOP-led General Assembly passed House Bill 383 that would extend unemployment benefits to 37,000 people who have been out of work for more than a year. The bill, however, contained an unrelated provision that would have required Gov. Bev Perdue to cut 13 percent from her proposed budget, according to The Associated Press.
Perdue, a Democrat, vetoed the bill April 16, and the legislature has been unable to override it.
The unemployment benefits expired in mid-April.
Democrats are...
NC House budget 'less is more' priorities
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Visitors entering the office of House Speaker Thom Tillis at the Legislative Building can't miss the top priority for the chamber's new Republican majority.The two doors have large signs affixed that read the House GOP's mission statement for 2011: "To develop a budget for North Carolina which brings spending into line with available revenues by identifying the proper and necessary functions of state government and then prioritizing them."
In doing so, GOP leaders argue...
OSAMA BIN LADEN KILLED BY US FORCES
With the news that Osama Bin Laden was killed by US forces just before midnight, university students, who were young children when Bin Laden perpetrated the attack that killed 3,000 on September 11, 2001, poured from dorms, first spilling out into the parking lots, then forming an impromptu parade that wound out of the lots and through towns across America.
A crowd estimated at about 4000 formed the celebration parade of pedestrians and vehicles with flag waving students, honking horns, shouting...
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Where Your Opinion Counts
There are some things that simply need a voice that is not waving a charity collection envelope at you while it is speaking, or that need a counter voice to give the other side of the story in a world awash with propaganda written by the prominent American news corporations. This is what this blog is for.I am not specifically attacking or defending North Carolina lawmakers and I am not writing without knowledge of North Carolinas' history, culture or politics. If I don’t include something...
Final "Take Pride in Carolina" Rally
BY MATT GARFIELD - Staff Writer@ Newsobserver.com RALEIGH -- With chants, flag-waving and a few made-for-TV dramatic touches, North Carolina government employees sought to deliver a message Saturday to state legislators weighing widespread budget cuts.
Don't choose layoffs as the solution, leaders of a state workers' group urged.
About 150 members of the State Employees Association of North Carolina rallied outside the Legislative Building, three days...
Try reading some legislation
To me, reading this sign was a welcome antidote to the glossy party-line opinions of our politicians. I learned things. For one thing, I learned that I hate reading legislation. That’s okay. Legislation is written that way on purpose. I learned that by reading the actual text of the legislation, (and this may come as a shock to some of your delicate systems), but some bloggers and news reporters and sock puppets aren't above lying to you about what the legislation says to get you shrieking right...
