WASHINGTON, DC – During a House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade hearing on Internet gaming today, where representatives from the National Indian Gaming Association, National Council on Problem Gambling, Poker Players Alliance and FairPlayUSA testified, Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) said the hearing was not a debate on whether gambling is moral, but instead, to examine the status of Internet gaming in the United States and to consider how consumers would be affected if current legal restrictions were eased. …
Category: Opinion
Michael Bobbitt: Notes From The Peanut Gallery
For those keeping track this special meeting of your Vance County Commissioners was called specifically for two purposes. At the October 3, 2011, regularly scheduled meeting the Chairman called for this special meeting to (1) hold public hearing on voter redistricting and (2) repeal the original County Zoning ordinance. Besides the original intent of the meeting the Chairman added some interesting new agenda items. “Hold joint public hearing with the Board of Education a 6pm to receive citizen input on …
Representative Michael H. Wray’s Raleigh Report
The work of our interim committees has begun and I am preparing to return to Raleigh for a session scheduled to begin on November 7. There are a number of potential topics that may be considered during the session, including redistricting and local bills. We may also consider a relief package for the tens of thousands of people who suffered damage or injury, as a result of Hurricane Irene in August. The state has been very engaged in providing relief …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes From The Peanut Gallery – BoC October 3rd 2011 Meeting
Proposed Zoning Ordinance Any open minded observer of tonight’s Commissioner’s meeting must wonder why zoning was called proposed. No sooner did Mr. Asycue conclude reading the three steps for imposing zoning on the county than Commissioner Brown moved to accept the ordinance and Commission Hester seconded the motion. Then Commissioner Brummitt asked Mr. Asycue about a property that is zone differently than displayed on the map. Asycue acknowledge that the issue was presented to him last week and signaled Mr. …
Rusty McMahon: Not So Elusive Facts
Here are the facts, not that facts, truth, and citizens matter much to five of our commissioners. Everyone in the county knows that zoning is a special interest land grab. Everyone in the county knows who’s behind it, the same group of people who have profited greatly by destroying Henderson, leaving it morally and fiscally bankrupt. Everyone knows that zoning does not do what its pushers say it will do. We don’t have to look at neighboring counties. We just …
Rusty McMahon: Truth From An Unlikely Source
County residents have wondered for over six years why Vance County commissioners really want to steal our property rights and take control of everyone’s land by zoning the county. The official reasons we’ve been given by our leader were re-stated in the September 3 Daily Dispatch Opinion. The anonymous author regurgitated the same old tired and often refuted pro-zoning talking points, saying, “…it would allow the county to use land for its best purpose, protect and maintain property values, protect …
Michael Bobbitt: Consideration of Zoning
To the Vance County Commissioners The first appointment of seven at Monday’s Board of Commissions meeting is the proposed zoning ordinance. To some in the community zoning is the great panacea of prosperity, well educated children, and manicured yards. To some in the community zoning is government incursion onto individual property rights and the ruination of a free civil society. We are poised on a historical moment in time not seen since one political group gerrymandered the formation of our …
Senator Richard Burr Message
This was a busy week both legislatively and with visitors from North Carolina in Washington. On Wednesday, I was honored to join a group of over one hundred North Carolina veterans of World War Two at the World War Two Memorial on the National Mall. These brave men and women were led into the memorial by a bagpipe processional and were the guests of honor for a wreath ceremony honoring all of the veterans from southeastern North Carolina who fought and those who paid …
Senator Doug Berger Message
As the General Assembly neared its Sept. 12 session, it was clear what areas we needed to tackle. With the state unemployment rate at 10.4 percent and devastation having visited the eastern portion of North Carolina from Hurricane Irene, the priorities were clear. But what did the Republican Senate and House leadership put on top of their agenda: a debate on marriage and the state Constitution. The new majority in the General Assembly promised to focus on jobs. You may …
Employer-Sponsored Coverage Continues to Decline in North Carolina
Raleigh, NC – Action for Children North Carolina analysis of new U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey (CPS) data finds, despite a decade-long erosion of employer-sponsored coverage, the number of uninsured children in North Carolina has declined, thanks to investments in public health insurance programs like Medicaid and Health Choice. In 2000, more than six in ten North Carolina children were covered by their parents’ employer-sponsored health insurance plans; last year that number fell to less than five in ten. …
Message from Senator Richrad Burr
This was another busy week in Washington where we debated many issues of vital importance to those of you in North Carolina and Americans across the country. Thursday night, I introduced a bill, the Empowering Local Educational Decision Making Act, that will improve America’s education system by giving states and local communities the flexibility they need to meet the unique and varied educational needs of their students. State and local school districts, not Washington, D.C., are the best makers of …
Nurses Say Letting Uninsured Patients Die Is No Laughing Matter Following Abhorrent Audience Cheers
Nurses Say Letting Uninsured Patients Die Is No Laughing Matter Following Abhorrent Audience Cheers at CNN-Tea Party Debate The nation’s largest representative of registered nurses today expressed revulsion at the cheering by some audience members in the CNN-Tea Party Republican debate Monday night at the prospect of letting a sick person die just because they do not have health insurance. Prompting the outburst was a question from CNN’s Wolf Blitzer to Rep. Ron Paul about whether medical care should be …
Henderson, NC plans to break the new “Carry in Parks” law
According to Grass Roots North Carolina, Henderson plans to break the new “Carry in Parks” law. See their press release listed below: It has come to GRNC’s attention that the town of Henderson, NC is planning an “end-around” on HB 650, the recently-ratified “Castle Doctrine/Carry in Parks” law that we all fought so long and hard for. • Henderson, NC has decided that they don’t want permittees lawfully defending themselves and families. • They are currently working to pass a …
Michael Bobbitt: Notes From The Peanut Gallery
The following is a summary from my personal notes of the Vance County Commissioner’s September 12, 2011 meeting from my perch in the peanut gallery. These are the points of most interest to me. 1. Public Hearings: Three public hearings tonight, only one had a formal signup sheet requesting permission to make public input. Could this be because no one is aware of the public hearings? Where are public hearings posted? A Commissioner told me in the newspaper. Why not …
9/11 Message from Obama
Good morning, Today, on the tenth anniversary of the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, we will mourn the innocent lives lost, honor the heroic first responders who rushed to the scene, and pay tribute to our troops and military families who have served over the past ten years to keep us safe and strong. But, I also hope you’ll remember how the worst terrorist attack in American history brought out the best in the American people. From giving blood, …
Message from Senator Richard Burr
This year, like every year that has passed since, our nation reflects back on the horrific attacks that cost the lives of 2,977 men, women, and children in New York, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon, and on the brave men and women who have laid their lives down since then in defense of the freedoms and security we so often take for granted. These coordinated attacks on our nation had such a profound impact on our society and our world …
Michael Bobbitt: Zoning and Redistricting
As September starts I reminded myself to post two thoughts to the readership of Home In Henderson. This September the voters and land owners of Vance County are facing two significant changes. One change has permanent impact on land use in this county. One change will require 10, or 20 or 30 years to reverse. On September 12, our County Commissioners will sit and listen to the groaning and crowing on zoning. Unless there is a moment of wisdom to …
New Bill Will Slash Small Business Programs
Senate Republicans have introduced a bill that could eliminate all federal programs to assist small businesses, as well as women-owned, veteran-owned and minority-owned firms. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) introduced S. 1116, titled the “Department of Commerce and the Workforce Consolidation Act,” which would combine the Small Business Administration (SBA) with the Department of Labor and the Department of Commerce, a move that could devastate U.S. job creation. Republicans have attempted to abolish the SBA for nearly three decades. President Ronald …
Letter to the Editor – County Commissioner Meeting August 1st, 2011
The following letter was submitted to us this morning by reader Michael Bobbitt in regards to last nights Vance County Commissioner Meeting: The following a summary of my personal notes of the Vance County Commissioners August 1, 2011 meeting from my perch in the peanut gallery. Public Hearings – Rick Seekins read from two prepared statements. The first was the second reading of the Council of Government’s CDBG – Economic Development Grant. The second statement was the first reading of …
Gov. Perdue decries plan to merge colleges
Gov. Bev Perdue this week called upon the General Assembly to reject a proposal that would merge dozens of mostly-rural community college campuses, saying it amounts to an attack on rural North Carolina – and yet another blow to the state’s education system. “Community colleges are important economic drivers for their individual communities,” Gov. Perdue said. “They are crucial partners in growing jobs, especially in rural areas. Local control is essential for addressing local needs, particularly in the areas of …