What's ahead for North Carolina
A hopefully motivational- and helpful- guide to the North Carolina primary
Here are some things I need to tell you right this second.
At this very moment, those of us in North Carolina have a glimmer of hope that we can begin to recover some of our dignity and our position as at least one Southern state with a balanced head on its statewide shoulders. We used to be respected for this, but that’s all changed.
The primary is on May 6th and is critical in determining the outcome of the upcoming general election. And get this- early voting begins today, April 24th!
Just as an example of the impact that primaries can have, remember Amendment One (which changed the NC Constitution to say that marriage is only between a man and a woman)? Well it passed in a primary, not a general election.
Primaries are not just fluff.
Oh, and heads up concerning the confusion surrounding the new and not-improved North Carolina Voter ID laws- no one in North Carolina is required to show a photo ID until 2016. You may lawfully be asked if you have a photo ID, but you are not required to show it. You may decline to show it at this time if you choose.
Onward to someone you hope not to do business with.
One of the critical races in this primary is for the North Carolina Supreme Court. There are three justices running. Since judicial races are non-partisan, you will not know from the ballot that two of the justices on the ballot in this primary are Republicans and one is a Democrat.
Justice ROBIN HUDSON is the Democratic justice running.
Two winners will come out of the primary and go on to the general election in November.
If Justice Robin Hudson wins, then there will be an opportunity in November to elect a Democrat to the NC Supreme Court. Otherwise, more Republicans will be in place to further entrench voter suppression, redistricting (i.e. re-drawing district lines to favor Republican votes), and court-sanctioned citizen oppression.
Timing is everything.
You can vote from now until May 6th. Requests for absentee ballots must be in (by mail to your county board of elections) by April 29th. If you have a kid in college, you may request an absentee ballot for him/her. I suggest you go straight to your county board of elections to do your early voting and carry your kid’s absentee ballot request with you to turn in while you're there.
By the way, don’t just tell your kid who to vote for- explain what’s going on and why it’s important to put down the red Solo cup for a minute and go find two witnesses and fill out the ballot to VOTE.
"I just can't deal with that right now."
Ignoring our state’s serious and frightening issues will not make them go away.
Ignoring this mess will only mean that someone else will make your decisions for you. They will do so in their own best interest and not in yours. If you care about jobs, teachers, human rights, and the beautiful North Carolina environment, just to name a few things at risk, then you’d better speak up before it’s too late.
Yes, there is such a thing as too late.
Please don’t be one of those people who spends all kinds of time researching your next car or flat-screen TV or smart phone and then says you don’t care about politics- or that it’s all corrupt anyway- or that it’s just too confusing- or you don't have time for that stuff.
You can’t rightfully bitch about one single thing if you keep your head in the sand. No one, but no one in this state cares about you and your family as much as you do.
A bad trip down memory lane.
The entire North Carolina Legislature is now Republican dominated (for the first time since Reconstruction in 1867) and has done tremendous damage to the state in a shockingly quick amount of time.
For example:
North Carolina now ranks 46th in the nation in education dollars spent per capita.
Teacher pay is being cut and “frozen,” resulting in teachers fleeing the state- or deciding not go to North Carolina in the first place. Why bother? The state ranks 47th in the nation in teacher pay and no longer compensates teachers for a Master’s degree.
Teacher’s assistants are being cut and class size limits are being eliminated. (My daughter's middle school class has 30 students- there were 32 before two of them moved.)
Services to disabled children are being slashed.
North Carolina now has the 5th highest unemployment rate in the nation- but almost 200,000 people have lost unemployment benefits in North Carolina, while those still receiving them have had their benefits cut by more than 25%. This is supposed to get people to find new jobs more quickly.
These and many other decisions have been made in order to balance the state’s budget without it having to come out of the pockets of the wealthy (those reporting about $340,000 or more per year).
Federal money to expand Medicaid was refused, leaving those (about 500,000 people) who fall between Medicaid requirements and the poverty level still uninsured. This move was designed to make a point about Obamacare. How mature.
Energy efficiency standards have been drastically lowered (in spite of increasing evidence of the likelihood of climate-related catastrophes in the state) so that corporations can rake in the money at the expense of our natural resources.
Those in the top income bracket in the state have received a 25% reduction in their taxes, while the majority of North Carolinians (about 80%) have received a 3% reduction in taxes- but at the cost of the elimination of the Earned Income Credit for almost a million residents.
All of this means that about 80% of North Carolinians get to keep less of their money than ever and get fewer benefits from paying taxes. Yay.
Sumpin' just ain't right here.
Here’s who is currently running the place:
In the North Carolina Senate, there are 50 seats.
31 seats are held by Republicans.
19 seats are held by Democrats.
Phil Berger, Republican from Rockingham County is the state’s Senate leader.
In the North Carolina House of Representatives, there are 120 seats.
77 seats are held by Republicans
43 seats are held by Democrats
Thom Tillis, Republican from Mecklenburg County is the Speaker and is currently vying for Kay Hagan’s (Democrat) seat in the U.S. Senate.
As you well know, North Carolina’s governor is Republican Pat McCrory.
McCrory worked for Duke Energy for 28 years before he ran for governor, which is pretty much why he can’t bring himself to do anything but pretend he cares about Duke Energy’s little coal ash problem.
And finally, there's the real boss man in North Carolina, Art Pope, our mighty Budget Director.
Mr. Pope is, coincidentally, the largest political donor in North Carolina.
In addition to the job he bought himself in the state legislature, Pope owns Roses and Maxway, along with some smaller discount stores. He places these stores in areas where the median income is under $40,000 and the population is at least 25% African American. This might be fine, except for the $40 million that has been linked to his stores and has been donated to groups that have pushed all the devastating moves such as gutting unemployment benefits, health services for women and children, education dollars, environmental regulations, progress in racial justice, and more.
Not your usual service-oriented businessman.
It all boils down to this.
I’m assuming you care about the state as much as I do, so if you want to live out the rest of your life without having your rights and money stripped from you (I’m not exaggerating) and your state destroyed for everyone but the state’s very wealthiest residents, then you’d better get up and do something about it.
Get yourself to a polling place right now and vote in the primary.
If you won’t do it for yourself because you’re just too busy or confused or tired of it all, then do it for your kids so that they won’t have to move up north or to Sweden or some place just to live a good life.
NC voters, follow this link to find out exactly who will be on your specific ballot.