http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8385572/

Quote :

" Gov. Beverly Perdue on Friday ordered the state Employment Security Commission to stop docking unemployed North Carolina residents for jobless benefits that they mistakenly received this year."

this makes a lot of sense, especially considering how so many state agencies (including schools) are having to slash their budgets to make up for our shortfalls.

free $texas for all!

our state government probably couldnt be run more poorly.

Quote :

""We are going to do whatever it is that is legal to provide our folks with a waiver and whatever it is that I can do to make sure that nobody has to hold themselves accountable for that $28 million," Perdue said."

10/1/2010 10:56:07 PM

Quote :

"our state government probably couldnt be run more poorly."

Heard of California?

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=411610

Quote :

"Meredith Whitney, the analyst who correctly predicted Citigroup Inc.'s dividend cut in 2008, will release a report rating California's financial condition as the worst among the 15 largest U.S. states, Fortune said. The report rates the states by four criteria: economy, fiscal health, housing and taxes, Fortune said, citing Whitney"

Quote :

"After California, New Jersey, Illinois and Ohio tie as the second-worst, followed by Michigan, Georgia, New York and Florida, Fortune reported. Pennsylvania, Maryland and Massachusetts garnered neutral rankings. Her report ranks Texas, Virginia, Washington and North Carolina as the best states, according to Fortune. Whitney said her report was the result of two years of work by her firm"

We aren't actually that bad. To find that list I didn't have to google North Carolina or be selected about it at all, I knew if I googled state financial condition list that any list I found would not have NC as the most poorly run.

Granted we hear more about our own states woes than most other states (besides maybe Cali which just really sucks & makes national news) but that is because we live here. And because of the recent recession everyone is feeling the pain. Granted there is stuff that needs fixing, but we do a lot of things right.

We have a constitutional requirement to balance the budget, and we have LGC which has made our state a model for many other states around the country (helped a lot of triple A bond ratings & winning CAFRs).

http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/cms/2010/04/20/five-things-to-remember-during-the-budget-debate/

Quote :

" Here are a few things to remember as the budget debate begins to help navigate your way through all the distortions. 1) North Carolina's current budget woes have not been caused by out of control state spending. The N.C. Budget & Tax Center finds that state government spending per person is now lower that it has been in 13 years. And that is after last session's tax increase passed to keep budget cuts to merely devastating levels. 2) North Carolina is not a high tax state. A conservative columnist recently concluded that overall state and local taxes are about average. The right-wing Tax Foundation says the state ranks 28th in state and local taxes per capita. Even the Foundation's deeply flawed "Tax Freedom Day" analysis found North Carolina slightly better than the national average, ahead of neighboring states like Georgia and Virginia. 3) North Carolina business taxes are among the lowest in the country. Anti-government forces like to cherry pick individual tax rates to claim that state taxes on business are too high and responsible for driving jobs out of the state. It is simply not true. 4) North Carolinians are not buried in public debt. The folks on the Right want you to believe that state lawmakers have over borrowed to pay for infrastructure projects at universities and community colleges, but that is simply not true either. The conservative Tax Foundation says North Carolina ranks 40th in the country in per capita state debt. 5) Last year's budget cuts inflicted damage on public education and human services that will take a decade to repair. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education recently voted to lay off 600 teachers and that number may rise to 1,000. Education Week ranks North Carolina 11th of the 12 Southeastern states in spending for public education."

I'm not disagreeing with you at all that this is an example of a screw up, but I do disagree with the whole "our state government probably couldn't be run more poorly" thing. We're not the very best, but we're far from the worst among similarly sized states (and that's without a texas type oil reserve to tap to make everything better).

[Edited on October 2, 2010 at 1:25 AM. Reason : .]

10/2/2010 1:21:09 AM

Quote :

"The governor said the ESC should waive all overpayments, halt deductions from people's weekly benefit checks and not cash any checks people have sent in to repay what they owed the state."

Well.. finally some private citizens get some stimulus money instead of banks and politicians.

Pretty par for the course though...politician using taxpayer money to gain popularity points with the voting public.

10/2/2010 1:35:50 AM

Quote :

"Heard of California? "

touche'

10/2/2010 1:41:56 AM

10/2/2010 8:30:20 PM

wooo go maine! We would be as bad as california, if only we had the money to do so.

10/4/2010 9:45:02 AM

shit pisses me off. if my job overpaid me there is no doubt in my mind that i would have to repay the money.

10/4/2010 11:15:43 AM

not if you elected your boss

10/4/2010 11:30:41 AM

well this is bullshit. and so is ^^^^. there is no reason for us to be in the top 10.

10/4/2010 11:48:28 AM

can anyone remember the last time we had a balanced budget in the state of NC?

10/4/2010 11:55:37 AM

every year.

10/4/2010 1:33:00 PM

so you would call what we have this year a balanced budget? even with huge projected shortfalls? even with all of the cuts they are having to make across the board next year?

just because they pass a resolution to keep the government doors open doesnt mean they have a balanced budget.

our state government has a terrible track record of living within its means and poor planning. some of that can be blamed on the huge influx of people to the area over the past 20 years, but not all of it. at some point, you have to blame the huge, corrupt, good-ole-boy network that is NC state politics.

10/4/2010 1:42:45 PM

Quote :

"so you would call what we have this year a balanced budget? ... even with all of the cuts they are having to make"

Not sure that part of it works as a counter point.

10/4/2010 1:53:07 PM

^^huh?

10/4/2010 4:01:06 PM

"balanced budget" was the wrong term.

workable budget is better, but I am drawing a blank on exactly what I am looking for.

10/4/2010 4:18:27 PM