Nc Politics

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:

Speaking of power grabs:

Peter Walz @peterwalz
Didnt know they held veto MT @NCPW_LegisWatch Halliburton nixes NC’s fracking chemical disclosure rule ow.ly/kFAna #ncpol #ncga

In any sane world, disclosure of what chemicals a private company wants to inject into the ground would be a "no brainer" requirement. But in the world of fracking, and especially in the now free-market-fantasy State of North Carolina, corporate board room decisions trump those of the people:

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:

We'll start with a little judicious satire:

Rob_Schofield 10:48am via Tweet Button
Must read: An open letter to the glorious NC Senate shar.es/JORwh via @NCPolicyWatch #ncga #ncpol #ncgov #bluenc

Okay, the satire actually starts now:

A new video to celebrate a fancy new home for a hundred million of your hard-earned tax dollars.
Thank you for giving away our money, Pat!

We'll start out with a little reality check:

Action_NC 10:30am via TweetDeck The new voucher bill in the #NCGA doesn't do much for students, but sure helps corporations. #ncpol #ncED actionnc.org/not_much_oppor…

The hypocrisy is mind-boggling. Republicans whine about poor performance, and cook up all sorts of ideas on how to micro-manage, belittle and economically strangle public school teachers. And then they turn around and throw money at private schools with no accountability attached to those dollars. And no protections for students, either:

We'll start with a salute to small-government, hands-off Conservative ideology:

Rob_Schofield 9:10am via TweetDeck War on cities continues - House Finance takes up plan to take Asheville's water system against the citizens' will #ncga #ncpol #ncgov

Our current Republican-led General Assembly reminds me of a recalcitrant 5-year-old methodically grabbing various items in the candy aisle before mom finally blows her top and smacks the soft tissue where he sits. In this case, the voters are "mom", and the time for blowing their tops is long past.

Some of us have been paying attention all along, and now everyone in the world is. Congratulations, Deputy Assistant Governor McCrory. You've turned our state into a laughingstock in three short months.

In our attention to what's goin' down in the several states, especially those several states where Republican governors have Republican state legislatures with which to play, we have been inexcusably neglectful in keeping an eye on North Carolina — aka The Smart Carolina. They had all that academia going on in the middle of the state, and all that medical smartitude breaking out all throughout the Research Triangle, and we were so dazzled that we didn't notice that, politically, the people running the place were casting envious eyes southward toward The Dumbass Carolina and thinking, "We need to get us some of that!"

We'll start with a fresh debate about grading schools:

LindsayWagnerNC 10:25am via Web Langdon: I hear what you're saying, but I don't think it works that way. Teachers don't go to a school because of their score. #ncga #nced

Of course they do. Some of them, anyway. Nobody is going to walk into an occupation without at least trying to assess the difficulty of the job beforehand, and teachers are no different from the rest of us in that respect. A low grade for a school denotes a lot of challenges, and not all of them are in the classroom:

(Cross posted at www.PoliticsNC.com)

Often, when people talk about Big Government, we think of George Orwell’s Big Brother: controlling, manipulative and sinister. In North Carolina, though, Big Brother is more like Biff Tannen, the bully from Back to Future: dumb and mean with a chip on his shoulder.