North Carolina

I went to the drugstore today. Better living through chemistry, and all.

For the second time since I voted, I saw the man who helped me with my touch machine at election time. A big bear of a man, a white senior citizen, oozing friendliness and goodwill.

This time, in the drugstore, I decided to say hello. "Did you work at the polls?" I asked. "Yes," he said, "for early voting." "I thought you looked familiar," I said.

"Did you see me in the newspaper?"
"No, I saw you at the polls."
"You don't read the newspaper?"
"No. My husband does."

The Community Relations Staff of the North Carolina Human Relations Commissional has noticed that in North Carolina since October 31, 2008, there have been 6 incidents reported to this office, four (4) incidents reported as hate crimes and two (2) incidents reported as hate bias incidents. Out of the six incidents reported, five (5) of the six incidents dealt with vandalism of Obama signs or derogatory public statements about him becoming the President-Elect.

This weekend marks the 30th anniversary of National Grandparents Day, first proclaimed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. The origins of the honor to our parent’s parents originated with the lobbying efforts of Mrs. Marian McQuade (now age 91), a housewife from West Virginia, whose primary motivation was to champion the cause of lonely elderly often abandoned in nursing homes.

It’s one of our greatest fears as we age – that we can no longer remain independent, maintain our own homes, and physical limitations will ultimately force us into a living situation we’d never chose for ourselves. Even the absolute best of assisted living situations may be less than desirable when compared to one’s desire for independence. That’s why I believe the best way to honor that greatest generation now struggling to navigate the world, is to do absolutely all we can to support seniors wishing to stay in their homes whenever possible.

The 8th Congressional District of North Carolina stretches across ten counties and some of the most beautiful country in America.

Following along the South Carolina border from downtown Charlotte to the City of Fayetteville up to the geographic center of North Carolina in my home of Montgomery County, our district is a celebration of diversity, embracing a mixture of industry and agriculture, small towns and urban neighborhoods, military installations and college campuses, and interstate highways and rural lanes.

Unfortunately, it is also home to hard times and devastating unemployment, like Scotland County which has for more than a year had the highest unemployment in all of North Carolina and is currently over 11 percent, with more than one in ten still looking for work. Whether you've ever been here or not, you should still be concerned and make our journey your own because my opponent's bad votes have hurt you too, no matter where you may live.

This Labor Day weekend, as I kick off the home stretch of my three year journey to take our Country back I am biking the 140 miles across my district from Fayetteville to Charlotte. I hope you'll join me - at least in spirit.

Our children are headed back to class today in many North Carolina schools as well as around the nation. Truth be told, I wish I could be there for my students today, but the reality is I’m running for Congress for each and every one of them as much as I am my own girls. The future of our children is too important a responsibility to postpone, and sadly I believe far too many of our leaders have neglected their duty.

There is no greater urgency or cause. We can lose a generation if we don’t act now. All of us – parents, teachers, schools, Churches, commissioners and Congress – have an obligation to our children and a role to play.

Congressman Butterfield and State Rep Dan Blue held a press conference yesterday in North Carolina on McCain's Housing Crisis.

"Senator McCain is not in touch with the American people," Butterfield said.

"If you own so many that you can't keep up with them," Blue said, "then you ought to make an effort to see what regular people are going through."

The Obama Camp has surrogates in a number of states holding press conferences on how out of touch McCain is in response to McCain's recent housing crisis.

McCain did not know how many houses he and his wife own, when asked by a Politico reporter. "I'll have my staff get back to you on that," McCain replied.

“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.” -Robert F. Kennedy

Running for Congress as a full time school teacher with a family is not easy. In fact, I count on your support and inspiration more than you know. Because this election for North Carolina's 8th District is so important, and you are so important to me, I thought I'd share one decision I made earlier this week I hope will help bring us to victory in November.

It was two years ago this week, eight years after Robin Hayes first took office, that Hayes told Fox News he'd made no mistakes in Congress.

Host Beth Troutman: "Is there anything from over the past few years that you would have done differently? That you are maybe the least proud of? If anything?"

Rep. Robin Hayes: "Hard, as I can't think of anything honestly, right off hand."

As we reminded him last cycle, the working families of North Carolina's 8th District may have some suggestions.

Today is the 73rd anniversary of this solemn promise made to our seniors on August 14, 1935:

Presidential Statement of FDR signing THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT

Today a hope of many years' standing is in large part fulfilled. The civilization of the past hundred years, with its startling industrial changes, has tended more and more to make life insecure. Young people have come to wonder what would be their lot when they came to old age. The man with a job has wondered how long the job would last.

This social security measure gives at least some protection to thirty millions of our citizens who will reap direct benefits through unemployment compensation, through old-age pensions and through increased services for the protection of children and the prevention of ill health.

That's how much Americans on minimum wage struggling with high gas prices now earn per second since the Federal increase just this month.

In contrast, CNN is now reporting Exxon Mobil made nearly $1,500 per second last quarter.

Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter.

That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second.

But as AP has questioned, just where is all that money going?

In North Carolina’s 8th District, the answer is easy – Republican Congressman Robin Hayes, who’s 2006 oil interest portfolio of up to $15 million is suddenly up to $23 million according to his own personal finance disclosures.

Raleigh – A new study says North Carolina has lost nearly 80,000 jobs to China since 2001.

The Economic Policy Institute, supported by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, reports that the growth of U.S. trade with China since the country entered the World Trade Organization in 2001 has devastated the domestic economy.

North Carolina ranked eighth among the 50 states and Washington D.C., with 79,800 jobs lost. California, Texas, New York, and Illinois also saw significant losses.

The apparel industry was most affected in North Carolina with 11,372 jobs lost between 2001 and 2007.

Scott Paul, exeuctive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said any jobs that are being created are not making up for the income lost through jobs shipped overseas.

I've met Stuart Rothenberg. He seems like a very nice man. However, like my opponent Robin Hayes, I think that maybe Mr. Rothenberg has been in Washington too long to understand that a people powered campaign isn't an urban legend.

Thus in response to Rothenberg's latest column, For House Races now, It's All A Question of Money, I say he doesn't get it. At all.

Kissell’s fundraising this time has been stunningly inadequate. He may still win, but not because of anything he has done in fundraising.

Fads trump election transparency.(electronic voting?). Since North Carolina passed its paper ballot law, its been harder to mess up the vote. So here comes Instant Runoff Voting, which is hardly transparent. NC tested IRV in 2007, and found a "creative" 100 plus steps method to count IRV on touchscreens.This may get a test again in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Why bother working for verified voting when it gets undone so easily?

In the North Carolina and Oregon Democratic US Senate primaries this year, two great progressive candidates ran for the nomination: Jim Neal (NC) and Steve Novick (OR). The DSCC, who is not supposed to pick sides in a primary, appears to have secretly funded their preferred candidates anyway (Kay Hagan (NC) and Jeff Merkley (OR)).

If the DSCC leaders personally had a preference, that’s fine. BUT IT IS NOT OK TO FUNNEL MONEY TO ONE CANDIDATE OVER ANOTHER IN A DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY!!!! That's unfairly taking sides and deliberately influencing an election, and that is not what the Democratic Party is about.

(Crossposted from the Daily Kos)

It seems my email and voicemail were full of reactions to today's Raleigh News & Observer's profile of me by Sadia Latifi, "Blogger gets respect: Durham resident writes on progressive issues."

It's a good look at the blog, with quite a bit of personal background that people may not know about me -- my father's side of the family has deep roots in Durham's political history, and the reporter gave a good summary of it.

Actually most of the information I gave to Ms. Latifi I didn't think wouldn't make it into the article. You know, you sit down with the reporter for a couple of hours and figure they'll pick a few quotes here and there and it will end up a little squib somewhere in the back of the paper, but it's a full-blown feature piece...with photos (argh!). But at least it gives non-bloggers a peek into my world. I have no idea what you all think, so I'm putting a diary up for your reactions (both to the article and the info in it).

It's pretty amusing that more people in DC know me for my political blogging than people here in my own home state.