Link-of-the-Day – Page 49 – Democracy North Carolina

Friday, December 17, 2010

Ten years ago this week, the US Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore turned over the White House to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, the losers of the national popular vote. The blatantly political decision to stop the Florida recount launched a new era of anti-social ideologues undermining the rights of real people in [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:43-05:00 December 17th, 2010|Citizens United Case, Ethics, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics, Voting Rights|0 Comments

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Get ready: redistricting is coming! Redistricting is the process of redrawing the boundaries of political districts to make their population sizes roughly equal after the Census numbers are released. It can be a mischief filled adventure. What people get included or excluded in a district will heavily impact who gets elected and how that district’s [...]

By Bob Hall| 2010-12-16T13:08:00-05:00 December 16th, 2010|Link-of-the-Day, Redistricting|1 Comment

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The Coffee Party USA is gaining strength, percolating from the ground up, and it’s now joining forces with Public Citizen, People for the American Way and others to hold actions around the nation on January 21 to “commemorate” the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision. (In another sign of disgust with buy-partisan [...]

By Bob Hall| 2010-12-15T16:29:49-05:00 December 15th, 2010|Citizens United Case, Civic Engagement, Link-of-the-Day|1 Comment

Monday, December 13, 2010

Our friend Gene Nichol at UNC Law School has an op-ed column in today’s News & Observer that not only says democracy is under attack by the money-is-speech ideologues on the US Supreme Court; his words (contrary to his everyday deeds) could even lead you to think it’s time to declare total defeat. Indeed, there is [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:43-05:00 December 13th, 2010|Citizens United Case, FENA, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics, Voter-Owned Elections|3 Comments

Friday, December 10, 2010

This is a level of corruption that we don’t often see: The new government in Nigeria wants to charge Dick Cheney, the former vice president and chairman of Halliburton, in connection with $180 million in bribes paid to Nigerian lawmakers. The lawmakers awarded a $6 billion construction contract for a natural gas pipeline to Halliburton [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:43-05:00 December 10th, 2010|Citizens United Case, Disclosure, Ethics, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics|1 Comment

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Fred Hobbs of Pinehurst, a former state senator and co-owner of a civil engineering firm that boasts of its connections to high-level state officials, today paid the largest civil fine ever levied by the State Board of Elections - $150,000. After being exposed, Hobbs readily admitted he used a money laundering scheme to funnel $148,000 [...]

By Bob Hall| 2010-12-09T20:57:32-05:00 December 9th, 2010|Disclosure, Ethics, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics|1 Comment

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Another Duke Energy executive has resigned in connection with a too-cozy arrangement with a top utility regulator in Indiana, where the company has a huge operation. The regulator was overseeing approval of Duke’s $2.9 billion coal gasification plant while also negotiating a job offer with the company. Hmmm. Do you think that’s a problem? Indiana’s [...]

By Bob Hall| 2010-12-08T20:42:07-05:00 December 8th, 2010|Ethics, Link-of-the-Day|1 Comment

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Following up yesterday’s post about the NC Republican’s quest to ban certain citizens from voting, here’s a marvelous account from the Institute for Southern Studies that unpacks the disturbing parallels between the Democrats’ anti-black, anti-poor Jim Crow laws of the early 20th Century and the Republicans’ voter suppression campaign of the early 21st Century. Highly [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:43-05:00 December 7th, 2010|Get Out the Vote, Link-of-the-Day, Voting Rights|1 Comment

Monday, December 6, 2010

During their first 100 days in control of the NC General Assembly, Republican leaders say they will push through a bill to require anyone who votes to first show a NC driver’s license or other photo ID. They think it’s a “common sense” way to “stop voter fraud” - but consider who is most affected [...]

By Bob Hall| 2010-12-06T21:27:01-05:00 December 6th, 2010|Civic Engagement, Link-of-the-Day, Voting Rights|2 Comments

Friday, December 3, 2010

Who voted in the 2010 election in North Carolina? A county-by-county profile of who voted - by race, sex, age and party – shows that turnout among registered Republicans in North Carolina increased by 11 percentage points over 2006, the last mid-term election, but by only 5 points for Democrats. But the Democrats can’t blame [...]

By Bob Hall| 2010-12-03T19:36:34-05:00 December 3rd, 2010|Get Out the Vote, Link-of-the-Day, Youth Vote|0 Comments