Why Not Punish Thoughts?

As hate crimes legislation is being debated anew on Capitol Hill, now is a good time to revisit why conservatives and Republicans have opposed punishing thoughts in our nation's laws.

What is a hate crime? It is a crime that is motivated by bias against a victim who is a representative member of a disfavored or minority group. Should we punish hate crimes? Of course we should, and we do under existing laws. Should we punish certain criminals more harshly because of the identity of their victims? That's where the debate is happening in D.C. this week.

The first reason why we should refuse to punish thoughts is First Amendment principles. Although the freedom of speech and thought has been under siege in recent years and it seems that the real estate where true freedom can be found shrinks more each day, we have consistently stayed out of the brains of Americans and allowed them to think what they like. Even if the thoughts a person has are despicable, distasteful, and unfit for any decent human being, the answer is not to legislate those thoughts away. Hate must be defeated by love, not by law.

If we were to punish criminals for their thoughts, how would we ascertain what they were thinking as they committed a crime? If a person is beat up and robbed and that person is gay or black or a Muslim, how can we know if the true motivation was financial gain or hate-based? Don't all crimes involve hate? Hate for society, hate for our laws, hate for fellow human beings. Can we really expect judges and juries to make appropriate decisions on what was going through a criminal's mind as the offender committed a crime? We cannot punish what we cannot know beyond a reasonable doubt.

Is the suffering any less real no matter if the victim is black or white? Does the family mourn the loss of life any differently regardless of the sexual orientation of the victim? Is the act committed any less of an evil and injustice regardless of what religion the victim practices? Why then should we punish the actions differently depending on who was victimized?

Under current law, if a criminal picks out their victim based on their identification as belonging to a certain group, the criminal targets this person and commits a premeditated offense against the victim then the criminal is punished to the harshest degree under the law. Under current law, the motivation behind the crime is not the determining factor as to what the punishment will be. Financial gain or hate-based bias, criminals are punished regardless of who they choose as a victim.

When a criminal is treated differently based on who they choose as a victim, we call it injustice. We don't make it law.

Myrick Votes Against Budget Conference Report

Press Release
April 29, 2009

(Washington, DC) – US Representative Sue Myrick (NC-09) has released the following statement on today’s vote on the Fiscal Year 2010 budget conference report:

“I voted against this budget for the same reason I voted against it the first time. It’s still based on out-of-control spending, tax increases to pay for it, and debt that our kids and grandkids will be responsible for paying back for years to come.”

Jones Votes "No" on Big Spending Budget

Democrats’ budget would nearly triple the national debt over the next 10 years.

Press Release
April 29, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC) voted against the conference report for S. Con. Res. 13, a bill setting the congressional budget for the U.S. government for fiscal year 2010 and the budgetary levels for fiscal years 2011 through 2014. The more than $3.55 trillion budget passed the House by a party-line vote of 233 to 193 and is expected to be signed into law by the President.

Congressman Jones’ statement on the Democrats’ budget follows below:

“During difficult times, American families and small businesses make sacrifices and do what they can to tighten their belts and reign in spending. Most people expect the federal government to do the same. Sadly, Washington has chosen to go on a spending spree and ignore the pressing demand for fiscal discipline. Rather than scale back wasteful spending, this budget resolution is projected to nearly triple the national debt over the next 10 years.”

“The spending in this budget resolution calls for a $1.23 trillion deficit for 2010, which will lead to unprecedented borrowing from China, the Middle East, and other foreign countries that own our ballooning debt. Problems that have been caused by too much spending and too much debt simply can’t be solved by more government spending and more federal debt. The fact that April 26^th was already “Debt Day” – the day in the fiscal year when federal spending surpasses revenues – obviously hasn’t registered in Washington. This Congress needs to wake up and realize its moral obligation to avoid passing on a mountain of debt to America’s future generations.”

“While our nation continues to suffer amid a faltering economy, this budget includes $1.5 trillion in tax increases over the next 10 years. It not only imposes new taxes on corporate businesses but raises income taxes, harming the most successful small businesses that pay taxes at the top two individual rates. This budget also includes a new national energy tax that will cost every American household. Hiking taxes during an economic downturn will only hurt small businesses and slow job creation.”

“With its fast-track ‘reconciliation’ procedure to push through sweeping policy changes like government run-health care and its expansion of the federal government through huge increases in spending, taxes, and deficits, this budget resolution will plunge our nation further into debt and keep us from getting back on the right economic track.”

NCGOP in the News: Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam on WRAL's Headline Saturday

House Republican Leader Paul "Skip" Stam was the featured guest on WRAL's Headline Saturday over the weekend and spoke about Governor Perdue's plans for taxing and spending.

NCGOP in the News: Sen. Phil Berger on Political Connections

N.C. Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger was a guest of News 14 Carolina’s Tim Boyum on Political Connections this weekend where he had a chance to give the Republican take on the Senate’s tax plan, designed to help fill a budget shortfall that Governor Perdue has admitted will exceed $3 billion.

Click here to view the video from News 14 Carolina...

The Democrat Energy Plan

Cap and Trade: Caps Economic Growth and Trades Jobs Overseas

Right and Wrong 101

Lesson #1: Heroes Are Not Terrorists

Feds Looking Into Easley Family's Vehicles

From WRAL

Federal authorities have asked a Fayetteville car dealer about an SUV provided to former Gov. Mike Easley's son several years ago that Easley recently paid for with campaign money.

Michael Steele on the Napolitano/DHS Statement about US Soldiers

Obama Administration Under Fire for Paltry Cuts

AP, Tapper Confront Obama Admin Over $100 Million

Link:

McHenry: Obama Budget Savings = 0.002%

Encouraged by step in the right direction

WASHINGTON – Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) issued the following statement regarding President Barack Obama’s call for $100 million in administration budget cuts. These savings would amount to a reduction of 0.002% in the federal budget.

“I am encouraged that President Obama has finally recognized the need for fiscal discipline. The first three months of his administration have been defined by boundless government spending. In doing so, the President broke his often-repeated campaign promise to go 'line by line' to identify savings in the federal budget. Although these cuts are too miniscule to be considered anything more than symbolic, at least it’s a step in the right direction. In fact, we could have saved three times that much by not buying a new fleet of cars for government employees in the so-called stimulus bill. As the national debt continues to spiral out of control, I hope President Obama will work in a bipartisan way to reform the careless way in which Washington spends tax dollars.”

N.C. Democrats Caught Trading Favors Again?

While education and health care are facing funding nightmares, the state budget is in complete disarray, and roads and bridges are falling into disrepair, where are state funds for needed infrastructure going? Bald Head Island. An island known for "isolation" and "affluence" is controlling more than a quarter of state funds set aside for beach and water infrastructure projects. The cynic in me has one question. Who lives on Bald Head Island and how much money are they giving North Carolina Democrats?

Bald Head in line for $5M from state

Gov. Beverly Perdue and the state Senate think Bald Head Island deserves a big chunk of state money to help rebuild its battered beaches.

But spending 28 percent of the state’s total budget for beach and water infrastructure projects on an island renowned for its isolation and affluence is drawing criticism, especially when North Carolina is experiencing record levels of unemployment and facing a multibillion-dollar deficit for the coming fiscal year.

“I have a hard time understanding how that’s a higher priority than after-school programs,” said Chris Fitzsimon, executive director of N.C. Policy Watch, a liberal government watchdog group.

The Brunswick County island at the mouth of the Cape Fear River would receive $5 million of the $17.6 million the N.C. Division of Water Resources would spend during the 2009-10 fiscal year to rebuild beaches, dredge waterways and fund other water-related projects under the budget proposals.

In comparison, the three New Hanover County beach towns would receive $3.6 million in state funding for their nourishment projects, which are all scheduled for next winter. ...

Democrats Want You to Make Less and Pay More

Democrats in North Carolina, taking the advice of national Democrats, apparently never want to "waste" a good crisis. They want to use the recession as an excuse to... wait for it... RAISE TAXES! Asking North Carolinians to pay more when they make less is not the way to end a recession.

Quick unscientific survey. By show of hands, please indicate if you think you are paying too little in taxes. Now, please raise your hand if you think Democrats in Raleigh are spending too much of your money. End of survey.

Senate plan would broaden tax base, lower rates

By Jordan Schrader
Asheville Citizen-Times
April 19, 2009

State Senate leaders are drawing up tax changes that would add $500 million to state coffers, in part by taxing a broader share of the money North Carolinians make and the services they spend it on.

The proposal they expect to unveil as early as Wednesday would offset some of those changes by bringing down the rates of income tax and sales tax.

Senate Finance Committee chairmen say their plan would make the tax code fairer by eliminating deductions and exemptions taken by a few and lowering the rates paid by everyone.

Those goals are shared by recent study commissions that have scoured the state tax code. The difference: Some key studies call for maintaining, not expanding, total revenues. Senators are looking to increase the state's take, drawing opposition from those who say a recession is the worst time to ask taxpayers for more.

But senators say their plan will provide needed filler for a budget hole expected to top $3 billion and a more stable source of funds to prevent future fiscal nightmares.

“That's when you have to do it, because your system is broken,” said one of the three committee chairmen, Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat. “If you don't fix it, you'll just continue to limp along.”

Jobs Plan? What Jobs Plan?

The unemployment rate rose slightly in N.C. last month from 10.7 to 10.8 percent. However, those numbers might not be as encouraging as hoped at first glance according to economists quoted in the Winston-Salem Journal. Meanwhile, North Carolinians are still waiting on a jobs plan that empowers small business owners from Governor Perdue. Nothing so far.

Number not what is seems; small rise in N.C.'s jobless rate comes with a caveat, experts say

The slight increase in the North Carolina's unemployment rate to 10.8 percent in March may appear a welcome breather given that the rate has doubled in the past year.

However, economists cautioned yesterday that the state . likely hasn't seen a peak in its unemployment rate, and that the 0.1 percentage-point increase was likely caused by nearly 31,000 people no longer being considered as unemployed.

The increase -- reported yesterday by the N.C. Employment Security Commission -- continued the streak of setting a new monthly high for the unemployment rate. ...

When it comes to determining the rate, the commission primarily counts people who are without a job and actively looking for work. ...

Eventually, people who stop looking -- whether out of frustration or by choice -- are removed from the unemployment data.

They aren't the only ones unaccounted for in the data. Others include stay-at-home spouses, retirees, full-time students, people attached to their former employer through severance packages, and people without jobs who have moved into the state.

The unemployment rate also doesn't account for people who are underemployed -- those who are working in full- or part-time jobs below their skill levels.

Economists say that if all those people are factored into the jobless rate, it could be as much as three percentage points higher.

That's why Michael Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University in Raleigh, said that the slight increase in the jobless rate was not good news.

"The lesson is keep your eye on the number employed, not the unemployment rate," Walden said. ...

Is This Guy Serious?

I'm all for working class Americans paying less in taxes, although I certainly wish it was coupled with reductions in spending at the federal level. That being said, the amount of self-congratulatory back patting going on at the yesterday's press conference with the President was beyond the pale.

In the video below, the President claims his tax relief plan has allowed families to buy their first homes, send children to college, invest in retirement plans, and start new businesses. He also claims to have lifted 2 million Americans out of poverty presumably with the approximate $600 a year in relief of the tax burden for most American workers.

Mr. President, we're talking about $13 a week. That's about the cost of two Starbucks trips per week. It's a little more than one tank of gas per month in tax savings.

Who are you kidding?

Tax Day Tea Parties Across NC a Success

From NBC17 Raleigh:

From WITN Greenville:

From WECT Wilmington:

From WBTV Charlotte:

From WLOS Asheville
From WCTI New Bern

Just Tax

In honor of tax day and just for fun, I give you "Just Tax," a Lady Gaga parody from Peter Cowan, a student at the University of Washington.



HT: TechRepublican

Democrats Refuse "Choose Life" Plate

The state of North Carolina currently allows 130 specialized license plates to be purchased for cars of NC drivers. 22 states allow drivers to select a specialized "Choose Life" plate.

Still, NC Democrats are standing in the way of pro-life advocates who wish to be able to choose life when they choose their license plate. If approved, $15 from every plate sold would benefit the Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, a nonprofit that seeks to provide alternatives to abortion for would-be mothers desperately searching for a better option.



For the record, no one is stopping Rep. Ty Harrell or anyone else from creating a "Right to Choose" plate whose proceeds partially fund Planned Parenthood or another pro-abortion group. But why stand on principle when you can just silence others? Isn't that the mantra of NC Democrats?

Quote of the Day

"Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the Democrats believe every day is April 15." Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States (1911-2004)

Tax Day Tea Parties Set for April 15 Across NC

Citizens are stepping up to tell their government and elected officials that we are TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY! Be a part of nationwide movement of common sense. The government should not spend more than it takes in. If we have to live on tight budgets, the government must do the same thing! Restore sanity to the budgeting process! Make your voice heard!

Click HERE to learn about a Tea Party going on in your area...

NC Spin's Tom Campbell Compares NC Senate to Caste System

Tom Campbell of NC Spin wrote last week in a column about the operations of the NC Senate and how much they resemble a caste system not unlike what can be seen in India today.

The North Carolina State Senate proclaimed a budget this week and the process resembles the way a caste system operates.

At the top you have a handful of “those who know what is best.” In India, they are called the Brahmins. They breathe rarified air and do not like open meetings or open doors. About 10 in number, they are all Democrats, mostly white, mostly older males. One is not to question, just accept their edicts as truth.

He goes on to describe the other Senate Democrats as "sheep" and Senate Republicans as the "outcasts." Campbell then explains how we got here and what we can do to end the system.

The game changer occurred when both the Speaker and Pro Tem became the chief fundraisers for their respective houses. These powerful people now had large sums to see their friends elected and gave massive funds to the state political parties, earmarked for these friends as unlimited “in kind” contributions.

Here’s how it works. Those who know what’s best dole out large sums of cash to elect friends to office. Those friends, when elected, keep those who know what’s best in power, and if they vote like good sheep, meaning the way the power wants them to, they get enough campaign money to get re-elected.

This system will remain in place as long as we allow those who know what’s best to buy their flocks or members. Cut off the flow of money and you will break the rank and file dependence on those in power. Until then, the caste system will continue alive and well.

Happy Tax Freedom Day!

American Celebrates Tax Freedom Day

By Josh Barro
The Tax Foundation

Tax Freedom Day® will arrive on April 13 this year, the 103rd day of 2009. That means Americans will work about three and a half months of the year, from January 1 to April 13, before they have earned enough money to pay this year's tax obligations at the federal, state and local levels. Tax Freedom Day falls a full two weeks earlier in 2009 than it did in 2007. In fact, not since 1967 has Tax Freedom Day come earlier than this year's April 13 date.

This shift has been driven by two factors: the recession has reduced tax collections even faster than it has reduced income; and the stimulus package, a.k.a. HR 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, includes large temporary tax cuts for 2009 and 2010. Nevertheless, in 2009, Americans will pay more in taxes than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined.

While tax revenues are falling, government expenditures are expected to explode in 2009, also driven in significant part by HR 1. Tax Freedom Day, like almost all tax burden measures, ignores the current year's deficits. If the projected deficit for 2009 were counted as a tax, Tax Freedom Day would arrive on May 29 instead of April 13-the latest date ever for this deficit-inclusive measure.

NC Taxpayer Clock

The NC Taxpayer Clock on the NCGOP.org has been updated to reflect the Governor's proposed budget for FY2009-2010. Go there now to learn how quickly N.C. Democrats plan to spend your tax dollars under their proposed plans. Contact your legislators to tell them to stop spending your money quicker than you can earn it! N.C. needs a reasonable and open budget process for the good of our citizens and our government.

Click here to see the clock now!

"Undemocratic and Offensive"

Chris Fitzsimon of the left-leaning NC Policy Watch, not exactly the best friend of Republicans, is raking N.C. Democrats over the coals for their closed process of budget making in the General Assembly. He calls their actions, "undemocratic and offensive." His critique of Republican legislators' actions is only that they don't complain nearly enough. Not only are Democrats making a mockery of the legislative process, they are trampling our very democratic institutions of government. By not allowing reasonable debate in the N.C. Senate, Majority Leader Tony Rand and other Democrats are forcing votes on a budget very few legislators from either side of the aisle have seen and fully understand. This is not just bad policy. It is dangerous. Deliberative bodies like the N.C. Senate were put in place so that laws would be carefully considered and studied before being foisted upon the public. This is particularly important when our elected representatives are debating the best way to spend more than $20 billion of our money.

To read Fitzsimon's full article, click here...

Myrick: "We Have to Stop Living on Borrowed Money."

On April 4, Rep. Myrick participated in the Carolina Taxpayer Tea Party in Uptown Charlotte. Joined by hundreds of taxpayers from North and South Carolina, she said that the government must stop running on borrowed money and get spending under control. Click here for the full story.

Last week, Rep. Myrick voted for fiscal responsibility by voting for the Republican Budget Alternative for FY 2010. "How is increasing taxes by $1.5 trillion over ten years, increasing discretionary spending by 8.6 percent, and bringing our total national debt to $17.1 trillion considered a responsible thing to do in this economy?" Rep. Myrick said in a statement. "I voted for a Republican Budget Alternative that controls spending, decreases taxes for families and small businesses, and stops putting trillions of dollars in debt on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren."

Number of the Day

$7,300,000,000

N.C. First District Congressional Representative G.K. Butterfield requested $7.3 billion in earmarks requests in the Democrats' federal budget. The Wilson Democrat then hid the numbers under a tab on his Congressional website unlike his collegues who have placed the information on the home pages of their websites. When a Democrat requests that much new spending during a recession, it is no wonder he would want to keep it under the radar. You can view the full list of earmarks here.

Bad Policies Fuel Energy Crisis

In the newly released of edition of Newsweek, Former Speaker Newt Gingrich pens an article blaming years of bad policies for the energy crisis facing average Americans today.

For the past 30 years, America has grown increasingly dependent upon foreign sources of energy, sending American dollars to countries that are hostile to American interests and leaving us vulnerable to wild fluctuations in energy prices.

This energy crisis has not gone unnoticed in Washington. Every U.S. president since Richard Nixon has spoken about the need to make America more energy-independent. Despite their strong words, no rational strategy has been implemented for achieving that goal. In fact, where government has acted, it has usually made the problem worse. ...

Instead, America is suffering from an artificial energy crisis, one that is the product of our government's policies, not despite them. For example, until September 2008, Congress had made it illegal to drill for oil and natural gas in most areas off our coasts. Congress still forbids the development of the vast shale-oil reserves in the Rocky Mountains even though there are promising technologies that could make extracting oil from shale economically competitive. In addition, laws passed in the 1970s banning the recycling of spent nuclear fuel forced nuclear-power plants to invest in techniques to dispose of the fuel; the long-running feud over where to store the spent fuel has helped prevent the construction of more plants. ...

And now, in 2009, instead of making energy cheaper—which would help create jobs and save Americans money—President Obama wants to impose a cap-and-trade regime. Such a plan would have the effect of an across-the-board energy tax on every American. That will make our artificial energy crisis even worse—and raising taxes during a deep economic recession will only accelerate American job losses.

The Obama administration's own budget director is on record predicting an increase of about $1,300 in the price of energy for the average American from this type of energy tax. As a candidate, Obama himself recognized the pain this would cause every American: "Under my plan … electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."

What America needs is a rational energy policy that utilizes all our homegrown energy resources while protecting the environment. ...

Click here to read the full article...

The Better Budget

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) writes in this morning's Wall Street Journal of the GOP's alternative budget and its benefits for American taxpayers and families of all income levels. Republicans plan to push forward an alternative budget in Congress which will not exponentially increase debt, will provide solutions to the pressing problems of energy, health care, entitlements, and the tax code, and will lead to stronger job creation than what is offered under the President's plan.

The GOP's Alternative Budget

By Paul D. Ryan
Wall Street Journal

...Here's an outline of what we propose:

- Deficits/Debt. The Republican budget achieves lower deficits than the Democratic plan in every year, and by 2019 yields half the deficit proposed by the president. By doing so, we control government debt: Under our plan, debt held by the public is $3.6 trillion less during the budget period.

- Spending. Our budget gives priority to national defense and veterans' health care. We freeze all other discretionary spending for five years, allowing it to grow modestly after that. We also place all spending under a statutory spending cap backed up by tough budget enforcement.

- Energy. Our budget lays a firm foundation to position the U.S. to meet three important strategic energy goals: reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, deploying more clean and renewable energy sources free of greenhouse gas, and supporting economic growth. We do these things by rejecting the president's cap-and-trade scheme, by opening exploration on our nation's oil and gas fields, and by investing the proceeds in a new clean energy trust fund, infrastructure and further deficit reduction.

- Entitlements. Our budget also takes steps toward fulfilling the mission of health and retirement security, in part by making these programs fiscally sustainable. The budget moves toward making quality health care affordable and accessible to all Americans by strengthening the relationship between patients and their doctors, not the dictates of government bureaucrats. We preserve the existing Medicare program for all those 55 or older; and then, to make the program sustainable and dependable, those 54 and younger will enter a Medicare program reformed to work like the health plan members of Congress and federal employees now enjoy. Starting in 2021, seniors would receive a premium support payment equal to 100% of the Medicare benefit on average. This would be income related, so low-income seniors receive extra support, and high-income seniors receive support relative to their incomes -- along the same lines as the president's Medicare Part D proposal.

We strengthen the Medicaid safety net by converting the federal share of Medicaid payments into an allotment tailored for each state's low-income population. This will enhance state flexibility and sensitivity to spending growth.

In one of the most valued government programs -- Social Security -- our budget begins to develop a bipartisan solution to the program's pending bankruptcy by incorporating some of the reforms advocated by the president's budget director. Specifically, we provide for a trigger that would make small adjustments in the benefits for higher-income beneficiaries if the Social Security Administration determines the Social Security Trust Fund cannot meet its obligations. This is a modest but serious proposal which would not affect those in or near retirement, but is aimed at helping develop a consensus, across party lines, toward saving this important retirement program. We also assure that benefits for lower-income recipients are large enough to keep them out of poverty.

- Tax Reform. Our budget does not raise taxes, and makes permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax laws. In fact, we cut taxes and reform the tax system. Individuals can choose to pay their federal taxes under the existing code, or move to a highly simplified system that fits on a post card, with few deductions and two rates. Specifically, couples pay 10% on their first $100,000 in income (singles on $50,000) and 25% above that. Capital gains and dividends are taxed at 15%, and the death tax is repealed. The proposal includes generous standard and personal exemptions such that a family of four earning $39,000 would not pay tax on that amount. In an effort to revive peoples' lost savings, and to create an incentive for risk-taking and investment, the budget repeals the capital gains tax through 2010 for all taxpayers.

On the business side, the budget permanently cuts the uncompetitive corporate income tax rate -- currently the second highest in the industrialized world -- to 25%. This puts American companies in a better position to lead in the global economy, promotes jobs here at home, and strengthens worker paychecks.

We hope the administration and Democratic leaders in Congress do not distort and preach fear about our Republican plan. Some may be tempted to appeal to the darker emotions of envy and insecurity that surely run high in times like these. Yet we know Americans are stronger, smarter and prouder than this ploy assumes.

In the recent past, the Republican Party failed to offer the nation an inspiring vision and a concrete plan to tackle our problems with innovative and principled solutions. We do not intend to repeat that mistake. America is not the greatest nation on earth by chance. We earned this greatness by rewarding individual achievement, by advancing and protecting natural rights, and by embracing freedom. We intend to continue this uniquely American tradition.

Mr. Ryan, from Wisconsin, is the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee.