Under the Dome post on Sen. Tony Rand’s now chilly relationship with Mike Easley:
But these days, Rand says they aren’t speaking, J. Andrew Curliss reports. It’s because of the federal investigation, Rand said, that also includes a Rand buddy, car dealer Robert F. Bleecker. Easley’s son was apparently driving a Bleecker-owned car for years. The Easley campaign recently amended reports to show it was first a campaign vehicle and then was used for “personal” reasons since mid-2005.
Rand is on Bleecker’s dealership board of directors.
Rand said his friendship with Bleecker goes back 30 years and he thought it best to not talk with the former governor while the probes are ongoing.
I posted a comment on a youtube video that presents a completely one-sided picture of last week’s rallies at Hagan’s office in GSO.
I think the first comment said “Here is the other side of the coin” and linked to a roundup or story about the counterprotests.
I think the other comment may have just been a link to the articles.
The comments never appeared. A note from the video poster now appears explaining his “comment policy” for his youtube channel.
Do the above comments seem to fit his criteria for being removed or do you think this is a case of curtailment of free expression by the liberal activist?
I understand this activist is associated with the campaign of Joel Landau for Greensboro City Council.
Do they believe in censorship or free speech?
You let me know now, won’t ya’.
In God We Trust. In Obama, not so much.
As seen at a tea party in Chicago. Not seen on the evening news.
maybe its what i been should have doing all along. using the
energy with a clear mind. take action. make action, step to the mike.
speak your mind with clarity and release the energy.
dont stop. dont think. make it move. move with it. move toward the clear.
yes i said it and no i’m not. but it makes sense.
it makes sense to me and to a number of people i admire.
it’s not my thing, but this concept is clear.
reference chick.
Reidsville’s Dorothy Hairston turns 108.
Wow.
I wonder how long ’till they fix this headline:
“Tea Party tanks”
A reader comments:
“To the editorial staff:
I’m just curious why you chose to title this letter “Tea Party Tanks” which implies that the reader thought the tea party was a bust and had no intrinsic value, when just the opposite appears to be the case. I hope that was merely a mistake and not your overt liberalism coming out again.”
I started an online petition against the public option. Please sign it if you agree with it.
Text of Petition:
##We oppose any legislation that imposes greater government control over health care. We are against the public option because the government has no business taking over any segment of the American economy.
Doctors and other independent health care providers should drive the conversation about health care reform, not special interest groups from MoveOn to ACORN.
We urge you to be guided by free market principles when you consider how to vote on health care reform. The national debt and annual budget deficits are too large and cannot support expanded entitlement spending.##
Here is an AFP ad targeting members of Congress to vote no on government run healthcare.
Below are links to two petitions.
The AFP petition target was 100k. That’s been exceeded and they are not going for 250k
This petition is from Grassfire.
I have heard that there may be an organized effort to visit Kay Hagan’s offices next week. I will fully participate in those events and hope you will too.
Weekly update from Taxpayers for Common Sense:
##July is check-writing season for Congress. The House and Senate churn out spending bills almost daily in a rush to make the October 1st payment date for the start of fiscal year 2010.
In May, we wrote about 121 proposed cuts worth $17 billion in the President’s budget. Now that Congress has put pen to paper, we thought it would be worthwhile to see if they have taken a knife to the cuts.
Much work remains, but a quick perusal of the spending bills passed thus far by the House and Senate indicates the President would fit right in on the Washington Nationals roster because his batting average is looking pretty weak. Congress responded to his efforts to cut the heavily earmarked and duplicative Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Water Infrastructure State and Tribal Assistance grants ($145 million in FY09) by providing $150 million (Senate) and $160 million (House) for the program.
The President also took some swings at the Agriculture budget, but was again stymied. The $24 million cut to the Watershed and Flood Prevention Program was met with a $20 million increase by the House and $24.4 million in the Senate. This program has become little more than a parochial slush fund and does a poorer job meeting flood prevention needs than Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers programs.
Bells are ringing over the most prominent of the cuts – the weapons system reductions and eliminations proposed by Defense Secretary Gates. The crystal ball is still foggy on those, but storm clouds are gathering: While we won’t see the defense spending bills until next week, both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees pushed to restore funding for programs including the F-22 fighter jet, Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine, and missile defense.
The President has had some mixed successes. The House went along with his call to eliminate funding ($5 million in FY09) for the Department of Agriculture’s Public Broadcasting grants, opting to shift the work to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, but the Senate plowed forward with another $5 million. In the Department of Homeland Security, with the proliferation of GPS, the President wanted to stop spending $36 million on the old LORAN-C radio navigation system (President Bush tried the same the last few years). The House went off course and restored the funding, but the Senate allowed the Coast Guard Commandant to make the decision and potentially pull the plug on this World War II technology in 2011.
Cutting the budget is hard work. But by consistently offering cuts and justification for them, baby budgetary steps can be made. In addition, lawmakers can try to enforce cuts via amendments. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) tried to do just that, offering to restore the President’s cut to the corporate welfare Market Access Program in the Agriculture spending bill. Unfortunately he was cut off at the pass and not allowed to offer an amendment on the floor.
We recognize all too painfully that these cuts are not anywhere close enough to balance the books. But if we are ever going to reach that budgetary nirvana, we have to start somewhere. And cuts big and small, early and often, are a critical part of the solution.##
I wondered last night how the same liberals who foamed at the mouth about W. spending $600 billion on a foreign venture could in good conscience extol the virtues of multiple trillion dollar expansions of the federal budget deficit less than six months after taking complete control of the apparatus of state:
CQ:
Facing resistance from their own moderates to the [health care] legislation’s roughly $1 trillion price tag, House leaders have put off release of their draft legislation.
Brenda Bowers linked to a story about a group of Blue Dogs going against the grain:
The Blue Dog Democrats’ list of demands came on the eve of House Democratic leaders’ planned unveiling of their final bill Friday. The bill release was pushed back to Monday at the earliest and Democratic leaders agreed to devote Friday to meetings with the fiscally conservative Blue Dogs to work through their concerns.
These include the need for more cost containment measures, protections for small businesses and a focus on rural health care.
And since I’ve been trying to find out what the practitioners think of all the hoopla surrounding government financed health insurance, I thought this was interesting (from Brenda’s link):
Among the Blue Dogs’ concerns is the shape of a new public insurance plan that would compete with private insurers. House leaders envision making payment rates to providers in the plan some 5 percent higher than Medicare payment rates. Blue Dogs say they can’t support any link to Medicare rates, which they say pays well below market rates and varies unfairly around the country.
During week twenty-three of the North Carolina General Assembly’s 2009-2010 session, the state budget and questions about state tax increases dominated the news.
Democratic legislative leaders continued closed door sessions to craft a final state tax and spending plan; there is no open debate, no opportunity for public input, and little opportunity for the media to give the public accurate or detailed information. According to news accounts, Democrats are in agreement to raise state taxes by $1 billion or more; it appears the debate now centers on which taxes will go up and which North Carolina families and businesses will be paying more.
Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) issued the following statement on Tuesday: “The Democratic debate centers on which tax increases they’re going to enact; that approach will only cost more jobs. We have record-high unemployment and Democrats not only steadfastly refuse to eliminate wasteful spending, they refuse to hold any kind of open debate to explain why. We don’t need more private, invitation-only, closed door meetings – so this is a challenge to Governor Perdue: Let’s have joint appearances across North Carolina and debate in the open the state budget and our policy differences on the issues of taxes and spending. That kind of frank dialogue is past due. I propose at least five such debates over the next two weeks; the events should be moderated by members of the press, including the capital press corps and local media, and should include a public comment and direct question component. This will allow us to incorporate ideas, comments, and proposals from the people of North Carolina.”
Later on Tuesday, Governor Perdue released a new tax proposal slated to raise taxes by $1.6 billion through an 1-cent increase to the state sales tax, a new method for determining state income taxes which will result in taxpayers paying more, and new state taxes on a laundry list of services. On Wednesday, Senator Berger released the following comment: “After first promising the voters in last year’s election campaign that she would not raise taxes, Governor Beverly Perdue sent her budget proposal to the General Assembly in March calling for $500 million in ‘sin’ taxes. In June, she jetted around the state contending that the only thing that could save North Carolina from calamity was $1.5 billion in additional, although not specified, taxes. Last week, she threw up her hands and said that she did not ‘care’ which taxes the Democrat-controlled legislature raised, just that taxes needed to go up. Yesterday, Governor Perdue released a more specific proposal and called for a $1.6 billion annual tax hike for North Carolina. She also went back to the Democratic playbook and says that many of her new taxes are going to be ‘temporary.’”
In 2001, former Governor Mike Easley and Democrats enacted “temporary” increases in sales and income taxes; portions of those taxes are still on the books even though in many years after 2001, the state ran billion dollar plus surpluses in the general fund. As these “temporary” taxes were extended and later made permanent, Beverly Perdue presided over the Senate as Lieutenant Governor and did not voice any objection. When asked by reporters how taxpayers could be sure now that these new “temporary” tax increases would not later become permanent as in previous years, Perdue responded, “Because I’m the governor.” (“Perdue: $1.6 billion in taxes the only option,” Under the Dome, 7/7/09) Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
Even Democrats have expressed skepticism about the latest tax proposal from Governor Perdue. Sen. Dan Clodfelter (D-Mecklenburg), Co-Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, characterized Perdue’s proposal as lacking new ideas, “She took every option anyone had ever mentioned and put it on a list.” (“Perdue wants 1¢ sales tax hike,” News & Observer, 7/8/09) Rep. Mickey Michaux (D-Durham), Senior House Budget Chair, also said that the Governor’s proposal was just a mix of House and Senate tax proposals and lack new ideas. Michaux said, “I just wish she’d come out with it a lot sooner than today.” He also called the $1.6 billion revenue number “not realistic.” (“Tues Late: Reax,” Isaac Hunter’s Tavern, 7/7/09) Even Senate Democratic Leader Marc Basnight (D-Dare) said he would share the public’s skepticism at the idea of “temporary” taxes. “I would be (skeptical) too, I would join in with the public,” Basnight said. (“Perdue proposes taxes to break budget impasse,” Greensboro News & Record, 7/7/09)
“There they go again,” Senator Berger said, “It looks like the only answer North Carolina Democrats have is to raise taxes. Democratic leaders are at an impasse; they just can’t agree on which segment of North Carolina’s economy they will further damage with new and higher tax levies. Governor Perdue apparently has now settled on the across the board strategy. As we have seen all too often, her proposal fails to attack the real problem of wasteful government spending and inefficiency.”
“After she spent eight years presiding over the Senate as Lieutenant Governor offering no objection as her Democratic colleagues made previous ‘temporary’ taxes permanent, the idea that we should trust Governor Perdue and Legislative Democrats to ensure that her new ‘temporary’ taxes will expire is laughable.”
#Beer and Wine Lovers Alike,
I am cashing in a favor, please! For the love of beer please take a minute to protect your wallet, 21,000 wholesaler jobs and 30,000 associated retail jobs.
Governor Perdue has singled out a need to impose a greater ’sin tax’ on beer and wine. She initially pushed to almost double the level of excise tax.
Would you please go on line and e-mail the governor and your legislatures to tell them that a beverage tax increase is a bad idea.
1. NC 6th highest beverage tax in the Union. Wine is the 16th highest.
2. The 100 NC micro breweries and wineries could be put out of business with a tax increase.
3. Beer and wine lovers are not sinners.
4. We did not cause the recession and should not be singled out as a solution.
5. New York state generates less beverage tax than North Carolina! They have a few more people as well.
6. NC beer and wine taxes currently contributes close to $3 billion.
www.governor.state.nc.us Please go on here and go through the ‘Contact Us’
node.
www.ncleg.net Please get on line. Enter your zip code to find your legislatures and send them an e-mail.
Please forward this as a chain letter. This is real!
Governor Perdue is trying hard to increase beer .48 cents a case and .95 cents a case on wine, WITH an increase in sales tax. It is a double dip on alcohol and is not necessary to address the state’s deficit.
Please bombard the Governor’s office with phone calls (919) 733-4240 and/or e-mails governor.office@nc.gov expressing your opinion apposing the proposed tax hike. The time is now to be heard (before July 15th).
Please forward this on to your friends and associates.
Attached are posters and tools of the trade that if you so wish may be printed and placed at your favorite watering hole or hot spot!
Thank you all!
Cheers,
Tori#
From Americans for Prosperity (of which I am a grassroots member):
##President Obama and big-government politicians in Congress have said they want Americans to have health care as good as they have. So why aren’t they jumping to join the new public health insurance plan they’re trying to create?
I know you’re shocked to hear this … but members of Congress are planning to keep their gold-plated, taxpayer-funded benefits packages while putting the rest of us into a government health care plan. If this new plan is supposed to be so great, why aren’t they going to join it?
What hypocrisy.
There’s even more hypocrisy and outrageous political payoffs in this health care takeover. Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus wants to tax our health insurance to help pay for the government takeover – but their scheme exempts the unions from the tax increases! I’m not making this up.
Along with members of Congress and federal employees, union members have the biggest, richest benefits packages in the nation, but they would be exempted from this new tax.
Let Congress know how you feel about a government takeover of health care by signing Americans for Prosperity’s "Hands Off My Health Care" petition today.
Today, MoveOn.org is organizing protests at senators’ district offices to demand a government-run health insurance plan with the provisions I just described to you.
Well, MoveOn.org isn’t the only voice in this debate. Americans for Prosperity is joining with many of our Tea Party Patriot friends at our senators’ district offices July 17 to protest a government health care grab. The Tea Parties have been a tremendous success because they are coming from you – hard-working men and women who care about what happens to your families and to our country.
Everyone will be hitting the senators’ district offices at the same time on July 17. Visit your nearest district office at Noon EDT/11 a.m. CDT/10 a.m. MDT/9 a.m. PDT and demand that he or she protect the freedoms we enjoy – to choose our doctors and to keep the government out of our health decisions. Make sure to bring a copy of our Patients First petition, signed by you and your family!
We’ve made it easy for you – just click here to find your senators’ district offices!
If you haven’t yet signed the petition online, telling Congress to keep their Hands Off My Healthcare, sign now! You can start taking action before you even leave your computer.
We will win this battle to protect our health care – if we fight.
Sincerely,
Tim Phillips
President, Americans for Prosperity
P.S. If you haven’t already seen it, check out our new ad on government-run health care.##
Obama stimulus package.
I think the left is gonna regret trashing W. the way they did. He wasn’t the brightest bulb but Dowd and Ivins set the tone for their followers, and what comes next is gonna make that pale in comparison.
I was gonna give him six months, but after the way they shoved Cap and Trade through the House, I think it’s time the gloves come of.
So be it.
International scandal:
Bild: Oh là là – US President Barack Obama was snapped at the G8 summit checking out the bum of a delegate as Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in amusement.
NY Post: The beauty who prompted the president to channel his inner Bill Clinton was identified as Rio de Janeiro resident Mayara Tavares. The girl from Ipanema had been selected to attend a meeting of young people held in conjunction with the summit.
Multimedia: New presidential theme song.
This is Third Moment playing a cover of “The Wind Cries Mary” this afternoon for the Reidsville Chamber of Commerce ice cream social at the Penn House. John Waller on drums and Ron Edmunds on bass.
We later shredded a version of “Power of Soul”
We played only five cover in two hours so our repitoire of originals is growing.
Converge Right in left field.
From left to right: Sam Hieb of Piedmont Publius, Sam Spagnola, me, Tony Wilkins of Busy Being Born, Beelzebubba, Cheripicker, Joe Guarino, Bubba of Noteworthy, and Keith Brown of Triad Watch.
I really enjoyed hanging with my fellow righties last night. The Grasshoppers have a great stadium and the Natty’s Southern Pale Ale goes well with sunsets.
I had previously met Bubba, Tony and Joe at various and sundry places. I enjoyed meeting Sam, Keith, Cheri and Beelze and a few others who stopped by. I didn’t get to talk with Sam Hieb much until the very end when the police man said we needed to move along. Sam does important work for a great organization.
Rest assured all conversation was on topic and free of ad hominem.
I’d write more but my band is playing our biggest gig yet at 5pm., weather permitting.
Rockingham County Liberty Rally July 25
More details to come.
ConservativeNC has a new poll on the governor’s proposed tax increases.
Why not vote today.
Since I am a grassroots member of this organization, I want to start posting their bulletins for other interested parties:
##Dear Friends:
The North Carolina General Assembly is considering a massive increase in the State Income Tax.
Take Action Now. Contact your legislators and tell them NO state income tax increase.
If the legislature adopts the House proposal to create a new 8.25 percent income tax rate on individuals making between $120,000 and $300,000 a year and an 8.5 percent rate on individuals making more than $300,000, North Carolina would join only a handful of states – California, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia – with similarly high income taxes.
Many small businesses pay taxes at the individual rate, and this plan would directly lead to job losses.
The two new personal income tax brackets included in the N.C. House budget could "destroy" more than 2,800 private-sector jobs in the state, according to a report ( pdf link) from Boston-based economists who analyzed the tax plan.
The state already has the 11.1 percent unemployment — and it would be dangerous for lawmakers to consider a tax increase that would do this much damage to the state’s slumping economy.
In addition to the lost private-sector jobs, the income tax increases would reduce North Carolinians’ real after-tax income by $101 million, cut the Gross State Product by almost $36 million, and cost local governments $12 million in tax revenue. That’s according to the analysis from economists at the Beacon Hill Institute, the research arm of the economics department at Boston’s Suffolk University.
According to the report the income tax increases would:
- Destroy 2,817 private sector jobs
- Shrink the state’s economy by $36 million
- Drain $101 million in real disposable income from citizens
- Take $12 million from local governments
- Bring in $40 million less than budget writers claim
Sincerely,
Dallas H. Woodhouse
State Director
Americans for Prosperity – North Carolina##
As part of his campaign platform, a Greenboro City Council candidate says he will donate his annual council pay to scholarships:
Ryan Shell, a candidate for the District 2 Greensboro City Council seat, has announced that he intends to donate $5,000 of his annual council pay to fund five $1,000 scholarships for District 2 youth.
Seems like a fine idea. I think more folks should put their money where their mouth is.
RALEIGH — North Carolina’s GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer today criticized Governor Bev Perdue’s call to raise the state sales tax by one cent, saying that her plan to rescind the tax after a year is doomed for failure.
“I’m here to tell you that if we are counting on Bev Perdue to stick to her word, this tax will linger with us for years to come. Bev Perdue has no credibility on this issue” said Fetzer at a press conference held at the State Republican Headquarters in Raleigh. “During her time in the legislature and presiding over the Senate as Lt. Governor, Bev Perdue expressed no concerns when temporary taxes were enacted or extended. She is a tax and spend liberal and her take on this budget proves it” Fetzer added.
Governor Perdue has outlined her budget plan that includes a tax increase of $1.6 billion dollars including the proposed 1 cent increase in the state sales tax. Fetzer has been sharply critical of Perdue’s spending plan in recent weeks, even attending a protest outside a Greenville high school where Perdue was holding one in a series of rallies in support of her tax increases, rallies that she used the state owned jet to fly to.
Fetzer accused Perdue and the Democrat leadership in the General Assembly of playing a political version of Good Cop/Bad Cop, with the Governor floating out outrageously high tax increase numbers to raise the threshold and give the legislature more cover in their tax raising budgets. “The taxpayers of North Carolina are wise to the game and they won’t be duped. They’ve seen right through this political ploy and are calling on the legislature to get out the scissors and begin cutting out wasteful spending in this budget and stop making threats to slash important education funding.” Fetzer said.
Fetzer called on Perdue and the Democrat leadership to quit playing games and “approve a budget based on needs, not wants and allow other elected officials outside of the inner circle to participate in the budget process.”
Phil Berger and Skip Stam address the Democrats intent to raise taxes and the state’s budget deficit in this video introduced by NCGOP Chair Tom Fetzer.
“We believe too little has been done to address the spending side,” Berger said.
Related: Great video of Sen. Phil Berger discussing the Democrats plan to raise taxes in North Carolina by $1 billion.
“What she’s doing with the income tax is a significant income tax increase by changing the calculation,” Berger said. “It’s somewhat complicated, but talk to your accountant, it’s a significant income tax increase.”
NRSC ad on the new one party state.
Raleigh – After first promising the voters in last year’s election campaign that she would not raise taxes, Governor Beverly Perdue sent her budget proposal to the General Assembly in March and proposed raising about $500 million in “sin” taxes. In June, she jetted around the state contending that the only thing that could save North Carolina from calamity was $1.5 billion in additional, although not specified, taxes. Last week, she threw up her hands and said that she did not “care” which taxes the Democrat-controlled legislature raised, just that taxes needed to go up. Yesterday, Governor Perdue released a more specific proposal and called for a $1.6 billion annual tax hike for North Carolina. She also went back to the Democratic playbook and says that many of her new taxes are going to be “temporary.”
In 2001, former Governor Mike Easley and Democrats enacted “temporary” increases in sales and income taxes; portions of those taxes are still on the books even though in many years after 2001, the state ran billion dollar plus surpluses in the general fund. As these “temporary” taxes were extended and later made permanent, Beverly Perdue presided over the Senate as Lieutenant Governor without objection. When asked by reporters how taxpayers could be sure that these new “temporary” tax increases would not later become permanent as in previous years, Perdue responded, “Because I’m the governor.” (“Perdue: $1.6 billion in taxes the only option,” Under the Dome, 7/7/09)
Even Democrats have expressed skepticism about the latest tax proposal from Governor Perdue. Sen. Dan Clodfelter (D-Mecklenburg), Co-Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, characterized Perdue’s proposal as lacking new ideas, “She took every option anyone had ever mentioned and put it on a list.” (“Perdue wants 1¢ sales tax hike,” News & Observer, 7/8/09) Rep. Mickey Michaux (D-Durham), Senior House Budget Chair, also said that the Governor’s proposal was just a mix of House and Senate tax proposals and lack new ideas. Michaux said, “I just wish she’d come out with it a lot sooner than today.” He also called the $1.6 billion revenue number “not realistic.” (“Tues Late: Reax,” Isaac Hunter’s Tavern, 7/7/09)
“There they go again,” Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said, “It looks like the only answer North Carolina Democrats have is to raise taxes. Democratic leaders are at an impasse; they just can’t agree on which segment of North Carolina’s economy they will further damage with new and higher tax levies. Governor Perdue apparently has now settled on the across the board strategy. As we have seen all too often, her proposal fails to attack the real problem of wasteful government spending and inefficiency.”
“After she spent eight years presiding over the Senate as Lieutenant Governor offering no objection as her Democratic colleagues made previous ‘temporary’ taxes permanent, the idea that we should trust Governor Perdue and Legislative Democrats to ensure that her new ‘temporary’ taxes will expire is laughable.”
Rep. Paul Stam, House Republican Leader, yesterday exposed the Governor’s attempts to spread fear and terror by a four fold exaggeration of the spending “gap.”
In Bev We Trust
We will all be penniless when the DNC, the state Democrats and the local Democrats get finished with us.
Discuission:
