Facing South

Chris Kromm of Facing South ventured into the belly of the beast today, debating in person with Art Pope at a radio station in Raleigh. It was awesome.

When you're dealing with the Republican Tea Party, it always comes down to bigotry and racism. They are scared out of their pants, as well they should be.

Much of the media buzz about the 2010 Census has focused on the role of Latinos and new immigrants in changing the face of the country. It makes sense: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about half of the nation's growth over the last decade was driven by growth in the Latino community, much of it in Southern states.

But equally influential in the South's rapidly-changing demographics is another story with a longer historical arc: The return of many African-Americans to Southern states after a decades-long exodus during the Jim Crow era.

Check out the whole story at Facing South. It's a good one.

Surprise, surprise.

Perhaps more than any other North Carolina politician, Sen. Jim Davis owes his place in the state legislature to Republican millionaire donor Art Pope. And now, Davis is the lead sponsor of a bill that Pope and his network of conservative groups have made a top priority this year: to dismantle the state's system of publicly-financed, "clean" elections -- a reform aimed at lessening the influence of outside money in politics.

In a year of record-shattering spending for state-level elections, about 75 percent of the outside, non-party money in North Carolina's 2010 races was funneled through three groups backed by Art Pope: Americans for Prosperity, Civitas Action and Real Jobs NC.

Welcome to the Show, Mr. Davis.

Good diary about the South and conservatives up at Kos ... recommend if you have a minute.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/8/12/892479/-The-South-is-NOT-the-Mos...

Cross-posted from Facing South

What a trip! Last week, you -- the readers of Facing South -- sent us on a week-long mission to the Gulf Coast to investigate the BP spill and Gulf recovery.

It was a whirlwind trip, covering hundreds of miles of coastal bayous and byways, and dozens of conversations with local residents, community leaders, government officials and BP representatives about what is clearly more than a short-term disaster for the Gulf Coast.

To give you a taste of our fact-finding mission, here are some notes from our jam-packed itinerary:

Yesterday, about 20 members of the conservative group Americans for Prosperity -- with nearly as many members of the media in tow -- gathered in downtown Durham, North Carolina to protest "Wall Street corruption" and the financial reform bill now moving through Congress.

Why Durham? Because it's home to the Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer advocacy group that has pushed for tougher banking rules.

Cross-posted from Facing South. Written by Sue Sturgis.

Emergencies were declared at two Progress Energy nuclear power plants in the Carolinas over the weekend due to fires. There was also a fire at a nuclear power plant in Ohio on Sunday that sent two firefighters to the hospital.

The blazes were put out and disaster averted, but the incidents underscore concerns about U.S. nuclear plants' failure to comply with fire safety regulations.

The first incident happened on Friday night at the Brunswick plant near Wilmington, N.C.  At about 10:45 p.m., a fire broke out in the turbine building on the plant's non-nuclear side, burning for more than 15 minutes. Plant personnel determined that the fire was caused by electric blankets used for post-weld heat treatments, fueled by tape used to hold the blankets together.

Over the last few days, residents of Wake County, N.C. -- the site of a nationally watched battle over its school diversity policy -- have been receiving calls from phone pollsters asking for their views on the county's education future.

Yesterday, Facing South editor Sue Sturgis received one of the automated poll calls. But the question of who's behind it is a mystery: The number traces back to a line in Conyers, Georgia that doesn't pick up, and at no time during the "robo-poll" was information provided about who was doing the survey.

Such anonymous automated calls are likely in violation of North Carolina consumer protection laws, which require that the "name and contact information" of the person or group making the call be clearly identified.

You might have missed it -- the media largely has -- but in the final hours of testimony yesterday at the N.C. State Board of Elections' hearings into former Gov. Michael Easley (D), Democratic attorneys unleashed an unexpected bombshell: Testimony from a former IRS criminal investigator that at least three Republican candidates for governor failed to disclose dozens -- perhaps hundreds -- of campaign flights in 2004 and 2008, the very charge that helped launch the investigation into Easley.