Just when conventional wisdom says that the governor is starting to get his game, he opens his mouth. This time, it was on WFAE, the public radio station in his home town of Charlotte. Maybe he thought that the mean old capitol press corps wouldn’t be listening to a Charlotte station. Or maybe he thought he could sneak away from them since he didn’t put it on his daily schedule.
But, alas, they were listening. And not only were they listening, they heard him making stuff up again. Which begs the old joke: How do you know when Pat McCrory is lying? His lips are moving.
This time, he got caught twice in the same interview. First, McCrory said that Duke Energy and IBM had stopped offering their employees health insurance because of Obamacare. That’s not true. That’s not even a rumor. He just made it up on the spot.
Next, he said that he and the legislature didn’t cut unemployment benefits. That’s not true either. Again, it’s not even being disputed. They cut the length of time a person could collect benefit, they cut the amount of benefits and they denied 170,000 unemployed North Carolinians long-term benefits that would have been covered by the federal government.
And all of this on top of telling MSNBC’s Chuck Todd last week that they didn’t “shorten the early voting, we compacted the calendar.”
All this brings into question whether McCrory is intentionally trying to mislead the public or woefully uninformed or a pathological liar. His statements about Duke Energy and IBM are similar to his claim about going to Moral Monday protests. They have no basis in fact so he just made them up. At some level, he must know he’s going to get caught but he can’t help himself.
His statements about early voting and unemployment benefits are like blaming Perdue for budgets that were really passed by his fellow Republicans in the legislature or blaming Obama for cutting unemployment benefits. Neither are true but it’s hard to tell if he’s trying to convince the people or if he has that little understanding of government or the consequences of his own actions. Or maybe these are the lies he’s told himself to justify screwing over people.
Regardless, none of those reasons are valid excuses for a sitting governor. The journalists I’ve talked to no longer take him at his word. Soon, neither will the voters. McCrory has created an ever widening credibility gap and seems to lack the integrity necessary to close it.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Hey what a creepy smile. He looks like he is straining hard. I don’t feel comfortable letting this guy in my door to do plumbing let alone run a public office. This state are full of nuts. We are the laughing stock of the world for Jesse Helms, now this guy! Come folks. He was the first to shorten our unemployment in our state during a recession.
Alan, I, too, suffer from delusions.
It will take year for a fine man like Pat to tear down the waste networks set up by years of liberal democrats poisoning the social programs in this state. Just go to Raleigh and spend the day trying to maneuver through the network of “good ole boys” that are not even qualified for the jobs that they hold. Your problem is that he will balance the state budget and control spending on the give-away programs that you favor. My hats off to Pat and I hope that he keeps the pressure on!
The tax incentives are not a “Red” or “Blue” state issue. Georgia (30%), Louisiana (35%), and South Carolina (30%) all have tax incentives that are greater than North Carolina’s (25%) and they are dominantly governed by the GOP. Now, if you are inferring that people who work in the media arts, or in “Hollywood” support Democrats, you are probably right. But this is about sending North Carolina jobs and revenue elsewhere that wouldn’t normally be here without the efforts of Democrats. To scuttle work opportunities in order to get even with the “Good Ole Boys” (and believe me, the landed gentry ain’t Democrats so don’t delude yourself) is hardly a strategy for economic growth, especially when the entertainment industry has become one of our state’s prime staples in the absence of textiles and tobacco. This is a prosperous and promising industry that at worst pays minimum wage and at best pays very well to industry professionals. North Carolina prospers in entertainment and will continue to make award-winning television shows and films, as long as corrupt minds choose self-interest over the needs of the many..
“…as long as corrupt minds do not choose self interest over the needs of the many.”
Sorry – typo
Alan, you have no clue what you are talking about………..I used to vote Republican, but never again will! He will do nothing of the sort—balance the budget….HA
Hey Michael. I knew your dad and your uncle. In fact, I campaigned for your Uncle John when he ran for congress-probably my first experience at that. I set up a little meet and greet in my very rural precinct at Altan in Union County. Over the years I would see him in court (court reporting) and he would always mention that night. Maybe we will run into each other sometime. Thanks for the information on the film industry incentives.
My name is Michael G. PLumides, Jr, JD – I am an author, writer, and filmmaker.
I hold a Government and International Studies Degree from the University of South Carolina and also a Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School. My family was involved in Greek-American politics for many years – My Uncle, John Plumides, twice Supreme President of AHEPA, ran for NC Congress in 1966 (albeit unsuccessfully), was Jimmy Carter’s campaign manager – John rode on Air Force One with Ladybird Johnson and visited the White House on many occasions meeting every President since Kennedy until his death – and advised on the the Cypress conflict where he met with Kissinger and Ford – photos recently released by the Gerald Ford library.
Now that I’ve qualified myself, I wanted to let you in on something that I uncovered here in our home state of North Carolina.
As you may know, the 25% film tax incentive is under some scrutiny by the GOP-controlled State House – and up until Pat McCrory’s governorship, he was film industry friendly as Mayor of Charlotte (who, coincidentally, they couldn’t get rid of on the set of “Shallow Hal”), has now turn-coated to throw the incentive program under the bus. The incentive is set to expire on January 1, 2015. The looming expiration has costed the state millions in future revenues – now the production companies in LA are all looking to Georgia.
Originally, I though the reasoning was to undo anything the Democrats had supported until I found out that a state house rep from the Wilmington area, which depends on the film industry for their very livelihood was for letting the incentive lapse. This was very puzzling to me. Why would he commit political suicide unless there was some money or politics involved?
The Republican Governor’s Association in Washington donated millions to have Pat McCrory elected – who now hides under his desk regarding the matter. http://wfae.org/post/north-carolina-governors-race-awash-out-state-funds
David Robinson, President of Morgan Creek, asked my opinion about the incentives several months ago after he read they were lapsing in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Someone in the North Carolina GOP sent out a press release expressing that the State House was poised to let the incentives lapse. Not only do they wish to let the incentive lapse, but they also want to jeopardize filmmakers who would consider NC as their production location before 2015. There’s obviously an agenda here – much of NC’s business has already migrated to Georgia. The quote was, “You can come and film here but don’t expect us to write you a check.”
The argument for the incentive is obviously jobs and revenue – the developing film industry as an investment – they only upped the incentive from 15% to 25% a few short years ago. Once the house was controlled by the GOP (as well as the Governorship) – they couldn’t wait to let it lapse. David’s assertion, from the information he is privy to in LA – indicates that NC’s production business will all go to Georgia due to crew base, a 30% incentive and facilities.
The rub here is The Cathy Family (yes, those pesky Chick-fil-A billionaires) and who are big GOP supporters, are bankrolling Pinewood Studios in Fayette, GA. Beth Petty of the Charlotte Regional Partnership, has told me that we don’t have the resources that Georgia does to encourage private enterprise to help keep the incentives in place. Georgia lobbyist have already expressed how happy they were that NC may lose their Incentive Program. I believe that the Cathy’s are influencing North Carolina GOP candidates to abstain from action and let the incentive lapse at their behest – I haven’t found any evidence of direct donations – probably because they wanted to distance themselves from the whole anti-gay thing last year – and possibly they didn’t want anyone to connect the dots as I have). But oftentimes, Pat McCrory’s functions and events are catered or sponsored by Chick-fil-a (or MCcrory is said to be enjoying a Chick-fil-a sandwich). I did a lot of research here and I couldn’t find a direct connection between McCrory and Chick-fila until now.
Pat McCrory made several appointments earlier this year – one of them was Marketing Director of Chick fil-a, Marcella Ramirez: http://www.wnct.com/story/23471302/mccrory-says-media-unfairly-targets-dhhs-pay-hikes . Marcella Ramirez, was appointed to the Union County Board of Education – admittedly, not a huge appointment but it shows a connection, nonetheless, between the Cathy family and McCrory. One of three appointments was a Chick-fil-a executive? There is a connection. As Ramirez has no prior education experience, this appointment, however small, was political. Every one of McCrory’s appointments serve his supporter’s interests. http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2013/06/04/new-faces-of-the-sbe-marcella-ramirez-savage/
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/mccrory_makes_education_tourism_boards_appointments
If we can show that the Cathy family donated moneys to McCrory’s campaign, through a super-pac, we can establish a causal connection between campaign funding and interests that are adverse to our state and through these accusations can keep our incentive – so it doesn’t cause further harm to the industry in North Carolina – one that we’ve been cultivating since the 80’s. Homeland, Under the Dome, Sleepy Hollow, Banshee, Iron Man 3, Revolution, Hunger Games, are all recent productions here. All of these productions will move to Georgia, guaranteed.
One last thing – my question was one of the many McCrory didn’t answer on Facebook the other day. .http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/11/19/3386799/mccrory-draws-hundreds-of-facebook.html
PoliticsNC needs to expand your comment into another article, Michael!
And, please send your research to The Charlotte Observer Editorial Page. Taylor Batten tbatten@charlotteobserver.com
As is probably known, Charlotte is hoping for the creation of a much-needed production studios campus on the former Eastland Mall property. It is downright depressing to see the former Mayor of Charlotte betraying his city as well as his state. Losing this tax incentive can affect Charlotte’s future. See this article, too. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/11/23/4489229/eastland-questions-the-city-should.html
Thank you, Michael.
One and Done!
I will be sooo glad when we can vote this lying p.o.s. out of office. To all of you who voted for him, thanks a lot.
McCrory doesn’t know his ass from his elbow. Unfortunately those who voted for him voted for an ass.
Unfortunately, you’re not correct. He knows EXACTLY what he’s doing. He’s doing exactly what Art Pope, ALEC and the Kochs are telling him. And that is to subjugate (kind of a strong word, but pretty close) all of us so they can extract the maximum amount of money/profits from us. We’re all being sold to the highest bidders.
I totally agree with you mikennc. McCroury says what he’s told to say by his handlers, our country is owned and not by US.