Ugh. I hate it when Gaston Co makes the news.

5/14/2014 12:58:04 PM

I am still trying to figure out why the NC GOP is costing lives by rejecting the federal Medicaid expansion (which the state didn't have to pay a dime for).

5/14/2014 2:40:54 PM

^ How many lives exactly have been lost thus far?

5/14/2014 2:43:03 PM

infinitely more than the obamacare death panels

5/14/2014 2:48:55 PM

^^Harvard/CUNY study suggests between 455 and 1,145 preventable deaths each year for NC

http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2014/01/30/opting-out-of-medicaid-expansion-the-health-and-financial-impacts/

5/14/2014 3:02:50 PM

^^^^because the NCGOP didn't want that evil commie socialist romneycareplan in NC! damn democrats!

what a second...

5/14/2014 3:18:32 PM

^^ Thanks for the estimate, but I was referring to actual deaths. How many people in NC have "Medicaid Expansion fail" listed as the cause of death on their death certificate?

5/14/2014 3:30:28 PM

5/14/2014 3:34:36 PM

because that's a thing that gets written on death certificates

5/14/2014 3:34:51 PM

Quote :

"Thanks for the estimate, but I was referring to actual deaths. How many people in NC have "Medicaid Expansion fail" listed as the cause of death on their death certificate? "

you've gotta be fucking kidding me, right?

5/14/2014 3:42:43 PM

You want to really shake your head? Read how a lot of North Carolinians think in their responses to this story about Moral Mondays resuming. Holy crap, there's some dumb, ignorant people out there:

http://www.wral.com/share/page/1896337/?id=13643264

5/14/2014 3:57:07 PM

that's worse than an aaronburro argument

5/14/2014 3:58:12 PM

Quote :

"the suit adds that the ban also violates the First Amendment right of members of the clergy to practice their faith -- because the state's ban criminalizes pastors who bless same-sex unions, leaving clergy open to arrest."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/30/north-carolina-gay-marriage-lawsuit_n_5235474.html

5/14/2014 6:00:25 PM

What? Clergy can't be arrested for performing same sex marriages, the ban doesn't stop them from performing anything. Clergy are free to marry whomever they want in NC, that lawsuit is retarded.

5/14/2014 6:02:14 PM

Expanding Medicaid should be a no-brainer. There are many people who are caught in the Black Hole who are in school and only have one income in the house. The coal ash debacle should also be a no-brainer. It's sad that a state like SC (who just fucking joined the 21st century by adding a state fossil minus the Bible amendment nonsense) has us beat on this and is selling their coal ash to be used in construction. Instead, the GA is busy shafting teachers and racing to fuck over property owners vis-a-vis forced pooling.

5/14/2014 8:01:29 PM

What's sad is that we the consumers are going to end up paying in this whole coal ash debacle. I really hope regulators don't let Duke Energy raise rates to pay for the cleanup.

5/14/2014 8:57:54 PM

Well, they've come out and said that rate payers won't pay for the cleanup (whether or not you believe that is up to you), but rate payers will pay for them for cleanup/move/secure/whatever the coal ash ponds...you know, the whole source of this mess...

5/14/2014 9:06:49 PM

Quote :

"The coal ash debacle should also be a no-brainer."

its actually pretty complicated and moving on it now before the EPA issues their rules could potentially be a very expensive mistake

[Edited on May 14, 2014 at 9:16 PM. Reason : .]

5/14/2014 9:16:24 PM

The no-brainer part was largely dropping the hammer on Duke Energy as well as pushing forward the notion of selling the coal ash. But I am willing to wait for proper EPA assessments as I know these things can take some time. Letting McCrony let Duke Energy slap themselves on the wrist simply won't cut it though.

5/14/2014 9:22:04 PM

but selling the coal ash isn't a no brainer if its deemed to be Hazardous and all that material has to be remediated.

5/14/2014 9:22:46 PM

Quote :

"Can someone break down NC GOP's recent actions as they relate to our public schools? I'm mostly interested in things they've passed (legislative or executive), not the silly shit some of them have proposed. eg I know they've passed a bill to phase out teacher tenure what else?"

5/14/2014 9:36:46 PM

Assistants: $120 million for teacher assistants was cut, leading to the elimination of up to 3,850 positions.

Basics: Added a state mandate that public schools teach cursive writing and have students memorize math tables.

Career prep: State will offer $2 million a year in matching grants for districts that partner with businesses and higher education to create workforce development programs.

Charter schools: Created a new advisory board to oversee charters and lowered the percentage of licensed teachers required in grades K-5 from 75 to 50.

Class size: Raised maximum class sizes to eliminate 5,200 classroom teaching jobs.

Exam fees: State will pay student fees for AP, IB and career-tech exams.

Guns: People with concealed-carry permits may bring their handguns onto school property but must keep them in a compartment in their locked vehicle.

Leave days: In lieu of raises, educators and other state employees get five additional days of paid leave this year.

Prekindergarten: $12.5 million was added to provide free pre-K classes for an additional 2,500 low-income 4-year-olds.

School grades: Starting in 2014, schools will receive A-F grades based on student performance on state exams.

Teach For America: Increased state spending to $6 million a year for the national program, which recruits and trains college graduates who didn’t major in education.

Technology: Budgeted almost $12 million in lottery money for classroom technology. Digital competency is being added to teacher licensure requirements.

Tenure: Teachers who do not have tenure by 2013-14 will not get it; by 2018 all teachers will be shifted to one-, two- or four-year contracts.

Vouchers: Starting in 2014-15, low-income families will be eligible for $4,200 “opportunity scholarships” to help pay for private schools. Students with disabilities can get up to $6,000 to pay for private education.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/17/3115720/nc-teacher-pay-stranded-by-shifts.html#storylink=cpy

5/15/2014 6:23:45 AM

North Carolina GOP Pushes Unprecedented Bill to Jail Anyone Who Discloses Fracking Chemicals
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/05/north-carolina-felony-fracking-chemicals-disclosure

Quote :

""The felony provision is far stricter than most states' provisions in terms of the penalty for violating trade secrets," says Hannah Wiseman, a Florida State University assistant law professor who studies fracking regulations. The bill also allows companies that own the chemical information to require emergency responders to sign a confidentiality agreement. And it's not clear what the penalty would be for a health care worker or fire chief who spoke about their experiences with chemical accidents to colleagues. "I think the only penalties to fire chiefs and doctors, if they talked about it at their annual conference, would be the penalties contained in the confidentiality agreement," says Wiseman. "But [the bill] is so poorly worded, I cannot confirm that if an emergency responder or fire chief discloses that confidential information, they too would not be subject to a felony." In some sections, she says, "That appears to be the case.""

do any of you people defend shit like this or are you all embarrassed to be Republicans?

5/19/2014 11:24:44 AM

gotta protect trade secrets.

5/19/2014 11:28:30 AM

Wow. It's amazing how quickly they can scrape a bill together to give corporations power to destroy environment, but when it comes to helping poor people, or underpaid workers, things never happen or get mired in committees.

5/19/2014 11:40:53 AM

Oh they can move quickly to help the poor too:
More cuts coming to N.C. unemployment benefits
http://www.news-record.com/news/article_11785b99-e9a8-5227-af78-25cc1ed7b86e.html


HB 1069 would make additional unemployment benefit cuts to help job creators help the unemployed. Job creators!

5/19/2014 11:52:31 AM

They are pretty much fascists when it comes down to it.

5/19/2014 11:59:52 AM

Wow. how can anyone agree with that bill? As if we needed another example of how the government works for big business. Hey, we're injecting some really harsh shit into your groundwater. Can you do us a big favor and make it a felony if someone reveals what we're using? We don't want the public or activists to know what we're actually doing over here

5/19/2014 12:22:39 PM

That's the best you got Smath74?

5/19/2014 1:09:48 PM

So if company X in NC won't let anyone know what they're using, but someone in PA finds out that Company X is using solution Z in fracking (NC or PA), and they speak on that knowledge, are they guilty of a felony? Or can they just not speak it across state lines? Time to build a soundproof wall around NC and stop the Internet.

5/19/2014 1:49:41 PM

Would this type of felony override whistleblower protection? Certainly someone is already planning to infiltrate companies that would end up fracking just to expose what types of chemicals are being used.

5/19/2014 2:10:09 PM

^^^SINISTER FRACKING FLUID

5/19/2014 2:19:31 PM

That's not really an answer.

5/19/2014 2:27:56 PM

that's because i don't really have an answer. I don't support what most of these clowns have done. (and i'm not even a republican.)

5/19/2014 2:29:56 PM

I mean, who needs those water resources anyways?

5/19/2014 3:19:39 PM

So Smath74's argument is that since fracking fluid is 99.51% water and sand, it's safe.

I mean the dude went to college, so I know I'm getting trolled here, but I still feel the need to point out the stupidity of that argument.

5/19/2014 3:38:53 PM

i don't think he supports fracking

5/19/2014 3:42:06 PM

Dilution is the solution to pollution!

5/19/2014 3:42:54 PM

http://politicalclimate.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/fracking-fluid-composition.png

LOL

This is the composition for a very specific type of fracking.

Not all fracking is done in shale, or done for natural gas.

Fracking has been evolving rapidly since 2008 as well. When fracking in certain types of rock for oil, they definitely use a commercial synthetic fluid as the base of the hydraulic force, so that it can then displace less denser chemicals causing them to "float" to the top of the well. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the company making billions off this synthetic material didn't do an extensive study of its effects on the environment.

Vice recently reported on lingering effects of the oil well explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil companies used a dispersant in a new way, and it is still affecting the gulf coast today. maybe the dispersant is the lesser of 2 evils, but this is a decision that should be made with public oversight, not by the oil companies behind closed doors.

5/19/2014 4:25:29 PM

"My husband has stage 4 cancer after not being able to afford healthcare when NC Gov didn't expand Medicaid." Pattie Meegan at Moral Monday. She also noted that she was employed.

So basically he was handed a death sentence that may have been prevented because of the NC GOP. She said he knew he was ill but they couldn't get care at a time when he could have stood a much better chance. Federal Medicaid would not have taken from state money and was already allocated.

5/19/2014 7:17:28 PM

But now he can die knowing that he never gave in to evil Obama socialism

5/19/2014 7:49:44 PM

Wouldn't federal support for the expansion go away after 3 years...or at least be phased out?

5/19/2014 9:13:29 PM

http://www.wral.com/bill-would-make-aerial-photos-gps-data-of-farms-off-limits/13647874/

5/20/2014 12:40:49 PM

^^ iirc it was that feds would pay for 100% of new enrollees until 2017, and 90% at least until 2022.

5/20/2014 4:46:11 PM

http://www.indyweek.com/citizen/archives/2014/05/22/state-shuts-down-sen-thom-i-call-them-moron-mondays-goolsbys-investment-biz

Quote :

"In the "Yes, We Did See That Coming" category, Sen. Thom Goolsby, a Wilmington Republican, got whacked today by the N.C. Secretary of State's office for misleading investors. Goolsby and his investment advisory firm in Wilmington were put of business.... ...Goolsby is remembered in these parts for his denunciation of Moral Monday participants. He called them "Moron Mondays." He perhaps thought his clients in Wilmington were morons, too, because he lured them in with a classic "can't go wrong" investment strategy worthy of P.T. Barnum."

5/22/2014 1:13:27 PM

http://www.wncn.com/story/25579530/bill-would-give-most-state-lawmakers-158-percent-raise#.U30OSwzvaLI.facebook

5/22/2014 2:10:08 PM

Dear fellow Republicans,

Please do not tout the lower unemployment rate in our state as something that is beneficial and directly related to your polciies, and then in the next breath talk about the national unemployment rate, and how it is incorrect.

Your new unemployment rate is wrong for the same reason the national unemployment rate is wrong. You are not reporting those no longer looking for work. The reason the NC unemployment rate has taken a dip is because you've reduced the number of weeks we can be on it. So as that new time limit begins to affect people. of course the unemployment rate is going to dip.

You're weakening your argument against the farce that is the national unemployment rate.

5/28/2014 11:07:24 AM

It appears they are trying to eliminate a state univ. and Eliz City St. is on the chopping block because it is not "profitable."

wow...just, wow.

5/29/2014 1:55:18 PM

someone needs to point them to the NC Constitution where it states not that higher education shall be profitable for the state, but that the state should make it as free as is possible

5/29/2014 2:08:02 PM

Well, I think Elizabeth City State has been in a little bit of trouble for a while. There have been a couple scandals, and Moody's doesn't like them:

https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-revises-Elizabeth-City-State-Universitys-NC-outlook-to-negative--PR_285038

What was the other university you mentioned?

5/29/2014 2:34:21 PM