hypocrisy

CORNELIUS, NC - People hoping to strike it rich by winning the NC Education Lottery have less than 11 months before their luck runs out. That's according to an early morning Tweet by Republican Speaker of the House, Thom Tillis, who later confirmed his plan to end the controversial program on December 31, 2013.

Dear Governor-elect McCrory,

Much has been made of the avalanche of job postings last week coming out of your transition team. A treasure trove indeed. But with all due respect, would you please explain why you're filling any of those positions?

Executive chef? Are you kiddin' me? Chief Deputy III? What the hell is that? Attorney? Really?

It's time to put up or shut up, sir. Cut spending and make state government smaller by NOT filling a single one of these advertised positions. Not now. Not ever. Because according to your rhetoric, these jobs are costing We the People millions of dollars and producing nothing of value. They are, after all, jobs that will be filled with public-sector slackers.

If you had a shred of integrity, you'd cancel every one of these postings and make do with less. You'd fix your own goddamn meals, just like millions of other North Carolinians do.

Jim Fulghum, Republican candidate for NC House 49 in Wake County, has been caught red-handed with his hand in the taxpayers' cookie jar. What does it mean for this free-market worshipping, tax-cut-first-ask-questions-later, John Locke Foundation board member? It means he is a hypocrite.

In 2009, the Raleigh millionaire neurosurgeon received a $100,000 government bailout for his chicken farm in Chatham County. According to the NC Dep. of Agriculture, Fulghum's Deep River Farm received a $100,000 bailout through the Poultry Loss Contract Grant Assistance Program when its live poultry dealer, Pilgrim's Pride, went bankrupt.

A comment on a story at TPM:

I'm sure Rick Perry was taken aback. It is one thing to endorse the wholesale state sponsored killing of murderers. It's quite another to realize the political movement you have aligned yourself with doesn't believe that the uninsured have any right to life, of course with the exception of the unborn. Which brings up a question for this bunch of blood thirsty cheer leaders of death. If an unborn fetus has a right to life, but is born with a medical condition requiring life saving treatment, to a parent with no access to health insurance, do you allow that child to die?

(expletive deleted)

If Dante were alive today, he'd be laughing his ass off at the Divine Comedy of North Carolina politics, otherwise known as the eighth circle of hell.

As you may remember from high school, this special circle punishes sins involving fraud, with a hearty shout-out to (1) corrupt politicians immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, and (2) hypocrites who slog the circle, burdened by heavy lead cloaks of deception. In North Carolina politics, both are alive and well.

On the corruption side, Democrats have long held top honors with a record of greed that should be embarrassing to anyone claiming party membership. The list of known offenses is too long to recount, and I am proud to say that progressives remain at the forefront in the push for ethics and transparency. On the hypocrisy side, today's Republicans have no equal. Jane Pinsky makes the point well at NC Policy Watch.

“In every other aspect of our lives, there’s opportunities for people to donate - except this one,” Folwell said. “It empowers people. It pushes the power away from this town, and back down to the people who truly feel the urge that, if they’re not taxed enough, that they can donate more.”

Does that mean we can "donate" less when we don't like where our money is going? Can we unfund the circus known as the North Carolina General Assembly? Give us that option, Mr. Folwell, and you'll find yourself out of a job in two seconds flat. Fucking hypocrite.

Nothing shines a brighter light into the cesspool of Republican morality than the way the GOP approaches financial responsibility. Today we learn that Republican senators in Congress are looking for backdoor ways to allow states to declare bankruptcy in order to avoid funding their commitments to public pensions. Witness corporatist arrogance in the extreme, a full-frontal assault on public workers.

There is a simple and honorable solution for states that want to meet their financial obligations: raise taxes. But don't expect Republicans anywhere, including here in North Carolina, to worry about their commitments. They'd rather see states declare bankruptcy and destroy the foundation of government than do what they promised to their workers. It's the Republican Way.

Whenever you hear a Republican in the General Assembly talking about the importance of keeping decisions in the hands of local folks, you'll need to pull out your can of Bullshit spray. That's because the Tarheel Taliban is only in favor of local decision-making when they like the local decisions being made. So if you happen to be a county commissioner or city council member interested in funding good government in your own jurisdiction, you are pretty much shit out of luck.

Republicans in the state House are hoping to eliminate the possibility of local tax increases on land sales. Currently, counties have the ability to seek voter approval for up to one-quarter percent of property values on real estate sales.