A lawsuit that started back in the late 1990’s continues to have a resounding impact on state politics and policy today. Known as the Leandro lawsuits, this case has changed the education standards across the state and has changed its own course several times, encompassing new ideas and concepts adopted by the courts. Since July, monthly showdowns between Judge Howard Manning, Governor Perdue, and the General Assembly have dominated headlines and have caused a renewed interest in this crucial lawsuit after a July decision by Judge Howard Manning held that all “at-risk” children receive free Pre-K. Click here to view the video on YouTube. This Civitas video segment ‘Reflections on Leandro’ paints a stakeholder-driven narrative of the first Leandro decision. This will be followed next week with a sequel that deals with the Leandro II decision and the court’s shift towards universal “at-risk” Pre-K. It’s a very informative compilation of testimony from legislators, supreme court justices, and more.
Just in case you have ever wondered about that seemingly innocent and mild-mannered group – The League of Women Voters (LOWV) - here is a story out of Wisconsin that will help you better understand the organization. The former Wisconsin State Director for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), Carolyn Castore is now working for the Wisconsin LOWV “leading the charge against voter ID.” Ms. Castore’s career change is evidence that the spirit ACORN lives. The article not only includes a look into the workings of the League of Women Voters (LOWV) and a reminder of ACORN’s nefarious past, but also a report on organized voter fraud involving SEIU organizers .
Raleigh, N.C. – North Carolina voters are generally unfamiliar with Council of State officials such as Lieutenant Governor and the Commissioner of Labor. North Carolina Commissioner of Labor Cherie Berry is viewed favorably by 21 percent of voters while six percent view her unfavorably. Twenty percent said they have heard of her but have no opinion, and 52 percent have never heard of her. Twenty-two percent of voters have an opinion of Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton: 13 percent favorable, nine percent unfavorable. Twenty-four percent have heard of him but do not have an opinion while 54 percent have never heard of him. Nineteen percent of voters hold a favorable opinion of North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson as three percent view her unfavorably. Seventeen percent of voters said they have heard of her but do not have an opinion, and 61 percent said they have never heard of her. “The results here clearly show that while Council of State races may be discussed around Raleigh, voters across North Carolina are mostly unfamiliar with these officials,” said Civitas Institute Communications Director Katie Trout. The Civitas Poll is the only regular live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina. For more information on Civitas polling see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/ . Full Text of Questions: “Now I am going to read you a list of people and organizations active in politics. After I read each name, please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of that person or organization. If you have never heard of them, just tell me and we’ll go on to the next one.” June Atkinson Total Favorable – 19% Total Unfavorable – 3% Heard of/No Opinion – 17% Never Heard of – 61% Cherie Berry Total Favorable – 21% Total Unfavorable – 6% Heard of/No Opinion – 20% Never Heard of – 52% Walter Dalton Total Favorable – 13% Total Unfavorable – 9% Heard of/No Opinion – 24% Never Heard of – 54% For the full results and crosstabs, click here . This poll of 600 likely 2012 general election voters in North Carolina was conducted October 17-18 2011 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of probable 2012 general election voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in 2006 or 2008 or be newly registered to vote since November 5, 2008. (November 5 is the day after the election) The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in the 2006 or 2008 general elections or is newly registered since November 5, 2008. ###
A fine piece of reporting by the News & Observer results in this piece exposing the inconsistency and corruption in North Carolina’s state vehicle inspection program. The inspection program is supposed to establish a uniform checklist of safety measures active vehicles are to live up to. But in reality, the system falls well short of that goal. …an investigation by The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer found pass-fail rates can vary dramatically from one garage to another. And inspection stations differ even more sharply in how often they find and fix safety flaws – if they report them at all – so cars can legitimately pass inspection. The uneven numbers reflect concerns about cheating and uncertainty about whether motorists who fork over the fees get what they pay for. North Carolina is one of only 17 states that forces drivers to spend money to have their vehicles inspected. Moreover, the state’s Program Evaluation Division issued a 2008 report finding that the inspection program was essentially a waste of citizens’ time and money. In 2008, the legislature’s Program Evaluation Division found no evidence that safety inspections were effective or necessary. The report said inspectors performed inconsistent work with inadequate oversight from DMV. It recommended eliminating safety inspections or exempting newer cars, which rarely fail. John Turcotte, director of the Program Evaluation Division, and other critics point to the $106 million motorists spend annually on safety fees. Of those fees, private garages and dealerships keep $99 million for their work. “When the government puts a burden on the public and makes them pay for it, there ought to be evidence it is effective,” said Turcotte, who believes the findings of his agency’s report hold true today. So why does the state insist on continuing this program, even in light of its own evaluation declaring it to be neither effective or necessary? This year 14 senators co-sponsored a similar proposal (to end the inspection program) that met the same fate. It was buried with the help of Sen. Harry Brown, an Onslow County Republican who is the Senate majority leader. Brown owns three car dealerships that have collected $177,000 in safety inspection fees since 2008. In 2010 he received about $50,000 in campaign contributions from the auto industry. “Most people realize safety inspections are important,” Brown said. Members of the Independent Garage Owners of North Carolina and other trade associations launched a lobbying campaign aimed at lawmakers. Groups such as the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, Automotive Service Association and Motor Equipment Manufacturers Association wrote letters against the proposal. “They were telling them it was a safety issue, but the other issue was that it was going to destroy their business,” said Bob Pulverenti, executive director of the garage owners group. “It could have been devastating to the industry.” Yet another case of big government propping up a favored group of businesses. The comments of Pulverenti are especially relealing. If your business is reliant upon government laws forcing people to purchase a service, your business should go away. Those resources should instead be freed up to satisfy consumer needs that they voluntarily pay for.
Raleigh, N.C. – Though viewed favorably by 29 percent of North Carolina voters, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is still largely unknown to voters. Twenty-nine percent of voters said they have a favorable opinion of Marshall while nine percent said they view her negatively. Twenty-two percent said they have heard of her but have no opinion, and 40 percent have never heard of her. Just 10 percent of voters have an opinion of State Auditor Beth Wood: seven percent favorable, three percent unfavorable. Seventy-five percent of voters have never heard of her, the highest of any Council of State office, along with 14 percent who said they have heard of her but do not have an opinion. Eight percent of voters hold a favorable opinion of State Treasurer Janet Cowell. Three percent view her negatively and 15 percent said they have heard of her but do not have an opinion. Seventy-four percent of voters said they have never heard of Cowell. “Despite serving in public office for a number of years and campaigning for U.S. Senator, voters are still mostly unaware of who Elaine Marshall is,” said Civitas Institute Communications Director Katie Trout. “Council of State races are not well known to a majority of voters in North Carolina.” The Civitas Poll is the only regular live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina. For more information on Civitas polling see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/ . Full Text of Questions: “Now I am going to read you a list of people and organizations active in politics. After I read each name, please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of that person or organization. If you have never heard of them, just tell me and we’ll go on to the next one.” Elaine Marshall Total Favorable – 29% Total Unfavorable – 9% Heard of/No Opinion – 22% Never Heard of – 40% Beth Wood Total Favorable – 7% Total Unfavorable – 3% Heard of/No Opinion – 14% Never Heard of – 75% Janet Cowell Total Favorable – 8% Total Unfavorable – 3% Heard of/No Opinion – 15% Never Heard of – 74% For the full results and crosstabs, click here . This poll of 600 likely 2012 general election voters in North Carolina was conducted October 17-18 2011 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of probable 2012 general election voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in 2006 or 2008 or be newly registered to vote since November 5, 2008. (November 5 is the day after the election) The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in the 2006 or 2008 general elections or is newly registered since November 5, 2008. ###
I don’t know if the letter that I sent to the new Chancellor, the Dean of Students, and the Vice President of the Student Government Association that can be found here had any effect in this, but I am excited to announce that the University Of North Carolina Wilmington will be reopening the Student Recreation Center, as announced in an e-mail sent out to the student body. Initially, the student body was expected to continue paying the semester-based fee to use the Center despite it being inaccessible due to construction. With the construction on the building not developing, the student body would have been supplementing the funds for the building for a prolonged amount of time beyond the originally expected date. At $300 per student, on campus of off, per academic year, not including summer school, and at a mere 10,000 students, the school would be bringing in $3 million. The school currently has more than 13,000 students and a significant number who attend summer school. Beyond that, the expenses that would typically be involved in running the Student Recreation Center would not exist, therefore allowing for money to be put into the building fund. Prolonging the project pays out in dividends to the University. This should be considered a victory for the student body and should be taken into consideration in future endeavors that the school embarks on. The date of reopening hasn’t been finalized but the announcement comes today that there are intentions
http://www.wect.com/story/15299607/city-county-leaders-discussing-wilmington-baseball-stadium It would seem that if this is a good idea, the team owner would be building a stadium. If bringing another baseball team to Wilmington is a good idea, Buck Hardee Field or Godwin Stadium would be existing venues that could be suitable for use, without any need to spend any additional public dollars to build a new facility.
I haven’t written in a long time. Not because there hasn’t been anything to write about, because there most assuredly has been, but because I just haven’t taken the time. Between the liberal media being more liberal and less media than ever before, Obama’s vacation and $1.1 million bus that was bought from Canada and could have paid for who knows how many American jobs (they bought two by the way, one for the Republican candidate), the Republican presidential primary, and the credit downgrade, there is plenty that could be talked about. Each time I sit down to write something, I get a paragraph of two in, decide that I hate the entire piece and just delete it. I have found that I am scrutinizing my work beyond the capability of productivity. Sound familiar? Regulatory committees can hold up progress completely. Between required permitting, the cost of applying or that permitting, the cost of having someone come out and re-survey your project after undoubtedly failing it the first time, and then the time it takes to get through the bureaucracy along the way all slow down the development of projects which can dramatically benefit an area or local business. Not to mention the cost. There is no reason that it should cost as much to apply for permitting and approval to place a bench in front of a small business as it does for the bench itself. These are the types of things that cost businesses money and don’t get discussed on a relevant or significant level. This cost is a form of further taxation that doesn’t get regularly considered when discussing the taxing of small business owners. These funds then go to the government who then turns around and uses them as a means of funding further jobs in places like the regulatory commissions, which provides more manpower to create more regulations, thereby costing more money to the small business owners. Think of it like this. Presidential orders are largely unable to be check-and-balanced. Sure some blatantly obvious issues can be approached and reproached but, on a large scale, they are unable to be reformed or redetermined. A great example is our continued involvement in the Libyan conflict (which is being completely over-looked by the mainstream media and a vacationing Congress). Regulations over businesses, home owners, and individuals are similarly ungovernable. In fact, these regulations are largely considered to be the check to the check and balance system. Regulatory czar for the White House wrote in his book Nudge that the position was his dream job and that he cried when the position was offered to him. Now why would anyone cry about a position like a regulatory czar? Well the political implications that go along with a position like this are unfathomable to a country who believes in a democratic republic approach to governing the people. Being able to dole out regulations which implicitly govern business and personal development of property, goods, products, services, and everything in between with minimal legislative and judicial power to keep it in order with the constitution allows for tremendous opportunity to allow for preferential treatment in particular circumstances and cases over others. Not to mention the opportunity to build a bigger home for your family with money, stained by the grease found in palms (though there has been no evidence to date that this has happened [and we all share a laugh]). These regulations are created at every level of government. Rick Catlin has been touring grassroots and party meetings presenting a proposed reservoir that would prevent a water shortage in the future, which models are projecting the area will deal with in 20 years or less. The Division of Environmental Management is already working its way through the permitting process, which is expected to take years and will be followed by a federal permitting process. This project is expected to potentially take 8-to-10 years just to finish the permittin, only then to begin the funding process. Many argue that regulations are necessary to make sure that businesses aren’t cutting corners and to ensure the safety of the consumer. The belief that we must have a government entity to look over our shoulders to ensure that corporations and small businesses aren’t looking out for the safety and well-being of their customers promotes a belief that capitalism in and of itself is broken and evil. Beyond the idea that if a company is offering an unsafe product or service it will soon be eliminated by the market choosing not to support them, believing that individuals are willing to put others in jeopardy in order to gain a profit is unfortunate. Of course there are some of those out there (Al Gore) who want to cause issue for others for their own personal gain, but the vast majority of businesses don’t start based on the idea that they are going to exploit people or businesses. Instead they want to succeed by providing a quality good or service that people will want and be satisfied to have. In fact, it is far more likely that over-regulation CAUSES corners to be cut in order to keep cost of production effective to compensate for the cost of permitting, inspection, and surveying. It is possible that businesses are more likely to engage in unsafe practices when the cost of operation runs higher than necessary due to bureaucratic over-governing as well as not being able to develop new goods and services, due to a lack of funding staying internal. Regulations are a burden on the individuals who are trying to create jobs for individuals. Each $300+ permit that a company must apply for in a given week is a $300+ paycheck that they could be giving to an employee who can help their business grow, and thereby create another job in the private sector. While some level of regulation may be necessary to protect against unsafe business practices as a whole, it may be easily said that over regulation is the enemy of a free market economy. Bureaucratic oversight does not it into the capitalist system. We, as conservatives, MUST be asking the questions necessary to ensure that we are advocating for and promoting into office the candidates who are aware of these types of costs to businesses and individuals and who are standing strongly in opposition to their growth and development. Ask your local representatives their opinion on regulation before you cast your ballots. We have already seen some important changes begin to be made by the North Carolina General Assembly, such as the beach renourishment policies which require New Hanover County to pay $500,000 per beach, which potentially could save NHC close to $1.5 million per renourishment process. It is important to encourage our representatives to continue making the efforts to move forward and to promote regulatory reform and balance.
When I started Port City Conservatives, I did so hoping that I would find a corps of citizen journalists who were chomping at the bit for an opportunity to develop their ideas and present them to an audience outside of their immediate group of friends. I have always felt, knew, and believed that we, as conservatives, have been trampled upon for manufactured ideas and beliefs that are not our own being pressed upon us, and knew and know that there are others out there who believe like myself. In fact, I very quickly was introduced to a community of individuals who use new media as a means of developing their ideas and organize activities and events in effort to continue renewing the vigor that should be found in the hearts of conservatives who want to clear their own names and make something more of what their beliefs have been slandered as by the mainstream media. It has always seemed to me that conservatives are more than willing to discuss their beliefs and to address issues of concern in effort to make a change for the good, organizing and developing groups of individuals who are ready and willing to stand on the front lines of issues and take on all-comers in the name of righteousness, wholesome values, and on the side of America. In the wake of the 2010 election that resulted in a mass overhaul of the North Carolina General Assembly, I expected to find people fired up, on the charge, and ready to continue into the 2012 election. It is unfortunate that I have started to find that the only place that most conservatives are wanting to speak is in their meetings with other friends and conservatives rather than going to trial, pointing out the accusations that have come against our ideology, and proving them false. Rather than standing up for what the forefathers were willing to die for and to put it all on the line in the name of patriotism, I have found more people who prefer to hide behind the false pretense of unnecessity in the face of conservative think tanks who are doing excellent work providing information that we allow to be glossed over or bypassed by the mainstream media, never having it fall on the ears of the liberals who disagree or the indifferent who don’t know the true system of beliefs that conservatism supports. These are the types of things that the tea party is supposed to represent. Individuals like Andrew Breitbart, Glenn Beck, and the like are making their efforts on a national scale and it is terribly important that we, as patriots, do the same in our home and in our own backyard. Barack Obama’s approval rating is lower than any other president’s in history but don’t be fooled by this number. As soon as the election begins to ramp up and we start seeing more and more of this president’s face on the news and in re-election commercials, we will all realize that these current numbers are irrelevant. A very significant number of voters in the 2008 election weren’t prior voters. What in the world makes people think that those same people are involved in online polls? And those voters are the relevant ones. Obama knows that. Do we? What does this post boil down to? I could have another call to action but what good does that do? I think that is where most of the conservative think tanks are missing the mark. E-mails, active websites, and social media pages are great to create a hub, but the only way to motivate people MOVE is to move yourself. I can sit here on my pedestal and glorify what I am doing because I am being active, but I am not activating others. Until I get off of my ass and start talking to individuals, getting more people involved and activating individuals, I am failing myself. Whether you are capable to write your own posts, which could be as simple as finding an excellent video on Youtube and writing a short respond, or recirculating an article from one of the great conservative websites (Wilmington Watchdogs, Wilmington Watcher, Carolina Talk Network, Carolina Patriots, John Locke, etc) on some social media platform, you are capable of standing up for your values. That is the most important thing. Tell someone, anyone, who disagrees with you and conservatism what it is really about. Whether you are discussing news on a site like ours or posting your own opinion or blog about recent events that are important and could use a little more discussion. If you can type, on any level, you can get involved. Ok, I will climb down off of my high horse and get to work. One of the lessons I was taught in journalism is a simple acronym. “GOYA” or Get Off Your Ass.
I haven’t written in a long time. Not because there hasn’t been anything to write about, because there most assuredly has been, but because I just haven’t taken the time. Between the liberal media being more liberal and less media than ever before, Obama’s vacation and $1.1 million bus that was bought from Canada and could have paid for who knows how many American jobs (they bought two by the way, one for the Republican candidate), the Republican presidential primary, and the credit downgrade, there is plenty that could be talked about. Each time I sit down to write something, I get a paragraph of two in, decide that I hate the entire piece and just delete it. I have found that I am scrutinizing my work beyond the capability of productivity. Sound familiar? Regulatory committees, whether talking about organizations like the FDA, EPA, or local groups can hold up progress completely. Between required permitting, the cost of applying or that permitting, the cost of having someone come out and re-survey your project after undoubtedly failing it the first time, and then the time it takes to get through the bureaucracy along the way all slow down the development of projects which can dramatically benefit an area or local business. Not to mention the cost. There is no reason that it should cost as much to apply for permitting and approval to place a bench in front of a small business as it does for the bench itself. These are the types of things that cost businesses money and don’t get discussed on a relevant or significant level. This cost is a form of further taxation that doesn’t get regularly considered when discussing the taxing of small business owners. These funds then go to the government who then turns around and uses them as a means of funding further jobs in places like the regulatory commissions, which provides more manpower to create more regulations, thereby costing more money to the small business owners. Think of it like this. Presidential orders are largely unable to be check-and-balanced. Sure some blatantly obvious issues can be approached and reproached but, on a large scale, they are unable to be reformed or redetermined. A great example is our continued involvement in the Libyan conflict (which is being completely over-looked by the mainstream media and a vacationing Congress). Regulations over businesses, home owners, and individuals are similarly ungovernable. In fact, these regulations are largely considered to be the check to the check and balance system. Regulatory czar for the White House wrote in his book Nudge that the position was his dream job and that he cried when the position was offered to him. Now why would anyone cry about a position like a regulatory czar? Well the political implications that go along with a position like this are unfathomable to a country who believes in a democratic republic approach to governing the people. Being able to dole out regulations which implicitly govern business and personal development of property, goods, products, services, and everything in between with minimal legislative and judicial power to keep it in order with the constitution allows for tremendous opportunity to allow for preferential treatment in particular circumstances and cases over others. Not to mention the opportunity to build a bigger home for your family with money, stained by the grease found in palms (though there has been no evidence to date that this has happened [and we all share a laugh]). These regulations are created at every level of government. Rick Catlin has been touring grassroots and party meetings presenting a proposed reservoir that would prevent a water shortage in the future, which models are projecting the area will deal with in 20 years or less. This $15 million project Many argue that regulations are necessary to make sure that businesses aren’t cutting corners and to ensure the safety of the consumer. The belief that we must have a government entity to look over our shoulders to ensure that corporations and small businesses aren’t looking out for the safety and well-being of their customers promotes a belief that capitalism in and of itself is broken and evil. Beyond the idea that if a company is offering an unsafe product or service it will soon be eliminated by the market choosing not to support them, believing that individuals are willing to put others in jeopardy in order to gain a profit is unfortunate. People are inherently good people who are not out to benefit at the fault of others. Of course there are some of those out there (Al Gore) who want to cause issue for others for their own personal gain, but the vast majority of businesses don’t start based on the idea that they are going to exploit people or businesses. Instead they want to succeed by providing a quality good or service that people will want and be satisfied to have. In fact, it is far more likely that over-regulation CAUSES corners to be cut in order to keep cost of production effective to compensate for the cost of permitting, inspection, and surveying. It is possible that businesses are more likely to engage in unsafe practices when the cost of operation runs higher than necessary due to bureaucratic over-governing as well as not being able to develop new goods and services, due to a lack of funding staying internal. Regulations are a burden on the individuals who are trying to create jobs for individuals. Each $300+ permit that a company must apply for in a given week is a $300+ paycheck that they could be giving to an employee who can help their business grow, and thereby create another job in the private sector. While some level of regulation may be necessary to protect against unsafe business practices as a whole, it may be easily said that over regulation is the enemy of a free market economy. Bureaucratic oversight does not it into the capitalist system. We, as conservatives, MUST be asking the questions necessary to ensure that we are advocating for and promoting into office the candidates who are aware of these types of costs to businesses and individuals and who are standing strongly in opposition to their growth and development. Ask your local representatives their opinion on regulation before you cast your ballots.
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