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In one of the most absurd abuses of logic from a General Assembly full of more abuses than anyone can count, Republicans want to charge 28,000 North Carolina residents an extra fee for owning hybrid cars.

An annual fee of $100 for electric car owners and $50 for hybrid car owners would be levied on state residents. The fee would raise $1.5 million for the state Department of Transportation in the upcoming year. State Senator Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, is a supporter of the measure, arguing that electric and hybrid car owners should not get a “free ride” by not paying state gas taxes...

“If they want to use the highways, we expect them to pay for the highways just like every other citizen that uses them,” Rabon said. “I don’t think anyone that owns these vehicles will balk at all.”

I have news for Senator Rabon. I will not only balk, I will also do everything I can to mount a class-action lawsuit against the government of North Carolina for discrimination, or perhaps just for plain stupidity.

Received via email

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

21 May 2013

Contact:

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, 919-682-4700
Mrs. Amina J. Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700
Atty. Jamie Phillips Cole, Public Policy Coordinator, 919-682-4700

Open Letter to NC Governor, Speaker of the NC House of Representatives and President Pro Tem of the NC Senate

The Honorable Pat McCrory
Governor, State of North Carolina

The Honorable Thom Tillis
Speaker of the NC House of Representatives

The Honorable Phil Berger
President Pro Tem of the NC Senate

Dear Governor McCrory, Speaker Tillis and President Pro Tem Berger:

Today we call on you to look into the eyes of the people and children affected by your policies of cynicism and politics of division and see the hurt they will reap in North Carolina. We demand that you meet with us and those you are hurting with your regressive policies.

Education:

Governor McCrory, Speaker Tillis and President Pro Tem Berger, reports say that you meet with the extreme right wing strategists of American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Today we ask you to meet with the parents whose children will not receive pre-K education this year. We ask you to meet with children who would go to even more underfunded schools due to a possible voucher program, expanded charter schools and budget cuts that would all drain resources from public education. We ask that you meet with the students who will suffer because of your efforts to defund and seriously dismantle public education.

Taxes:

We ask you to meet with those who will have to pay increased sales and service tax while millionaires get a tax break. Please look directly into the eyes of the people who are the working poor of this state who you raised taxes on when you slashed the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Voting Rights:

We ask you to meet with the elderly and the poor who will have a difficult time gathering the documents necessary to obtain a voter ID. We ask you to look these people in the eyes who have voted for decades and will now face barriers to the ballot.

Healthcare:

We assume you meet with lobbyists and lawyers. We ask you to meet with the patients who no longer will have healthcare coverage under your policy and the doctors who have sworn an oath to care for them.

Governor McCrory, Speaker Tillis and President Pro Tem Berger, we understand you meet with the Chamber of Commerce. We ask you to meet with the clergy who provide pastoral work to hundreds of thousands who will soon be without Medicaid or a basic economic safety net in this state. Instead they will have reduced unemployment benefits or no benefits at all.

We ask you to look the North Carolinians in the face whom your policies disregard, displace and attempt to disenfranchise. Look us in the eyes and tell us that you are doing this for the good of the whole as our State Constitution that you swore to uphold demands.

We respectfully await your response.

Yours in the Spirit of Truth and Justice,

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President

NC demonstration against GOP lawmakers grows-News & Observer http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/05/20/2906393/nc-demonstration-against-...

"Rep. John Blust, a Republican from Guilford County, peeked in on the demonstration and had words for the organizers within earshot.
'People have the right to voice their opinions, but they don’t have the right to force them on others,' Blust said before walking away."

In the words of Seth and Amy from SNL...really?!? You and your Republican team in the General Assembly have been forcing your opinions, religious beliefs and disregard of scientific facts on others since you have been in power. Do you even listen to yourself? Well, I do -- and have been for years. My files are filled with notes of your obtuse, brutish and exasperating litanies. But, this one, as they say, takes the proverbial cake.

Originally posted at ydnc.org. For those with tl;dr attention spans, here's a link to the poll itself - crosstabs and all.

Only 10% of North Carolina voters surveyed support a tax plan before the North Carolina Senate according to a Public Policy Polling poll.

81% of voters - including 79% of Republicans - oppose tax reform that would lower state income taxes, the corporate tax, and business franchise tax rates while cutting state spending, raising the tax on groceries by 225%, taxing over 100 goods and services that are not currently taxed, and taxing prescription drugs like any other product. Full results here.

"An overwhelming majority of North Carolina voters are opposed to Senator Phil Berger's working class tax hike," said YDNC President Sam Spencer. "Senate Republicans need to take a long, hard look at whether they're willing to pay the electoral price for supporting Berger's plan. Voters have no appetite for a Republican grocery tax hike."

Controversy fueled by greed:

Passions high around school voucher bill bit.ly/1a1pLSH

— WRAL NEWS in NC (@wral) May 21, 2013

Of course, one of the more outspoken proponents is an astroturfer heavily funded by RWI's and one of the authors of ALEC's Parent Trigger nonsense:

From Under the Dome.

One of the more intriguing poll numbers in the latest monthly Public Policy Polling survey due out later today: 45 percent. That's the portion of voters who believe the N.C. General Assembly is causing the state "national embarrassment."

Bound to be good for business, right?

The exact number would be 1500.

There has been much national coverage of how Senator Tom Apodaca has been shilling for car dealers to stifle competition in the automobile business. In case you missed it, this story epitomizes the corrupt influence of business interests on government policy.

From the state that brought you the nation’s first ban on climate science comes another legislative gem: a bill that would prohibit automakers from selling their cars in the state.

With his welcome leadership on public education, it appears Bob Etheridge must be running for something. Anybody got the inside scoop?

New blog on the scene (new to us anyway): Raleigh Public Record. Good stuff.

Lots of bad news below. Decent coverage of Moral Monday.

After Hurricane Sandy struck the greater New York/New Jersey shore, Republicans in Congress (including NC's finest Sen. Richard Burr) held up disaster aid funding for exactly 91 days, with the "good Senator" voting in the end against the aid bill.

It will be interesting to see how Mr. Burr approaches aid for Oklahoma tornado relief.