nc house

On Saturday, June 7, we'll be canvassing precinct 18-03, Al's home precinct, with Congressman David Price, who has graciously agreed to go to his constituents' doors and tell them why Al should be the next representative from the 36th district.

Let me introduce myself. I’m Al Swanstrom, and I’m running for the NC House of Representatives in District 36, which my friend Greer Beaty almost won in 2006. It covers parts of Cary, Apex, and Swift Creek.

This from the Obama folks today.

Raleigh, NC – Today 29 members of the North Carolina state legislature endorsed Senator Obama, citing his ability to inspire and bring people together to move our country forward, and put an end to the divisive politics of Washington that have stalled progress on the great challenges facing our nation. The legislators’ endorsements are the latest addition to Obama’s grassroots movement for change, which has come to encompass a broad spectrum of North Carolinians – from the grassroots level to representatives in United States Congress – who will vote for change on May 6.

Here's the list:

Apex Town Councilman Bryan Gossage sent his first shot across NC Representative Ty Harrell's bow last week in their race for the NC 41 seat. It's too bad he didn't do a better job of fact checking.

I don't know why it's so hard to get both of our illustrious houses in the legislature lined up on the right side of important issues. We had a helluva fight keeping the special interests out of the Senate on the transfer tax, but now it's the House that's out of whack on the landfills issue.

The N&O has a good editorial that covers most of the important points.

Late Tuesday night, The Southern Pines Pilot ran a story in which Joe Boylan called the rumors of his wild exploits baseless. The hard copy of the paper hit the stands on Wednesday. By Thursday, Joe had to issue retractions to two of his statements. Misrepresentations? Or Lies? Hmmm.....

I'm posting this to the front page. I don't think the headline makes it clear - this is a big deal. I think we can kiss the hairdresser goodbye. - RP

I don't know if the N&O thinks the legislative session is nearing and end or not, but today they burned some trees on the kind of wrap-up story usually reserved for post-mortems. But it's a good piece about our most excellent Speaker of the House.

Senate leader Marc Basnight is a fan of his counterpart in the House, Speaker Joe Hackney. But Basnight doesn't relish negotiating a $20 billion budget with him. Basnight, and, for that matter, Gov. Mike Easley, have ideas about how to get the budget impasse resolved. Hackney, in his first term as speaker, listens carefully. He's polite, plain-spoken and open to their ideas. But then he respectfully declines to cut a deal.

Joe Sinsheimer is continuing to do the hard work, pushing to get to the bottom of yet another stinky mess in the General Assembly. The Dome has a good take on the story:

Okay. It's crunch time. Last chance to do your duty.

I'm not usually an alarmist, so forgive me for raising holy hell this weekend about the complete and utter collapse of sanity in Raleigh with regard to the state budget. If you're not worried about the budget, you should be. And if you're not in action yet, it's time to get crackin'.

On Monday night, June 4th, the legislature will convene to consider the vast differences between the Senate's Republican budget and the slightly more progressive House budget. There will be a vote to determine whether the House concurs with the Senate.

Assuming the Republican government-haters hang together, which they will, only nine Democrats have to vote for the budget for it to be a done deal. I say again: Only nine Democrats have to sell out for this pathetic budget to move on to Governor Easley's desk.

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.