NC GOP

When being told how to do your job is more important than actually doing your job:

House Speaker Thom Tillis, Rep. Tim Moffitt, R-Buncombe, and Rep. Jason Saine, R-Lincoln, left early Thursday to attend the ALEC Spring Task Force meeting in Oklahoma City, scheduled for Thursday and Friday. "Unique to ALEC Task Forces is the public-private partnership," the website says. "Legislators welcome their private sector counterparts to the table as equals, working in unison to solve the challenges facing our nation."

Translated: "Corporations have learned that sending lobbyists to individual states costs a hell of a lot of money, and you can get into some deep shit if some of the states have clamped down on influence buying and other unethical practices. This way, the elected officials go see the lobbyists, and then go back home with corporation-friendly policies to enact without upsetting the sheep..., I mean, without bothering their constituents with all this technical stuff."

What was that Republicans were saying about the Dix deal?

A state Senate committee on Wednesday discussed legislation that would make charter schools more aggressive competitors for students and the taxpayer money that follows them. The measure would cancel the current requirement that at least half a charter school's teachers be certified. Charter school directors could decide whether to check job applicants for any criminal history. Local school boards would be required to lease available buildings or land to a charter school for $1 a year.

The hypocrisy is mind-boggling. It's bad enough to siphon off taxpayer dollars to subsidize schools that don't even require certified and vetted teachers, but to force local governments to give them real property, which the local school board will have no jurisdiction over, is tantamount to theft on a massive scale. Adam Smith would not approve, I'm fairly certain.

Like I mentioned before, when big money is at stake, the fossil fuel industry doesn't give up:

JeanneBonds4NC 9:07am via Twitter for iPhone #ALEC intent on messing in #NC Policy
Still trying to repeal #renewableenergy standards. Wed calendar #ncga House Public Utilities #ncpol

This is what they're trying to stop:

And his newly-minted Board of Elections doesn't have a rug big enough to sweep this stuff under:

Sweepstakes operator William George says a longtime business partner asked him early last year to write a $4,000 check to the campaign of Pat McCrory, then the presumptive Republican nominee to become North Carolina's next governor. George, 67, said he handed his donation to Hagie, who he then saw add it to a stack of checks from other sweepstakes operators. Those checks and others are the subject of a sworn complaint to the N.C. Board of Elections, which is investigating whether some 2012 political donations from sweepstakes operators violated state campaign finance laws. The elections board was scheduled to meet by telephone Tuesday for the first time since the April 22 complaint was filed, and a new five-member board McCrory appointed takes office Wednesday.

This is gonna get real interesting, real fast. If this new board tries to dismiss the complaint, the story will go national, and quickly.

If something works, break it:

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory’s proposed budget calls for cutting funds for the BioAgriculture Center at Robeson Community College, a move that could stymie agricultural programs focusing on workforce development, job creation and business recruitment — and eliminate existing jobs. The budget proposed by the governor eliminates about $600,000 for the North Carolina Community College BioNetwork’s Mobile Launch Pad for Careers — which is not administered through the center at RCC — and the BioAgriculture Center on RCC’s campus. Built in 2004, the BioAgriculture Center is one of seven centers statewide that make up the North Carolina Community College BioNetwork, a network of centers that focus on biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and industries related to the life sciences.

I think the key word is that last one: "sciences". Forget about all the success our community college network has had in forming a bridge between education and entrepreneurship, between public and private innovation and job growth. If you're not putting taxpayer money directly into the pockets of businessmen, you're wasting time and encouraging intellectual meddling. The GOP crazy train is stuck in reverse, and building up speed.

Polishing a turd:

Broad public support for this concept led Republicans in the General Assembly to embark on a months-long process this year to develop voter photo identification legislation. The process included public hearings, hours of expert testimony, dozens of amendments and multiple iterations of the bill.

I got your "expert testimony" right here, pal.

Cutting away the lifeline:

The governor is asking the legislature to gut the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, which oversees efforts to help rural development. He is proposing to cut its annual budget from $18 million to $6.6 million. The center funds hundreds of grants – money for water and sewer or to fix up buildings – for businesses in rural areas.

I recently took part in a panel discussion, where a conservative economist was asked what should be done if North Carolina’s rural economy continued to collapse. Well, he replied, they could always move to the cities.

Rob doesn't reveal the name of said economist, but I'll wager it's this guy, who has done more than his fair share of damage to the way our current leadership understands NC's economic situation. In order to understand why Art Pope would want to cut the Rural Center so deeply, how they operate is the key:

Somebody's getting a little too big for his Chairman's britches:

The amended bill still went down 18-13 in Hager’s committee, with six Republicans joining its 12 Democrats. Hager said late Thursday afternoon that the bill is still very much alive and could come back to a vote with further amendments.

“Of course,” he said. “Fortunately, that bill is in the committee that I’m chairman of.”

"Of which I'm Chairman", not that anybody who was involved in the Cliffside coal plant fiasco could ever learn from his mistakes. Speaking of, we'll be paying for that $2 billion monstrosity for years, in both rate increases and health deterioration, not that Mike Hager would ever dare to mention such things. Back to "his" Committee, which (if he gets his way) will soon be populated by Teahadists:

And it comes as no surprise that NC's agricultural industry would be the first to feel the effects:

Sea level rise has caused an increase in saltwater intrusion for farmland areas in North Carolina like Hyde County. This is problematic because it affects crop efficiency and the amount of usable farmland. The county has very low elevation, with the highest point in the county only 14 feet above sea-level, and the majority of the county lying between three and five feet above sea-level, according to Gibbs. “Sea-level rise is real and it’s been happening for years. We are seeing a loss of farmland from the saltwater intrusion,” Gibbs said.

For those who find themselves still doubting, do a little research on Megalodon tooth discoveries, some of which have been found 35-40 miles inland in North/South Carolina. Looking at the flood patterns of previous melts will give you an idea of what's at stake, if we continue to ignore the scientifically obvious.