LOD: State of Emergency

The state legislature needs to do something to get the tax rates lowered in NC. Considering the tax burden on income, NC is ranked 28th. NY is 2.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/89702927.html

Comparing to the neighboring states of Virginia with a ranking of 40, Tennessee with a ranking of 48 and South Carolina with a ranking of 39. The legislature should be working to get North Carolina’s tax rates down to levels in the neighboring states. So yes cutting of budgets will be necessary. We should look at all programs and decide if we really need them. One big example that I consider a wasted expense is the Pre K program.

I don’t object to taxes to pay for public education, including Pre K which benefits many children. Why should NC, why should the US be behind other countries in education, the marker of a country’s ranking in the world?

I also do not object to my taxes helping children and poor mothers from having access to health care/medicaid.

Additionally, I am proud if my tax $ help a young person go to college.

Why should NC rank last in education, why should the US?

As our state drops in education, it will become less desirable to businesses, but surely we’ll have more recruits for burger flippers.

About election laws proposed – the lawmakers pushing these “reforms” will come to regret it in Nov 2011 when some of their very own constituents are told their votes won’t count. My next door neighbor hasn’t driven in 10 years but she likes to vote at our neighborhood polling place. Lawmakers aren’t even doing anything to tell people like her that she better dig up her birth certificate, etc then find someone who can spend the day with her at the DMV getting a photo ID. She’s on a “fixed” income and hasn’t needed a photo ID since she quit driving.

Voters need to know who to thank for having the polling place door shut in their faces.
They also need to know who made the changes that will lead to Florida style election meltdowns.

The lawmakers want to remove the safeguards that kept our state from being the focus of national media in 2008. A close election yet one that did not end up in court.

These same safeguards that protected votes and voters in 2008 are the ones that allowed Republicans to obtain a majority in the state legislature for the first time in 112 years.

Lawmakers thanks to voters: laws to stop voting.

Edit. I meant to say “the lawmakers pushing these “reforms” will come to regret it in Nov 2012..”

I don’t doubt your sincerity as many people consider education spending the holy grail and should not be tampered with. Unfortunately the reality is that more spending on education does not translate to better educations. In addition studies show that the Pre K program does not improve kids chances for a better education. All it ends up being is the public paying for day care for some kids. You mentioned helping kids through college, it’s intetesting that all residents of Tennessee get their tuition paid for by the Tennessee lottery. Why is tuition so high in NC for those students? Where does our lottery money go? We need to get more efficient with our spending here in NC and try to be more like Tennessee who has no state income tax.