General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUnbelievable laundry list, the Rs out to destroy NC!!
Edit to add: Never miss a chance to vote locally!
http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2013/04/02/the-wrecking-ball-keeps-pounding/
Heres a challenge for you. Try to explain what is happening in North Carolina these days to someone who doesnt follow politics or government and limit yourself to a minute or even two.
You cant do it. The damage being inflicted on the state by this radical and reactionary General Assembly is too vast and is happening too quickly to even catalogue, much less explain.
Lawmakers, who have only been in session a little over two months, have already refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, denying health care to 500,000 low-income adults even though the federal government would pick up the full cost of the expansion for three years and 90 percent of the cost after that.
The purely ideological decision on Medicaid is at least still in the news occasionally as some states with Republican governors like New Jersey and Arizona have managed to put their partisanship aside and do what is best for the people they represent.
The majority in control of our General Assembly has also voted to slash unemployment benefits for laid off workers and deny emergency federal benefits for 170,000 people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
The unemployment bill passed the first few weeks of the session but is rarely mentioned any more on Jones Street. Governor Pat McCrory sheepishly signed the attack on workers and the Medicaid expansion refusal in private ceremonies away from reporters who might ask pesky questions.
He also signed legislation behind closed doors to reduce the state Earned Income Tax Credit that helps low-wage workers. The bill also allows the EITC to expire at the end of the year.
That seems like old news now too with all the talk in Raleigh about tax reform, the current euphemism for the Robin Hood in reverse brand of class warfare now being pursued by Senate leaders and the right-wing think tanks bankrolled by the State Budget Director.
Lawmakers have quickly moved from the war on the poor to the war on environment as the Senate passed legislation to speed up permitting for dangerous fracking operations and the House is considering repealing the states modest renewable energy standard that some environmentalists believe is far too weak.
All bets are off on public education too. There are bills to divert public school money to home schoolers and turn teachers into glorified temps in the classroom. Senate leaders are trying to remove whats left of accountability for charter schools by setting up a parallel and likely unconstitutional governance system to oversee them. A sweeping voucher scheme is coming soon.
Exhausted yet? Theres more. Predatory payday lending has surfaced again backed by faux research by the think tanks on Right Wing Avenue. And the consumer finance industry is back pushing for more exorbitant interest rates to charge people when they most vulnerable.
The states urban areas are on the tea party target list too. Legislative leaders are changing local election systems, redrawing local school board districts, reneging on signed contracts, and taking over water supplies and airports from cities.
Virtually every day, theres another bill in committee that shoves North Carolina backwards and replaces the outrage of the day before in the headlines, from forcing married couples to wait two years for a divorce to repealing the Racial Justice Act to allowing loaded handguns in bars and restaurants.
Thats nowhere near a complete list and doesnt take into account the offensive choices being made by Governor McCrory, who House and Senate leaders continue to treat as their junior partner in their tea party crusade.
McCrory has abolished the Office of Latino Affairs and is filling up the State Board of Education with privatization advocates. His latest appointment not only supporters vouchers but developed an anti-gay reputation while serving on his local school board.
There is simply no way to keep up with the devastation much less explain it all. And thats what legislative leaders are counting on, not just that you will forget, but that you wont even be able to keep up with the frenzied rush to pass as much of the tea party agenda as possible before people say enough.
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mercymechap
(579 posts)these morons in the Republican party don't care who they hurt, as long as it isn't the wealthy!
bowens43
(16,064 posts)Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)1) Republicans are not "insane." Generally they don't have any diagnosable mental illness (well, maybe terminal narcissism and monomania...). What they are doing is the planned and considered work of rational minds that happen to be full of extremely shitty ideas. This is not a bunch of teapot-hatted dicks who think they're Napoleon spurting about with legislative tourette's, these are considered and planned policies being enacted for a specific goal.
2) No, Republicans are not out to destroy North Carolina. They're out to destroy everything. Think of another North Carolina activity, mountaintop removal coal mining. You destroy hte mountain so you can just shovel the coal out of it. It leaves the geological equivalent of gross acne scars, but hey, lots of coal for the scooping! So too with Republican politics; destroy hte state, and scoop money from the rubble. North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, the United States as a whole, makes no difference, the plan is to destroy and break down the existing order in order o free up capital for the taking by the people who set the charges.
G_j
(40,372 posts)but I do feel that some of the ppl that rode the tea party fever train into office are crazy.
G_j
(40,372 posts)Republican North Carolina state legislators have proposed allowing an official state religion in a measure that would declare the state exempt from the Constitution and court rulings.
The bill, filed Monday by two GOP lawmakers from Rowan County and backed by nine other Republicans, says each state "is sovereign" and courts cannot block a state "from making laws respecting an establishment of religion." The legislation was filed in response to a lawsuit to stop county commissioners in Rowan County from opening meetings with a Christian prayer, wral.com reported.
The religion bill comes as some Republican-led states seek to separate themselves from the federal government, primarily on the issues of guns and Obamacare. This includes a proposal in Mississippi to establish a state board with the power to nullify federal laws.
The North Carolina bill's main sponsors, state Reps. Carl Ford (R-China Grove) and Harry Warren (R-Salisbury), could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, The Salisbury Post reported. Co-sponsors include House Majority Leader Edgar Starnes (R-Hickory). Another is state Rep. Larry Pittman (R-Concord), who in February introduced a state constitutional amendment that would allow for carrying concealed weapons to fight federal "tyranny."
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GoneOffShore
(17,341 posts)As someone said - This will end well.
SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)Why bother with a small gesture.
If they create mass chaos, they "win".. Imagine trying to compose campaign ads that are explanatory enough, and in 30 second soundbyte format for all of that..
Their ads say nothing but hype "family-jesus-values-etc".. Their dumbed down message-for-their-masses is good enough to keep them in power.
blm
(113,101 posts)Amongst other things.
just1voice
(1,362 posts)Better just let them get away with every crime in the book so we can never prosecute them.
bluestate10
(10,942 posts)settle the issue. New Hampshire went teabagger nuts during the 2010 election and gave republicans firm control of the state legislature. The state still had a democratic Governor. The republican legislature went nuts, like the one in North Carolina did. It passed all types of regressive laws and even over-rode vetoes. Then along came the 2012 election. New Hampshire voters slaughtered republicans, turning them out of office in record numbers and giving firm control of the legislature to democrats. AND, the clear majority of voters elected a new democratic Governor after the last one left due to term limits, AND, the state's entire Congressional delegation is now all female after two democratic women took out two republican congressmen.
There is hope, keep fighting.
G_j
(40,372 posts)Inspiring story.
It's all about voting, especially local!
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)NC sounds about as bad as Kansas.
Although I was surprised to read there of a "long progressive tradition" in NC. Seriously? In NC?
G_j
(40,372 posts)I found this interesting,
http://irregularnews.com/states/northcarolina.html
The Progressive State of North Carolina
North Carolina is more than just the home state of the late Jesse Helms. There's a strong progressive counterculture in North Carolina as well, up in the hills of Asheville, over in the research triangle of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, and down in Wilmington. To tell the truth, there are progressive pockets throughout North Carolina. Oh, the liberals of North Carolina may not scream and shout so loudly as the Republicans in the state, but we know that they're there. After all, we're among them.
A big part of the staff of Irregular Times has made its home right in North Carolina, so we've got sharp eyes on the ground to see what is becoming a very active progressive movement across the state. In the cities and in the small towns alike, North Carolinians are finally standing up to say that they've had it with the dirty old business-as-usual politics of the Republicans.
We put together this collection of progressive resources in North Carolina because we want to help the grassroots activists of North Carolina in their struggle to bring the values of freedom and fairness to the forefront of their state's public debate. Of course, there's a mighty big territory to cover between Asheville and Wilmington, so we're looking for help in expanding out listings. If you know of any progressive candidates, information resources or organizations in North Carolina that we don't have listed here, let us know so that we can consider including them in our growing index.
Fawke Em
(11,366 posts)It's so frustrating that people will keep poking that "R" button because they've been so brainwashed and/or trained to do just that, despite the fact that the "Rs" are ruining their lives.
nc4bo
(17,651 posts)Dont' even know where to begin.
tabbycat31
(6,336 posts)Seriously NY and NJ are not that crazy (ok NJ is a little crazier) but I don't think any native northerner will put up with this shit.
GOTV these people.