Fitzsimon File Archive

It may surprise you to learn that state lawmakers in North Carolina are raking in the dough as part of their legislative service, making “above average pay” according to the folks at the Locke Foundation and the Civitas Institute, well above the salaries of both state employees and workers in the private sector.

The Labor Day weekend is almost upon us, marking the real beginning of the fall political campaigns, though the distortions paid for by special interest money are already filling up mailboxes in several legislative districts.

State legislative races are not just being more closely watched and fiercely contested this year because of the tea parties emergence, the public anxiety about the state’s economy, or even the Right’s obsession with stalling the implementation of health care reform.

500,000—amount in dollars raised as of June 30 by Real Jobs NC, a 527 political group founded by PPD CEO Fred Eshelman from Wilmington, Republican Murchison Biggs from Lumberton and Republican John Marin from Durham. (”New NC committee has $500,000 to talk “real jobs” Associated Press, August 16, 2010)

Extremist candidate update

This week’s extremist legislative candidate update brings us Republican Glen Bradley, a candidate for the state House in District 49. That seat is currently held by Democrat John May, who was appointed this past spring to replace longtime House member Lucy Allen, who resigned to take a seat on the state Utilities Commission.

The host of a conservative talk radio station in Raleigh was debating term limits on a recent afternoon with a guest who opposed them. Most of the callers predictably endorsed the idea to get of what they called “career politicians,” though when you press them on it they usually mean liberals who have been in office for a while, not conservatives.

It’s hard to turn on the television or radio these days without seeing or hearing a heartwarming commercial about how the North Carolina Education Lottery has sent a kid to college, built a new wing at a school to ease overcrowding or saved hundreds of teachers’ jobs.

You don’t have to spend much time reading the conservative blogs and the reports from the right-wing think tanks to figure out what they want us to believe. Things are not only grim in North Carolina but they are worse than almost anywhere in the country and top state officials are to blame, Democratic officials of course.

40 million—estimated number of workers in the United States who do not have paid sick at days at work (Public Welfare Foundation)

94 million—number of working people do not have a single paid sick day to use to care for a sick child. (National Partnership for Women and Families)

Limiting terms and candidates

Republican Congressional candidate Ilario Pantano promised this week only to serve six terms in Congress if he elected to represent the 7th District and says he will donate $250,000 to a charity that helps veterans if he breaks that pledge and serves longer.

It’s hard to decide what’s most shocking about the results of the audit of the State Bureau of Investigation released Wednesday.

The latest college ratings from U.S. News and World report are out this week, prompting the usual press releases from schools that did well and grumbling from those that didn’t, though there are enough categories in the rankings for most schools to find something to brag about.

Hang on, here comes the big corporate money into North Carolina politics, trying to determine who controls the General Assembly in 2011.

896—amount in dollars of tax cuts that households with incomes between $30,000 and $40,000 will receive if Bush middle-income tax cuts are extended and high-income tax cuts are allowed to expire (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, High-Income People Would Benefit Significantly From Extension of “Middle-Class” Tax Cuts. August 13, 2010)

Socialists after your children

The headline on Friday’s guest column in Lockeland proclaims that “Powerful Interests Push Young People Toward Socialism.” You might be wondering about all the socialism rampant in the land. It turns out it can be traced back to the brainwashing of our youth which is carried out in several nefarious ways.