My Sister Found This. We Were Named Second Best Dance Team in High School

WE DANCED WITH BENNY GOODMAN

Governor BeVeto

GOV PERDUE'S POLITICAL GAMES

Loyal Republican Woman Passes

This was sent out today by the Watauga Republican Party:

"It is with great sorrow that I inform you that Mary Sue Miller passed away yesterday evening. She worked endlessly to make Watauga County a better place for everyone.She will be greatly missed. Please keep Nathan and all of Mary Sue's family in your thoughts and prayers."

I Agree With Morris on Libya

MORRIS ON MISSION CREEP IN LIBYA

Tea Partiers Cast Their Votes

Tea Party Straw Poll

Why The Differences???????

I was struck by the recent article in the Mountain Times in which the Ashe County School Board , who presumably are facing the same state budget issues as Watauga County schools, asked their county commissioners for the same funding as in prior years.....appx 3.9Million dollars.

“We did not feel in the midst of all the [county] cuts to ask the commissioners for an increase, knowing it would be difficult to fund that,” said Ashe School Supt Travis Reeves. 

Morris's Cartoon on President Golfing

Government Gone Wild

Sometimes I Think Liberals Dont Mind Paying Taxes...As long as they don't know they are paying taxes!

Among the cries for increasing taxes on "the wealthy" (i.e. taxpayers), you often will also hear liberals insisting that corporations should pay higher taxes. I have reconsidered my position on this and have now come to agree with them.

Is Huckabee Out or Just a Rumor

HUCKEBEE

County gets 'informal offer' on old WHS

From Watauga Dem on line


No dollar amount was released (as far as I can tell)...but the "asking" price is around 28 million.

Let's hope the sale goes through and that 100% of whatever is realized goes to debt reduction!

One Of Our Best Chances For Picking Off Another House Seat

Heath Shuler gets a primary

North Carolina Blue Dog Democrat Heath Shuler is getting a primary challenge.
Councilman Cecil Bothwell, who originally said he would run as an independent, has changed his mind on the advice of friends and supporters, according to The Asheville Citizen-Times.

Pensions For Public Employees

Latest PEW RESEARCH data

The Trillion Dollar Gap Grows Wider

The gap between the promises states have made for public employees’ retirement benefits and the money set aside to pay for them grew to at least $1.26 trillion in fiscal year 2009—a 26 percent increase in one year—according to a Pew report.
The Widening Gap: The Great Recession’s Impact on State Pension and Retiree Health Care Costs analyzes 2009 and 2010 data on states' funding of pensions and retiree health care. The report shows how states’ retirement systems—many of them already on shaky ground—were affected by the Great Recession:

High Profile Birthers Still Going and Going

FRANKLIN GRAHAM

DONALD TRUMP

***UPDATE***
Here's the PDF

Haley Barbour Backs Out Of Race

Haley Barbour Not Running for President

• By Steve Peoples
• Roll Call Staff
• April 25, 2011, 3:18 p.m.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour announced Monday that he will not seek the presidency in 2012, a surprise move sure to send ripples through the evolving Republican field.

In a statement released Monday afternoon, he suggested that he didn’t have “the fire in the belly” to run for the White House, despite having staff in place in early primary states and a national fundraising network.
“I will not be a candidate for president next year....."

Chance To Get Some Info On Fair Tax

TUESDAY, APRIL 26:
FAIRTAX SEMINAR 

 7-9 PM Watauga County Public Library

  

Speakers will give an overview of the FairTax and how it would rescue our economy and free Americans for the burden of the IRS "FOREVER".

     

New Vent Page

The last one worked so well, thought it might be good for a new one.

Eric Allie explains it best!

Among the very best political cartoonists of today!

Is It A "No Fly Zone" or a War for Regime Change?

Obama authorizes drone strikes in Libya

By Daniel Strauss - 04/21/11 03:23 PM ET

President Obama has authorized the use of aerial drone strikes in Libya to aid rebels fighting to oust dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Thursday.
Gates stressed that even though the United States will begin using the armed Predator drones in Libya, American soldiers will not be deployed to the country. He said the Libyan people will have to remove Gadhafi themselves, though the U.S. "can provide them with some cover from the air."

From The Hill.COM

Funny how this doesn't seem to be making many headlines in the "mainstream media".....We have gone from non-intervention, to a protective 'no fly zone', to attacking Libyan tanks, etc and now escalating again. Let's face it, this is a war for regime change. Obama will continue to escalate and it is very likely to end up with American troops on the ground in Libya.

Should Boone Require WalMart to Pay Higher Wages?

An interesting article in the High Country Press....

A group of seniors at ASU has presented a proposal to the Boone Town Council that would require the Boone WalMart to pay what the group has determined to be a "living wage".

Hey...Here Is An Idea

Planned Parenthood Increases Lobbying Budget

From Roll Call
Planned Parenthood’s federal lobbying bill more than tripled in the first three months of the new Congress, as Republicans targeted the group for funding cuts and transformed it into a political cause célébre.
For the first quarter of 2011, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America reported spending $400,000 on federal lobbying, up more than 256 percent from the same quarter just one year ago, when it spent $111,000.

                         *                            *                               *                           *                           *

Suggestion....take the lobbying money and use it to replace the federal (taxpayer) funding you are getting.

Is BOONE Facing It's Own Austerity Program?

 It appears that Boone will have to face the same realities that it's citizens have been facing. How many Wataugans and Boone citizens have had to go through their own budgets line by line, item by item, and cut what isn't absolutely essential?

Unfortunately, for most of us, we don't have the option of "raising the tax rate" to offset our additional costs of living.

Gary Childers goblueridge.net

Obama Approval Ratings

Yes, it's very VERY early in the presidential election cycle but still, I can't believe the Dems are happy with their candidate's current approval/disapproval numbers. And, in particular, they can't be happy with the trend. While you might have thought his recent announcements and the beginning of his 2012 campaign would have given him a slight uptick, it just didn't happen.



RealClearPolitics.com summary of recent polls:
                                                                       App  Disapp. Spread

RCP Average	4/7 - 4/18	--	45.9	49.6	-3.7
ABC News/Wash Post	4/14 - 4/17		47	50	-3
Gallup	4/16 - 4/18		44	48	-4
Rasmussen Reports	4/16 - 4/18		48	51	-3
McClatchy/Marist	4/10 - 4/14		44	49	-5
Democracy Corps (D)	4/10 - 4/12		44	50	-6
CNN/Opinion Research	4/9 - 4/10		48	50	-2
Reuters/Ipsos	4/7 - 4/10		46	49	-3

As reference, at this point in the third year of his first term, GWBush was at 70%.  Pres GHWBush was at 79%.

Just A Reminder....County Commission Meets Tuesday

The Watauga Board Of Commissioners will meet Tuesday, April 19 at 5:00 PM in the BOC board room.
Among the agenda items is:

  6:00  13   PUBLIC HEARING TO ALLOW FOR CITIZEN COMMENT ON

                   THE PROPOSED RECLASSIFICATION BY THE NC DIVISION

                   OF WATER QUALITY OF A SEGMENT OF THE SOUTH FORK

                   OF THE NEW RIVER TO THE TOWN OF BOONE’S PROPOSED

                   NEW WATER INTAKE      

The full agenda is available here. 

We have seen only moderate interest here regarding reclassification of the New River - the issue that is the subject of the public hearing  I am wondering if the community at large is any more concerned than the posters here seem to be?

Prior Discussion "A Watauga Conservative".

I'm Going to Admit It

I like Trump


I'm not saying I'll vote for him but I hope he runs. Much like Ron Paul he will add a perspective that needs to be part of the debate. I'm not crazy about the birther angle but I can't argue with it. I want to, I just can't. He is a media whore, no doubt about it but the ability to get ratings means the ability to win. It is what it is. I like his unapologetic style. Who else is saying take Iraq'a oil so Iran doesn't? Where's the counter argument? Is it to let Iran take it? He claims to know negotiators ruthless enough to match China's thugs. Sounds good to me. He's all over the airways lately, Karl Rove says he's a joke. I agree... I think. I'm so confused.

Let The Devil Take Tomorrow--Democrats

Someone named Bob Cherry had a letter to the editor in the April 14th High Country Press. It was right out of the Democrats’ demagoging play book. His disingenuousness begins right off with the title: “The Republican Plan to Dissolve Medicare.” Then his concluding paragraph: “The Republican plan is shameful. It turns our backs on our parents and grandparents who depend upon Medicare as their lifeline and throws them to the wolves.”

The Republican plan has nothing to do with parents and grandparents.  Cherry has to know that he is lying. Actually however, if Democrats can convince Americans of the lie, it won’t be our parents and grandparents who are hurt. The group upon whom we turn our backs will be our children and grandchildren.

Dems can’t even tell the truth to the people concerning entitlements so of course they won’t be fixing them. How then can they keep this partying going? How does anyone do it who doesn’t have money to pay for something? They borrow and then they borrow to pay the interest and then they borrow to pay the interest on the interest.

“I don't care what's right or wrong, I won’t try to understand. Let the devil take tomorrow.” (Kris Kristofferson)

Charles Krauthammer On Obama's Speech: "It Was A Disgrace"

"I rarely heard a speech by a president so shallow, so hyper-partisan and so intellectually dishonest, outside the last couple of weeks of a presidential election where you are allowed to call your opponent anything short of a traitor. But we're a year and a half away from Election Day and it was supposed to be a speech about policy," syndicate columnist Dr. Charles Krauthammer said about President Obama's speech.

LINK REAL CLEAR POLITICS

Virginia Foxx News

Virginia Foxx

Rep. Virginia Foxx announced today that she has filed statement of candidacy forms with the Federal Election Commission for the 2012 election. For updated information on the campaign please "like" www.facebook.com/virginiafoxx

Opinions On Boone's desire to take water from the New River??

As I understand it, the town wants to put in a pump station to take water from the New River near the Watauga/Ashe county line. This would require that the river be reclassified and that additional restrictions be put on land in the watershed area upstream of the river.

This would effect appx 1200 parcels of land in Watauga County. So far I have not seen anything which suggests that those landowners would be compensated for their costs and/or loss of any uses of their land.

I know there are people like Deborah Greene out there who know a lot more about it that I do. If she, or anyone else with knowledge of the subject  would give some input about the issue, I am sure a lot of us would appreciate knowing more about it.

NC House Proposed Budget Cuts

We have seen Governor Perdue's proposed budget - now we have a budget proposed by the NC House which helps to bring more focus to the subject. The house bill will be deliberated over the next few weeks and, if passed, will go to the Senate. You can be sure, the Senate will have it's own proposals and the final result will be a modification of the two proposals.  What the final bill will look like is hard to determine at this point, but it will likely include many compromises made  along the way.

Today's N&O had a pretty good analysis of what cuts are being proposed in the house.

Where The House Would Make Cuts

The Next Political Fight --- AND the 2012 election.

We are rapidly approaching our current debt ceiling and congress will very soon  ramp up the arguments about raising it. Republicans will want to tie the increase to budget cuts in order to at least minimize the need for future increases. Dems will want to increase the ceiling without placing restrictions on future expenses.

Election 2012, Republican Veracity vs Democrat Mendacity

The Trustees report that Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will become insolvent earlier in 2019. Medicaid will go under around 2012. Meanwhile, assuming that the rate of debt accumulation is constant, the U.S. government will accumulate approximately $2.5 million in additional debt every minute.

The big mountain Republicans have to climb this year is to convince Americans that the above is true. Meanwhile, the Democrats will be working to convince Americans that none of the above is true. The side that best convinces the public will be the winners in 2012. Path to Prosperity

Todays Budget Bargain a Sellout Says Morris

The following was published on Dickmorris.com on April 9, 2011

"John Boehner has just given away the Republican victory of 2010 at the bargaining table. Like the proverbial Uncle Sam who always wins the war but loses the peace, he has unilaterally disarmed the Republican Party by showing that he will not shut down the government and will, instead, willingly give way on even the most modest of cuts in order to avoid it. He now has no arrows left in his quiver.

Having failed to

TAXPAYER BILL OF RIGHTS

 Proposed Amendment to North Carolina Constitution

The "VENT" Thread

Out of respect for blogger, and a few others who were enjoying an INTELLIGENT conversation, I deleted a couple of posts from the "academic" threads.....About what you expect, "Conservatives are bigots/facist/racist/love billionaires, etc" sort of stuff.

But blogger also posted something about people needing a "release" so....rather than delete the most recent derailing attempts, I thought I would just move them to this thread and then, anyone who wants to engage in immature flaming of other bloggers, could do so here.

So...Have at it!

Gun Control -ARRESTED FOR DISCHARGING A BB GUN???????

According to GoBlueRidge.net a 19 year old man in Boone who was target practicing with his BB GUN was arrested cited for "discharging a weapon"?

Is it illegal in the town of Boone to target practice with a BB Gun?

Geeze!

CORRECTION: The article states that the man was "cited" , not "Arrested". Thanks to G.I.G. for pointing this out.

As Goes Wisconsin So Goes America

And that's a good thing



First Wisconsin Democrats lost in November. When the new Governor Scott Walker made good on his campaign promise to fix the budget in part by reforming public sector union policy. Democrats went apoplectic. They no longer had the votes to get their way so they left the State. Fleebaggers. That created a situation where the Republicans were one person short of having the quorum required. The union policy was part of a larger budget bill and such bills require a quorum of twenty. After much waiting and many attempts to compromise Walker split the union proposals from the budget bill and had the vote. Non-budget bills do not require a quorum. This made Democrat's heads explode.

New County Manager

Deputy County Manager Deron Geouque was appointed by the County Commission to replace Rocky Nelson when he retires in a few months.

Reader Johnny Rico Weighs in on ASU Tuition Raise

http://wataugarepubs.blogspot.com/2011/04/fourth-attempt-at-high-level-discussion.html?showComment=1302094425623

College education is historically something people strive for. Those who have undergone "training" at one of our nation's universities have in effect undergone a confidence course of sorts. Although college graduates by no means corner the market on becoming successful, the fact remains, a college education imbues graduates with a bit of self-awareness portending a salient potential to achieve goals. As our society has evolved into what it is today, the benefits of a college education remain unchanged. What has changed however, is the belief that everyone is entitled to this training process.

As a nation, we are rapidly losing

The Budget Pie Illustrated

Budget Cuts In Perspective

Fourth Attempt at a High Level Discussion of Tuition Rise

Watauga Democrat 
Because the issue of higher university costs is locally current at ASU, I am trying to get an informed debate going here.  Anyone who has spent a lifetime in academia as I have, has chewed over the issues.   After three attempts, the level of discourse has been pathetic.

At one point, it was so bad, one reader observing the eruditeness of the comments wrote:   "fascist ahole" is not the kind of rhetoric that contributes to an intelligent discussion but it’s your blog so if you want it to look like a teen-aged jerk in a flame war it’s up to you.”  Beyond that, most of the responses have just suggested students suck it up.

I have submitted that the university is

Third Attempt on ASU Students Protest Tuition Raise

 Sunday's Watauga Democrat reported that 200 students and faculty protested higher tuition.  Commenters keep stepping all over my message regarding these costs.  No more sabotaging this message allowed.

25 WAYS TO REDUCE UNIVERSITY COSTS

“The recent explosion in tuition is at least partially attributable to the fact that administrative bureaucracies have ballooned out of control. This trend simply cannot continue as public sentiment over the upward spiraling costs worsens. Colleges need to refocus their mission on
providing a quality education at an affordable cost. This requires increases in worker efficiency and a return to a realistic pay structure. These goals can be achieved in a multitude of ways, including the consolidating comparable departments and positions, implementing an incentive-based compensation system, filling administrative roles with students, outsourcing non- education related services and making effective use of technology.”

The above is the conclusions of a research study regarding cutting costs in higher education.

ObamaCare - Live Your Carefree Lifestyle

More on ASU Protesting Tuition Raise

REPOSTED

Miscellaneous Post for Gun Debate

Obama 2012

On Illegal Immigration

GOP Drafts Legislative Assault on Illegal Immigration

 

 

Reporting from Washington—

Congressional Republicans are drafting legislation that would require the federal government to develop a plan to add more fencing, sensors, agents and even drones to stop every illegal entry into the United States.

The legislative effort offers another example of how a more conservative Congress has steered the immigration debate away from the Obama administration's two-pronged push for reforms and improved border security, and toward strict enforcement of immigration laws.

Los Angeles Times

State Health Plan Passes..........Next move is up to Governor Perdue

From today's News and Observer

The bill, passed by the Senate last week, was passed by the house and is headed toward the governors desk. She has not indicated whether or not she might veto.