Chairman's Monday Memo - Voting Begins This Week - April 12, 2010 |
Fellow Republican,
In only three days, voters can begin heading to the polls to take the first steps down the road to a historic election in November.
Early voting begins this Thursday, April 15. As you are reminded of the cost of big-government liberals on tax day, I urge you to vote early in the Republican primary for conservative candidates who support small government, low taxes, and fiscal responsibility.
For too long, the Democrats have utilized early voting to effectively win races before Election Day. This primary season is an opportunity for Republicans to register more voters, practice our Get Out the Vote efforts, and show strong support for our candidates.
Primary voting is especially critical for our judicial candidates. This year, we have solid conservatives running in our statewide judicial races. Please don't forget to vote for these conservative judicial candidates:
Barbara Jackson - Supreme Court
Sanford Steelman - Court of Appeals
Ann Marie Calabria - Court of Appeals
Rick Elmore - Court of Appeals
Steven Walker - Court of Appeals
Dean Poirier - Court of Appeals
Early voting is a great way to ensure your voice is heard in this year’s primary election. You can click here for a list of early voting locations. If you can’t vote on Primary Election Day (May 4), please take advantage of early voting, which lasts until Saturday, May 1st.
This year, more than ever, we have a chance to alter the political history of our state. On Thursday, we begin the process of ending years of Democrat control and putting North Carolinians back in control of their government. I look forward to long lines of conservatives at the polls, starting Thursday!
Sincerely,
Tom Fetzer
NCGOP Chairman
PS: Please remember, you can always donate to the NCGOP online by visiting www.ncgop.org. Donate online today! |
April 1, 2010
Today’s North Carolina News Clips
The N.C. Republican Party is bringing in Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour to Raleigh to help raise money for the party. Barbour will headline a hot dog and hamburger dinner at Sister's Garden on May 13th, with the proceeds going to the GOP. The cost of the event ranges from $50 to $500. Barbour, who is being mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2012, is a former Republican National Committee chairman and Washington lobbyist. He is currently chairman of the Republican Governors' Association.
Tea party groups from around the Piedmont are planning to protest PresidentBarack Obama's health care overhaul and other policies Friday, though details of the presidential visit remained sketchy Wednesday. Tea party organizers said they expect protesters from as far as Asheville to descend on southwest Charlotte, near the Celgard plant the president plans to tour.
Likely presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is coming to the Triangle to speak at conference sponsored by SAS, the software company. Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, will give a speech April 22nd at the SAS Health Care & Life Sciences Executive Conference, Rob Christensen reports.
Today’s National News Clips
Barack Obama is getting more blame for what voters see as a lagging economy than at any other time in his presidency, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup poll out Thursday. Additionally, 50 percent said Obama does not deserve reelection with 46 percent saying otherwise.
Sarah Palin is blasting President Barack Obama’s oil drilling decision as a “stall, baby, stall” plan that is little more than a cover for enactment of climate legislation now pending in the Senate. She urged Republican members of Congress to “not take the bait.” Writing in National Review Online, she said that “behind the rhetoric lie new drilling bans and leasing delays; soon to follow are burdensome new environmental regulations. Instead of ‘drill, baby, drill,’ the more you look into this the more you realize it’s ‘stall, baby, stall,’” Palin wrote
MADISONVILLE, TEX. -- As vendors sold yellow "Don't Tread on Me" flags nearby, Texas State Board of Education member Don McLeroy assured a gathering of Tea Party activists one recent evening that President Obama was going to keep his hands off the schools in the Lone Star State. There would be no bid for Obama's Race to the Top grant program, no endorsement of new math and English standards that Obama backs. And the state school board, under McLeroy's prodding, would continue its push to adopt social studies standards that set Texas apart from other states because, among other changes, they recast sections on the American Revolution to put more emphasis on Christianity and less on the writings of Thomas Jefferson.
BUNDLED CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OUT OF STATE ADD TO MOUNTING EVIDENCE AGAINST PERDUE CAMPAIGN
|
Dear Supporter,
As most of you know, we have been working very hard to point out the striking similarities between the Perdue Campaign and that of Mike Easley. I believe it’s important that we do everything we can to rid our state of the culture of corruption that has gripped state government.
At a press conference at NCGOP Headquarters today, I discussed more questionable campaign activities by the Bev Perdue for Governor Campaign. The conference was in reference to $25,000 in donations from individuals tied to a Pennsylvania development company with properties on the North Carolina coast. All the contributions came on the same two days in April 2008.
Developers who have projects on the North Carolina coast giving large and questionable contributions to a Democrat Governor’s campaign…Does that sound familiar? It’s clear the practice of bundling was widespread and it’s clear that the Perdue campaign has made no real effort to come clean about it.
The company, Dilsheimer Communities, had two properties on the North Carolina coast, along with several properties in other states. The Dilsheimer-connected individuals who contributed to the Perdue campaign had shown very little interest in giving to candidates in the past, even in other states where the company’s properties resided. So what would prompt these political non-givers to become big-time bundlers so far away from home? Is it because North Carolina has a reputation as a “pay to play” state?
It was also important to discuss Hillco, a North Carolina based company whose employees and families gave $61,400 to Perdue on two days (March 26 and October 14) in 2008. The company has ties to Brithaven nursing homes. Of the 19 total contributions, 14 were the maximum donation required by law.
Finally, I predicted that Perdue will continue to claim that “the onus is on the donors.” If indeed the onus is on the donors, let’s get them under oath and find out the truth. We also made the prediction that the Governor’s high-dollar donors should be wary of their ties to Perdue. Bev Perdue is not going to stand by her donors. She is going to accuse them of breaking the law to take the spotlight off of her and her campaign. She is going to throw them under the bus.
We closed by renewing our call that the State Board of Elections hold hearings and find the truth that North Carolinians deserve.
Today’s press conference follows a week that saw the mainstream media highlighting the shortcomings of the Perdue Administration. First, as many of you have seen, the Charlotte Observer published an editorial calling on the Board of Elections to conduct hearings. This was followed by an article in Sunday’s News & Observer wondering why Perdue has failed to meet her own “high ethical standards.” We have included links to those articles below.
To view the Charlotte Observer Editorial, click here.
To view the article in Sunday's Raleigh News & Observer, click here.
For too long, Democrats in Raleigh have corrupted government while North Carolinians suffer from unemployment and high taxes. Governor Perdue, despite her campaign promises and lofty standards, is doing nothing to break this habit. The citizens of North Carolina deserve better.
Sincerely,
Tom Fetzer
NCGOP Chairman
PS: Please remember, you can always donate to the NCGOP online by visiting www.ncgop.org. Donate online today!
|
MESSAGE FROM THE NCGOP
Dear Supporter,
I’m sure you share my outrage and disgust at the actions of the Democrat-controlled Congress, as last night they took an unprecedented step that tramples on the individual freedoms of Americans.
Although things appear to be grim, there are still a few rays of hope. One of them is the legislative leadership of the North Carolina Republican Party.
This past January, Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger and House Republican Leader Skip Stam announced their plans for the Health Care Protection Act, which will protect an individual’s right to make decisions about their own health coverage and ensure that North Carolina citizens are not subject to the mandates of the federal health care plan.
This will be Republicans’ first priority if elected into the majority during the November elections. We encourage you to view the web video below that champions this legislative initiative. After you view the video, we hope you'll contact your North Carolina legislators today and encourage them to support this important act. Most importantly, we ask you to pass this message on to your email list so North Carolina voters know that we still have options and that the North Carolina Republican Party is committed to the Constitution and individual liberty.
Sincerely,
Tom Fetzer
NCGOP Chairman
PS: Today, more than ever, the NCGOP needs your help to win in November. Please donate to the NCGOP online by visiting www.ncgop.org or clicking "Contribute" below.
March 25, 2010
Today’s North Carolina News Clips
WASHINGTON -- With a few words Wednesday - "I would have to object" - Sen. Richard Burr joined an angry Republican pushback to the nation's sweeping health overhaul. Burr used a parliamentary maneuver to derail an Armed Services Committee hearing for which commanders had traveled from South Korea and Hawaii to discuss the Pentagon's needs for the next year. It was one of several hearings on issues ranging from homeless veterans to police trainers in Afghanistan that were upturned by Republican tactics to slow the workings of the Senate.
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr said Republicans in Congress have a responsibility to the American people to try to replace the health care reform law adopted by Democrats. Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal Wednesday morning. He was asked about Republican talk of repealing the health care law.
Every Republican member of Congress from North Carolina thinks the new health reform law is unconstitutional. And they want N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, to join a lawsuit calling for its repeal, reports Barb Barrett. In a letter to Cooper, the five GOP House members said the law is "an imposition on North Carolinians’ freedom and will do real harm to the people of our state."
A legislative report card led to a flap Tuesday between two of Mecklenburg County's Democratic lawmakers. State Rep. Beverly Earle accused fellow Rep. Nick Mackey of attacking her integrity in a one-page report that tallies missed votes and absences by Mecklenburg legislators. Earle's comments came at the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum, a weekly gathering at West Charlotte Recreation Center. They followed Mackey's distribution of a scorecard that showed Earle and state Sen. Malcolm Graham missed more votes and legislative days in 2009 than any other Mecklenburg lawmaker.
Senate Republicans have suceeded in forcing Democrats to send the health reform reconciliation bill back to the House for another vote, after Senate parliamentarian Alan Frumin ruled early Thursday morning that two minor provisions violated the chamber's rules and couldn’t be included in the final bill. Democrats believe the provisions — technical changes to language about Pell Grants for low-income students – are so minor that they don’t threaten to derail the reconciliation package, which includes a series of fixes to the reform bill that has already been signed into law by President Barack Obama.
Senior White House and organized labor officials are warning the handful of House Democrats who supported health care legislation last year only to oppose the final measure on Sunday that they shouldn’t expect assistance for their reelection campaigns this fall. The five who switched from yes to no — Reps. Michael Arcuri of New York, Marion Berry of Arkansas, Daniel Lipinski of Illinois, Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Zack Space of Ohio — have so annoyed top Democrats that there is also open talk of finding opponents to ensure they pay a steep political price for changing their vote.
The Obama administration’s chances of achieving a bipartisan victory on financial reform increased dramatically Wednesday as two top Republicans acknowledged the legislation would pass the Senate and Democrats sought to harness the momentum of their health care win. One of those Republicans, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, conceded that his party had made a “major strategic error” by refusing to back bipartisan negotiations before the bill passed out of committee. He suggested that Democrats are right to think they have the political advantage on the issue.
The Obama administration’s decision to bar journalists from the signing of an executive order on abortion Wednesday drew fire from some in the White House press corps, who said it went against President Barack Obama’s frequent pledges of transparency. The White House did not allow news reporters or photographers into Wednesday’s Oval Office signing of the order reaffirming a ban on federal funding of abortion. Instead, it released an official photograph by White House photographer Pete Souza that some news organizations, including CNN and POLITICO, declined to use.
North Carolina Republican Party
Chairman's Monday Memo
March 15, 2010
Dear Supporter,
Just months before the General Assembly convenes in Raleigh to begin work on another budget, the Department of Public Instruction’s annual report vividly displays the shortcomings of this year’s education budget.
After campaigning on the promise not to cut education, Governor Perdue and the Democrats spent the better part of 2009 defending a budget that did just that. Despite her March 9, 2009 statement that “even in these tough times we will increase per-pupil spending in our public schools,” almost $800 million was cut out of the education budget, highlighted by $225 million that local school districts had to come up with themselves. Ultimately, these Democrat-passed cuts resulted in over 3700 teachers not being rehired. Additionally, hundreds of teaching positions were preserved with one-time, non-recurring stimulus funds, which will result in more jobs in jeopardy when the stimulus cash runs out.
Claiming that North Carolina’s budget deficit left them with no choice, Perdue and Democrat legislators had the audacity to claim the budget was a victory for public education. But what Perdue failed to brag about was $34 million in prisoner education funding that was included in the budget. The millions used to educate prisoners, some of whom are serving life sentences, would have been better spent on saving the jobs of North Carolina teachers – over 900 of them.
Of course, we should not be surprised by these preposterous priorities. After all, this is the same Governor who passed a billion-dollar tax increase in the middle of a recession after saying on October 23, 2008: “I don’t believe that you can raise taxes in an economy with folks struggling the way they are.” This is the same Democrat led General Assembly that used taxpayer dollars so wisely, exemplified by a $25 million fishing pier.
North Carolinians, already facing historic unemployment levels, can look forward to more tax increases, more pork projects, and less emphasis on education. As students sit in overcrowded classrooms and teachers look elsewhere for jobs, Perdue and the Democrats are preparing to craft yet another anti-education budget.
Earlier this month, Perdue announced that “there is no money for teacher or state employee raises.” This announcement comes from the former teacher who promised not to cut education funding and to find ways to increase teacher pay. Teachers, more so than any other group, have been trampled on by Bev Perdue and her liberal allies in Raleigh. If you’re behind a desk in a classroom, Bev Perdue is no friend of yours. But if you’re behind bars in a prison cell, then you’re an education priority.
Well done, Bev.
Tom Fetzer
NCGOP Chairman
PS: Please remember, you can always donate to the NCGOP online by visiting www.ncgop.org. Donate online today!
|
|
