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February 20, 2012 at 7:26 amCategory:Uncategorized

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In case you missed it this weekend, the Charlotte Observer’s Sunday editorial took House Speaker Thom Tillis to task for kicking peaceful protestors off the second floor of the Legislative Building last Thursday. The first paragraph says it all.

The special N.C. legislative session that convened Thursday didn’t feature another sneaky, post-midnight vote on controversial legislation, making a mockery of transparency in government and the public’s right to know. But House Speaker Thom Tillis still managed to shunt the public aside last week with another ill-advised move.

 

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February 13, 2012 at 6:06 amCategory:Uncategorized

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The New York Times editorial this morning explores the pernicious role the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is playing in state legislatures around the country. 

It’s based on a report from ProgressVA that found many bills in the Virginia General Assembly were lifted almost word for word from proposals from ALEC on issues like voter ID, anti-health care reform, gun rights, and for-profit virtual charter schools.

Sound familiar?

 

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January 30, 2012 at 6:38 amCategory:Uncategorized

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You might have missed it in all the talk about Governor Bev Perdue’s decision not to seek reelection, but the unhinging of House Speaker Thom Tills continued this weekend.

Tillis, who a few weeks ago compared the Charlotte Observer to roadkill because of its coverage of the unannounced midnight legislative session, this weekend sent out a Facebook message “resigning” himself to this:

The continued partisan and sometimes ruthless antics of the left aided by some in the mainstream press, will continue to threaten or stifle legitimate efforts to improve the situation in North Carolina for all involved

Mark Binker has the story on his Capital Beat blog, but Binker’s colleague Doug Clark, an editorial writer at the News & Record,  has the best take on the latest Tillis tirade. 

WSOC-TV in Charlotte talked with Tillis’ spokesman Jordan Shaw, who tried to explain what Tillis really meant and finally said “it’s just his personality.”

De Luca’s definition of liberal

January 27, 2012 at 12:13 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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Francis De Luca at the Pope Civitas Secession Institute apparently thinks that Locke Foundation President John Hood and Republican U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers are “self-described liberals.”

Here’s what De Luca told the News & Observer about the effect on the marriage discrimination amendment of Gov. Perdue’s decision not to seek reelection.

A Democratic primary is “a mixed blessing for anti-marriage people,” De Luca said. “The only group that opposes it are self-described liberals that make up a very small part of the voting public.”

Hood and Ellmers have stated publicly they oppose the amendment, as do many conservatives and libertarians.

McHenry’s mysterious town hall

January 13, 2012 at 3:09 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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This story in the Gaston Gazette about Thursday’s town hall meeting held by U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry makes you wonder about a lot of things, like what was the question that McHenry refused to answer twice that forced the meeting to end?

Then there is this at the end of the story.

Brown said the meeting was held on “somewhat short notice.” Fortenberry said he found out about the meeting late Wednesday night. The Gazette did not receive notification of the meeting but was tipped off by a source. No other media was present.

The local paper didn’t receive a notice but was tipped off by a source? Is it really a town hall meeting if the media and the public don’t know about it?

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January 11, 2012 at 7:18 amCategory:Top of the Morning

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Be sure to check out Harry Payne’s op-ed in the N&O this morning about the shameful way the Republican leadership in the General Assembly recently treated Lynn Holmes, the former Chair of the Employment Security Commission that was recently moved to the Department of Commerce.

At the meeting, Holmes provided specific answers in writing to every question that had been submitted and patiently explained them in detail. Before she answered any questions from the committee, Rucho required her to take an unprecedented step and be put under oath. They had a court reporter and a Bible waiting, but no real reason for her treatment other than a vague reference to “circumstances.”

It was a stunning insult to her. Her staff was present and watched. One of them answered similar questions but he wasn’t sworn. The commerce secretary testified too, but wasn’t asked to place his hand on a Bible. Even a paid advocate from Washington who spouted many numbers regarding inheritance tax wasn’t required to raise his hand.

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January 9, 2012 at 7:59 amCategory:Top of the Morning

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House Speaker Thom Tillis must be having trouble these days keeping up with all the media outlets he wants to hold a grudge against.

Mark Binker with the Greensboro News & Record reported this weekend that Tillis said on Facebook he was cancelling his 14-year subscription to the Charlotte Observer after the paper’s reporting about the last minute 12:45 a.m. special legislative session last Thursday morning.

The increasingly unhinged Tillis compared the Observer to road kill and said that he would instead use Google alerts to read about “areas of interest” published in North Carolina papers.  

He can’t be too happy with his email inbox this morning, no doubt filled with Google alerts about editorials from around the state blasting Tillis’ abuse of the legislative process last week.

The condemnation has been virtually unanimous. Two of the latest papers to weigh in were the Greenville Daily Reflector, which called the House’s action cowardly, and the Rocky Mount Telegram, whose editorial called Tillis and his fellow House leaders a “a cynical and sneaky bunch who have made a mockery of their empty promises to promote open government in the legislature.’

 

Two telling paragraphs

January 5, 2012 at 7:36 amCategory:Uncategorized

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Rob has already kicked things off  this morning about the absurd events at the General Assembly in the middle of the night and we will have plenty more to say today about the Republican shenanigans here on the Pulse and our main page www.ncpolicywatch.com

If you want to read three good summaries about the shameful display, check out Mark Binker’s account in the Greensboro News & Record, Laura Leslie’s report on WRAL.com, and John Frank’s story in the N&O and Charlotte Observer.

Two paragraphs in Frank’s piece tell a lot of the story, the first one and the last one.

Just after 1 a.m. today, in a secreted session critics called unconstitutional, Republican legislative leaders passed a bill aimed at weakening the state’s largest teachers union…

 

…As rumors brewed, Republicans refused to answer questions. Aides to Tillis held back and tried to block this reporter from asking questions at one point. Asked if the late-night escapades were as embarrassing as Democrats suggested, Tillis said no.

A secret session, the bullying of reporters and the arrogance of legislative leaders.  That’s a pretty good start on a summary of the evening.