Guarino

McCollum on the Court Ruling: Hold Fast

Bill McCollum is a former member of Congress; and was the Florida Attorney General who developed the lawsuit ruled upon by Judge Vinson earlier today.

McCollum thinks Obamacare is going to be overturned by the Supreme Court.  And he cautions Republicans in Washington:

"(M)y hope is the Republicans and those trying to repeal this law don’t give in too much to the Obama administration,” McCollum told Newsmax.TV. “Because I personally think that it will be held unconstitutional, and they can start from scratch. So they have all the leverage, and shouldn’t be giving anything up or away at this point.”

...McCollum said congressional Republicans should stand firm because if healthcare reform is declared unconstitutional “they can start from scratch. So they have all the leverage, and shouldn’t be giving anything up or away at this point,” he told Newsmax.

Given the nature of some of the Republicans we have in Washington, we need to be concerned that some of them will try to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by compromising on certain aspects of Obamacare; and by assisting Democrats in their effort to "tweak" and improve it. 

Obamacare defused of some of its most objectionable provisions would undoubtedly be more palatable to the American people.  But it would still contain more than 1000 pages of liberty-stealing provisions we would live to regret.

Addendum: Sam has more.

Plain Speaking About the North Carolina "Fiscal Crisis"

Implications of Judge Vinson's Ruling

This is a pretty big deal:

1. His striking down the entire law is very important because the suit represented 26 states-- a majority of the individual states.  He ruled the individual mandate is not severable.

2. This is the second time the individual mandate has been overturned.  That suggests to me there is a better chance the Supreme Court might not allow Obamacare to stand unaltered.

3. He refrained from granting the petitioners' arguments regarding state sovereignty and Medicaid.  If Obamacare were to remain in place, the only remedy the states might have would be to get out of the Medicaid program completely.

Of course, I am no legal expert, but today's ruling must be cause for some rejoicing.

The New Talking Point: What About Jobs?

There is an interesting new phenomenon taking place in our political discourse.  If conservative elected officials attempt to pass legislation reflecting conservative principles nominally unrelated to budgetary or economic issues, we are hearing a repeated refrain from Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media.  They plaintively ask, "What about jobs?"

This happened when Republicans in Raleigh and Washington passed anti-Obamacare legislation.  It also might be prone to happen if there are attempts to pass legislation that addresses certain social issues, or charter schools, or the like.  The new political correctness being enforced is that Republicans must exclusively focus on jobs and the economy.

Economic and budgetary matters are of great importance.  But Republicans in Raleigh and Washington (and locally) must be able to multi-task, and handle numerous issues simultaneously. 

We need to note, in any case, that there is a bit of a double standard.

We have continued to see state Senator Don Vaughan advocate and advance animal rights legislation.  He has generally received media plaudits and considerable coverage for these efforts. 

Apparently there is little concern that Senator Vaughan is insufficiently concentrating on jobs and the economy.

Adjust State Pension System? Nyet.

Dome reports that the board overseeing the state's public pension plans refrained from scaling back retirement benefits offered to state and local governmental employees.  Can you guess who opposed any change?

Speaking in opposition to the proposals were representatives of the State Employees Association of North Carolina and the NC Association of Educators.

The conservative Republicans in the state legislature in Raleigh have the same problem as their counterparts on the Greensboro City Council.  There is a preponderance of boards and commissions, both at the state level and in Greensboro, that are stacked with liberal Democrats.  These boards and commissions continue to influence the formation of public policy.

In any event, the Democratic special interest groups win round one on the great retirement pension debate; and the taxpayers lose.

Civil Rights Museum Update

Last week, I had a post here that discussed the leasing arrangement that might exist for the International Civil Rights Museum in downtown Greensboro.  The organization has a management committee and board, both of which are led by Skip Alston.

I decided to inquire with the city of Greensboro on this matter.  My rationale?  The city had funded the museum.  I asked the city specifically what was the amount of the lease that the museum organization has paid to the owners of the property.  I also asked the city to identify the owners of the property.

I had all kinds of idealistic notions about openness and transparency.  Remember, after all, that Greensboro is the Politically Virtuous City.  And we have been led to believe that our city government is comprised of a high-performing, effective bureaucracy.

Two days after submitting my request, I received a response.  It was as follows:

Per Jan Blair

The city, through HCD (now PCD), provided $750,000 in CDBG to assist with historic rehabilitation and blight removal beginning in 2008. This amount has been audited by Internal Audit and been found to be compliant.

There was no other recent PCD funding in the museum other than the $750,000. PCD does not receive lease payments either.

 

When I received this response, I could not help but feel that my questions were not answered.  "PCD", I believe, refers to the city's Department of Planning and Community Development; and I think "CDBG" refers to community development block grants . 

The response established, at the very least, that the Civil Rights Museum had received $750,000 through the city.  But my feeling was that the city should be able to provide and/or obtain details of the museum's operation since it had facilitated the funding of this non-profit organization.  I guess I must have been naive.

In any event, dear readers, what is the next step to obtain this important information?

Addendum: The city provides additional information today.

In having further research done the following funding was approved:

 

May 16, 1994 - $225,000 Sit-Movement Inc.

January 16, 2003 - $5,000 for disposal of demolition material

November 20, 2007 - $750,000 was approved as mentioned in the below email.

 

The City does not own the building the Civil Rights Museum is occupying. 

The County Website Issue

I have tried to refrain from posting on the county website issue for various reasons.  The story has unfolded to some extent, and the picture is a bit more clear.  But questions still remain as far as I can tell.

First, a decision was made by county staff to pursue a relationship with an outside contractor under a purchase order arrangement even though an amount in excess of $40,000 was involved.  I am not sure whether it has been adequately explained why that happened.  Was the county staff trying to avoid the need to put the job out for competitive bidding, and if so, why?  Were they trying to avoid having to get the approval of the county commissioners, and if so, why?

Second, it remains unclear why the county's information services department was unable to develop its own website. 

I have in my possession a print-out summary of the Guilford County fiscal year 2011 budget.  The information services component commands a total budget of $9,049,357, and 61 FTE's.

Within that information services component, there is a line item for "applications/web development".  The description is as follows:

Designs and maintains the County website, implements web-based applications, and assists with the publishing of content for release to the public.

This specific line item in the budget is allotted $647,200, and 6.44 FTE's.

I am no expert in the field of web design and development.  But with an information services budget of >$9 million, and a dedicated line item for web development that costs taxpayers $647,200, why was it imperative for the county to hire an outside provider under a purchase order system?

Perhaps I missed it, but with all the reporting thus far, I am not sure those questions have necessarily been answered to the satisfaction of everyone.

State House Panel Acts to Exempt NC from Obamacare; Local Liberals Unhappy

Yesterday, the Judiciary Committee in the state House moved legislation to exempt the people of the state of NC from Obamacare.  In addition, to my surprise and delight, the legislation directs the state Attorney General to join one of the lawsuits against Obamacare.  I did not know the state legislature could do that in view of the fact that the Attorney General is elected in his own right. 

Of course, Roy Cooper does not seem happy about the situation.

But some of our local liberals are also having a minor cow.  Pricey Harrison is beside herself.  Recall that Pricey was invited to the White House signing ceremony for Obamacare at which Vice President Biden proclaimed with delight, "This is a BFD!"

Doug Clark and Allen Johnson also seem to be a bit unhappy.  Allen thinks jobs should be the priority of the state legislature.  But a new report by a former CBO director suggests repealing Obamacare might save up to 695,000 jobs.

It is good to see the state legislature keeping its promises.  The various states enacting this type of legislation, exempting themselves from Obamacare and joining the lawsuits in existence, can only send a signal across the nation that this abomination is an unacceptable encroachment.

 

Civil Rights Museum Expenses

We have seen over the last couple of weeks the controversy over Guilford County's website purchase, and Skip Alston's role in that matter.  In addition, we witnessed Alston's attack on Billy Yow.   Finally, we learned that his civil rights museum is laying off its chief fundraiser-- after having made numerous other layoffs last year.

Yesterday, I made a request of the city of Greensboro to furnish information regarding the amount of the monthly lease that the civil rights museum and the Sit-In Movement organization pays for the real estate occupied in downtown Greensboro.  My opinion is that the city should be able to furnish this information because I think it had been providing funds for the non-profit.  This information is important, because Mr. Alston has been one of the owners of the building that houses the civil rights museum.

Last night, Keith Brown posted a document that demonstrates the civil rights museum's expenses as reported on a required federal tax form.  The only line item I found that might represent lease expense is the $49,200 spent for "occupancy".  It should be noted this was for the calendar year 2009, before the museum opened.  If this was, in fact, the annual lease expense, it is a reasonable question to ask for how many years the organization has been paying lease expense to the property owners prior to the opening of the museum.

My recollection is that Alston, Earl Jones and Skip Moore have been owners of the building in which the civil rights museum is located.  (Moore is the Weaver Foundation president who has been a key officer with Action Greensboro).  I ask readers to provide additional details on this point, and to correct me if I am wrong about those names.

In any event, it would be useful to know with certainty how much the owners of the building have been paid over the years; what they are being paid for the lease at this time; and whether they have been paid while civil rights museum employees are simultaneously being laid off. 

Some will make the case that they deserve an equitable return for their investment in the building.  And I know that at least some of the owners had made an investment in the building, and accrued little or no rental income for a significant period of time. 

But the fact is that the Melderec con Simkins crowd made the museum a high agenda item several years ago for public funding by the city.  The business aspects of the museum therefore must be open for public scrutiny; and the leasing arrangement needs to be fully explained to the public.

Some of us continue to think it is of questionable ethics if Mr. Alston were to chair the museum board, act as a high-ranking local elected official, be a key player in a local political machine/PAC,  and receive local governmental funding for the museum.  It would compound the problem if he were accruing rental income from the arrangement.  And it would be even worse if museum employees were being laid off, and he had been doing these things.

Matheny Favors Government Using Eminent Domain Powers for Economic Development?

The Greensboro City Council had a work session earlier this week.  John Hammer reports in the Rhino:

The council also discussed the legislative agenda and had a lot of 3-to-4 votes. Since two councilmembers were missing, those votes could change when the legislative agenda is brought before the City Council for a formal vote.

Hammer is referring to the legislative agenda the Greensboro City Council might have for the state legislature in Raleigh.

One of the items discussed was eminent domain.  Because of the United States Supreme Court's Kelo decision, state and local government are not prohibited from using eminent domain powers for economic development.  The prospect of government taking private property for this purpose offends the sensibilities of many citizens.  It is just not right, and directly contrary to the traditional American concept of property rights.  (I also cannot help but believe it is contrary to the previous, widely held understanding of the Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution).

It was discussed whether the city of Greensboro would make a recommendation or request to our state legislators on this matter.  The scuttlebutt is that Councilman Zack Matheny, who ostensibly is a Republican, did not want to recommend that the state limit use of eminent domain powers for economic development.  There was apparently some concern that it might not be good for the city of Greensboro. 

Property rights is a major issue for conservatives.  If Matheny truly supports government taking private property for economic development, I hope he will reconsider. 

Interview with Rep. Bert Jones, I-Rockingham County

Civitas has a YouTube interview with my friend, Bert Jones, who is the new NC House member representing eastern Rockingham County.  He ran as an independent, and is a dentist by profession:

Perdue: Let's Keep Those Temporary Taxes Permanent

Governor Beverly Perdue, likely sensing weak support among her base, is apparently going to advocate that certain not-so-temporary taxes be extended once again.  It will be interesting to see whether Ms. Perdue or the new Republican legislature wins this particular battle.  In the meantime, certain interest groups will continue to perceive they are being served by the esteemed governor.

C4GC Video Makes The Glenn Beck Program

Last week, I was at the Riddleberger home for a C4GC meeting; and they were previewing a video they had made using a laptop on their kitchen table.  It was a video of Van Jones' recent appearance at Guilford College. 

This was the second time within a couple of months that Guilford College had hosted "former" communists at the campus to speak.  Recall that recently the Rev. Nelson Johnson spoke there also.  I do not recall the college routinely hosting speakers from the extreme right, so I am not sure how much intellectual diversity is fostered there.

In any event, C4GC's video was posted online and ultimately was picked up by the Glenn Beck television program.  (It also appeared on the national website The Blaze, and even on a blog from New Zealand.)  The group continues to make an impact. 

The video is below: 

Former Mayor Holliday Interjecting Himself Into Problem He Helped Create

The News and Record reported this morning (unposted) that former Greensboro Mayor Keith Holliday is helping spearhead an effort to oppose any moves to use the White Street Landfill once again for residential trash.  He made comments that included the words "environmental racism".

It should be noted that it was during Holliday's watch on the City Council that decisions were made to close the landfill to residential trash, thereby sticking taxpayers with additional costs inappropriately.  The Project Homestead scandal and the GPD fiasco, of course, also erupted during Holliday's watch.

Holliday stands as a symbol of the Melderec con Simkins status quo that has governed our area for such a long time.  He claimed his primary concern is that expanded use of the landfill will hinder development in east Greensboro.  Of course, this is a profoundly silly contention because there are wide swaths of east Greensboro that are not in close proximity to the landfill.

The local media used to claim that our City Council was non-partisan when Holliday served.  But of course, he helped govern according to the playbook of the Democratic left; and has been quite partisan both on this issue and on the GPD fiasco.  Remember how he spoke out during the run-up to the 2007 city council elections because he was concerned the police department issue was going to affect the election outcome.

There is one other telling indicator.  During Holliday's watch, the local political culture talked up FedEx for the Piedmont Triad International Airport.  Of course, this would create an environmental nuisance for west Greensboro residents because of noise and the low flight patterns.  I do not recall Holliday opposing this project.  For some reason, the predominantly white residents of west Greensboro did not justify or warrant the same level of political opposition (on Holliday's part) as the predominantly black residents of east Greensboro who live near the landfill. 

 

Hint Dropping

And not so subtly...

Another anniversary, 50 million human lives later

The anniversary of Roe vs. Wade has come and gone.  The various demonstrations in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere suggest that resistance to the current legal regime remains strong; and that young people are a significant part of the group opposing legal abortion on demand.

(Jennifer Roback Morse, in a great article over at Public Discourse, points out that the persistence of opposition to Roe vs. Wade is a warning signal to those promoting gay marriage.)

In any event, here is a fairly powerful video produced by one young adult who happens to be among those who are pro-life:

Obama is a Socialist

In the wake of the Tucson tragedy, the mainstream media and the national Democrats have been attempting to capitalize by quelling political discourse.

But the fact is that, no matter how impolitic it may be to say it, our president is a socialist.  I know some will claim this is inaccurate, or that we should not say this.  But it happens to be the truth.

Stanley Kurtz has a recently released book, Radical-in-Chief, that documents in detail the extent of Obama's socialist convictions.  When we watch the appearance Obama tries to create tonight, and the media's treatment of it, we need to remember what the man is all about. 

28 States Now Suing to Overturn Obamacare

26 states are now part of the Florida lawsuit to overturn Obamacare.  In addition, Virginia and Oklahoma have their own suits.  That makes 28-- a clear majority of the states.

We have a federal structure to our national governance.  It is pretty clear the states are in a state of quasi-rebellion over Obamacare from a legal standpoint. 

And a couple of noted legal analysts suggest that one argument used by some of the states-- that the federal government is inappropriately encroaching on the states' interests and prerogatives-- could turn out to be a powerful one.

Skip: Time to Downsize

HT: C4GC

Fox 8 reports that Skip Alston wants the state to allow counties to raise the sales tax without obtaining the approval of voters:

 

Skip needs to understand that the new economy, with the contraction that has taken place nationally and locally, requires that our local units of government downsize.  If we do not, we will not be competitive with other parts of the country.  We also need to remember we are competing in a global environment.

This is a difficult pill to swallow for local liberals like Alston.  But it is the reality.