Welcome to 2006 - It may look familiar
Good Tuesday morning and welcome to another year in Tar Heel politics. After completing a year where we talked a lot about the lottery, voting machines, ethics and taxes it looks like we're going to spend a new one talking about much of the same. Plus, we have legislative elections this year! (Okay, strange things excite me.)
Just so I don't leave any business from the end of the year uncovered, here's what you might have missed while swilling egg nogg, spinning derides or doing whatever it is you do to commemorate the passing of the year:
- The General Assembly is powering up a new committee to look at energy and fuel costs. Its first get together is Thursday morning at 10 a.m.
I wrote a story that mentioned this in Saturday's paper.
The bullet here is this: Republican legislators have been railing for a freeze in the gas tax since September or so. Democratic leaders have largely brushed them off. But the state gas tax went up 2.8-cents Sunday, the biggest one-time jump in the tax's history, giving the GOP more fuel for their fire. And in recent months, rank-in-file Dems have hopped on the lower-the-gas-tax band wagon, especially folks with lower income constituents who are taking it in the hip-pocket over commuting costs.
There's now a significant movement afoot to call a special session to cap or at least temporarily freeze the gas tax. Thursday's meeting can either be a seen as a first step in that direction or a show-piece meant to demonstrate the legislature is taking action while putting off indefinitely any sort of special session.
By the way, home-heating prices sometimes get thrown into the mix, but they're actually expected to decline this week.
- I was going to spend some time musing on a series of eat-you-vegetable sort of news releases from the governor's office, but Kera Bolton of the Ashville paper beat me to it.
- The Lottery Commission has scheduled its first meeting of the new year for Thursday, Jan. 6, at 10:30 a.m. (In the ABC Commission Room of the Admin building downtown for those of you who are local.)
Meanwhile, for extra credit, lottery watchers could review this story that ran in the Washington Post by Charlotte's Mark Johnson and the Newark paper's story that says folks who live in lower-income zip codes tend to buy more lottery tickets. (That last story is sort of old and I may have posted it before.)
- The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners has gotten all down in the dumps over the voting machine deadlines, saying there's not enough time to get new equipment in place. One county, Catawba, has even gone so far as to sue the state.
Some see a connection between Catawba's suit, the fact that Catawba Commissioner Kitty Barnes is president of the NCACC and the fact that NCACC is fighting the state's new voting rules and regulations. I can't verify that as fact, but boy did they make the line easy to draw.
Just by the way, there has been subdued chatter of potentially delaying the scheduled May primary since November in elections circles and the murmur has been getting louder as of late. The thinking is there just isn't enough time between now and the end of March (when things really need to be in place) to get all that needs to be done, done. Since the 2004 and 2002 primaries were also delayed (for unrelated reasons) this really wouldn't be a new thing...annoying and problematic for political parties, but not new.
And lest you think it's just a liberal thing to T-off on voting machine companies and what not, the state's conservative elements are also in on this act.
- Lillian’s List of North Carolina has hired its first executive director according to an e-mail from uber-lobbyist Paula Wolf, although there's no mention on the group's website. For those of you who don't know, Lillian's List describes itself as "an independent political action committee dedicated to electing pro-choice, Democratic women to the North Carolina General Assembly."
Their new, and I think first full time director is Carol J. Teal, a veteran of Democratic political causes including the Kerry-Edwards campaign.
Comments (5)
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Is Catawba County Commissioner/NCACC Pres digging the state into a hole?
Catawba County Commissioner Chair Kitty Barnes, who is also President of the NCACC is trying to get the Public Confidence in Elections Act repealed or delayed and permission for Catawba County to keep it's voting machines.
She also claims that this is an unfunded mandate, apparently not satisfied with the state grant of $12,000 per precinct to more than pay the cost of brand new optical scan equipment. Not satisfied, the NCACC wants $20 Million more to buy the bells and whistles equipment that makes elections easier for Directors, but less accountable and reliable for voters. : (
If Ms. Barnes succeeds, her efforts will cost the state to possibly lose up to $55 Million in federal funding, cause the primaries to be delayed, and cause the state to be in violation of the federal Help America Vote Act mandate.
Ms. Barnes and other officials are basing their efforts on the assumption that Catawba County's machines are HAVA compliant. This is incorrect.
Read more about the situation and the facts here:
"Is Catawba County Commissioner/NCACC Pres digging the state into a hole?"
http://www.triadblogs.com/NCVoter/1394/
and
Is Ms. Kitty Barnes mis-using her position as President of the North Carolina
Association of County Commissioners to protect a bad decision made in her home county?
http://www.triadblogs.com/NCVoter/1382/
Posted on January 3, 2006 6:15 PM
The delaying of the primaries has an adverse effect on the challenging party. In North Carolina that is the Republicans. The Dems have managed to have the primaries delayed in the last 2 cycles via the (may I add unhurried) drawing of unconstitutional gerrymanders of the legislative districts. Seeing the advantage September primaries create for them they have set about this latest scheme to violate the constitutional provision requiring primary elections to be held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May.
That the auxillary arm of the NCDP, the money grabbing - there isn't enough money in Fort Knox to satifsy there desires and "needs" - NCACC is leading this attempt is no surprise. As the above poster points out there isn't enough money in this state to satisy the self pity and lack of responsibility that the NCACC and its leftist staff has engendered in most every county commissioner in the state.
This blatantly partisan political move is an outrage.
Posted on January 3, 2006 6:59 PM
Henderson County's Board of Election Director Makes Ridiculous Assertion About Voting Process
If Ms. Cunningham, the Director of the Board of Elections in Henderson County, chooses to rob the voters of an opportunity to have a May 2 primary, perhaps she should also consider looking for another job as associated with her lack of knowledge of the Voter Confidence bill which permits the gold standard of voting: paper ballots. They are cheaper, more reliable, and the standard for voting in Western Europe. She has indicated that there may be no other option pertaining to the May 2 primary as there is now only ES & S voting systems to choose from.
Two weeks ago, associated with a lawsuit bought by the founding member of NC Verifiable Voting, Diebold indicated it was not willing to share its source code with the NC Board of Elections. If its voting software had been associated with voting irregularities, the company, according to NC Senate Bill S223 ('Voter Confidence' bill) could have incurred a $100,000 penalty and the CEO jail time.
re: referenced article: http://www.hendersonvillenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006601040333
Posted on January 4, 2006 11:54 AM
January 7, 2005 another Black Out Rally
http://www.blackoutrally.com/action.htm
Meeting Place & Time
Ramada Inn Burlington
2703 Ramada Road
I-85 at Highway 62, Exit 143
Burlington, NC 27215
(336) 227-5541
The rally location will be the service road in front of the Ramada Inn on I-40. Activities are scheduled for Saturday, January 7, 2006, from 7:00 AM until 8:30 AM
Directions from Asheville: By the time you arrive in Burlington, I-40 eastbound and I-85 north bound have merged. Take exit 143 (Alamance Road). Exit to the right and at the bottom of the ramp turn left, go under the Interstate and go to the second light. Turn left onto Ramada Road. The hotel is at the top of the hill on the right.
Posted on January 6, 2006 12:03 AM
What connections does the NCACC have to the democratic party? Through their lobbyist or some staffer? I don't see it, but please post any info you have. PLEASE.
I can't understand what is driving the NCACC to try to repeal an election law that received a unanimous vote and divides federal money equally among counties.
The NCACC did make quite a bit of hay over Diebold leaving town. They want the governor to eliminate some of the standards of our law, but didn't say which ones. The goal - to make it easy enough so companies like Diebold can make money. Never mind what the computer scientists say. Forget the 3 months of study committee, the 6 months of deliberation after introduction,
Ms Kitty knows best.
After all, she ignored the SBOE's advice to hold off on buying new equipment in 2004. Now it appears that the NCACC is urging other counties to procrastinate. WHY?????
The President of the NCACC is Kitty Barnes, a Republican and Chairman of the Catawba County Commissioners.
She claims that their equiptment is HAVA compliant, it isn't, and that they need more money and time. WHAT FOR?
Meanwhile, other counties are on the ball.
She is setting a bad example as Pres of the NCACC, and her county can't get it's act together.
Ms. Barnes county is going to protest having to replace their equipment even though the election director has recommended selling it, buying new, and getting ready for the primaries.
Is the lobbyist for the NCACC driving this, or Ms. Barnes? Or who?
There is no crisis for voting machines really, because each county gets federal money.
It isn't fair for us taxpayers to foot the bill for touchscreens for greedy counties when other counties are buying the more reliable optical scanners.
Posted on January 6, 2006 12:13 AM