North Carolina Named Big Mover in Fiscal Responsibility

When adults took over North Carolina’s General Assembly and governorship back in 2013, republican legislators began a much needed fiscal overhaul of the state’s finances.  Teat squawkers from near and far began to protest.  The lip-smackers began to show up in Raleigh demanding all sorts of taxpayer goodies that we could ill-afford.  They called it Moral Mondays.  I’m here to say there is nothing moral about bankrupting a state.

The tough decisions republicans made saved us from a blue state disaster.  The Mercatus Center ranked North Carolina #21 in fiscal solvency.  Here are their criteria:

·         Cash solvency. Does a state have enough cash on hand to cover its short-term bills?

·         Budget solvency. Can a state cover its fiscal year spending with current revenues, or does it have a budget shortfall?

·         Long-run solvency. Can a state meet its long-term spending commitments? Will there be enough money to cushion it from economic shocks or other long-term fiscal risks?

·         Service-level solvency. How much “fiscal slack” does a state have to increase spending if citizens demand more services?

·         Trust fund solvency. How much debt does a state have? How large are its unfunded pen-sion and healthcare liabilities?

  Mercatus specifically named North Carolina as one of the big movers.  Here is an excerpt:

·         Two states—Maine and North Carolina—experienced a significant shift in their long-run sol­vency ranking. Maine fell by eight spots and North Carolina improved by seven spots.

·         There was little movement in the service-solvency ranking, except in the case of North Caro­lina, which improved its position by six places

All the liberal rags that infest the Old North State can suck on that!  Had our legislators taken their advice we would’ve ranked near Puerto Rico.  Here are North Carolina’s current rankings:

·          Cash solvency measures whether a state has enough cash to cover its short-term bills, which include accounts payable, vouchers, warrants, and short-term debt. (North Carolina ranks 37th.)

·         Budget solvency measures whether a state can cover its fiscal year spending using current revenues. Did it run a shortfall during the year? (North Carolina ranks 8th.)

·         Long-run solvency measures whether a state has a hedge against large long-term liabilities. Are enough assets available to cushion the state from potential shocks or long-term fiscal risks? (North Carolina ranks 17th.)

·         Service-level solvency measures how high taxes, revenues, and spending are when compared to state personal income. Do states have enough “fiscal slack”? If spending commitments demand more revenues, are states in a good position to increase taxes without harming the economy? Is spending high or low relative to the tax base? (North Carolina ranks 18th.)

·         Trust fund solvency measures how much debt a state has. How large are unfunded pension liabilities, OPEB liabilities, and state debt compared to the state personal income? (North Carolina ranks 8th.)

To all the teat squawkers that contaminate Raleigh on Mondays:  being fiscally sound is moral.  Learn it, live it.

Source:

http://mercatus.org/statefiscalrankings/northcarolina

"Moral Mondays" Protestors Import Out of State Union Workers

Liberals would have us believe that the “Moral Mondays” protestors are grass roots activists fighting the good fight against the evil republicans in North Carolina’s state legislature.  Well, we’re finding out it’s all a charade.  These events are well funded by out of state organizations even the protestors are not from North Carolina.

Here is an excerpt from an interview conducted at a rally in Winston-Salem, NC.

"Sometimes financial constraints are just an issue; the union steps up and supports that issue," said Daren Howell, a member of 1199 SEIU in Boston.

 Howell said it to a member of the NCGOP at Monday's massive voting rights rally in Winston-Salem, who was there with microphone and camera interviewing protesters.

"Literally, we walked in and the first person I said, 'Where you from?' and they said New York," said NCGOP spokesman Ricky Diaz. "The unions were bussing them in to protest our voter ID law here in North Carolina."

That's consistent with an allegation Diaz has been pushing for months: that so-called "Moral Monday" rallies are bought and paid for by out-of-state unions.

"This video is further proof that out of state money is funding Moral Monday here," said Diaz.

During the three-minute clip, the NCGOP member holding the microphone asks Howell, "Some people are complaining that the protesters are being paid by unions. What do you think about that?"

Howell answers, "I think the reality is that if you ask anyone whether or not they wanted to be here or if they had to be paid to be here, you'll see that they would be here regardless. Sometimes financial constraints are just an issue. The union steps up and supports that issue."

The interviewer then asks Howell, "How does it work, is that an hourly wage when you come down here? Is that how it works?"

Howell replies, "It depends. It could be a stipend. It could be per diem. It could be, you know, on your own accord, if you had that allowance."

Diaz says that amounts to a smoking gun; proof of the NCGOP assertion that unions are paying protesters to come to North Carolina Moral Monday rallies.

I don’t recall anybody funding my trips to Tea Party events in Washington D.C. and Raleigh, but I’m told by progressives it was all paid for by the Koch brothers.  Where do I send my receipts?

Source:

http://abc11.com/politics/state-gop-questions-the-money-behind-moral-monday-protests/853620/

Left Wing Front Group Funded by NC Taxpayers

A liberal front group has its paws deep in the pockets of North Carolina taxpayers.  An organization called The Support Center describes itself as a private nonprofit “community development financial institute” when in fact it is a creature of left wingers in the state government and politically connected teat squawkers.  The Civitas Institute reported the following:

-It has received more than $20 million in taxpayer funds since 2007.

-According to an internal audit, 98 percent of The Support Center’s revenue comes from government entities, with about 57 percent from the NC Commerce Department.

-It is the taxpayers’ money that is at risk when The Support Center makes loans.

The Support Center is also in the business of buying bad loans from other groups, and forcing taxpayers to absorb the loss:

-In April 2010 it purchased $1.3 million in delinquent mortgage loans from a credit union, with “significant losses expected.”

-In April 2014 the Support Center purchased more than $430,000 in risky loans from Self-Help Credit Union, with nearly 10 percent of the outstanding portion already past due.

-The Center wrote off more than half a million in bad loans, and another $166,000 in losses of “at-risk investments” last year alone – maneuvers that also used taxpayer funds.

The Support Center has not only been politically connected to movements seeking to “eviscerate” current legislative leadership, it involves taxpayers bailing out bad loans. It is not a core function of government to force taxpayers to bankroll activist groups and pay for loans to start-up businesses or to bail out bad loans.

This organization is connected to the “Moral Mondays” protestors.  We are beginning to find out just how immoral these people really are.

Source:

http://www.nccivitas.org/2015/cut-this-go-home-taxpayer-funding-for-moral-monday-activist-group/

NAACP Teat Squawkers Target State Capitols

Teat squawkers all around the country will gather at their respective state capitols and demand some sugar on their titties.  They don’t care to know the cost, or where the money comes from, or the consequences of everything “free.”  They just know that gov’mt has the answer to all their problems.

What is the pretense for this “I want mine and I don’t give a damn about yours” demonstration?  The NAACP is using Martin Luther King’s 51^st anniversary march on Washington.  The Reverend Haley Barber is using his so-called Moral Mondays as a vehicle.

Organizers of regular protests at the North Carolina Legislature were joined on a conference call by counterparts in other states to announce the week of demonstrations starting Friday and ending the following Thursday, the 51st anniversary of the March on Washington led by Martin Luther King Jr.

Demonstrations in Raleigh will focus on a different theme each day, ranging from education to voting rights rally, said the Rev. William Barber, president of North Carolina's NAACP.

NAACP leaders from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Wisconsin said they were planning marches, teach-ins and rallies in each of their states during the seven days. Barber said events were also planned in Mississippi, and the lineup of events will vary by state.

Barber cited inadequate school funding and refusals to expand Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care law among examples of harmful policies enacted by conservative legislators.

"All of these attacks are emerging out of statehouses, governors and state elected officials — and that is where people must challenge them," Barber said.

Barber and others say the legislative process has been hijacked by extremists.

"This is not about right or left; this is about extremism," said Francys Johnson, president of the Georgia NAACP, which is holding a "Moral March" on Saturday among other events.

Let’s talk about extremism.  Guess what the price tag is for these “moral” demands?  The cost will put the “holy” into your cow.  The Civitas Institute added up the cost of Mr. Barber’s demands.  The results will blow your mind.

Estimates now reach an eye-popping $10 billion to pay for the “people’s agenda.” That would mark a whopping 50 percent increase in the state budget. To fund the “Moral Monday” demands would cost every man, woman and child in North Carolina roughly an additional $1,000. That amounts to adding another $4,000 in taxes to the tax bill of each family of four.

As published yesterday, Civitas tallied a partial list of “Moral Monday” demands and arrived at an immediate budget impact of roughly $3 billion. The list was limited largely due to constraints in obtaining data.

Yesterday evening, however, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger’s office released the draft of a budget amendment that included cost estimates for many of the protesters’ demands. The estimates were put together by legislative staff and as such offers insights previously unavailable to Civitas.  Berger’s office months ago sent a letter to state NAACP head William Barber asking for specific policy recommendations. After Barber responded, Berger asked General Assembly staff members to draft an amendment that would include many of the points addressed in Barber’s letter.

The amendment calculates about $7 billion in annual additional costs to taxpayers. The largest item is $6.8 billion to provide funding for health insurance for all North Carolinians, regardless of immigration status. Included in the 14-point “people’s agenda” laid out by the state NAACP are the demands for “health care for all,” and “NC must provide immigrants with health care.”

I don’t believe there are enough teats to satisfy all these piglets.

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/08/19/4082097_activists-in-6-states-plan-to.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

The Cost of "Moral Mondays" Rubber Nipple Salesmen

Reverend William Barber has taken to the road decrying the moral outrages by North Carolinians and their elected representatives.  He and his rubber nipple salesmen want to expand the welfare state.

Civitas reported the cost of Rev. William Barber and his teat squawking acolytes’ agenda.

Estimates now reach an eye-popping $10 billion to pay for the “people’s agenda.” That would mark a whopping 50 percent increase in the state budget. To fund the “Moral Monday” demands would cost every man, woman in child in North Carolina roughly an additional $1,000. That amounts to adding another $4,000 in taxes to the tax bill of each family of four.

As published yesterday, Civitas tallied a partial list of “Moral Monday” demands and arrived at an immediate budget impact of roughly $3 billion. The list was limited largely due to constraints in obtaining data.

Yesterday evening, however, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger’s office released the draft of a budget amendment that included cost estimates for many of the protesters’ demands. The estimates were put together by legislative staff and as such offers insights previously unavailable to Civitas.  Berger’s office months ago sent a letter to state NAACP head William Barber asking for specific policy recommendations. After Barber responded, Berger asked General Assembly staff members to draft an amendment that would include many of the points addressed in Barber’s letter.

The amendment calculates about $7 billion in annual additional costs to taxpayers. The largest item is $6.8 billion to provide funding for health insurance for all North Carolinians, regardless of immigration status. Included in the 14-point “people’s agenda” laid out by the state NAACP are the demands for “health care for all,” and “NC must provide immigrants with health care.”

Utopia is just a “Moral Monday” away.

Source:

http://www.nccivitas.org/2014/moral-monday-price-tag-grows-now-10-billion/

Rev. Barber Calls for a New Era of Occupation

Rev. William Barber took his teat squawker road show to Detroit.  If there was ever a city that demonstrates the moral bankruptcy of progressive policies, it’s the Motor City.  I wonder if he took a tour of that poor, infected hellhole.  Chances are he stepped out of the airport into his limousine and drove straight to a luxury hotel.

The reverend is engaging in a new form of disinformation and mal-education.  He calls it “Moral Fusion.”  Apparently, it is a combination of bastardized history with a call for socialism.  They want a new Era of Reconstruction where the federal government occupies recalcitrant states, much like what happened to the South after the War of Northern Aggression. 

Today’s progressives have the same mentality as the Union occupiers.  They want to disenfranchise those who disagree with them and redistribute what little wealth they have, all the while belittling anyone who has a job and is trying to provide for his/her family.     

If you listen to the reverends harangue, you’ll notice in the beginning of his speech he quoted North Carolina’s constitution where it states that one has the right to enjoy the fruits of his own labor.  Yet, the reverend and his acolytes declare a birth right to others sweat, labor and property.  Such is the “morality” of progressives.

Source:  http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/07/20/netroots-nation-speaker-attempts-characterize-conservative-principles-immoral-says-sick-freedom-arguments/

David Webb Confronts NC Liberals: "Is the Tea Party Racist?"

These are the "Moral Monday" protestors that gather in Raleigh, NC.  As you can see, they're not too bright.

Mountain Moral Monday Fake Education Petition

Just another Moron Monday in North Carolina

H/T:  NC Renegade

NC Teachers Need to Educate Themselves on State Budget

Teachers in North Carolina might want to educate themselves on the state’s budget and subsequent reforms before making wild accusations like the attendees in Raleigh on “Moral Mondays.”  These bused in fools are regurgitating the bile of their puppet masters.   The point of distress for many of these protesters is that NC is cutting education spending; their master’s degrees are worthless; tenure is abolished, and they haven’t had a raise in the past seven years.

All of the above is false, except for the abolition of tenure.  The following Carolina Journal article puts the state’s budget in perspective:

 RALEIGH — Although authorized spending on K-12 public education in the newly enacted state budget will increase by nearly 5 percent over the previous school year, opponents of education reform have orchestrated rallies, flooded the media, and vilified the Republican-dominated General Assembly for its sweeping agenda.

Lawmakers adopted a 2013-14 budget conference report authorizing $7.9 billion in General Fund spending on K-12 education, which is up 4.8 percent over the $7.5 billion budget enacted for the 2012-13 fiscal year. 

"Since 2010, Republican legislators have made it clear that their policy agenda included a handful of core education reforms eventually incorporated into the budget,” said Terry Stoops, director of research and education studies at the John Locke Foundation. 

“These include the expansion of parental choice, elimination of teacher tenure and certain pay supplements, implementation of a school grading system, and development of a performance pay system for school personnel,” Stoops said. “Simply put, this budget is the culmination of an education reform agenda that had been laid out for the last three years."

Acknowledging there are naysayers who claim that the reforms are an attempt to destroy public education, Stoops said: “The truth is that these reforms discard or dismantle policies approved decades ago at the behest of a handful of special interest groups. Legislators both modernized and diversified public education in North Carolina."

Now comes the hard part, he said. 

“Status-quo teachers and administrators, along with the advocacy groups that support them, will do everything in their power to undermine these new policies during their implementation. As such, Republican legislators must remain vigilant,” Stoops said. “Otherwise, these worthwhile reforms will flounder through no fault of their own."

Overall General Fund allocations to education increase the share of spending on education from 55 percent of the General Fund budget last year to 56 percent this year

I can commiserate with these teachers.  I wish I had the ability to tell my boss, he can’t fire me, because I have tenure.  Oh, and I would like to have a minimum 5% annual raise.  And by the way, I’m going to retire at age 50 and you’re going to pay me an annual stipend, along with all my health care bills, until the day I die.

Geez, I wish I had that kind of leverage. 

http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=10366

http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/07/30/moral-monday-13-teachers-march-on-raleigh/

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/07/29/3068037/largest-moral-monday-crowd-yet.html

The Clown Show Comes to Raleigh on "Moron Mondays"

Moron Mondays is the rage for all the libtards that infest North Carolina.  Here is an op-ed by Thom Goolsby, a state senator, conveying to all, the freak show, that has infested Raleigh these past few weeks.  

 Raleigh, NC - The circus came to the State Capitol this week, complete with clowns, a carnival barker and a sideshow. The “Reverend” Barber was decked out like a prelate of the Church of Rome (no insult is meant to Catholics), complete with stole and cassock. All he was missing was a miter and the ensemble would have been complete.

Several hundred people – mostly white, angry, aged former hippies – appeared and screeched into microphones, talked about solidarity and chanted diatribes. It was “liberal theater” at its best. Just like having a honey bun and double espresso for breakfast, the impact of it all left the participants jittery and empty in the end.

Never short on audacity, the Loony Left actually named their gathering “Moral Monday.” Between the screaming, foot stomping and disjointed speeches, it appeared more like “Moron Monday.” The gathering was supposed to influence legislators. However, no one thought to bring out any senate or house member from either party.

The gathering was a field day for the Raleigh press corps who came out in large numbers for the extravaganza. In a carefully orchestrated parade, photographers and videographers walked backwards as Barber and his minions strolled into an empty General Assembly Building to voice more complaints and engage in several rounds of sing-along. Even more press showed up to document the standard-bearers of liberalism who were politely arrested by General Assembly Police and escorted away well before session started. These “brave souls” can now claim hero status for all the courage they showed by standing up against the Radical Right.

Where were the protesters when the Democrats were bankrupting North Carolina? Just three years ago, North Carolina was in a deep crisis. The treasury was empty, with a multi-billion-dollar deficit. The state health care plan was bankrupt. The state retirement plan was underfunded by hundreds of millions of dollars. A multi-billion-dollar debt was owed to the federal government for money loaned to the state during the Great Recession for unemployment benefits. On top of everything, before getting roundly kicked out by the voters, Democrat leaders managed to raise North Carolina’s taxes to the highest in the Southeast, borrowing every dollar possible.

For over 140 years, Democrats had an almost total lock on power in Raleigh. It was not until the 2010 elections that the GOP had ever controlled both chambers in the General Assembly. Even then, they had to contend with Democrat Gov. Beverly Perdue who fought every commonsense reform brought forward. The Republicans finally consolidated their power with overwhelming wins in the 2012 election season where they took the Governor’s office, as well as many more seats in the NC House and Senate.

Once ensconced in power, the pro-growth, commonsense Republicans went to work like the business people they were. Government waste was cut, a billion-dollar tax cut was enacted and the budget was balanced. The state’s retirement plan was fully funded and the state health plan was made solvent. A responsible repayment schedule was arranged with the federal government to pay off the unemployment debt in record time. In other words, the sinking ship of this state was righted.

You might be wondering, “What is the left complaining about?” A better question is “What are they not complaining about?” Apparently, even in the light of the overwhelming GOP election victories, they believe that Republicans had no mandate to fix what the Democrats broke. Somehow, the new leadership is supposed to print money on a magical press and spend our way into prosperity.

Even Democrat pollsters say these protests are hurting their party and its long-term plan to recover power. Regular people, i.e. voters, tend to shy away from the real radical fringe. Nonetheless, the old hippies have found a new hobby and have once again fallen in love with the sound of their own voices. Too bad they were not around to help when they were needed.

 

 

Source:  http://www.chathamjournal.com/weekly/opinion/myopinion/moron-monday-shows-radical-left-just-does-not-get-it-130607.shtml

Teat Squawkers Infest Raleigh on "Moral" Mondays

 

Mondays have become a designated day for libtards in Raleigh, North Carolina.  These protestors have deemed it “Moral Monday.”  The common theme is every government program is virtuous, whereas those who pay taxes and provide jobs are a bunch of greedy bastards.

These teat squawkers want an expansion of Medicaid, unending unemployment benefits, taxpayer funded abortions, “free” daycare, and you can probably throw in amnesty for illegal aliens.  What they don’t want is voter ID, school vouchers, a reduction in the estate tax, and cuts from a bloated state university system.

I have a question.  Since when did a wastrel become moral?  When did imprisoning your fellow citizens to a life of government handouts become moral?  When did subjecting your neighbors’ children to a substandard education become moral?  When did confiscating the property of others become moral?  I don’t consider any of that moral.  I don’t even consider that American.

North Carolina republicans are addressing these issues.  A better tax climate would attract businesses to the state, along with paying down the$2 billion owed to the federal government for paid out unemployment benefits.  This debt is a tax on businesses and discourages hiring in an already uncertain and hostile environment.

As for education, the republicans in the House have introduced a voucher system for poor families.  They are also addressing the cost of a college education.  Last year, a survey reported that 52% of NC students entering two-year colleges had to take remedial classes.  Here is the GOP solution, as reported by the News Observer:

The House budget includes a plan to begin offering taxpayer money to low-income families next year to pay children’s private school tuition. The House also restores class-size limits for public school in kindergarten through third grades, a policy the Senate budget abolishes.

In higher education, the House wants to divert some of the least qualified UNC system freshmen to community colleges beginning in 2014.
 
The diversion plan, called the N.C. Guaranteed Admission Program, would have students attend a community college for two years and be guaranteed admission as a transfer student to the original UNC campus they had planned to attend. The budget plan subtracts almost $13 million from the UNC system in 2014-15 for the program, and adds $4 million to the community college system

North Carolina republicans are trying to rid us of a Depression Era tax system that has rendered the state the highest taxed in the southeast.  The teat squawkers that gather in Raleigh on Mondays are for the status quo, along with the lapdog media that heralds their protest.

Source:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/03/2936847/more-than-100-arrested-at-monday.html

http://www.wral.com/general-assembly-braces-for-biggest-moral-monday-protest-yet/12502394/

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/06/4090089/protesting-crazies-deserve-to.html

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/31/4078151/70000-north-carolinians-to-lose.html

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/07/4025936/remedial-math-classes-unnecessary.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/07/2945627/house-and-senate-budget-proposals.html