gregflynn's blog

Rep Deborah Ross, staffer and Sen Julia Boseman explain School Violence Protection Act to House Judiciary I Committee

North Carolina Conservatives are lying about sexual orientation and gender identity to bully the anti-bullying bill into submission. To defeat SB 526, the School Violence Prevention Act, Republican House Minority Leader Paul Stam and the Christian Action League have been claiming the existence of 30 sexual orientations as listed in the DSM-IV, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) of the American Psychiatric Association. No such list exists. It is a fabrication of conservative Christians used to defeat any legislation that can be presumed to protect the human rights of gay people.

Whether through ignorance, invective or indifference, Stam and the Christian Action League have been falsely equating sexual orientation and gender identity with sexual disorders or deviations and have perpetuated a myth originated by the American Family Association that incorrectly references and misquotes the DSM-IV-TR. The American Psychiatric Association would describe this as "irrational discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation." The Christian Action League compounds the error by variously attributing the bogus "list" to the American Psychological Association and to the American Psychiatric Association, two separate professional organizations.Read more

NC House Republicans this morning performed another act of the Kabuki theater that is the State Budget process. Standing behind a pile of budget reports at a press conference Rep Skip Stam called out for transparency, without any trace of irony. Stam was trying to make a point that Republicans were shut out of the process. He claimed to have been personally turned away from a closed meeting in committee room 612, next door to his own office, but on questioning could not remember by whom and he did not describe the nature of the meeting. Read more

Last week Richard Moore quietly closed out the campaign account for his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign. He had loaned the campaign $1,250,000 in personal funds of which $288,232 had been repaid. The final report to the State Board of Elections dated 4/7/09 listed $3,055 cash on hand before expenses and $961,768 in forgiven loans. Moore is often mentioned as a potential contender for Richard Burr's Senate seat but reportedly has no plans to run.Read more

Yesterday in the House Finance Committee, Minority Leader Paul "Skip" Stam tried derailing the Transit Bill H148 by referring to sales tax as an inefficient tax. He claimed that sales tax was not deductible from Federal taxes, as property tax is, and that the effect was to send 15 cents of every dollar in sales tax to the Federal Government. He exchanged words with Rep Deborah Ross, a sponsor of the bill and did not offer an amendment in committee but promised to introduce one on the House floor when the bill is considered. Mr Stam should check with the IRS first.Read more

Adam Searing at NC Policy Watch keeps his finger on the pulse of the ailing State Health Plan and the effect on state workers like April Graham:
State Employee Speaks Out at Obama Health Forum
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Live from the Raleigh protest:Read more

How stupid does the automobile industry think we are? A disengenuous little post appeared here yesterday at BlueNC from "Auto Alliance" entitled "Keep Your Eyes On The Road" with a link to an industry video. I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry.

Auto Alliance is the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. They "embraced 40% higher federal fuel standards in the 2007 energy bill" because they were opposed to higher CAFE standards to push fuel efficiency above 35 mpg and, before 2020. They have also fought against carbon controls and are actively lobbying for a national emissions standard because they want to weaken more stringent state laws like California's.

I won't link to the post because I don't want to give it Google juice. It's not quite astroturf because they have identified themselves, albeit with limited disclosure. It does amount to spam because the same post has appeared on over 20 progressive blogs I have been able to verify:Read more

The complete prepared text of Gov Perdue’s State of the State Address follows.

Gov. Bev Perdue State of the State

March 9, 2009, Raleigh

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Speaker Hackney, President Pro-Tem Basnight, Lt. Gov. Dalton members of the General Assembly and honored guests.Read more

Scenes from the anti gay marriage rally earlier this week. The crowd was predominantly grey haired older white males and bused in children on a field trip from homeschool and Christian schools.


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