In a letter emailed Monday to voting members of the Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MUMPO) and the local media, the citizen’s group widenI77.org urged MUMPO to allow them to present a 30 minute presentation explaining why HOT lanes are the wrong way to widen I-77 at their next meeting on Wednesday, April 17th. Here is […]
The Fiscal Cliff, the Sequester, and the Continuing Resolutions now are behind us. The next Episode in the Continuing Saga is looming: the Debt Ceiling. President Obama has put down his table ante, as described by the Washington Post headline, “Obama budget would cut entitlements in exchange for tax increases.” In plain English Team Obama is offering the Republicans a […]
The more things change, the more things stay the same. Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, having yet to finish spending a $516,000,000 bond package voted on in 2007, which won’t be entirely spent until 2016, wants more money, $400,000,000 more, in the pipeline now. A short history of CMS, school bonds, and their spending practices seem timely. […]
…or something like that. After last Saturday’s resolution at the MeckGOP convention where County Republicans rejected I77 HOT Lanes, circling the wagons was bound to happen. Those wagons appeared in the form of dozens of HOT lanes supporters, consultants, NCDOT officials, and two hand & picked media outlets at a meeting today in Raleigh. For […]
This could perhaps be the most preposterous presentation of ‘income inequality’ in American ever concocted. If you can’t watch the whole thing, just watch the last minute before reading the rest of this screed. It sets the stage for what you are about to read. Granted, when the charts are put together like this, the […]
Recently I was asked to help with an effort just north of Charlotte to stop yet another ludicrous project by transportation departments. Along the way, as I’ve researched this project, into my inbox has come the daily influx of travesties in all sectors of government meddling. There’s the marriage issue, the monetary policy issue, the latest healthcare […]
The breakout headliner issue in 1978 was “Tax Revolt.” A Time Magazine cover showed Howard Jarvis shaking his fist under that headline. Proposition 13 time. Then? The Tax Revolt went, as we would now say, viral. Citizen discontent — and political activism — against high tax rates turned into a national, and then international, phenomenon. The revolt […]
For the past few months as the WidenI77.org citizens group in North Mecklenburg questioned the effort to install HOT Lanes on I-77, the Mecklenburg County Republican Party remained noticeably silent on the subject. To a degree, that silence was understandable considering the push to install these toll lanes is being led by local Republicans in the State […]
Undoubtedly when a political party loses an election, talks arise of whether or not said party is in trouble. These talks surfaced for the Republican Party shortly after the November election cycle, but certain factors will continue to hamper and erode the GOP’s prospects of having a successful future unless Republicans make a clear shift […]
The 10 second version of the HOT Lanes sales pitch sounds pretty positive, but a look behind the curtain says the fast talking salesman is prepping his mark for the old bait and switch. Here’s what they tell you, the citizen, the voter, the mark… HOT lanes will reduce congestion. Some users will be able to […]
