Looks like it won't just be Obama and Democrat Congressional candidates running on a platform of raising taxes this year.  All three of the NC gubernatorial candidates (Etheridge, Dalton, and Faison) support raising state taxes such as the sales tax.  I understand that, overall, the Democrat platform of higher taxes is a cynical populist class-warfare play for the votes of those who pay no income tax and few, if any, other taxes.  It's a "soak the rich", "get 'em!", "envy-exploitation" play commonly used by left wing ideologues around the world.  I get that.

But the sales tax is, according to these same populist left-wing ideologues the most "regressive" tax in existence.  It supposedly, if you buy into their rhetoric, impacts and "hurts" the poor the most of all.  So why would NC Democrats be running on a platform of raising sales taxes?

Oh yes!  It's supposedly for the schools... "for the children"....  It's all about "the children", isn't it?

No.  The more money they dump into the school bureaucracy, the more dedicated that bureaucracy is to helping elect Democrats.  And the more money that can be funneled into teachers' unions, the more union contributions and support for Democrat candidates.  It's a tax-money-laundering vote pump.

But it still seems odd and self-contradictory that these Democrats feel they can successfully "sell" higher sales taxes to the "poor and downtrodden" "oppressed" "masses" by playing on emotional arguments that it's all for "education" of "the children".  I wonder if this will be a successful campaign ploy?  It will certainly be a defining issue, won't it?


Bill Cochrane

_If you listen to WRAL or read the Raleigh News & Observer -- both left-leaning biased outlets -- you would conclude that another "progressive" polling operation -- the Public Policy Center (think Soros) -- had proven the NC Legislature did a dastardly deed when called back by Governor Perdue for a special session.  These folks are truly expert at twisting things through one-sided reporting, selective information, and questionable sources.  The old media outlets are becoming so rampantly misleading and blatantly in-your-face ideologues as to become truly disgusting.

In fact, a review of all the major newspapers reveals outright one-sided proclamations that the vote was "unethical", "unconstitutional", "not transparent", "absurd", "unprecedented", "shameful", "unfair",....  All of these are very much dishonest of these media outlets.

To revisit WRAL, I have to say the single "mainstream" media outlet article which presented a mostly balanced presentation of fact and quoted opinions from named sources on both sides of the arguments was by WRAL.  But every other article I read from WRAL was a total and complete one-sided hatchet-job.

Let's rationally review the salient points of what actually happened:

●  Governor Perdue called the NC Senate back to Raleign for a special session to reconsider a bill which the Governor had vetoed during the regular 2011 session.  So, the Senate Republicans did not sneak back into Raleigh on their own for some secret, nefarious covert session to trick the Democrats.  The Governor called all the NC State Senators back to Raliegh on a very short notice.

●  All of the Republicans were present at the Governor's special session in response to her call.  Some of the Democrat Senators were not present, for whatever reasons -- irrelevant to the matter at hand.  The Democrats did not come.  There was a quorum.  The Senate convened for the purpose called by the Governor, and they conducted the business that they were called to do.

●  The Democrats and the Governor did not like the outcome of the vote.  Politics is tough and elections do have consequences.  Now the Dems are trying to say that the bill and vote were somehow un-constitutional.  They threaten to take the matter to court.  But, in reality, they knew and the Governor knew what would happen all along when the Governor forced this vote.  The reality is that this is all purely political and ideological posturing on the part of the losers.  Sour grapes.

●  The NC Constitution says that the Legislature cannot consider any other bills during a special session called by the Governor for the purposes of handling a specific bill.  The media, the Dems, and the Guv are trying to portray what happened next as an un-constitutional action.  This is false.  Completely false.

●  The Senate is allowed under the NC Constitution to vote on resolutions.  In fact, this is a necessary part of the legislative process in handling a bill.  Resolutions and procedural decisions may be voted upon during the parliamentary maneuvers leading to a final vote.  Moreover, whenever the Legislature meets, there is a final resolution to officially decide the date and time of the next session.  This final resolution is at the vortex of the arguments.  But the fact that the Senate voted on a final resolution regarding the date and time of the next session is normal, constitutional, and necessary.

●  What happened is this:  Since the Senate was already in place and had handled the purpose of the special session quickly, since that business was concluded and there was time left over on the anticipated schedule, since all these Senators had changed their personal plans and schedules at the call of the Governor and traveled from across the state to Raleigh -- because of these considerations, the Senate changed their resolution to adjourn the special session and set the date and time of the next Senate session to that same night.  This they did.  They adjourned the special session and reconvened in place a new session.

●  In the new scheduled session, the Senate is free to consider any old business pending action.  This they did.  They took up another bill which had been vetoed earlier in 2011 by the Governor.  The NC House had already voted to override the Governor's veto.  At this session, the Senate voted whether to override the veto, and the override passed the Senate.

●  Now the Democrats, the Governor, and their shill media want you to believe that the action was dishonest and unconstitutional.  It was neither, and there is good precedent for all that was done by previous Democrat-controlled NC Legislatures.  This is all sound and fury to confuse and influence uninformed voters who have not paid attention or do not have the time to dig into all the details.

The dishonesty and shameful behavior is all on the side of the Democrats and their shill advocacy media.

Now, let's take a little closer look at that poll these folks are trying to use to convince the public of their righteousness.  They would have you take this poll at face value and simply accept that a majority of people of all stripes now condemn the above actions by the NC Senate.  But when ideologues begin throwing poll numbers around, we need to look closely at the details of the poll they're using.

●  First, this poll was conducted by a very left-leaning progressive organization, Public Policy Polling in Raleigh, NC.  This concern is affiliated with the Democrat Party and partners with the Daily KOS.  These folks are most interested in furthering the interests of the Democrat Party and supporting left-wing progressive organizations.  Just keep that in mind.

●  The poll was conducted using automated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology.  The questions, therefore, were presented in very succinct phrasing, allowing the person on the phone to interpret the slanted questions in a very broad manner as they pleased.  The question, which we will examine in a moment, is carefully phrased to elicit a desired response from the typical voter.

●  The sample purportedly was based on Board of Elections records to include likely voters.  However, the sample size is very small -- only 780 likely voters.  Public Policy Polling does not provide any information on how many Democrats versus Republicans versus Unaffiliated voters were included in the sample.  They provide breakdowns by party, race, etc.  But those breakdowns are only expressed in percentages, so we do not know whether or not the sample base was heavily weighted toward registered Democrats.  We just don't know.  When we are not given such information about the sample, the sample must be considered suspect.

●   The question actually asked here was:  "Do you think it is appropriate or inappropriate for the General Assembly to take votes on legislation in the middle of the night?"  Surely you see the fallacy here!  This question was simply asked out of the blue among a number of other such questions unrelated to the issue here.  No context was provided.  No explanation was provided.  No information about the fact that the Governor had called the special session at night.  No supporting facts or information at all.  If I just walked up to you on the street and asked you the above question, how would you answer?  Of course you would answer that it's not appropriate.  Especially after all the late night, weekend, and holiday votes taken by Nancy Pelosi's and Harry Reid's Democrats in Washington these past three years!

●  So this survey is patently dishonest.  It was carefully constructed to deliver a pre-determined, desired result.  And then a dishonest media dutifully reported it in exaggerated ways to completely distort all of the facts and real news.  We should all be outraged!

You can review the Public Policy Polling survey by clicking here.

Be ashamed media.  And count your days.  I'm no longer patronizing you, and millions more will soon see through your lies and actions.  You may consider us to be sheep that you can lead and fence.  I am no sheep.  And the new media will soon replace you.



Bill Cochrane

The Third Year Panic
"An Ass having put on the Lion's skin, roamed about in the Forest and amused himself by frightening all the foolish Animals he met with in his wanderings."  -- Shakespeare et Jacobs

I watched the fools' game being played out in Washington last week with growing disgust and dismay.  The Republicans were trying to one-up the Democrats by forcing them to agree to include a "resolution" that the Administration must seriously "consider" the Keystone Pipeline, and the Democrats were trying to one-up the Republicans by "trapping" them into voting for a "popular" payroll tax extension.

On the surface, to anyone still thinking, the dance was hilarious.   The spectacle should have resulted in ridicule and derision for what once might have been a revered institution, Congress.  But, that was not the reaction from the public or the media, was it?  I guess very few of us have our thinking caps on these days.

Let's examine each of the "objectives" for the moment, ignoring the fact that neither was the real objective.  Republicans wanted a Congressional statement to "force" the Administration to carefully "consider" approving the Keystone Pipeline.  The pipeline would create a significant number of jobs, yes.  It would help the US obtain reasonably priced oil, reducing the price of oil and helping the economy as it struggles to recover, yes.  It would enable the US to obtain more oil from a friendly ally rather than sending our money to countries and people who despise us and promise to kill us, yes.  So, how much good would this Congressional resolution ― _that the Administration must seriously consider the pipeline _ ― actually do?

Well....the Administration has alread considered it.  And then they killed it (well, supposedly, they "postponed" it pending another study... yeah!).  So, let them reconsider it again.....OK, they killed it again!  Wasn't that easy?!  Didn't really require a lot of fighting and false news out of Washington to figure that one out, did it?  No.

Let's examine the Democrats' position that an extension of the payroll tax "holiday" was essential to economic recovery.  First, we must ignore that this is the Social Security and Medicare payroll tax which would be suspended.  Both entitlement programs are going bankrupt, and everyone with two functioning brain cells knows it by now.  And, supposedly, a large majority of those same people insist that these programs must remain "healthy" and that these programs be "left alone".  Yet a majority of these same people now believe that the funding source of these programs should be eliminated for some period of time?  Egads!  That doesn't make much sense does it?  I wonder what the truth is.....

So, after we ignore that 800 pound gorilla in the room, we are treated to a fantasy play of how desperately the American proletariat needs a $40 payroll tax break.  The Republicans pointed out how paltry the "stimulus" of a two-month "holiday" would be ― only $40 ― and that it would cost businesses considerably more than $40 just to handle the paperwork associated with such a folly.  That doesn't count the additional costs in the IRS and other government agencies.  So the "bottom line" would be a negative to the economy, not a positive.  So, the Republicans proposed a full year's payroll tax holiday, surely enticing the Democrats and one-upping them with a good poker bet.

But, never mind logic, the good Democrats, who were certain that the illusion of their "fight for the 'little guy' and the 'working man'" would carry the day, stood their ground like the best Spartan warriors.  How dare the Republicans foil their "fair" proposal by proposing a bigger tax cut!!!?  No, it must be a two-month reduction, not a 12-month reduction, and no other answer would be acceptable!  And they rolled out the anecdotal sob stories to support their premise.

And, at the request of the White House, the sob stories did come in:

“Our cable internet bill is $49 per month.  If we lose this payroll tax cut then we will have to give up either (our) internet access or possibly our ‘Friday Family Pizza’ night.  Either way, we will lose something that brings us together as a family,” wrote “K.Z” from Frederick, Maryland.  What a dolt.

Another person wrote that $40 will “buy lunch from the cafeteria for almost a whole month for my twins.”  Here's your hanky....

And the media bought it!  And the media promoted it!  And the American proletariat bought it!  And the Republicans caved to the Democrats!  And the Democrats trumpet their mighty victory!  And the Republicans are "damaged"!  And the American proletariat cheers!

And the deficit and national debt grows.

And I weep for the nation.


Bill Cochrane

North Carolina Governor Beverley Purdue vetoed reforms made to the "Racial Justice Act."  In a statement she said, "because the death penalty is the ultimate punishment, it is essential that it be carried out fairly and that the process not be infected with prejudice based on race."  I agree.  Race should not be used but unfortunately, Governor Purdue has allowed race baiters like William Barber, Earline Parmon and Joe Hackney advise her.  So I am not surprised of her actions.

The Racial Justice Act is not a means to prevent racism in the judicial system; it is a way to end the Death Penalty in North Carolina.  In case that wasn’t clear:  this is nothing more than a politically convenient way to exploit our legal system under the disguise of "racial protection."

The sad reality of the Racial Justice Act is that it is based upon data from Pennsylvania and Kentucky, not North Carolina.  According to the North Carolina Department of Corrections website, from 1984 to present day when the death penalty was reformed and reinstated, 13 Blacks have been executed; compared to 28 Whites.  Subsequently, more Blacks have been removed from death row than Whites.

No piece of legislation is perfect but, but this fact will surely shock the critics:  nearly 1/3 of the murderers that have used the Racial Justice Act are white.

Yes, that’s right.  White males, convicted by white juries, are now claiming that they were victims of racial discrimination!  Are Italian-American defendants subject to the disdain of Irish-American juries? What about females convicted by predominantly male juries, why didn’t the Racial Justice Act include them in the legislation?  The reason is because those arguments will minimize the racial implications, yet some of the legal defendants of the Racial Justice Act would probably profit immensely from taking on a case like that, hence their undying devotion to the law.

In America we already have a process to free wrongly-convicted citizens.  It’s called the court of appeals. The law as written (prior to RJA) knew no racial, religious, or age biases.  The law required juries to look at all facts in a trial objectively and make a decision based on evidence.  If later evidence emerges that contradicted earlier findings, then one can file an appeal based on proof.

This law is nothing more than a cheap trick to score political points.  For many, politics is perception and perception is reality.  Democrats love the name of the legislation because it gives the false impression that they are protecting minorities.  While they will not waiver in their support of this law, they stand firm in support of Planned Parenthood, formally known as the Birth Control League, which was founded upon the premise of reducing the Black population through abortion.  The founder, Margaret Sanger, was known to frequent Ku Klux Klan gatherings and even delivered several speeches at their rallies.  What the Democrats are actually doing is attempting to project their racist past onto Republicans in order to win elections.

To prove my point, the Democrat Party controlled both chambers of the General Assembly and the Governor’s Mansion from 1910 to 1961.  Data collected from the NC Department of Corrections website shows that during this time span there were almost 4 times as many Blacks executed than Whites; 281 to 75.  These statistics clearly places the results of the "Jim Crow Era" racial disparities squarely on the shoulders of the Democrat Party.

Race relations in America are not utopian, but deceptive policies that politicize ‘race’ like this are bad for the state of North Carolina, damaging to society, and are a burden to taxpayers.  I hope the state legislature will override Governor Purdue’s veto of the Racial Justice Act and I will support any attempt to do so.




Kevin Daniels
President, The Frederick Douglass Foundation of North Carolina

Everyone knows about Solyndra now.  And I've told everyone about Clean Burn Fuels, an ethanol boondoggle in NC and SC that was heavily government-subsidized.   My nephew worked as a project manager for Clean Burn Fuels.  Like Solyndra, they fed off the government trough, eating through government grants and subsidies for the first two years while they built one production facility and were well on the way building a second production plant.  But after less than six months of operation at the first plant, after the government ethanol grants began to run out, guess what?  Yes, they determined they couldn't make money, they were too much in debt, and the cash flow could not sustain operations.  Clean Burn Fuels declared bankruptcy, leaving taxpayers and creditors with huge predictable losses.

Fortunately, my nephew wised up (he had started with the company as a naive, bright-eyed, idealistic college graduate) and saw that the company was a house of cards.  He was offered a job with a company which sold dryer equipment to this fraudulent operation, and he took it ― just in time.  He's doing quite well now in a real, honest company.

Well, it doesn't matter how many examples there have been of the fallacy and failure of the "green" "ecological" "clean" "renewable" energy shams, the left-wingers and their Democrat cullies keep on milking the grift.  And so, here comes our dullard Obama-follow-along, Guvnah Bev Perdue, with another windmill scheme.  And once again, this one involves enriching foreign (Spanish ― remember the Spanish debacle over "green energy" which helped them bankrupt their own country?) companies and investors at the expense of you fine, gullible NC taxpayers.  Guvnah Bev wants to force the electric utilities to purchase high-priced energy from a foreign-built windfarm in NE NC at prices well above competitive levels.

After all, with the left-wing progressive Democrats in office, your electric bills will "necessarily skyrocket", right?  After all, that's what her leader, Barry Soetoro, promised.... And North Carolinians did vote for Barry and Bev in 2008, right?


Read:  Perdue Bringing "Solyndra" Politics to NC


Bill Cochrane