Civitas ReviewThe Blog of the Civitas Institute

1

Feb

08

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What a great article in the Wall Street Journal!  “A Jersey Lesson in Voter Fraud,” was written by Thomas Fleming.  Mr. Fleming, a Democrat and historian, speaks from his own experience growing up in Jersey City in the 1930’s and 40’s.

In the article Fleming writes about vote buying, “floaters” and the dead voting – specifically his grandmother.

My grandmother Mary Dolan died in 1940. But she voted Democratic for the next 10 years. An election bureau official came to our door one time and asked if Mrs. Dolan was still living in our house. “She’s upstairs taking a nap,” I replied. Satisfied, he left.

As the N.C. legislature begins their work on much needed election reform this year, we have already begun to hear shrill voices from the left proclaim that there is no voter fraud in North Carolina. Groups like Democracy NC, NAACP and maybe even our own State Board of Elections led by Gary Bartlett will say anything in order to stop election reform and especially a requirement for a photo ID.

Mr. Fleming knows better. He has seen voter fraud first hand – he took part in it.  And, we all know that voter fraud didn’t end in the 50′s or the 60′s or 70′s.  We know that voter fraud is happening in NC, but our legislature, through the years has enacted enough silly laws and our SBOE has ignored the ones that could help prevent fraud to the point it is now almost impossible to detect.

So to everyone in N.C. who wants more secure and honest elections – this is the year to make it happen.  The Liberal Left has worked hard the last 20 years along-side the State Board of Elections to make N.C.’s voter laws the most liberal in the Country.  It’s time to go to work and lobby our legislators – don’t leave it up to the paid liberal lobbyists in Raleigh who roam the General Assembly’s halls. Visit your Senators and Representatives, call them – let them know that you support them as they work to make our elections honest and fair for every eligible voter.

And to all you voter fraud deniers, just because we can’t see the fraud doesn’t mean it’s not there – but you know that already…

2

Feb

08

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We’ve been hearing  much about the Common Core standards of late, and for good reason. The ideas that motivated the standards and the way the changes have been implemented have raised many important questions. For example: What are Common Core Standards and why are they necessary? Have the new standards been tested and how will they change how subjects are taught? Who will pay for the changes? What will the move toward a national curriculum mean for the ability of states and local communities to influence how their children are taught?  Unfortunately, most of us don’t know the answers to these questions. Yet the Common Core Standards continue to be implemented in schools across North Carolina and forty-five other states.

Last fall the American Principles Project produced an informative DVD  that answers these questions and highlights many of the problems surrounding Common Core Standards. View the five videos on You Tube or buy all five on DVD.

If you’re a parent, teacher or an average citizen, you need to know about Common Core and its impact on North Carolina’s  public schools. If you have a comment or a question about these changes, please share it with us.

1

Feb

07

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The media have noted that “The woman appointed to lead child development and early education in North Carolina once led an organization opposed to preschool programs.”

Now the media report she has bowed out.

Too bad. North Carolina could have used someone with a skeptical eye for early education.

She was blasted in the media  for having a “conflict of interest” because she had criticized at least some aspects of the program.   But if the governor had appointed someone with the opposite bias, someone with a long history of lobbying for early childhood education, you would have heard this.

It’s a safe bet that the media will continue to ignore the bombshell report on Head Start that came out late last year but which apparently hasn’t penetrated liberal consciousness. It was an analysis of the effects of Head Start. This comes from the government itself, and it was rigorously designed.  The conclusion: Head Start is a flop. A failure. A dud.

Here‘s a good commentary, from a child psychologist writing for the liberal Brookings Institution. Here’s how he sums up this massive, long-term report from the federal government:

There is no measurable advantage to children in elementary school of having participated in Head Start.  Further, children attending Head Start remain far behind academically once they are in elementary school.  Head Start does not improve the school readiness of children from low-income families.

Feb

07

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What comes to your mind when you think of “cruel and unusual punishment”?  The vivid pictures from Hollywood movies that make your stomach churn, make you turn away, or even throw up in your mouth.  How is a life without parole punishment that Eve Carson’s murderer received “cruel and unusual?”  The murderer was convicted in when he was 17 of kidnapping, robbery, and murder.

By now you may have read that Laurence Lovette Jr.’s original sentence of life without parole has been overturned, but what does that mean going forward? It means that Lovette could be sentenced to life without parole again, or get a lesser sentence. A ruling by the United States Supreme Court in June 2012 said that under the Constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment,” a court cannot impose a mandatory sentence of life without parole for a defendant who was under the age of 18 when he committed the crime (Mandatory being the key word).  When Lovette’s was originally sentenced it was a mandatory sentence.  North Carolina then passed its own law to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling shortly thereafter. So his case will go back to court for a new sentence.

Left unanswered is the question of why a life sentence without parole is so horrible that Lovette’s case must get special attention. He was 17 when he and Demario Atwater kidnapped Eve Carson from her home in Chapel Hill, drove her to different ATMs to withdraw money, then brought her back to shoot and kill her.

If Lovette was just one year older the question of his punishment would not come into play.  The question of whether or not his punishment is right is the first question the media is asking but, wasn’t what Laurence Lovette Jr. did to Eve Carson “cruel and unusual”?  And this is not the only murder that he has been charged with!

Feb

07

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Most pundits and politicians have already given up on the idea that Obamacare will actually lower costs and increase quality of healthcare. One study reported by Politico suggests insurance premiums for the young and healthy may triple under Obamacare. Instead it seems that the success or failure of Obamacare will rest solely on how many of the uninsured it provides coverage for.

Even on this metric Obamacare is seemingly not living up to the promises made during its passage. The newest figures from the CBO suggest that Obamacare will only expand coverage for 27 million people, down from an estimated 34 million in 2011. Two reasons for the drop: 1) The Supreme Court’s decision on Obamacare allows the States to opt-out of Medicare expansion. 2) More people than expected are likely to lose employer-based coverage. The CBO now estimates  7 million people will be dropped from employer based coverage, in August of last year that number was only 4 million.

That leaves us with two questions: How much higher will the number dropped from employer-based coverage go as Obamacare is implemented?  And, what happened to the promise that if you like your insurance you can keep it?