NCGA

Pulling the wool over the public's eyes:

One reason for sustained support: fully 40 percent of all voters (48% of Republicans) agree that “cases of people voting in the name of someone else are commonplace,” despite the lack of hard evidence.

Not only has this misunderstanding been artificially enhanced by the propagandists on the right, it actually defies logic and common sense. Aside from the occasional unbalanced person, why would anybody risk being arrested (or at least hassled) just to throw one vote in the mix of thousands? It makes absolutely no sense on a cost-benefit scale, which means (wait for it) it would only happen on extremely rare occasions. Like, even more rare than getting struck by lightning. The people polled should understand that, just as they should also understand there must be another reason for Republicans to pursue it.

We'll start out with a little reality check:

Action_NC 10:30am via TweetDeck The new voucher bill in the #NCGA doesn't do much for students, but sure helps corporations. #ncpol #ncED actionnc.org/not_much_oppor…

The hypocrisy is mind-boggling. Republicans whine about poor performance, and cook up all sorts of ideas on how to micro-manage, belittle and economically strangle public school teachers. And then they turn around and throw money at private schools with no accountability attached to those dollars. And no protections for students, either:

Whether the GOP listens or not, some things must be said:

The Climate Convergence on Raleigh (CCR) will be a critical mass event of concerned citizens and organizations from across North Carolina that are fed up with inaction. We will rally, march, and meet with our legislators that have the responsibility of charting the course of our future. We must take it upon ourselves to enact the political changes necessary to avert further climate devastation.

As we've seen from the economic success of renewable energy, bringing our atmospheric carbon emissions down to 350 parts per million doesn't have to be painful, and it's damned sure less painful than losing a third of our state to the inevitable volume of ocean that will result from the loss of sea and land ice. Burying your head in the sand might bring short-term comfort, but when the waves start lapping at your neck, changing your mind will no longer be an option.

When the truth doesn't fit your agenda, it's time to make shit up:

But supporters of the rollback, including the bill's sponsor, Rep. Mike Hager, R-Rutherford, say the price of renewable energy is too high, and state taxpayers and ratepayers shouldn't be forced to subsidize the sector. Woodhouse said environmentalists are pushing green energy because they want power to be more expensive. "It is a goal of them to have higher electricity costs because they want to punish people for using power," he said. "They think using power is a bad thing. They want to punish people for flipping the switch."

Just when you think you've seen the archetypical, bottom-line worst of Dallas Woodhouse, he opens up that yap and gives you a new low-level of stupidity. Dude actually gets paid for this. Fortunately, you don't have to dig very deep to see the reality is exactly the opposite of what these demagogues are spouting:

Adam Linker reads the tea leaves:

We have seen this exact plan play out in a number of states. In Kentucky, there is chaos. The state auditor there began a probe when he heard reports that small medical providers needed new lines of credit to stay open. In the first several months of implementation, the auditor discovered, managed-care companies received $708 million from the state and paid out just $420 million in claims.

When you have a multiple-tier system with a private entity disbursing public funds to other private entities, that pie is going to get sliced to death before it gets to the hands-on care provider. Again, it ain't rocket science. And it's not like NC doesn't already have a disaster of its own to reference:

And by disseminating disinformation, it made liars out of a bunch of misguided volunteers, as well:

RALEIGH, NC–4:55 PM, Friday, April 12, 2013. Late this afternoon, we learned that some of our findings, revealed at the April 10 public Legislative hearing, may be inaccurate; so we plan to issue a full report after completing an audit. While we regret this human error and apologize for any embarrassment it may have caused to the presenters and to election officials, we caution the public against losing sight of the undeniable fact that North Carolina’s voter rolls are so corrupted that, without an effective voter ID law, it will be impossible to know who is really voting.

That's what's known as a logical leap: to admit your information is corrupted by inaccuracy, and then immediately follow that admission with a statement of "undeniable fact". This is not the first time DeLancey has been confounded by the truth:

Pimping cheap power while raising our rates:

On Tuesday, Duke named John Fremstad of Orlando, Fla., to head its data-center recruiting efforts. The program has been an enormous success in North Carolina, where Duke (NYSE:DUK) has been a major player in closing 15 data-center deals.

I'm not sure squandering our resources should be described as an "enormous success", and I'm pretty sure other residential customers would agree with me:

Because you know, it's not really a free market if you can't buy legislation, too:

House Bill 640, filed by Iredell Republican Robert Brawley, would roll back many of the ethics reforms passed by state lawmakers in the wake of the Speaker Jim Black scandal of 2006. The measure would repeal bans on gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers, and relax requirements that lobbyists disclose such gifts.

What's the reasoning this time? Well, these lobbyists already have to report to their corporate masters. Who are we to get involved in an internal private sector matter? Isn't some conservative think-tank doing a "bad bill of the week" thing? I'm waiting.