federalism

(Cross-posted at the Appalachian Voices blog) I hope yall will forgive my temporary absence from the BlueNC scene. I've had quite a bit goin on, and Im glad to be back!.

According to the US Census Bureau, Appalachian States continue to be the poorest in the country.

Median annual incomes for the Southern and Central Appalachians:

Alabama- $45,768

Georgia- $49,745

Kentucky- $43,953

Maryland- $69,695

North Carolina- $47,112

In a Duke News oped, author Anne Mitchell Whisnant doesn't seem to know that the reason the Blue Ridge Parkway is underfunded is that NC's own Charles Taylor (R-11), chair of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, doesn't bring home the bacon he's constantly bragging about.

In fact, she doesn't even mention that the problems with underfunding the parkway has anything to do with him:

Either Sue Myrick's doctor told her she'd better release some of that hot air, or she has zero understanding of her role in government. (I'm open to persuasion either way.) Myrick is calling for the federalization of some Charlotte police to do federal immigration duties.

The problem for Myrick is that in 1997, the Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Scalia, declared that a federal power can not accomplish a federal mandate by commandeering state police officers. (521 U.S. 898) I'd love to hear why Sue believes this to be Constitutional.

Remember that naked power grab by NC's Republican US House members I warned you about? You know, the one where they circumvent the democratic process because they don't like the decisions we North Carolinians came up with on our own?

Five of North Carolina's seven Republican members of Congress want to cut off federal highway money to their state unless it makes it more difficult for illegal immigrants to get drivers licenses.