 June 29, 2011 Dear Pantano Supporter, In case you missed it last Friday the Huffington Post called out Congressman Mike McIntyre for being one of 6 members of Congress taking a "Rome junket funded by tax payers" while Congress is on recess for the next two weeks. The article noted that McIntyre's wife would be accompanying him on the trip, and the trip's official itinerary noted that McIntyre and his wife would be celebrating their 29th Wedding Anniversary while they were in Rome. I hope Congressman McIntyre is planning to send out a thank you note to all of the taxpayers who footed the bill for his trip to Rome and his anniversary celebration. Perhaps the McIntyres will even be nice enough to bring back some cheap souvenirs for all us who are making their celebration possible. And maybe they'll also find time to celebrate North Carolina's 9.7% unemployment rate and our nation's spiraling national debt while they enjoy their taxpayer funded pasta and wine at one of the 5-star hotels where they'll be staying. Happy Trails, Mike! And Happy Honeymoon! Andy Yates, Pantano for Congress |
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Mike McMuffin's excellent Italian adventure on your dime. Gratsi, U.S. taxpayers!
Boeing! Boeing! Labor mess turns into headache for Obama.
Verne Strickland Blogmaster
PREZ HAS A HEADACHE? TAKE TWO TAX CUTS AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING.
PREZ HAS A HEADACHE? TAKE TWO TAX CUTS AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING.
WASHINGTON The government's labor dispute with Boeing Co. is turning into a political headache for President Barack Obama, giving his Republican rivals a fresh opening to bash the administration's economic policies.
From congressional hearings to presidential debates, outraged Republicans are keeping up a steady drumbeat of criticism over the National Labor Relations Board's lawsuit against the aerospace giant.
The NLRB says Boeing retaliated against its unionized workforce in Washington state by opening a new production line for its 787 airplane in South Carolina, a right-to-work state. The agency wants a judge to order Boeing to return all 787 assembly work to Washington, even though the company has already built a new $750 million South Carolina plant and hired 1,000 new workers there.
The case - which could drag on for years - has become an unwanted distraction for Obama as he tries to mend relations with the business community and contend with polls that show growing public disapproval over his handling of the economy.
It makes an easy target for Republicans, who call it a case of government overreaching at a time when the private sector is struggling to create new jobs. And it's a major story in South Carolina - a bellwether early primary state in the GOP presidential race. Candidates are lining up to impress voters and the state's Republican governor, tea party favorite Nikki Haley.
"Obama's NLRB has united the Republican Party and turned this government agency into a political pinata," said GOP consultant Scott Reed. "Boeing spent a billion dollars building a plant to create thousands of jobs and it looks like the NLRB stuck their nose in and tried to pull the rug out."
Business groups and their GOP allies say the government is interfering with the right of company managers to choose where and how to expand business operations. Boeing claims it opened the plant for a variety of economic reasons, but NLRB officials say Boeing executives made public comments showing the move was meant to punish union workers for a series of costly strikes.
For Haley, the case has been a litmus test for every GOP presidential candidate visiting the state. And they have not disappointed her.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, visiting New Hampshire on Monday, said Obama had appointed "union stooges into the NLRB and then they come up with decisions that are really quite extraordinary," like the Boeing lawsuit that he and others have said will drive companies to seek workers overseas.
GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich called for defunding the agency during a recent New Hampshire debate, saying the case could threaten the viability of the nation's 22 right-to-work states, where labor unions can't force employees to be members.
And during a tour of South Carolina last week, GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman called on Obama to step in and end the lawsuit to prevent it from scaring other businesses away from the state.
Haley says the only way to make things right "is for the president to tell the NLRB to back off. And until that happens, it is my job to be loud and annoying and in his face until he realizes that what they have done is wrong."
Even South Carolina's Democrats have piled on, focusing on the complaint's effect on business less than the politics of the board.
"Clearly it's an independent agency and is taking an action that I know was not directed by the president," said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., a Democrat. "But in this case, I think it was a very, very bad decision and a huge mistake that is not good policy for the country."
Obama, ordinarily a reliable supporter of organized labor, has carefully avoided taking a position on the case. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president does not want to interfere with the conduct of an independent federal agency.
"We don't get involved in particular enforcement matters of independent agencies," Carney said last week. "But I would also say that the president has a strong record on labor rights." He added that Obama also supports "a strong private sector in the United States that helps our economy grow and create jobs."
But the issue became more awkward for Obama when John Bryson, his pick to head the Commerce Department and a former Boeing board member, openly criticized the lawsuit during a Senate confirmation hearing last week.
"I think it's not the right judgment," Bryson said. He said Boeing officials thought they were "doing the right thing for the country" by keeping jobs in the U.S. and not moving them overseas.
Some Democrats and union officials have stepped up their defense of the NLRB, saying Republicans are misrepresenting the case against Boeing. Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, accused Republicans of peddling "misinformation," distorting the public perception of the case and unfairly attacking the agency.
Labor experts say if the allegations in the complaint are true, it would constitute a standard violation of federal labor laws, which prohibit a company from moving work to punish union workers for past strikes. The complaint lays out several public statements by Boeing executives saying they wanted to relocate new lines for the Dreamliner because of strike activity, including a 58-day work stoppage in 2008.
But such violations can be difficult to prove, especially if the company can show it had other valid motives for opening the new lines in South Carolina. The government has to show the company relocated work for the purpose of stopping workers from exercising their legal rights to strike, said Catherine Fisk, a law professor at the University of California at Irvine who specializes in labor issues.
Perhaps the best scenario for Obama would be for the case to be settled, an outcome that many labor experts expect.
"The unions don't want an adverse decision, management doesn't want an adverse decision and the best way to avoid that is to reach a settlement on their own," said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University.
From congressional hearings to presidential debates, outraged Republicans are keeping up a steady drumbeat of criticism over the National Labor Relations Board's lawsuit against the aerospace giant.
The NLRB says Boeing retaliated against its unionized workforce in Washington state by opening a new production line for its 787 airplane in South Carolina, a right-to-work state. The agency wants a judge to order Boeing to return all 787 assembly work to Washington, even though the company has already built a new $750 million South Carolina plant and hired 1,000 new workers there.
The case - which could drag on for years - has become an unwanted distraction for Obama as he tries to mend relations with the business community and contend with polls that show growing public disapproval over his handling of the economy.
It makes an easy target for Republicans, who call it a case of government overreaching at a time when the private sector is struggling to create new jobs. And it's a major story in South Carolina - a bellwether early primary state in the GOP presidential race. Candidates are lining up to impress voters and the state's Republican governor, tea party favorite Nikki Haley.
"Obama's NLRB has united the Republican Party and turned this government agency into a political pinata," said GOP consultant Scott Reed. "Boeing spent a billion dollars building a plant to create thousands of jobs and it looks like the NLRB stuck their nose in and tried to pull the rug out."
Business groups and their GOP allies say the government is interfering with the right of company managers to choose where and how to expand business operations. Boeing claims it opened the plant for a variety of economic reasons, but NLRB officials say Boeing executives made public comments showing the move was meant to punish union workers for a series of costly strikes.
For Haley, the case has been a litmus test for every GOP presidential candidate visiting the state. And they have not disappointed her.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, visiting New Hampshire on Monday, said Obama had appointed "union stooges into the NLRB and then they come up with decisions that are really quite extraordinary," like the Boeing lawsuit that he and others have said will drive companies to seek workers overseas.
GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich called for defunding the agency during a recent New Hampshire debate, saying the case could threaten the viability of the nation's 22 right-to-work states, where labor unions can't force employees to be members.
And during a tour of South Carolina last week, GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman called on Obama to step in and end the lawsuit to prevent it from scaring other businesses away from the state.
Haley says the only way to make things right "is for the president to tell the NLRB to back off. And until that happens, it is my job to be loud and annoying and in his face until he realizes that what they have done is wrong."
Even South Carolina's Democrats have piled on, focusing on the complaint's effect on business less than the politics of the board.
"Clearly it's an independent agency and is taking an action that I know was not directed by the president," said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., a Democrat. "But in this case, I think it was a very, very bad decision and a huge mistake that is not good policy for the country."
Obama, ordinarily a reliable supporter of organized labor, has carefully avoided taking a position on the case. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president does not want to interfere with the conduct of an independent federal agency.
"We don't get involved in particular enforcement matters of independent agencies," Carney said last week. "But I would also say that the president has a strong record on labor rights." He added that Obama also supports "a strong private sector in the United States that helps our economy grow and create jobs."
But the issue became more awkward for Obama when John Bryson, his pick to head the Commerce Department and a former Boeing board member, openly criticized the lawsuit during a Senate confirmation hearing last week.
"I think it's not the right judgment," Bryson said. He said Boeing officials thought they were "doing the right thing for the country" by keeping jobs in the U.S. and not moving them overseas.
Some Democrats and union officials have stepped up their defense of the NLRB, saying Republicans are misrepresenting the case against Boeing. Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, accused Republicans of peddling "misinformation," distorting the public perception of the case and unfairly attacking the agency.
Labor experts say if the allegations in the complaint are true, it would constitute a standard violation of federal labor laws, which prohibit a company from moving work to punish union workers for past strikes. The complaint lays out several public statements by Boeing executives saying they wanted to relocate new lines for the Dreamliner because of strike activity, including a 58-day work stoppage in 2008.
But such violations can be difficult to prove, especially if the company can show it had other valid motives for opening the new lines in South Carolina. The government has to show the company relocated work for the purpose of stopping workers from exercising their legal rights to strike, said Catherine Fisk, a law professor at the University of California at Irvine who specializes in labor issues.
Perhaps the best scenario for Obama would be for the case to be settled, an outcome that many labor experts expect.
"The unions don't want an adverse decision, management doesn't want an adverse decision and the best way to avoid that is to reach a settlement on their own," said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University.
Associated Press writers Bruce Smith in Charleston, S.C., and Kathy McCormack in Salem, N.H., contributed to this report.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/06/29/2415754/boeing-labor-dispute-turns-into.html
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
National Labor Relations Board continues pro-union, anti-jobs agenda!
Verne Strickland Blogmaster
On the heels of its politically charged attempt to stop Boeing from locating a new factory in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, the National Labor Relations Board has continued it's pro-union, anti-job political power grab. This time the NLRB wants to change the rules for union elections to create "quickie" elections that will be much easier for labor unions to win (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070104576399822234404508.html).
This is nothing more than a politically charged attempt to stop the spiraling decrease in union membership (down to 6.5% from a high o f35% in the 1950s according to the WSJ) for the political benefit of President Obama and liberals in Congress at the expense of American jobs. Labor Unions were one of the biggest contributosrs to Obama's election campaign in 2008 and one of the biggest donors to his followers in Congress like Mike McIntyre (Big Labor has donated over $450,000 to McIntyre) and now Obama and friends are politicizing the NLRB because they need the big money from big labor for the 2012 election cylce. As the Wall Street Journal editors wrote in their editorial "The Union Quickie," is designed to be independent with the purpose of ensuring fair labor practices, but under Obama the NLRB is now "hyperpolitized" and "an advocate for unions."
Congressman Joe Kline, Chairman of the House's Education & Workforce Committee was absolutley right in his statement in reacton to the NLRB's proprosal:
“In a direct affront to the millions of Americans desperate for jobs and opportunities, the Obama NLRB continues to push an activist agenda at the expense of our nation’s workforce. Big Labor has found faithful friends on the Obama NLRB who are working hard to ‘fix’ a process that isn’t broken. Not only will this misguided proposal to expedite union elections undermine an employer’s lawful right to communicate with his or her employees, it will cripple a worker’s ability to make an informed decision. Employers and employees have a right to speak their mind and vote their conscience; I will continue to oppose any effort to undermine these fundamental principles.”“The board is rushing a flawed proposal through a flawed process that will result in limited public scrutiny and congressional input. For the sake of the nation’s workers and job creators, I urge the board to scrap this reckless proposal and abandon its job-destroying agenda.
http://www.pantanoforcongress.com/posts/national-labor-relations-board-continues-pro-union-anti-jobs-agenda
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North Carolina NAACP -- count your blessings! GOP is more generous than Democrats!
By KEN RAYMOND | Guest columnist
Published: June 28, 2011
The Republican-controlled General Assembly's redistricting map produces more majority-black districts, for the House and the Senate, than the Democratic-controlled General Assembly created 10 years ago. And although most blacks are glad to hear about the additional 15 House districts and nine Senate districts, there's one organization that's not happy at all — the NAACP.
North Carolina NAACP President William Barber has expressed opposition to the GOP plan, even though it's clearly in favor of the black community. Apparently, Barber is so used to challenging Republicans that he can't stop criticizing them long enough to see that African-Americans will now have more representation in Raleigh.
"To believe the ultra-conservative, extremist majority in the N.C. legislature is suddenly deeply concerned about upholding the civil rights and political power of African-American and minorities and therefore wants us to accept their plan sight unseen is absurd," Barber said in a press release.
Well you can see it, Mr. Barber. And I don't think the black community is complaining. Are you going to urge the Democrats in the legislature to oppose it? Or are you going to organize a march against it in Raleigh? That would be interesting to see.
Other members of the NAACP are already testing the bounds of their credibility. During a public meeting last Friday, Ben Griffin, a member of the NAACP from New Hanover County, said, "This will make it harder, not easier, for minorities to have their interests represented."
More black districts make it harder for minorities to have their interests represented? Maybe in some alternate universe that Griffin is familiar with, but not here on Earth. When you hear ridiculous arguments like this, it almost makes you wonder if the NAACP cares for fair representation for blacks.
If Barber cares about his credibility at all, he'll support the GOP plan. And if he cares about truly expanding the political influence of the black community, he'd use this situation as a springboard to open a dialogue with the Republican Party.
This is an opportunity for Barber to strengthen the political clout of African-Americans. Will he take it? Or will he keep it cornered in the Democratic camp? We'll see.
And the Democrats' response to the new districts is very interesting, too. Obviously, charges of racism won't carry any weight. So they're accusing the GOP of creating more African-American districts so that they can draw the remaining districts for themselves.
Maybe the Democrats can't bear the thought of being openly out-performed on the race issue. If the number of minority districts remained the same, they'd charge the GOP with unfairness. And if the number were fewer, they'd certainly charge the GOP with racism. I'm beginning to think the Democrats are at a loss with how to respond and this is the best they can do.
Here in Forsyth County, there are some people lamenting the loss of Democratic Sen. Linda Garrou. Garrou, who represents the 32nd District, has been redrawn into the 31st District. The 31st, which is represented by Republican Sen. Pete Brunstetter, includes the county area, and its voters are mainly Republicans.
I think those people have lost sight of the most important thing. The important thing is that the people are fairly represented in Raleigh, not whether incumbents keep their seats. The voters are supposed to chose their representatives, not the other way around. The seat belongs to the people.
After redistricting, incumbents sometimes find themselves drawn out their district. Or they're placed in a situation where they have to run against another incumbent from their own party. That's the way it goes. And this time, the GOP is drawing the lines.
And finally, I'm really looking forward to the day when race is no longer a factor in redrawing lines. The fact that so many people believe that there must be districts with African-American majorities proves that many people believe that all African-Americans think alike.
And that's not true. There are black liberals, conservatives, moderates and everything in between. And yes, most black people vote Democratic. But that's not because black people think alike. A big reason for it is cultural conformity, not ideological agreement.
Drawing boundaries that ensure African-American majorities is one of the residual effects of the Jim Crow era. Many people are still sensitive to a time of institutional disenfranchisement. Therefore, any significant demographic change in the districts would certainly bring accusations of racism.
But when organizations such as the NAACP play racial and partisan games, it's going to take much longer for society to get to a place where race will not be a factor in redistricting.
http://www2.journalnow.com/news/opinion/2011/jun/28/wsopin02-naacps-gamesmanship-rings-hollow-on-new-m-ar-1159511/
Ken Raymond of Forsyth County is active in Republican Party politics.
North Carolina NAACP President William Barber has expressed opposition to the GOP plan, even though it's clearly in favor of the black community. Apparently, Barber is so used to challenging Republicans that he can't stop criticizing them long enough to see that African-Americans will now have more representation in Raleigh.
"To believe the ultra-conservative, extremist majority in the N.C. legislature is suddenly deeply concerned about upholding the civil rights and political power of African-American and minorities and therefore wants us to accept their plan sight unseen is absurd," Barber said in a press release.
Well you can see it, Mr. Barber. And I don't think the black community is complaining. Are you going to urge the Democrats in the legislature to oppose it? Or are you going to organize a march against it in Raleigh? That would be interesting to see.
Other members of the NAACP are already testing the bounds of their credibility. During a public meeting last Friday, Ben Griffin, a member of the NAACP from New Hanover County, said, "This will make it harder, not easier, for minorities to have their interests represented."
More black districts make it harder for minorities to have their interests represented? Maybe in some alternate universe that Griffin is familiar with, but not here on Earth. When you hear ridiculous arguments like this, it almost makes you wonder if the NAACP cares for fair representation for blacks.
If Barber cares about his credibility at all, he'll support the GOP plan. And if he cares about truly expanding the political influence of the black community, he'd use this situation as a springboard to open a dialogue with the Republican Party.
This is an opportunity for Barber to strengthen the political clout of African-Americans. Will he take it? Or will he keep it cornered in the Democratic camp? We'll see.
And the Democrats' response to the new districts is very interesting, too. Obviously, charges of racism won't carry any weight. So they're accusing the GOP of creating more African-American districts so that they can draw the remaining districts for themselves.
Maybe the Democrats can't bear the thought of being openly out-performed on the race issue. If the number of minority districts remained the same, they'd charge the GOP with unfairness. And if the number were fewer, they'd certainly charge the GOP with racism. I'm beginning to think the Democrats are at a loss with how to respond and this is the best they can do.
Here in Forsyth County, there are some people lamenting the loss of Democratic Sen. Linda Garrou. Garrou, who represents the 32nd District, has been redrawn into the 31st District. The 31st, which is represented by Republican Sen. Pete Brunstetter, includes the county area, and its voters are mainly Republicans.
I think those people have lost sight of the most important thing. The important thing is that the people are fairly represented in Raleigh, not whether incumbents keep their seats. The voters are supposed to chose their representatives, not the other way around. The seat belongs to the people.
After redistricting, incumbents sometimes find themselves drawn out their district. Or they're placed in a situation where they have to run against another incumbent from their own party. That's the way it goes. And this time, the GOP is drawing the lines.
And finally, I'm really looking forward to the day when race is no longer a factor in redrawing lines. The fact that so many people believe that there must be districts with African-American majorities proves that many people believe that all African-Americans think alike.
And that's not true. There are black liberals, conservatives, moderates and everything in between. And yes, most black people vote Democratic. But that's not because black people think alike. A big reason for it is cultural conformity, not ideological agreement.
Drawing boundaries that ensure African-American majorities is one of the residual effects of the Jim Crow era. Many people are still sensitive to a time of institutional disenfranchisement. Therefore, any significant demographic change in the districts would certainly bring accusations of racism.
But when organizations such as the NAACP play racial and partisan games, it's going to take much longer for society to get to a place where race will not be a factor in redistricting.
http://www2.journalnow.com/news/opinion/2011/jun/28/wsopin02-naacps-gamesmanship-rings-hollow-on-new-m-ar-1159511/
Monday, June 27, 2011
North Carolina Democrats brace for GOP remap -- a political tsunami in the making?
Verne Strickland Blogmaster
June 28, 2011
By: Alex Isenstadt
POLITICO
North Carolina Democrats largely survived the carnage of the midterms — eluding the fate that claimed many of their Southern colleagues.
But the redistricting nightmare they now face will be harder to escape.
With North Carolina Republicans slated to unveil a new congressional map this week, Democrats are bracing for a buzzsaw. Party officials sullenly concede that as many as three Democratic incumbents could be imperiled and that there is little they can do to stop it.
“I don’t think there will be anything subtle about it,” said Mike Davis, a longtime Democratic consultant in the state. “It will be more like a bulldozer.”
Democrats believe they are in store for two incumbent vs. incumbent races — with Democratic Reps. Brad Miller and David Price likely to compete for one seat and Democratic Reps. Larry Kissell and Mike McIntyre vying for another. Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler could see his western North Carolina district take on an increasingly GOP orientation.
“It’s going to be brutal,” said Brad Crone, a Raleigh-based Democratic strategist.
With the GOP controlling the levers of redistricting, Democrats have long anticipated deep losses in the state. Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature for the first time in more than a century and Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue has no veto power over the new map.
It’s a blow for a delegation that mostly weathered the Republican midterm wave that obliterated the ranks of Southern Democrats. Just one Democratic incumbent — Rep. Bobby Etheridge — fell short, while Shuler, Kissell and McIntyre survived, providing Democrats with a narrow majority in the state’s congressional delegation.
Over the past several months, according to Democratic aides, party lawmakers began to realize that they were on a collision course with a forthcoming blueprint that would present the most serious threat yet to their political careers.
“This is out of our hands, unfortunately. I think everyone is very realistic about what the situation is,” said a well-placed Democratic aide, who said Kissell and McIntyre have yet to discuss the possibility of running against one another. “We’re just prepared mentally for what is to come.”
For Republicans, the new map will cap months of preparation that began as the dust from the midterms was settling. As they started plotting their 2012 blueprint, Republican strategists determined that North Carolina’s redistricting effort could yield a handful of ripe targets — and that they had to make the most of the opportunity.
>
> In February, the National Republican Congressional Committee unleashed the first of a half-dozen robocalls targeting four North Carolina Democrats and followed up with TV ads hammering Shuler and Miller on spending. The goal, according to those familiar with the approach, is to brand the North Carolina Democrats as early targets and signal to potential GOP challengers that Republicans will be investing heavily in the state after the new lines are drawn.
The North Carolina GOP delegation — led by Reps. Patrick McHenry and Virginia Foxx — meanwhile was spearheading the effort to guide state lawmakers to produce a Democrat-dooming map.
“It is a very important battleground state,” said state GOP Chairman Robin Hayes, a former congressman who lost the seat he had held for a decade to Kissell in 2008. “Taking back North Carolina is one of our main goals as a Republican Party.”
“If we don’t gain any seats, it will be a colossal failure,” said Paul Shumaker, a North Carolina-based GOP consultant who serves as a top political aide to Sen. Richard Burr.
North Carolina will be central to Republican efforts to offset redistricting losses in Illinois and California, where the party could lose as many as 10 seats.
Republicans familiar with the redraw said they are determining how best to produce a map that strongly favors the party for the next decade and unravels Democratic-crafted districts in urban areas that have allowed Shuler, McIntyre, Kissell and Miller to win in a Republican-leaning state. They are also looking to bolster the prospects of GOP Rep. Renee Ellmers, a potentially vulnerable freshman who unseated Etheridge, by adding Republican voters to her central North Carolina district.
That Miller finds himself in the redistricting cross hairs is something of a twist.
During the previous round of line-drawing, it was Miller — then the chairman of the state Senate redistricting committee — who personally drew a Raleigh-based district to include much of his political base, enabling him to launch a successful 2002 congressional campaign.
Now the pol whose masterful boundary-crafting became part of North Carolina political lore finds the knife pointed at him.
“There will be payback, for sure,” said Crone.
While Democrats won’t be able to stop the new map legislatively, they will be able to launch legal challenges — potentially over whether it discriminates against minority voters. Under the Voting Rights Act, North Carolina, like other Southern states, must have its map precleared by the Justice Department.
“Everyone should expect a lot of legal challenges. It’s going to be Barack Obama’s attorney general doing preclearance on these districts,” said Shumaker. “We should absolutely make gains. Bur are three seats a given? Absolutely not.”
Thomas Mills, a Democratic consultant in the state, said it’s possible Republicans might overreach and endanger their own incumbents by drawing Democratic-oriented areas into their districts. One possibility: that in weakening Shuler, Republicans would place the Democratic stronghold of Asheville within McHenry’s new boundaries.
“The days of Democrats being in the majority are over, but the seats that Republicans hold may be competitive by the end of the decade,” said Mills. “Things change.”
But, he said, “They’re going to make this as ugly as they possibly can.”
Andy Yates
Pantano for Congress
(704) 467-0795 cell
andy@pantanoforcongress.com
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June 28, 2011
By: Alex Isenstadt
POLITICO
North Carolina Democrats largely survived the carnage of the midterms — eluding the fate that claimed many of their Southern colleagues.
But the redistricting nightmare they now face will be harder to escape.
With North Carolina Republicans slated to unveil a new congressional map this week, Democrats are bracing for a buzzsaw. Party officials sullenly concede that as many as three Democratic incumbents could be imperiled and that there is little they can do to stop it.
“I don’t think there will be anything subtle about it,” said Mike Davis, a longtime Democratic consultant in the state. “It will be more like a bulldozer.”
Democrats believe they are in store for two incumbent vs. incumbent races — with Democratic Reps. Brad Miller and David Price likely to compete for one seat and Democratic Reps. Larry Kissell and Mike McIntyre vying for another. Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler could see his western North Carolina district take on an increasingly GOP orientation.
“It’s going to be brutal,” said Brad Crone, a Raleigh-based Democratic strategist.
With the GOP controlling the levers of redistricting, Democrats have long anticipated deep losses in the state. Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature for the first time in more than a century and Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue has no veto power over the new map.
It’s a blow for a delegation that mostly weathered the Republican midterm wave that obliterated the ranks of Southern Democrats. Just one Democratic incumbent — Rep. Bobby Etheridge — fell short, while Shuler, Kissell and McIntyre survived, providing Democrats with a narrow majority in the state’s congressional delegation.
Over the past several months, according to Democratic aides, party lawmakers began to realize that they were on a collision course with a forthcoming blueprint that would present the most serious threat yet to their political careers.
“This is out of our hands, unfortunately. I think everyone is very realistic about what the situation is,” said a well-placed Democratic aide, who said Kissell and McIntyre have yet to discuss the possibility of running against one another. “We’re just prepared mentally for what is to come.”
For Republicans, the new map will cap months of preparation that began as the dust from the midterms was settling. As they started plotting their 2012 blueprint, Republican strategists determined that North Carolina’s redistricting effort could yield a handful of ripe targets — and that they had to make the most of the opportunity.
>
> In February, the National Republican Congressional Committee unleashed the first of a half-dozen robocalls targeting four North Carolina Democrats and followed up with TV ads hammering Shuler and Miller on spending. The goal, according to those familiar with the approach, is to brand the North Carolina Democrats as early targets and signal to potential GOP challengers that Republicans will be investing heavily in the state after the new lines are drawn.
The North Carolina GOP delegation — led by Reps. Patrick McHenry and Virginia Foxx — meanwhile was spearheading the effort to guide state lawmakers to produce a Democrat-dooming map.
“It is a very important battleground state,” said state GOP Chairman Robin Hayes, a former congressman who lost the seat he had held for a decade to Kissell in 2008. “Taking back North Carolina is one of our main goals as a Republican Party.”
“If we don’t gain any seats, it will be a colossal failure,” said Paul Shumaker, a North Carolina-based GOP consultant who serves as a top political aide to Sen. Richard Burr.
North Carolina will be central to Republican efforts to offset redistricting losses in Illinois and California, where the party could lose as many as 10 seats.
Republicans familiar with the redraw said they are determining how best to produce a map that strongly favors the party for the next decade and unravels Democratic-crafted districts in urban areas that have allowed Shuler, McIntyre, Kissell and Miller to win in a Republican-leaning state. They are also looking to bolster the prospects of GOP Rep. Renee Ellmers, a potentially vulnerable freshman who unseated Etheridge, by adding Republican voters to her central North Carolina district.
That Miller finds himself in the redistricting cross hairs is something of a twist.
During the previous round of line-drawing, it was Miller — then the chairman of the state Senate redistricting committee — who personally drew a Raleigh-based district to include much of his political base, enabling him to launch a successful 2002 congressional campaign.
Now the pol whose masterful boundary-crafting became part of North Carolina political lore finds the knife pointed at him.
“There will be payback, for sure,” said Crone.
While Democrats won’t be able to stop the new map legislatively, they will be able to launch legal challenges — potentially over whether it discriminates against minority voters. Under the Voting Rights Act, North Carolina, like other Southern states, must have its map precleared by the Justice Department.
“Everyone should expect a lot of legal challenges. It’s going to be Barack Obama’s attorney general doing preclearance on these districts,” said Shumaker. “We should absolutely make gains. Bur are three seats a given? Absolutely not.”
Thomas Mills, a Democratic consultant in the state, said it’s possible Republicans might overreach and endanger their own incumbents by drawing Democratic-oriented areas into their districts. One possibility: that in weakening Shuler, Republicans would place the Democratic stronghold of Asheville within McHenry’s new boundaries.
“The days of Democrats being in the majority are over, but the seats that Republicans hold may be competitive by the end of the decade,” said Mills. “Things change.”
But, he said, “They’re going to make this as ugly as they possibly can.”
Andy Yates
Pantano for Congress
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andy@pantanoforcongress.com
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The Sound in the Mulberry Trees -- Watch and Listen for God's Signal to You.
Verne Strickland Blogmaster
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in they sight, O LORD my strength and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14
There is an old mulberry tree outside my window. Its trunk and limbs are thick and craggy, and it is magnificent in summer with its rich plumage of deep green leaves.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in they sight, O LORD my strength and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14
There is an old mulberry tree outside my window. Its trunk and limbs are thick and craggy, and it is magnificent in summer with its rich plumage of deep green leaves.
It is a welcome sight always, and has had special significance to me since I read in God’s Word the story of David and the mulberry tree.
Here is the story of the mulberry tree, and its place in the life of David. There is a message here for each of us – wait on the Lord. Watch for the signs. He will tell you when the time is right for you to act as you are directed.
Each time I walk outside my door in downtown Wilmington, I look at the top of my mulberry tree. And it seems to bring me closer to God.
Sometimes it is still. Mute. At other times it is rustling and even bending. But knowing of its place in the Holy Bible, and how it held a special message for David, I always feel a personal connection to that wonderful old mulberry by my fence. It will be here after I'm gone.
You don’t need a mulberry tree to put you in touch with the Lord’s calling. He will speak to you in other ways specific to you. if you truly consult Him. I pray that you will.
The Sound in the Mulberry Trees
From a sermon by C. H. SPURGEON. (1834-1892)
"When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, then thou shall bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines."—2 Samuel 5:24.
David had just fought the Philistines in this very valley, and gained a signal victory, so that he said, "the Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me as the breach of waters." The Philistines had come up in great hosts, and had brought their gods with them, that like Israel, when the ark of the Lord was brought into their midst, they might feel quite sure of victory.
However, by the help of God David easily put them to rout, burned their images in the fire, and obtained a glorious victory over them. Note, however, that when they came a second time against David, David did not go up to fight them, without enquiring of the Lord. Once he had been victorious; he might have said, as many of us have said, in fact, in other cases—"I shall be victorious again; I may rest quite sure that if I have triumphed once I shall triumph yet again. Wherefore should I go and seek at the Lord's hands?"
Not so, now David. He had gained one victory by the strength of the Lord; he would not venture upon another, until he had ensured the same. He went and asked the sacred oracle, "Shall I go up against them?" and when he was informed that he was not immediately to march against them, but to encamp so as to surprise them at the mulberry-trees, he did not demur a single moment to the mandate of God; and when he was bidden to wait until he should hear the sound in the tops of the mulberry-trees before he went to fight, he was not in an ill haste to rush to battle at once, but he tarried until the mulberry-trees began to sing at the top by reason of the wind that rushed along the leaves.
He would wait until God's sign was given; he said, "I will not lift my spear nor my hand till God hath bidden me do it, lest I should go to war at my own charges, and lose all I have obtained."
My brethren, let us learn from David to take no steps without God. I speak to none but those who are already Christians,—I beseech him not to venture until he has sought counsel of God, and unless he has a firm conviction that he is doing it not merely for his own advantage but to help him in serving his God the better.
My brethren, let us learn from David to take no steps without God. I speak to none but those who are already Christians,—I beseech him not to venture until he has sought counsel of God, and unless he has a firm conviction that he is doing it not merely for his own advantage but to help him in serving his God the better.
Thus David was not to go to battle, until he heard a sound of a rustling in the tops of the mulberry trees. There was a calm, perhaps; and God's order to David was, "You are not to begin to fight until the wind begins rustling through the tops of the mulberry trees."
So my remark is only this—that there are certain signs which ought to be indications to us of certain duties. I shall use the verse in this way. First, there are certain special duties, which are not duties to everybody, but only to some people. If we wish to know whether we are to perform these duties, we must seek signs concerning them, and not go and rush into a duty to which we are not called, unless we get a sign, even as David got the rustling among the mulberry leaves.
So that when we see some sign of God's Holy Spirit being in motion, or some other signs, these are seasons when we ought to be more than ever active, and more than ever earnest in the service of our Master.
Subscribe to the Devotionals and Sermons of Charles Haddon Spurgeon at http://www.backtothebible.org/index.php/Devotions.html
Subscribe to the Devotionals and Sermons of Charles Haddon Spurgeon at http://www.backtothebible.org/index.php/Devotions.html
Pantano Report: Helping firefighters in Pender. Jobless need jobs, not another 'stimulus'!
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Firefighters and emergency management officals in Pender County are fighting a massive wildfire this week. The fire has now burned over 21,300 acres and over 2,100 homes are considered to be in danger. And unfortunately the fire is expected to get worse. As firefighters and emergency workers struggle to fight the fire they need our prayers and they need our help.
At the request of firefighters, the Greater Hampstead Chamber of Commerce is collecting individual water bottles and gatorade. They are also collecting individually packaged non-perishable snakcs, however the most immediate need is for the water and Gatorade. Donations may be dropped off at the Hampstead Volunteer Fire Dept., Sloop Point Volunteer Fire Dept. or the Greater Hampstead Chamber of Commerce. Chamber staff will also pick up donations if needed. You can arrange for pick up or make a cash donation by calling 910-270-9642.
Americans Want Jobs Not Another Stimulus
When the stimulus passed in 2009 President Obama said that it would ensure unemployment stayed below 8%. A year ago the White House declared it the "Recovery Summer." However, the national unemployment rate has remained above 8% for the 28th straight month and here in North Caroliina it's at 9.7% and even higher in many of our counties.
This video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xMFQMbsNDI&feature=player_embedded, sums up just how bad the economy is and how the stimulus was a total failure.
The only thing the stimulus did was increase our national debt. Yet, Senators Chuch Schumer and Harry Reid are talking about the possibility of another stimulus. It's time to forget about a "stimulus" and to pass a real plan to create real jobs for Americans like the plan found here: http://www.gop.gov/indepth/jobs
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