TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalStop dividing America with words evoking racial terror
"Lynching" is a word that should be discarded from political discourse, especially throughout the South where thousands died from racial terror after the Civil War.
President Trump, now under intense scrutiny in a growing impeachment inquiry by the U.S. House of Representatives, tweeted in a diatribe in the wee hours of Oct. 22 that "All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here — a lynching."
No, Mr. President. You're wrong. You are not being lynched. You are not being physically ripped from the White House, bundled up in ropes and taken by a mob for execution by shooting, hanging, burning, or something as horrible.
What is happening, sir, is that you are facing the very process you deny is happening — due process required by the Constitution to investigate whether you and your administration violated the law in discussions with a foreign country. For the U.S. House — Democrats and Republicans — to do less is for them to abrogate their sworn duty.
Read more: https://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/stop-dividing-america-with-words-evoking-racial-terror/Content?oid=29730851
Democrats need 6 seats in 2020 to have a say in decade of maps. Can they do it?
RALEIGH -- After a lawsuit succeeded in striking down many of the North Carolina General Assembly’s political districts — with new maps approved earlier this week — Democrats think they have a shot at gaining power at the legislature in the 2020 elections.
“The new maps certainly don’t guarantee a Democratic majority, but they make it easier for us to get a majority,” said Democratic Rep. Graig Meyer of Hillsborough in an interview Wednesday.
The legislature holds new elections every two years, but the 2020 elections are perhaps the most important since 2010.
That’s because in the first year of each new decade, after new Census data comes out, the state legislature starts a redistricting process to draw new political maps for the U.S. House, NC House and NC Senate. And since the state constitution forbids the governor from vetoing redistricting bills, Democrats will have to win at least one chamber in the legislature next year if they want a say in the next decade’s worth of redistricting.
Read more: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article236826218.html
(Raleigh News & Observer)
Blue Cross CEO's resignation sent the wrong message on mental health
In 12-step recovery, we often refer to a “moment of clarity.” This is when, for the first time, it becomes painfully obvious to someone struggling with alcohol that the illness is impacting their daily life in a way that is untenable, or even dangerous.
Patrick Conway, the former CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield North Carolina, had his moment of clarity on June 22, when he crashed his car with his kids in the back seat. Following the accident, Conway immediately told his board, sought treatment, and began the hard work of healing himself and his family. What happened next — his resignation and public scolding by elected officials and others — represents a lost opportunity for an open and honest public discussion about the many faces of addiction.
I want to point out something that was overlooked in coverage of the incident: Patrick Conway has done more to help those battling mental health and substance use disorders than almost anyone else in the last two decades. He has been absolutely instrumental in shaping how we as a nation have confronted illnesses of the brain by working to eliminate stigma and increase access to health care.
While at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, a key area of Patrick’s focus was collaborative care — a game-changing concept that addresses mental health and physical health as equally essential to overall health. Collaborative care pays doctors to communicate with one another, where before, there was little incentive to do so. This means that a patient’s primary care doctor would be incentivized to speak with their psychiatrist, or a pediatrician would be incentivized to speak with a child’s therapist. Better communication means more accurate diagnoses and comprehensive wrap-around treatment strategies. Recent research has shown that collaborative care is effective at improving outcomes and lowering costs.
Read more: https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article236902973.html
(Raleigh News & Observer)
On Gerrymandering, At Least the Supreme Court is Consistent
When a panel of state judges threw out the Congressional districts in North Carolina last week, we heard a familiar refrain from a lot of Republicans. They claimed the state courts were defying the Supreme Court. That argument is bunk. In reality, the Supreme Court said that redistricting is the purview of the states. It’s a consistent argument and gets to federalism more than gerrymandering. In other instances, we hear conservatives bemoaning the lack of federalism.
Back in early 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the Congressional districts in that state, saying that they clearly violated the state constitution. The court gave lawmakers about three weeks to come up with new maps. Instead, Republicans appealed to the US Supreme Court to halt the order. The court refused to hear the case and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court drew new maps to be used in the 2018 elections.
The case showed the thinking of the US Supreme Court justices. They clearly didn’t believe they had any say over the state’s redistricting process. The court’s decision in June to allow North Carolina’s gerrymandered districts to stand was consistent with the Pennsylvania case. It’s not that that the court believed gerrymandering was fair; they just believe regulating it is the job of the states. Chief Justice John Robert’s said in his decision that the courts would be expanding their authority in ruling on gerrymandering.
Don’t expect the suit filed yesterday by Republicans in federal court to halt redrawing districts to go anywhere. This court has clearly said that it’s not their business. They’ll leave it up the states to figure it out.
Read more: https://www.politicsnc.com/on-gerrymandering-at-least-the-supreme-court-is-consistent/
Teacher raises approved in North Carolina legislature; Democrats say 'not good enough'
RALEIGH -- The North Carolina General Assembly on Thursday approved average raises of 3.9% for teachers and 2% for non-instructional staff — both over the next two years and both retroactive to July 1 if signed by the governor.
The Senate voted 28-21 with all Democrats opposed. Mark Jewell, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, tweeted that the raises are “inadequate” and said Democrats stood with teachers.
In the House, it passed 62-46 with all but three Democrats opposed to the bill.
Rep. Darren Jackson of Wake County, the House Democratic leader, said the raises are “not good enough.”
Read more: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article236855033.html
National Democrats make their pick in North Carolina's Senate primary
WASHINGTON -- National Democrats, eager to flip North Carolina in their attempt to regain control of the U.S. Senate, have endorsed Cal Cunningham in the Democratic primary in the state.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee picked Cunningham, an Army veteran and former one-term state senator, who has easily topped the three-person Democratic field in fundraising and endorsements since entering the race in June.
The committee is the official fundraising arm for Senate Democrats. So the endorsement Thursday should open the door to increased fundraising capability in what promises to be an expensive general election race.
State Sen. Erica Smith and Mecklenburg County Commissioner Trevor Fuller also are vying for the nomination to run for the seat held by Republican Thom Tillis, who faces his own primary
Read more: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article236855688.html
A lawsuit arguing NC's legislature is illegitimate may have far-reaching consequences
RALEIGH -- Lawyers for Republican legislators and the NAACP went back and forth Thursday at the North Carolina Court of Appeals, arguing over the very legitimacy of the North Carolina General Assembly.
Republicans have retained a majority and sometimes a supermajority at the legislature, in part, through political districts that were later overturned as unconstitutional gerrymandering. So after the legislature voted to put six constitutional amendment proposals on the 2018 ballot — four of which voters then approved and put into the N.C. Constitution — the North Carolina NAACP sued over amendments that would cap the income tax rate and require voter ID.
There have been several lawsuits against the amendments. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper won a lawsuit just before the election arguing that Republicans were trying to put misleading language on the ballot to describe the amendments. He later lost another challenge to the amendments, as did the NAACP.
But in a separate lawsuit, the NAACP got a high-profile win after the election that surprised many observers. The group and allies argued that the legislature was illegitimate and had no authority to approve the amendments in the first place. And this spring, they won.
Read more: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article236867523.html
Duke Energy Asks For Rate Increase In Eastern NC, Asheville
Duke Energy has asked state regulators to approve an average 12.3% rate increase for its division serving eastern North Carolina and the Asheville area.
The filing Wednesday with the North Carolina Utilities Commission seeks an additional $464 million to pay for retiring coal plants, closing coal ash dumps, and improving the electric grid.
Duke says residential rates would rise an average 14.3%, if approved by regulators. A typical customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity monthly would pay about $17 more, or a total of about $138. The average increase would be 10.4% for commercial and industrial customers. Duke says it's request is about 3.2% lower because of savings from federal and state tax reforms.
This request follows a similar ask for a 6% rate increase in the western part of the state.
https://www.wfae.org/post/duke-energy-asks-rate-increase-eastern-nc-asheville#stream/0
UNC officials, students push back on Tim Moore rumors
State lawmakers, UNC students and LGBTQ advocates are pushing back on talk that state House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) might be the next president of the UNC System.
Last week, state officials and members of the UNC Board of Governors, which governs the UNC system, began speaking openly about persistent rumors Moore will seek the position.
Moore denied he will apply for the position and characterized the speculation as “wild rumors” last week. But he also declined to directly answer a question from Policy Watch on his interest in the position.
And, late last week a scathing editorial in UNC-Chapel Hill’s student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, expressed strong concern over the idea of one of the most powerful and divisive political figures in the state taking over a university system. The 17-campus system has for years been battered by partisan conflicts at its highest levels, the editorial noted, and members of the UNC Board of Governors have said they would like the next system president to serve for 8 to 10 years.
Read more: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2019/10/30/unc-officials-students-push-back-on-tim-moore-rumors/
In East Durham, Some Residents Voice Skepticism of "Condescending" Council Incumbents
In an election marked by tension between elements in Durham’s black and brown political communities—Rodrigo Dorfman’s incendiary email accusing black activists of conspiring against council member Javiera Caballero; failed council candidate Victoria Peterson’s spurious challenge to Caballero’s citizenship and ballot eligibility—a forum focused on immigrant rights and communities of color seemed likely to produce fireworks.
And right away, Peterson, who’d staked out a front-row seat at the Wednesday night event, got in Caballero’s face and demanded to know if she was a citizen, though she’s been a registered and active voter in North Carolina since at least 1996. The question prompted groans from the East Durham audience.
Undeterred, Peterson later asked all of the candidates if they were “naturalized to be able to vote in North Carolina.” That drew boos, too. The five candidates present—all except Charlie Reece—didn’t bother to answer.
The message was clear: Intolerance would not be tolerated.
But that doesn’t mean this was a friendly audience for Caballero and her council allies. Indeed, the feeling that pervaded the forum wasn’t animosity but rather skepticism of the three incumbents—Caballero, Reece, and Jillian Johnson—who are campaigning under the Bull City Together slate and have been backed by Mayor Steve Schewel and the People’s Alliance PAC (and the INDY).
Read more: https://indyweek.com/news/durham/east-durham-city-council-candidates-forum/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
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