For the week of
February 17, 2012
- carolinajournal.com
Reaction of the Week
RALEIGH — The Raleigh Convention Center continues to rely on deep
discounts to get business -- knocking $569,000 off the room prices for
meetings scheduled over the last six months of 2011. A new John Locke
Foundation Regional Brief documents the deals.
Forty of 52 convention center contracts included these special breaks
from July to December 2011. The average discount knocked 54 percent off
the room’s listed price.
The new report includes a searchable website (JohnLocke.org/site-docs/research/RCC) to help taxpayers keep track of these discounts.
“Like other cities across the country, Raleigh rushed to ‘save’ its
downtown several years ago by forcing taxpayers to pay for an expensive,
deficit-producing convention center,” said report co-author Dr. Michael
Sanera, JLF Director of Research and Local Government Studies. “Even
before the doors opened, we warned in 2008 that the new convention
center was destined to become a money pit for taxpayers. Our latest
research suggests we were right.”
“A glut of convention center space nationwide has forced Raleigh and
other cities to make a choice: Provide more taxpayer-funded discounts
and subsidies to lure events to the center, or face the prospect of an
empty building,” he added.
News Features
CJ: Preschooler’s homemade lunch replaced with cafeteria “nuggets”
RAEFORD — A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary
School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because the school
told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious. The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple
juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according
to the interpretation of the person who was inspecting all lunch boxes
in the More at Four classroom that day. CJ: Who is the mystery food monitor?
RALEIGH — Three days after a Carolina Journal report on the plight of a 4-year-old preschooler and her lunch made
national headlines, the identity of the person who determined that the
youngster’s homemade lunch was not nutritious remains unknown. CJ: Chicken nugget furor prompts congressional letter to federal cabinet leader
WASHINGTON — The national uproar over a
4-year-old’s recent encounter with a preschool lunch monitor at a Hoke
County elementary school has prompted two members of the N.C.
congressional delegation to fire off a letter expressing “strong
concern” to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. CJ: Contraception mandate would supersede N.C. law
RALEIGH — For the past decade, North Carolina
has operated under a contraception mandate for private health insurers
that hasn’t caused much uproar. It contains a broad exemption that
allows faith-based employers who are opposed to birth control as a
matter of conscience to opt out, and frees insurers to charge co-pays
for the coverage. CJ: ‘Casino Jack’ comes to Raleigh, hat in hand
RALEIGH — A crowd of North Carolinians stepped
into the mind of a master government manipulator last week when
notorious lobbyist Jack Abramoff came to town. Those familiar with Abramoff’s past might have found his soft-spoken, nervous demeanor surprising.
Upcoming Events
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 12:00 pm Noon
A meeting of the Shaftesbury Society
with our special guest Jeanette Doran, Esq.
"Amending the State Constitution: What Voters Need to Know" Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 12:00 p.m.
A Luncheon Forum
with our special guests Doug Bandow and Afsheen John Radsan
The Targeted Killing of Anwar al-Awlaki:
Policy and Law in an Asymmetric Age Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
A Citizens' Constitutional Workshop in Morehead City, NC
with our special guests Dr. Troy Kickler & Dr. Michael Sanera
Workshop #2 in Morehead City: "What would the Federalists and Anti-federalists say about the current political and economic crises?"
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Capital Quotes
“I don’t think there should be any compromise when it comes to our rights to religious freedom.”
— Belmont Abbey College President William Thierfelder, as quoted by the Charlotte Observer, in testifying before Congress against a requirement that church-affiliated employers cover birth control in their health plans. “Once you get past midnight, it’s tough to do good work.”
— Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory, as quoted by the Associated Press, on the General Assembly’s 1 a.m. session to override a veto of a bill prohibiting N.C. Association of Educators dues to be taken directly out of teachers’ paychecks. “I’ve never seen this many people at a precinct meeting. This feels more like a convention.”
— Linda Daves, former Mecklenburg County and state GOP party chairwoman, talking to the Charlotte Observer about the excitement level at precinct meetings in Mecklenburg County.
“While the image of North Carolina as a state growing rapidly in population and jobs was very much an accurate one in the 1990s, it no longer holds.”
— A new report South By North Strategies, as quoted by WRAL-TV, on North Carolina’s economy. The studies notes that the state hasn’t experienced any net job growth over the past 12 years though its population has certainly grown.
On The Air This Week…
This week on C J Radio…
JLF’s John Hood discusses the court ruling on Democrats’ redistricting lawsuits; Dick Patten of the American Family Business Institute testifies about problems with the “death tax”; Lisa Baldwin of the Buncombe County school board and Rep. Renee Ellmers comment on activities that led them to be honored by JLF; Author and historian Wilbur Jones makes the case for designating Wilmington America’s World War II city; and JLF’s Michael Sanera critiques Wake County’s transit plan.
This week on NC Spin…
Join moderator Tom Campbell
for another week of political discussion and debate on the most
intelligent television talk show in the state. Topics this week: Tuition increases approved; $9 Billion in tax expenditures; Racial Justice Act on trial; and will the bank housing settlement help?. This week’s panelists: John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation; Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch; columnist Cash Michaels; and former House Speaker Joe Mavretic.
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