April 15, 2010

Western Tea Party highlights

Posted by Becki Gray at 11:13 PM

Here are some photos from today's Tea Parties in the western part of the state.

Morganton:

Waynesville:

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JLF's Roy Cordato urges Goldsboro Tea Party crowd to push for 'no new taxes'

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 9:35 PM

Roy Cordato helped fire up the crowd at today's Goldsboro Tea Party with remarks stressing the importance of fighting any new tax increases.

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April 15 and the Beatles say it all

Posted by Dr. Roy Cordato at 4:51 PM

Should five percent
Appear too small,
Be thankful I don't
Take it all.

'Cause I'm the taxman.
Yeah, I'm the taxman.

If you drive a car,
I'll tax the street.
If you drive to city,
I'll tax your seat.
If you get too cold,
I'll tax the heat.
If you take a walk,
I'll tax your feet.

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You might be a progressive if...

Posted by Dr. Roy Cordato at 3:47 PM

...you believe that any use of the death penalty is immoral but consider Che Guevara, who ordered the execution of an estimated 500  prisoners (he was not a good record keeper) while in charge of Castro's La Cabana prison, to be a hero.

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Tea Party Update: Morganton

Posted by Rick Henderson at 1:15 PM

JLF's Becki Gray found an enthusiastic crowd of 300 to 400 people at the old courthouse in Morganton.

Here's the scene:

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We are all onboard for the ObamaCare train wreck.

Posted by Dr. Michael Sanera at 12:17 AM

NCPA's John Goodman continues to explain ObamaCare's perverse incentives.  The full explanation is well worth reading here. 

Of all the criticisms that have been leveled at “ObamaCare” over the past year, the four worst features of the legislation have been almost totally ignored — by Republicans in Congress, by the national news media and even by serious economists. So you’re seeing it here first:

1. People will be required to buy a product whose price will be rising at twice the rate of growth of their incomes and they will be barred from doing many of the things needed to control these costs.
2. A bizarre system of subsidies will disrupt the entire labor market — causing massive layoffs and, ultimately, a complete restructuring of industrial organization.
3. A health insurance exchange will give health plans perverse incentives to attract the healthy and avoid the sick; and after enrollment, to overprovide to the healthy and underprovide to the sick.
4. A weakly enforced individual mandate will give people perverse incentives to game the system — remaining uninsured while healthy and obtaining insurance only after they get sick; choosing limited-benefit plans while healthy and scaling up to richer plans after they get sick.
   

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Tax Day Tea Party Central

Posted by Rick Henderson at 11:20 AM

For updates on the 20 Tea Parties scheduled around the state today, check The Locker Room (and the John Locke Foundation's regional blogs) frequently through the afternoon and evening.

Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter (@JohnLockeNC) and become a fan of the John Locke Foundation at Facebook.

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The hidden cost of our socialistic nanny state

Posted by George Leef at 09:38 AM

Here's an excellent piece in today's Wall Street Journal by a financial adviser in California. He calls himself a "HENRY" which stands for high earner, not rich yet. He earns a fairly decent, but unpredictable income, yet has financial struggles in large measure due to the very high tax burden he has. And of course, now the Obamacrats want substantially more from him because he's among their "rich" who "take so much of the national income."

Guess what? He doesn't like it. He thinks his tax burden is already too high. "Why should I have to carry so many people on my back?" he writes. "Call me cruel. I don't care. I give to whom I choose -- but since so much is confiscated (and wasted in the process) I have little left I wish to give."

What about the future if taxes keep going up to pay the exorbitant costs of government? "The truly rich will stay that way, but many "Henrys" like me will quit. We may be only a small percentage of the population but we pay a large portion of the taxes and employ many. If you take the incentives away you will lose Henrys."

Does it occur to Obama, Pelosi, and their ilk that if you keep raising taxes to "spread the wealth around," there will be a lot less wealth created? Evidently not.

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Civics 101 for management professors

Posted by Dr. Michael Sanera at 09:19 AM

Today’s N&O op-ed by Lane Tracy, a retired Ohio University Management professor, is an excellent example of political ignorance.

I know management gurus live and die by policy manuals, but in a democracy an elected school board has the power to change policy.

Mr. Tracy’s academic myopia prevents him from seeing that unelected school officials are duty bound to follow current board policy not an outdated policy manual.

In fact, it is the responsibility of school district bureaucrats to rewrite the policy manual so that it conforms to current school board policy.

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N&O editorial board gets this one right

Posted by Rick Henderson at 08:25 AM

Today's editorial attacking the state policy banning flag poles on the Capitol is spot-on. 

The closer:

In the absence of a real threat, governmental restrictions on speech should be as rare and light as possible. After all, protests (of whatever political flavor) aren't some occasional annoyance to be tolerated - they're what the original tea partiers, Boston harbor edition, were all about.

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New Carolina Journal Online features

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 06:48 AM

The latest Carolina Journal Online exclusive features Anthony Greco's CarolinaJournal.tv update on North Carolina's study of offshore energy exploration. 

John Hood's Daily Journal discusses the need for North Carolina to adopt a more credible and useful public school accountability program.

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Bev Perdue saw her shadow this morning

Posted by Joseph Coletti at 06:38 AM

Six more weeks until you get your state tax refund.

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Latest dispatches from the campaign trail

Posted by David N. Bass at 06:30 AM

• GOP candidates in the 8th congressional district make their pitches at a forum sponsored by the Stanly County Republican Women.


• Two primary voter guides available: One from the N.C. Family Policy Council, another from Imagine Election.


• GOP challengers to U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, R-6th, spat over request that one candidate drop out of the race.


• Bill Rabon, Republican candidate in N.C. Senate-8, touts the flat tax and says he would enforce environmental laws.


• The Civitas Institute gives updated voter registration totals for N.C. counties.

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