Cabarrus Cheap Seats

Given that, in about a month, I’ve had to deal with two nutty commenters - I should be clear about a few things.

This blog is open to anybody who wants to publish opinions, observations, etc. about life in Cabarrus County and does so within the guidelines.  I spent the first couple of years working hard to get good content up here and built a pretty solid base of readers.  While I’m trying to move this blog to have a wider variety of content from an eclectic set of authors, I still respect the attention - and time - of the people who read this blog.  With that, here’s what I’m doing about the “JustThrewUpaLittle” (JTUaL) situation: [Read more →]

I’m hoping that this post actually turns out debate from a Larry Kissell supporter, because I think I speak for everyone when I say that I’m tired of faceless people name calling and ducking questions every time they are confronted with one.  So I’m going to tell you why Larry Kissell does not represent the 8th district of North Carolina, and how his victory could lead us down a reckless path.

First, and most importantly, is Mr. Kissell’s reckless Iraq strategy.  He has always proposed that we be out of Iraq by the end of 2006.  However, perhaps Mr. Kissell fails to realize that he has little he can do from his seat in the House of Representatives to make this a reality.  With a position so strong, Mr. Kissell must know that there is one way, and only one way that the House can really end this conflict. To have his dream of bringing all American troops out of Iraq come to fruition, Kissell would have to ask the Congress to use the power of the purse, and cut off funding for our troops.  Not exactly how someone would vote that states that “Supporting our troops is more than just a bumper sticker.”  The House can not pass a resolution that says, “Iraqi Conflict Over, Time to Go”, and hope that the President McCain actually brings them home because of said resolution.  To deliver on his promise, would Mr. Kissell be willing to turn his back on servicemen and women, and so many others in our district that have ties to them?  Robin Hayes voted in favor of H.R. 2207, which funded our troops, and didn’t try to pull them out of duty before the full mission was accomplished.  A Kissell election could set a dangerous precedent for the 8th district, and I don’t know anyone (in their right mind), that would stand behind a Congressman who wouldn’t fund the troops.  With the House and this issue, there is only one way to end the fighting, and if Kissell is as committed as his website says he is, who knows where that vote would go.

Also, on his website, there are no policy suggestions during his rant about the economy and how Robin Hayes isn’t doing well on it.  Anyone can run for office on a “That guys doing a bad job” campaign, but it takes a real leader to stand above the others and propose policies and plans of action to take care of problems.  How does Mr. Kissell think we should handle the economy?  Higher taxes?  More government regulation?  During a Congressional Sub-Committee hearing a Democratic Congressman told an Oil Executive that they couldn’t expect to make tons of money and have no one notice, and that somehow they were wrong.  I’m not standing up for big oil here, and never will, but this is America, and the markets are and should always be free from regulation.  I want to hear a plan.  An election this costly should not be decided because one candidate can stand in front of a group of people and proclaim, “I wouldn’t do the bad things Robin does!”  If I ever sought public office, you can beat I’d have a pile full of policies holding my soapbox up.  I wish others would say the same, its hard to tell what some people are standing on, and what they stand for.

I’m open to rebuttal, and other people’s thoughts on these and other issues.  In a week or so, I’ll come back with part 2, and we’ll look at Kissell’s other plans, or lack thereof.   Please, if you’re going to say something, let’s try something new, like examining the issues. Hiding behind a fake name and responding in incoherent, explicit babble is a waste of time.

OK, here it is - the first school board poll of the 2008 election year.  Pick your favorite.

Note: Because filing isn’t closed yet (that’s August 1) - I’m leaving the poll open to adding names that YOU want to see.  The first option added exhibits the extent of higher thought that exists on the Left.

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If you’re reading this via RSS or E-mail, you’ll have to go to the site to participate in the poll

I’ve missed Caleb around here; but he’s come back something fierce.  While I’ve always thought that coming back with ad hominem attacks with the same is a bad idea - I’ll make an exception for this gem:

I’m actually going out on a thursday night, so you won’t hear from me again till roughly 2am. You know, when the bars close. (better call your grand-daughter in the morning to make sure she hasn’t fallen for a good-looking conservative boy).

Note, I’ve moved these comments from the school board thread.

Oh, and to our new friend, I suggest you read the rules: drop the “F” bomb again and I’ll take away your vowels for a while.

The Primaries are over - it’s time to show that we’re putting the kids first…by putting filing for School Board Candidates last.

At the midpoint of filing…here they are…your candidates for 4 four-year terms and the remaining two years of Liz Poole’s term…so far:

Republicans: incumbent: Holly Blackwelder; previous candidates: David Harrison and Lew Davidson; newcomers: Robert Tizon and Phillip C. Stevens.

Democrats: incumbent: Cindy Fertenbaugh; previous candidates: Mike Helms and Wilma King Means; newcomer: Anna Hood

Unaffiliated: incumbent: Wayne “Really, you’re running again” Williams AKA “The Commodore”; newcomer: Jan A. van Ravesteyn.

Alright, Cheap Seaters: Who do you know? Who do you like? Who do you wish would file? Who do you wish hadn’t filed?

Crossposted on The Concord Standard

Recently, on my blog, a contributor posted a video of an ad criticizing the Larry Kissell’s Congressional campaign’s practice of avoiding paying payroll taxes – including Social Security - by designating his campaign employees as independent contractors. Why he did it is the sign of the times for entrepreneurs in the 21st century: it’s getting more expensive to be honest.

A 2005 study for the Small Business Administration by Mark Crain of Lafayette College found that American businesses spent more than $1.1 trillion just to comply with federal regulations. More than one in every ten dollars circulating in the United States is dedicated to complying with one federal regulation or another. Most of the cost of compliance is shouldered by enterprises along the size of Congressional campaigns: businesses with 20 or fewer employees had an annual per-employee federal regulatory compliance cost of $7,647 per employee where larger firms achieved a 45% discount at $5,282. [Read more →]

Taking things out of context is one of the oldest political gimmicks around (see any liberal on John McCain’s “100 years” comment); and it makes for funny video.

This week’s Friday Five: Movies completely changed by “recutting” them in to trailers with completely different themes. I promise…you will laugh at least once. [Read more →]

I get a number of links from y’all and when I run across in my trolling about the Internet that I’ve been trying to find a way to include them without dominating the discussion. So, I’ve broken down the links into several categories and will be sharing them throughout the week every week depending on the discussion.

Being a geek, I’m constantly running across links to share that represent some technological shift.  So, from time to time, I’ll share the better ones.  Here’s this week’s

It was a little more than a century ago that when folks were looking for salt would run into this viscous black substance that had little apparent use…now, oil makes the world go ’round.  Today, there are two approaches to make a modern-day nuance into something useful. [Read more →]

Note: I’ve recently been asked to provide a weekly article to the Concord Standard. So, for Standard readers: This is not deja vu. Welcome to the Cheap Seats.

For me, writing about Jesse Helms is difficult, because most readers will have a greater familiarity with Jesse Helms than I.  When Jesse Helms entered the Senate in 1973, I was single-celled.  That disclaimer out of the way: our world and our state were heavily influenced by Helms.  There is also an important lesson to be gained in his passing.
[Read more →]

I ran across this article around Easter and thought y’all would enjoy it.  It describes the Passion of the Christ from an economic perspective:

For over a half of a millennium, Israel had been passed from empire to empire. Each new world power treated Jerusalem as a cash cow - diverting it’s wealth into imperial coffers in order to finance imperial ambitions. First there was Assyria, then Babylon, Persia, and Macedonia. Then finally Rome was given its turn. It was at this time that Jesus of Nazareth came into the world.

Rome didn’t care much about places like Nazareth; it was much more interested in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a company town, and the company was The Temple. The Temple was the Herod family business, and it had been created for one reason and one reason only - to squeeze enough money out of the region for Herod and his dynasty to buy their way back into favor with Caesar Augustus.

[CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST]