Well, it didn't take long for the Tea Bag/Republican governors of both North Carolina, and South Carolina to come under suspicion, and complaints for ethic violations. In our state of North Carolina, Progress NC (who will be sharing our Asheville DKOS Meet Up and conference with us this Saturday in Asheville, NC) is spear heading this complaint:
Progress North Carolina Action, a left-leaning nonprofit group in Raleigh, filed its complaint against McCrory with the N.C. Ethics Commission.
When asked about the filed complain this past Monday, McCrory stated:
....it would be "inappropriate" to respond to "a left-wing, very politicized group."
"I've not had a chance to see those and my focus is on creating jobs," McCrory said.
But it gets coal ash "dirtier"...
The ethics complaint also questioned McCrory's ownership of stock in Duke Energy, where he worked for 29 years before becoming governor. AP reported last year that McCrory held the Duke stock while his administration made regulatory decisions involving his former employer, including appointing utility commissioners who set electricity rates.
In light of the massive coal ash spill from a Duke plant into the Dan River on Feb. 2, the complaint alleges that "any executive government action or inaction" McCrory took in regard to Duke would impact the value of Duke stock, including his own.
Oh my..... I am shocked....(not)
The sordid story of greed continues with:
AP, reported that McCrory received more than $185,000 in cash and stock from LendingTree in early 2013, eclipsing his $139,590 governor's salary that year. Most came in form of 10,063 restricted stock shares that were vested the day before McCrory's resignation from the company.
McCrory also received $14,438 in fees and cash dividends from LendingTree. Though state ethics forms direct officials to disclose sources of stock dividends and fees exceeding $5,000, McCrory's staff says the governor wasn't required to disclose his cash compensation from LendingTree.
Things that make you say Hhmmmmmm???
The governor also didn't disclose his "business association" with LendingTree, even though he remained on the board for nearly a month after his inauguration. A spokesman for McCrory has said the wording of the question was unclear.
The complaint against McCrory said the governor was supposed to disclose conflicts of interest and potential conflicts of interest. Instead, McCrory's "selective disclosure, omissions and incomplete disclosure" damages public trust and raises questions about "the true origin, purpose or intent of compensation, gifts, favors, appointments and executive regulatory decisions."
Looks like good old Pat might have some real explaining to do in the near future. I'd say he just might be a "one and done" Tea Bag/Republican Governor here in NC. He's ticked off a lot of people as well within in his own party.
Oh my..... Bless his little heart, as we say down her in the South.
While in South Carolina, the advocacy group Citizens For Responsibility is going after their AT hiking Governor:
The complaint against Sanford was filed with the U.S. House Ethics Committee by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a non-partisan watchdog group.
And as for Sanford, well he didn't respond to any messages from AP for a reply.
As they say in the news biz: "Stay tuned for more on these two top developing stories we are following at this time.”
Be safe out there…