Our Informer

Top officials in the N.C. House of Representatives said in Hickory last week that the revised 2007-09 budget should come out of committee next Monday, June 2. Attending a reception for Rep. Ray Warren, Majority Leader Hugh Holliman said House members will get the draft Monday evening with Appropriations Committee reviews during the week.

House Speaker Joe Hackney said there will be no new taxes, effectively trashing the budget sent to the Legislature by Gov. Mike Easley. Easley had proposed new taxes on cigarettes, beer and win—so-called “sin taxes.” In an election year, Democrats concluded it would be a sin to raise taxes.

The new budget outlines just over $21 billion in spending for higher education, public schools, healthcare, highways, and corrections. This includes $150 million in additional collections during the year and $400 million in unspent funds that reverted to the state. Almost all of the money will go for salary increases for teachers and state employees. Some spending cuts also are in the new draft, according to reports.

WARREN RECEPTION: Scores of Hickory area people attended a funds-raising reception for N.C. Rep. Ray Warren last week at the home of Dr. Jody and Rebecca Inglefield. Some estimated that over $30,000 was raised for the campaign to return the popular Democrat to the Legislature next year. Top officials let it be known they also want him back. This was the third trip to the region by House Speaker Hackney and Majority Leader Holliman to promote Warren’s candidacy. Warren is the first Democrat to represent Hickory since 1964 when the late J. Henry Hill Jr. was defeated. Hill served four terms in Raleigh.

JOHNSON BUZZ: Daniel Johnson is the topic of conversation frequently in Raleigh political circles. There is a feeling he is in a position to defeat U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry. One veteran Republican activist in Hickory estimates Johnson could win 40 percent of the GOP vote in November, reflecting the deep divisions in the Catawba County Republican party. Reportedly, Washington DC bloggers are delving into McHenry’s background. Johnson’s military and religious background leave little opportunity for the “swift boaters,” veterans insist.

HE’S BAAACK: Former Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee returns to address the state Republican convention June 7 at the Koury Center in Greensboro. He spoke to the convention two years ago and was such a crowd-pleaser that he was asked to return. He ran an under-funded and surprisingly strong campaign before withdrawing in favor of Sen. John McCain, the presumed 2008 GOP nominee. Both Democrat candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama recently addressed the Jeffferson-Jackson dinner in Raleigh.

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People close to the Hickory Metro Convention and Visitor Bureau are in a funk. Plans for a one-cent increase in the hotel occupancy rate have gone down the drain as a result of the bitter contest between incumbent Sen. Austin Allran and County Commission Chair Kitty Barnes. Barnes’s media strategy, crafted by Paul Shumaker, a GOP go-for-the-gut consultant, tried to paint Allran as an ingenious politician who voted for 41 tax increases in the Senate while telling his constituents he is opposed to all tax increases. Turns out that many of the tax bills Allran voted for included occupancy taxes for other cities across the state.

Now Allran is mad. He has vowed not to support the occupancy tax although he previously indicated he would. He even received a letter of praise from Democrat Phil Yount, chairman of the Tourism Development Authority. Rep. Mark Hilton also reportedly has backed away from an enabling bill.

Allran has been accused of being a “do nothing” legislator in Raleigh. Now he intends to re-enforce that reputation when it comes to the occupancy tax. The income from the tax would be invested in building convention and tourism business in Hickory-Conover area. It would be paid by the visitors the bureau is trying to attract. No matter. The Allran-Hilton pact is demonstrating the power of negative action.

EYES ON JOHNSON: At the Democratic receptions prior to the opening of the General Assembly this week state political observers were talking about Daniel Johnson’s campaign to capture the seat of U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry. Congressman Brad Miller knows Johnson from his work as a prosecutor in Raleigh. Miller wants to help Johnson and has contacted to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to encourage financial support for the 10th District race. A Republican House member suggested Johnson could win in November because a lot of Catawba County Republicans will split their ticket. The McHenry-Johnson primary reflected deep party divisions.

Johnson needs to hone his message and campaigning skills, supporters say. He must develop definitive positions on immigration, energy, and economic growth and not be tempted to offer canned responses.

PERDUE-McCRORY: Public Policy Polling released its initial results following the primary and it shows Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory and Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue dead even: each with 45 per of votes with 10 per cent undecided. Perdue, attending the Senate reception Monday night enjoyed the encouragement from Senate President Marc Basnight, Majority Leader Tony Rand, and David Hoyle, among others. Perdue was especially pleased to have the support of Catawba County Democrats who gave her a comfortable margin of victory. Her primary opponent, outgoing Treasurer Richard Moore, has not endorsed her. Party leaders in Raleigh have taken notice of his stance.

MR. “I” : In the 2001 campaign in which he defeated Councilwoman Pat Moss, Mayor Rudy Wright turned a traditional non partisan election into a GOP battle. “Dear Fellow Republican” he began his letter to thousands of voters in a campaign that also was managed by Paul Shumaker. Recently Wright notified some leaders that he no longer is a Republican, but is registered as an independent.

Mrs. Moss, who was active in the National League of Cities, has moved on and no longer lives in the area. So have the top administrators including the city manager, assistant managers, planning director, financial officers, and administrative personnel.

RESPECTFUL HEARING, BUT…Gov. Mike Easley’s last budget didn’t win him any gold stars in the General Assembly. His call for increases in “sin taxes” angered members of his own party while those across the aisle wore wide smiles. Running for re-election after approving tax increases this year is not an option, Democrats say. The conclusion: the Easley budget is DOA.

While tax collections have been $150 million over budget, most of that money will go for salary increases for teachers, educators and state employees. Budget writers have begun the process of reviewing trends and looking for ways to cut spending instead of implementing new taxes on cigarettes, wine and beer.

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Four legislators–two Democrats and two Republicans–lost their seats in Tuesday’s primaries. Rep. Karen Ray, from neighboring Mooresville, lost her two-term seat by 51-49 percent votes. Ray was instrumental in getting state funds to support the NASCAR industry in her district. The other Republican to lose was Rep. Joe Boylan who unseated former Co-Speaker Richard Morgan in Moore County. Boylan had been charged last month with DUI.

Rep. Drew Saunders of Mecklenburg, three-term legislator and co-chair of the House Transportation Committee, lost his seat to Nick Mackey, the black candidate who was embroiled in a fight to become sheriff of Mecklenburg. Rep. Mary McAllister, a longtime legislator and Black caucus leader, lost her seat to a civil rights activist. She was required to amend her financial reports for failing to report $12,500 in contributions and for questionable personal reimbursements.

HIGH MARKS FOR N.C.: Host Chris Matthews and his panel on the MSNBC Hardball show talked about the progressive image of North Carolina. Matthews quoted an analyst as saying the vote in Pennsylvania was about the past; the vote in North Carolina about the future. His panelists talked about the Research Triangle area and the attitudes that have moved North Carolina into national leadership role. And while 98 per cent of African-American voters supported Obama, a high percentage of white voters went to his campaign as well.

…BUT IN THE HICKORY METRO: “Status quo” was the message sent by Catawba County voters. The 3 to 1 defeat of County Commission Chair Kitty Barnes who opposed 14-term incumbent Sen. Austin Allran was seen as an embarrassment to Barnes and her supporter. She carried only three of 38 precincts and won her own precinct–Sherrills Ford–by only one vote. Tenth District Congressman Patrick McHenry easily defeated Newton Attorney Lance Sigmon who criticized McHenry’s
partisanship. Two incumbent GOP county commissioners also were re-elected.

If the vote was about the future in Catawba County, it was again divorced from the statewide trend. We like things as they are, thank you.

PERDUE RESULTS: Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, who easily defeated Treasurer Richard Moore for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, won three of the four Unifour counties. Caldwell was one of the few western counties to give Moore a majority.

Perdue’s victory party in Raleigh pulled in people from all across North Carolina, including Catawba County. Lyndon Helton, Perdue’s Catawba County manager, and Paul Fogleman joined some 500 other volunteers, legislators, state officials and staff people. Among them was former Hickory resident and Appeals Court Judge Linda McGee who confided she is looking at a Supreme Court seat.

John Cilley IV, a Moore supporter, has notified the Perdue organization that he will join the Catawba County efforts to get Perdue elected in the fall. Her GOP opponent, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory is favored to carry the Hickory Metro area, but polls show Perdue favored statewide.

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On Saturday afternoon, the Hickory Record received a signed endorsement of congressional candidate Lance Sigmon from former Congress Cass Ballenger. The HDR political reporter immediately called the staff of Rep. Patrick McHenry for comment. Immediately the HDR received calls insisting Ballenger “suffers from dementia” and is not capable of knowing what he was doing. Ballenger was interview on the telephone and confirmed his endorsement. In the meantime, former staffer Tommy Lookadoo and Ballenger’s wife, Donna, called to insist the former congressman “is confused” and often doesn’t know what he is doing.

Not at word of the endorsement from Ballenger appeared in the Hickory Record. The opponents had done their work. No wonder the Sigmon forces are frustrated. So should be readers of the Hickory Record.

CLINTON RETURNS: Former President Bill Clinton attracted some 500 people for a Sunday afternoon rally in Newton. Observers were impressed with his personal presentation and comments on behalf of his wife, Hillary. Earlier this spring, Clinton addressed some 1,200 people in the St. Stephens community. His theme in Catawba County: if working people who have lost their jobs to Asia want a champion, his wife needs to be their president. Polls show Barack Obama still leads in North Carolina, but his lead has shrunk to 8 percentage points…almost within the margin of error.

EASLEY STEPS FORWARD: Gov. Mike Easley has been criticized for keeping a low profile, reluctant to attend political meetings and ribbon-cuttings. That has changed. Since endorsing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, he has been featured in television ads, appeared on national talk shows, and has made robo calls for Clinton. On Monday he traveled with her throughout eastern North Carolina.

At the Jefferson-Jackson Democratic dinner last Friday, Easley was booed by some of the 5,000 who attended. But he shrugged it off. Both Clinton and Obama made speeches to the crowd and in a classy act, Obama paid tribute to Easley for his leadership.

GROWING INTEREST IN HISPANICS: Henry Cisneros, former U.S. housing chief, has been campaigning among Hispanics in North Carolina on behalf of Clinton. He predicts that within a few years Hispanic voters will make the difference in U.S. elections. With 48 million in the U.S., Hispanics now are the largest majority and Democrats are trying to make inroads. Black on Hispanic crime has divided the two largest minority blocs with Republicans benefiting.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS: According to the State Board of Elections, 85.l percent of unaffiliated voters have asked for Democratic ballots in the primary elections. Some 13.5 requested Republican ballots.

The elections officials said 8.5 per cent of the states registered voters had cast ballots prior to Saturday. In 2004, only 16 per cent of the voters went to the polls.

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