Can we PLEASE remove Governor Perdue
North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue attempts to bring teachers back to her camp. Too little, too late
My god, this is the most indecisive wretch in state history. One minute she’s a bloodsucking vampire, trying to suck the living out of teachers and school employees across the state. Now she’s kissing ass, siding with the teachers. What the hell?!
I had sent her an email a few weeks back, voicing my concerns about the potentially illegal methods to make the budget. I’m referring to the retroactive paycuts that were forced upon teachers and school employees statewide. Here was my response:
Dear Mr. Hamm:
Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding the flexible furlough program for all state employees. I appreciate hearing from you on this important matter.
Due to the national economic crisis, our state faces a budget shortfall of nearly $5 billion next year, almost 20% of our entire budget. In these very difficult times, we are making some very tough decisions to deal with the significant budget shortfall. While I am constitutionally bound to balance the budget, I am considering each choice very carefully, and I am always aware of the consequences of my decisions. I will keep your ideas in mind as we work to improve the quality of life in North Carolina.
I realize that during these difficult times, this may present a hardship for many. Please know that I considered this choice and its consequences very carefully. I made this decision keeping in mind the ultimate goal of protecting jobs and ensuring a strong future for North Carolina.
If you have additional questions please visit the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) website at: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/fbs/. They have developed a “question and answer” section you may wish to review. For immediate assistance, you may contact Allison XXXXXXXX at DPI by dialing 919-XXX-XXXX.
Again, thank you for writing.
Office of Governor Bev Perdue
It never really answered my question (as I presumed). I wanted to know where the state has the power to disregard its own statutes. I have talked to some lawyers, many of who are unclear if the state could legally enact a retroactive paycut, even though the governor is constitutionally bound to balance the budget. I did a little more digging on it, and found this little bit about discretion.
Discretion is the power or right to make official decisions using reason and judgment to choose from among acceptable alternatives.
Legislatures, the president and the governors of the various states, trial and appellate judges, and administrative agencies are among the public officers and offices charged with making discretionary decisions in the discharge of public duties. All discretionary decisions made are subject to some kind of review and are also subject to reversal or modification if there has been an Abuse of Discretion.
An abuse of discretion occurs when a decision is not an acceptable alternative. The decision may be unacceptable because it is logically unsound, because it is Arbitrary and clearly not supported by the facts at hand, or because it is explicitly prohibited by a statute or Rule of Law.
We’ll see. This move clearly is prohibited by a statute. Too bad it is going to be held up in the courts for years, although it may end up being a landmark decision one of these days.
Back to the topic at hand. As you can see, Perdue is clearly behind the pay cuts. But wait a second, she’s now standing behind the teachers? That’s more akin to letting sexual predators hang out at schools. Here’s a quote from one of her emails
“I applaud the General Assembly for their work to put a budget together. But – and that’s a big word – in North Carolina we must act boldly to protect the classroom. … We cannot and must not cripple education. Cutting education means cutting short our economic future. … That’s why I call on the General Assembly to make smart, tough cuts in the budget and to raise the revenue necessary to protect North Carolina’s classrooms. … We will cut deep. We will do more with less. But as state leaders we cannot increase class size, we cannot lay off teachers and we cannot sacrifice our economic future.”
That’s nice, but I fear it is yet a double edged sword. Do I see more illegal pay cuts in the future? Or what will it be next, cutting more law enforcement funds. Highways, who needs those?! Those bridges don’t need repair, I don’t care if the inspector says they are only standing because that is the only thing they can remember to do! Parks, why should we have those.
Bev Perdue has been a burden for our state since day one. She came in off a highly inaccurate smear campaign against Mayor Pat McCrory. She rode the wave of democratic straight tickets. Just about anybody you ask refuses to admit to voting for her, although some I’m sure have. She has plagued this state and will continue to cripple it with her barbaric and uneffective measures. She is intent on policies that will destroys many things we hold sacred. She talked a talked and rubbed her lucky rabbit foot to get in, yet now that she is here, she doesn’t know how to walk the walk. She is setting up this state for failure, and then she will blame the general assembly for it.
Can somebody please impeach this woman?
The true evil plot: Hulu.com
Most of us have heard of the supposed alien crash site at Roswell, New Mexico. It lives at the core at the UFO conspiracy theorist, and the government documents later released may be the most scrutinized government documents ever in existence. Books have been written. Movies filmed, TV shows produced.
But maybe there is yet another government conspiracy that little have ever even considered. UTO’s. Unidentified Talking Objects. Namely, actors. For years, we have seen TV advertisements make the claim “Real people, not actors.” Interesting, but I thought actors were real people. Then all of a sudden, it appears they mockingly have blown their cover, knowing that the truth is so unbelievable that we will take it as a carefully scripted advertisement. I’m referring to “Hulu.com,” where they will rot out our brains then eat em. Yikes! Read more
Do our financial advisors always know best?
It never hurts to add up your own numbers
It’s a good question. A couple of jobs back, I had an 401k account. They didn’t match, but they put 3% of my salary into my 401k, regardless of what I put in. So I put in 3%. As the times were good, I watched it grow. It was a measly amount, maybe $3500 at its best time. Gains were totaled in the 20% range, even after 2-3 years of not working for them anymore (no more in).
Then times weren’t so good. I dragged my feet on opening up an IRA and rolling it over, and it cost me. By the time I rolled it over, the account was worth slightly south of $2100. $1,400 hit. And these were invested into very good funds. I had a slight amount in a very aggressive fund, some in a more moderate fund, then 40% in bond and money market funds. I did the safe path, just like they tell you to do.
When I opened up my IRA, I had already gained some experience with the markets before hand. I decided to take “the risk” of using some money, particularly from overtime to start with, and buy some stock. But what to buy?! There are soooooooo many options out there, and even with screeners, you can find hundreds that fit your criteria. So I went with what I knew, and in some ways trusted my gut. Read more
David Carradine’s “accidental” death
David Carradine was found June 4th, victim of an "accidental" death.
If you haven’t heard already, David Carradine, Kwai Chang Caine from the Kung Fu movies, and Bill from Kill Bill 1 and 2, was found dead in his hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand. What’s interesting is the circumstances concerning his death.
To put it bluntly, they found in naked, in his closet, with a rope tied around his neck and penis. He was hanging from this rope. His death was ruled an “accidental” death by the Thai police.
Is it just me, or does that just sound a bit fishy? Interestingly enough, the did locate one footprint in the room that didn’t match up to his. We’ll see what they make of that.
Want my opinion? No? Here it is anyways 
I think he was murdered. I don’t know, maybe a hooker. Who knows. The sad truth of the matters is, his death of one of many mysterious deaths that occur in Bangkok every year. The police always have some sort of lame reasoning behind it, and never investigate further. Hopefully his family will hire their own investigators and look into the matter. Things don’t add up right, and if he were murdered, then whoever is responsible needs to be held accountable.
Difficulties of non-traditionals
The real world can be daunting to those who've never been in it.
Some people may not realize this, but being a non-traditional college student may be one of the hardest experiences in someone’s life. And when I refer to non-traditional, I’m referring to that rare breed of student: independent, with a family, a mortgage, a full-time job. Actually, you need not to even include to full-time job. Just consider someone like myself – a husband and a father – those alone being a full-time commitment. Then add in a full-time job, and we’ll sprinkle a full-time education on top. So go ahead and work three full-time jobs, all three requiring a lot out of you, and you will soon get a taste of their life.
The typical traditional student is much younger, still considered a dependent. Many of the permanent concepts of real life, including the real responsibilities, are not yet on the plate. Their school might be paid by family, by scholarships, or through student loans. They may work a part time job – wait staff is probably the number one college job – and the rest of the time is either in class, studying, or hanging out and having fun.
Non-traditionals, not so much. They generally don’t have the option of hanging out and having fun. The concepts of the real world are real to them. The bills are real, the responsibilities are real. The traditional student concept of owing for college “oh, that’s in the future,” doesn’t apply: they see that amount and they KNOW what that costs.
Non-traditional students are a very important mix into the college community too. While the younger students may bring in fresher minds (and bodies), non-traditional students usually bring in a ground sense that is required to survive the real world. They provide a balance to the free-living lifestyle of so many college students.
I’m writing this because I’m a non-traditional student, I understand the difficulties first hand. The stress of waking up early, putting in 40, 50, even 60+ hours a week, dragging myself to class in the evening, doping myself with steady streams of caffeine half the night in order to get my homework done. How to spend so much time away from your family, while doing everything you can to hold it together. I also know how it begins to wear you down, slowly at first, then eventually depleting your energy, yet still fighting on to get it over and done with.
And it surprises me that there are not more financial options out there for non-traditionals. Sure, there are some scholarships out there specifically for non-traditionals, but not too much else. In the FAFSA application, we might be treated as dependant students, but generally, we are treated the same as traditionals. We don’t have parents to help, and we didn’t spend the last 18 years of our lives planning on sending ourselves to college.
It also shocks me, given the number of MBA grads who completed their MBA’s at night, while working full-time. Every one I’ve talked to who went down this path made many points to which I can easily relate. Working full-time while doing it may make you stronger, but after a couple of years it wears you out. Grades drift down towards the end, and we are thankful for just getting through it alive. But for those MBA students, they had the easy option of calling it done.
But what about students like myself. Finishing up at a 2 year, getting ready to begin my 4 year this fall. Hopefully early entry into the graduate program. By the time it is all said and done, I will have been through this for around 8 years. Yet what extra help will I get for this? Minimal at best.
I think it is time we start making some changes for non-traditional students. The government (and society) has incentives to do this too. Let’s take people who were in the workforce earning X dollars, people are productive members of society who already understand the realities of society, and get them a college education. Now you have people earning 2X, 3X, 4X, even 5X, who bring in extremely valuable skill sets not found in the typical college grad. The government gets more taxes; society gains more knowledgeable, productive members. Companies get well trained employees that are naturally more adept at being responsible and is already used to making tough decisions that affect others.
What I suggest is a program specifically for non-traditional students. Students who are independent and receive no financial help from their parents. Students who have families of their own. Students who own their own home or have been long time renters. Students who are working full-time and have a history of working full-time. Why can’t the government subsidize a percentage of their income, provide health insurance benefits, pay for school or mostly pay for school. Not off of standardized numbers. Based upon how much their earn compared to how much they pay out.
Provide these students an opportunity to reduce their working hours, to help even up the playing field with traditional students. Non-traditionals are proud, we take care of ourselves, but we wouldn’t mind the hand up. Can’t we get a break?
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Times Business & Tech- Mark Hurd: Who Will Hire the Ousted Hewlett-Packard CEO? September 4, 2010
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- Seeking Alpha Financial News
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- Hurricane Earl, And Other Threats to Insurers September 3, 2010
- Will the FCIC Report Be a Whitewash? September 3, 2010
- Friday FX Interest Rate Monitor September 3, 2010
