nc

A new bill proposed by Republicans in the state senate would allow county commissioners to take away from school boards "their traditional responsibility for owning,siting , acquiring, maintaining,and renovating schools. In counties that follow the provisions of the bill,commissioners would consult with the school board, but not be required to agree with their requests." www.newsobserver.com/2013/03/08/2732773/bill-would-give-school-ownership...

On the surface, the aim of the bill may seem benign. Republican sponsors claim it will allow educators to focus more on education. In reality, it is ALEC legislation pure and simple, allowing charter school proponents in through the back door, taking charter school authorization away from school boards.

The GOP is opposed to back dooring when it comes to marriage in NC (Amendment One), but completely in favor of it as a method to promote their ALEC based agenda. www.alecexposed.org/w/images/9/9a/2D1-Charter_Schools_Act_Exposed.pdf

Dear North Carolina,

Do you want your kids' education sold from under them, and all schools being privatized for profit, teachers' wages cut for profit, and class sizes increased for profit?

Does this make you want to vote Republican, because all you want is a far more expensive, yet inferior education for your kids?

Do you want to live in a state where Right Wing Teabagging politicians keep crying for more tax cuts as income inequality increases at an alarming rate and unemployment remains in the top five? Do you want to see tax reform that will transfer the burden of state revenue to working stiffs while the wealthiest pay little or no taxes?

If that is what you're hoping for, then how will you benefit, apart from admiring their greed?

If you work for an organization, you can get the organization to sign on to the ever-growing letter urging Governor McCrory to expand Medicaid under Obamacare to allow people making under $15,000 a year in income to get health coverage.

Today our friends at Action NC have a petition for individuals to sign too urging the Governor to act on this commonsense change, paid for entirely by the federal government for the first three years (the feds pay 90% of the costs into the future).

500,000 of our fellow citizens are counting on NC to let them get quality health care for the first time on January 1, 2014. Let's help.

Tell NC lawmakers to drop their draconian, hurtful, immoral unemployment insurance proposal.

Republican legislators in North Carolina are pushing an extreme package of cuts to unemployment insurance.

The Senate committee in charge of the issue, the Revenue Laws Study Committee, voted to move the proposal forward on Tuesday. It will come to the General Assembly for a vote when they reconvene on January 30.

The proposal cuts the weekly maximum benefit by 35 percent, (even though the statewide average benefit is much less). It also reduces the number of benefit to a sliding scale between 12 and 20 weeks, even though the average length of unemployment is at an all-time high of 40 weeks.

When Bad Laws Cost Lives: The Case for 911 Good Samaritan Laws in NC: Interview with Chad Sanders, Who Lost a Sister to Overdose

Few experiences are more painful than the sudden passing of a family member. For Chad Sanders, a nurse in Durham, North Carolina, the pain is sharp and fresh as the seven-year anniversary of his sister’s death approaches this November. Chad lost his little sister, 19-year-old Shelly Sanders, to a drug overdose in 2005. He remembers her as a beautiful, spontaneous young woman who loved adventure, travel, dancing, and helping others. She died in her student dorm room in Asheville amidst piles of books and clothes and study guides for exams she’d never take. The most painful part of this loss, other than the fact that he’ll never see her again, is knowing that Shelly’s death was preventable.

Maybe some white voters too?

Despite a few absurd sentences like the one above, this New York Times article gets to the heart of the presidential race in North Carolina.

World Hepatitis Day
by Leilani Attilio

Here's a quick video to give you guys a look at what you missed today if you did not show at the NCGA for the AFL-CIO sponsored Pots & Spoons Rally. Turn your speakers up to 11 for the full effect. Americans For Prosperity tried to respond by handing out ear plugs, which only perfectly symbolized the failure of their elected leaders to listen to anyone but their own base and helped publicize our cause, so that kind of backfired on them.... I suspect a better video will be forthcoming soon from Jeremy at AFL-CIO NC.

You might recall that Federal and state officials reached a $25 billion settlement with five big banks in February over abuses in their mortgage and foreclosure processes. A report from Enterprise Community Partners, a national affordable housing group, has found that many states are diverting the money to other purposes. The NY Times reported yesterday on how those monies are being spent. North Carolina received $60+ Million dollars...supposedly to be spent to provide mortgage relief to the affected homeowners. Well....guess what...along with a lot of other states this money isn't going where it would do the most good in NC. Some of it is being diverted into the General Fund to be pissed away..and a lot more (in NC) is going to be spent doing things that will likely accomplish nothing.

About the cacerolazo

A form of popular protest that originated in Latin America which consists of a group of people creating noise by banging pots, pans, and other utensils to call for attention. In cacerolazos from Chile and Argentina to Iceland, Ireland, Greece, and even Syria, people have come together to challenge power and affect change.

It is time to bring the spirit of the cacerolazo to North Carolina, where our out-of-control state legislature has busied itself since the 2010 election with catering to corporate interests and right-wing ideologues, gutting funding for public education, endangering women’s health care, putting the rights of unmarried couples up for popular vote, and attempting to lock some groups of voters out of the political process.

Let's welcome them back to an unforgettable protest!

When lawmakers return to town on Wednesday, May 16, North Carolinians outraged and disappointed at actions taken by our General Assembly to enrich the few at the expense of the rest will converge on Bicentennial Mall at 10 A.M. for a cacerolazo – a Pots & Spoons Protest – the first-of-its-kind protest of our out-of-control state legislature.