http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/27/nc-governor-recommends-suspending-democracy-to-focus-on-jobs/

Quote :

"As a way to solve the national debt crisis, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue recommends suspending congressional elections for the next couple of years. “I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.” Perdue said she thinks that temporarily halting elections would allow members of Congress to focus on the economy. “You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things,” Perdue said. North Carolina Republicans immediately scoffed at Perdue’s proposal, pointing out to her that elections hold politicians accountable for their actions. “Now is a time when politicians need to be held accountable more than ever,” North Carolina GOP spokesman Rob Lockwood said in an email to The Daily Caller. “To suspend an election would be removing the surest mechanism that citizens have to hold politicians accountable: the right to vote.”"

This is probably not a good idea!

9/27/2011 9:08:12 PM

Excellent Idea

9/27/2011 9:16:09 PM

9/27/2011 9:23:20 PM

out of

9/27/2011 9:24:27 PM

This bitch needs impeaching.

9/27/2011 9:43:07 PM

I mean I get that politicians get locked into corrupting big money chases that make it hard to accomplish anything worthwhile, but suspending elections is absolutely the wrong fix for that problem.

9/27/2011 9:51:23 PM

ha i saw this and wonder how long it would take to get on here

9/27/2011 9:52:34 PM

I wonder if she supports term limits...

9/27/2011 9:53:37 PM

Quote :

" Excellent Idea"

lol

9/27/2011 9:58:11 PM

"Perdue's election joke sparks controversy"
http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/blogpost/10191559/

Quote :

"Spokesman Mark Johnson confirms that Perdue, speaking off the cuff as she often does, told the crowd that partisanship in Washington is keeping Congress from doing its job. She said lawmakers are too worried about re-election to work across party lines. "I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover," Perdue said. "The one good thing about Raleigh is that for so many years we worked across party lines," she continued. "You want people who don't worry about the next election." Her unscripted remarks went viral this afternoon on conservative sites like the Daily Caller and the Drudge Report, where the banner headline read, "Dem Guv calls for suspending elections." It even drew a somewhat tongue-in-cheek response from Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham: “In light of Gov. Perdue’s support for suspending Congressional elections, I want to state clearly, on the record, that I do NOT support suspending our next gubernatorial election.” This being election season, Perdue's presumed GOP opponent Pat McCrory couldn't resist a jab, either. "

Quote :

"Perdue's press secretary Chris Mackey said the remark had been taken out of context. “Come on," she wrote in an emailed statement. "Gov. Perdue was obviously using hyperbole to highlight what we can all agree is a serious problem: Washington politicians who focus on their own election instead of what’s best for the people they serve,” Mackey said."

9/27/2011 10:08:22 PM

LOL @ media

I want to call the people that believed this gullible, but I guess it’s Bev’s fault for people thinking she might actually mean this.

On a serious note, the perpetual election cycle does promote bad governance my our representatives.

9/27/2011 10:37:13 PM

where in the fuck do you get off sayin it was a joke? she said something that she really meant. then looked back and saw how fucking crazy it sounded. and now she's trying to backtrack. I understand what she meant, and I almost agree with the sentiment. it'd be nice if the politicians in DC could focus on getting some important shit done and not have to worry about elections. But, they must worry about elections, because that's how we keep a check on their power, in theory. Nothing about what Purdue said was "a joke," though. She very much meant what she was saying, it just came out wrong and was a bit of a stupid thing to say to begin with.

but, of course, moron and Supplanter would take whatever she says to try to downplay it as the gospel


as well, the people playing this off as "NC Governor calls for suspending elections" are equally fucking stupid. she wasn't calling for that. the remark was in the same vein as dubya's infamous "it'd be nice if this were a dictatorship" comment. it's the same kind of thing.

[Edited on September 27, 2011 at 10:44 PM. Reason : ]

9/27/2011 10:42:52 PM

If government could just be allowed to "get things done" for a while, I'm sure our problems would clear up shortly after.

9/27/2011 10:58:49 PM

^^

9/27/2011 10:59:16 PM

so, why do you think it was "a joke"? because she said so? what makes you support her assertion?

9/27/2011 11:54:23 PM

Really fucking scary that she said this the same day Russia officially became a dictatorship again.

The world is moving in the wrong direction.

You know what would solve the problem?? Term limits. Not postponing elections. Jesus she is such a joke. She has no chance at all this time

9/28/2011 12:24:16 AM

^^ha are you kidding?

It seemed like a joke to me from the first post, before I even read that Perdue's explanation was that it was a joke.

I was going to try and find the full context or a video clip, before i saw supplanter's post.

Only a gullible fool, especially in this day and age would take The Daily Caller, of all sources, at face value; are you kidding? Do you go to the Drudge Report and assume things are being reported honestly?

I can't believe I have to explain to you that you need to be skeptical of Tucker Carlson's dolled-up blog.

Do you still call your mother whenever you have to use the bathroom? Do you ask someone to help you write your name? Do you need to be told not to take right-wing "news" sites at face value?

Seriously burro, you've been doing this long enough to know better by now.

9/28/2011 12:37:34 AM

If you think she's kidding then you need your head examined.

Politicians crave power and ways to keep it.

It's called floating. If I told your girlfriend I wanted to nail her id say i was kidding if she got mad. Doesn't mean I was

[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 1:05 AM. Reason : a]

9/28/2011 1:05:14 AM

I originally thought that the statement was in jest.

She was referring to Washington and Congress.

Don't even know why I bothered to reply.

[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 1:12 AM. Reason : Not worth it.]

9/28/2011 1:12:40 AM

Quote :

"but, of course, moron and Supplanter"

To make it clear, if this was serious, then I very much oppose it.

Campaign finance reform, term limits, public campaign financing options, sunshine and disclosure laws, there are any number of options that could be pursued to various degrees to help turn politicians focus from special interest fundraising to getting stuff done that would be much better than election suspension.

9/28/2011 1:35:31 AM

After reading the headline, I thought it was a joke blow out of proportion by the right. I still think the headlines are misleading, but I doubt it was a joke after reading the whole paragraph.

Quote :

"You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things. I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that. The one good thing about Raleigh is that for so many years we worked across party lines. It's a little bit more contentious now but it's not impossible to try to do what's right in this state. You want people who don't worry about the next election."

Not only is there no punch line (or humor, period), but she goes on for several sentences explaining her position and then giving anecdotal evidence to support it. It's either the worst joke in history, or it was her "this would be easier if it was a dictatorship" moment. Perhaps if it was a one line thing she said as an aside, I would consider it a joke.

9/28/2011 10:24:03 AM

I waffle on this issue. Right now I think "special interests" are what politicians want to serve all the time, but voter demands get in the way. The issue is not an upcoming election, but "being in bed with special interests" is a pre-requisite to run for office. As such, anyone currently holding office is already in bed with special interests. But whenever they try to act on them, such as a billion dollar bailout of state employee unions, the republicans score points in the upcoming election by calling them on it. Remove the upcoming election and their political opponents become powerless, the politicians are free to sacrifice national interests to their special interests with no repercussions.

9/28/2011 10:53:16 AM

I'm pretty sure it was a joke to help release some of her frustration with the situation in DC (something which appears to be a bi-partisan sentiment), but for a politician of her office, any talk of suspending elections is not something you should be joking about at a public event.

9/28/2011 11:49:24 AM

^^^Yeah, I tend to agree. A one-liner, an obvious attempt at a joke. The rambling statements afterward, including the bit about hoping that someone can agree with her - it really makes the "just kidding" excuse a bit of a stretch.

Doesn't matter either way. A stupid comment from a stupid governor that never should have been elected.

9/28/2011 12:40:33 PM

And now Rush is running with it. Thanks Bev! FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU

9/28/2011 12:48:39 PM

<script src="http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?embedCode=IwOGF1MjrieXHTJDfRhGHU7qyK86OEJ6&deepLinkEmbedCode=IwOGF1MjrieXHTJDfRhGHU7qyK86OEJ6"></script>

She says it at ~0:32

http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/28/new-audio-nc-governor-struck-serious-tone-on-suspending-congressional-elections/

Quote :

"If it was a joke, North Carolina Democratic Governor Bev Perdue needs to polish her delivery. Newly released audio contradicts the claims of Perdue’s press team that her call Tuesday for suspending Congressional election was a joke or hyperbole. In the recording, her tone is matter-of-fact and her comments are part of a serious speech. “Listen to the Governor’s words: She wasn’t joking at all,” North Carolina GOP spokesman Rob Lockwood told The Daily Caller. “The congressional Democrats are wildly unpopular in North Carolina, so she may have been trying to invent a solution to save their jobs from public accountability.” “If it was a joke, what was the set-up?,” Lockwood adds. “What was the punch-line? Where was the pause for laughter? It took them three hours to say it was a ‘joke,’ but when that flopped it became ‘hyperbole.’ We’ll just call it an unconstitutionally bad idea.”"

[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 1:11 PM. Reason : embed]

[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 1:12 PM. Reason : I don't think that worked ]

[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 1:12 PM. Reason : lkj]

[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 1:13 PM. Reason : asdf]

9/28/2011 1:10:44 PM

this sounds like the sort of reaction you'd hear from the PC crowd

9/28/2011 1:25:50 PM

if a republican had said this with the same 'joke' tone and 'obviously not meaning it' attitude, moron would literally have set himself on fire typing posts about it.

[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 1:34 PM. Reason : .]

9/28/2011 1:33:37 PM

Term limits is your answer. Not being re-electable and extending terms to say... 5 or 6 years would weed out some of the worst types of career politicians and force them to actually, you know, legislate (not that I think we need any more laws mind you) and govern rather than spending 2 out of every four years campaigning. hell, our president has been campaigning for 2012 for the last 8 months... pretty much since his challengers crawled out of whatever fetid swamp politicians come from.

I've often thought that longer terms and hard term limits are the way to go for any job. President should be a single 5-10 year term, legislature should be no more than a couple of 5 year terms. It would prevent a lot of problems, IMO.

9/28/2011 2:21:26 PM

agrees with ^ and Bev Perdue


[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 3:15 PM. Reason : .]

9/28/2011 3:06:19 PM

I can see how her comment would preclude her from running for Congress; however, seeing as how she's not a member of that body, I don't understand the controversy.

Then again, I have very dry humor.

[Edited on September 28, 2011 at 4:02 PM. Reason : ]

9/28/2011 4:01:50 PM

Congrats, Perdue, you made it on Rush, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity all in the same day.

Bitch is dumb as she looks.

9/28/2011 4:31:41 PM

Quote :

"moron All American 21019 Posts user info edit post ^^ha are you kidding? It seemed like a joke to me from the first post"

somebody didn't listen to the audio.. tisk tisk

it was direct. it was frank. and it was deliberate. there was no 'joking'. but it was funny seeing moron and Supplanter be the first 2 in here to defend here and say it was without listening to ACTUALLY WHAT SHE SAID.

lol pwnt

9/28/2011 4:35:47 PM

I think you mean first to check wral to see what they were saying. You'll notice my first post takes it rather seriously, my next is a link to a non Bailey caller news coverage, and that I also said id serious then its a bad idea. You seem to be trying hard to paint me into having said something I haven't.

Are packbryan and bryan (aaronburro) the same person or different? Just curious.

9/28/2011 6:55:49 PM

Bev Perdue is an idiot.

9/28/2011 8:51:41 PM

Trying to make Easley look good

9/28/2011 10:12:28 PM

moron, supplanter.... the audio has been around not only online but on the news for days.

actually, wral's version was way off base by saying "Perdue's election --joke-- sparks controversy"

do you honestly believe she was joking? really? it's a simple yes or no question but i know you two are incapable of answering yes|no to that b/c you would come off as a liar or a loser and those are 2 things you won't accept under any circumstance b/c you are physically incapable of it

/thread. and good riddance to her perdue in the not too distant future.

9/28/2011 10:12:51 PM

^I'll let you re-read my original response and decide if you think I'm calling it a joke or not.

Quote :

"I mean I get that politicians get locked into corrupting big money chases that make it hard to accomplish anything worthwhile, but suspending elections is absolutely the wrong fix for that problem."

And my most recent post included "You'll notice my first post takes it rather seriously"

But if you need me to simplify it to a yes or no as to whether I think its a joke or sarcasm, while I don't know for sure sure, no it does not sound like it having listened to the audio (couldn't find any video).

Now answer my question. Are pack_bryan and bryan (aaronburro) the same person with 2 accounts just to agree with himself? Or just two different bryans spelled with a y who hang out in the soapbox and say the same thing?

[Edited on September 29, 2011 at 12:50 AM. Reason : .]

9/29/2011 12:47:09 AM

Quote :

"“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”"

Is there another version of this that sounds like she's making an actual argument?

Because this doesn't sound at all like a serious statement. No politician is going to present their actual viewpoint with "I think, perhaps we should do this and that". Not even a dumb politician.

9/29/2011 12:51:12 AM

^ Audio

[Edited on September 29, 2011 at 11:53 AM. Reason : http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/what-was-bev-perdue-thinking/2011/09/28/gIQAIqJA5K_]

9/29/2011 11:53:05 AM

I can agree with what she is getting at. Why bother worrying about elections when we are in deep shit?

9/29/2011 3:45:36 PM

Because we're trying to retain some semblance of democracy, even though it's obvious that the ship sailed long ago.

9/29/2011 3:48:26 PM

Must be a slow news day.....only a lunatic fringe teabagger would take the comment seriously....

9/29/2011 5:01:35 PM

Quote :

"It seemed like a joke to me from the first post, before I even read that Perdue's explanation was that it was a joke. I was going to try and find the full context or a video clip, before i saw supplanter's post. Only a gullible fool, especially in this day and age would take The Daily Caller, of all sources, at face value; are you kidding? Do you go to the Drudge Report and assume things are being reported honestly? I can't believe I have to explain to you that you need to be skeptical of Tucker Carlson's dolled-up blog. Do you still call your mother whenever you have to use the bathroom? Do you ask someone to help you write your name? Do you need to be told not to take right-wing "news" sites at face value? Seriously burro, you've been doing this long enough to know better by now."

so, you didn't inform yourself at all about it, and then went off half-cocked. someone called you out on it. what do you think now? is she joking? FTR, I wasn't going on the Daily Caller or whatever's version of events. I was going on what I heard from NPR. what's your excuse now? is it still a "joke"?

Quote :

"I still think the headlines are misleading, but I doubt it was a joke after reading the whole paragraph."

++

9/29/2011 11:56:20 PM

Quote :

"Are packbryan and bryan (aaronburro) the same person or different? "

9/30/2011 7:46:44 PM

different people. i don't know why you are so hung up on this

9/30/2011 8:04:10 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/28/1676707/3-perdue-associates-indicted.html

Quote :

"A Wake County grand jury today handed down indictments alleging that a top aide to Gov. Bev Perdue's 2008 campaign schemed to pay a staffer $32,000 for work that was kept off the books in violation of state election laws."

11/29/2011 6:09:07 PM

Might as well toss on another log:

http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/10448476/

Quote :

"Gov. Beverly Perdue's re-election campaign will delay any decision on whether to return cash from three people close to the governor indicted this week on criminal charges related to illegal political donations."

[Edited on December 1, 2011 at 11:17 AM. Reason : -]

12/1/2011 11:16:37 AM

Thanks Bev! Now we get to look forward to tar ball beaches, flammable water and 1950s era social regression!!

12/1/2011 3:01:08 PM

Government statistical agency helping NC Democrat illegally

http://goo.gl/9QnGa - Washington Examiner

Quote :

"The Carolina Journal, published by the Raleigh-based John Locke Foundation (for which I’ve given paid speeches on occasion) reports that staffers in North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue’s office have been getting advance word on monthly unemployment statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is highly illegal under federal law and violates what I have understood to be a strong tradition in the BLS and other government statistics that no one—no one at all, not even in the White House—gets advanced word ahead of the public announcement of government statistics. There’s obviously good reason for this: someone with advanced word could place bets in financial and community markets and make lots of money. That’s why Congress provided for penalties of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for early release of this data. And there’s another excellent reason: government statistical agencies should be free of political influence to insure the integrity of the numbers on which many people depend. My understanding is that an important part of the bureaucratic culture of federal statistical agencies is a pride in their independence and integrity; this is something not to be lightly squandered. Maintaining that culture is vital if the government wants to get highly competent people to dedicate their careers to this important work. It doesn’t appear from the Carolina Journal story that Perdue tried to or indeed could have influenced the numbers; rather her staffers used the heads-up to craft their press releases, presumably to make Perdue look better. That probably hasn’t been very effective; her poll numbers have been dreadful and she seems to be behind Republican Pat McCrory (48%-39% in a PPP poll released last week) in her 2012 race for reelection. It is quite shocking to think that someone at the BLS is squandering the agency’s integrity just to give a Democratic governor a little edge in writing press releases. The Carolina Journal also reports that someone in the BLS was giving advance word of statistics to someone in the office of Perdue’s predecessor Democratic Governor Mike Easley in 2003 and 2004. This suggests that the culprit is someone at the BLS who is not a political appointee (since Republicans were in power back then) but with Tarheel Democratic connections or sympathies, and it may not be difficult to identify who that might be. There’s nothing in the Carolina Journal report to suggest that something like this is happening in other states. But it is something the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee should look into."

12/19/2011 4:54:56 PM