GOP's Next 2012 Anti-Obama Tool: Gas Prices & Gouging

Since Our Nation's Unemployment Numbers Have Been Reduced, Donald Trump's "Birther" Claims Have Fizzled & Paul Ryan's Budget Backfired, What's The GOP's Next 2012 Anti-Obama Tool?

Scaring American Voters With Rising Gas Prices By Allowing Gas Price Gouging & Speculation To Occur!

President Obama Was Right About His Administration Investigating & Stopping Such Corrupt Behavior Just For Short Term Political Gain.

I Hope Attorney Holder Eric Holder Finds & Prosecutes The Culprits Responsible Soon!




High Gas Prices cut into driving habits — and Obama’s approval rating


Soaring gasoline prices are biting into household incomes and nibbling at Americans’ fuel consumption and support for President Obama, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

About six in 10 respondents said they had cut back on driving because of rising fuel prices, and seven in 10 said that high pump prices are causing financial hardship.

Obama, like previous presidents in times of high oil prices, is taking a hit. Only 39 percent of those who call gas prices a “serious financial hardship” approve of the way he is doing his job, and 33 percent of them say he’s doing a good job on the economy.

The Energy Information Administration said Monday that gas prices climbed last week to $3.88 a gallon, up 81 cents since the start of the year. It is the highest that pump prices have been since August 2008, before the financial meltdown.

Evidence of motorists’ hardships are littering the roads. The Automobile Association of America says the number of motorists running out of gas has been surging. John Townsend, a AAA spokesman, said that cash-strapped members “are pushing the envelope” and that emergency gasoline deliveries to stranded members jumped nationwide, including up 40 percent in the District.

That sort of hardship could slow the Obama reelection campaign. The Post-ABC poll results show that 60 percent of independents who say they’ve been hit hard by surging gas prices also say they definitely won’t support Obama in his bid for reelection.

In a theoretical match-up with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the top GOP performer in the Post-ABC poll, Romney wins by a 24-point margin among the independents who have taken a severe financial hit because of gas prices, and the president is up 7 percentage point among others.

At a fundraiser in Southern California last week, where pump prices are the highest in the country, Obama acknowledged the political peril of high gas prices. He said, “My poll numbers go up and down depending on the latest crisis, and right now gas prices are weighing heavily on people.”

He tried to show that he feels motorists’ pain. “I admit, Secret Service doesn’t let me fill up the pump anymore,” he said. “But it hasn’t been that long since I did.”

The poll also shows the stubborn nature of gasoline consumption, and the difficulty of weaning the country off its dependence on imported oil. About a quarter of all Americans say they would not alter their driving habits until prices, which are about $1 a gallon higher than a year ago, climb another $1.10 or to more than $5.

Even though gasoline prices are just a quarter of a dollar short of their all-time record of $4.11 for a gallon of regular set in July 2008, the Energy Information Administration forecast this month that gasoline consumption would average about 9.3 million barrels a day over the peak summer driving season, a 0.5 percent increase over last summer.

“Population growth and a recovering economy contribute to gasoline consumption growth,” EIA said, adding that high gas prices and better fuel efficiency standards would dampen demand. Consumption of diesel fuel is expected to climb 2.3 percent because of higher industrial output and trade.

“I think the evidence is strong that people are not very price responsive and that there are no magic thresholds where the effect changes suddenly,” said Severin Borenstein, a professor at the University of California Berkeley business school and director of the California Energy Institute.

In 2008 when prices last spiked, motorists carpooled, households drove the more efficient of their cars when a choice was possible and many people opted for public transportation. But the impact was slight.

Borenstein says the drop in consumption was 3 to 4 percentage points. “That’s a pretty small demand response when the price of gasoline nearly doubles,” he said. Moreover, he said, “this was happening in context of a giant recession, so there were income effects as well.”

Christopher Knittel, a professor of applied economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that “consumers are less responsive today than in the past, especially when compared to the 1970s.” With the growth of families with two income earners and other social changes, motorists are less likely to regard their day-to-day driving as discretionary.

But, Knittel said, “if prices continue to be high, they start to change what cars they buy and manufacturers start to change the cars they offer. So it really depends on the time frame.”

Knittel said that the increase in gasoline prices is partly a result of the recovering economy. “One of the reasons gas prices are high is that we are coming out of the recession,” he said. “So it’s sort of bitter sweet. The economy is getting strong, but it’s hurting our pocketbook.”

That could circle around and undercut the recovery. Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland’s business school, estimates that the spike in gas prices since September translates into a 5 percent cut in discretionary income and that Americans “will be eating fewer restaurant meals, wearing fewer new clothes, curtailing summer vacation plans, and postponing furniture purchases and home improvements.”

In the Post-ABC poll, 12 percent of people who consider gas prices a financial hardship said they had slashed spending elsewhere.

The telephone poll was conducted April 14 to 17 among a random national sample of 1,001 adults. The margin of sampling error is 3.5 percentage points.


Sources: AP, Washington Post, Youtube

Harry Jones' Bonus Eliminated, County Builds $2M Park For His Church

Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Leaders Eliminates Harry Jones' Bonus


Charlotte-Mecklenburg County commissioners agreed Tuesday to change the way they pay County Manager Harry Jones, including eliminating performance bonuses from future compensation packages.

Under his previous contract, Jones had been eligible for a performance bonus of up to 30 percent of his base pay.

He has been criticized often in the past year for a $38,400 bonus that commissioners approved last year amid budget cuts to county services and other agencies.

In lieu of a bonus - which commissioners also have called "at-risk" pay the past two years - Jones' base salary could change each year based on the "prevailing market rate" for his position.

For the year that begins July 1, Jones' base pay will increase to $242,500 from the $215,655 he received this year.

But his total compensation will go down about 6.6percent compared to the current year, dropping to $283,011. Commissioner Dumont Clarke said the decline "would exceed the reductions of most other county employees."

In addition, Clarke said Jones also will receive no match to his 401(k) plan, mirroring a hit taken by other county employees.

Several commissioners noted that Jones had requested that his compensation be reduced this year. Dan Murrey said the change was "by no means an indication of our assessment of (Jones') performance."

He said it was ironic that the manager had seen no change in his salary the past two years, but is now taking a $20,000 cut in his compensation "in probably the toughest year you've had to do your job."






Charlotte Leaders Pay $2M For Park At Harry Jones' Church (Vote Buying Scheme)


Folks if this isn't an example of a Charlotte, NC Vote Buying Scheme (Black voters) I don't know what is.

Check out the detailed article from WCNC below.

What a shame!

Remember this example of Public Corruption when you visit the polls in 2011 and 2012. Vote Jennifer Roberts out of office!




Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Leaders Spend $2M In Tax Money For Park On Harry Jones' Church Land (Vote Buying Scheme)


At a time when Mecklenburg County is forced to cut almost 200 jobs from its Park and Recreation Department, the county budget sets aside $60,000 to plan a park that it cannot afford to build.

The NewsChannel 36 I-Team found Mecklenburg County set aside $2 million in a one-of-a-kind deal to build the park on property owned by a church, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on Beatties Ford Road.

Few debate that the county could use more ball fields along Beatties Ford Road. But some fiscal conservatives have questioned how the church won the one-of-a-kind deal and why it is still funded in a time of sharp cutbacks.

Former Charlotte City Councilman Don Reid is one.

"I don't know how we can invest taxpayer money on a piece of property owned by a church," said Reid, who calls the process used to award the park "a good ole boy network again."

But Reid's so-called "good ole boy" network included an up-and-coming woman -- Mary E. Wilson.

Since the summer of 2008 Wilson has served as the director of Mecklenburg County's Department of Social Services. And the I-Team has raised questions about Wilson mixing state funds with her church -- Friendship Missionary Baptist.

In December 2008, Wilson spent $20,000 of public funds on caterers, entertainment and door prizes for a holiday party for all 1,200 DSS staff held at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. When questioned, a DSS spokeswoman said the county did not pay for the use of the church facility. She said it had been paid for by an anonymous donor.

But before her county job, Wilson earned more than $86,000 a year as the executive director of Friendship's Community Development Corporation.

And as executive director in 2006 she helped the church pitch its park plan to the county's Park and Recreation Commission. But in the summer of 2006, Wilson joined the very same Park and Rec Commission.

"Connect the dots," said Reid. "Friendship Baptist Church. Mary Wilson. Mary Wilson goes to the park board and the board then decides to fund the church's project."

Wilson abstained from voting on the Friendship Sportsplex and did not participate in discussion at the board meeting where the board approved the park. Experts in state conflict of interest law at the UNC School of Government tell the I-Team that Wilson apparently did not violate any rule or law.

"Personally, I wouldn't allow that to happen," said Park Director Jim Garges, who joined the department after the Friendship Park had passed the board but before it passed the County Commission. "There wasn't anything she (Wilson) did or anything I was aware of I would consider a conflict of interest."

But e-mails obtained by the I-Team show Wilson advocated for the park in March 2008 when it was pending before the County Commission.

When Park Commissioner Brad Pearce e-mailed staff that he was frustrated with the lack of information about the Friendship park, a project which he supported, it was Wilson who responded in less than an hour.

"Let's be reasonable and work together," Wilson wrote. "I am sensing a less than positive partnership tone."

While they may have had their differences on the way the park was handled, Pearce now says he believes Wilson handled her conflict of interest appropriately.

"Certainly no one at the church ever contacted me and asked for special treatment," Pearce said.

The I-Team tried to reach Wilson last week and this week through a county spokesman and by leaving a message on her cell phone. She did not return repeated calls.

But in a church with thousands of members, Wilson was not the only one with political clout.

County General Manager Bobbie Shields, who oversees the Park and Recreation Department, is also a member of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.

But County Manager Harry Jones tells the I-Team that Shields turned over all control of the park awards to another general manager, John McGillicuddy. And Garges and Pearce both say Shields had no impact on the decision to locate the park at the church.

"Bobbie Shields had no influence over that decision," said Pearce.

"And, if anything, particularly with Bobbie, he went the other way -- 'Don't show me. Don't tell me. I don't want to know anything about it,'" said Garges.

(Some viewers have written that Harry Jones is also a member of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church but Jones told the I-Team he is not a member of the church.)

Under the terms of the lease agreement between Mecklenburg County and Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, the county leases the land for 40 years for the sum of $1, with the county retaining the right to renew the lease for another 40 years. The county agrees to build ball fields on the property. And the church gets first dibs on selling any concessions at no cost, keeping all the proceeds.

Most county parks sit on county land. Here and there Mecklenburg County has a boat ramp on Duke Energy property. The county once placed a track on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University. But for the most part, county planners envision putting parks on public land.

And when voters OK'd a public bond issue for parks in 2004, the Park and Recreation Commission anticipated allocating $8 million for joint public-private partnerships, but that the parks would be placed on county land.

In the case of two of the three winning projects, for the towns of Huntersville and Matthews, the parks went on public land. But in the case of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, the county entered into a unique lease.

Garges says Friendship was chosen because it had land available for a park and "If anybody else wants a park, give us a call."

But the county doesn't even have the money to build the Friendship Park, let alone take on new parks.

In a time of budget cutbacks, cutting about four out of every 10 park and rec employees, the new county budget contains a capital expense of $60,000 for this year and next to plan for the Friendship park, even though the county does not have the money to build it.


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Sources: WCNC, Google Maps

Gov. Bev Perdue Being Investigated; Linked To Mike Easley's Corruption

N.C. Elections Board Investigating Bev Perdue


The State Board of Elections has opened an investigation of Gov. Bev Perdue's campaign finances in response to complaints from the N.C. Republican Party.

Last year, NC Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer filed complaints over undisclosed campaign flights. Perdue's campaign has since disclosed 31 flights and said the omissions were mistakes.

Fetzer received a letter today from Kim Strach, a deputy director at the elections board who is responsible for investigations. In her letter, which Fetzer released to the news media Wednesday, Strach wrote that the board is investigating Perdue.

"We have initiated an investigation into the allegations contained in your complaints and will advise you of our findings at the conclusion of our investigation," Strach wrote.

At a news conference today, Fetzer said he believes that Perdue, a Democrat, may have engaged in the same campaign finance practices as former Gov. Mike Easley, whose campaign was fined $100,000 over unreported flights.

Contributors testified at a hearing over Easley's finances that they gave large checks to the N.C. Democratic Party with the expectation that the money would be forwarded to Easley, an illegal scheme to subvert campaign finance limits.

Fetzer released a list of 12 people who were subpoenaed in the board's hearing on Easley. Each of the 12 people have given to Easley, Perdue and the state Democratic Party.

"The fact that the activities of the Perdue Campaign mirror the violations of the Easley campaign, and in some cases involve the same corporate aircraft, indicates that an investigation of the Perdue Campaign as thorough as that of the Easley Campaign, is warranted and justified," Fetzer wrote in his letter to the board.









More Flights Reported By Bev Perdue Campaign



Gov. Beverly Perdue's campaign committee has reported another eight flights aboard private aircraft dating to 2000, according to information filed Thursday with the State Board of Elections.

Jack Trabucco, a retired Air Force officer who manages an aviation firm in New Bern, provided five flights between November 2000 and October 2005 totaling $1,878. All five were treated as in-kind contributions.

Perdue's campaign reimbursed donors for three other flights:

* DM Farms of Rose Hill, owned by hog baron Wendell Murphy, provided a March 2004 flight valued at $326.

* Shearin Companies Inc., an Enfield-based firm that sells manufactured housing, provided a flight in October 2004 valued at $338.

* Fulenwider Enterprises Inc., a fast-food franchisee based in Morganton, provided a November 2006 flight valued at $1,993.

Since last summer, the campaign has uncovered a total of 31 flights aboard private planes that were previously unreported. The donors who provided 21 of the flights have been reimbursed, while the others were included on amended campaign finance reports as in-kind contributions.

The combined value of the 31 flights was more than $25,400.

State campaign finance laws forbid corporate donations to candidates and limit individual contributions to $4,000 per election cycle.

Campaign treasurer Oscar Harris said that campaign officials have been auditing Perdue's campaign finances after the campaign shifted to a new software program. The officials have come across the previously unreported flights in the process, he said.

"We've been working with the state board for many months now," Perdue campaign spokesman Marc Farinella said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. "We (felt) an obligation to do it."

The elections board in October ordered former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign to pay $100,000 for flights he took on private planes. The board also turned its findings over to prosecutors to determine whether Easley should face any criminal charges in the case. A decision is expected by February.

Republicans argue the disclosures aren't much different from Easley's flights, which also have been investigated by federal prosecutors. A local district attorney is also examining elections board evidence to determine whether Easley or others should face criminal charges."

"This is yet another case of Governor Perdue breaking the law and then, with the political protection and financial resources of a seated governor, reporting the violations," state GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer said in a prepared statement.

Bob Phillips with Common Cause North Carolina said the number of flights previously undisclosed by Perdue bothered him but believed the governor had been deliberate in her first year in office to make state government more open and transparent.

"I don't think it's a hollow gesture on her part to be proactively examining her campaign finance reports ... even in the wake of the Easley scandal," Phillips said.








GOP Links Bev Perdue To Allegations Against Former Gov Mike Easley



NC State Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer on Wednesday tried to tie Gov. Beverly Perdue to allegations of wrongdoing by her predecessor.

Fetzer asked the State Board of Elections to expand its investigation into Perdue's campaign finances, questioning some of the campaign flights she received in recent years and whether donors tried to buy favors from her.

In October, the elections board ordered former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign to pay $100,000 for not reporting dozens of campaign flights provided aboard donor's private aircraft.

Fetzer said several of the 31 flights Perdue's campaign has reported in recent months were aboard corporate planes – state laws prohibit companies from donating to political campaigns – and he questioned the timing of the reporting and the valuation her campaign placed on the flights.

Oscar Harris, Perdue's campaign treasurer, has said the previously unreported flights were picked up during an internal audit of campaign finances after switching to a new software program.

Fetzer also noted that 12 people subpoenaed in the elections board's investigation of Easley contributed to Perdue's campaign and the state Democratic Party.

During the hearing into Easley's campaign finances, some donors testified that, after they had reached the $4,000 limit for contributions to his campaign, they gave money to the Democratic Party with the understanding that it could be routed back to the Easley campaign.

Some of Easley's donors also worked to get environmental permits approved for coastal developments, and Fetzer noted that one of Perdue's donors head the North Carolina subsidiary of Titan America, which last fall was able to obtain a draft air quality permit from state regulators for a proposed cement plant near Wilmington.

"We think all this is indicative of a continuation and long pattern of callousness and disregard for the election laws of North Carolina. We think it needs to be investigated thoroughly," Fetzer said.


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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, WRAL, Youtube, Google Maps

Gov. Paterson's Aide Under Scrutiny; More Dirty, Racist Attacks

Paterson Aide’s Quick Rise Draws Scrutiny


David W. Johnson has worked for Gov. David A. Paterson for much of his adult life. He began as a young, ambitious intern from Harlem when Mr. Paterson was a state legislator. He rose to be Mr. Paterson’s driver, serving as a kind of protector and scheduler.

In recent months, however, Mr. Johnson’s ascent has been striking: he is now one of the most senior people in the governor’s administration, paid $132,000. He is described as Mr. Paterson’s closest confidant, a man with a designated room for his overnight stays in the Executive Mansion, and a broadening role in areas like campaign strategy, government initiatives and the management of the governor’s staff.

A review of Mr. Johnson’s rise and his history, undertaken after he emerged as perhaps the man closest to the state’s chief executive, shows that he was twice arrested on felony drug charges as a teenager, including a charge of selling cocaine to an undercover officer in Harlem.

The examination of his background, based on interviews and records, shows he has at least one other arrest, for misdemeanor assault in the 1990s, although there is very little publicly available about that case.

In a statement, Mr. Paterson noted how long ago the drug arrests had happened. “David Johnson has demonstrated, over the course of his adult life, that people can change their personal circumstances and achieve success when given a second chance,” he said. “I will not turn my back on someone because of mistakes made as a teenager.”

Mr. Johnson, 37, has also on three occasions been involved in altercations with women, two of which led to calls to the police. As recently as October, the police responded to a complaint of harassment at a Bronx address of a woman involved with him. It is unclear if the altercation was verbal or physical or both, but the case is listed as closed.

In 2001, when Mr. Paterson was a state senator, Mr. Johnson, according to a person who was present, punched a girlfriend outside the senator’s Harlem office. No arrest resulted, and Mr. Johnson, through a spokesman for the governor, said that he never touched the woman, that she had come to the office inappropriately and that she had been asked to leave by others. He declined recent requests for interviews.

The woman involved, who insisted on anonymity, said in a recent interview that Mr. Johnson had gotten violent with her in the episode. She said she did not file a formal report, but said she had filed an earlier domestic violence complaint to the police about Mr. Johnson. She declined to offer evidence of that.

A spokesman for Mr. Paterson said Mr. Johnson underwent a standard background check by the State Police in 2008, which found no criminal record. Regarding the October incident, the spokesman, Peter E. Kauffmann, said, “The governor looked into the matter, and the complaint has been withdrawn.” He said Mr. Paterson planned no further inquiry into Mr. Johnson’s history.

Mr. Paterson has made domestic violence a key issue in his career; when he was lieutenant governor, it was among his signature causes. In 2008, just a few months after taking office as governor, he signed a major expansion of New York’s domestic violence law to allow judges to issue civil protection orders against people in dating relationships, in addition to those who are married.

Last October, two weeks before the episode involving Mr. Johnson and the Bronx woman, Mr. Paterson opened a campaign to raise awareness about domestic violence, gathering with advocates for a lighting ceremony at the Empire State Building.

He has also become increasingly vocal in his criticism of former Senator Hiram Monserrate, who was convicted of misdemeanor assault last fall for dragging his companion down the hallway of his apartment building. On Friday, the governor praised the Senate’s move to expel Mr. Monserrate and spoke at length about the pressures that victims of domestic violence face from their batterers.

“This seemed like a classic case of a woman who was intimidated, who didn’t really understand what her independence could be, and was victimized,” he said of the Monserrate case, adding, “The reality is that it’s really just a prelude to another attack, in many instances.”




Part of Inner Circle

Mr. Johnson’s increasing prominence, and Mr. Paterson’s reliance on him, have worried some veteran aides to the governor, who themselves are trying to assist Mr. Paterson as he faces an enormous fiscal crisis and a daunting election effort. They would not speak by name, but more than four current or former officials expressed concern that Mr. Johnson and another aide, a former state trooper, had become the governor’s innermost circle and were simply not best equipped to help him tackle the multiple challenges facing him.

Some heads of significant government agencies have said they feel they have to go through Mr. Johnson, often known as D. J., to get to the governor. And several current and former administration officials said that Mr. Johnson’s dressing down of the governor’s Washington office in September contributed to the departure of several seasoned people from the office.

“I started getting messages from D. J. telling me to call certain players in my industry,” said one former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing the governor.

Mr. Johnson, the official said, started to manage administration press conferences, dictating the order and seating of speakers and calling agencies to request they draft statements on particular issues.

“We were all quite surprised about D. J. taking more of a policy role,” another former official said. “It seemed like it was a long way to come in a short period of time for a guy who had been the governor’s wing man.”

Recently, the role evolved further, as Mr. Johnson began shaping campaign strategy.

Bill Lynch, one of the governor’s longtime political strategists, said that he talked campaign strategy with Mr. Johnson and that it had been Mr. Johnson’s idea to hold a series of community conversations in New York City late last year.

Asked what made Mr. Johnson qualified to be involved in campaign strategy, Mr. Lynch said: “I don’t know much about his history other than his working for the governor. But as far as I’m concerned, his instincts on these campaign things are good, if not damn near perfect.”

Assemblyman Keith L. T. Wright, a Harlem Democrat, said of Mr. Johnson: “I look at him as a gatekeeper. I actually think he’s done pretty well.

“He’s been with David for years. He is a good filter for David. David trusts him. And his influence has grown.”

Mr. Paterson first hired Mr. Johnson as an intern in 1999. His role, according to a co-worker from those days, was to be an advance man and to perform constituent services. He worked only about 10 hours a week but was considered “gung-ho,” the co-worker said, always volunteering to attend town-hall-style meetings and the like. He graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2002.

“He wanted to be in the mix,” the co-worker said, “and because he was from Harlem, he had a natural connection with people there.”

An Imposing Figure

Mr. Johnson, the colleague said, was also valued because of the imposing figure he cast. At 6-foot-7, with a booming voice, he made Mr. Paterson, who is legally blind, feel secure, and so he was often scheduled to travel with him.

Mr. Johnson also helped keep people in line on those occasions when a troublesome constituent threatened to raise a ruckus in the Harlem office.

“Every now and then it was good to have a big guy in the office,” the colleague said.

Mr. Johnson eventually became Mr. Paterson’s driver, and at that point their relationship was further cemented.

“When you’re going back and forth to Albany a few times a week, once you get past Exit 17, you’re spending a lot of time alone with the other person in that car and you’re going to talk,” the colleague said.

Mr. Johnson’s first known arrest was in 1989 when he was 16; he was handled as a youthful offender, and the records sealed.

Two years later, when he was 18, he was arrested on drug charges, this time after selling crack cocaine to an undercover officer, according to people with knowledge of the episode.

The arrest by a 23rd Precinct officer occurred on the corner of Madison Avenue and East 107th Street, about a block from his mother’s apartment. It led to his indictment five days later on a single count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree with intent to sell, a felony for which he could have received up to 25 years in prison, the people with knowledge of the episode said.

Three months later, he pleaded guilty to a lesser felony, attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, a felony with a maximum of 15 years; he was sentenced to five years of probation, which a law enforcement official said he completed without incident. Mr. Johnson was treated as a youthful offender, and the records of the case were sealed.

Mr. Johnson’s disputed encounters with women came to involve at least one senior aide to Mr. Paterson in 2001. Woody Pascal, then Mr. Paterson’s chief of staff, interrupted the altercation between Mr. Johnson and the woman who was then his girlfriend outside the Harlem office. Mr. Pascal said he offered the woman counseling.

“Mr. Johnson and a companion had some kind of dispute, and I broke it up,” Mr. Pascal said in an interview. “I sent Mr. Johnson in one direction, and I counseled her, and that was the end of the dispute.”

The police were not called.

The woman said Mr. Pascal “handled it all.”

She said she had filed a police report against Mr. Johnson for domestic violence before the episode outside Mr. Paterson’s office, but nothing ever happened to him.

“It was a long time ago,” she said. “They didn’t take things as seriously back then.”

Mr. Paterson’s office encouraged The New York Times to speak to Deneane Brown, a woman it said had been present for the episode.

Ms. Brown, who now works for the State Department of Housing and Community Renewal, said she saw a brief part of what she described as a heated argument, or lover’s spat, but no violence. She said she had remained friends with Mr. Johnson.

“If there had been anything violent, I’m trained in domestic violence, so I would have had a duty to file a report,” she said.

Deemed a Dating Dispute

Asked last week about the episode, Mr. Paterson said he was not aware of it. But the governor recalled a separate episode involving Mr. Johnson and a woman, which he said also occurred in 2001, where the police were called.

In Mr. Paterson’s description, Mr. Johnson was having a dispute with a woman he was dating, and he visited her home. When he arrived, the police were there and spoke to him.

He said Mr. Johnson told him of the episode when Mr. Paterson was about to become lieutenant governor on Jan. 1, 2007, because his staff members would be subject to background checks.

“I asked him, Was there an arrest? ‘No.’ Was there a complaint? ‘No,’ ” Mr. Paterson recalled. “There was nothing. So it just sounded to me like an argument between two people.”

The governor said he was aware that Mr. Johnson might have had another problematic encounter with a girlfriend last October in the Bronx. He described it, essentially, as a bad breakup.

Interviews with people who have been briefed on the police report indicate that the police responded at 9:50 p.m. on Halloween night, and that the dispute involved the woman’s costume and whether Mr. Johnson had torn it off her or menaced her further. Mr. Johnson was gone, the interviews suggest, by the time the police arrived.

The woman, in a brief interview this month, said that there had been an incident and that she had not seen Mr. Johnson since. She would not comment further.

Asked whether Mr. Johnson’s history had been considered before his most recent promotion, to director of executive services — he received a raise of $23,850 — Mr. Paterson said: “Obviously, it was a breakup. They know a number of people in common, and it just sounded like breakups you hear about all the time.”

Mr. Paterson also said that Mr. Johnson had grown significantly over the years and that he did not believe that Mr. Johnson had problems with women.

“In D. J.’s case, other than, you know, that he had broken up with a few women that he went out with, I have not found him to be that kind of person,” the governor said.

Referring to the October episode, he added: “I think in anybody’s history, you can come up with a couple incidents where they acted improperly. And this may, and I accentuate may, have been one of them.”


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Sources: NY Times, CNN, Google Maps

N.C. GOP Prepares For Senate Takeover; Health Care Repeal

N.C. Senate Changes Again; GOP Has New Issue


The decision of nine-term state Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin, to step down after this term ends continues the march of Democrats out of the legislature -- and adds to the speculation that Republicans will capture a number of Democratic seats and take over the Senate next year.

In fact, Tuesday Republicans announced plans to push legislation that would exempt North Carolina from any federal requirement that every resident be required to purchase health care of pay a penalty. The bill likely won't pass in the coming short session, but it certainly would give Republican candidates a hot-button issue to campaign on this year.

Republican leaders say they see their proposal as a positive initiative because they hear from so many people who don't like the health reform bill moving through the U.S. Senate.

Albertson, who also served four years in the House before moving to the Senate, is a popular county and gospel music singer with a flowing beard and an easy way with people. Lately he also has been a Senate appropriations committee chair and principal budget writer. At 78, he says he's exhausted. He joins four other Senate Democrats who won't run again, including Sen. David Hoyle of Gaston County, R.C. Soles, the dean of the Senate and longest-serving legislator, of Columbus County(who has been indicted by a grand jury for shooting an intruder at his home), and Julia Bozeman, D-New Hanover. Already resigned from the Senate are former Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, and David Weinstein, D-Robeson.

The decision of these six Eastern N.C. Democrats to leave changes the power structure of the state Senate dramatically. It robs Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight of veteran lawmakers from the East and furthers a shift of power from the East to the West, where Democratic Sen. Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County will become the new majority leader. And it creates four vacancies to be filled by voters this fall and two other seats (Rand's and Weinstein's) where the Democratic incumbents will not have an established record of winning their districts. Republicans are enthusiastic about the possibility of winning six seats this fall and changing the Senate from a 30 to 20 advantage for Democrats to at least 26-24 in favor of Republicans.

Another departure will be Sen. Eddie Goodall, R-Union, who is not running again, but whose seat is regarded as a safe one for the GOP.

Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, House Republican leader Skip Stam, R-Wake and State Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer announced plans Tuesday to file legislation in the short session (and next year, if the first try fails) that would exempt North Carolina from any federal requirement that residents purchase health insurance. Here's part of a press release the GOP put out:

"Raleigh, N.C. — The Republican leaders of the State Senate and House were joined by the Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party today promising to fight the federal take-over of healthcare and protect an individual’s right to make decisions about their own health coverage. The Republican leadership promised a legislative initiative called the Health Care Protection Act (HCPA).

“Republicans will not stand idly by and watch as citizens' rights to make their own health care decisions are taken from them by the federal government,” said Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham), “The people of North Carolina are overwhelmingly opposed to this blatant abuse of power. We are proud to be their legislative voice by putting forth this common sense initiative.”

"House Republican Leader Paul Stam (R-Wake) said the initiative should be supported by Democrats and Republicans alike. “This should not be about partisan politics; it should be about the individual freedom of our citizens." Stam noted that either a general statue or a constitutional amendment will be presented during the short session in May. If the Democratic majority blocks the initiative, it will be submitted again the first week of next year’s session, when he believes Republicans will hold a majority."

I don't doubt that the Republican are serious about trying to exempt North Carolina from any federal law requiring the purchase of health insurance, though I think it would have a long and hard court fight ahead of it. But regardless of whether such a law would stand up to legal scrutiny, you have to admit it would make a mighty good campaign issue to energize the Republican Party's base and encourage support for Republican candidates this fall.

The issue might help Republicans gain control of the Senate and also take over the House, where Democrats have a 68-52 edge. If Republicans can pick up a net of nine seats, they'd have enough for a 61-59 majority.



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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, Newsobserver, NC G.O.P., Facebook, Youtube, Google Maps

Park Helms Resigns From Charlotte ABC Board...NC Corruption

Park Helms Steps Down From Mecklenburg ABC Board


Charlotte-Mecklenburg ABC Board Chairman Parks Helms has resigned after fallout from a holiday dinner paid for by the liquor company Diageo.

Helms has been under fire since the Nov. 18 dinner.

Earlier this week, he rejected a request from fellow ABC directors to resign.

On Thursday, Helms sent a letter to Mecklenburg County Commission Chairwoman Jennifer Roberts, saying that he would step down. In Helms' resignation letter, he says he violated no policy, procedure or law.

The move comes one day after the North Carolina ABC Commission banned all gifts from the liquor industry to ABC staff. The ban is a result of a NewsChannel 36 I-Team investigation that found Helms and dozens of local ABC staff were treated to wine, drinks and dinner that cost more than $300 per person.

On Wednesday, the state's top liquor regulator lambasted Helms, highlighting him as an example of a "culture of entitlement" in the alcoholic beverage system.

Jonathan Williams, chair of the state ABC Commission, said that Helms told investigators from the state Alcohol Law Enforcement Division that he had expected the Mecklenburg board would pay for the lavish dinner in November. The event was bankrolled by a liquor company, and state alcohol agents have accused both the board and liquor company Diageo of breaking the law.

"In other words, Parks Helms' statement is that he assumed the citizens of Mecklenburg County would pay the bill," Williams said the state commission meeting Wednesday. "Every dollar that comes into the ABC system in this state is a dollar that belongs to the public. The public's money is not what is left over at the end. It is public the moment it is handed over the counter. There is no way the public should be expected to foot the bill for select employees and family members to have a party of seemingly unlimited price and extravagance."

Helms addressed the statements in his resignation letter, writing, "I take issue with his use of my name as a scapegoat for the troubled North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control system which those in power have condoned for generations. I was particularly troubled by Governor Perdue authorizing the Chairman to trample on my name and my reputation for political gain."

Helms and Mecklenburg ABC CEO Calvin McDougal and other staff members repaid more than $9,000 of the bill after the I-Team broke the story.



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Sources: WCNC, Google Maps

Bev Perdue, NC Officials Have Their Eyes On Charlotte's ABC Board

Tightening The Reins On North Carolina's ABC Boards



North Carolina's patchwork system for selling liquor grew out of the days after prohibition, when the powers that be worried about controlling who could buy liquor.

Today's state leaders, from Gov. Bev Perdue to top legislators, say that what's needed now is tighter control over who is selling booze.

Local Alcoholic Beverage Control boards, which run the liquor stores across North Carolina, find themselves under state officials' magnifying glass because of embarrassing episodes involving boards on opposite sides of the state: a lavish dinner for local ABC board members in Charlotte paid for by a liquor company and eye-popping salaries for top ABC administrators in Wilmington.

n the most immediate response, Perdue plans to ask the 163 local boards to agree to the ban on gifts and tighter ethics rules that she has imposed on state agencies under her control. She has also commissioned a special budget reform task force that is looking at more fundamental changes in the system and installed a new alcohol chief at the state level with directions to rein in the local boards.

The local boards that don't comply with the gift ban, she said, will get star billing on a state Web site that will list the boards and whether they have signed on to the new rules.

"We're going to know who has agreed to come along on transparency and accountability," Perdue said last week. "I'm going to go forward with the belief that every board will come along."

Joe Wall, executive director of the N.C. Association of ABC Boards, said he didn't expect many objections.

"In general, the boards are willing to accept a strengthening of the rules in that area," Wall said.

Perdue's efforts to provide more transparency and accountability follow the liquor company Diageo's bankrolling a $9,000 dinner in November for the Mecklenburg ABC board's chairman and a variety of employees and the disclosure of New Hanover County's ABC board parceling out more than $330,000 in salaries and $50,000 in bonuses to the father and son serving as top administrators.

"Something is not working in the system," said Perdue, herself a former member of the Craven County ABC Board. "And though many of us for years have believed in local control and local ABC boards, who would have thought this kind of stuff is going on?"

North Carolina has a conservative history with spirits. The state banned liquor even before national Prohibition and didn't allow public bars and restaurants to sell mixed drinks until the 1970s. Local communities, from the tiniest hamlets to urban hubs, decided for themselves whether and in what form to sell alcohol. It's a legacy that leaves a byzantine mix of liquor stores, rules and availability from one county to the next that frustrates newcomers to the state.

The state ABC Commission operates the warehouse through which local boards buy liquor and adjudicates liquor law violations, but it has little authority over the local stores. A 2008 legislative report described the system as lacking a clearly defined mission and needing more muscular state control.





Next steps

Perdue's pressure is only the latest steps in her administration's effort to reshape the commission.

Perdue plans to ask her state budget director, Charles Perusse, to examine salary data for the local boards that is being compiled by the state ABC Commission. Perusse will report on how those paychecks stack up against comparable private sector jobs.

ABC boards, which runliquor stores in North Carolina, are local government agencies, giving the state limited authority over them. The staff works for the local board, not the state. Perdue, however, said that if she needs to get directly involved to straighten up the system, she will.

"If I find out I need the authority to let people go," she said, "I will ask the General Assembly for that authority, and I have every reason to believe the people of the House and Senate will go along."

Change may be slow

Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, who said he is looking at a range of proposals that include privatization, highlighted problems such as counties with multiple ABC boards - Brunswick County has nine - and the low bar of 500 signatures to get a proposal on the ballot to create another ABC board. He said the system needs fundamental change.

"It's obvious that has to occur," Basnight said, referring to the Mecklenburg and New Hanover incidents. "We've seen and read about the mismanagement of certain districts."

Basnight and Rep. Pryor Gibson, an Anson County Democrat and vice chairman of the House ABC committee, cautioned that change will be made incrementally. Gibson said this year's "short" legislative session, which starts in May and likely ends during the summer, will allow little time to address such a complex issue.

"We will probably try," Gibson said, "but it's so complex. I'm not sure we can get a solution that's completely logical in a 45-day session."

Wall, at the North Carolina ABC boards association, said the Mecklenburg and New Hanover cases are aberrations. The association favors increasing the oversight by the county boards and city councils that appoint them but also stands by the state's record as one of the highest in liquor tax revenue but lowest in liquor consumption.

"That's a good indication," Wall said, "that the current system is sound and doing what the citizenry of the state wants it to do."

Perdue has been pushing for reforms of the ABC system for several months, though it has not been a top priority for an administration consumed by a constant budget crisis. She is using her Budget Reform and Accountability Commission as a vehicle for proposing broad changes, such as strengthening the state ABC Commission's ability to enforce minimum standards for stores and consolidating competing, unprofitable boards.

Norris Tolson, who heads the budget reform commission, would not predict recommendations but made clear that the commission sees problems that need fixing in the ABC system.

"It has been run with a sort of laissez faire attitude, just let it go. You get into the sort of problems that manifested themselves [recently]," said Tolson, president of the N.C. Biotechnology Center. "One has to ask oneself, why do you need that much bureaucracy to run a system of selling liquor?"

Perdue's other major step was to appoint Jon Williams, a former deputy secretary for the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, as the new chairman of the state ABC Commission.

"She made clear that she wanted some fresh eyes here in this office," Williams said, noting the last major ABC law changes were in the 1970s. "We've not had a thorough discussion of the system in 30 years."

He wasn't slow on the draw. After news reports that New Hanover's ABC board refused to release their managers' salaries, Williams asked all boards to supply salary data for their top staff, and he then released it to the public. After the Mecklenburg dinner paid for by international distiller Diageo, Williams asked the state Alcohol Law Enforcement Division to investigate. Both steps sent clear signals to other boards about accountability to the public.

"It's clear to everybody, including the boards, that Chairman Williams is going to enforce the rules, whatever the rules may be," Wall said. "The boards want clarity on what the rules are."



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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Newsobserver, Charlotte Observer, WCNC, Google Maps

Jennifer Roberts Mulls Removing Park Helms (Don't Believe The Hype!)

Charlotte Mecklenburg County Commissioner Chairman Jennifer Roberts suddenly "gets it" and is now pondering whether or not to remove Corrupt, Partisan Park Helms (former Charlotte-Meck. County Commissioner) from his role of Mecklenburg ABC Board Chairman.

Of course this revelation comes on the heels of another Federal Investigation after word of illegal activity (Helms' violation of ABC Alcohol Laws) was made public.

Trust people this is ONLY a move to save Jennifer Roberts' Political career.

Since Helms was once Jennifer's Mentor as you can tell by her activity and decisions as Chairman (past & present), the apple doesn't usually fall far from the tree.

Jennifer Roberts remove Park Helms from his position as Mecklenburg ABC Board Chairman?

Yeah right!

I'll believe it when I see it.

Just remember folks if Charlotte Voters sent Norman Mitchell packing, they can certainly do the same for Jennifer Roberts.

Next time you visit the Polls (in 2012) forget about that foolish, Partisan Straight Ticket Voting mess and vote Responsibly!






NC State Officials Looks At Wining, Dining Of ABC Execs


The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission has widened a probe into possible violations of liquor laws across North Carolina in the wake of a company's lavish holiday dinner for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County ABC Board.

The liquor company Diageo spent $12,700 on the Nov. 18 dinner for 28 ABC Board employees and their guests at Del Frisco's, a high-end steakhouse. The bar tab alone came to more than $4,900, including $1,000 for four bottles of Dom Perignon.

Andy Iredale, Diageo's marketing director for North Carolina, told investigators he had bought meals for ABC employees in many cities and counties.

In a report released this week, state Alcohol Law Enforcement agents charged the Mecklenburg board with accepting illegal gifts. It charged Diageo and Iredale with providing the gifts and unlawfully entering an ABC store for reasons other than conducting business.

Michael Herring, chief administrator for the state ABC Commission, said these are the most serious accusations leveled in years.

Herring said his agency has sent Diageo and Iredale violation notices stemming from the Charlotte dinner. They face a fine of $140,000 or a year's suspension of theirliquor permit. They couldappeal.

After news accounts of the dinner, Mecklenburg ABC employees and board chairman Parks Helms repaid $9,334. The company picked up the bill for its two employees and their spouses, as well as the entire $2,032 tip.

The state ABC Commission's chairman, Jon Williams, ordered the investigation in November. The state commission, which adjudicates allegations of liquor law violations, did not issue any comment beyond the agents' report.

Attempts to reach a Diageo spokesman were unsuccessful. The London-based company's brands include Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan, Tanqueray, Guinness and Crown Royal.

Iredale told Alcohol Law Enforcement agents he'd also bought meals for local board employees in Asheville, Lenoir, Greensboro and Winston-Salem, and in Carteret, New Hanover and Onslow counties.

Iredale said he offered to treat Craig Pleasants, general manager of Wake County's ABC Board, to meals, but Pleasants refused.

Pleasants confirmed that Thursday night. "He just said, 'I'd like to take you out for a meal,' and I said, 'I don't think that's a good idea right now,'" Pleasants said.

Pleasants said that for the past several months, he has been turning down offers of meals - two in the past two days. Typically, someone offers a free meal every couple of weeks, he said, though these are hardly invites to lavish blowouts. "Mostly what we're talking about is a meat and two vegetables somewhere, and it's really talking business," he said.

Pleasants said such meals are allowed under state ABC guidelines.

The N.C. ABC Commission this week gave Iredale 10 days to provide receipts for other dinners provided to ABC employees. Among those are receipts from a Nov. 17 lunch at Charlotte's Ritz-Carlton hosted by Jim Beam Brands for Helms, the Mecklenburg board chairman, and ABC Board CEO Calvin McDougal.

Neither Helms nor McDougal could be reached Thursday.

North Carolina maintains a state ABC Commission that operates a central liquor warehouse, the sole source of products for the stores. The state commission, though, can intervene at a store only when there is a major problem, such as corruption. The local ABC boards that run the stores are appointed public panels with their own bureaucracies.

Critics are using the controversy to renew calls for the state to get out of the liquor business.

Controversies prompted the commission to issue ethics guidelines in 1996 and 2003.






Charlotte-Meck. ABC Board Caught In Another Lie



The distiller that the Mecklenburg County ABC Board got a $9000 dinner from and the board then claimed it had “no business relation with Diageo other than selling its products in ABC stores in Mecklenburg County.” Yeah, not so much.

WCNC reports that the board only routinely writes six-figure checks to Diageo each month. During 2009 the board has had $11m. worth of business relations with Diageo.

Still, this has not pushed the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Commissioners to remove the board and its chair Parks Helms and start over. Instead the Republicans on the board remain narrowly focused on whether board violated any ethics law by accepting the $9000 gift. This is staggeringly beside the point. Helms and fellow board members are presumed to be held to a higher standard than petty thieves.

They are in a position of trust, given immense power with little direct, day-to-day public oversight. If we can’t trust them to do the right thing, then we need to find people we can trust.







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Sources: WRAL, McClatchy Newspapers, Newsobserver, Charlotte Observer, Charmeck.org, The Meck Deck Blog, John Locke Foundation, WCNC, Google Maps

Park Helms Breaks NC's Alcohol Laws! Where's Jennifer Roberts?

NC State Law Enforcement Agents Says Charlotte- Mecklenburg ABC Board Violated Rules


NC State Alcohol Law Enforcement agents said the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County ABC Board and the liquor company Diageo broke state alcohol laws during a November dinner for the board at which Diageo paid the $9,000 tab.

The agents' report also details several other dinners and lunches for Mecklenburg board members or employees that were paid for by liquor companies. Board Chair Parks Helms and CEO Calvin McDougal went to lunch at the Ritz Carlton the day before the Nov. 18 dinner at Del Frisco's steakhouse.

The agents charged the board with accepting illegal gifts and charged Diageo and one of its representatives with providing the gifts and unlawfully entering an ABC store for reasons other than conducting business.

The state ABC Commission's chair, Jon Williams, ordered the investigation in November, and the commission adjudicates allegations of liquor law violations. The state commission did not issue any additional comment beyond the agents' report.

Helms and McDougal and other employees attending the dinner, originally reported by Observer news partner WCNC, have since repaid Diageo. There were 28 employees and spouses at the dinner at Del Frisco's steakhouse.

Helms and McDougal have both said that the state commission has previously left it up to local boards to decide whether to accept gifts from distillers. A 1996 memo from the state commission offers unclear guidance, highlighting state law banning gifts but then saying that local boards can decide whether to accept them.

The Mecklenburg board did more than $11 million worth of business with Diageo last year.

Diageo's representative who organized the dinner said he has previously offered to treat Craig Pleasants, general manager of Wake County's ABC Board, to meals but has been refused.





Fire Parks, County ABC CEO Now!


OK folks.

Here’s your smoking gun. State liquor board investigators say that the Mecklenburg County ABC Board violated state law by accepting a $9000 steak dinner from a distiller the board did $11m. worth of business with last year. Plus investigators also uncovered other liquor-seller free lunches, including a Ritz-Carlton feast featuring good ol’ Parks Helms and county ABC CEO Calvin McDougal the day before the $9K dinner.

In all these weeks of chatter about the big Del Frisco’s dinner Parks and McDougal never saw fit to mention that Ritz-Carlton swag. Imagine that. Wonder what other freebies are out there that we don’t know about.

As we’ve said before, it is down to trust. I want to hear Jennifer Roberts stand up and say she trusts the current ABC leadership to do the right thing. If she can’t or won’t do that, then Roberts needs to get a vote out of the county commission to remove Parks and McDougal. Now.



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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Newsobserver, The Meck Deck Blog, John Locke Foundation, Google Maps

NC Voters Tired Of State's Corrupt Democrat Reign...Decision 2010

Economy, Easley May Haunt Democrats In 2010


North Carolina's awful economy and a new chapter of campaign and ethics investigations made governing difficult for Democrats in 2009.

Those same troubles threaten to shift the state's political landscape away from Democrats if the issues stick around for most of 2010.

State Democrats contend their tough decisions on the budget headed off worse problems, but Republicans believe that and probes of former Gov. Mike Easley and other Democrats give them an opportunity to run the majority party out of power in November.

"The cycle of corruption in this state, in which the Democrats have been largely if not wholly responsible for, and the billion-dollar tax increase in the middle of the recession - those are going to be the two cornerstones of our message in 2010," said state GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer. "I think North Carolinians are ready for a sea change."

But Republicans have had a hard time persuading voters and donors they'd do any better at the helm.

Democrats have held the Executive Mansion since 1993 and have maintained a majority in both legislative chambers for all but four years since the late 1890s. They've also knocked off three GOP incumbents in federal races since 2006, including Sen. Elizabeth Dole. Now they're aiming for GOP Sen. Richard Burr's seat next year.

State Democrats argue tough decisions on taxes and spending stopped the state economy from a free fall while protecting public education and the state's treasured top marks from the nation's bond-rating agencies.

"If we had not raised taxes this year, we would have had a disaster in this state," said new Senate Majority Leader Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe.

As for Republicans, he added, "They've got no real record to run on."

How North Carolina perceives Congress and President Barack Obama's handling of the economy - and how quickly any recovery reaches the state - also will play a role in how party candidates perform next year.

"They key is what the state's economy is like come next November," said David McLennan, a Peace College political science professor. "There's a lot that could happen in the meantime."

The state's economy shows no signs of a roaring recovery in 2010, which should mean less revenues for state government and likely more budget cutting for Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue and the Legislature. Lawmakers reconvene in May to adjust the second year of a two-year state spending plan they approved last summer.

Some Democratic budget-writers are worried the current-year budget shortfall could be between $400 million and $800 million, requiring them to make deeper cuts for the budget starting July 1.

Perdue believes the shortfall will be around $400 million, and she's already ordered agencies to withhold money to handle a budget gap. That would mean cuts would be far less than those required after the $3 billion shortfall Perdue faced last year. Perdue and Democratic lawmakers passed a budget last summer that generated $1 billion in new revenues, including higher sales and income taxes.

"We've made tough, hard decisions that positioned this state to come back as quickly as any other state," said Perdue, who has three years left in her term. "The pain's not over. I've been very honest about that. But do I think we're moving in the right direction? Yes I do."

House Speaker Joe Hackney said he doesn't believe taxes will have to be raised to close next year's budget gap in part because a recovery will begin to take hold. "There'll be some optimism by the fall of next year that we are turning this thing around," said Hackney, D-Orange.

GOP legislators said voters should be angry because last year's tax increases were symptomatic of too much spending in 2006 and 2007 and a failure by Democrats to set aside enough reserves.

"It just would have been less painful if we had enough set aside in the budget for those rainy days," said Sen. Eddie Goodall of Union County, the Republicans' joint caucus leader.

Far-reaching legislation - such as an overhaul of the state's tax system - will be difficult to pass during an election year before the once-a-decade drawing of legislative and congressional district boundaries in 2011.

Meanwhile, the continuing state and federal investigations of Easley and his associates could last throughout next year if charges are filed.

A local prosecutor examining whether Easley or others should be charged based on evidence uncovered in a state elections probe said recently it could take several months before he decides.

Republicans would need to wrest from Democrats six seats in the Senate and nine in the House to control those chambers. Several incumbent Democrats representing swing seats or districts that lean Republican have chosen not to run.

In federal races, all 13 U.S. House seats are up for election, but the biggest race will be for Burr's job. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, former state Sen. Cal Cunningham and Chapel Hill lawyer Kenneth Lewis are mounting Democratic primary bids.

Peace College's McLennan said a bruising and costly Democratic primary battle should stand to help Burr, who had nearly $3.5 million in campaign coffers in September.

"It's going to be a real tough road for Democrats to hoe," he said.

Longtime state Democratic consultant Brad Crone said the outcome of the 2010 elections will depend on which party can attract independent voters and whether black voter turnout approaches levels seen during the 2008 election when Obama was on the ballot.

"The good news is we've got time to get back on our offensive game," Crone said.





Jennifer Roberts Supports Park Helms' $9,000. ABC Deal Dinner...NC Corruption



Mecklenburg ABC Board Chairman Parks Helms insisted Wednesday that the agency did not mislead the public about its relationship with an international liquor company that treated officials to a $9,000 holiday dinner.

The board paid more than $11 million to Diageo Americas from January to November, according to documents obtained by WCNC, the Observer's news partner.

Agency officials previously released a statement saying it "has no business relation with Diageo other than selling its products in ABC stores in Mecklenburg County."

The disclosure comes as the state Alcohol Law Enforcement Division is investigating the Nov. 18 dinner for 28 people paid for by London-based Diageo, which makes brands such as Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker Scotch. State ABC Commission officials have authority to remove local board members and employees who violate state laws against accepting gifts.

Last week, Helms announced that he and other top staff paid back the cost of the meal at Del Frisco's steakhouse in south Charlotte.

In his first public remarks since the disclosure about payments to Diageo, Helms defended himself and accused political rivals of spreading falsehoods.

Helms said there is no link between the holiday party and payments to the company. The board pays $47 million a year to Diageo and dozens of other vendors for the purchase of their products, he said.

"It's disappointing to me we are going down the road of making innuendo accusations," Helms said.

But Helms' assurances failed to quell criticism from some county commissioners, who appoint members of the local Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

The agency's statement did not explain that it not only sells liquor, but also makes direct payments to Diageo.

Commissioner Karen Bentley said that Helms should resign.

The board's previous statements about its relationship with Diageo "was at minimum, misleading," Bentley said. "At maximum, it was completely false."

County Commission Chair Jennifer Roberts also said the ABC Board's previous statement was "misleading."

Distillers lobby the state ABC commission to keep their products in its central warehouse through which local stores buy their liquor.

ABC stores are run by local boards across the state. Distillers also try to persuade local panels to stock their brands in the stores.

Local boards place orders from the central warehouse and after the alcohol arrives, the board has 30 days to make payments to liquor companies.

Records show the Mecklenburg ABC Board wrote 22 checks to Diageo from January to November. The board is Diageo's biggest customer in North Carolina.

Helms said Mecklenburg officials decide which brands to carry in their 21 stores based on sales.

A 1996 memo from the state ABC Commission prohibits manufacturers or vendors from giving local ABC boards money "or any other thing of value."

The Mecklenburg ABC Board has previously said that "unsolicited meals is an accepted business practice" and excluded from the law barring gifts.

Helms, who attended with his wife, was the only board member at the dinner. He has said he is repaying $1,000. Board CEO Calvin McDougal, who went with his wife, is repaying $4,000. They agreed to cover the tab for ABC employees for whom repayment would be a hardship. Others must pay $330 each.

On Wednesday, Helms said he did not know who was hosting the dinner before he arrived. He said that the ABC Board has dealings with 60 to 70 vendors whose brands are sold in Mecklenburg County stores.

But commissioner Bentley said Helms "should know better."

"If he didn't violate the policy, he violated the spirit of it," Bentley said.

Roberts, the commission chair, said she did not know if the board would take action against Helms. However, she noted, that he has repaid the company for the dinner.

"They have made things right," Roberts said. "The dinner was mistake and it is not going to happen again."





2nd Fired Exec Claims NC Security Co. Connected To Sen. Tony Rand Broke Law


A second former board member for a small, politically connected security gear maker said the company's chairman tried to persuade him to join an insider trading scheme.

Law Enforcement Associates Corp. reported former sales director and board member Martin Perry's claims of multiple legal violations to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Perry said company board chairman and state Sen. Tony Rand, D-N.C., invited him to join a plan to manipulate the company's stock. Perry said he and fired Chief Executive Paul Feldman were interviewed by FBI agents about their claims in September.

A letter Perry wrote to the U.S. Labor Department which outlines the charges closely tracks earlier allegations by Feldman.

Perry, like Feldman, said Raleigh-based LEA also may have violated export laws by working with a company in which LEA founder John Carrington had an ownership interest.

Both the company and Rand denied Perry's allegations.

"It's basically just a rehash" of Feldman's earlier claims, Sen. Tony Rand said Wednesday. "Any allegation of wrongdoing are absolutely untrue."

Rand said LEA's directors plan to meet Thursday, and will likely discuss what an outside attorney has learned about the allegations.

The company said in its filing with the SEC that it does not believe Perry's allegations, "nor does the company believe the resolution of these matters will have any material effect upon the financial statements or other information contained in its reports to the SEC."

LEA said it believes the two former executives were seeking federal whistle-blower protections available under federal securities law.

Carrington, a former Republican state senator from Raleigh, pleaded guilty in 2005 to violating U.S. export laws when Sirchie Finger Print Laboratories, a company he once headed and that spun off LEA in 2001, illegally shipped more than $1.2 million in equipment to China through middlemen. Carrington agreed to a denial of export privileges for five years.

Perry and Feldman said they warned the LEA directors against the company doing business subsequently with Safe Source Inc., because Carrington had an ownership stake in the company.

Perry and Feldman said dozens of state politicians owned stock in LEA.

Gov. Beverly Perdue bought about $1,000 worth of LEA stock in 2002 when she was lieutenant governor, her spokeswoman said earlier this month. The stock was not listed on her ethics disclosure form until 2006, when its value topped the $10,000 minimum threshold for reporting, spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson told The News & Observer of Raleigh. Perdue still owns every share of the stock she purchased in 2002, Pearson said.

Perdue has asked at least four state agencies to examine nearly $200,000 in buys of surveillance equipment from LEA since Rand became the company's chairman in 2003. Some gear was bought without competitive bidding.

Rand has said he is leaving the Senate this month to become Perdue's parole chief.




Jennifer Roberts, Part of the Problem



I think I’m done cutting Roberts any slack on this DSS mess. For her to obstruct and slam the attempts of other commissioners to find out what is going on with county’s massive, $200m. DSS operation is too much. And for Roberts to suggest that a closed session airing of DSS’s dirty laundry is not her preferred way to go is an insult to the intelligence of all Mecklenburg County taxpayers.

The only reason Commissioner Bill James and the other GOPers are suggesting the closed session route is in response the “disclosure” stonewall County Manager Harry Jones has erected around the investigation — a construction effort aided and abetted by Jennifer Roberts. Fine. Let’s hear DSS chief Mary Wilson answer questions in open session. Super. Next.

It will also be interesting to see if Commissioner George Dunlap’s confirmation that a federal grand jury probe is underway of DSS shakes anything new loose. Why it took a full month for the probe’s existence to be reported remains a mystery, but at least everyone in town has caught up to the story.

However, it would be wrong to assume that the probe will result in any indictments, both as a matter of fairness and institutional inertia. Prosecutors are political animals and will require some slam-dunk, smoking gun type evidence of wrongdoing for them to move on a DSS devoid, until very recently, of adult supervision of its funds.

On the third hand, not all gross mismanagement rises to the level of criminality. This is why the county commission must itself reestablish public trust in one of its largest ongoing budget expenses. Jennifer Roberts needs to help that process or get out of the way.




Parks Helms Still At Large. Still.


Keep yapping, Parks. Every word is a mini-indictment.

The guy takes over the ABC board and within months a liquor company is treating ABC officials to a $9000 steak dinner. And Parks has the stones to suggest the ethics of such a thing are ambiguous and uncertain. The contempt this man has for his fellow citizens knows no bounds. In fact, Helms’ dissembling over Steakgate recalls nothing so much as his good buddy Jim Black’s infamous fruitcake and canned ham soliloquy, in which the soon-to-be convicted felon lampooned concerns about ethics in government.

When that evil man dies in prison I plan to celebrate with fruitcake and canned ham.

As for Parks, if the Mecklenburg County Commission cannot muster up the votes to remove the guy from the ABC board, we might as well shut down representative government around here. This is not a close call. Only Helms’ long, kingmaking reach has stayed the hand of Democrats on the board who should — and no doubt do — know better.

The sole purpose of a $9000 steak dinner is to buy influence. Period. The ABC operation has one job, buy and sell liquor. Period. ABC has monopoly authority to do so, and suppliers accordingly have tremendous incentive to curry favor with the monopolists. All that is required is a monopolist with enough ego and hubris to accept such favors.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Park Helms. Please take him.



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Sources: WRAL, McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, Miami Herald, The Meck Deck Blog, John Locke Foundation, Under The Dome, NC General Assembly, Google Maps