budget

Chris Fitzsimon at NC Policy watch has a concise preview of the upcoming legislative session and the fuzzy fuzzy budget picture.

It adds up to a challenging session for lawmakers, who will be meeting with one eye focused on their own re-election campaigns and in the shadow of a gubernatorial race that is almost certain to include misleading and simplistic rhetoric about budgets and taxes.

In which we examine the record of a man who really doesn't get the economy.

In which we have more fun spending $2.4 trillion than they did.

Following up on the Rural Hope Initiative, BRAC Budget Reform is the Second Installment of Bev's Building a New North Carolina series

Two weeks ago Bev announced her Building a New North Carolina series here on BlueNC. Yesterday, the campaign released the second installment of Building a New North Carolina, BRAC Budget Reform. This initiative is modeled after the federal BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) process. It is a major budget reform that will reduce the influence of special interests, allow us to eliminate wasteful spending and enable us to focus spending on our most pressing needs.

The federal BRAC process is intensively competitive with each state fighting for their own military bases. But since the beginning of the process in the late ‘80s, Congress has never blocked a BRAC package. The required up-or-down vote with no amendments is an especially good tool to bypass the barriers of special interest influence that often stymie policy change in the legislative process.

Here is how it would work in North Carolina:

Frontpaged by A. I am eager to feature real ideas and will do so for any candidate.

In which we discuss the realities of trying to follow moving vehicles from space.

Among the details: Transfer tax included, top income tax rate cut included, sales tax hike made permanent and could go higher.

With the GOP in charge in the Senate, I guess this is the best we can expect...

fp by gf :)

In Virginia, the US Navy, the Governor and the Senators put all their cards on the table about possible sites for Outlying Landing Fields. In North Carolina, we know sites are still being considered, but the Governor and our two do-nothing senators decide it's better if We the People don't know what they're planning.

The legislative Black Caucus finds itself on the defensive because of possible conflicts of interest in how scholarships are awarded. The leadership goes into hunker-down mode, fully expecting the crisis of confidence to blow over.

A Republican representative in the NC House RESIGNED this week, while leaders refuse to explain why to We the People. They are claiming this is a "personnel" issue. Sorry, but that dog don't hunt. This is not a "personnel" issue. This is a public servant behaving like a pervert in a public office. An elected representative was forced to resign by the leaders in his party - and they don't explain why.

In which we discuss an exciting new way to teach children to pay their bills

-frontpaged because it is so horribly, unbelievably, real (RP).

an excerpt (RP):

the Chula Vista (a suburb of San Diego, California) Elementary School District’s “alternate meals” plan, which works something like this:

If a parent owes the district more than $5 in meal money, the district will send a letter home, put a sticker on the child’s hand, and eventually, hire collection agencies.

If all that fails, the district will basically...repossess lunch.
How is that possible, you ask?

When you're looking to understand the inner workings and hidden mechanisms of what's happening in Raleigh these days, there's no more reliable guide than Mark Binker. Mark has a day-job as a Mainstream Media Mogul, but more important, he's a blogger who uses his posts to cut to the chase about the antics of the honorables in the General Assembly.

Go read two of Mark's recent posts. One is a quick recap of the state of things on the budget, and one is an amusing review of more Republican whining. Make sure you bookmark his blog for daily review.

That said, here's my take on what's ahead: With the Senate on the verge of passing its "done in the dark" budget, the next round in Raleigh will be a three-way slugfest between the Senate, the House and the Governator. Our job would appear to be simple: Stand with Joe Hackney and the NC House.