http://www.wral.com/rucho-health-law-more-harmful-to-us-than-nazis/13220181/

Quote :

""Justice Robert's pen & Obamacare has done more damage to the USA then the swords of the Nazis,Soviets & terrorists combined," Rucho wrote via Twitter, the social networking site. "

12/16/2013 2:32:07 PM

To be fair, swords weren't/aren't the first weapon of choice for any of those groups.

12/16/2013 2:42:19 PM

The Nazis didn't really do all that much damage. If anything they're responsible for making the United States as powerful as were are today by eliminating European competition.

12/16/2013 2:44:39 PM

veterans of WWII and their families probably don't feel that way.

[Edited on December 16, 2013 at 3:13 PM. Reason : ]

12/16/2013 2:49:18 PM

Just wait until a death panel votes to kill you with a sword

12/16/2013 3:07:26 PM

Then the swords of the Nazis, Soviets & terrorists combined...

did what?

Left us hanging.

12/16/2013 4:15:37 PM

shouldn't it also be "...have done..."?

12/16/2013 4:21:25 PM

LOL the GOP and the Tea Party might want to work on reigning in the crazy. Bob "Frack Me" Rucho is just the latest example. I would like to see him explain this rationale to families of holocaust victims and 9/11 families/surviors. Oh yeah and should be have and not has, and then should be than.

[Edited on December 16, 2013 at 7:48 PM. Reason : .]

12/16/2013 7:47:32 PM

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/01/14/3161521/north-carolinas-eitc-tax-hike-poor/

1/24/2014 12:55:25 AM

http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=10005

^ alternate headline - "North Carolina joins the majority of states that do not offer a state-based EITC"

1/24/2014 8:46:40 AM

lol joins the majority?

Quote :

"North Carolina is one of 25 states with an EITC"

In what world is that joining the majority?

1/24/2014 10:00:47 AM

Ha, fair point, I stand corrected. I posted while at work and I read that as 15 instead of 25.

1/24/2014 10:30:48 AM

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/24/3561691/nc-lawmakers-try-to-quash-subpoenas.html

Quote :

"In federal court filings this month, the NAACP, the League of Women Voters of North Carolina, the American Civil Liberties Union, the U.S. Justice Department and others who are suing the governor, state legislators and N.C. election board members sought a court order for email and other correspondence. Thirteen legislators, all Republicans, have tried to quash subpoenas requiring them to produce any documents they created or received concerning the “rationale, purpose and implementation” of House Bill 589. Sen. Phil Berger, leader of the state Senate, was among the group, as was Thom Tillis, the speaker of the House. Others include Sen. Bob Rucho of Mecklenburg County, Rep. Ruth Samuelson of Mecklenburg, Rep. Larry Pittman of Concord and Rep. David Lewis, the Harnett County Republican who helped lead the 2011 redrawing of legislative and congressional districts being challenged in court. They contend they are protected by “legislative immunity” and should be “free from arrest or civil process for what they do in legislative proceedings.” The leaders also argue that legislative immunity frees legislators “not only from the consequences of litigation, it also frees them ‘from the burden of defending themselves.’” "

Things must not be going well when you've got to start using your immunity card

1/25/2014 9:06:02 AM

Legislative Immunity and Legislative Privilege may in fact apply here. I find it interesting the N&O failed to include even a single paragraph outlining the basics of immunity and privilege as applied to the General Assembly. Instead, the N&O merely states "They contend..." without confirming or challenging the basis for said contention.

I don't see, however, how routine email correspondence will be privileged absent a specific statute that exempts correspondence related to this specific law from the public record. It seems a standard FOIA request would have sufficed to obtain legislator emails.

1/25/2014 10:38:31 AM

USDA issues more warnings to state health agency
http://www.wral.com/usda-issues-more-warnings-to-state-health-agency/13326212/

1/25/2014 11:04:24 AM

http://www.wral.com/profanity-laced-recording-of-nc-senator-s-meeting-cited-in-death-of-puppy-mill-bill/13332197/

Quote :

"“We were informed that that bill would never leave the House,” he said. “They [the House] are a bunch of (expletive). They got political heat. They said, ‘We can no longer sit on this. We know the Senate will not pass it because it’s a piece of crap, so we’ll send it to them, and they’ll take the heat.’ Ladies and gentlemen, that is politics 101.”"

1/28/2014 9:51:18 AM

I don't have time to do a proper write up right now, and I know that some of you will poo-poo the source, but this is worth a watch. What is happening in our own state is very sad.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/warnings-ignored-ahead-of-toxic-nc-spill-146553923542

2/11/2014 10:02:18 AM

Unfortunately I think we will see more of this, right a lot are holding off on remediating coal ash until the EPA decides if its a hazardous material or not. One way people dispose of coal ash is by recycling it in concrete, which they won't be able to do if it becomes a hazardous material. No one wants to pay to clean up landfills or a class action lawsuits for houses and roads if its determined to be hazardous, and no one wants to pay to dispose of it as hazardous waste if it can end up just going into regular or Subtitle D landfills. The states that have classified it as hazardous on their own are now going to have much longer and more expensive remediation efforts, its a bit of a Catch-22. I do know that Duke Energy was just hiring engineers/geologists for their in-house remediation branch, so hopefully that means they are ramping-up efforts.

2/11/2014 10:16:22 AM

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/anti-science-nc-leaders-no-laughing-matter-162715715644

(this post is not an endorsement for rachel maddow)

2/21/2014 10:35:04 AM

^ In the future can you post additional source material besides video from a single biased source simply to avoid having to parse the partisan rhetoric in order to respond. i.e., I don't want to spend 5 minutes watching a clip from Maddow to determine if there's anything worth responding to (even though I just spent 3.5 minutes responding to this message to say I don't have 5 minutes to watch the video above...).

2/21/2014 11:09:58 AM

nah man, I'm just posting a link that I saw on a MSM site that mentions North Carolina. You knew it was MSNBC and Rachel Maddow, so of course it could have some bias. Watch it if you want to. If you don't, then don't. If you want to post something that isn't biased and that doesn't include partisan rhetoric, feel free to search it out and post it. I'd be interested to see/read it.

2/21/2014 11:36:46 AM

The information in that link just makes a vague reference to NC and anti-science, so it's difficult to determine what the issues are without watching.

[Edited on February 21, 2014 at 11:41 AM. Reason : ....]

2/21/2014 11:41:11 AM

If you don't know the issues, you haven't been paying attention.

Here's a few other articles from biased sources:
http://www.wral.com/denr-gets-defensive-over-duke-deal-coal-ash-spill/13409648/
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/2013/01/08/oil-might-be-a-natural-resource-and-other-things-you-did-not-know/
http://www.wral.com/-fracking-foes-turn-to-james-taylor-to-sing-out-against-nc-drilling/13413869/
http://www.wral.com/expert-concerns-about-moving-ash-ponds-pure-speculation-/13410831/
http://www.wral.com/mccrory-moving-coal-ash-ponds-preferred-option/13409927/

[Edited on February 21, 2014 at 11:49 AM. Reason : ]

2/21/2014 11:44:37 AM

Regarding the last 2 links:
The reason everyone is hesitant to move coal ash ponds to lined landfills is that the EPA is reviewing coal ash right now and they might decide its a hazardous waste, which will determine what kind of landfill it goes to. If you send it to the less restrictive landfill now, they might have to pay to remediate that landfill later. If they proactively take it to the more restrictive landfill, its a significant cost increase that might not be necessary if EPA decides it can go to the less-restrictive landfill. A hazardous waste determination would also not allow it to be recycled, which some of it currently is.

That's the only discussion about moving it to a landfill, anything about it being more dangerous in a landfill is hooey; its a lot easier to move coal ash to a landfill than it is to remove it from a river basin.

2/21/2014 11:59:01 AM

one thing i failed to mention:

before anyone starts saying "see, this is the EPA's fault!", the reason this has been delayed is because ALEC has been pushing to make sure that coal ash is not federally regulated and wants to make states responsible, while at the same time making sure states don't add new regulations.

2/21/2014 12:36:14 PM

2/21/2014 12:39:06 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/01/us/coal-ash-spill-reveals-transformation-of-north-carolina-agency.html?_r=3

2/28/2014 4:06:00 PM

I've been out of NC for over 2 years now and have no intention of moving back anytime soon (if at all), but I really hope the state reverses course in the upcoming years. I hate to see such a once-progressive state (for the south ) ridiculed by the rest of the country for their ill-intentioned missteps.

2/28/2014 9:09:08 PM

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/tim-cook-soundly-rejects-politics-of-the-ncppr-suggests-group-sell-apples-s

Tim Cook smacks down conservative policy think tank a share holder meeting.

3/1/2014 12:53:16 AM

NC?

3/1/2014 10:01:51 AM

So apparently we are going to have another constitutional amendment on the ballot this November.

Quote :

"[ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST Constitutional amendment providing that a person accused of any criminal offense for which the State is not seeking a sentence of death in superior court may, in writing or on the record in court and with the consent of the trial judge, waive the person's right to a trial by jury."

The implication is that you would be able to waive your right to trial by jury and instead be tried by a judge in superior court.

Not sure what the angle is here? Is there something obvious I'm missing or is this just another underhanded attempt to insulate elected officials and corporate interests from our justice system via the buying off of judges?

http://ballotpedia.org/North_Carolina_Criminal_Defendant_May_Waive_Jury_Trial,_SB_399_(2014)

3/6/2014 4:34:44 PM

no youre right, that's basically the reason

3/6/2014 8:29:19 PM

Never mind. I see it's for criminal trials.

[Edited on March 6, 2014 at 8:48 PM. Reason : .]

3/6/2014 8:46:27 PM

I'm sure Newby, et al. are just itching to give a pass to Duke Energy if and when it comes to it. The good thing is that the Feds are involved in untangling this mess before McCrony can sweep it under the rug.

3/6/2014 9:43:46 PM

http://www.wral.com/duke-ceo-ratepayers-will-cover-coal-ash-cleanup/13460600/

I can hear Republicans now, "See, we told you that ratepayers would pay for this!!!1 This wouldn't happen if we didn't have those damned environmental regulations!!!1"

And yes, this goes in this thread because this whole debacle falls into the lap of the McCrony ex-Duke Power endorsed legislatures.

3/8/2014 5:33:59 PM

Aren't gov't created monopolies wonderful?

3/8/2014 10:47:15 PM

I don't wanna pay either, but I'm still skeptical that they'll be able to pull it off with a blatant rate increase. I kinda wonder if its leverage to do less, Duke will argue to just cap the ponds and leave the ash in place rather than remove the ash because it will keep rates cheaper. That's starting to get into multi-dimensional chess though.

But politically it's going to be difficult. There is already the perception of cronyism there, and if you think the media is hammering McCrory hard now, just wait till his Utilities Commision approves ANOTHER rate increase. McCrory has shown himself to be pretty tone deaf so far, but he's not that dumb, right?

Add on top of that the "latte-sipping" lawyers that are absolutely circling in the water right now. Every miss step is just under the microscope.

Here's the thing though. Technically Duke has a pretty good argument, I think. They claim they will take the costs of the spill cleanup, but ratepayers will cover other pond clean ups. Disposing of waste technically is a cost of generation, it's just that Duke has put those costs off for decades. Just another example of us paying for past mistakes by not fully understanding the long-term costs.

3/9/2014 11:47:07 AM

http://www.wral.com/mamas-don-t-let-your-cowboys-endorse-legislative-candidates/13465088/

Quote :

"Mamas, don't let your Cowboys endorse legislative candidates Raleigh, N.C. — Rep. Larry Pittman, R-Cabarrus, either committed a campaign fumble or made one of the best "Hail Mary" plays in all of politics. While it's not unusual for a campaign website to feature endorsements, Pittman's endorsement page quoted six individuals, all of who share names with retired Dallas Cowboys players. "Last year was the most effective session of the general assembly in over 100 years in the State of North Carolina. Don't let the Liberals win, and please let me know how I can help," is a quote attributed to Daryl Johnston. While Pittman's website says Johnston is from "Southwestern Cabarrus County," he shares a name spelled exactly the same as an NFL analyst who played for a decade as a fullback for the Cowboys. Johnston, the football player, lives in Dallas. The website also quoted Darren Woodson, Russell Maryland and Brock Marion – all former Cowboys players. Perhaps most telling, "Troy A." lauded Pittman as a "true professional. North Carolina is on the clock, and time is running out. Larry is going to get the ball down the field in time to win the game, because he has to, and nobody else will." Troy Aikman was a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Cowboys. Pittman's Facebook page lists the Cowboys as a sports team of interest to the lawmaker, and he has used his Facebook profile to comment on a photo of tight end Jason Witten – "My man Jason. What a great player!" – although Witten is not among Pittman's endorsements. The endorsements were removed from the site Monday afternoon. Earlier, they occupied a page on his website and cycled one by one to the front page of the site. It's unclear whether the endorsements were left over from a test version of the site, meant as a humorous nod to Pittman's favorite football team, or were a straightforward attempt to puff up the candidate. However, the rest of the website features standard campaign fare such as pictures of the candidate, video of a floor speech, biographical information and contact information. Pittman did not immediately return calls Monday to his home phone number, which is also listed on his campaign website, or his legislative office. No voters with the names Troy A., Daryl Johnston, Brock Marion, Russell Maryland or Darren Woodson are registered to vote in Cabarrus County. There are several voters named "Kevin Williams," but it is unlikely that they are the football player either because the middle names don't match or because they are listed as a different race from the football player. A news release by For Liberty Communications says that Pittman's website launched on March 2 and "includes our custom content management system allowing the user to have more control over key areas of their website such as the news, issues and photos." Pittman is the incumbent for House District 82. He has a primary against Leigh Thomas Brown of Harrisburg. The winner will face a Democrat in the fall. Pittman is best known for his strident stance on firearms legislation as well as a tussle with House Speaker Thom Tillis. As of 5:20 p.m. on Monday, Pittman has still not responded to WRAL's phone calls, but posted the following on his Facebook page: "Some of my opponents are showing their lack of character by trying to sabotage my website, and by running a twitter account in my name to try to discredit me. I do not have a twitter account at all, and do not intend to have one. So any twitter account that you see bearing my name or image is a malicious attempt to discredit me. Someone is also posting endorsements on my website without my knowledge, posing as other people, such as NFL players, in an effort to make it look like I am faking endorsements. We are trying to get to the bottom of this, and have a pretty good idea who is doing it. This kind of hatred and disgraceful conduct from such people confirms that I am doing something right.""

this is the same dude who was featured quite prominently in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO63iwjFxEY

3/10/2014 11:14:32 PM

An update on the subpoenas issued to legislators regarding emails related to Voter ID:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/03/27/4799487/federal-court-says-nc-legislators.html#.UzVwK1drv4U

I'd guess nothing comes from any of the emails that do get turned over but we should know more on April 7.

3/28/2014 8:57:47 AM

Anyone have an idea as to why, with McCrory as governor and the GOP controlling the General Assembly, there hasn't been more of a push for off-shore drilling in North Carolina?

4/9/2014 11:03:47 AM

^McCrory is the chairman of whatever the inter-state commission is that advocates for offshore drilling. Last I heard they were jumping through the final regulatory hurdles so they could exploring and investigating the deposits.

4/9/2014 11:22:32 AM

As we're seeing with the fracking boondoggle, as long as there's even a hint of a sea cucumber's volume in hydrocarbons contained within the continental shelf, McCrony et. al will do everything they can to get at it no matter the risk to our coastline.

4/9/2014 12:47:16 PM

http://www.wral.com/reinstatement-of-jordan-lake-pollution-controls-urged/13571886/

Quote :

""It would be wonderful if, when God put this Earth together, he had given us rivers for clean drinking water and other rivers to dispose of our waste, but unfortunately, he didn't give us that option," said Rep. John Faircloth, R-Guilford. "We're dealing with a problem that's caused by us living on this planet, and as we can all see, it's not an easy one to solve.""

4/17/2014 1:51:18 PM

I know it's just pandering, but why doesn't he ask God to fix it then?

4/17/2014 2:20:30 PM

i'm confused, is Rep. Faircloth endorsing the rules or is that statement supposed to be a reason against them? that reads like an endorsement but he is a Republican.

4/17/2014 6:59:24 PM

What a myopic douchebag. It's a good thing that humans are the only organisms of consequence on this planet....

4/17/2014 8:22:26 PM

He seems to think the only way to deal with waste is to dump it in a river, which I really don't think is accurate. Sounds like a lobbyist has gotten to him.

4/18/2014 11:19:23 AM

that's where wastewater and runoff goes

[Edited on April 18, 2014 at 11:30 AM. Reason : .]

4/18/2014 11:29:50 AM

Guilford County schools wins an injunction against the General Assembly's 25% plan

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/04/23/3805892/judge-halts-new-tenure-procedure.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1

4/23/2014 8:08:12 PM

It's good to know that every GOP candidate for the senate is so unapologetically anti-science... "No, God no"....

4/23/2014 9:06:11 PM