chris fitzsimon

Even if you're not a citizen of Wake County, you have to be proud of the results delivered yesterday after a full-court press in their local elections. Sanity prevailed in mayoral and city council races, as well as in the Wake County School Board elections. Progressives carried the day on almost every front.

There will be much written about whether these results signal trends that will influence the 2012 elections. So far, the main thing I've learned is that Art Pope Republicans can win elections, but they can't govern. Their instinct to divide and conquer spills into their policy agenda, pitting people against one another in ways that most fair-minded citizens won't tolerate. That's what happened on the Wake County School Board with the dramatic ouster of Ron Margiotta. With any luck and a lot of hard work, that will happen with Thom Tillis, too.
I sure do miss Joe Hackney.

Given all the legislative "successes" achieved by the GOP in Raleigh this year, you'd think they'd be touting their accomplishments on behalf of the people of North Carolina. Instead, they've spent the past week playing gotcha over a silly joke. It's easy to understand why.

Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch takes NC Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger to task over claims that cuts to the education budget will not harm classrooms and that NC's low high school graduation rate proves that the system is broken. With teachers and assistants losing their jobs to budget cuts every day, Fitzsimon writes, "... any superintendent or principal can tell him that his talking point about protecting teachers is off base." Furthermore [links added],

Low turnout and inside baseball hang-wringing got you down today? The always excellent Chris Fitzsimon of the NC Justice Center's Policy Watch blog has a great piece today looking at the November 2010 elections from 30,000 feet.

The tea partiers shouldn't plan a post election celebration party yet...

There will no doubt be interesting stories in the primary results. Politics always brings some surprises. But don't let the efforts of the pundits convince you that the results are another indicator of a looming Republican landslide in November.

An afternoon mental health break that is well worth any NC political junkie's time.

From Chris at NC Policy watch.

The candidate filing period is over and Republican Party Chair Tom Fetzer and other GOP leaders are touting the party's full slate of candidates as more evidence that all signs point to big Republican gains in Raleigh and Washington in November. But it's more than a little premature to start ordering the champagne. There are small, but growing signs that the predicted Republican wave may have already crested and that voters have just as many doubts about GOP candidates as they do about Democrats.

I'm with Chris. The mighty tempest in the Tea Party cup is already on its way out to sea, as right wing extremists show themselves to be devoid of solutions, compulsive liars, and wildly out of touch with reality. Clearly about 15% of voters are stupid enough to fall for their happy horseshit. The only risk in November will be if the other 85% of voters are too demoralized by spineless Democrats to even bother to go to the polls.

Chris Fitzsimon reminds us today that no matter how much money the Puppetmaster spends to put on his show, the serious work of governing is for adults, not three-year-olds.

• Pope and Luddy may be able to buy an election but their money can't change reality. The more the plans of their Gang of Five are scrutinized, the more absurd they seem. Hogwash doesn't begin to describe it.

It's never a pretty sight.

The Gang of Five that now runs the Wake County Board of Education can't be too happy these days, as their clumsy ideological efforts to dismantle the system's nationally recognized student assignment policy are running into trouble at every turn. Tuesday, the board majority learned that 94.5 percent of parents who responded to a recent survey about year-round schools said that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their child's school without regard to the calendar.

Chris Fitzsimon delves into the insanity of the teabaggin' state of mind. It appears to be contagious.

Denying access to life-saving drugs to someone with HIV does not require their sacrifice. It threatens their life.

Note to NC Department of Revenue: If we end the war on drugs, the contribution to North Carolina's balance sheet would be plus $2 billion annually. And that's a conservative estimate. WTF is the matter with you people?

From Chris' keyboard to your eyes

The private sector cannot maintain a safety net. For-profit companies have no interest. Non-profits have no money. It is our government that must take care of people who desperately need help, who show up at free clinics and homeless shelters. No other institution can do it.

Things would be much worse if lawmakers had listened to demands to resist any tax increases and only slashed and burned to address the state budget crisis. That’s little solace to the people now being turned away when they seek help. But at the very least, their pain ought to be enough to dismiss the ludicrous claims of those traveling around the state telling people that taxes did not have to be raised. The truth is they were not raised enough to prevent the suffering that is our shame.

The folks at NC Policy Watch have been on fire lately, with today's column by Chris Fitzsimon laying out some tough-love for the University of North Carolina System. I hope our friend Erskine Bowles will find some time to read the ideas Chris outlined, two of which seem like no-brainers to me.