This story below made me chuckle because of the irony. The very reason the GOP holds sway in NC is the rural voters. Look at any 2012 election map you will see the urban areas of NC went overwhelmingly blue.

What rural voters think they did: cast a vote for Jesus, guns, some hollow propaganda about “personal responsibility” and found the check box that didn’t include the name of a black man.

What rural voters really did: cast a vote for a direct funnel of public money to big business better known as corporate welfare. Caught ‘em like a fish! Now these rural areas get to reap the rewards of their well informed voting. No monies for you! Gotta pay for the pet projects of the banksters in Charlotte and developers in Raleigh.

http://www.wral.com/some-say-mccrory-budget-shortchanges-rural-areas/12257858/

This is a quote from the comments section in the article “The Republican Reality Show”. Excellent summation of what the GOP needs to recognize…

I consider myself socially “liberal” and fiscally “conservative”. Maybe I’m a libertarian without the overriding fear and a persecution complex, but since I have been of age to vote, I have only voted Democrat simply because I feel that individual human rights are more important than economic policy.

To be brief, this is what the GOP would need to do to earn my vote:

1) Stop trying to lead the country toward Theocracy. As a form of government, it barely functions when nearly an entire nation is of one religion, it certainly won’t work in a country as diverse as the US.

2) Stop rejecting science. The world is not 6000 years old, the earth is not flat, and the moon is not made of cheese. We need leadership that can move us forward, and you can’t do that without a firm grasp on reality.

3) Approach the budget honestly, admit the defense budget is bloated and propose actual workable solutions. If your selling yourselves as the party of fiscal responsibility, you need to be honest about this one and pay attention to the “responsible” part.

4) Stop using “socialized” as a derogatory term. Some things are better done by a society, many hands make light work after all. Education, infrastructure, health care, and catastrophic insurance are crucial to both society and the economy.

5) Stop using fear to motivate your base, and stop scapegoating minorities. Immigrants, atheists and homosexuals will not be the downfall of the US, it will be ignorance and fear.

6) Put people before capital. If you preach freedom while simultaneously enabling the financial enslavement of the population, it will only end one way.

- noncentric

Do those calling for no guns under any circumstances, including the use of unarmed security guards, realize they sound as crazy as those wanting to arm everyone? It’s hard to reach any common sense agreements in modern political discourse when the discussion is dominated by the raised voices of those with extreme opinions on both sides.

What kind of constituency elects a guy named Crapo anyway?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/us/politics/senator-crapo-charged-with-drunken-driving.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

• $3 trillion: Enact a modest financial transaction tax: 0.5 percent on the purchase of stocks (0.25 percent for the buyer and the seller) and tax bonds and derivatives at lower rates.

• $1.7 trillion: Millionaires and billionaires pay a lower effective tax rate than working people. Rescind the Bush tax cuts for the top two percent; tax capital gains at the same rate as income (money making money is still income).

• $1 trillion: Crack down on offshore tax shelters.

• $580 billion: End tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

• $500 billion: Establish a currency manipulation fee on China and other countries. The Economic Policy Institute has estimated that it would create one million jobs.

• $300 billion: Establish a progressive estate tax on inherited wealth of more than $3.5 million.

• $110 billion: End tax breaks and subsidies for profitable oil, gas, and coal companies.

• Many corporations pay little or no tax. End tax loopholes, subsidies, bailouts, giveaways, and other corporate welfare.

• Creates new tax brackets for incomes over $3 million with a top tax rate of 40 percent.

• End the carried interest loophole for private equity and hedge fund managers.

“Eighty percent of the state’s 115 school districts said they’ve had trouble finding instructors licensed to teach high school mathematics, while about two-thirds of the state’s local schools reported having trouble finding high school science and special education teachers.”

EMERY P. DALESIO – Associated Press

An “Anonymous Coward” posted the following ranting comment on an article this morning about “asset protection” AKA “hiding money”.

“The money I make is taxed( once). The money my money makes is taxed.(Twice) When I die my money that I leave to my heirs is taxed.(Thrice) All to support fools who make no money!”

I wish I could get every GOP parrot and talking bobble head to read and comprehend the following explanation. It will stop them from either speaking ignorantly or lying once and for all on the topic of inheritance and capital gains tax. Something they clearly don’t know a damn thing about or pretend not to for the sake of a straw man argument. Let’s break it down:

“The money my money makes is taxed.(Twice)”

…and the money your wife makes is taxed, the money a second job makes is taxed. Doesn’t matter if your money earns money, your labor earns money or if someone gives you money cause they like your smile. It’s all income, all taxable.

“When I die my money that I leave to my heirs is taxed.(Thrice)”

Not on the federal level…only if it’s many, many millions. Or if you inherit property that produces income such as interest, dividends, or rent. Then only the income produced from those investments starting at the time on your death certificate is taxable against the receiver. As of 2010, 11 states assess tax on inherited money including Oregon, Tennessee, Nebraska, Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Indiana. Sorry if you live in one. Tell your heirs to move.

You see, the word is INCOME. Everyone is taxed on personal income, not on the amount of money you have, where you put it or who you give it to. From this day forward you can stop repeating hollow lies and go forth informed about the difference between principal investment dollars and real income.

There is a country where the majority of workers are unionized with good pay and universal health care. Their unemployment rate is 3.4% today. Better than the United States unemployment rate at any time during the last 63 years. The unemployed are tested for skills by the government and retrained or educated when necessary at tax payer expense. Along with the world’s leading wages they have high taxes, a strong banking industry, loaning to most of Europe, and they are the worlds second largest exporter, bested only by China. If you haven’t figured it out yet it’s Germany. According to the GOP principals they’re doing it all wrong. In fact, the GOP’s core ideologies of limited to no government, low taxes and little or no private business or banking regulation is the exact opposite of what made Germany the wealthiest nation in Europe which is still speeding up while the US economy continues to stagnate. Just more proof that everyone in the world has it all wrong except for the vocal minority in the US clinging to their GOP ideals of God and guns against the evil government, the source of all problems.

“Free your mind, your ass will follow.” – Funkadelic’s 1970

The only defense money that should be spent is that used to defend the interests of the United States, it’s sovereign territories and it’s borders. Let the middle east destroy itself from the inside out without any more US ties to these countries at all.

There is no logic to continued presence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan or any other region of the world hostile to the US. Anyone who thinks these areas can be civilized to the point of opening a Wal-Mart and a Chik-fil-A is unfit to serve in any leadership role as a representative of US interests.

End the illogical insanity that began 11 years ago. Bring our troops home and use those human and monetary resources to protect the US. The US owes nothing to these regions of the world that will not benefit us under their most optimal cultural conditions.

What is stopping this? The military industrial complex looking for excursions and interventions anywhere in the world engaged in conflict. Conflicts that have no bearing on US interests.

I haven’t commented one time about this Chick-fil-A mess. I’ve considered a ridiculous display of social stigma from both sides but I’ve decided to comment on the business side of the drama: Financial support and appreciation for business causes are usually momentary. Boycotts tend to stick around. While these restaurants might be experiencing a short term revenue increase because of the demographic attention, over time they will most likely see a revenue decrease per location because of an ideological statement.

Of course the CEO of Chick-fil-A is free to say anything he wants about gays, lesbians, marriage. I don’t recall hearing anyone say he wasn’t free to speak his mind despite the outpouring to “support his freedom” to say what he believes. Why didn’t other enterprise business owners and CEO’s join his chorus if they believe the same? Because they are smarter business people. Nothing smokes of business smarts like offending an entire segment of society while using your brand as a soap box. It was the dumbest business move I’ve seen in a while. Smart executives leave the corporate ideological relationships to the media.