Republicans in North Carolina were blasted for attempting to cheat in elections in a hard-hitting new editorial by the Winston-Salem Journal.
"A little context is in order. Over the years, Republican legislators in North Carolina have invested a considerable amount of time, money and energy in suppressing votes to retain power," the newspaper noted. "And they've accompanied these efforts with constant fairy tales of unsubstantiated 'voter fraud' intended to weaken the public's confidence in election results. That strategy, applied nationwide, contributed largely to the Jan. 6 insurrection."
"And they've not quit yet. Mimicking the nationwide effort to pass new voter-suppression laws — at least 389 bills with restrictive voting provisions have been introduced in 48 states this year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice — N.C. Senate Republicans passed a trio of election measures Wednesday, sending them to the N.C. House, that on the surface may seem benign, but are intended, once more, to suppress votes," the newspaper explained. "Again, these bills may seem harmless, even justifiable, but their intent is clear: to reduce the number of legitimate votes that are accepted and counted."
Rep. John Szoka says House Bill 951 “is not perfect.” That, opponents say, is an understatement.
For the past five months, the workings of a top secret energy group was so hush-hush that if someone was caught leaking information they would be expelled as an outcast and a pariah.
Lawmakers in the group, otherwise largely composed of business trade associations and Duke Energy, raised the curtain yesterday on their 47-page opus magnum, House Bill 951, at a meeting of the House Energy and Public Utilities Committee.
So publicly confident were they in the bill, that primary sponsors Reps. John Szoka (R-Cumberland) and Dean Arp, (R-Union) had planned to fast-track it, with a rush to the House floor before the end of the month. “We’re minimizing environmental impacts and lowering our carbon footprint,” Arp said, at the House Energy Committee. “We’re not picking winners or losers. We’re here for the people of North Carolina.” The measure, Szoka proclaimed, “would transform North Carolina’s energy future.”
The response from fellow lawmakers of both parties: suspicion. Most of the major trade associations, including manufactures and textiles: skepticism, even outright opposition. Environmental advocates: contempt.
WRAL June 17, 2021
New federal laws mean North Carolina taxpayers will save $500 million by expanding Medicaid. Is there a reason to be against that?
Expanding access to health care to more than a half-million North Carolinians is the right thing to do. Not having to spend a half-billion dollars in state funds to do it makes it even more urgent. It is because of some key incentives provided in federal COVID-19 relief legislation, North Carolina is able to spend LESS and make health care available to MORE people.
While the federal government, since the Great Recession, has offered to pay 90% of the costs of expanding Medicaid, that deal was sweetened earlier this year with a new law that increases federal support to the state’s current Medicaid program. Now, the federal government picks up 67.3% of the state’s $16.8 billion Medicaid program. Expand Medicaid, and that federal share increases to 72.3%. As a result, the state’s costs get reduced by $900 million.
Even with added spending of about $400 million needed for Medicaid expansion (which the state’s hospitals and other healthcare providers have offered to help shoulder) North Carolina would still be ahead of the game by as much as $500 million.
VietNamVet1962
Sir,
I find it rather difficult to find a starting place for this letter. I was brought up to respect this country.
You see, I was born in spring of 1939. I grew up through the formative years during WWII. Most of us were quite concerned with young men in harm’s way. That was doubly so the winter of 1944 and ’45. You see, my mother’s younger brother was transported to Belgium Dec. 19th with the 84th ID; 5 days later, on Christmas Day, he lost his entire company. But he came through, he came out of it alive. He was a tenor, sang like a bird at church singing conventions. He passed away in the late ‘60’s of a heart attack. You see, sir, you made a reference a while back about how a militia could conquer our country. These men fought that winter in waist deep snow, fighting Fascism.
You see, sir, the children of those men went to Viet Nam, and they may not have all been as passionate about their foe there as my uncle was. That foe wasn’t trying to take over America, like the Axis forces were trying to do. I will give you a thumbs up about the fact that a small guerilla force like the Viet Cong can inflict a lot of damage and frustration. I met some of those gentlemen, and ladies too, yes their ladies went into battle too, and they would shoot you dead in a New York Minute. And also remember, sir, these people were fighting in their back yards, in their environment, in the middle of their supply line.
Now, sir, I will give you just a little leeway on perhaps missing some of the history about Viet Nam, seeing as how when you were born. Most of our soldiers fighting there had been home about 20 years then, and by the time you would have been at the age to question them about their service, probably 30 years. They would have been old men to you, and you probably would thought “that old man rattling on about his war stories”, and just drive on by. Yeah, it happened to me – lots. I would try to tell some youngster about a jungle 15,000 miles from home and the horrible things you saw there, and they would just look at you, expressionless, and drive on by. So, sir, I don’t question your knowledge of the subject, or the lack of it, as the case may be. I just rather blame it on experience, and hey, we all need to learn.
Thanks for reading and contributing, have a safe week.