I don't know if I read this right, but dang. It's big news.
The Wake County Superior Court just ruled that two amendments passed in November, Voter ID and Tax Cap, are INVALID. The Court ruled the NC Legislature was not legally constituted (because of gerrymandering) and its actions on these two amendments should be voided.
Opportunity Scholarships, approved in 2013, provide up to $4,200 a year to help low-income parents send their children to private schools. The program has never used all the money allocated, leaving millions unspent each year, but a spending plan approved in 2017 calls for increasing the budget by $10 million a year through 2027, the Observer recently reported.
“We’ve got substantial demand,” Berger said. “I think the growth that’s currently built into the program is something that we don’t need to go backwards on.” Although he acknowledged that there haven’t been enough eligible applicants to claim all the money budgeted, he said that’s not a reason to rein in spending. “I think it’s reason to maybe modify the rules,” he said.
I take very little satisfaction that I predicted just that a few weeks ago. It was almost inevitable, considering how unethical Republicans can be when engineering their pet projects. I also take little satisfaction in being proved right RE my concerns about Joel Ford:
Some of America’s largest charities have been secretly giving millions of dollars to hate groups for years. Backed by anonymous donors, the charitable gift funds have been funneling funds to white nationalists and anti-LGBTQ groups.
An investigation by Sludge reveals that Donors Trust, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Schwab Charitable Fund, and Vanguard Charitable have given nearly $11 million to 34 groups classified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Most reading this won't have to worry they might be inadvertently supporting these groups, because these funds are mainly geared towards the wealthy. But if you have a modest portfolio managed by someone other than yourself, you should check anyway. Here are some of the hate-filled groups that money is funding:
MARK HARRIS THROWS IN THE TOWEL AFTER SEVERAL KNOCKDOWNS: After a stunning reversal by Republican Mark Harris, North Carolina election officials Thursday unanimously ordered a new election in the 9th Congressional District, which has gained national attention as the last unresolved House race for the 2018 election. The state elections board’s vote came after four days of testimony about what the board’s staff called “a coordinated, unlawful, and substantially resourced absentee ballot scheme” in Bladen and Robeson counties. And it came less than an hour after a startling announcement by Harris, who had been fighting to have his apparent victory certified. “I believe a new election should be called,” Harris told the board, citing testimony he’d heard during the week. “It’s become clear to me the public’s confidence in the 9th District seat general election has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted.“ https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article226561504.html
In his shot-across-the-bow statement, Berger listed what he called seven fictional claims by Democratic supporters of expansion, along with what he touted as facts refuting the claims. It appears many of Berger’s points come from the right-leaning Foundation for Government Accountability.
Berger said Democratic claims “are simply misleading at best and purposely deceptive in some instances.”
We've had several years of looking on longingly at other states (who aren't plagued by ideologues), and the evidence is overwhelming. Expanding Medicaid is not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do, as well. Here are a couple of Berger's misfires:
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