Heard on the Street Posted: Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Last call for help
Thanks to all those who have responded to our request for contributions to the Juvenile Diabetes Walk for the cure. As we’ve said our grandson, Hart Rivers, was diagnosed with this chronic disease several years ago and we, along with many parents and grandparents, are raising money to help find a cure so these young people don’t have to be constantly pricking their fingers to test blood glucose levels and injecting insulin into their bodies. To date we have raised $1,100 of our $1,500 goal. Our family will match contributions dollar for dollar. If you haven’t given, please consider a donation. We will forever be thankful. To make your gift click here
It’s all about elections
Everywhere you turn the buzz is about the elections….how big will the vote be, who will turn out, can the Democrats actually win a presidential vote in this state, and what does the huge early voting turnout mean. The pollsters are all over the board trying to measure the mood of voters on these closing days of the campaign. Folks we talk with say don’t pay too much attention to them as they fail to report the first time voters as well as those who haven’t voted in some years but plan to do so this time around.
As we have been saying for months, the outcome of these elections will be determined by three factors: First time voters who have registered this year can easily determine the outcome. Many of these first-timers are young and African American. The State Board of Elections reports they are showing up in large numbers in early voting. The second group is the so-called “bubba” voter, presumed to be white males who are more likely to vote Republican. Observers say that unless this segment reaches 8 percent or more of the turnout they won’t do much to determine the outcome. The unaffiliated voters are also likely to have a big voice in who wins. They are also voting in large numbers in early voting.
The fact that more than 1.5 million of our 6.5 million registered voters have already cast ballots is significant.
What does all this mean? Be sure to catch this week’s NC SPIN to hear our panel of experts give you their predictions as to who will win from the state house to the White House and why. Should be great fun. Tune in. And next week we will report how well we did with our predictions and what the voters actually said on November 4th.
For the most part voters are turned off and tired of the campaign. These last few days always bring out the ugliest, dirtiest and most vile accusations of the campaign as candidates try to sway undecided voters. Repeatedly you hear people talk about how eager they are for the slimy TV ads to end. The most recent ad is Senator Dole’s ad attempting to link Kay Hagan with the “Godless American PAC.” John McCain is calling Barack Obama a Socialist. Beverly Perdue says Pat McCrory will only help Charlotte if he’s elected, and besides he wants to dump NY’s garbage on us. Hagan has threatened a lawsuit from Dole’s ad, but as longtime political consultant Gary Pearce said, in his “Talking About Politics” blog, these threatened lawsuits generally don’t blunt the blow and the one making the nastiest accusation often wins.
Merritt criticizes Easley….Mary, that is
Just five days before the election, State Auditor Les Merrritt released a report highly critical of first lady Mary Easley’s trips to Russia, France, and Estonia. In the report Merritt says Mary Easley spent more than $110,000 on trips of questionable value that contained "unreasonable and excessive expenses," including a taxpayer-funded $332 lunchtime caviar cocktail. The audit found that taxpayers picked up hundreds of dollars for alcohol (prohibited by state policy), ballet tickets and even $227 for a linen jacket.
Already the buzz is over the timing of this release, coming just before the election. Merritt is engaged in a hotly contested race for re-election, causing some to question whether this is a legitimate report coming from an impartial state auditor or a campaign tactic. To read the story click here:
Hagan feted and criticized
We have just learned that Hillary Clinton will be in Raleigh on Sunday to stump for Kay Hagan’s U.S. Senate campaign. She will appear at a fundraiser for Hagan at the home of Jeannette and Wallace Hyde. Jeanette was a Clinton ambassador and has strong friendships with both Clintons.
But Hagan faces a challenge of a different sort. The North Carolina chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses and The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce are launching an e-mail attack with members because Hagan refuses to take a stand on the Employee Free Choice Act. Businesses fear this legislation because they believe it will give unreasonable freedom to labor unions to organize within their businesses. The legislation is due to be debated soon after the new Congress convenes and North Carolina businesses want to know how Hagan will vote on the measure. So far she isn’t saying.
Thank God we only have 5 days left.
For all intents, state government is shut down, waiting to see who will win and control the state for the next four years. The Easley administration has already started preparations for the transition to a new Governor. A transition team has been formed at the Department of Administration, office space for the new Governor’s team has been located, and high level budget officials are preparing to brief and work with the new interim budget director for whoever gets elected. We are told those discussions will begin next Wednesday.
The new Governor will have a lot to do in a short period of time. As we stated in last week’s My Spin, the new chief executive will be immediately faced with budget shortfalls and the bleeding needs immediate triage. His or her team must hit the ground running, especially since a new budget will need to be presented to the legislature shortly after they convene for a new session starting January 28th.
Basnight and Hackney play Santa Claus to Democrats
Want to know how Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight remains in power? It’s simple. He gives large sums of money to the State Democratic Party earmarked for Democrats he wants to win. Basnight gave the state party more than $1 million. Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand has given more than $370,000. Senate Budget Leader Linda Garrou chipped in almost $200,000 and Finance Chair Dan Clodfelter added another $81,000. And rank and file Senate Democrats are “encouraged” to contribute $25 to $50,000 to the party. Through these earmarked contributions, more than $513,000 has been given to Senator Julia Boseman to prop up her hotly contested election.
Three questions need answering
Why do PACS, lobbyists and special interest groups continue to dump large sums of money into Basnight’s coffers even after we passed new laws that restricted their influencing peddling?
How do you think Boseman and other beneficiaries of these large sums of money from Basnight and Senate leadership are going to vote when these people who helped finance her return to office come asking for support on key issues? Why isn’t there a huge public outcry to change our campaign finance laws to restrict the amount of soft-money contributions from political parties to candidates?
Answer those three and you will get a clearer picture of how North Carolina is being run.
By the way, House Speaker Joe Hackney is also playing the game. He’s contributed over $600,000 to the State Democratic Party. And Republicans don’t have clean hands either. Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger has given the State GOP more than $180,000.
For good commentary on this practice read Chris Fitzsimon’s NC Policy Watch column
University making big contributions to legislators
As reported above, legislators are making big donations to their respective parties and in turn the parties direct those contributions to favored candidates. But it doesn’t end there. Chris Fitzsimon has examined campaign finance reports and found that “Citizens for Higher Education,” the PAC formed to support UNC Chapel Hill, has raised over $602,000 to make sure their university remains the favored child of lawmakers. And the PAC has contributed more than $485,000 to legislative campaigns this year. And UNC Chapel Hill isn’t alone in this practice, either.
As Fitzsimon reports, take a gander at the Chancellor’s Box at any football or basketball game and you are sure to see a plethora of legislators and high-ranking government officials. Of course the new laws say these recipients cannot receive anything of value over a minimum threshold level. How much does a plush seat and high-dollar eats and drinks cost? And how do the Universities get away with such treatment? Good questions to ask.
Read more of
Want to know who is giving to candidates?
Today’s News and Observer has a good piece about who contributes and where they come from. You can read it by clicking here:
Legislative leaders downplaying expectations
Leaders in both the Senate and House are cautioning members that this coming session is not going to see much in the way of new programs or budget expansions. They are expecting to have to cut the current funding for this year and also for the first year of the new biennium starting July 1, 2009.
The sobering news is reverberating in the business community and government affairs operatives are telling their clients to expect new taxes to be proposed as frustrated legislators have trouble deciding what to cut. Look for legislation to be introduced for new or increased taxes on alcohol, beer and cigarettes…the so-called “sin” taxes. Soft drink companies and fast food outlets are anticipating proposed “fat” taxes to help offset the costs of Medicaid and obesity. We also hear there will be another, more serious effort, to tax services, one of the areas where North Carolina has not modernized its tax code.
Many corporations may believe they have hedged their bets on fighting tax increases by the big contributions to legislative leadership. (Read above story)
Businesses and other organizations will need the best information available in order to navigate through the turbulent waters of ’09 and the NC SPIN panel is preparing to make special presentations to these groups in a series of Executive Forums. Look for more information about these high-level briefings soon.
Eastern District US Attorney
If Democrats are successful in winning the White House they will have the chance to replace lots of federal officials across the U.S. We heard rumors of two names being advanced for the job of Eastern U.S. District Attorney. The first is Dewey Hudson, DA for Onslow County, who has a reputation as a no-nonsense prosecutor. The second is Scott Thomas, former legislator from Craven County.
Parton Theatre sold….at a loss
Put this story in the file for “bad ideas that end badly.” The Randy Parton Theatre project that was so heralded and brought to life using a taxing program that didn’t require a vote by Roanoke Rapids citizens has been sold to North Carolina native Lafayette Gatling for $12.5 million. Add to the already hefty losses, the project has run up an additional $9 million loss on the initial cost of the theatre. And the deal isn’t even all cash…..Gatling will finance the project through the City of Roanoke Rapids. The quote for the day comes from Roanoke Rapids Mayor Dewey Beale, who owned up to the fact that the city rushed into the theatre. “Maybe we went too fast,” Beale said. Duh!
Campaign slogans
How good are you at remembering political campaign slogans? Perri Morgan, in North Carolina Capitol Monitor, provides a quiz for you to test your memory. There are three parts to the site. The first lists past North Carolina slogans. There’s a second link for national slogans and a third in which writers have submitted others. The slogans were largely obtained from an exhibit at the North Carolina Collection Gallery at UNC Chapel Hill called “Soapboxes and Tree Stumps: Political Campaigning in North Carolina.” It is a refreshing diversion from the terrible TV ads….at least for a few minutes. Good work, Perri. Check it out:
The gas crater?
The low gas prices we are seeing at the pump are a phenomenon called the “crater effect,” according to a recent nationally televised ABC talk show (This Week). Panelists stated we are seeing low prices right now because oil companies don’t want to be the butt of election campaigns….notice you haven’t been hearing much about them recently? These low prices are expected to remain until after the election, perhaps as long as the first of the year. Then we will see the upper end of the crater. How high will they go? $4 per gallon gas might be back.
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