Jerimee's blog

I know I'm not gonna be up on "Last Comic Standing" anytime soon, and here are some of my guesses as to what Art Pope might try to get away with in 2012:

Cross posted from HK Activist

By Will McMillan

November 8th is approaching and with it the fate of the Wake County School Board. The stakes are pretty high this Election Day because of one race in particular, the runoff election of District 3 between Kevin Hill and Heather Losurdo, and, to me, this particular race seems extra strange.

First, officially, the school board is supposed to be non-partisan. Of course, that all changed in 2009 when Republican backed candidates took over the board with the help of their financial supporters, notably businessman Art Pope who is notorious for funding puppet candidates who support his own agenda. District 3’s election is no different. Hill is being challenged by a candidate who not only spoke at a Tea Party rally, but was also president of the Northern Wake Republican Club.

Cross-posted from HKActivists

Recently, NC Speaker of the House Thom Tillis told a crowd of supporters that we need to get people with conditions like cerebral palsy to "look down" on moms and kids who are in a tough spot and need Medicaid.(1) These immoral tactics hurt our state, and we don't want someone who is brazen about employing them as leader of our House of Representatives.

Sign the petition to tell the NC House of Representatives to call for Speaker Tillis to resign from his position!

This isn't North Carolina specific, but I wanted to share a quick note about a new tool that may be of interest to those working with advocacy organizations or political campaigns.

My online outreach firm has been working with a brand new web platform called NationBuilder. It is innovative and provides brilliant integration of social media, with an intuitive interface, both for supporters and for administrators.

NationBuilder has a lot of great features straight out of the box, which we've been able to further customize as well. If you want to see it in action, visit Action NC. (You should visit them anyway - they are a good group).

What if anyone could stockpile any weapons they wanted, as long as they were made in North Carolina? Representative Glen Bradley seems to believe you should have that right.

Rep. Bradley is a new member of the North Carolina House, winning election with only 51% of the vote. Nevertheless, he has been busy in the house. He's the primary sponsor on five bills that contain invoke the word "freedom" more than Mel Gibson in Braveheart. One of these bills, House Bill 241, would make "a personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition" fully manufactured within the borders of the State of North Carolina not subject to federal law.

I have privately purchased insurance, costing me about $170 a month. I got a check-up in December. It will cost me $785 out of pocket. Worse, because the check up was in December, the $785 won't even count towards my deductible, because the deductible resets on Jan 1. I am healthy and single, make about 40k a year, and affording medical care is a challenge for me.

The State Executive Committee is the governing body of the North Carolina Democratic Party. The SEC:

• Elects the NCDP chair.
• Elects delegates to the DNC.
• Votes upon changes to the NCDP platform.
• Votes upon resolutions to inform (or censure) elected Democrats.
• Approve the Bylaws/Constitutions of State Auxiliaries.
• Receive and approve the NCDP budget each year.
• Consider petitions for alternative methods of organizing precincts.

The SEC is composed of people like you. There are over 600 members of the SEC. Below is a short guide on how you can seek election to the SEC.

General Advice

Learn and Prepare: Only run if you are interested and have the time to commit to it. Call your County Party and get informed on when and where the meetings will be held and what the responsibilties are. Ask any questions you might have.

Article written by Jerimee Richir and Kate Neely

As Republicans in South Carolina celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Confederacy over the holidays, the North Carolina GOP took a slightly more modern approach to rolling back civil rights. Well, if you consider 1876 modern. The NC GOP is pushing to reinstate one of the hallmarks of the Jim Crow laws: the poll tax.

Thinly veiled as a measure to prevent voter fraud, the voter ID is a poll tax by another name. GOP members of the incoming NC General Assembly are trumpeting the measure as their main legislative priority. This increase of government control is a complete reversal from the limited government platforms on which many North Carolina Republicans campaigned.

A quick note about an important effort to promote and reward true progressives in North Carolina:

Between now and Oct. 10th, Progressive Kick will match dollar-for-dollar, all contributions given to these candidates through our Win Big by Thinking Small ActBlue page, up to $4,000 per candidate in North Carolina. That's a tremendous opportunity for us to double our efforts at building real leadership within the North Carolina Democratic Party.

You can learn more from our website and our ActBlue page:

http://progressivekick.org/
http://www.actblue.com/page/winbigbythinkingsmall
http://progressivekick.org/?page_id=123

NC was one of only six states to be targeted by Progressive Kick. The criteria? Candidates that are clearly progressive, in close but winnable races, and in a state where congressional redistricting is at stake.

Cross-posted from an article by Chris Kromm on Facing South

When Glenn Beck decided to hold his "Restoring Honor" rally last week at the very site in Washington, D.C. where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, the Fox commentator's dubious attempt to draw parallels between his right-wing agenda and King's quite different vision was blasted by civil rights veterans.