It’s all about the Benjamins

Today is the deadline for state politicians and political action committees to file their campaign finance reports with the State Board of Elections covering the last six months of 2009. Many of them may not be posted until next week, but there are some interesting nuggets from reports that are already available.

Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight raised $329,695 in the non-election year. It’s never too early to try to buy influence.

Just over $73,000 of the money Basnight raised came from PACs, including the allowable maximum of $4,000 from the PACs of Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the Farm Bureau and Citizens for Justice, formerly known as the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Basnight also received the customary $4,000 from Citizens for Higher Education, the group of wealthy supporters of UNC-Chapel Hill who continue to lobby against repealing the in-state tuition provision for out of state athletes that costs taxpayers $12 million a year. 

Basnight also received $4,000 from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and $3,000 from the PAC of the lobbying firm McGuire Woods, where Ruffin Poole worked and where former Governor Mike Easley is currently employed.

Basnight handed out a total of $22,700 in bonuses to his legislative staff in the last six months of 2009. That brings the total bonuses for his staff for the year to $45,600. There’s nothing illegal about that, but it’s a little troubling to have big donors and PACs in effect helping to pay the staff of the man who runs the Senate.

Basnight has $309,827 in his account as the 2010 election year begins and the fundraising starts in earnest.

House Speaker Joe Hackney raised $270,000, $86,000 of it from PACs, including the PACs of Bank of America, Citizens for Justice, and Duke Energy.

Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger’s report was not yet available. House Minority Leader Paul Stam raised $26,665.

Governor Beverly Perdue raised $270,000 in the last six months of 2009, most of it through the State Democratic Party, which provided in-kind contributions of consulting, research, and professional services, whatever that is.

Perdue has $530,257 on hand at the end of 2009 and is not facing reelection until 2012.

The State Republican Party raised $161,000 for the last six months of 2009. The State Democratic Party raised $560,000. Progress Energy’s PAC gave $25,000 to both parties.

Wading through all the campaign reports will make your head spin, but wait until next year when the corporations start spending their money in big chunks to buy our elections.

From the fringe

The fringe was all abuzz this week, calling Obama names after his speech and proclaiming that he is so unpopular that he is already a lame duck president with no chance of being reelected.

Odd that all the Obama bashers didn’t mention that Obama’s approval rating is roughly the same as their hero Ronald Reagan’s approval rating was at the same stage of his presidency.

Rep. Bryan Holloway is still scheduled to appear at a right-wing town hall meeting next month sponsored by groups with websites filled with offensive and racist language.  One of the groups is NC Freedom whose website says it provides “news and opinions for North Carolina patriots.”

The site includes the text of the group’s “Freedom Charter.” Article III, Section Five reads “Capitalism is the only economic system compatible with liberty. Any attempt to incorporate altruism or collectivism is a violation of 1, 2, 3 and 4.” 

Altruism?  That’s bad? Here’s a common definition —“the principle of unselfish concern for the welfare of others.”   There is apparently no place for that in a capitalistic system —so ahead and abolish the food banks, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters.

Maybe Rep. Holloway can introduce anti-altruism legislation next session to stop this plague of compassion that infects our society.

If that’s not enough, two of the values listed in the charter are cleanliness and silence.  You can never be clean enough if you are a patriot.

It’s too bad more of the supporters of the group don’t practice the virtue of silence.

A note of thanks

Today N.C. Policy Watch bids farewell to the incomparable Annette Plummer, who for the last five years has been the person who makes sure you get this column every day.

Annette has done a million things behind the scenes to make N.C. Policy Watch run and there’s no way we could have functioned without her.

We all wish her the best as she takes her considerable talents on to the colder and more mountainous terrain of Utah.

Thanks Annette.