civitas

After parading a list of hot-button troublemakers to prejudice readers:

In fact, the opponents of voter ID are a small, but loud, alliance of Democratic leaders, ultra-liberal activists and the mainstream media. Across the country, groups like the ACLU, League of Women Voters, NAACP and AARP work together to form a powerful and well-funded coalition to stop voter ID legislation.

The puppet on duty proceeds to reference a "converted" Democrat who now "sees the light":

For those citizens of North Carolina who live outside the radius served by the Independent Weekly, they recently published an excellent article about House Bill 129. The innocently titled "level the playing field" bill is a Civitas/AFP-backed agenda item to prevent local governments from establishing their own municipal broadband service and thereby compete with the big telecom companies. The same companies who currently enjoy big tax breaks to bring us overpriced broadband services that still ranks among the slowest in the developed world.

"I was happy to see that Newt Gingrich has staked out a position on the war, a position, or two, or maybe three. I don’t know. I think he has more war positions than he’s had wives."

Antiwar.com

Binker sez Civitas is misleading and uninformed.
Hat tip to Ed Cone.

Running bus service to Voter ID hearing:

There are limited numbers of speaker slots and comments will be subjected to a three minute time limit.

The event is free and open to the public. If you are in Wilmington or Greensboro, Civitas and AFP are providing bus travel for $5. There are only 55 spots on each bus, so reserve your seat now!

I know giving them this kind of exposure will probably fill a few more seats. But the General Assembly members sitting on the Committee need to see this, so they'll understand where these people came from and where they got their talking points.

A free market wet dream comes true.

North Carolina lost nearly 10,000 public school jobs for the current school year, and the state slipped to 46th in the nation in per pupil spending, a new report from the state teachers group says.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but it can also be used to stir emotions that cause us to accept words and the ideas behind them that we might normally question. The picture here, which we will call the "Crying Lady", is a prime example.

This was part of the weekly propaganda e-mail sent out by Civitas, in their relentless agenda to tear down public institutions.

But this direct e-mail propaganda is nothing compared to the propaganda being fed directly to the General Assembly:

About a dozen state House representatives from both parties heard a brief presentation on Smart Start on Tuesday - all of it from the conservative Civitas Institute. Andrew Henson of the Civitas Institute gave an overview of the think tank's recent analysis of Smart Start.

Henson highlighted the nuts and bolts of financing for the program and said that the analysis found concerns over excessive bureaucracy and the potential for a lack of oversight. He singled out a partnership program in Durham County as having a questionable success rate.

This is pure speculation on my part, based on a few random tea leaves, but I recently received an e-mail from Civitas that included this:

Give a Tax-Deductible Gift to Civitas & North Carolina before the end of the year

The Civitas Institute is a beacon of conservative thought in North Carolina. Our vision is of a state that enjoys liberty and prosperity derived from limited government, personal responsibility, and civic engagement. Help us to continue this effort of voter education and our shared vision of a freer and more prosperous North Carolina.

So...a gift to Civitas can also be considered a gift to the entire State of North Carolina? ;o I'd be more apt to describe that as chasing the State of North Carolina down a dark alley, slapping it around a bit, then choking the life out of it. But that's me.

Joining the growing list of media outlets who wouldn't know an expert if he sat in their laps:

Chris Hayes, a legislative analyst for Civitas, said Parfitt's low name recognition because of having never run before could be one of the reasons for the difference - as could Dawkins' familiarity among voters from his time on the City Council and the fact that his father was mayor for six terms.

But there could be other factors that come into play, too, Hayes said. "Unaffiliated voters, who are currently divided in their choice of candidate," he said, "may play a crucial role in this race."

In one little blurb, Hayes has cast the Democrat as having no experience, and the Republican as having both experience and well-loved father/mayor.