Link-of-the-Day – Page 47 – Democracy North Carolina

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Duke Energy and Progress Energy are combining forces into one giant company, the largest electric utility in the nation. But all their cash flow and technological wizardry is still not enough to convince Wall Street to endorse building multiple nuclear power plants as the smartest energy future for America. Wall Street wants a no-risk guarantee, [...]

By Bob Hall| 2011-01-25T21:41:09-05:00 January 25th, 2011|Environmental Issues, Link-of-the-Day, Lobbying, Money in Politics|0 Comments

Monday, January 24, 2011

Facing South has an excellent summary of the meaning of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United case and its immediate impact in North Carolina's 2010 elections. On the one-year anniversary of the decision, Common Cause asked the US Justice Department to investigate conflicts of interest involving two members of the US Supreme Court who sided with the [...]

By Bob Hall| 2011-01-24T20:48:02-05:00 January 24th, 2011|Citizens United Case, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics, Take Action Now!|0 Comments

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Kudos to the Independent Weekly for dissecting the octopus that is K & L Gates, the most powerful law firm “the Triangle has never heard of [and] one of the region’s most formidable and pervasive forces in development and politics.” Operatives with this global firm are behind dozens of projects in the Durham area and [...]

By Bob Hall| 2011-01-20T20:46:30-05:00 January 20th, 2011|Ethics, Link-of-the-Day, Lobbying, Money in Politics|1 Comment

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

We’re coming up to the one year anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s fateful Citizens United v. FEC decision. The 5 to 4 decision on January 21, 2010, equated corporations and unions with people and granted them “free speech” rights to spend unlimited money to tell real people which candidates to elect or defeat. Public Citizen [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:42-05:00 January 19th, 2011|Citizens United Case, Link-of-the-Day|0 Comments

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Lobbyists with Republican credentials are in hot demand among the various interest groups that want something from the NC General Assembly’s new GOP majority. The News & Observer and Associated Press have two stories describing who’s hiring whom and why. The Associated Press also has an initial overview of the campaign fundraising in the 2010 [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:42-05:00 January 18th, 2011|Link-of-the-Day, Lobbying, Money in Politics|0 Comments

Monday, January 17, 2011

WRAL-TV has a lengthy news report tonight on the upcoming controversy about requiring NC voters to show a photo ID each time they vote. The viewer may think a legislative proposal has already been filed but the NC General Assembly doesn’t begin until January 26; the reference in the WRAL report is to a bill [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:42-05:00 January 17th, 2011|Link-of-the-Day, Voting Rights|1 Comment

Friday, January 14, 2011

In the wake of the Tucson shootings, many people are again calling for measures to slow the rate of gun violence. As in the past, such calls will meet stiff opposition from one of the best funded and most powerful special interests in America: the National Rifle Association. The NRA spent about $18 million on [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:42-05:00 January 14th, 2011|Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics|0 Comments

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The final campaign disclosure reports for North Carolina’s 2010 election cycle are rolling into the State Board of Elections this week (postmark deadline: Jan. 11), so hopefully we’ll see some detailed analysis by the media and others of who raised how much, from what special interests, etc. The Charlotte Observer is first out of the [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:42-05:00 January 12th, 2011|Disclosure, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics|1 Comment

Voter ID – 1/11/11

The Pope Civitas Institute is trumpeting a poll designed to help Republican lawmakers who want NC voters to show a government-issued photo ID each time they vote (except, oddly, for when they vote through the mail). The Pope Civitas poll says 83% of voters would approve a government ID requirement. And it claims that 99% [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:42-05:00 January 11th, 2011|Civic Engagement, Link-of-the-Day, Media Feed & Press Releases, Voting Rights|12 Comments

Monday, January 10, 2011

Remember Tom DeLay, aka “The Hammer” – one of the most powerful men in Congress when George W. Bush was president? A judge sentenced the former US Representative from Texas to three years in prison for an elaborate scheme to funnel $190,000 in illegal corporate contributions into state elections. The money helped Republicans win a [...]

By Bob Hall| 2011-01-10T21:44:38-05:00 January 10th, 2011|Citizens United Case, Ethics, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics|1 Comment