GOV. MCCRORY’S
BUDGET: WHAT’S IN IT?
By Cash Michaels
Editor
If
there was a surprise in Gov. Pat McCrory’s first state budget released
Wednesday, it was $10 million to help compensate the victims of the state’s
forced sterilization program. A surprise because it was a project that former
Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue was committed to, and House Speaker Thom Tillis,
a Republican, got passed in the House last year before the GOP-led state Senate
turned its collective back, refusing to even take up the matter.
Will
the Legislature, which even when Democrats were in control refused to
compensate the eugenics victims, deny them again?
Indeed,
how much of Gov. McCrory’s $20.6
billion – which gives state employees and teachers a one percent raise and puts
more money in early childhood education – may already dead-on-arrival in the
Republican General Assembly that has already made it clear that the poor will
be getting the short end of the legislative stick, remains to be seen.
For
instance, McCrory put more money in his budget to hire 1800 more teachers.
Something state lawmakers may have a problem with given how they previously
slashed $1 billion from the education budget.
The
governor’s over 320-page budget proposal is chock full of the expected. He cuts
$142 million from the UNC System, devotes $7.2 million to re-establish drug
courts; and cuts the budget of the state Health and Human Services Dept. to
help offset past cost overruns in the state’s Medicaid program.
McCrory
also devoted $77 million for state information system upgrades, and $300
million for general maintenance and repairs to state buildings, with $50
million of that going to UNC System campuses.
But
according to Alexandra Sirota, director of the NC Budget and Tax Center, the
moderate Republican governor’s first budget, devised by conservative deputy
budget director Art Pope, isn’t as bad as expected, though there are concerns.
“Governor
McCrory released a budget …that falls short of returning us to pre-recession
levels but does expand investments in critical areas,” Sirota said in a
statement. “The budget assumes that available revenues will remain the same as
collections under the current tax system. The Governor is therefore able to
expand investments in certain areas by reducing spending in others, and relying
on tuition increases and other fees.”
Sirota
adds that McCrory doesn’t lay out much by way of tax reform, though he
apparently signs off on the Legislature’s repeal of the estate tax, so how
future revenues will be raised remains an open question if lawmakers go through
with eliminating the personal and corporate income tax.
Published
reports say legislators are looking to raise revenues by applying taxes on 130
services currently not taxed, thus shifting the burden to the state’s poor and
middle-class.
McCrory’s
budget raises tuition at UNC System schools for out-of-state students, but
freezes it for in-state attendees.
Sirota
does note that the governor fully funds Medicaid with an additional $575
million; invests $52 million in pre-kindergarten programs, allowing 5,000
additional at-risk children to enroll; and gives retirees a one percent cost of
living increase in their benefits.
Democratic
consultant Jeanne Milliken Bonds raised concerns about the big $142 million cut
to the UNC System, which McCrory earlier criticized for relying to heavily on
liberal arts education rather than vocational training. But he also cut the
budget for the state’s community college system by $37 million as well, where
most of that training takes place.
“Expect
larger cuts from the [Republican] NC General Assembly,” Bonds says, adding that
the governor’s cuts to the Rural Center and biotech were also “troubling.”
Bonds
sees the Medicaid funding as “smoke and mirrors,” and says hospitals may file
suit if approved.
The
governor’s budget also repeals the NC Public Campaign Fund, which allows voters
to check off funding for nonpartisan candidates like judges.
McCrory’s
Center for Safer Schools, which he unveiled Tuesday in response to the December
Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, will be funded with $625,000, something
Bonds calls “a redundancy” because ‘the program already existed under the old
juvenile justice program established by former Gov. Jim Hunt.
“Smoke
and mirrors for hiring people and putting out fluff,” Bonds said.
Other
aspects of Gov. McCrory’s budget includes closing five prisons; eliminating two
days per week at state historic sites, and not adding anymore debt.
McCrory was already behind the eight ball with social activists for signing GOP bills that slashed unemployment benefits and stopped the expansion of Medicaid to 500,000 more poor people in the state.
He is expected to also sign the repeal of the Earned Income Tax Credit, which benefits the working poor.
Reaction
from Republican legislative leaders was welcoming.
"Gov.
McCrory’s refreshing new leadership and hard work has produced a balanced
budget proposal that exercises fiscal discipline and keeps state government
spending within its means," Senate President Pro tem Sen. Phil Berger of
Rockingham said in a statement. "His emphasis on paying off our debts and
repairing our critical infrastructure reflects a vision and commitment to the
long-term fiscal health of our state."
State
House Speaker Thom Tillis of Mecklenburg County was just as pleased.
"Many
aspects of Gov. McCrory’s budget are much-needed and long overdue, and I am
especially glad to see the inclusion of the Eugenics Compensation
Program," the GOP leader said.
Whether
the state House will pass a eugenics compensation bill again, and whether the
state Senate will reject it, again, remains to be seen.
Randy Voller, chairman of the NC
Democratic Party, blasted the governor’s budget, and challenged him to stand up
against what the Republican-led General assembly might do to it.
“What we’re seeing with this budget is the Republican Party’s
continued commitment to austerity policies for North Carolina and for our
nation. This is a status-quo budget that continues to tax the poor to
feed the rich,” Voller advised. “When push comes to shove, will the
Governor be able to stand up to this radical, reactionary legislature or will
he continue to serve as their rubber stamp—as he has when it comes to slashing
unemployment benefits, rejecting health care expansion and increasing taxes on
our middle and low-income hardworking families?” Voller concluded.
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TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS
FOR 3-21-13
RALEIGH-APEX NAACP SPONSORS “SILENT MARCH” FOR VOTING RIGHTS SUNDAY
In
commemoration of the 48th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday March to
Selma, Alabama, the Raleigh-Apex Branch of the NAACP will sponsor a “Silent
March for Voting Rights,” this Sunday, March 24. The march will depart Martin
Street Baptist Church, 1001 East Martin Street in Raleigh, at 3 p.m., and march
to the MLK Memorial Gardens. There will be silent prayer there, and return to
Martin Street Baptist Church for a voters rally. Rev. Dr. William Barber,
president of the NCNAACP, will be the keynote speaker at 4.pm. Dr. Earl C.
Johnson is the pastor.
FORBES RANKS RALEIGH NUMBER ONE IN GROWTH
It
should be no surprise that the number one metropolitan area in the nation for
the fastest growth in the last year is North Carolina’s Capital City, Raleigh,
according to Forbes Magazine. An analysis of US Census figures has Raleigh’s
population at 1.2 million people, a jump of 47 percent since 2000. In the past
five years, residents from across the state, and areas like Montgomery County,
Maryland and Queens, NY have relocated to Wake County, the report says.
WAKE SCHOOL BOARD UPDATE
Former
Wake School Board member Bill Fletcher was sworn-in Tuesday to finish out the
unexpired term of Debra Goldman. In interviews, Fletcher, a Republican, made it
clear that he did not approve of County Commission Board leaders seeking state
legislation to takeover school system properties, or change school board
elections so that Republicans could take back the board by 2014, thus
shortening terms of board Democrats. Meanwhile the board adjusted the bell
schedules for 17 schools including Walnut Creek Elementary, and set the dates
on March 25, 26 and 27 for community input in the search for a new
superintendent. Go to http://www.wcpss.net/superintendent-search/public-input.html
for the complete schedule.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 3-21-13
LENOIR COUNTY BOARD
OF ELECTIONS RESIGNS
[KINSTON] In an act of protest, all
three members of the Lenoir County Board of Elections resigned Monday because
the state elections board refused to approve the termination of the Lenoir
County elections director. State BOE Executive Director Gary Bartlett said the
tension between director Dana King and the Lenoir Board did not require her
dismissal, though he did place her on probation until December 1. County
leaders now must appoint three replacements by July 1st.
SENATE REPUBLICAN
LEADER SEEKS TO END TEACHER TENURE
[RALEIGH]
If state Senate President Pro tem Sen. Phil Berger has his way, teachers in
North Carolina will no longer receive tenure, and will have to work harder for
merit pay. Known as Senate Bill 361, Berger, a Republican from Rockingham, says
this is part of the education reform overhaul he intends for North Carolina in
an effort to boost student grades and teacher performance. Good teachers would
get four-year contracts, not tenure, under Berger’s plan. Teachers not meeting
the bill would receive smaller contracts. Teachers will be evaluated, and
received bonuses if merited. There’s no doubt that Berger’s plan will pass the
GOP-led Senate. How the state House, also led by Republicans, will handle it is
yet to be seen.
TILLIS NOW SAYS FRAUD
NOT KEY REASON FOR VOTER ID
[CHARLOTTE] NC House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-
Mecklenburg) now says that despite his previous reasoning for the need for voter
photo ID, that while, “there is some evidence of voter fraud, …that’s not the
primary reason for doing this.” Tillis made that remark last Saturday on MSNBC
when confront with proof that voter fraud in the state is virtually
nonexistent. Tillis says people are concerned about the “risk of fraud” and
voter ID would restore “confidence in government.” Critics say it is an attempt
to suppress the votes of the poor and people of color. The House voter photo ID
bill is expected to be introduced within the next two weeks.
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JUDGE GEORGE R. GREENE SR.
JUDGE GEORGE GREENE,
82 DIES
By Cash Michaels
Editor
He
was a historymaker as the first African-American ever to be elected to the Wake
County District Court bench in 1974.
He
was also a fierce civil rights advocate, and a rascally man who spoke his mind,
no matter who didn’t like it.
But
above all, Judge George R. Greene Sr. was known as a fair practitioner of the
law who had a special place in his heart for the common man.
Judge
Greene, who had retired from the Superior Court bench in 1995, died last Sunday
at age 82.
Greene
is a legend at the Wake County Courthouse, and many an attorney, like Geoff
Simmons, knew him, liked him, and revered him.
“Judge Green called himself a ‘black red neck,’” attorney Simmons
told The Carolinian. “Every year when
he could, he would have a free cookout at his house for the community - black
and white. He had country music and all kinds of refreshments. White people
loved him as much as blacks because he did not see color. He was the first
black to integrate the Wake County Bar Association. He loved being fair and
creative He knew that District Court should not be that tough because you did
not deal with felonies. He loved to go fishing and hunting. He was a good old
boy.”
Born
in 1930 in Nashville, NC, George Greene, the son of teachers, graduated Shaw
University in the 1950’s and was the only African-American in his class at UNC
– Chapel Hill Law School. He left law school to serve in the Korean War, coming
back to graduate and pass the state bar in 1957.
In 1960, when black
students at Shaw University and then St. Augustine’s College were being
arrested for challenging Raleigh’s segregation laws, Greene, a noted civil
rights attorney, represented them for free, noting the courage and sacrifice
the young people exhibited.
“George
Greene knew what discrimination was all about, and he knew he had to be a role
model for young black lawyers,” attorney Simmons said. “He told me to never
forget your roots but always try to build bridges. He was an icon. Some people
thought he needed to be taken down a peg. But he never tried to get even. He
told me that the best revenge was to love well. He taught me to always hold
your head high and be of service and you will always be OK.
Greene
remained in private practice until he was elected to Wake District Court in
1974, breaking the color barrier there. In 1988, Greene became a Superior Court
judge.
Judge
Greene’s style in the courtroom, by all accounts, was folksy and
unconventional. He railed against the strict and stuffy protocols that the judiciary
had customarily followed, preferring, instead to turn his sessions into true
“people’s courts,” even to the point of saying provocative things from the
bench, and leading the courtroom in Christmas carols.
It
would be an understatement to say that Judge Greene’s colorful court
performances rubbed some of his colleagues the wrong way. He was twice censured
in 1991 and 1995 for harsh remarks during trials that, in the opinion of the state
Supreme Court, made his, “…conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice
that brings the judicial office into disrepute.”
But
Judge Greene’s friends and supporters, like attorney Geoff Simmons, saw a man
who said what he thought, and was willing to let the chips fall where they may.
“I
tried a case before Judge Greene one time when a black bus driver was charge
with kidnapping,” Simmons recalls. “A white female NC State student got on the wrong bus. The
local CAT bus driver, a black fellow, would not let her get off at the Wolfline
stop and called police, and he was charged with a felony.”
“The courtroom was
packed with bus drivers and people from all over the city.
People thought the driver would go to jail and
lose his job,” Simmons continued.
Judge Greene heard
the evidence, and dismissed the case to the surprise of many. He said this was a
case of overreaction. The bus driver is still driving for the city of Raleigh.
He could have gone to jail if there had not been a judge like Judge Green. He
was not afraid to do the right thing. He was a strong and good black man that
never saw race, just the facts with compassion.”
Public viewing is scheduled for today, Thursday, March 21st, from 12 noon to 9 p.m. at Lea Funeral Home in Raleigh.
Public viewing is scheduled for today, Thursday, March 21st, from 12 noon to 9 p.m. at Lea Funeral Home in Raleigh.
Judge Greene’s
funeral is planned for Friday, 12 noon at First Baptist Church, 101 South Wilmington
Street in Raleigh. Visitation begins at 11 a.m. he will be buried at Hillcrest
Cemetery on Garner Road in Raleigh.
Judge Greene is survived by
his wife, Ruby Powell Greene, of the home; daughters, Ava Greene Bedden (Dana)
of Irving, TX, Willa-Jo Michelle Greene of Beltsville, MD, and Karen Greene
Braithwaite (Marcel) of New York, NY; son, George Royster Greene, Jr. of
Raleigh; brother, Rolland Greene of Rural Hall, NC. He is also survived by five
grandchildren: Daniel T. Davenport, Avanna D. Davenport, Diana T. Bedden,
Georgia Marie Braithwaite and Tiberius C. Braithwaite.
In lieu of flowers, donations
may be made "In Memory of Judge George R. Greene" to Shaw University,
Office of Institutional Advancement, 118 E. South St., Raleigh, NC 27601.
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NNPA STORY - PERDUE HONORED NY NNPA FOUNDATION FOR PARDONING W-TEN
CASH IN THE APPLE
By Cash Michaels
ROLAND
MARTIN OUT AT CNN – Big changes at CNN with new head honcho Jeff Zucker at the helm. He’s already
found a graceful way of getting rid of one of the best journalists in the business,
Soledad O’Brien.
Now
CNN commentator Roland Martin,
informed us this week that after six years, April 6th is his last
day at the Cable News Network. Martin still has his TV1 show on Sunday
mornings, his nationally syndicated column and his appearances on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, so he’s not
hurting for work.
But
CNN offered Martin the broadest audience possible, allowing him to share the
stage with powerful political figures, so his brand has definitely taken a hit.
That’s not6 to say an MSNBC or Fox News couldn’t pick Roland up, but unless
they’re really hurting for a black commentator, it’s not likely to happen.
And
yet, I could see MSNBC make room for Martin, given the excellent job they’ve
done in bringing top black talkers onboard. Martin brings an audience with him,
and MSNBC has made no secret that it wants to build on the tremendous
African-American audience that it already has.
So
who knows? I just hope that the folks at CNN know what they’re doing, for
unless there’s a major news story every day, just changing faces isn’t enough
to build ratings on.
We’ll
keep pour eye on CNN’s progress, if any.
KEITH
SETTLES – Reports are that Keith
Olbermann has settled his $50 million lawsuit against former employer
Current TV. The former host of MSNBC’s “Countdown” quit Current a year ago
after he and management had a serious falling out. Previous to that, Keith
spent ten years at MSNBC driving folks there crazy.
Reports
now are because Keith can’t get a job right now (his legendary temper, despite
his genius and high ratings, have made him radioactive), his attorneys used
that as a bargaining chip to force the settlement.
Here’s
the sad thing, Keith may not be on TV in a permanent job for some time, and
that, indeed is sad, because he is a talented man and commentator. He’s doing some
stints on the baseball cable channel, but essentially Keith is out of work.
I
hope that changes. We missed him during the 2012 elections, and we need his
commentary going forward.
So
behave, Keith.
THE JOB – Since I’m big on
documentaries, I strongly suggest, if you have Showtime, that you take time to
watch, “The World According to Dick Cheney,” a riveting account of perhaps the
most powerful vice president in this nation’s history.
And
one of the most ruthless.
Of
particular note is the part about how Cheney
and his then “boss,” President George W.
Bush, got us into the Iraq War exactly ten years ago this week.
The
record is now very clear that Bush,
Cheney, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, and the rest of the administration, lied past
the point of no return to the American people and the world in order to get us
into war with Iraq.
Even
a man I admire greatly, then Secretary
of State Colin Powell, went before the United Nations, and, with the CIA’s
help, laid out lie after lie as “evidence” as to why we needed to attack Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein.
And
so while the president of the United States and his crew were lying to the
world, and the nation was preparing for war, what did we in the media do to
hold the accountable?
Shamefully
go along with it.
If
we in the news business knew then what we know now, we certainly should have
sounded the alarm. But instead, the major news operations in this nation,
afraid of being tagged as unpatriotic by the country, took every dry bone that
the Bush Administration threw to us, and ran as fast as we could to report it
as honest news.
And
none of it was true, except that innocent Iraqis and American soldiers were
dying…for nothing.
That’s
a strong statement, and in no way am I saying that the brave men and women, who
wore the uniform and went into battle, did so without honor or bravery. All of
them who served, and were either injured and killed, did so believing that they
were stopping a foreign dictator from harming the world with, as their
commander-in-chief told them, “weapons of mass destruction.”
They
had no way of knowing that they were being lied to, and as a result, many did
die, and were severely injured.
Certainly
most of the blame lies with the Bush Administration. They constructed the
deadly fairy tale, got Congress to sign off on it, and dared the media to prove
them wrong, threatening to brand the media unpatriotic if they did.
And
it is because of that that this nation’s media must also share a good deal of
the blame as well.
With
the exception of liberal talk show legend Phil
Donahue, who was ultimately kicked off of MSNBC in 2003 because he was
singlehandedly challenging George Bush’s war; and the Knight-Ridder News
Service, which was cranking out stories calling into question the president’s
reasoning for going to war with a country that posed no threat to us, no one
else had the courage to look deeper.
It
was journalistic malpractice of the highest order. Vice President Dick Cheney
would go on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with the late Tim Russert, lying his crooked heart out about uranium from Niger
being used to develop a nuclear bomb in Iraq, and the usually tough Russert
allowed it to happen.
That’s
one of the reasons why independent publications have exploded on the Internet.
There is a blatant distrust of the establishment media for a whole host of
reasons, but our failure to do our due diligence in reporting what was really
going on in the lead up to the Iraq War stands out for its historic proportion,
and astounding lack of courage.
It’s
something we’ll never live down.
Nor
should we.
FLIGHT – Finally, I got the time and the
chance over the weekend to see Denzel
Washington’s boffo Academy Award nominated performance in the movie
“Flight.” The one thing that has always impressed me about D-Man is that he’s
always looking to stretch his repertoire. He’s played cops, doctors, union
soldiers and military men.
But his performance as a drunken drug addicted
airline pilot in “Flight” is one of his most varied, bravest and tortured. His
character, Whip Whitaker, is a profound liar who pulls off a miraculous landing
of a crippled jet while he’s under the influence of drugs and alcohol. For the
rest of the film, he’s running from authorities, and the truth about himself.
The film clearly is one of Denzel’s most
controversial, and his decline into drunken and drug-induced stupor is played
to the max.
The only problem with Denzel’s performance is that it
had to happen the same year Daniel
Day-Lewis portrayed President Abraham
Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s
epic “Lincoln.” It would have been a major, though well-earned upset if Denzel
beat Day-Lewis in the Best Actor Oscar category.
Instead, Denzel’s portrayal will go down through the
ages as one of his greatest ever. At the young age of 60, D-Man has many, many
more still in him.
That’s the most exciting part of all.
Make sure you tune in every Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.
for my talk radio show, ''Make It Happen'' on Power 750 WAUG-AM, or online
at www.myWAUG.com.
And read more about my thoughts and opinions exclusively at my blog, ‘The Cash
Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html).
I promise it will be interesting.
Cash in the Apple - honored as the Best Column Writing
of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Columnist Cash
Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story Journalist of
2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s President’s Award for
Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.
Until next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your
heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye, bye.
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