More far-right nonsense from the Lt. Governor

Published November 1, 2014

By Chris Fitzsimon

by Chris Fitzsimon, NC Policy Watch and NC SPIN panelist, October 31, 2014.

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest is at it again, offering more bizarre and extreme positions on important issues facing North Carolina in yet an another appearance with a right-wing group, this time in an online conversation with Generation Opportunity, or GenOpp, a Koch brothers organization targeting millennials with the usual far-right messaging.

Forest was talking about higher education this time, not his recent ridiculous ideas about a constitutional convention or his call to resist clear and decisive federal court rulings about marriage equality.

But his extremism was on display nonetheless. Forest was asked by the GenOpp interviewer about rising tuition at colleges and universities and Forest said that the reason for the increases was clear, Pell grants and low-interest loans offered by the federal government.

Apparently helping low-income students afford a college education is making a college education more expensive.

That will come as news to the folks at the campuses of the UNC system who have been forced to raise tuition to make up for some of the massive budget cuts to the universities made by the Republican General Assembly to pay for the big tax cuts for the wealthy that Forest often praises.

It is a simple formula, big budget cuts to education, higher tuition for college students, and a $10,000 tax break for millionaires.

But remember it’s those grants and loans to poor kids that are the problem.

Speaking of the Robin Hood in reverse tax cuts, Forest also reminded listeners of a Greenville radio show recently that they don’t far enough for his liking.

His ultimate goal is not just reduce the personal and corporate income taxes, Forest said, but to abolish them entirely, which along with the elimination of the franchise tax the General Assembly has ended, would reduce state revenues by $12 billion a year.

The state budget is roughly $21 billion so Forest’s plan would cut state revenues by more than half.

Of course, he didn’t mention how he would make up for that lost revenue, but there are only two ways, higher sales taxes which fall disproportionately on low-income families or unprecedented budget cuts or some regressive combination of both.

Add it all up and it’s been quite a few weeks for Forest.  Standing defiantly with the pro-discrimination forces, openly calling for a dangerous conference of states to rewrite the constitution, blaming loans for low-income students for rising tuition and calling for an end to all income taxes in the state which would slash the budget by $12 billion.

What’s next for Forest, co-founding a faith-based consumer organization that encourages shoppers not to spend money at stores that feature women in lingerie in their catalogs?

Oh wait, he’s already done that too.

McCrory puts the politics back in roads after taking the politics out of roads

A recent story in Business Week is probably not going over very well in Governor Pat McCrory’s office, but it raises an interesting point about McCrory’s boasting about taking the politics out of how road building decisions are made.

McCrory talked often on the campaign trail about getting the politics out of transportation decisions and his administration did come up with system that provided a numerical ranking for each project based on specific criteria.

Then a few months ago, McCrory came out with a proposal for a billion dollar transportation bond to fund a serious of highway projects, many of which came in near the bottom of the numerical ranking system.

McCrory’s office referred Business Week to the Department of Transportation for comment and a spokesman there said the projects in the bond and the numerical formula work together in the transportation plan.

In other words, the ranking system takes the politics out of road building and the bond issue projects put politics back in. So much for that campaign promise.

Public information not a trade secret

And finally, an item reported earlier this week on the Progressive Pulse by reporter Sarah Ovaska that bears repealing.

Charter school profiteer Baker Mitchell finally responded to the state’s demands that he obey the law and disclose the salaries of his company’s employees that work at the charter schools he operates in southeastern North Carolina.

It is public money after all and the employees are working at a public charter school.

Mitchell has long refused to release what it is clearly public information and this week he came with a novel idea. He would release the salary information to education officials but only if they would keep it private by considering it a trade secret.

With all due respect Mr. Mitchell, it is our money spent by a public school and we deserve to know where it is going.

It’s not that complicated—unless you have something to hide.

- See more at: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2014/10/31/the-follies-215/#sthash.yPpL1k0d.dpuf

November 1, 2014 at 8:32 am
Richard Bunce says:

Anything short of Lenin is far right to Chris... and as usual government education to Chris only has a single metric... money. No mention of the dismal education performance they exhibit year after year.

November 1, 2014 at 12:13 pm
Norm Kelly says:

Another post from Chris that could be predicted just from the headline.

When was the last time Chris called ANYTHING done by his demon allies 'nonsense'? Can ANYONE, including Chris, show ANY proof ever that he has referred to the blatherings of libs as 'nonsense'? I won't hold my breath waiting for any proof. That could be deadly! Building the tea cup museum? Was that liberal 'nonsense'? Bailing out the Parton theater, was that liberal/demon 'nonsense'? Well, yes actually both are examples of demon nonsense! Did Chris call this 'nonsense'? When the libs in Raleigh purchased a lake-rated ferry to transport school kids along the outer banks, which is the OCEAN, did Chris refer to this as 'nonsense'? If you believe so, first YOU are a lib. Second, show proof, cuz your opinion does not count!

Do I bother wasting my time reading this post? Why not. How do I know what the blatherings of libs are unless I read them. By reading the nonsense produced by libs, it becomes that much easier for me to know what is right/correct/proper, and what is supported by libs. The two virtually NEVER coincide.

Is it called 'nonsense' by libs because it PROVES their foolishness to be the cause of problems? Yes. Who controls 'higher education'? Are conservatives in majority control of colleges & universities in the country? Nope, not even close. When a conservative does make it into a high position at one of the institutions, they are prevented from expressing ANY opinion. When socialists finally show up to teach the classes they are paid for, their socialist blatherings are considered gospel, and should never be argued against by ANY student or other faculty member. When socialists control higher education, is free-speech respected or controlled? Trick question, meant to trip up libs. The answer is that free speech is NON-EXISTENT at institutions of 'higher education'. They even create 'free speech zones' to prove that free speech is to be restricted by the powers that be instead of actually free as guaranteed by the US Constitution.

As debt is easier to acquire and interest rates are lowered, does it promote kids getting loans to pay for an often useless degree or does it encourage kids to find a way to pay for it on their own? Does history show that giving more money to kids (debt!) and having both the loan process and the education process controlled & managed by libs makes education MORE expensive or LESS? As more money is given to students, as more kids are given a free ride, the cost NATURALLY goes up for the paying kids. Where in the nation have 'higher education' costs been at or below the inflation rate? What is the lib answer to this problem? What are libs proposing to help make 'higher education' more cost effective for more kids? Instead of having socialists, and Chris, point out the 'nonsense' from Republicans/conservatives, how about we FINALLY hear a proposal from yous guys? What would you do, since you ARE in control of education, what SOLUTION do you propose? Is this ANOTHER case of libs simply being against conservative proposals but HAVING NONE OF YOUR OWN!?!? This election cycle (NOT a season!) even black voters are realizing that they have been LIED to for decades by socialists! Even black voters are realizing that socialism is HURTING them & their families! When will the socialists catch on? Probably never because they are socialists, which means they have one direction, and one direction only! No deviation from the schemes allowed. So far, the libs have proposed one and only one solution to the cost of education at any level. It's called the 'education lottery'. This is their ONLY answer to the high cost of education.

For his blatherings about tax cuts, Chris is another socialist who believes in zero-sum games. When taxes are cut government revenue goes down; when taxes are raised government revenue goes up. Except this theory has been proven false. How can you tell a true, died-in-the-wool socialist? Simple, when presented with facts they refuse to look! States like Illinois have recently proven that raising taxes reduces government revenue. States like Wisconsin have recently proven that properly implemented tax cuts increases government revenues. Want proof? Look at the state budgets & economies comparing those run/controlled by the Socialist Party of the US (formerly the demoncrat party!) versus those run/controlled by Republicans or conservatives. Look at institutions controlled by socialists versus those run by conservatives. 'Higher education', actually education in general, is also a great comparison. Socialists control education at every level. How are their budgets? What's the connection between professor salary, time spent TEACHING, and tuition? Are the socialists properly managing education? Are they CONSTANTLY whining about a lack of funds? Have they EVER defined what budget level would be sufficient to achieve whatever their goals are? Have they ever defined what 'their fair share' is when referring to how much they want to steal from 'the wealthy'? Common sense isn't so common when talking about socialists & liberals (often the same group)!

As for calling for an end to all income taxes in the state, we actually have history to prove whether this is a good idea or the catastrophe predicted by Chris and his fellow socialists. The problem with NOT having an income tax is that it makes it harder for pols to play games with peoples lives - it makes it harder for them to purposely penalize people for being successful. And everyone KNOWS that the purpose of most schemes implemented or proposed by socialists is simply to penalize the groups they HATE and reward those who vote for them! Does Texas have a state income tax? Does Florida have a state income tax? How are those states doing with their budgets? What other states do NOT have a regressive income tax? How are they doing, budget wise? Now, look at states like Illinois that are controlled by socialists. How are their budgets doing? What schemes have they put in place to penalize success? How's New York's plan going where they specifically and deliberately have targeted those hated 'wealthy' people? How about Connecticut? Instead of cutting spending, reducing social programs, being more efficient, they also have continued the efforts to penalize people, schemes that they call having the hated groups 'pay their fair share'. Connecticut has continued to increase government spending programs. How are they doing, even with a high sales tax AND a high income tax? Is their budget balanced? Is their economy growing?

So, Chris and every other socialist out there, anyone who agrees with Chris's post, answer a few simple questions. It takes honesty, which is in short supply for libs. Compare high tax states with low tax states. Which is doing better? Compare reducing taxes & spending with increasing taxes & spending. Which plan works better for the majority of people? Compare allowing people to keep more of what they earn versus stealing as much as you can from the groups that you hate. Where does freedom thrive more? When the majority vote to penalize success, does this provide MORE opportunity for 'average' people to move beyond the middle class or does it stifle financial freedom? When more people are ALLOWED by their government to become successful, is that better or worse for the government? Show us, anywhere in the world not just here in the US, where socialism has improved the lives of the majority of it's residents. Instead of blathering on with your socialist 'nonsense' how about you start showing some facts/proof about your schemes so the rest of us can get on board with your idea of utopia.

Socialism fails every time it's tried. Socialism fails every where it's tried. Socialism fails regardless of how kindly & loving it's leaders are. The same is true for the loving, kindly, non-racist, for-the-kids, socialists in the US! The 'elites' will be treated well, the masses will live in misery. It just so happens that most libs expect THEMSELVES to be the 'elites'. Have you watched the Hunger Games movies or read the books? This is just another statement of the truth about central planners. Central planners are heartless, beastly people, who lose touch with reality very quickly. Central planners are not nearly as intelligent as they want you to believe. Face it, if central planners can't even recognize a fact when it stares them in the face, how intelligent can they actually be. So their lack of intelligence will overwhelm them quickly. And then we degenerate into a dictatorship where ALL freedoms are stolen from the masses. Look at history and look at current events around the world. Have socialist countries produced more freedom or has the US created more free and successful people?

Low-information voters are self-destructive. And typically also demon voters!

No more time to read the 'nonsense' generated by libs; time to move on to what matters in life!

November 1, 2014 at 9:15 pm
Robert White says:

Norm I could not agree with you more.

Chris is the classic liberal/socialist in the sense that if he agrees with it it's great. If not then it's a waste or its bad or its killing babies (unless they are aborted of course) or its destroying the environment (unless it's for more of those country club golf courses the ultra rich limousine liberals hang out at) or it hurts revenues to the state that already wasted billions etc etc etc. we could go on & on & funny thing is we'll never get an answer because Chris & his ilk will label us far right wackos or some other name. The very next breath they'll be calling for civility & calm discourse which is another liberal/socialist tactic.

I can't wait to read his posts after the election when all of his special interest crybabies & (God willing) far left candidates are soundly defeated. Those write ups will be a hoot!

November 2, 2014 at 11:15 am
Richard Bunce says:

Chris will blame it on fewer early voting days even though early voting numbers are up over 2010.