NC GOP

Putting ideology above the health and safety of the citizens:

Today, for example, about 94% of adults under 65 in Massachusetts have health coverage, the highest rate in the nation. The state guarantees coverage through Medicaid or commercial insurance under a plan developed in 2006 by then-Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, and Democratic state lawmakers. By contrast, only 68% of working-age Texans are insured, the lowest rate. Residents of the two states also have vastly different health outcomes. Potentially preventable deaths, a measure of the overall effectiveness of a healthcare system, are 36% higher in Texas than in Massachusetts, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The realization of just how inhumane the rejection of Medicaid expansion is, is probably what drove Aldona Wos to desperately try to deflect responsibility. She got caught and exposed by the mainstream media, but they need to take mortality rates like the ones above out of the editorial pages and put them where they should be, on the front page. There is no plane crash or natural disaster that takes anywhere near the lives that cancer does, and refusing to take steps that could prevent those deaths is borderline criminal negligence. If that isn't "newsworthy", I don't know what the hell is. Speaking of shifting responsibility:

Robbing the poor to give to the rich:

The current proposals at the General Assembly would reduce or eliminate the personal income tax (a huge tax cut for the wealthy) and would make up some of the lost revenue by increasing the sales tax. The net result—the wealthy would pay much less in taxes while middle- and low-income families would pay more. That’s the Great Tax Shift. Lawmakers want to shift the tax load from wealthy North Carolinians onto working families.

The average people of this state have been betrayed. Betrayed by those who promised tax cuts for all, but only ever intended for those at the top to benefit. One need only take a closer look at AFP's chosen cheerleader to see the truth of that:

Activists eagerly listening to #NCGA #taxreform discussion in Greensboro. #ncpol #consnc #BackInTheGameNC twitter.com/AFPNC/status/3…

— AFP-NC (@AFPNC) May 16, 2013

Helped along by a supermajority of assholes:

This morning, the House passed HB 730 in a vote of 72 to 39. While HB 730 was amended to eliminate extremist language about contraception, the final version of the bill included three abortion provisions that would hurt NC women and families. “We are extremely disappointed that the majority of the members of the NC House put politics above women’s health when they approved the eleventh hour additions to House Bill 730,” said Suzanne Buckley, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina. “To call this bill ‘pro-choice,’ as Rep. Schaffer did this morning, is shameful and ridiculous,” she continued.

It is shameful, and should be enough of a catalyst to get every female of voting age out to the polls in the next election. If we fail to get this message out, we don't deserve to win.

#ncga Senate GOP just used parliamentary dodge to avoid recorded vote on allowing taxpayers to vote on debt for terminal groins. #ncpol

— WRAL Gov't Coverage(@NCCapitol) May 15, 2013

Aside from the proven damage that terminal groins can cause to areas that wouldn't have a vote under this measure, the structures themselves can be incredibly expensive to both construct and maintain. Once again, Republicans are taking steps that will drive a wedge between communities. And that may be why they decided to repeat the avoid-the-vote stunt they pulled a few weeks ago:

Only impaired leaders would prefer impaired waters:

Senate currently debating rolling back Jordan Lake clean up rules #ncga

— SierraClubNC (@SierraClubNC) May 14, 2013

As I've mentioned before (ad nauseum), this is NOT a state issue, it's a Federal one. We have a certain degree of flexibility in the construction of rules (such as Jordan Lake's), but we do not have the authority to not implement such rules. Here's a little more for the skeptics:

Creating a culture of deception and disregard for the law:

About 1,200 state government workers, elected officials and political appointees failed to file their required financial disclosure form by the April 15 deadline – three times as many as last year, the State Ethics Commission learned Friday. Many of those who haven’t filed aren’t happy that they must disclose their financial interests.

“There are a lot of upset people this year,” said Teresa Pell, a commission attorney. “We’ve been cussed out and on the other end thanked profusely for our assistance.” In one case, Pell said an official flat refused to file his disclosure, saying he’d pay the fine. All those who didn’t file on time are subject to a $250 fine, with the amount escalating if they continue to avoid compliance.

We're going to use this story for an exercise in extrapolation; an attempt to discover deeper truths utilizing a logical analysis of a limited amount of information. Professional journalists rarely engage in this, because the proper verification may take weeks or months, if it's even possible. That's where we come in:

And the takeover couldn't have happened without some Judas Iscariots to betray our freedoms:

Phillips declined to say how much money AFP, which isn’t required to disclose its contributions and spending, spent in the state. “It was significant,” Phillips said. “There will be more old conservative policy changes in North Carolina than in any other state this year,” said Dallas Woodhouse, AFP’s state director. “We have a lot of ground to make up. We have the right mix of state leaders and governor to pass some earth-shattering reform.”

Yeah, that's just what you need when you're trying to struggle your way out of a recession; "Earth-shattering". And just for those Republican lawmakers who happen to be reading this (I know some of them do), I want you to pay special attention to not-the-bus-driver's wording: "We have". That's possessive, meaning Dallas and his paymasters believe you are now a possession. And possessions do as they're told. You don't agree? Prove it.

You have the right to remain silent:

Except as prohibited by federal law, unless a parent or legal guardian or legal custodian of an unemancipated minor is present with the unemancipated minor and gives 24 consent, no health care provider duly licensed in the State of North Carolina, or agent thereof, 25 shall provide health care services for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of (i) sexually 26 transmitted diseases, including Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency 27 Syndrome, (ii) abuse of controlled substances or alcohol, (iii) mental illness, or (iv) pregnancy 28 unless the health care provider or agent thereof, or another health care provider or agent 29 thereof, first obtains the written consent of the minor and the notarized written consent of any 30 one of the following:

It's not enough to force teens to involve their parents in a process that should just be patient/doctor. Oh no. We've got to have a notary public become part of the "treatment team". I realize that many thumpers in the Republican Party hold to the old (17th Century) method of "shaming" people into compliance with arbitrary social morality codes. But when those codes become dangerous and costly, it's important to shame them right back: