Looks like Kay Hagan is a Bigger Crook than we first thought

As has been previously reported, in 2009, after Democrat U.S. Senator Kay Hagan vigorously supported President Obama's $800 million-and-change stimulus package, a company co-owned by her husband, JDC Manufacturing, received $390,000 in federal grants and green energy tax credits. The Carolina Journal reports Tuesday that new documents prove "it's worse than we thought."

From a report by WRAL-TV news, we have confirmation that a cluster of businesses owned by Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan’s husband and other family members collected even more subsidies from taxpayers than initially reported. While Carolina Journal’s Don Carrington has highlighted a stimulus grant totaling $250,644 that was paid to JDC Manufacturing, a real estate business co-owned by Hagan’s husband, Chip, and his brothers John and David, WRAL confirmed that JDC received an additional $137,000 in energy tax credits from the project. (Some of the relevant documents are here.) …

Add a second federal renewable energy grant of $50,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the ledger, and we learn that Hagan businesses soaked taxpayers for nearly $450,000 to pay for energy upgrades installed at JDC’s 300,000-square-foot building in Reidsville.

JDC, a company co-owned by the three Hagan brothers, applied for and received $250,644 in stimulus dollars to install more efficient lighting and furnaces and place solar panels at its building. JDC leases the building to Plastic Revolutions, a recycling company also owned by … Hagan family members. Once the project was completed, Plastic Revolutions said it expected to save $100,000 in energy costs annually. That’s a benefit it would not have received without the upgrades, which were made possible by federal taxpayers. 

Moreover, JDC wound up with a more valuable asset: a modern, energy-efficient manufacturing facility that would bring a higher price if it sold, and a more inviting location for potential new tenants. And, of course, JDC received $137,000 in tax credits — again resulting from the stimulus grant.

There is also a report that Hagan recommended a judge for a federal appointment just a week after that same judge "ruled in favor of a company partially owned by Hagan's husband."

Thank You: Breitbart

NC Senator Kay Hagen Guilty of Cover-Up

After the Hagan campaign admitted that Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) missed a classified hearing on "worldwide threats" to U.S. national security for a New York City fundraiser, North Carolina Republicans are calling the incumbent “guilty of a taxpayer-funded cover-up.”

Hagan is locked in a tight race for reelection against Republican state House Speaker Thom Tillis, who has attacked her in recent days for missing more than 50 percent of Senate Armed Services Committee hearings in the wake of the rising threat of ISIS. 

Hagan’s campaign has defended her attendance record by saying she skipped hearings due to hearings or meeting with constituents, by refusing to answer questions, and by attacking Tillis’ own attendance in the state legislature.

However, the Hagan campaign revealed to the Associated Press that she missed a Feb. 27 Armed Services Committee classified hearing on “current and future worldwide threats” to national security in order to attend a New York City cocktail fundraiser reception. 

The fact that Hagan failed to directly admit that she attended a fundraiser instead of a classified hearing, and her whereabouts during the other 26 Armed Services Committee hearings she failed to attend, amounts to a cover-up paid for by the taxpayers, according to the North Carolina Republican Party. 

“Senator Hagan stonewalled the media for weeks about skipping a crucial classified hearing to drink cocktails at a posh Park Avenue fundraiser for her reelection campaign. Her salary is paid by the taxpayers, and so is her staff’s,” William Allison, the North Carolina GOP spokesman, said Thursday. “The people of North Carolina deserved the truth all along. Instead, they got deceptions and innuendos that add up to a taxpayer-funded cover-up.” 

The Tillis campaign piled on as well for campaign dishonesty. 


“Kay Hagan’s web of falsehoods has been exposed, and it has revealed a continued pattern of deceiving North Carolinians, whether it was falsely telling families they could keep their health care plans if they liked them, or misleading voters about her indefensible record of failing to prioritize our national security,” Tillis spokeswoman Meghan Burris said. 

Thank You: Breitbart

NC Puppy Mill Dogs Need your help ASAP

As animal advocates, we have been more than patient with the current NC Senate on puppy mill legislation for many years.  We have waited patiently this time because we were assured the NC Senate would do the right thing since more than 90% of the people in NC want this legislation. Our own Senator Bill Rabon has fought this legislation for very obvious reasons.  

Campaign donations to him come from groups who fear the word “humane”.  They fear that if dogs are protected, something might be done to the pig and chicken industry.  They fear that the ag – gag bill might not be passed.  That would mean that is would be against the law for someone to report abuse, but remember the abuse could come from the chicken farmers, pig farmers OR EVEN YOUR NURSING HOMES, HOSPITALS OR EVEN DAY CARES.  Do you want it against the law for a person to report horrific abuse of anything or anyone? Do you want the media to be restricted in what they are allowed to report to us?

Now, the NC Senate has slammed another door on puppy mill legislation for NC.   The NC House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved this legislation to move puppy mills from AGRICULTURE TO PUBLIC SERVICE.  Are puppies agriculture to you?  That means puppies are to be treated as horrifically as are pigs, chickens and cows in NC slaughter houses.

IF THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU BELIEVE, YOU MUST SPEAK UP NOW!  You must speak up for the thousands of dogs living in cages, in horrific conditions because they cannot speak for themselves.

PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TODAY TO SEND EMAILS TO the NC Senators listed below.  Not just our own Senator Bill Rabon because he has already told us he does not read our emails.  He does not care what we think.  After all, we are just voters and taxpayers!  Send the emails to all the NC Senate.   Maybe one of them WILL care what we, the taxpayers and voters think. The Senators listed below are the Senators who fight this legislation.  It is critical that they hear from you NOW.

THEY NEED OUR HELP RIGHT NOW.

THE SENATE CONFEREES SAID NO TO THE TRANSFER. YUP, THEY SAID NO.

The initial decision by the Senate to protect dogs and puppies was NOT to move forward with the transfer.  The deliberations are continuing and the NC House of Representatives needs our help to convince the Senate this is the right thing to do.   The list of Senators below are the Senators that are “CONFEREES” on the 2014 Budget.  THEY MAKE THE DECISION TO REGULATE COMMERCIAL BREEDERS IN NC.

Email the list below and ask:  Please transfer the Animal Welfare Section to the Department of Public Safety and allow them to regulate commercial dog breeders.

It is that simple.  Please include the county that you live in and let them know that you vote!  Tell them this is an important issue to NC and to you personally.

Harry.Brown@ncleg.net
Tom.Apodaca@ncleg.net
Phil.Berger@ncleg.net
Andrew.Brock@ncleg.net
Kathy.Harrington@ncleg.net
Ralph.Hise@ncleg.net
Neal.Hunt@ncleg.net
Brent.Jackson@ncleg.net
Wesley.Meredith@ncleg.net
Louis.Pate@ncleg.net
Bill.Rabon@ncleg.net
Shirley.Randleman@ncleg.net
Bob.Rucho@ncleg.net
Dan.Soucek@ncleg.net
Jerry.Tillman@ncleg.net
Tommy.Tucker@ncleg.net

Voter ID Laws Increased Minority Election Participation

If there was a hidden agenda behind North Carolina’s voter ID law to suppress minority turnout – as the law’s opponents claim – it hasn’t worked, based on a study showing not only more voters overall, but an increase in black voter turnout especially, after the law’s implementation.

The findings came before a scheduled hearing next week where the U.S. Justice Department will ask a U.S. District Court for an injunction against the law going into the November midterms. The Obama administration has argued that such a law will make it more difficult for minorities to vote.

Comparing May 4, 2010 North Carolina primary election data with the May 14, 2014 primary data, the study found that voter turnout increased across the board, but particularly among black voters, where it increased by 29.5 percent, compared to an increase of white voter turnout of 13.7 percent. The findings were based on Census Bureau data and public names who signed the voter rolls.

Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, commissioned the study and included the findings in an amicus brief for the July 7 hearing. Judicial Watch was joined in its legal brief by the Allied Educational Foundation and by former Buncombe County commissioner candidate Christina Kelley Gallegos-Merrill.

The North Carolina law also eliminated same-day voter registration, which is why Gallegos-Merrill joined the brief. She alleges that her close loss in the state resulted from ineligible same-day registrations.

North Carolina adopted a law in line with 37 other states that don’t allow same-day voter registration, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said.

“The recent election in North Carolina shows that the Obama administration is engaged in a race-baiting canard when it suggests that voting integrity measures suppress minority votes,” Fitton said. “It is high time that the Obama administration comes into line with the majority of the American people who want to strengthen rather than weaken ballot box integrity.”

Read More: The Blaze

With Republicans like these, who needs Democrats? NC's BIG PROBLEM

N.C. State Sen. Bill Rabon 

The scenes read like a script from an off-color sitcom about politics. 

A top lawmaker shouts down his constituents and trashes the leaders of his own party. Another one puffs his chest and tells a “citizen” to be quiet. And two more openly refer to their critics as “morons.”

Call the show “Lawmakers Behaving Badly.” And look no further than North Carolina’s political arena for a rich trove of material.

Soon after Republicans took power in 2011, an open mic in a private meeting caught House Speaker Thom Tillis talking about giving certain Democrats a “gut punch” and retaliating against political enemies. 

Last session, state Sen. Tommy Tucker told a newspaper publisher who confronted him about a bill, “I am the senator. You are the citizen. You need to be quiet.” The Waxhaw Republican disputed the incident. 

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/05/3594361/episodes-show-that-the-reality.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

In January, state Sen. Bob Rucho, a Charlotte Republican, took to Twitter to call a Raleigh resident who criticized him a “moron,” the same word Wilmington Republican state Sen. Thom Goolsby used last year to label protesters at the statehouse.

The latest example features state Sen. Bill Rabon, a Southport Republican who serves as the co-chairman of the Finance Committee. 

A transcript and tape from Rabon’s meeting with constituents about the so-called puppy mill legislation leaked last week. It showed him cursing and using crude language, assailing Gov. Pat McCrory and first lady Ann McCrory and touting his “top five” power. (“Let me blow my own horn,” he said.)

And while none of that is in the same realm as New York, where U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm was caught on tape telling a reporter he would “break (him) in half” and “throw (him) off this balcony,” the episodes did reveal the uglier side of politics. Think less “West Wing,” more “House of Cards.”

Such behavior only reinforces the public’s perception about politicians, whose approval ratings at the national and state level remain dismal.

Read More: The NC News Observer 

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/05/3594361/episodes-show-that-the-reality.html#storylink=cpy

NC Republicans Shaking Up the Racist Left

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) on Monday signed into law one of the nation’s most wide-ranging Voter ID laws.

The move is likely to touch off a major court battle over voting rights, and the Justice Department is weighing a challenge to the new law, which is the first to pass since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the Voting Rights Act. 


The measure requires voters to present government-issued photo identification at the polls and shortens the early voting period from 17 to 10 days. It will also end pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-old voters who will be 18 on Election Day and eliminates same-day voter registration.

Democrats and minority groups have been fighting against the changes, arguing that they represent an effort to suppress the minority vote and the youth vote, along with reducing Democrats’ advantage in early voting. They point out that there is little documented evidence of voter fraud.

Republicans say that the efforts are necessary to combat such fraud and that shortening the window for early voting will save the state money. They also note that, while the North Carolina law makes many changes to how the state conducts its elections, most of its major proposals — specifically, Voter ID and ending same-day registration — bring it in line with many other states. More than three-fifths of states currently have some kind of Voter ID law, and even more have no same-day registration. Not all states allow in-person early voting.

“While some will try to make this seem to be controversial, the simple reality is that requiring voters to provide a photo ID when they vote is a common-sense idea,” McCrory said in a statement. “This new law brings our state in line with a healthy majority of other states throughout the country. This common-sense safeguard is commonplace.”
A spokesman for the Democratic Governors Association said McCrory’s “cynical” move will come back to haunt him.

“When he ran for governor, Pat McCrory pretended to be a moderate pragmatist,” the spokesman, Danny Kanner, said. “Today, he proved that he’s just another cynical, ultra-conservative ideologue intent on disenfranchising voters who might not be inclined to vote Republican.”
While there is significant resistance to Voter ID laws on the left, polls generally show the American people support them by large margins. Recent North Carolina polls and a Washington Post poll last year showed nearly three-quarters support requiring voters to show photo ID.

Read More:  The Washington Post

North Carolina turns down Federal Long Term Unemplotment funds and loans.

 

North Carolina became the first state in the country to forfeit federal long-term unemployment benefits.

As her state budgets continued to balloon and unemployment remains uncomfortably high, the Republican controlled legislature ended the state’s war on prudent fiscal policy by exempting herself from receiving further federal assistance for people unemployed longer than 26 weeks, as well as lowering the maximum potential benefit.
If you listen to Paul Krugman of The New York Times, you’d believe the GOP was doing this to upset President Obama and purposefully hurt the poor.

Is life too easy for the unemployed? You may not think so, and I certainly don’t think so. But that, remarkably, is what many and perhaps most Republicans believe. And they’re acting on that belief: there’s a nationwide movement under way to punish the unemployed, based on the proposition that we can cure unemployment by making the jobless even more miserable.

But it’s not only elitist policy wonks from New York that believe the human cost shows a lack of compassion. The Charlotte Observer quotes resident Eddrena Morris, unemployed since February 2012, who asks, “What do they expect people to do? How are people going to feed their families?”

It’s a legitimate concern for someone looking to put food on their table but the difficult truth is that extended benefits play an unfortunate role in the stubborn 8.8 percent unemployment rate North Carolina currently lives with.
As of today, jobless benefits cap out at a pretax rate $350 per week (down from $535 prior to Sunday’s cuts). As Krugman notes, “some hammock,” in response to Paul Ryan referring to welfare’s changing role from safety net to entitlement hammock.

And he’s right, it’s not much money. Speaking personally, $1,500 per month would barely cover the cost of feeding my family of 6, much less cover electricity or water or any other of life’s essentials.

But the question remains: does receiving up to $1,500 per month purely as a matter of benefit for searching for a job hurt the economy as a whole? Or help it?

Read More: Red State