gregflynn's blog

Paul “Skip” Stam has idiosyncratic notions about case law. Encountering obstacles to the conservative agenda in established law, or a constitution, he has reached through them for obsolete iterations of dogma in archaic documents such as the Magna Carta, the Code of Justinian or more recently, as with the marriage amendment, the Acts of the Albemarle. Ignoring the lineage of precedent, he finds the future in history’s discards.

It is a curious affectation that Stam dotes on quirks in outdated pre-revolutionary law to justify assaults on post-revolutionary freedoms and liberties. His royalist tendencies bespeak an aristocratic and autocratic disdain for civil government rather than any zeal for individual freedoms. In supporting the drive to restrict the human right of individuals to form partnerships for life he has oft quoted the 1669 Acts of the Albemarle as the foundation of marriage in North Carolina. How quaint and reckless to claim a foundation on the shifting sands of history in the Albemarle Sound.

Within the last hour I filed a formal complaint with the NC State Board of Elections regarding the failure of the NC Conservative Voice PAC to file any documents with the Board within 10 days of transactions as required by election law. The PAC, run by Nathan Tabor, has apparently been in existence since early March. The text of my complaint follows:

  
  
  
  Flush Rush

The Pre-K lunch story from Hoke County has been super-sized into a life of its own, and the umbilical cord connecting it with reality has been severed. Far from being an example of big government intrusion, the incident is really an example of the unintended consequences of short sighted shrinking of government, and de-regulation.

The construction and operation of childcare facilities and K-12 schools bear a deceptive superficial similarity to each other but the statutes, rules and codes governing them are quite different. The differences have chafed public school systems with Pre-K programs to the extent that many of those rules have been relaxed over the years as they apply to such programs in public schools. For example Session Law 2009-123 provided that public school facilities could be used for three and four year old preschool students without modifications normally required for child care facilities.

North Carolina has $4,000,000 to help voters sitting unused and unavailable until the General Assembly appropriates $660,000 in matching funds.

The $4,000,000 in federal funds via the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002, is intended to help administer the 2012 elections with poll worker training, testing of voting equipment, and other technical support needs.

Take action to release the HAVA funds by contacting legislators, via NC Conservation Network:
Tell state legislators to release the HAVA funds.

Information on HAVA in North Carolina from Democracy NC HAVA Funds Memo

• HAVA Funds Factsheet
• County Boards of Elections Letter
• HAVA Letter Press Release
• HAVA Heart Flyer

Commentary on HAVA by Action NC: What's in your wallet?

Wander onto the pages of NCPoliticalBeat.com and you could be forgiven for thinking you had stumbled upon a new independent source for political news in North Carolina. Indeed several people whose opinions I trust follow the site via Facebook and Twitter. The site itself, in its FAQ section posts this Q&A:

Q: Is NC Political Beat affiliated with a party?
A: No. NCPB is a non-partisan news source and is in no way affiliated with any party, electioneering organization, or non-profit.

Yet a scratch of the surface reveals that the website is registered to the Battleground Group, a GOP political consulting firm based in Florida which boasts of being at the center of the 2010 $1.2 million campaign by NC Republicans to retake the NC House. Money, and truth, were no obstacle.

Attend any legislative meeting at the NC General Assembly related to immigration or documentation of identity and you’ll likely find James Johnson in the front row, shoulder to shoulder with Ron Woodard of NC LISTEN and/or William Gheen of ALIPAC. Johnson, an advocate of Arizona style immigration controls, is President/Founder of North Carolinians For Immigration Reform & Enforcement (NCFIRE). Described variously as a non-profit organization, accepting tax deductible donations, and specifically as a 501(c)3 organization*, NCFIRE is curiously MIA when it comes to documentation of its own identity.

When Republican Dale Folwell, Speaker Pro-Tem in a press conference on August 30th described the introduction of a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage he made a curious statement about the lineage of traditional marriage in North Carolina:

We all know about the time tested definition of marriage in North Carolina going back to 1655.

He was no doubt referring to the year that Nathaniel Batts, a fur trader and land speculator, became North Carolina’s first permanent European settler. Batts came from Virginia to establish residence in 1655 in a 20 foot square brick house with 2 rooms and a chimney on the Bertie peninsula between the Roanoke and Chowan rivers, noted in maps of the time as "Batts House".

Full video (27 minutes) via Barry Smith of M2M Politics of the press conference today at the NC General Assembly where Republican Representatives Dale Folwell, Speaker Pro-Tem, and a posse of religiots, continue the introduction of a state constitutional amendment to ban something that is already banned in North Carolina: gay marriage.

This press conference had many low points. Johnny Hunter's anatomy lesson with locks and keys begins at 05:20. The full text of Barry Smith's M2M Politics report is posted as: Black ministers back gay marriage ban

Full video (31 minutes) of the press conference yesterday at the NC General Assembly where Republican Representatives Dale Folwell, Speaker Pro-Tem, and Paul "Skip" Stam, Majority Leader, announced the upcoming introduction of a state constitutional amendment to ban something that is already banned in North Carolina: gay marriage. Meanwhile President Barack Obama declared federal disasters in seven NC counties as Hurricane Irene destroyed more than 1,000 homes, decimated NC Highway 12 and croplands were flooded, with initial damage estimates of over $70 $190 $400 million. Glad to know they've got their priorities straight.