McCrory gears up for "Nastiest race in NC history"
Submitted by scharrison on Tue, 01/31/2012 - 2:10pm
I guess 1.5 million buys a lot of nasty:
“It’s going to be a rough and tumble game, and I’ve got to recognize that and not walk in like it’s good old Charlotte politics, which has always been clean,” he said.
It must have been all that "clean" politics that helped you get your tax increases passed:
In 1998, Charlotte and Mecklenburg County voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase to establish a dedicated revenue stream to support the Charlotte-region’s 2025 transit and land-use plan. This was a big leap of faith and a strong demonstration of support by Charlotte-Mecklenburg voters, as this additional sales tax gave Mecklenburg County the distinction of having the highest sales tax rate in the state – and this is a city and region that faces stiff competition for commerce from our adjacent neighbor, the State of South Carolina.
We'll stop right there for a second so that can sink in. Myers Park Pat is actually standing (sitting?) in front of a (U.S.) Senate panel, bragging about how his actions raised the tax rate for his County to the top rate in the state. As part of a 27-year "plan", which makes his other (more recent) comments about not raising taxes during a recession pure BS.
The pitch for establishing the dedicated transit revenue stream in Charlotte-Mecklenburg was an easy sell because of three factors – we presented a compelling vision in the 2025 transit and land-use plan, the state government agreed to be a funding partner and the Federal government was identified as a partner through the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) in 1998.
Today, I am proud to sit before you and highlight that the first leg of a light rail line is under construction in the South Corridor, our first of five corridors to be developed under the 2025 plan. The 10-mile South Corridor light rail line is slated to open in fall 2007
and when it does, I will be able to cut that ribbon and proudly say it was all possible thanks to the Federal government’s commitment to pay nearly half of the project costs through our Full Funding Grant Agreement and through our partnership with the State of North Carolina and with the foresight of those voters who helped to pass the Charlotte-Mecklenburg transit half-cent sales tax.
Partnership with a state government that has apparently been "broken" for many years, if you listen to him now.
Make no mistake, I find the work McCrory has done in Charlotte's transportation area admirable, but I'm not a Conservative, I'm a borderline Socialist with Progressive leanings.
Nastiest?
I think he meant dirtiest. With Duke Energy funding his campaign, it's hard to call it any other way.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Mitt Mccrory
Forgot to mention, this flip-flopping on taxes and government programs is exactly the rap on Romney, which is why I fully support painting McCrory with the same brush that's now being wielded in the GOP presidential primary.
Just think! There will be two Mitts on the ballot in November. Mitt Romney and Mitt McCrory. Both opportunistic profiteers who can't keep their stories straight.
Romney has no chance of winning in North Carolina. This is the Bible belt, and most Christians in the south think Mormonism is a satanic cult. The more McCrory embraces Romney, the better. The more the two Mittens are shown to be cut from the same piece of rotten wood, the better.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
The tale of Two Mitts
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Eminent domain
Not only is McCrory a big tax lover from way back, it looks like 20% of the land used for the LYNX line was acquired via "condemnation". Another word for eminent domain.
Frankly, if the Tea Party gets behind this guy, they will have lost all credibility as a movement.
The Duke Connection
is what I'm stressing to everyone I meet who might be swayed to our side. Duke wanted an increase of over 18% this year, and finally settled for just over 7%. With Myers Park Pat in the mansion they'll find it much easier to have their way. More people despise Duke Energy than dislike Pat. Do I see an angle to exploit there, or am I just jousting windmills again?
http://thurmanhubbard.com
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." ~ Elwyn Brooks White
No windmills
Duke is a predatory company, no different from Bank of America, Countrywide, etc.
Actually, they are different. They are a freakin' monopoly and it's a helluva lot harder to switch power companies and banks. (I've already switched banks, and am very happy with the SECU.)
So I think you're really on to something. Duke Energy wants their boy in the governor's mansion. And who knows what kind of havoc they'll spread then?
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
I'm really surprised
Duke hasn't responded to the pressure you're showing them. I attended an industry meeting a month or so ago where a lady from Duke corporate gave a talk about the relevance and dangers of social media to companies in our industry. They are HYPER aware of things like FB and twitter. Possible hole in the corporate armor if played right.
http://thurmanhubbard.com
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." ~ Elwyn Brooks White
They ignore things as long as they can
like any monopolistic corporate behemoth. They won't give my prodding the time of day until the question goes viral.
Maybe it's time for a renewed push? We're at 5000+ reads so far ... might need to crack 10K before the start wringing their hands.
Still no answer.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
I'll take a look at it
again in the morning and see if I can a few angles to work from my end. I've read it a time or two, but it's been a while (too many places to look and see every day ya know).
I've managed to increase my traffic a bit this month playing with twitter and FB pages.
Pat is not an option!
http://thurmanhubbard.com
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." ~ Elwyn Brooks White
Don't look too deep....
you might not like what you see. The rate increase is due to the costs associated with environmental law compliance. Environmental groups have forced them to close some of the older coal plants and the consumer is paying for that.
Wow. Before we start he's decided
it will be a game of dirty pool. You know how he knows that? 'Cause he's the one who intends to make it a game of dirty pool. Jesse Helms' ad guys were a bunch of loafer-wearing powder-puffs, folks. Pat intends to take NC lower than we've ever been, in every way possible. What a great guy!!!!
"They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum Then they charged the people a dollar 'n a half just to see 'em. Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."
NCDP on Mitt McCrory
Walton Robinson
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Perhaps he is referring to the education...
system that we have is not working. Throwing more money at a broke system is not too smart. Governor Jindal has some good ideas he is using in Louisiana.
Louisiana....
2008-2009...Louisiana spent $10,626 per student in K-12, compared to NC's $8,761. In 2009-2010, LA per student spending increased to $10,750, compared to NC's declining to $8,579.
Perhaps you could share some of the good ideas Gov. Jindal has, in addition to his spending over $2,000/student more than we spend in NC.
Thanks in advance!
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Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. -- sign on Einstein's office wall.
Jindal just announced the plan....
which is probably intended to reduce costs that his state is experiencing.
http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2012/01/jindal_gov_bobby_jindal_...
If he just announced the plan,
then what evidence led you to surmise he had some "good ideas" for Louisiana? The answer is, you don't have any evidence. Conservative pundits attack public schools and praise vouchers, so Frank does. The Weekly Standard, National Review and Fox News like Bobby Jindal, so Frank does. Big surprise.
So tell me Steve....
should we just give up and not try different methods to improve education? The status quo is not working is it? Forget about politics and various magazines.
NC spends less on education, outperforms LA
Here are Jindal's own words from his full remarks:
Louisiana spends more on education, and achieves less than North Carolina. Jindal's reform plan is about raising Louisiana's sorry achievement. It does not mention reducing costs, just redirecting money to private schools and merit pay. It is not a plan that he "is using". It's a proposal that has yet to reach the Louisiana Legislature.
This proves my point.
Spending more money on education does not necesarily translate to a successful program. The system is broke and needs an overhaul. This is exactly what McCrory is saying. I think the reforms that Gov Jindall is proposing are a good attempt to fix it.
Proves you're an ideologue
Spending more less on education does not necesarily translate to a successful program either.
You'd rather take advice from a failing State than admit that NC might be doing something right because the guy giving the advice is a Republican. What Jindal is proposing is to try to play catch up with NC while still spending more money.
Worse than an ideologue
It's one thing to have strong ideology.
But it's another thing altogether to makes shit up and pass it around like the truth.
Big fail, Frank. Big fail.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
I didn't make anything up.
I showed that there are different initiatives for education that we should consider here as well. Oh, unless you think our current system is ok.
It proves you support the broken...
status quo. I'd like us to try new ideas and intitiatives for education. The current system is not working. If we increase spending with the same system we are wasting the precious tax dollars.
False logic
You assume that there's a static "status quo", and then that it's broken.
It's a process of continual improvement. Even Apple computer can't rest on its laurels. If anything education is beset with a barrage of silver bullets, all claiming to be the next best idea.
McCrory talks about education reform but doesn't really know what he's talking about. He wants to "allow principals and teachers more flexibility in teaching the basics, instead of just tests" but he also wants merit pay which is based on ... drumroll ... more testing. His other big ideas are more charter schools, which do not perform on average any better than public, and vouchers which siphon off public funds to give to private schools.
I agree with continual improvement....
but how many assistant principals, counselors and police officers are enough? It sure seems like there are a lot more of them these days. Are they all really needed? With all that staff, is there any improvement in student behavior? Where are the results measured and accountability occur? Why are so many parents opting out of the public schools?
How many are enough?
Very good question. What is the appropriate span of control for a manager? How many faculty members can be adequately and appropriately supervised, monitored, evaluated, and supported by a single supervisor?
And back in the "good old days," with much smaller schools and not "all that staff," was student behavior better?
The answer to that is the same as it was when I was in high school in the late 60s in South Carolina. Parents don't want their little darlings to associate with the niggers. Excuse my language.
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Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. -- sign on Einstein's office wall.
Not so many
Of 1,645,000 students in NC, 96,000 are in private school, 84,000 are home schooled.
13% is not chopped liver.
Add to that 32,000 charter school students. That's 13%.
Chopped liver
Thank you for that recipe....
have you got one for livermush? Thirteen percent of NC students do not attend the public schools. Should there be a concern there? Maybe we are doing something wrong that causes parents to remove their children from the public schools. I suspect it's the lack of discipline in the classroom. Kids treat their teachers like garbage men.
Numbers
In the past 10 years that rate has gone from about 10% to 13%. Enrollment in private schools has declined slightly while charter school and home school numbers have increased. The biggest increase is in home school enrollment but the increase needs to be qualified. Home school enrollment consistently drops off after age 12, and 2/3 of home school enrollment is designated as "religious". Parents aren't so much "removing their children" as they are making interventions in their children's lives as they approach the end of elementary school and beginning of middle school, a most difficult period for any child and for the child-parent relationship.
Your logic goes in circles. You complain about discipline, but also about having police officers in schools. You complain about your perception of over-staffing but the reality is different. Schools today are getting bigger and bigger to stretch overhead, staff and facilities. Some high schools have over 2,400 students, bigger than 350 of NC's 600 towns and cities. Some elementary schools have 1,200 students. Yet education research keeps pointing to small schools and small class sizes as helping to create environments conducive to academic excellence.
Numbers continued.
I think parents are removing children from public schools after elementary due to the concern that the disruptions in Jr High and High School will prevent their children from getting a quality education.
My logic may seem to go in circles but I don't claim to be an education expert. Just an observer who has seen the schools get worse and cost more. The staffs they have nowadays is much more than when I was in school. I graduated in 1970.
Shouldn't the children that misbehave and have no interest in respecting the teacher be removed and sent to a "bad kids school" where they learn hair dressing, auto mechanics and shop? That's the way it was when I went to school and we didn't have any police officers in the school.
I agree the smaller classes would be better for a good education.
1970
Yeah, let's go back to those good old days ... NOT.
All what staff??????
My school system has lost 15% of its staff over the last 5 years. No new textbooks in that time. Copiers and printers busted all over the building. I had to go to my 5th option today to get something printed. Yet NC is going to a whole new curriculum, "Common Core", that will completely reorganize the way many subjects are taught. have we been promised new textbooks or other materials that align with the new curriculum? NO!!!
Teachers in NC do more with less (including less pay) every year. Get a freakin' clue.
Environmental Defense Fund
Cell phones will be to the 21st century what tobacco was to the 20th.
Uh, excuse me just one freakin' second here
The current system IS working. Thousands of students learn everyday in NC school's taught by hard working dedicated teachers. Sure the education system could use some improvement and does have some serious flaws. Do realize though that most of those flaws have been imposed on the education system by ignorant politicians who obviously have forgotten where they learned to read, write and count. NC's improved dropout numbers can be found here and summarized below.
"Not working" my @$$.
Conservatives like to repeat (ad nauseum) that schools are a "failure" and that the "system is broken" to justify further political meddling and to promote public funding of private schools.
Environmental Defense Fund
Cell phones will be to the 21st century what tobacco was to the 20th.
You have a higher tolerance level...
than I have. In Charlotte Mecklenburg School System, the graduation rate is 74% which is not acceptable performance in my opinion. 18% repeat the 9th grade.
Charlotte Mecklenburg?
I guess we can count on Pat McCrory to bring the same stellar performance to the rest of the state?
When you're in a hole up to your elbows, stop digging, Frank.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Except McCrory had no say...
on the running of the CMS schools. The county government runs the CMS schools.
Then obviously, McCrory has no experience in
"fixing" that system. Right?
Improvement is happening now. But no, not fast enough. Not good enough. We must change up again, try something untried, untested, AGAIN, because what is working now was thought up by Democratic administrations and these new things were thought up by Republican groups. Tell me how that isn't playing a disastrous (stupid, pointless, egotistical) game of political football with our educational system?
"They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum Then they charged the people a dollar 'n a half just to see 'em. Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."
Maybe that's a good thing...
as the system created by the educational "experts" doesn't seem to be working too well.
Educational "experts"
If you're building a house, don't you want a construction "expert"? For insuring your car, don't you want an insurance "expert"? If you're answering a lawsuit, don't you want a legal "expert"? Certainly this time of year you're looking for a tax "expert."
Or maybe I'm assuming too much here.
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Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. -- sign on Einstein's office wall.
If you knew....
that the expert you are trusting to give you a proper heart transplant lost 9 out of 10 patients, would you continue with the procedure?
If you knew 9 out of 10 defendents from your lawyer have been sentenced to jail, would you continue to use that lawyer?
Sorry the experts don't have much to show for their educational "expertise". I think its time we found more competant experts.
9 out of 10
So are 9 out of 10 students failing?
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Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. -- sign on Einstein's office wall.
Is a 74% graduation rate acceptable to you?
Not to me. I think when it comes to our children we should strive for a higher standard.
Change the law
Students are not required by law to graduate. Students are not required to attend school once they reach their 16th birthday.
100% of my children graduated.
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Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. -- sign on Einstein's office wall.
Nice attitude.
Just focus on yourself not the rest of the citizens of NC. The law does nothing for education. Education happens in the classroom.
I'm learning from Republicans...
....I got mine, and everyone else can go to hell.
So, if the one year survival rate for heart transplants is 80%, do we need to take heart surgery away from the "experts"?
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Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. -- sign on Einstein's office wall.
74% = CMS
The state rate is 78% and rising. That's higher than the national average. CMS has seen some success in improving minorities graduation rates by targeting with extra resources, but the district is lagging behind the state overall. I strive for a higher standard than McCrory's trite one-liners and CharMeck's "success".
Heart transplant survival rates.
2 of 10 heart transplant recipients die within one year of the procedure.
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Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. -- sign on Einstein's office wall.
Educational experts don't control many of the basics in
NC schools. The school calendar is controlled by the tourist industry. School Boards have little control over local school budgets. The #1 educational expert in the state, Dr. June Atkinson, duly elected SoPI, is little more than a figurehead. Non-educators in the GA slash budgets, then lie about it. NCLB was cooked up by politicians in D.C. and then underfunded.
Educational experts work in the increasingly narrow margins.
You seem to get your info from bumper stickers, Fox and talk radio.
Environmental Defense Fund
Cell phones will be to the 21st century what tobacco was to the 20th.
Smug attitude on your part....
to pretend to know where I get my information. If that makes you feel better go ahead and believe that. If Dr June Atkinson is a figure head, then she should be fired since we don't need her. There's a budget savings.
No matter what the margin is, I reckon its time we got some different experts.
You obviously don't get your info from any reality based
source. You clearly do not understand Dr. Atkinson's role or the controversy around SoPI.
Nice how you ignore a paragraph of facts concerning school calendar, political meddling and fiscal control to spout some bs about sources. I live education everyday. On this thread and the GW thread you have shown that you are not as informed as you think you are. Doubt I'll be responding to you anymore.
Environmental Defense Fund
Cell phones will be to the 21st century what tobacco was to the 20th.
No I don't know Dr Atkinson's role...
but you told me she was a figurehead and I responded we don't need figureheads. What is it about that response that bothers you?
No I don't think the political meddling with the calendar is useful. So if you are in the education field, I'm sure you recognize the problems better than most of us and would prefer to have less onerous rules and let you do your job. You probably would also like to have principals with backbones and will support your decisions regarding misbehavior of students. I don't pretend to know anything about how teachers do their job, its my feeling that there are restraints imposed that prevent teachers from doing their job.
As usual, teh stoopid burns
I hate ferrets!