N.C. GOP Slams Democrats Over Unfair DOT/ Roads Funding (Decision 2010)

N.C. GOP Campaigns On Roads Funding Issue


Traffic jams still cut as a campaign issue in Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, even in an election year focused on jobs. And Republicans have noticed.

John Aneralla, a GOP N.C. state Senate candidate, plans to pound his Democratic opponent over the county's need for road money.

"As I sit in traffic on I-77 - knowing that's one of the roads that should have been widened years ago and I-485 should have been finished years ago - absolutely I'm going to use that issue," said Aneralla, the lone Republican candidate for the seat held by Sen. Malcolm Graham, a Charlotte Democrat.

GOP candidates already have political momentum behind them, given the anti-establishment tenor of many voters. Now Republican legislative candidates in Mecklenburg are starting to argue that incumbent Democrats who control the state legislature haven't gotten enough road money funneled to the city - a contention that resonates with voters weary of staring at four lanes of brake lights.

An Observer report last month revealed how Charlotte-Mecklenburg County ranked 89th out of 100 counties in per capita road spending by the state.

"It's definitely an issue Republicans can use," said Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, a Democratic polling firm.

The difficulty for the GOP, Jensen said, is that Charlotte-Mecklenburg offers perhaps only one competitive district among the county's five Senate and 10 House seats, that of retiring Rep. Jim Gulley, a Republican. The rest are drawn to safely elect either a Democrat or Republican.

Democrats are playing defense, too.

Malcolm Graham organized a town hall-style meeting at Mallard Creek High School last week, less than a month before the primary, to talk with his constituents about the forthcoming completion of Interstate 485. State transportation officials are in the process of selecting a contractor.

Graham, whose district has a solid Democratic voting history, co-chairs a Budget committee on Transportation Funding and emphasized that he is pushing to change the not-so-aptly-named state equity formula for road funding.

Many Urban leaders criticize the formula as shortchanging the cities. Graham and urban legislators in both parties want the formula to include traffic congestion in determining where the money goes.

"I don't think people care about Democrats or Republicans with respect to transportation," Graham said. "They just want the roads built."

Rep. Thom Tillis, a Huntersville Republican, holds a relatively safe GOP seat, but he's helping other Republican House candidates in hopes of winning a majority.

If that happens, Tillis is widely expected to run for speaker. His advice: "Needle Democrats on the lack of road funding".

"It falls behind Jobs and the Tax issue (with voters)," Tillis said. "But it's right up there after that."

Urban and Rural Funding

Republican candidates are expected to accuse local Democrats of following legislative leaders from the eastern half of the state who treat Charlotte as an afterthought.

When Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, a Democrat from the Outer Banks, held a Charlotte fundraiser in January, former Sen. Robert Pittenger, a Charlotte Republican, dispatched a mailing to a dozen of the 44 invitees.

The packet included a copy of a letter Basnight sent to four Democratic senators on the coast last fall, talking about legislative battles in which he helped protect the interests of Eastern North Carolina communities.

"Our urban areas are congested, yes," Basnight wrote on transportation funding, for example, "but they also are home to major employers and economic sectors that benefit their local economies. Improving infrastructure in our rural areas will help businesses and economic growth to our communities, too."

Sen. Bob Rucho, a Charlotte Republican, is encouraging GOP candidates to deploy road funding as campaign ammunition.

He questioned why Charlotte donors would help Basnight maintain a Democratic majority in the Senate when Rucho says Basnight is pumping state money into rural areas devoid of road congestion.

"People in the Charlotte area and the business community need to know that Marc Basnight is not working for their best interests," Rucho said.

Basnight said he supports the current equity formula for road funding but that urban and rural communities alike need money. Roads are what draw businesses and jobs, he said, arguing that a change in the formula takes money away from low income communities in the mountains and in the east.

"Would it stop economic development in the east and west?" he said. "I don't believe the people of Charlotte want (that)."


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Sources: Interstate Guide.com, McClatchy Newspapers, MUMPO, N.C. General Assembly, Youtube, Google Maps

Beverly Earle, Malcolm Graham, Nick Mackey: Charlotte's Worst Black "Leaders"?

3 Black Charlotte Politicians Take Worst Attendance Honors


Two Charlotte area legislators gained the unfortunate distinction of worst attendance record during last year's legislative session.

And the whole issue of absences has deteriorated into a dispute between Rep. Nick Mackey and Rep. Beverly Earle, both Charlotte Democrats.

Sen. Malcolm Graham, a Charlotte Democrat, and Rep. Jeff Barnhart, a Concord Republican, accumulated the worst attendance records in their respective chambers, with the exception of fellow lawmakers who were ill or had surgery during session.

The records were tallied by the non-partisan N.C. Center for Public Policy Research.

Graham attended 91 of 112 legislative days for an 81 percent attendance rate. The only lower record was that of Sen. Richard Stevens, a Cary Republican, who was sidelined with a broken kneecap.

"Not only am I a state senator, but I work for a living as well," Malcolm Graham said, adding that the supposed part-time job is full time. "I try to balance the responsibilities of serving as well as making a living at the same time."

Legislators receive less than $14,000 a year in salary, plus $559 per month for expenses.

Barnhart made it to 95 of 114 days, or 83 percent. Earle, who underwent two back surgeries last year, and Rep. Becky Carney, who was out for two months after suffering cardiac arrest, had lower attendance figures.


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Sources: NCGA, McClatchy Newspapers, N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, Google Maps

Mel Watt! Sir Its Time For You To Step Aside!

Once again partisan-flavored Mel Watts (Dem) announces he's going to run for re-election to keep his Gerrymandered 12th district seat.

Here's a U.S. Congressman who's done very, very little for his Constituents however because of goofy Straight Ticket Voters who don't read, he continues to remain on Capitol Hill.

(For more information to prove how Mel Watt really feels about his constituents check out the Videos and articles included with this post.)

Mel intentionally does very little for his district (except Wealthy White voters) because if his Constituents become Financially Stable like himself, they could run him out of Public Office.

Thus he keeps them Poor so they won't be able to.

Haven't any of you noticed that's how most Democrat Leaders treat Black People?

Ever notice how Black Democrat Politicians practice the same M.O. when it comes to Black Voters?

Keep them Poor so they can't rise up and run their Political Leaders out of Office.


Here's another important factor.........


Just because Mel Watt happens to be a Light-Skinned Black Man with "Good Hair" so what?

Is that why most Black citizens who reside in Mel's district keeps voting for him?

My Father (now deceased) had "Good Hair" of a better texture than Mel's.

My mother is much lighter than Mel, has Brown eyes and "Good Hair".

I'm a Medium Brown-Skinned (almost Light) Black Woman with "Good Hair" and light Brown eyes.

So what?

Too often Black people who reside in the South are stuck on Superficial "Mulatto" Slave Standards of Physical Appearance.

Who cares if our Political Leaders are Male, Female, White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Greek, Jewish, Light-Skinned, Dark-Skinned, Fat, Skinny, Tall, Short, Young, Older, etc.,

Who cares?

Or should we care?

Mel Watt's physical appearance doesn't make him qualified to stay in Public Office or does it?

Why don't we stick to the REAL issues please?!!


I'd say its high time good Ole' Mel gave up that seat to someone else be it a Democrat, Republican or Independent.

We need you to step aside so that you will stop spawning Selfish, Complacent Black Politicians like Malcolm Graham, Harvey Gantt and now Mayor Anthony Foxx.

We need someone who isn't "dead wood" like you've become.

We need someone who actually cares about their Constituents and desires to see them succeed.

We need someone who unlike yourself will actually represent their Constituents in Washington,DC.

Furthermore Mr. Watt according to the Black Agenda Report you don't even have a good record within the national Black Community.

Just a few local dummies who still believe in Partisan, "Black Panther" politics.

Am I against Black Politicians?

No!

I'm in support of any Politician regardless of their Ethnicity, Gender, Political Affiliation, who really cares about their Constituents.

I'm also in support of Politicians who will help bring people together and who will fight to improve the lives of Children, especially Minority Children.

Neither Malcolm Graham, Mel Watt, Anthony Foxx or Harvey Gantt fit those descriptions.

They only care about themselves and their families.

No one else!

How do I know this?

Just take a drive through Charlotte, Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury and Winston-Salem North Carolina.

Now tell me what you observed among the Black Communities in those areas.

That's okay I'll do it for you:

CORRUPTION,

Very Low Economic Development,

No Jobs or Low Paying Jobs even for Black College Graduates,

Blight,

No Artwork,

No Beauty,

High Crime,

High Teen Pregnancy,

High Drop Out Rate,

Low Graduation Rate,

Not nearly enough College Graduates,

No Parks, No Recreation Centers, No Nature Trails

Very few Black-Owned Businesses,

Raggedy, Inferior Public Transportation and NO a $500 Million Streetcar which travels only 1.5 miles won't get it!


American Voters are tired of such "Old School" Politicians who are only in it for themselves.

Charlotteans need to make sure that Mel Watt and Anthony Foxx won't regain their seats.

In November 2009 the Raleigh Newsobserver reported Congressman Watt had about $140,000. in his campaign coffers.

Now who is brave enough to stand up and file to run against them?

No one?

Perhaps this explains why neither Mel Watt or Anthony Foxx are really fighting hard enough to bring Jobs to Charlotte, NC.


(For more information to prove how Mel Watt really feels about his constituents check out the Videos and articles included with this post.)





Mel Watt Defends President Obama's Economic Plan


Speaking in a city struggling with unemployment and weakened banks, Democratic Rep. Mel Watt on Monday defended the Obama administration's economic strategy, saying it saved the nation from "catastrophe."

Watt told party loyalists attending an uptown luncheon that President Barack Obama's plan to create affordable healthcare, clean energy and an educated workforce will push the country out of the worst recession in decades.

The comments came two days before the president's State of the Union address, in which is he is expected address jobs creation and initiatives to assist middle-class families.

Obama has been criticized in recent weeks over continued high unemployment and Wall Street bailouts, including $45 billion for Bank of America.

Watt, whose 12th Congressional district includes part of Charlotte, said Republican attacks have distorted the issue. He said blame for the recession lies with Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.

"We are taking the rap for something we didn't create," Watt said.

Watt spoke to members of the Uptown Democratic Forum at the Levine Museum of the New South.

Before he started his speech, Watt announced to cheers that he would seek re-election this year. He said he would make an official announcement at a later date.

Watt stood in front a projection screen with the words "Actions by Congress are Helping the Economy Recover," and ticked off a list of accomplishments from Obama's first year in office.

The list included passage of an economic recovery package, energy legislation and expanded health coverage for children.

Watt also showed slides indicating that job losses have slowed and that investment has rebounded since Obama took office a year ago.

"How can anybody make the case we haven't done anything for a problem we inherited?" Watt asked.

But the recession continues to hammer Charlotte.

Unemployment in the Charlotte area now tops 11 percent, surpassing the 10 percent national average. The county recently released figures showing the number of Mecklenburg County residents who receive Work First, commonly known as welfare, has jumped 61 percent since January 2008.

Bank of America, headquartered uptown, announced recently it lost $5.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Watt told the crowd the public must remain patient. He acknowledged the nation could face a decline in the commercial real estate market and that employment would probably improve only somewhat in coming months. James Finch II contributed.






Mel Watt Has $140,000 In Campaign Cash



U.S. Rep. Mel Watt has $140,282 in his campaign account, according to federal campaign finance records.

Watt, a Charlotte Democrat, received $8,987 from individual contributions and $74,500 from political action committees for a total of $83,500 raised through September.

Contributors include Valerie White of Bethesda, Md. ($1,000); the NFL's Gridiron PAC ($5,000); the Citigroup PAC ($5,000) and a PAC of Echostar and Dish Network $2,500.

Republican Paul Johnson has loaned himself $133 and Libertarian Lon Vernon Cecil has not reported raising any money.






R.I.P. Mel Watt: We Come To Bury Him Not Praise Him


Posted Tue, 10/31/2006 - 18:00 by Leutisha Stills

Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina is stepping down after 2 years as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. CBC Watch correspondent Leutisha Stills evaluates his tenure, and pronounces Watt dead on arrival.

In looking back at how the Congressional Black Caucus has operated in the last two years, we at CBC Monitor, have not come to praise Congressman Mel Watt's (D-NC), leadership, but to bury him in his performance as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus for the past two years.

You can't really praise an individual's leadership when they consistently subverted it to do the will of House Minority Leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in the hopes of receiving favorable treatment from her. Watt's obsequious relationship with Pelosi negatively impacted everything the CBC attempted to do as a Caucus, and rendered them virtually ineffective.

The fact that the CBC is as ineffective as Mel Gibson's apology for his anti-Semitic remarks, was not lost on individuals attending this year's CBC Legislative Weekend. It was reported to CBC Monitor by reliable sources on Capitol Hill that attendance at this year's conference was down by an estimated 15,000 people. Well, people get tired of attending events, using their own money, vacation time and travel, to listen to elected officials talk loud and say nothing, as well as do talk loud and do nothing.

"Watt's obsequious relationship with Pelosi negatively impacted everything the CBC attempted to do as a Caucus."

Mel Watt deserves all the ridicule, scorn and derision we can hurl upon him, for his decided lack of leadership and a woeful unwillingness to call out any renegade CBC member for voting the corporate interests that serve to decimate the majority Black districts they represent, in the name of maintaining unanimity. Even when his own colleagues made the customary laudable speeches, praising his leadership, one got the sense that they really didn't mean what they said.

His repeated capitulation to House Minority Leader Pelosi, one assumes, is in the hope that he positions himself well for a plum committee assignment, should the Democrats take back Congress in November, by holding himself out to Pelosi as being a "good, non-threatening Negro," while selling out his own Caucus, even though he always voted in such a way that earned him a position on the Honor Roll since we began publishing the Report Card.

Well, for his trouble to attempt to maintain unanimity, as well as subverting the CBC's own political agenda (if they ever had one) to stay in Pelosi's good graces, those who relied on the CBC being the "Conscience of the Congress" got the following results of Black Leadership for their reliance:

* 20 CBC members were scrubbed off the list of lawmakers who sponsored legislation to renew provisions of the Voting Rights Act, because Pelosi, in code words, deemed the bill "too Black," and was afraid she wouldn't be able to get the reich-wing bigots in the GOP to sign off on it.

* The isolation of, and slinging under the bus of one of their own members (Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-GA), for crying out about corruption in the Bush Administration, as well as being subjecting to racial profiling by the Capitol Hill Police, while circling the wagons to protect a member of the CBC who was so corrupt in the selling of his office that he has the moniker of "Dollar Bill," and is currently under a Federal indictment for bribery (Rep. William Jefferson, D-LA).

* We believe the CBC's willingness to follow Pelosi's orders and isolate McKinney may have played a direct role in her primary loss this past August. We know that their circling the wagons around Jefferson has cost the Caucus in terms of credibility among many progressive organizations, especially when, instead of taking action to handle the Jefferson matter themselves, they waited until Pelosi took the action of removing Jefferson from his committee assignments and then they cried "Foul" and implied that Pelosi's actions were racially motivated.

They probably were, but the CBC leadership did not have to abdicate personal responsibility in calling out one of their own for ethics violations and corruption of their office. We would expect the CBC to be as vigilant about their own members as they are about the system of Checks and Balances in the Federal Government.

"Watt provided derelict Black members cover in their duty as lawmakers."

* The failure to publicly censure CBC members who voted for anti-people legislation (such as the Bankruptcy bill; Net Neutrality, Estate Tax Repeal, Border Protection Act, Authorization of Iraq War, etc), when the sense of the majority of the Caucus (better than 60%) was against such legislation and voted accordingly. In excusing the votes of the renegade members, Watt provided them cover to be derelict in their duty as lawmakers, while publicly chastising organizations such as CBC Monitor, for daring to publish Report Cards highlighting such dereliction.

There are many examples of Mel Watt's dereliction as a leader of the CBC, which we have expanded on in several issues of the Black Commentator, so there is no need to do anymore than write Mr. Watt's obituary on his tenure as CBC Chairman. His obituary, from our standpoint, is brief:

He often voted correctly, but when it came to matters of importance, and holding the Caucus together as a Caucus, in leadership, HE WAS MISSING IN ACTION.

Rather than advance the Agenda of the Caucus he often sought to subvert it, at the directive of the House Minority Leader.

In so doing, and refusing to have the Caucus take positions on things that mattered, the Caucus was absent from any political position of importance.

Mel Watt threw away any bargaining chips the Caucus would have had, and rendered 41 House Members and 1 Senator as no more than bumbling fools on Capitol Hill.

In evaluating the leadership of Congressman Mel Watt as CBC Chair, we cannot praise him, we can only bury him.

Leutisha Stills, a member of the CBC Monitor, is on the Faculty Administration of George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia. She can be reached at leutishastills1@hotmail.com.




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Sources: Black Agenda Report, McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, Newsobserver, Washington Post, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps