Amidst crushing deficit, Tillis lavishes staff with huge raises

Apparently "living within our means" is a subjective term:

House Speaker Thom Tillis in the last few months handed out raises as high as 27 percent to half his staff after vowing in January to set an example for others in state government by cutting his office payroll.

I expect Tillis et al will have a hard time justifying these excesses in the days to come. But today, we're going to take a little side-trip and look at two men: One, a relatively seasoned investigative journalist, and the other a propagandist Pope puppet:

Rep. Mike Stone misleads media and the public

Bitching about a letter he never received:

Earlier that day, Stone came to the class and asked the teacher for his daughter’s letter, Williams said. “I think this whole thing took legs when Representative Stone released his daughter’s letter,” Williams said.

Bolding mine. That's right, this "letter" was never mailed, Stone went to the school and took it. And then he proceeded to put on a dog and letter show, not once clarifying that the letter was never sent to him:

Bingham backpeddles on speeding story

Joining the bulk of his GOP colleagues who believe telling lies is preferable to the alternatives:

NC's anti-abortion bill scrutinized

Mother Jones pokes under this rock of a bill:

What's more interesting is what North Carolina's bill doesn't say. For example, it doesn't make any distinctions for pregnancies that are the result of rape or incest. So a 16-year-old girl who's been impregnated by her stepfather would have to go through the same waiting period, and hear the same information about adoption, as any other woman. (Note: the bill defines "woman" as "a female human, whether or not she is an adult")

Hat-tip to underwoodchamp for the sweet Tweet.

Friday fracking video

NC Conservation Network public alert

SB 781 would undo hundreds of critical protections for our natural areas by creating a mountain of red tape for state agencies. Essentially bringing many key protections down to the federal minimum requirements; a move only big polluters can love.

Go here to tell your government how you feel about this irresponsible bill.

More strong-arm tactics at the General Assembly

It's a good thing the Governer is in charge of NC's National Guard, and not the wing-nuts:

Water usage skyrockets as drought looms

Consumer-driven society freaks out over potential restrictions:

“In the past several weeks we’ve been slammed with water customers irrigating lawns,” said Harold Blizzard, Craven County manager.

“We’re just not able to pump it fast enough,” said Blizzard. “The demand is so great our elevated water storage tanks are unable to fully recover overnight from the previous day's usage.”

This is not what they had in mind when they said "It's time to prepare for drought conditions."

"Our Children Are Worth It" tv spot

Despite GOP rhetoric, teaching assistants already being cut

Republican obstinacy forcing hard decisions at the county level:

BlueNC

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