Red Clay Citizen

More Nutty ACORN News

While warnings about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, (aka ACORN) have been landing on the deaf ears of the media for years, evidence of how deeply they have penetrated the voting process in this nation is starting to emerge.  ACORN has made voter registration one of there main focuses.  Now we hear that maybe those registrations weren't as as clean as the left would have you believe.

According to testimony to be presented before a House Judiciary subcommittee, more than half the voter registrations turned in by ACORN canvassers during the last election were not valid.

Here is what the ACORN whistle blower has to say:

• ACORN considered 40 percent an acceptable level of accurate voter registrations turned in by its workers.
• ACORN barely trained its workers in how to register voters properly.
• ACORN would fire employees if they did not meet a quota of 20 new voter applicants daily.
• ACORN employees were briefed on how to deny that voter registration fraud existed.

ACORN's exemplary record of voter registrations also include:

• ACORNers in Cleveland registered the same man 77 times despite his protests that he was already registered.
• Washington State filed felony charges against several paid ACORN employees and supervisors for more than 1,700 fraudulent voter registrations.
• In March 2008, an ACORN worker in Pennsylvania was sentenced for making 29 phony voter registration forms.

So, if an organization that has this much baggage attached to it with regards to electoral irregularities decides to take the next step, what would it be?  How about being involved in the collection of the very information used to redraw electoral districts?

That's right.  ACORN has been selected as a partner for the 2010 US Census.  This comes after it was revealed that Obama wants to take the Census Bureau out of the Department of Commerce and move them to be under White House authority.

The Washington Times sounds the alarm here.

Want to make sure the left keeps an iron clad lock on the electorate?  Redraw the districts with data collected by operatives that have a stake in the game.  It is time to crack the shell on ACORN and let the rest of us know what they are really up to.

UNC Officials Take State Plane to ACC Tourney

As the Governor and legislators grapple with how to fill our state's $2.2 billion budget deficit, UNC officials jetted off to the ACC Tournament in the state's airplane at taxpayer expense.

UNC officials are claiming it's a business trip.  Unlikely story since UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp's wife, teenage son and pre-teen daughter were also along for the ride.  I don't know about you, but I don't take my wife and 2 kids on a business trip.  Also three employees "who work in fundraising and university relations" went along as well (Rams Club more than likely).

And the excuse for taking the state plane according to the N&O:

In e-mail about the travel plans, UNC-CH Vice Chancellor for Advancement Matt Kupec wrote, "Incidentally, the trip will cost less than if we had used commercial flights."

By my rough count, Delta has 10 flights a day from RDU to Atlanta.  US Air has flights available for as low as $138 round-trip.  So for Thorpe and the 3 members of his family, it would cost $552.

From the N&O story: the state Department of Commerce charges $770 an hour for the use of the jet, or $1,025 an hour for athletics-related events.

If the flight is an hour each way, that's $2,050 total expense for the flight.  If Thorpe had flown commercial his price would be about a quarter of that.

I don't have a problem with the Chancellor representing the university at the ACC Tournament, I just have a problem with him using a more expensive mode of travel when the taxpayers are picking up the tab.

The financial markets, what if...?

Say I make money buying and selling stocks and other financial instruments.  I also happened to "know" a powerful politician such as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and I had knowledge that they might mention nationalizing US banks on network TV. If I was interested in making some quick money I might short financial stocks.

As the US government becomes a bigger force in the economy through spending an ever larger percentage of the GDP and exerts more regulatory control over the markets, opportunities to move markets for personal gain will increase.

Lt. Gov. Dalton Might Want to Check His Records

I found it quite ironic that Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton openly criticized the a bonus given to the CEO of ExxonMobil in 2005 today while addressing a group of labor union leaders.

What Dalton failed to also tell those labor members is that he has owned more than $10,000 worth of ExxonMobil stock for over 10 years according to his economic interest statement.  Download his full economic interest statement here (1MB .tif file): Download DaltonSEI .

So he's outraged by the pay package given to the CEO, but not quite mad enough to cash in his share of the profits? 

Exxon's (Ticker: XOM) dividend has paid roughly $1.50 a share the past few years and Dalton's initial investment in 1991 has increased in value more than 500% over the past 17 years.

So Dalton will talk a tough game on corporate compensation when pandering to the labor unions, but secretly hopes for Exxon's windfall profits to continue in order to pad his own portfolio.

Why is the Secret Service Poking Around in Beaufort County?

Reports are beginning to trickle out about an incident that occurred on November 20th near the Beaufort County town of Chocowinity.  According to news accounts and the local District Attorney, Seth Edwards, two agents of the U.S. Secret Service were conducting an investigation in the yard of Mrs. Louise Chandler, 78.

What happens when two strangers go poking around an eastern North Carolina widow woman's premises? 

That's right, her son comes to defend his momma, firearm in hand.  Mrs. Chandler was also armed and ready.  The whole thing got sorted out but left a bad taste amongst Beaufort County citizens.

The Secret Service must not have known much about Mrs. Chandler. Turns out, Mrs. Chandler has her own connections to law enforcement.  Her son-in-law is Beaufort County Sheriff Alan Jordan.

Confidential sources have told the Beaufort Observer that the investigation may center around a written threat against Barack Obama.

I am sure there is more to come on this.

"Why Not Use Them?" I'll Give You 40,000 Reason Why.

The N&O is running a series this week on the failures of the probation system and one article focuses on the technological deficiencies of different departments not being able to communicate with each other.  (Which Civitas pointed out in this editorial back in March 2008).

But when asked who should step in and help out with the problem, Senate Leader-for-life Marc Basnight replied:

"I mentioned SAS," he said. "Why not use them? They're one of the leaders, and they're 10 miles away. I'm certain they would want to succeed."

And just why would you mention SAS, Senator?  Maybe it has to do with SAS CEO Jim Goodnight and his wife, Ann, giving your campaign over $40,000 in contributions and raising tens (if not hundreds) of thousands more over the past 8 years.

Nah, that's probably not the reason.  It's because they're local and would want to succeed.

Yeah, right.

All Roads Lead to Fayetteville

When $270,000,000 goes to the sixth largest city in the state, even liberals and newspaper cartoonist are bound to notice.  Senator Tony Rand and his boy, DOT Secretary Lyndo Tippett have made sure that they have represented their hometown as much as possible.  Even fellow Democrats like Raleigh mayor Charles Meeker are crying fowl.

The Raleigh News and Observer's Duane Powell says it all with this cartoon:

How Much Does it Cost to be NCDOT Secretary?

Today, Senate Leader Marc Basnight gave Governor-elect the ok to nominate current DOT board member Lanny Wilson as the next Secretary of DOT (replacing Tony Rand's campaign treasurer - Lyndo Tippett).

So, how does one get to be DOT Secretary like Mr. Wilson?  Apparently give a lot of money to Democrats.  According to State Board of Elections reports, Wilson has given almost $300,000 to Democratic campaigns over the past 10 years or so. (Download full list of Wilson's contributions here)

Let's also not forget about the sweetheart deal his development company gave Governor Easley on an piece of land in Carteret County that Don Carrington of Carolina Journal extensively documented here and here.

Hmm... nominating big fundraisers and political cronies to the DOT board?  I thought Bev swore she wasn't the status quo...

Basnight's Days Numbered?

Marc Basnight knew the minority party in the General Assembly had no chance. Quoted in today's Insider, Basnight says:

"Longshot? It weren't even a shot." Whether this is braggadocio ex post facto, or inside information, it suggests a deadly combination of hubris and wax wings.

With the recent Legislative reboot, journalists and leftists everywhere are itching to find a new villain. In the Senate, it's 30-20 in favor of the immovable Democrats. But many of that Democrat new blood are idealists. The left loves Speaker Hackney (House) and Elle Kinnaird (Senate), for example. But the old guard is in the way of progressive ideals. How long will the new blood let the corporatism and untoward machinations of Basnight and Rand play on? (When you're that powerful, you have a long, long way to fall.)

One way or the other, somebody has, or is going to get, Marc Basnight's number. And that somebody may come from an unlikely quarter.

Quid Pro Quo

So Jim Goodmon decided to donate an expensive sculpture to the City of Durham just 12 days before voters are set to go to the polls to vote on whether to raise taxes on themselves to pay for his Minor League Baseball Museum.  (A campaign that he donated money supporting, BTW.)

Nah, nothing to see here...  Please move on...