The first round of state employee pay cuts ordered by Gov. Bev Perdue to balance the state’s current budget deficit hit paychecks today, and as expected hard tales of financial ruin percolate throughout the media. Of the 270,000+ state employees affected, how is it WRAL just happened to stumble upon a state employee whose husband [...]
Monthly Archives: May 2009
- May29
Deep Cuts?
Lawmakers and special interest groups around Raleigh are in full-out panic mode over the state budget situation. Fears of "deep and draconian cuts" abound. But let's back up and have a look at the numbers. First off, when we hear government officials speak of the budget "deficit" for the coming fiscal year, what they are [...]
- 3May29
Local Govt. Out of Control
Ever wonder how far the bureaucrats that run local government can go? Apparently, under the aegis of zoning and land use regulations, they can go pretty far. What personal, non-business activity would be so bad that the zoning gestapo would need to investigate and interrogate homeowners? What if your neighbors hosted a weekly bible study [...]
- 2May29
NCAE Education Poll: A Second Look
Faced with managing a $3 billion state budget deficit, the House education budget writers have proposed nearly $1 billion in cuts and the loss of thousands of teacher jobs. The plan has also sent the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE), the lobbyists for the teachers unions into “war mode”. NCAE’s first shot was release of a survey [...]
- May29
Homeowners Association Run Amok – Bad Bill of the Week
Once again a hard week to decide on the BBOTW. It was hard not to go with the NC Colon Hydrotherapy Licensure bill – maybe another week, but I think the Community Association Managers Licensure was more worthy because of all of the bad things that will result. Higher costs for homeowners, more government bureaucracy and [...]
- May28
Turnpike Authority Bonds Escape Junk Status — Barely
The NC Turnpike Authority is in the process of issuing bonds (debt) to build the state's first government-sponsored toll road in western Wake County. Well, a bond rating agency apparently doesn't think too highly of the project. Fitch's has given the bonds a rating of "BBB-" one step above junk bond status. This is after [...]
- May28
Cast Your Vote on the Incentive Issue
Fresh on the heels of the Legislature's vote to give Apple Computers large tax breaks to locate in North Carolina, Time Warner Cable's News 14 web site has a web poll up on the issue. So all of you Red Clay Citizens out there can voice your opinion on taxpayer financed business incentives. Cast your [...]
- 1May28
Sex Ed Bill Delayed in Committee
The craftily named "Healthy Youth Act" HB88 hit a speed bump in the NC Senate's Mental Health and Youth Services Committee on Wednesday. This yet another attempt by the left to add so-called "comprehensive" sex education to the current abstinence based curriculum taught in North Carolina's schools. Despite having a stacked committee of supporters in [...]
- May28
Stated vs. Demonstrated Preferences
Today's Under the Dome reports on polling results by Public Policy Polling that claim to show public support for taxpayer-financed campaigns. Democratic firm Public Policy Polling has found that 60 percent of voters favor full public funding for candidates for state Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Twenty-four percent had an unfavorable opinion, and [...]
- May27
Death Penalty Popular in North Carolina
Our latest survey included a standard question about the death penalty. The results show support increasing from the last time we polled in 2008. Death penalty opponents are not going to go away because of broad public support for the Death Penalty. As Chris Hayes posted earlier on an article by Tara Servatius, opponents are already working [...]