Link-of-the-Day

Former Gov. Mike Easley is likely in more trouble after a landmark ruling from the NC Court of Appeals in a case involving former Rep. Thomas Wright’s diversion of campaign money into his personal bank account. The unanimous decision opens the door for state prosecutors to levy felony charges of obstruction of justice against candidates [...]

Governor Bev Perdue signed the 2010 ethics bill into law on Monday. Media outlets especially praised new provisions that will help them by allowing more access to government meetings and to state personnel records; both provisions are compromises from more far-reaching proposals. The new law has a host of other provisions to increase disclosure of [...]

Twenty year after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the gap in the voter participation rates of people with and without disabilities has finally disappeared, according to new research. The Help American Vote Act also put money and mandates behind making polling places and voting machines accessible. The one-two punch of ADA & [...]

Here’s an idea: Target one company that uses your money to corrupt the election process - boycott them until they change. It seems the ideal target is named Target. According to MoveOn.org, “The Minneapolis-based retailer Target just gave over $150,000 to buy ads supporting state Rep. Tom Emmer, a far-right Republican candidate for governor. This [...]

Contrary to the rightwing mantra against taxes and big government, a new survey shows that Americans say they want better, not smaller government. They want government to solve problems related to energy, poverty, jobs and education, and they want more transparency and a closer evaluation of the effectiveness of spending. A second report by the [...]

In case you missed it, here is a link to Democracy North Carolina’s wrap up of the 2010 General Assembly session.

The Massachusetts legislature passed a bill to join a compact of other states that pledge to cast their Electoral College votes for the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote. Five others states are currently in the National Popular Vote compact. Once it has enough states to control a majority of the Electoral College [...]

The New Organizing Institute has an eight-page report summarizing findings of other studies about “Lost Voters, Lost Votes.” For example, 1.9 million voters did not cast a ballot in the 2008 election for “one simple and solvable reason: they did not know where to go.” Voting in the wrong precinct also blocked an additional 90,000 [...]

Monday, July 26, 2010: Several newspapers and blogs picked up our analysis of fundraising by candidates for Congress from North Carolina. Stories in the Greenville Daily Reflector and Washington Daily News included informative comments from Rep. Walter Jones and G. K. Butterfield about the burden of fundraising and concern about role of special interests. Jack [...]