North Carolina’s Governor’s mansion must be built on a solid foundation. The election that sent shockwaves throughout the state apparently didn’t faze its current resident. Beverly Perdue acts as though nothing happened. The state currently has a $3.7 billion budget shortfall, and what does she do? She hires recently defeated Democratic congressman Bob Etheridge of the notorious ‘Who Are You’ video. Mr. Etheridge will be granted an annual salary of $98,000. It must be nice to have friends in high places.
Patronage is stickier than tar when it comes to the heels in the Democratic Party. Short term tax increases are about to sunset in June, and Bev’s buddies are clamoring for her to do something. Now who benefits from taxpayers wallets? The Carolina Journal tells you exactly who the leeches are:
RALEIGH — Two high-profile public relations campaigns urging Gov. Bev Perdue to extend more than $1 billion in temporary taxes are dominated by Democratic Party donors, left-leaning advocacy groups, unions, government contractors, and nonprofits that receive taxpayer funding.
The PR messages have been launched as the new Republican majority in the General Assembly has vowed to close a multibillion-dollar 2011-12 budget deficit by not raising taxes and by allowing $1.3 billion in temporary tax increases to sunset as scheduled in June.
The organizations behind these campaigns largely endorse liberal causes and Democratic candidates, or are nonprofits and government contractors that receive taxpayer funding.
One group, TogetherNC.org, styles itself as “a broad and diverse collection of nonprofit organizations, service providers, and professional associations who have come together to promote wise choices for shared prosperity for all North Carolinians.” It has produced a YouTube video urging the General Assembly not to cut spending. The News & Observer of Raleigh published an op-ed this week by representatives of two member organizations, saying the state’s budget concerns are “a revenue problem” — suggesting that current tax collections are not sufficient to cover essential services — and that “a cuts-only approach [to deficit reduction] would cut out our state's economic heart.”
Any diversity within the group is not ideological, however. According to whois.net, the group’s website is registered to Debra Tyler Horton of the N.C. Justice Center, a left-wing advocacy group based in Raleigh. The list of Together NC’s “endorsing organizations” includes more than 100 groups. Among them:
• Every major public employee organization and labor union in North Carolina, including the North Carolina Association of Educators, the State Employees Assocation of North Carolina/Service Employees International Union, UE 150 – NC Public Service Workers Union, the National Association of Social Workers - NC Chapter, NC AFL-CIO, and Teamsters Local 391.
• Social service agencies or other nonprofits that receive public funding, including United Way of North Carolina, North Carolina Community Action Association, Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, Self-Help Credit Union, Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, and NC Conservation Network.
• Liberal groups that lobby for higher taxes and more government spending, such as NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, Planned Parenthood of Central NC, NC NAACP, Capital Area Friends of Transit, Common Cause NC, Democracy North Carolina, NC Social Justice Project, NC Justice Center, North Carolinians Against Gun Violence, and North Carolina National Association for Women
I think I know why Governor Perdue hired Bob Etheridge. He’s pretty handy with his hands, and will fit right in with the union goons who like to intimidate their opponents.
Source: http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=7360
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/04/966742/an-expensive-job.html#ixzz1D0j2TLOy
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