North Carolina’s “Abomination”
Protect marriage? It is high time that we protect one of our most cherished founding liberties, our First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
LGBT Discrimination and Amendment One: A Compilation
“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free and civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes”. Thomas Jefferson. A compilation of articles from this site about NC Amendment One and discrimination is provided.
In Defense of Same-Sex Marriage
“A government cannot be premised on the belief that all persons are created equal when it asserts that God prefers some.” US Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun
The Common Denominator of Right Wing Policy: Lost Lives
Politicians on the political right continue to pursue multiple areas of policy despite the well-documented, often substantial, and unnecessary loss of American lives associated with those policies.
“Guns in Restaurants/Bars”: Establishment Owner Liabilities and Rights Infringement
A number of states have enacted legislation that allows concealed carry weapon (CCW) permit holders to bring handguns into establishments that serve alcoholic beverages. Similar legislation is pending in North Carolina (House Bill 111). During legislative debate much emphasis is placed on the ‘right’ of ‘law-abiding citizens’ to carry guns for protection. But, could this legislation conflict with existing state and federal law and thus potentially infringe on establishment owner’s rights and/or subject them to liability? Recently completed legal research in the state of North Carolina concluded that it might.
Gunfire Deaths in Children vs Pro-Life: A Political Double Standard
When it comes to the issue of protecting ‘children’, conservative politicians treat the gun lobby and the Pro-Life movement as legislative opposites.
Sacrificing Our Children in the Name of the Second Amendment
The US experiences a grossly disproportionate rate of firearm-related deaths in minors as compared to peer countries, and firearm deaths amongst the young account for more than 25% of the decreased life expectancy gap in America. The firearms industry, that is experiencing a long-term decline in American gun ownership, provides substantial financial support to the NRA and has had ties to that organization’s Board of Directors. The NRA has become a powerful lobbying force at both federal and state levels with a record of opposing legislation that would negatively affect firearms sales and advocating for legislation that expands firearm sales. That our elected representatives continue to enact firearm market expansion policies, without implementing tougher regulatory restraints on gun sales to curb firearm deaths in minors, represents the worst of special interest-driven politics and is nothing short of a dereliction of duty in governance.
Our Unrepresentative Representation
The Occupy Wall Street movement has reason to protest. Special interest-driven deregulation policy was at the heart of the recent economic collapse. It has been the “99%” that has paid the price for this policy failure with lost employment, devalued housing prices, retirement accounts being cut in half, and increased levels of poverty while the wealthiest in America continued to do well. A valid question is why our elected representatives are not working together to put a stop to failed policy that has been so damaging to the majority of Americans. This article will examine the disproportionate number of the wealthy who hold elected office in Washington and the conflict of interest they face in setting policy versus their own financial interests as well as the special interests that finance their campaigns. And it will explore an incentive that politicians have to stay in office where they can act on non-public information to their own financial benefit. It examines the issue of whether our Congress has become ‘Our Unrepresentative Representation’.
Deregulation, Special Interests, and Gay Marriage with NC House Majority Leader
Last week I attended a function where Representative Paul (Skip) Stam (R), the NC House Majority Leader was the guest speaker. I just happened to sit at the same table with him and we exchanged a few comments. In listening to his presentation there were several issues, not just at the state level but also relevant nationally, that were too much to get into there. So I issued the following to his office. In looking at two of the issues, 1) deregulation to the benefit of business at the expense of the public, and 2) special interest contributions to legislators during the healthcare reform debate, I wondered why there would be any question about the emotion being expressed at the Occupy Wall Street movements around this country.
Discrimination and Job Creation Just Don’t Mix
In defending their tax policies that largely benefit the wealthiest, Republican leadership claims that it is protecting our ‘job creators’. However, Republican legislators certainly paid no heed to dozens of job creating CEOs who expressed their opposition to discriminatory legislation that could only negatively affect economic growth and job creation. Although Tea Party elected officials may say that their focus is on smaller government, recent research has shown that the rank and file of that movement are more concerned about social conservatism, especially a desire to see religion play a prominent role in government.
Recent Posts
North Carolina’s “Abomination”
Protect marriage? It is high time that we protect one of our most cherished founding liberties, our First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
LGBT Discrimination and Amendment One: A Compilation
“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free and civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes”. Thomas Jefferson. A compilation of articles from this site about NC Amendment One and discrimination is provided.
In Defense of Same-Sex Marriage
“A government cannot be premised on the belief that all persons are created equal when it asserts that God prefers some.” US Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun
Featured Article
Job Creation and Our Diminished Economic Engine: The Middle Class
Over the past 30 years the vast majority of income gains have gone to the wealthiest in our country. In an economy that is 70% personal consumption, we will continue to experience slow recovery and anemic job growth until we more broadly share prosperity and rebuild the purchasing power of our economic engine, the middle class