Phil Berger

Did you notice, we're in a drought. Via Binker we see that REPUBLICAN Phil Berger has called for Governor Easley to not approve Alcoa's request for dominance over local water resources because they don't provide enough jobs to North Carolina. Go to Binker to read the letter to the Governor, I'll wait.......

Okay, I'll admit it, I don't see the angle. For a Republican to stand up to big business (anyone remember the NFL ALCOA commercials? "We can't wait, we can't wait, for tomorroooooooooooooow, Alcoa can't wait!") and ask the Democratic governor to yank their operations in North Carolina, for all intents and purposes, boggles the mind. Berger says that "In 1958, when its current license was issued, Alcoa provided a number of jobs to North Carolina's citizens; sadly, this is no longer the case. In 2002, Alcoa laid off hundreds of North Carolina workers and no longer provides employment for a substantial number of our people."

One can only imagine that the message is a shot across the bow of outsourcers - if you take jobs out of North Carolina, just take your ball and go home, because we ain't playing. Am I missing something here, is there some hidden neocon agenda to shutting down Alcoa in North Carolina or has the moderate Republican reappeared in North Carolina after a half-century. Or, is it just all smoke and mirrors and vague sightings, like the ivory-billed-woodpecker?

"Do we really believe government spending creates prosperity?" Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger asked.

After coming up on the short end of the NC Senate budget negotiations, this quote of yours is flying around the interTubes like news of a Britney Spears wax job. I read it a dozen times this morning, and I feel compelled respond from the heart.

From where I sit in the peanut gallery, you and the likes of Dallas Woodhouse at NC AFP are WAY too trigger-happy in the prosperity department. You think having a picture of Ronnie Raygun on a website stands for something worthwhile. You think prosperity itself trumps every other possible motivation human beings can have, and so you push the greed agenda like there's no tomorrow. And in doing so, you actually increase the odds that there may in fact be no tomorrow in which you and yours can enjoy all that prosperity you're working for.

I'm not saying prosperity is bad. Of course not. I've worked my ass off for 30 years in pursuit of the good life, and I've been luckier than I deserve. But I know plenty of others who have worked just as much and are still stuck between a rock and a hard place. They live from hand to mouth, and the slightest wobble throws them under the bus. They get the flu and miss a few days of work and BOOM, they're screwed with high-interest debt and crappy credit ratings. They get a flat tire or a blown head gasket and BOOM, they're screwed again. They'd trade in their cars for decent mass transit in a heartbeat. They don't have the money to send their kids to college, and so the cycle continues.

Hounddog is not a good movie, in spite of it's beautiful North Carolina backdrop (it was filmed in New Hanover and Brunswick Counties). No studio at the Sundance film festival wanted to buy it. Walkouts were common during screenings in Park City, Utah. It's been recieving bad reviews. Most of the dislike for this movie is focused on a non-nude scene in which 12-year-old Dakota Fanning plays a nine-year-old character who is raped.

This film certainly has questionable merit. But according to prosecutors, it didn't break the law, and it's simply a bad film, not an exploitation flick. I'm no fan of Dakota Fanning's work, but I don't think I agree with the latest conservative crusade to review scrips for studios that want tax incentives to film in North Carolina.

GOVERNOR EASLEY HAS A GREAT IDEA!

Okay, before returning to that topic let's review a few facts.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau...

(1) Between 1978-80 and 1996-98 the income of North Carolinians whose incomes were in the bottom 20% rose by a nearly non-existent 0.1%, while the income of North Carolinians whose incomes were in the top 20% rose by 39.5%

(2) North Carolina ranks 17th out of the 50 states in having the greatest disparity between those in the top 20% of incomes, and those in the bottom 20%.

(3) The rate at which this income disparity is growing in North Carolina is 5.8%, among the highest in the country

Now, balanced against all of that, let's look at how the Bush tax cuts of 2001 were distributed by income group. (We'll skip an itemized list of percentages here since this graph tells the story at a glance. If you're looking for additional detail please consult the website of Citizens for Tax Justice.)