ncgop

The use of one-time money to fund ongoing operations is both stupid and cowardly. That was true when conservaDems did it, and it's equally true now that GOP numb nuts are in charge. Rob Schofield breaks it down. One time money exposes full-time hypocrisy.

Now, however, the fact that GOP budget-makers are using precisely the same tactic to fund education and other essential services and that it’s the result of their own stubborn and stupid refusal to raise revenue and that the Locke people are lauding the GOP budget really ought to send the hypocrisy meter soaring into the red zone.

Whatever moral high ground of ideological purity John Locke puppets once claimed has long since been abandoned.

Probably not. Pennsylvania didn't have access to a clear record of water contamination before the state sold it soul to frackers. They didn't understand the potential for destruction, a potential that is being played out today with people moving away from toxic towns in search of clean water.

That record in Pennsylvania stands before us as a testament to human stupidity and greed. Which is apparently all the reason North Carolina Republicans need to charge forward into the abyss.

In the 2011 Session of the General Assembly several changes were made in the North Carolina State Health Plan. This is the state agency that provides health plan benefits for 680,000 state employees and 160,000 retirees. It is accurate to state that this office affects every state employee, their dependents and retirees. This includes prescription drug benefits of 10 million prescriptions per year with expenditures of more than $700 million.

We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.

The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

From the Washington Post

An interesting note in a story on redistricting lawsuits. We the people want to know the story behind Republican gerrymandering, and Republicans want to play "I've got a secret." Fortunately, the judges involved are following the law for a change.

Some North Carolina judges have ordered Republican legislative leaders and attorneys who worked on redistricting maps last year to provide more documents requested by Democratic elected officials and allies challenging the maps in court.

::

Lawyers defending the maps on behalf of the Legislature have argued some documents should remain confidential under attorney-client privilege and because some were created in anticipation of future litigation.

Emphasis added.

Which of North Carolina's Republican leaders reminds you most of Pontius Pilate in this clip from Jesus Christ Superstar?

As they seek to defend the crucifixion of gay families on the altar of the North Carolina Constitution, which of these small men will be remembered throughout history with such deep disdain?

As with Pontius Pilate, all their belated hand-washing will do nothing to absolve them.

Please join the Young Democrats of North Carolina Women's Caucus tonight at 7:30 PM for a Conference Call about the Republican War on Women with Representative Susi Hamilton (D-New Hanover). Rep. Hamilton will talk with attendees about what we can do to stop efforts in Raleigh and across the state to reverse years of progress towards equality.

Caucus Call Line: 1-619-326-2700 Access Code 620-6727#
Facebook Event

For more information please e-mail women@ydnc.org.

You've managed to get us on the front page of the New York Times again, with just the kind of news that will make business leaders worldwide want to expand their workforces in North Carolina. Not.

At Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, N.C., enrollment has grown by about 30 percent in the last three years, while total state funding has fallen by 21 percent, an amount not fully offset by tuition increases. The college cannot afford to expand its popular nursing program beyond its 275 slots, leaving 1,000 frustrated students on the waiting list. To keep these students, the college has enrolled them in a “pre-nursing” program, a new prerequisite for staying on the waiting list. But even those courses have a waiting list of more than 400 students.

Hat tip to Progressive Pulse.