skip stam

Can somebody hand Skip a copy?

Article IX, Section 2: "The General Assembly shall provide by taxation and otherwise for a general and uniform system of free public schools, which shall be maintained at least nine months in every year, and wherein equal opportunities shall be provided for all students."

And then there's Section 5: "The State Board of Education shall supervise and administer the free public school system and the educational funds provided for its support ..."

That second part should stamp "denied" on the idea for having a separate board, outside of DPI, to administer charter schools. If the GOP wants to adhere to the Constitution, that is.

If the voters don't like what you're trying to do, just call it something else:

The N.C. Association of Educators posted a video of House Majority Leader Paul Stam warning supporters not to refer to private school tax credits as vouchers. "The term voucher polls way below tax credit," he said. "So get it out of your vocabulary."

That's because the term "tax credits" is associated with a wide range of issues, not just the dismantling of the public school system.

In a move to fulfill their campaign promises to gut public education in North Carolina, Republican leaders are indeed pushing ahead with HB41, a half-billion-dollar giveaway to for-profit, religious and private schools.

Rep. Rick Glazier, a leading Democrat on education issues and a former school board chairman from Fayetteville, called the bill a direct assault on public schools. "I don't think taxpayers ought to be involved in funding private schools, nor do I think the taxpayers want their money going there," Glazier said. "It is not the constitutional mandate of the state to fund the private schools."

Hot off their latest "prayer breakfast," North Carolina's Grand Old Patriarchy is gearing up for what promises to be a long and relentless assault on the rights of women. And why not? Everyone knows that women can't think for themselves. The weaker sex needs the government to ensure they are informed about their own bodies before they decide to terminate a pregnancy.

You see, women are especially stupid and ignorant when it comes to pregnancy. Just ask Taliban Stam. He has it all figured out. The government shouldn't be telling women about the importance of safe sex. That would be an insult to god. Nor should the government inform women about the risks of, say, brain surgery. Who cares about that? No, the only thing that really matters to Taliban Stam is passing a new law requiring women to understand that god wants them stay pregnant and have those blessed children no matter what. Plus, of course, he also wants to strip abortion coverage from insurance policies covering state employees and college students in the UNC system.

“We’re a centrist state. We’re a small government, we’re a limited-government, free-market, stay-out of my-personal-life electorate.” So declared Republican NC Representative Tom Tillis, the mastermind strategist behind the Republican take over of the NC House on WUNC this morning.

Really. I wonder what soon-to-be Republican Speaker Paul Stam thinks about the “stay-out-of-my-personal-life-electorate.” I can’t say that he’s ever been a fan. Well, at least as far as the female portion of the electorate is concerned.

Read the rest of the story on our blog, Choice 2.0.

Just got this in the (e)mail:

DFA endorsements have always been driven by our members on the ground across the country -- that's what makes Democracy for America the country's only people-powered PAC. But the North Carolina All-Star endorsement is different because it's chosen entirely by DFA members in North Carolina.

All the votes have been cast and I'm honored to announce DFA's North Carolina All-Star -- Debra McHenry.

Apparently I'm on a Wake County theme today, but I promise I'll pay more attention to the other 99 in weeks to come. This is a big one, folks. Skip Stam is a blight on the General Assembly, and the longer he stays there the more infected our tree of democracy will get.

Sometimes I envy Puppets, especially the not-gay ones. They don't have to think about anything, they just do what the Big Guy says, no matter what the cost. In this case, the cost is the horrendous mission of unraveling the promise of healthcare for hundreds of thousands of people in North Carolina. And to think, god is on their side.

Listen below to Skip Stam talk about his destructive agenda, via Mark Binker.

Anyone watching the debate in the General Assembly knows that House Minority Leader Paul "Skip" Stam (R-Wake) just can't stop lying about the School Violence Prevention Act, but this morning he outdid his usual unhinged ravings.

It's hard to fathom that any sane member of the bar (Skippy's a lawyer dontcha know) chosen to serve as leader of his party, can stand up with a straight face and say that same-sex parents are more dangerous than second-hand smoke.

This mind-numbingly idiotic and hateful remark was not made as part of a private joke in some dark hallway in the Legislative Building on Jones Street, but spoken aloud in the House Judiciary I Committee as Senator Julia Boseman stood there explaining the bullying bill - not a marriage or foster care or adoption bill - just a bullying bill.