Link-of-the-Day – Page 9 – Democracy North Carolina

LOD: Decline of Civilization

On the same day that the New York Times posted its widely circulating, must-read editorial about the demise of North Carolina as “a beacon of farsightedness in the South,” a more thoughtful column by veteran political reporter Tom Edsall received too little attention. His essay is titled, “The Decline of Black Power in the South,” [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:18-05:00 July 11th, 2013|Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics, Pay to Play, Redistricting, Voting Rights|0 Comments

LOD: The VRA’s Economic Benefits

The day after the Supreme Court’s disappointing decision on the Voting Rights Act, Portside.org posted an article documenting the less talked-about economic benefits of the VRA. In addition to an increase in African-American elected leaders, passage of the VRA correlates to improvements in the quality of life for millions of African Americans and other Southerners. [...]

By Bob Hall| 2013-07-09T15:28:46-04:00 July 9th, 2013|Civic Engagement, Link-of-the-Day, Redistricting, Voting Rights|0 Comments

LOD: Conservatives Gone Wild

Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show has two recent segments on “conservatives gone wild” in North Carolina. One features the “radical restructuring” of its election laws and another focuses on the state Senate’s “sneak attack” on women’s constitutionally protected access to an abortion. A longer segment places the North Carolina attack in the context of similar sinister [...]

By Bob Hall| 2013-07-05T06:18:06-04:00 July 5th, 2013|Civic Engagement, Ethics, Link-of-the-Day, Voting Rights|1 Comment

LOD: The 1% of the 1%

The parasite sucking life from the body politic is smaller than the 1%, according to a new study of the political money suppliers. The Sunlight Foundation found that just 1% of the top 1% gave 28% of all the disclosed political contributions influencing the 2012 federal elections - $1.7 billion of the nearly $6 billion [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:18-05:00 June 29th, 2013|Citizens United Case, Disclosure, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics, Pay to Play|0 Comments

LOD: Supremely Disappointing

Here’s the National Journal's real world analysis of what today’s US Supreme Court decision means regarding the Voting Rights Act – plus one pro-Court overview and a video report from WRAL-TV. The Court’s 5-4 conservative majority did not rule directly on the constitutionality of Section 5’s requirement of preclearance. Section 5 says certain jurisdictions with a history of discrimination must get pre-approval [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:18-05:00 June 25th, 2013|Civic Engagement, Link-of-the-Day, Media Feed & Press Releases, Redistricting, Voting Rights|0 Comments

LOD: Mistake or Lie, Damage Done

More details are coming out about how Art Pope intervened two weeks ago to kill the judicial public financing program. To stop Rep. Jonathan Jordan’s amendment that would have saved the program, it’s now apparent that Pope misled Jordan with a crucial falsehood - some might say a lie, although perhaps Pope was misinformed himself. [...]

By Bob Hall| 2013-06-25T09:10:58-04:00 June 25th, 2013|Ethics, Judicial Elections, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics|0 Comments

LOD: Light and Darkness

As Duke Energy travels to Winston-Salem and other parts of the state to justify its rate hike request, NC WARN has obtained the records behind the request – and they include hundreds of thousands of dollars for Duke expenses that should be charged to its stockholders, not to customers like you. Expenses like $270,000 for [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:18-05:00 June 20th, 2013|Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Link-of-the-Day, Money in Politics|2 Comments

LOD: Kiss for Cash?

Imagine speed dating adapted to the world of political fundraising and policymaking. It’s happening here in North Carolina routinely, thanks to the courtship of lobbying firms with wealthy clients and politicians eager for their cash. In identical front-page stories, the Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer described one such event on May 10, 2012: [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:18-05:00 June 19th, 2013|Disclosure, Link-of-the-Day, Lobbying, Money in Politics, Pay to Play|0 Comments

LOD: Profitable Loans

The consumer lending industry in North Carolina finally achieved its goal of raising interest rates and fees on small loans, despite opposition from the NC Banking Commissioner, NC Attorney General, and numerous consumer groups. The Associated Press says the industry paid about $1.5 million for an army of 20 lobbyists to sell its message to General [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:21-05:00 June 14th, 2013|Link-of-the-Day, Lobbying, Money in Politics, Pay to Play|0 Comments

LOD: The Pope’s Intervention

Wow! Yesterday, Art Pope personally intervened to stop an amendment that would have saved the judicial public financing program from certain death. He came to the House Speaker’s office, pretending to act on behalf of the Governor in his role as McCrory's Budget Director. But the amendment had NO impact on the state budget. Pope [...]

By Bob Hall| 2017-01-03T12:05:21-05:00 June 13th, 2013|Ethics, Judicial Elections, Link-of-the-Day, Media Feed & Press Releases, Money in Politics|0 Comments